Ariadne's Thread ⭒ h. potter

Good Luck, Harry

The rest of the trip was rather uneventful, considering. By the end of it, Ariadne was practically shaking on the train, so eager to see her friends again. It had only been a few days, and she loved spending time with Astoria, but Ariadne had not spent more than a day away from Harry, Ron, and Hermione in the past nine months. She could hardly contain her excitement, delighted to see them even amongst the somber mood.

The sole silver lining to the news of Buckbeak's impending doom was that it seemed to have instantly and vigorously revitalized Ron and Hermione's friendship. Perhaps it was the possible loss of yet another animal that triggered the road to absolution. Or, rather more likely, it was the tears in Hermione's eyes.

In fact, Ron seemed positively awestruck by Hermione's presence since Ariadne's return. The two spent all their time attached to the hip, seated side by side in the library's secluded back corner researching precedential animal trials since the 14th century. Ariadne would join them, chiming in now and then as she worked on her essays. But they didn't seem to particularly need her help.

Ariadne was beginning to feel awfully like an intruder as she sat with them. She'd caught Ron staring habitually at Hermione's hands every so often, before he'd drag his eyes to her face, gaze rather reverential. On the rare occasion that the older girl took notice, her cheeks would pinken slightly and she'd stumble over whatever passage she had been reading aloud.

Merlin knows what's going on there.

Whatever had happened, Ariadne was not entirely sure she wanted to know. Harry had tried to explain, a rushed sort of fantastic ramble about Cheering Charms, walking out of class, and duel, maybe, but Oliver Wood had practically dragged him away by the ear before Ariadne was able to press any further.

He spent nearly all his time on the Quidditch pitch these days, as Wood upped practices from five times a week to daily in preparation for the upcoming Slytherin match. In fact, Ariadne only ever got to see him in the hallways, where she contributed to her civic House duty by walking Harry Potter, Seeker Extraordinaire, to his classes.

It had begun by accident on the first Thursday back as she left Charms and made her way over to third-years exiting Transfiguration at the end of the hall. This was their usual routine, where Harry, Ron, and Hermione would deposit Ariadne off at her History of Magic classroom as they made their way over to the Gryffindor tower at the end of their morning lessons. Ginny would tag along too, sometimes, though lately she'd taken to spending the bulk of her free time with her recently acquired Nimbus 2001.

It was a rare moment of peace that Ariadne could find with Harry as finals (exams and Quidditch, that is) loomed, and she was eager to take advantage.

"Malfoy?" Harry pulled a face, nose wrinkling upon hearing of the surprise guest at the Greengrass dinner.

Ariadne laughed in return, whacking him lightly on the shoulder with her textbook. As lightly as she could, at least, though the 1600-page tome did cause Harry to falter slightly in his step. "She's not so bad, you know. Not to me, at least." Ariadne paused for a moment before speaking again, keeping her voice as lofty as she could. "After all, if I don't have her, I have no one."

Harry opened his mouth in protest, but Ariadne cut him off before he could begin. "Not like that, of course. But, well – you know what I mean."

"Yeah, alright," conceded Harry. "I suppose she's the best of the bunch, if you're looking at her husband and son."

"Oh?" Ariadne grinned. "Looking at her husband and son much, are you?"

Harry moved quickly to shove her with his shoulder but, expecting the move, Ariadne was quicker. She was already metres ahead of him by the time he righted himself.