There's Something About Potter

Chapter 19

Aria was sleeping peacefully in the girls' dormitory that evening when the fireplace at the very back of the room roared to life. She was startled awake at the sound of Hermione's voice suddenly echoing around the small room.

"Aria! Are you awake?!"

Acting instinctively, Aria jerked herself out from underneath her comforters and blinked blearily at her surroundings. "Who was that—Hermione? Is that you?" She asked dumbly.

"Oh for Heaven's sake, Granger!"

Aria heard Pansy's annoyed growl from the opposite corner of the room, followed by the sound of the other girl yanking the curtains around her bed open. "Some of us are trying to get some last minute studying done here! Couldn't you have floo-called Potter in the morning?!" She snapped loudly.

"Well, excuse me. But if you haven't finished your studying by now, I don't think any amount of cramming will help you, Parkinson." Came Hermione's loud, scoffing response.

"Why you bushy-haired—"

"Can you two not do this right now?" Aria grumbled, interrupting Pansy before she could finish her retort as she sat up and stretched, slowly retracting her wings.

She suppressed her true form and shoved her glasses onto her face, pulling the thick curtains back from around her bed. Afterwards, she wrapped a warm blanket around her shoulders and trudged sleepily across the room, yawning as she sank down onto the rug in front of the fireplace.

"Seriously, 'Mione. You'd better have a good reason for waking me up in the middle of the night like this." She muttered grumpily, rubbing her eyes and pushing her long hair away from her face.

"We do, we swear!"

It was Ron who had spoken this time, and the obvious excitement in his voice piqued Aria's curiosity enough that she forced her eyes open and straightened, leaning in closer to the fireplace to hear them better.

"Ron, is that you? Are you with Hermione right now?" Aria asked, confused. "I thought you two were going to spend Christmas separately this year?"

"Well, we were, but at the last minute, Ron decided to ask me out to dinner so we're both here in Paris right now." Hermione answered, sounding strangely exhilarated. "Anyway, we have something really important to tell you. Can you adjust the wards on your fireplace first so that we can see each other face to face?" She asked.

Aria sighed, trying to remember where she had left her wand the night before. When she realized that it was under her pillow, and that she was too lazy to walk back over to her bed to get it, she waved a hand over the fireplace instead, wordlessly adjusting the wards. From the other side of the room, Pansy arched an eyebrow at her, obviously never having seen her display wandless magic before.

She ignored the other girl's reaction and waited a couple of minutes until Ron and Hermione's flushed, disembodied heads suddenly popped into the fireplace. They both grinned at her and Aria couldn't help smiling wryly at the matching looks of excitement on both of her best friends' faces.

"Happy Christmas!" Ron exclaimed.

"Alright, alright...Happy Christmas to you too." Aria rolled her eyes at his exuberance and leaned back, wrapping her blanket tighter around her shoulders. "Now, exactly what was so important that you both couldn't wait to tell me until after you got back?" She asked.

"Well..." Ron hesitated, meeting Hermione's eyes and giving her a questioning look. When Hermione just blushed, Aria arched an eyebrow and flicked her gaze back and forth between them in question.

"What's going on?" She asked cautiously.

"We really wanted you to be the first one to know before we told anyone else." Hermione paused and allowed her voice to trail off, causing Aria to frown and give her a concerned look.