Almost two months passed since Arabella's landing in the Godswood. Her suspicions of which time she found herself were confirmed when, a bit more than a month ago, the news arrived that John Arryn, the Hand of the King, had died spread across Winterfell. Later, another bit of news: the King was coming to the North. Arabella knew exactly why: to invite Lord Eddard to become the new Hand.
During these two months, she had lived in a guest room in Winterfell's Castle. She was treated with the utmost respect one would confer to a noble guest, since Lord Eddard didn't want to possibly anger a powerful noble house from a land far away for treating one of their scions badly. After all, her cover was that she was on an exploratory mission from the unknown continent of Europe.
How she got to Winterfell was treated as a secret of Lady Slytherin and one that Lord Eddard instructed his people not to press for. Only Arya, Lord Eddard and Maester Lewin knew of her sudden appearance in the Godswood. The latter had known because Arabella had offered to share the history of her people with him and Lord Stark in exchange for access to the library in Winterfell and lessons from the Maester in the most relevant topics of Westeros history and politics. At first, he was reluctant to teach her, but she soon proved to be an even sharper mind than any of the Stark children. That was what she spent most of her time doing, when she wasn't exploring Winterfell itself.
She had grown closer to the Stark children, especially Arya and Bran, who constantly asked her to show them some magic tricks in secret. More often than not, she obliged them, always making sure nobody was watching and only with harmless spells.
Sansa maintained a polite distance from her. In the beginning, she tried to make friends with her. So did Catelyn Stark. That grew distant however when she made clear that she didn't do anything which was praised as Lady-Like for the Tully's standards. She clearly had a far better education than Westerosi ladies when it came to politics and history and far worse when it came to embroidery, singing and dancing. So, they decided to treat her as a foreign dignitary and nothing more.
As for the boys, she understood well the looks she got from Robb and Theon. Even from John. She didn't blame them. It wasn't the first time men had looked at her this way and she was old enough to understand their desires. Not that she didn't find Robb or John to be attractive. Even the Greyjoy had his small charms, although Arabella didn't like her personality. He had tried to show his advances more openly and almost blew up her cover when she thought about blasting him away with a spell. Robbs sense of honor intervened just in time to save this lady from the distress of the Kraken's company.
When the news of the King's visit to the North became public, Arabella and Lord Eddard decided it was best for her to remain in Winterfell so that they could address her situation directly with the king. Arabella's original goal was to try and come back to Hogwarts as soon as possible. However, the spell didn't work and she was afraid forcing it would take her to an even worse place than Westeros. So she decided to stay for the time being, if only to wait for the Red Comet and the full return of magic to try her luck then.
Now, however, she could see people lining up all through Winterfell as the King's caravan made its way to the Castle Courtyard. The scene unfolded much like the original series, with all the Starks coming to receive the King and with Robert Baratheon accompanying Eddard to the crypts, despite the protests of one angry Cersei Lannister.
Arabella had taken a good look at the King. He was even fatter than in the series. And Joffrey looked even more evil, gazing at the people below him as if they were mere objects waiting to endure any form of pain or humiliation for his pleasure. She definitely didn't like him before and she liked him even less now. Were it not suicide to kill him right then and there, she would have used the Unforgivable Curse of Death on him and half the royal family.
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The town was a buzz with people from the North and from the King's party going out and about in their duties. The day before had been marked by a banquet to honor the King's arrival. She had been formally introduced to the Royal Family during the banquet as a foreign dignitary, but neither Robbert or Cersei had paid much attention to her. The King was too busy enjoying himself while the Queen was too busy being offended by it. Not that she wouldn't try to talk to this Arabella later. Cersei believed she could be an interesting person to know.
Lord Stark had told her they'd have plenty of time to talk to the King while he was visiting Winterfell and that she should be patient. It wasn't a problem for her. It's not like Arabella wanted to talk to Robert Baratheon anyways. Today she was worried about something else. Something she had seen from a distance during her morning walks through the castle walls.
Bran was climbing a tower. A broken tower.
Knowing what was about to happen, she ran towards the courtyard just in time to see a boy falling from the top, screaming. Her hand moved instinctively towards the sleeve of her cloak, which she always wore on top of any gown the Starks had given her, and before she could think about her cover, she shouted.
