the end of first year
During Easter holidays Arabella returns to France and spends her time basking in the sun and running around the village. Despite her pleas to allow Regulus and Winter to come stay, all of their parent’s had decided they wanted their children at home for the Holiday. Regulus was too frightened to even ask his mother but Winter had pleaded with her until she was shot down with a stern letter. It was negotiated that Winter and Arabella would meet up in Diagon Alley with their mothers as a girls trip the weekend before they were due back at school which is where Arabella finds herself early Saturday morning.
“Winter!” Arabella grins as her friends bounds towards her and wraps her in a tight hug. Behind Winter is a tall, stiff looking woman standing with her arms crossed and lips tight. Arabella looks expectantly at her mother who smiles and walks towards the women.
“Mrs Malfoy, so nice to finally meet you,” Elizabeth smiles.
A tight smile crosses Mrs Malfoy's face, “oh, you can call me Darleen.” Winter lets out a relieved breath at her mothers kind response, or kind for Mrs Malfoy, and the group walks down the busy street with Arabella and Winter leading the way.
The first shop they go into is Madam Malkimes as both Winter and Arabella are claiming to need new robes. Their mothers smile kindly as they try on many different outfits and after a while they leave the shop with many bags and are quite hungry.
As they walk down the street Mrs Malfoy stops suddenly in front of a tall women with sharp, daunting features.
“Walburga ,” Mrs Malfoy says.
The woman turns and nods at Mrs Malfoy, “Darleen. And this must be Elizabeth Rosier. I have heard about you.”
A flicker of something crosses Elizabeth’s face but she quickly returns to a large smile, “yes, Walburga Black! Pleasure to finally meet, I’m just so glad our children have all become friends.” Arabella’s eyes widen as she realizes who the woman is. The sharp features and dark hair are all too alike Regulus and her proper accent and posture is almost identical to his.
“Yes, yes, it’s just wonderful,” Mrs Black hums.
“Won’t you come get lunch with us, Walburga ?” Elizabeth asks with a slight raise of her eyebrow.
“As much as I wish I could, I have business I must attend to back at home,” Mrs Black tells the group. The three older women exchange quick goodbyes and the rest of them head into the leaky cauldron for lunch. They don’t talk about Walburga Black for the rest of the trip.
Later that night Arabella and Winter stay up playing exploding snap while their mothers chat with some others staying at the leaky cauldron. Eventually Elizabeth tugs Arabella upstairs to their room and the duo say goodnight to Winter and Mrs Malfoy.
On Sunday morning they wake up late and have a lazy breakfast before grabbing their bags and heading to Kings Cross.
Every single time Arabella has been to Kings Cross she’s been alight with nervous butterflies and excitement. This has not changed and Arabella finds herself grinning excitedly as the four of them weave through the crowds and towards the station. Winter and Arabella say quick goodbyes to their mother’s and walk towards the train.
“How do you think Regulus’ break was?” Winter asks as they fight their way through the crowd.
Arabella shrugs, “I hope it was good. His mother seemed a bit… I mean he’s described her to me before but I didn’t think it would be so accurate.”
Winter giggles, “If you're talking about how rude she was it was only because she isn’t sure of your mothers beliefs.”
Arabella scrunches her eyebrows, “what?”
“Y’know, most purebloods are like that but Walburga Black is certainly one of the worst- oh look!! There’s Regulus!” Winter grins and the two girls walk towards him as Arabella wonders over what Winter was talking about, she doubts it’s about religion, nobody at Hogwarts ever talks about religion. Arabella only knows because her mother used to take her to church on Christmas Eve.
“Arabella! Winter!” Regulus grins as they walk towards him. They exchange brief hugs and make their way to their usual compartment.
When they return to Hogwarts and are safely tucked away in their dormitory Winter crawls into Arabella’s bed like most nights. The two girls have taken up sleeping in the same bed ever since Arabella crawled into Winter’s bed one of those first nights at Hogwarts. It’s just become a habit.
“Hey,” Arabella whispers.
“Hi,” Winter responds as she kicks her way under the blankets.
Arabella lets silence trickle in for a moment before talking again, “earlier what did you mean when you said Mrs Black didn’t know what my mothers beliefs are?”
Winter pauses, “oh, I’m sorry I should’ve explained that better… I only meant that Walburga is cautious around you and your family because, even though your pureblood, she still doesn’t;t know what your opinions are on like- oh I don’t know how to explain it…” she trails off thoughtfully and Arabella waits, “I suppose blood purity, or mum sometimes talks about trusting other pureblood families since they have the same beliefs as us.”
Arabella still doesn’t quite understand but nods anyway, “ok.”
“I’m not sure I believe that anymore though,“ Winter whispers so quietly Arabella can barely hear her. The girls fall into silence and soon their breaths slow and they fall asleep.
The next few weeks are much more busy than before break. The first-years spend their days bouncing from classes, to the library, and back to the common room occasionally heading out into the grounds or wandering around the corridors.
Winter, Regulus, and Arabella have made it their mission to find out as much about the castle as they can before the years end and so before curfew each night they wander around exploring secret corridors and hidden alcoves.
