The Malfoy Diaries (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

t h r e e 💛

Aria tried to ignore the growing list of problems that she had with her brother. She tried to ignore the issues with one Draco Malfoy, too. It was fortunate that she had been able to sit with her good friend Hermione Granger on the train journey back to Hogwarts.

Hermione had always seemed to be able to take her mind off her worries when she needed it. Of course, Hermione occupied an incredible devotion to her friends and so wanted to do whatever she could to ensure that they were happy. In recent times, though, it had been far more difficult to keep her friends happy. Most of this was down to the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.

Aria met Hermione's gaze and watched as she leant forward slightly in her seat. She had an inquisitive expression upon her face which meant that Aria knew she had to prepare herself for another round of questioning.

"Now, Aria Sierra Honey," she began. She made use of Aria's full name, as she always did when she needed to discuss an especially important matter. "We will be at Hogwarts soon. How are you feeling?" she asked her.

"Like a slug," Aria said, a little lost in her thoughts.

"Ari... It's going to be okay. I mean... Okay, there are a lot of changes this year and we both know that but you still have one constant. You have your friends. I know that you weren't exactly expecting for your eighteenth birthday to be like this. None of us were but-" Hermione cut off, as a concerned expression became present on her face.

Aria had, in all honesty, almost forgotten entirely about her birthday before Hermione had brought it up. It was going to be in several months time, in April, and Aria only hoped that this would all be over by then. And by 'this' she meant Voldemort's return, of course.

It was only in her fantastical dreams at night that Aria could perceive a world safe form Voldemort's malicious existence.

"I think things will have calmed down by my birthday," Aria said softly.

Hermione met her gaze with a slightly skeptical expression.

"Maybe. We don't know that for certain. We have seen how incredibly powerful he is and how powerful his friends are, too. We have seen loss..." Hermione trailed off and winced.

Aria could only imagine what, or rather who, she was thinking of. Sirius. Dumbledore. Dead. Gone.

She swallowed down her unsettling feeling and managed to speak again.

"I know that not everyone thinks the same way, Hermione. Hell, I know that not everyone even has a proper side in this battle but I know one thing for sure-we all have a common enemy. Even Malfoy could probably agree that Voldemort- yes, I said his name. We should say his name. I'm not afraid of it. Even he could probably agree that he is an incredibly wicked man. The only reason why he is the way that he is, is because of his father-" Aria cut off as soon as Hermione interjected.

"Working for his father put aside, it doesn't excuse the terrible things that he has done, Aria. He almost killed Dumbledore!" Hermione hissed in a whisper. Talking about Dumbledore was a rather touchy subject which most people - teachers and students alike-refrained from.

"True," Aria said, as her expression hardened. There were some things that Hufflepuffs could forgive and forget. That wasn't one of those things. "We have to work to sort things out. For Harry, for Hogwarts, and for ourselves. I won't let you down, Hermione. I refuse to let anyone I care about down."

Hermione smiled at that statement, as the colour returned to her cheeks. She had always known that Aria was especially reliable. No matter what had happened, she had always been there to look out for her friends, including when Cedric Diggory had died, including when Harry had lost a beloved godfather.

"Do you know where Harry and Ron are?" Aria asked thoughtfully, after a beat of time.

Hermione's smile faded again, as the train came to a stop and the girls exited it.

As they began to walk back towards Hogwarts, Hermione turned to Aria and sighed.

"They are supposed to be returning to Hogwarts soon. They've been out searching for Horcruxes," Hermione explained.

"And?" Aria asked, as she impatiently anticipated any and all information she could get on her friends' whereabouts.

"And we got one," a new voice spoke now and Hermione and Aria turned to find that Harry was walking towards them. As soon as he was close by, he grabbed the two into a quick group hug. "Ron will be back in a bit," he said, particularly to Hermione, this time around.

Hermione looked at Harry with an appreciative expression, but it only lasted a few moments before she came up with a new question to ask him.

"What Horcrux did you find?" she asked him in a hushed voice.

"You know that you don't have to whisper. Everyone here already knows what we are doing," Harry said.

"Yes, everyone except Malfoy," Hermione returned.

Harry's eyebrows raised in response to that statement.

"Malfoy? He's here?" he asked incredulously.

Hermione gave a subtle nod at that question.

"Afraid so," she said.

"What in Godric Gryffindor's good name is he doing back here?" he asked.

Hermione slowly shook her head in response to that question.

"I don't know," she said.

Aria chose to speak up, now.

"Maybe he's up to something," she said thoughtfully. After all, when was Draco Malfoy not up to something?

Hermione and Harry glanced towards her for a moment with considerate expressions.

Maybe.

"Let's head back to the Gryffindor common room. We will let you in, Aria," Harry told her, with a friendly smile.

They began to walk back to the Gryffindor common room and once they had arrived, they quickly settled down inside of it. Harry then sat with them by the glow of the  toasty fire and started to tell them all about the fact that he had managed to destroy Salazar Slytherin's locket, along with the help of Ron. In their previous year, Harry had revealed that Dumbledore had been able to destroy Marvolo Gaunt's ring. This meant that they were three down, now, with the inclusion of Tom Riddle's diary.

"I'll need your help, girls," Harry said, as he referred to the destruction of the rest of the Horcruxes.

"We are on it," Hermione said.

"Always," Aria promised.