Written In the Stars | s.b |

TWENTY-EIGHT

Christmas break couldn't have come sooner for Ariah. She was overwhelmed beyond words with her homework load, taking extra classes every Saturday and occulamency lessons with Frank every Sunday and Friday. Her brain felt like a giant puddle and this break was well over do.

Plus, there was the constant tension between the whole group after the events that took place between Ariah, Marlene and Sirius. It caused a divide between them all — Meeka taking Ariah's side and James taking Sirius' leaving Peter and Remus in the middle. James and Meeka did all the fighting for Sirius and Ariah.

Sure, Ariah spent most of her free time with Dylan or Frank, but she was still exhausted and ready for a quite winter break.

It wasn't until she arrived home, that she remembered her mother's recent death. She stood in the doorway as Remus and Lyall walked ahead. An emptiness filled inside of her, tipping the scale of things that had gone wrong this year. Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and thought of the clearing in the forest with Frank.

"Hey." Remus put his hand on his sisters shoulder. "You okay?"

Ariah nodded slightly. "Getting there... how about you?"

"Ditto," he said. "I'm really sorry. About all that happened to you this school year..."

"You don't believe Marlene and Sirius, do you?" Ariah asked tentatively.

"I'm trying to stay out of it Ri..."

"I get that... it would just be nice to know that my brother had my back.... it's just, only Meeka is hearing me out on this and... I would never do something to hurt Sirius... it just sucks that everyone thinks I would..."

"Ariah —"

"Hey kids," Lyall said l, emerging from the kitchen. "I thought it was about time you guys got you're own rooms so I grabbed a few of my construction buddies to help me extend the house — if you guys pick which rooms you'd like I'll help you guys move your stuff."

Ariah was leaning on the balcony attached to her new room. Remus didn't want to move his things which made the decision incredibly easy. Ariah wanted the new room anyway.

It was dark outside now, the area lit up only by the stars and the moon in the sky. Ariah couldn't stop thinking about how much her mother would have enjoyed this balcony. Hope Lupin was always captivated by astronomy — it's the reason Ariah loved astronomy so much.

"Hey..." Remus emerged from the trapdoor that led from Ariah's room to the balcony. "I think this room was made just for you."

Ariah nodded muttering a simple 'hmm,' before looking back out to the night sky. Remus sighed, approaching his sister and staring out at the sky.

"I owe you an apology, Ri," he muttered. "You just wanted your brother on your side and I've been refusing to stand by you..."

Ariah peered over at her brother. "So you believe me...?"

Remus nodded. "Of course I do. You'd never even think to hurt anyone like that — let alone Sirius."

Ariah smiled, scooting closer to her twin. "I'm sorry too. I've been stuck in my own head lately and it's led me to being a horrible and negligent sister... so I'm sorry..."

Remus looked to Ariah with a matching smile. "We've both been pretty crappy in the supportive sibling category, haven't we?"

Ariah chuckled. "Yeah... we have." She rested her shoulder on her brothers shoulder, feeling relieved to have her brother back.

"So, the real question is," Remus said. "How do we get rid of Marlene."

Ariah chuckled, hugging Remus tightly. "I missed you."