Ariadne's Thread ⭒ h. potter

Going for the Throat

The timing of Easter break couldn't have been worse, considering.

Ariadne had forgotten all about her promise to Astoria, made way back after the Hufflepuff game (or The Fall, as people around Hogwarts had taken to calling it). It felt like a lifetime had passed since then, or something very nearly close to it.

But she couldn't skive off – not after Ginny already had, splitting from them at the platform due to an evidently pressing brunch with her Aunt Muriel. And Hermione had waved off her concerns about needing to stay to research for Buckbeak's defence, anyway, dismissal so quick it was almost offensive.

The trip began with little fanfare. Lady Greengrass ("Call me Elora, dear") welcomed her with open arms, picking the girls and Daphne up herself from the train station – though she brought an elf along to carry their bags. And when they arrived back at the Greengrass Estate, Elora sent them upstairs with some tea as she made her arrangements for dinner. Daphne split off quickly, running off to meet Tracy Davis for shopping in Diagon Alley. Ariadne and Tori, in the meantime, busied themselves with Wizarding Britain's latest.

"Ravenna Lahiri looked bloody fantastic at Sleekeazy's Dragon Pox gala," commented Astoria, sliding the Daily Prophet Style Section over to Ariadne. A gorgeous witch cloaked in tight fitting red silk blew a kiss at her, not-so-subtly flashing the rock on her hand in the process. A decrepit man looking rather confused by her side, though he gave a meek wave after a beat. That's Blaise's mum?

Ariadne looked up from this week's rather dull Witch Weekly. "Merlin's pants. What's that ring cost? A hundred thousand galleons?"

"Try one million," smirked Astoria knowingly. "Which is about as old as her husband. Why else would she have married him?"

"His personality," Ariadne countered, tone dry as she flipped carelessly through the remainder of the magazine. Why should she care if "Skye Parkin 'Selfens' with Donaghan Tremlett in London" last night? The shots of the Weird Sister's bassist trying to shield his inebriated girlfriend's face were rather intrusive. It seemed like a nightmare, to be famous. "What's it mean to Selfen, anyway?"

"Sell-Fen, not 'cell-phone,'" Astoria corrected her pronunciation with a laugh. She flipped another page in her magazine with a casual hand before the smile dropped from her face, mouth pinching in as her brows furrowed with sudden realization, and she followed up quickly. "Who cares, anyhow? Honestly, these magazines are so bloody boring."

Astoria waved her wand once to stack the magazines over by her desk. She pasted a smile back on her lips and threw herself onto the bed with a dramatic sigh. Ariadne's foot took the brunt of the hit. She made a half-hearted noise of displeasure and attempted to kick her off, but Astoria would not budge.

Flipping onto her stomach to face Ariadne, Astoria rested her elbows on Ariadne's calf and placed her small face in her hands. "Far more interesting is the info that you've been spreading around Hogwarts. For someone who doesn't like rumors, you're certainly full of them."

Ariadne shoved Astoria off her legs once and for all, stretching her arm behind herself to grab a pillow. "I'm full of nothing," she defended with a swat to Astoria's temple. "Lest I remind you that only one of us here told the entirety of Hogwarts that Gareth Harper is a bedwetter."

"It was absolutely wicked, just so you know," Astoria giggled, batting the pillow away as she ignored the accusation. "Pansy's the absolute pariah of the Slytherin house. Even mum wrote Daph and told her to lay low from the little wretch for a while. You're an evil genius, Black."

"That was not my intention!" Ariadne climbed off the bed and onto the floor, taking a sip of her tea to buy herself a moment of time. She dropped her cup back onto the saucer, hot enough from the guilt without the additional burn to her fingers. "Who cares about a Floo call, anyhow? It's hardly salacious."