Disclaimer: I am not JK Rowling, nor will I ever be. Therefore, I do not own Harry Potter or it's characters... Just wanted to make that clear... haha

This story is rated T for foul language

Fighting the Fire

Chapter 1

Ariana's POV

The sun shines down brightly on us; the sky above is cloudless and blue. The air smells of the forest that surrounds us. The sweat that covers my forehead mats my hair to my face. I rake my hand across my face and wipe the sweat away. The grass folds beneath my shoes as I readjust my stance. I grip my wand tightly and glare at my opponent across from me.

"Colovaria!"

I hold up my wand and say "Protego!" but the spell hits me anyways. I see the light blue color rising up from the tips of my hair and sigh. "Teddy what did I do wrong this time?"

He jogs over and readjusts my hands. "You have to move your hand in front of you more. That way it is able to actually block the spell. Here, watch me." He jogs back and readies himself across from me. "Fire when ready."

I flick my wand and yell "Densaugeo!"

He moves his and in front of him. "Protego!" The spell ricochets away from him and shoots in another direction.

I drop my wand and nod my head. "I see what you mean. Let's try it again."

He chuckles and shakes his head. "Ari, we have been at this for hours. Let's give it a rest and go eat."

I let out a dramatic sigh and roll my eyes. "Fine…"

He laughs and we walk into the vacation house. After I spent the first two weeks of summer vacation moping about, Ginny and Harry decided it was time for a vacation. So now we are staying in a huge log cabin out on some mountain in Italy. We've been up here for almost a month. I even spent my seventeenth birthday up here, which was lovely since it didn't involve Monroe. She's here now though, which is why Teddy and I were practicing defense spells outside.

Teddy walks into the kitchen and starts getting things ready to make us lunch.

Al hears Teddy clanking pots and comes running down the stairs calling for me. He runs into the kitchen and laughs when he sees my hair. "Really Ari? Blue?"

I shrug my shoulders and smirk. "What? I just wanted to match Teddy. What were you yelling about?"

He flashes me a big grin. "I have a present for you upstairs…"

I look at him skeptically. He shakes his head and laughs. "Close your eyes."

"Shit Al! You want me to walk up the stairs with my eyes closed?"

He sighs and taps his chin. "Good point... You wait right here with your eyes closed. I will bring your present down to you." Before I can respond he runs up the stairs and yells down "NO PEEKING!"

I close my eyes and tap my foot on the ground impatiently while I wait for him to come back down. I hear something move in front of me move and I tense up.

Suddenly, off to my left I hear, "Okay open your eyes."

I slowly open my eyes and see large pile of camping gear. I look over at Al and smirk. "That is a LOT of camping gear…"

He rolls his eyes and laughs. "Just grab a pack and go get your stuff. We're going camping tonight and tomorrow!"

I look at him warily. "Who's 'we'?"

"Just you, me, James…"

I narrow my eyes and point at him. "No Monroe, right?"

He shakes his head quickly. "No?"

I grin at him. "Good answer! I'm going to go pack."

(Break)

Al and I slowly make our way through the forest behind the vacation house. He leads us through thick brush and dense trees. The tops of the trees cover the top of the forest completely, forming a canopy over the forest floor. There are birds of all kinds flying around and sitting in the trees above. We veer to the right and come across a small cluster of tents. Al holds out his arm and grins. "We're here."

I drop my tent and count the other tents. If it's just supposed to be me, Al and James then why is there an extra tent here? My question is answered when Freddie walks out of the tree line carrying wood. I let out a shriek and sprint over to him, wrapping him in a big hug. "FREDDIE! When the hell did you get released from St. Mungo's?"

I release him from my hug and he sets the wood down with a laugh. "Yesterday. Al and I have been planning this trip for weeks though. By the way, what's with the blue hair?"

"Long story… I was trying to avoid Monroe and, this is what I got for it."

Leaves rustle behind us, then I hear "What about me?"

Freddie grimaces and walks into his tent. I throw my hands in the air and groan. "What the hell is she doing here? Al, you told me she wouldn't be here…"

He shoots a glare at James. "She wasn't SUPPOSED to be here…"

I shake my head. "Well I'm not sharing a tent with her!"

She sneers and grabs James' hand. "Oh don't worry. I'm going to share a tent with Jamie Wamie here." They walk into their tent, but not before Monroe can flip me off.

I turn to Al. "Any more surprises?"

He looks behind me and grins. "Only one."

