Written In the Stars | s.b |

FOUR

"James SO fancies you!!" Meeka squealed.

As soon as Ariah arrived to their dorm, the girls demanded an explanation for her hand.

Meeka sat on Ariah's bed with her and Marlene McKinnon. Laia Crimson, a curvy brown girl with wild curly hair, laid on the floor with her head on Amelia Bones' lap.

Ariah rolled her eyes.

"Sirius fancies you too, I bet!" Marlene shouted.

"Too bad you've got two of the biggest arse bags in all of Hogwarts falling over your feet," Laia said.

"Sirius does not fancy me," Ariah said. "That I know for a fact. He tells me daily how he thinks you, Marlene, are cute."

It was Marlene's time to roll her eyes. "Yeah as if that'd ever happen. I don't understand why you even hang out with him."

"He's not bad, really," Ariah said. "You just have to get passed the arse bag part."

"Which is quite difficult," Amelia said. "Have you met them?"

The five girls giggled together, changing the topic to their plans over Christmas break.

Ariah was most excited for the holiday break as she was given permission to spend some of the break with Meeka and her aunt in America.

"My aunt said we could go to the beach!" Meeka said. "The beach during winter! I'm so excited!"

"I've never even been to a beach before," Ariah said with excitement. "It's too far away from our house."

The two sat in the kitchen by the oven. They had spent most of the winter days in the kitchen, eating various Christmas cookies the house elves made them.

"Oh the beach is amazing! I absolutely adore it. I've never spent the holidays in California before though." She shoved the rest of her cookie into her mouth. "My parents usually insist on spending Christmas together but this year they have a lot of work or something."

"Maybe you could spend the rest of the break with us!" Ariah exclaimed. She quickly remembered that this year, Christmas was on a full moon. She paled.

"Wait! Never mind. I remember my parents said my grandparents were coming and its a family only day this year..." she said quickly.

"Oh well maybe next year!"

Sirius sat in the library, ignoring the pile of homework already nagging at the very back of his mind. Christmas was approaching far too quickly for Sirius' liking. He was tempted to stay at Hogwarts for the break but as everyone else was heading home, he decided surely it wouldn't be too bad for him to head home. Though deep down he knew that was a lie. If he was lucky his family would ignore him but that was hopeful thinking.

Especially now that everyone knew he was friends with Ariah Lupin, who's father was known in the ministry for his muggle-born equality movements and who's mother is a muggle.

He sighed, pushing his books to the far end of the table. There was no way he'd be able to accomplish all his homework with everything running through his mind.

"What has you so frightened, Sirius," Ariah said, startling the boy.

"Besides you?" He clutched his hand over his heart as it slowed back to normal pace.

She giggled, sitting across from Sirius. "Sorry... so why are you so scared?"

"How do you — how could you possibly know that...?"