The Kings of Old and Arya Hale (HP & Narnia crossover)

(6) The Notice

"Yeah, we don't need another fight on our record," said Peter.

"Here, here," agreed Arya.

———

A few days after the Hogsmeade trip, Arya's mind was plagued with everything that happened at the Three Broomsticks during their visit to the village. In the great hall during breakfast, Edmund and Matilda had noticed her odd behavior.

"All right, Arya?" Edmund asked after noticing that Arya had been staring at her breakfast instead of eating it.

"Yeah, is everything okay?" Matilda butted in, looking at Arya next to her.

Arya suddenly shook her head to clear her thoughts. "Yeah, I'm fine." She said, picking up her fork and finally touching her breakfast.

Edmund and Matilda gave each other clueless looks, then continued eating their food. However, Arya wasn't eating. She was only prodding her scrambled eggs with her fork. After a few more moments of deafening silence only broken by the sound of their silverware against their plates, Matilda had had enough.

"Arya, seriously! What's wrong? You're starting to worry me," she looked at her friend with concern.

Arya looked back at Matilda and then at Edmund with unsureness. "Can I trust you?" She looked at Edmund. He gave an assuring nod. Arya took a deep breath before she explained everything.

"...And I just feel like I'm going mad. I don't know what's wrong. Seeing that that girl bother Peter like that just... set something off in me and I don't know what." As she finished, she waited for either of them to say something.

"I know how it feels to feel like you're going mad. But trust me, you're not crazy." Edmund assured her and Arya gave a small "thanks."

"I agree. But, she was very annoying... you weren't the only one who was bothered by her."

"Yeah, Pete had his annoyed look on, so you weren't," Edmund chuckled and Arya and Matilda laughed.

"Yeah, he did look a bit annoyed now that I think about it." After a brief pause, Arya spoke once more. "Thanks again."

Matilda and Edmund both said "No problem." Before they could talk more, the bell rang and it was time for class. So they all picked up their bags, said their see-you-laters, and walked off to their classes. As she made her way to class, Arya spotted the back of Peter along the way and walked up to him.

"Hello," she smiled. But before he said anything back, Arya noticed that he was wearing his annoyed expression, the same one that Edmund had mentioned seconds earlier. "What's wrong?"

Peter looked at Arya for a moment, and his expression softened a little. "I ran into Astor again." He said before looking back in front of him, his expression turning back to the same intensity it was before.

"Astor? Who's he?"

"Victoria Astor. The girl from the Three Broomsticks."

Arya suddenly felt her insides growing hot with anger. "She goes to Hogwarts??" Arya thought out loud.

"She does," Peter sighed. "She's a Slytherin."

"Of course she is."

Peter chuckled at Arya's response, making Arya smile and do the same, which seemed to calm her down quite a bit. "What did she want?" Arya asked.

"She was unhappy with my rejection and wanted to try asking me again. She was a bit desperate."

"You said no, right?"