This is how they find themselves following Narcissa’s instructions and tickling a pear in a bowl of fruit painting and wandering into the kitchens.
“Wow,” Regulus whispers, “this is so cool…”
“Awesome!” Winter grins, “think about all the food we can get from down here, it’ll be amazing!” The three of them gasp as a house elf apparated in front of them.
“Oh hello!” The elf squeaks, “how can Ella help the young master and mistresses?”
“Oh,” Arabella whispers, “we were just exploring…”
The elf named Ella grins, “have you come down to find food? Ella is quite proud to say that she makes a delicious cup of hot chocolate! Ella can even put peppermint in it.”
“Yes please!” Winter smiles.
“We don’t want to cause any trouble-“ Arabella starts.
“Nonsense!” The elf interrupts, “Ella is here to serve and Ella would be delighted to make cups of hot chocolate.” Another elf comes by and ushers the trio to a long table where various pastries and fruits are laid out, the elf’s shower them with food and Arabella can’t help but feel quite overwhelmed. Ella brings them each a steaming cup of hot chocolate with large candy canes and marshmallows which Arabella eagerly sips.
After multiple cups of hot chocolate and slices of freshly baked bread the trio sneaks back out of the kitchens and down the windy corridor. It’s past curfew so they creep quietly down the corridor making sure neither Filch or his cat are anywhere in sight. This is the first time they have been out past curfew which causes Arabella’s heart to flutter nervously at the thought of getting caught.
Regulus suddenly pushes Arabella and Winter back against the wall, “shh! I hear somebody.” Arabella covers her mouth with her hand and Winter does the same.
A boy laughs loudly in the distance and Regulus grimaces.
“What?” Arabella whispers, “who is it?”
“Sirius,” Regulus groans, “c’mon, we’ll have to go the other way.”
“What?” Winter hisses, “no way, this is way faster… we don't want Filch to catch us.”
“I’d rather Filch catch us than Sirius, let’s go,” Regulus grunts. Arabella and Winter reluctantly follow him, deciding they would certainly rather take the long way back than watch the Black brothers arguing.
***
The last quidditch game of the year is insanity. It’s Gryffindor V Slytherin and the first year Slytherins are gathered at the front of stands watching eagerly.
Warmth has crawled across the ground melting the snow of April and May and the first week of June has been the warmest of the whole year. Tonight is Friday and it’s warm enough that Arabella is wearing just shorts and a thin Slytherin sweater.
Regulus gazes at Sirius who is perched in front of the Gryffindor stands decked from head to toe in red and gold, he’s standing with two of the boys from his group and a small group of girls, two of whom look extremely bored.
Arabella leans over to Regulus, “we’re sure to beat them.”
He cracks a smile, “definitely. My bet is that Gryffindor will be a bit ahead but then Narcissa will get the snitch.”
Arabella nods, “our beaters are a bit weak and Gryffindor has James Potter, he’s very good especially for a first year.”
“I guess,” Regulus grunts.
Arabella rolls her eyes, “don’t be petty, he’s a great player.” Regulus mutters something inaudible causing Arabella to huff with disappointment. The whole ‘I hate that my brother has friends’ act is getting really annoying, especially considering that Regulus has friends too and he’s been just as distant with Sirius as Sirius has been with him.
Winter leans over to the two of them, “I still don’t understand the obsession with quidditch, it’s not that cool.” Regulus and Arabella both turn to glare at Winter who shrinks away, “ok, ok, it’s amazing!”
The game starts with a bang and ends the same way.
James Potter gets hit by a bludger in the last seconds of the game, right before Narcissa catches the snitch. Nobody sees James fall except Regulus who jumps out of his seat and yells. Arabella looks over at Regulus to see what he’s yelling about when the stands erupt into cheers as Narcissa soars over the pitch, snitch in hand. Regulus is still pointing at something, or someone as Arabella soon realizes. She looks over to the pitch and screams as James hurls towards the ground. Quickly the rest of the crowd realizes and points at James. It soon appears that someone has cast a spell on him which causes him to stop just before the ground then lower slowly onto the grass.
Sirius runs out from the stands and rushes towards his friend with Regulus watching with a sad look on his face.
Arabella’s always loved quidditch, her father says she’s fearless when it comes to it. She's never been scared of going fast or scared of falling. But when she sees James lying on the pitch, so still, she’s scared of Quidditch for the first time.
Within a week James is out of the hospital wing. The final days at Hogwarts come too fast and Arabella finds herself dreading leaving. They spend their days wandering around outside and they even swim in the black lake after Arabella and Winter convince the others at the Giant Squid won’t eat them.
Gryffindor wins the house cup but Slytherin gets the quidditch cup. The final feast at Hogwarts is a decadent event filled with cheerful chatter and delicious food. At the end of the feast the girls head back to their dorm to finish packing.
The end of first year is a sad event for Arabella. She can't remember a time in her life when she’s felt so happily surrounded by so many real friends, she’s been dreading leaving and now the time has come.
She struggles back tears as she hugs Winter goodbye before leaving the train. Her parents are waiting, side by side at the station. They both grin widely as she rushes towards them and they wrap her in a right hug.