The Era of Aria Snape

19

Chapter Nineteen

ARIA FOLLOWED DRACO back into the castle. "We have to tell McGonagall!" He announced and began in the direction of her classroom.

"What makes you think she'd be in her class? It's not like she has a lesson at this hour." Aria rolled her eyes, frantically looking around for any signs of a prefect or Filch for that matter.

"You're right."

"Come on, Malfoy. We don't need to get them into trouble. Let's just go back to the common room."

Draco scoffed as if what she had said was the most absurd thing he had ever heard.

"Look what we have here."

Aria had been about to leave him and go back to her dorm when Filch's voice reached her ears.

"Two students out of bed."

"We have an explanation." Draco tried to excuse the both of them but Filch silenced him.

"Not interested." He snapped. "Professor McGonagall might be, though. Come along."

"Happy now?" Aria seethed as the pair followed Filch who was blabbering on about the good old days and how punishment was back then.

"Calm down, Snape. McGonagall will be much more interested in that oaf's dragon egg than in a few students out past curfew."

"You better be right."

Filch left the two of them for a moment waiting outside McGonagall's classroom as he went to fetch her. Aria contemplated making a run for it, but there was no use. She would only be called back in the morning and the punishment would be worse.

She was reminded of why she was out after hours in the first place and looked towards the blonde boy next to her. "Malfoy. Why did you want to meet at the Black Lake tonight?"

He was silent for a moment. "I wanted to-"

His words were cut off as Filch rounded the corner, followed by McGonagall, Potter, and his friends. She allowed them into her classroom, Aria caught Hermione eyeing her out but looked away when McGonagall began to speak.

"Nothing. I repeat, nothing gives a student the right to walk about the school at night. As punishment, fifty points will be taken."

Aria rolled her eyes at the ridiculous punishment. It wasn't as if Slytherin ever won anyway and even if they did, it was not Aria's concern - she didn't care for that kind of thing because regardless of points, Slytherin would always be the superior house.

Potter gasped. "Fifty?"

"Each."

Aria found herself smirking.

"And to ensure it doesn't happen again, all five of you will receive detention."

Aria glared at Malfoy beside her. "I told you so!" She spat angrily.

"Excuse me, Professor." He stepped forward. "Perhaps I heard you wrong. I thought you said the five of us?"

"No, you heard me correctly Mr. Malfoy. You see, as honorable as your intentions were, you both were out of bed after hours. You will serve detention with the rest of your classmates. As for you, Miss Snape, I think your father can come up with a suitable punishment."

Aria groaned. "You see what you've done!" She yelled at Draco. For the first time in months, her father would speak to her and it would be to give her detention!

"I didn't drag you out of bed. You came by yourself."

"Yes, because you asked me to and I promised I would help you! Not like you kept your end of the bargain." She snorted.

"What?"

"Don't act stupid. All that time ago when you saw me and Cedric together. You promised to keep your mouth shut about the whole thing! Thanks to you it ended up in the Slytherin Weekly."

"That wasn't my fault. Do you honestly think first years have any influence over what goes on in the paper? I thought you were supposed to be smart. Ask your roommates or something." He mumbled.

Nobody aside from Malfoy - that Aria knew of - had seen her and Cedric. When Anna confronted her she seemed genuinely clueless about the whole situation. That left Madison and Matilda. As much as Aria loathed Madison, she was far from the rat that Matilda was and was probably far too busy snogging her boyfriend to care about Aria's business anyway. Of course, Matilda was the only one left and the obvious suspect.

At that moment Aria plotted all the things she would do to her - push her out the window, hex her broomstick. There was an endless array of possibilities to choose from.

"Aria, come this way. Your father is waiting."

She gulped, all thoughts of Matilda leaving her head as fear overcame her at the thought of what was going to happen next.