I turn around, half expecting Ashlynn Silverton to be standing behind me. Instead I see Landen, who is carrying a tent and wearing a grin.

I smirk and give him a hug. "Landen, you have impeccable timing."

He laughs and sets up his tent. "I do what I can…"

From inside his tent, Freddie yells "Would you lot get in here already? We have LOADS to catch up on!"

We all laugh and walk into Freddie's tent.

(Break)

After we all finish the dinner Freddie made for us, Al pulls out a deck of cards.

Freddie grins. "Strip poker? Again Al?"

I groan and shake my head. "No… I'm dreadful at poker! You lot remember winter holiday last year! I was the first one in my knickers!"

Al laughs and puts the cards away. "That's right! You really are horrid at poker... How about we play-"

Al is interrupted my Monroe's shrill voice. "Oh Jamie Wamie, you're SO sweet!"

James' voice rings out after hers. "Mony Wony, you are just too cute!"

Al and Freddie dramatically pretend to hurl. I look over to Landen and he grimaces. "If I have to listen to this all night I'm going to lose it…"

I smirk. "Lose what? Your dinner?"

Al laughs. "Your mind?"

Freddie grins. "Your cool?"

Landen sighs and chuckles. "If they keep it up it's going to be all of the above! It physically pains me to have to listen to it!"

We all look around at each other and break into a fit of giggles. We catch our breath and I look at Al with a devious grin. "Guys, I have an idea…"

James' POV

I am walking through the forbidden forest with Freddie, that asshole Carter Cass, and a couple of girls I don't know. We come to the outside of a clearing and see hundreds of Death Eaters encircling the clearing. There are a few of them lying lifelessly in a crater across from me. In the middle of the clearing is Carter's father. He is standing, with his wand pointed in front of him, in front of a blonde girl who is chained to a post. He has blood seeping from his cheek, suggesting the girl on the post wasn't caught without putting up a fight.

Carter's father leans forward and says something to the girl. She responds by spitting on him and letting out a rage filled scream. Cass brings the back of his hand colliding into the girls face. Her head jerks to the side, blood spraying from her mouth and revealing her face. It's Ariana!

Ariana spits out a bit of blood in her mouth then turns back to Cass with a smile on her bloody lips. "Is that all you've got? You hit like my grandma…"

I let out a low laugh and continue watching. Cass snarls and says, "You're lucky the Dark Lord wants you alive. I would end your life right here and now if that weren't the case, Ariana Brighton. Until then, I get to have my fun with you. CRUCIO!"

Ariana clenches her teeth together with eyes wide, trying to hold in cries of pain. I look around desperately. I know I have to do something, I just don't know what. If we attack Cass, the other Death Eaters will surely kill all of us AND Ariana…

Cass laughs evilly. "What's wrong little girl, no smart ass comments left? Shame, really. I thought you would be a more adverse foe. Now, you shall endure the same pain your father did before I killed him! CRUCIO!" He waves his wand and yells his curse with more feeling this time, causing a small cry of pain to escape her lips. Cass smiles at the slight glimpse of weakness. The look on Ariana's face shows the excruciating pain she is feeling. He releases her and cackles, and lets out another anger-filled crucio, red sparks flying at Ariana. This time he breaks her; she cries out, agonizing pain filling her face. Her feet lift off the ground and her arms bend as her body gives way under the pain.

Her mouth opens up and she shrieks "JAMES!"

No… wait… that was Monroe's voice…

I look around for Monroe but I can't find her anywhere.

"JAMES!"

I jerk my eyes open and quickly jump out of my bunk bed. The shriek sounds again. "JAMES!"

I run out of my tent and see Ariana, Landen, Freddie and Al all looking up and laughing. I follow their gaze and gasp. Monroe's bed is up in the treetops with two ropes supporting her. She is splayed out on the bed looking down. She is so far up I can barely make out the look of fear on her face. Barely.

I wave my wand and try to bring her bed down but she won't sit still so it's really difficult. I glare over to the others, who are still laughing. "Would one of you prats possibly be able to help me?"

Al holds up his hands and laughs. "Not me, mate."

Freddie mimics him and shakes his head with a laugh. "Not it."

Landen shrugs. "I can't stand her, so I'm out."

Ariana throws her hands in the air and groans. "FINE." She pulls out her wand and steadies the bed. We slowly bring Monroe back to the ground.

As soon as her mattress touches the forest floor, Monroe launches off of it and wraps her arms around my neck. I rub her back and sigh. "How did you even get up there?"

