A Wizards Fairytale

Chapter 15

The morning after the second task was quiet and calm. Most of the older students (and some of the professors) were fighting off hangovers and a general lack of sleep from the night's festivities. Gabrielle was feeling the pain of her drinking the night before, and she was generally unresponsive though positioned comfortably against Aries. He was mostly okay, having not drank, but exhausted. Jacques just smirked at them, remembering the picture that was hidden in his room. About freaking time!

Everything was normal until Iris came over to their table. Aries immediately woke up, seeing the tears running down her cheeks. "Ris, what's wrong?" he asked gently, noticing a letter clutched in her hands. This could not be good.

Iris choked down a sob. "Papou had a heart attack last night," she said. "He's gone." Gabrielle leaned away from Aries, allowing him to get up and comfort his cousin. Aries did not cry, and Gabrielle could not remember the last time she had seen him do so, but she could tell he was hurting. Aries adored his grandparents and had looked up to his grandfather, having never had a father in his life.

Iris just clung to her cousin, absorbing the comfort he gave. Aries had always been the steady one, the one who didn't break down when things got bad, when Uncle Cyrus had died, when Aunt Zana had died. He always seemed okay, even when she knew he wasn't. Iris knew it was a result of his childhood and those awful people he had lived with, and she would always hate them for what they did to her favorite cousin, but she was also grateful there was someone in her life who could hold everything together.

After a couple minutes, Iris's sobs died down, and he asked, "When's the funeral?"

"Wednesday," she replied, wiping the tear tracks off her cheeks. "Papa is going to pick us up."

Aries sighed. "I'm going to go write to Rue and see if she can bring Lena to stay with me until then. I should be the one to tell her." Iris just nodded, unable to say much. He turned to Jacques. "Make sure she eats something," he instructed, heading to the door.

He was stopped by Gabrielle. She stood in front of him, eyes filled with worry. "Are you okay?" she asked gently.

"Fine," he said distractedly. Gabrielle grabbed his head and forced him to look at her.

"Are you okay?" she repeated. Aries didn't say anything, only clenching his jaw. Gabrielle sighed, dropping her hands. As if trying to offer some kind of reassurance, he kissed her gently on the forehead before heading back to the carriage. She smiled for a moment at the kiss, but a frown soon marred her beautiful features. No matter what Aries said, she was worried about him. Gabrielle always worried about him because he didn't seem to worry about himself.

"Gabrielle," Jacques said, his eyes flickering back to Iris, who was slowly eating a plate of breakfast, every once in a while, "Aries will be fine. He's tough."

This didn't diminish Gabrielle's worry. She had seen things Jacques hadn't. Jacques had only known the Aries that emerged after his mother's death. She remembered the dreamer, the boy who made magic with a piano, the first boy she ever had a crush on. More importantly, she remembered the wild, intense look in his eyes the morning his mother died. She remembered the dreams being replaced a harsh practicality and the quiet grief that always seemed to linger after that. They had lost a lot of Aries when Zana had died. She didn't want to lose any more of him.

The days flew by. Wednesday came, and Aries and Iris received permission from their respective headmasters/headmistresses to leave Hogwarts. Technically, Aries already had permission to leave school when necessary due to his sister, but he would've refused to leave without Iris. Uncle Kostos did pick them up, but he was joined by Athena, who immediately embraced her sister and cousin and began inspecting them like the mother hen she was. If the Hall could've spoken Greek, they would've laughed at Aries Kalgarias being reprimanded on his sleeping habits like a young boy. Lena had been sent to come stay with Aries the night they heard the news, and she'd clung to him since like a little shadow. Of course, she managed to get the majority of Hogwarts under her spell, charming them with her fragmented English and whimsical air. She and Luna Lovegood seemed to get along splendidly.