"Aresto Momentum!"
The screams of the boy died out when he stopped his fall mere centimeters from the ground. Then he gently fell towards it, completely unharmed. As soon as she had done it, she felt an intense sensation of happiness for being able to save Bran from his fall and subsequent paralysis. Her happiness, however, was quickly washed away when she noticed the large crowd that had witnessed the event.
Murmurs of sorcery echoed through the crowd and they seemed uncertain whether to cheer for her saving the young Lord or to be hostile of this unknown power. Lucky for Arabella, Bran decided for her.
"Thank you for saving me!" screamed the boy with joy as he ran to hug her "your magic is really amazing!"
The crowd made way for Catelyn Stark who was running towards them. Tears were already in her eyes when she saw them, but the sorrow immediately turned into relief.
"Bran! Are you hurt? Are you okay? I heard you fell from the tower and I ran here" she said running her hands through his body to ensure he had no injuries.
"Mom, I'm okay" Bran said, shy with all the commotion around him and his mom's actions "It's all because of Arabella. She used magic to stop my fall. She saved me!"
Catelyn looked towards Arabella and then towards a few people in the crowd who she knew more. They all assented with their heads, confirming the boy's words. She held her tongue about sorcery being a sin before the Seven and did what any mother who had her child saved should do, regardless of the circumstances.
"Thank you, Lady Slytherin. You've saved my boy and I will never be able to repay this kindness. May the Seven bless you"
"Thank you, Lady Stark. I'm just glad I could be of help. Bran is a sweet boy and his safety is important to me. We grew to be good friends, just like with your daughter Arya"
Catelyn frowned slightly from the mention of her younger daughter. However, she didn't say anything about it and quickly turned her attention to Bran.
"Brandon Stark, how many times did I tell you not to climb to high places. Do you know what would have happened if Lady Slytherin hadn't saved you? You could be dead! There will be no more climbing for you, young man. Never again!"
"But mom, I didn't just fall!" Brandon spoke, loud enough for everyone to hear just as Lord Eddard arrived at the scene, no doubt warned by a servant about the commotion "I was pushed. By Jamie Lannister. He was with the Queen!"
Listening to it, Eddard Stark lost his composure in a fit of rage and drew his sword.
"Up the tower now!" he roared to his guards "seize the Kingslayer, seize the Queen!"
No longer had he uttered those words, the guards drew their swords and followed their lord towards the broken tower. Arabella decided to go with them, hoping to avoid bloodshed. The men were faster than her and when she arrived at the top of the tower, she saw Lord Eddard engaged in a duel with Jamie Lannister, who had disarmed the first guard and killed him with his own sword and now used it against the Lord of Winterfell. Two other guards were pinning the Queen down, preventing her from escaping.
"What are you doing Stark?" she snapped, trying to bluff their way "This is treason! The King will have your head for this!"
Lord Eddard didn't care, he continued dueling with the Kingslayer, hoping to disarm him, to bring him to justice. Jamie, on the other hand, gave up any notion of survival and was just trying to take the Lord of Winterfell down with him.
Arabella knew she had to intervene. Otherwise, Jaime would eventually gain the upper hand and kill Lord Stark. She pointed her wand at him and said.
"Expelliarmus!"
A crackling red ray left her wand and hit Jamie squarely in the chest, making him let go of the sword and hit the wall with a heavy thud before passing out. All looked astonished at her, Cersei especially. The guards, however, had the quick reflexes to pin her down again when she tried to make a run for it.
Soon, more guards ran towards the area and took both Lannisters to the dungeons, under Lord Eddard's command. After that, they were ordered to gather more men and apprehend the weapons of all Lannistermen and to arrest those who caused any trouble, including Tyrion Lannister.
As the lions were dragged away, the crowd jeered and cursed them. Some even threatened violence. Were it not for the heavy guard, Arabella was sure they'd be destroyed by the frenzied mob. Once they had left, however, the people soon turned to cheer Arabella. Sorcerer or not, she just saved a child and that, in the eyes of the people, deserved recognition. Bran ran over to hug her again and she stroked his hair gently before opening a big smile.
"Come! Let's go inside to see what will happen!" he said, pulling her hand towards the Castle.