She lets go of my neck and whirls around, her brown hair spinning wildly. She points at Ariana aggressively. "THAT BITCH PUT ME UP THERE!"

Ariana shrugs her shoulders with a laugh. "I got you back down didn't I?"

I sigh and shake my head. "Why can't you two just be friends? Ariana, you could really use a girl to talk to and be friends with…"

Monroe scoffs. "I won't be friends with her! I don't want to die!"

I look at her questioningly. "Why would you die if you were friends with her?"

Monroe rolls her eyes and sighs. "Because! All the girls who were friends with her before are dead now!"

Ari's POV

I can feel the anger welling up inside as I register what she said. I see Al shake his head and he says "Nice, Monroe… Real nice…"

James rolls his eyes and walks back into his tent. Monroe shrugs her shoulders and looks at me. "It's true, isn't it little slut?"

I remain quiet, my fists clenched tightly at my side. I clench my teeth and take a deep breath. My anger is rising to the surface, just seconds from exploding. Al steps forward. "Monroe stop."

She ignores Al and takes a step closer to me. "It is true, huh? You're the reason that Bella, Rachelle and Astoria are dead?"

I see Freddie flinch at the sound of Bella's name and I break my silence. "MONROE! SHUT UP!"

"Or what? What are you going to do?"

I close my eyes and take a deep breath to try and calm down. She continues. "Are you going to kill me like you did them?"

I open my eyes and punch her in the nose. "SHUT UP ALREADY! Bloody hell!"

She shrieks and clasps her hands over her nose. "James!"

James pokes his head out of his tent and groans. "What happened now?"

Freddie scoffs. "Your bloody girlfriend was being a right bitch. Ariana hit her. She got what she deserved."

Blood is now running through Monroe's fingers and she's crying. James glares at me. "You hit her?"

I flip him off and walk off into the woods. I've been trying to work on my anger problems but that girl really knows how to irk me. I push through some low hanging branches and find a long river flowing into a large, clear lake with a huge, flat, grey rock in the middle of it.

I hear someone walking through the trees behind me so I quickly run and dive into the lake. I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone. I'm still trying to cool down! I pull myself under a jutted out rock and place on of my palms against the bottom of it. I slowly peek out from under the rock and see James standing at the edge of the lake. He has his hands cupped around his mouth and he is looking around. If I had been smart, I would have used the bubble-head charm before I jumped in here. But I didn't… So now my lungs are starting to burn as I run out of air.

James drops his hands and walks away. I wait until he's completely disappeared from my view and then use the rock I'm hiding under to propel myself up. My head breaks the surface and I gasp for air. "Bloody hell…" I let out a laugh and swim to the flat rock in the middle of the lake. I pull myself onto it and lie back.

I close my eyes for only a moment before I hear "I knew I would find you eventually."

I let out a sigh. "What do you want James?"

"We need to talk. Can you come over here please?"

I laugh and shake my head. "Not going to happen. If you want to talk you're going to have to swim out here."

He groans and jumps in the water. "Why do you enjoy annoying me?"

I grin widely. "Because your girlfriend is a bitch and you let her annoy me. I just figure I can return the favor."

He slaps his hands onto the rock and pulls himself up. "Seriously though. Why are you so impossible?"

I open my eyes and shake my head with a sigh. "Because your bitchy girlfriend doesn't let you hang out with me anymore. The last time I got to hang out with you, JUST YOU, was before… your accident… so you won't even remember…"

He shrugs. "Nope. Sorry…" He lies back and says "I really wish you two could get along. She is an absolute lovely person."

I scoff and sit up, looking out across the lake. "MERLIN! I WISH YOU COULD HEAR YOURSELF! I WISH you could remember her from before! I wish you could open your DAMN eyes and see what a BITCH she is! And it's not just to me! She's a real twat to Freddie and Al too! But you don't care, do you? As long as you have your 'Mony Wony', right? Merlin, she has you under a bloody spell or something!" I stand up on the rock and look at him. "This was a great talk James. I'm really feeling better now. Thanks… Asshole…" With that I turn away from him and dive off from the rock.

I pull myself out of the lake and stomp back to the tents. I can hear James calling after me but I don't care. I may have still liked him before, but not anymore. I can't stand the new James. In fact, I don't want to have anything to do with him.

Alright yall! I hope you enjoyed this first chapter! I would love to know your thoughts and opinions about it!

Thanks!

-Tx :)