The Malfoy Diaries (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

s i x t y - f i v e 💛

Later that week, tensions continued to rise around Hogwarts. 

The threat of Voldemort's appearance grew more and more each day, and so Hermione and the others, including Aria, had all been working together to decide upon the best strategy for defense around the castle. Even Draco had come to a few of their meetings, when he had taken a break from practicing defense charms in the Slytherin common room with Blaise Zabini. 

Draco still found the fact that Blaise was now dating Luna Lovegood a little strange, but Blaise was one of Draco's only true friends and so he had learnt to accept it. He knew that he couldn't exactly judge Blaise, anyway. Especially not, when he continued to be confused about his feelings for one Hufflepuff in particular. 

Draco had decided that the best way to distract his mind from such thoughts was to simply study and read and charm as much as possible. 

A war was about to break out on Hogwarts. Now was not the time to get oneself worked up over trivial matters. 

While Draco studied in the Slytherin common room, Aria met with Harry in the Gryffindor one. 

"Hey, Aria. Are you alright? You look as though you have a lot on your mind. Again," Harry commented. 

Aria released a slight breath prior to replying. She told Harry that she supposed she was alright. After all, her last conversation with Draco had left her feeling a little more optimistic. Things didn't seem quite so doomed between the two of them anymore. Although Draco was frustrated and his trust had somewhat depleted over the fact that she had taken the diary, he was right. He had been through worse. 

That didn't make what Aria had done right, of course, but it did mean that she could stop beating herself up over it all the time. She had apologised and she knew that she was going to do everything within her power to make sure Draco was kept safe. She had to wonder who was protecting him in all of this. She refused to believe that his parents truly had his best interests at heart. 

They had tried to train him to be a cold-blooded murderer, after all! 

Aria couldn't ever see Draco as a true Death Eater anymore. Her thoughts surrounding him had been changing for a while, now, but they had become set in stone the moment he had rescued her from Malfoy Manor. Draco Malfoy was not a bad person. He may do bad things; he may have wanted to come across as being an unemotional and deadly Slytherin at one point, but he was not a bad person. 

"What's going on? I've been practicing spells with Ginny all morning. Are you two alright? I have to be honest. I am exhausted. I shouldn't have woken up quite so early but...it's not exactly easy to sleep at the moment, is it? It's not easy when the threat of you know who's return is looming over all of us," Hermione said, as she entered the Gryffindor common room with an anxious expression upon her face. "No matter what, we're going to take him down, Harry. We won't leave your side until...until you ask us to," she added, as her mind drifted towards the little matter of Harry being one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. 

Harry sighed as he passed Hermione a draught of calming potion. 

"Drink this. We're going to be just fine, Hermione," he told her, as warmth gathered in his expression. 

Aria wasn't sure whether Harry was right, but she knew that it was hard not to trust in his confident expression. 

"I don't care what you say, Harry. Things aren't alright. They haven't been alright for quite some time now. And you can't just go off on your own to face him...we're all coming with you," Hermione said. "You're our best friend. We're in this together." 

Harry couldn't help but admire the honesty in Hermione's words. He knew that he didn't want to endanger his friends but he also knew that Hermione was only being realistic. Harry couldn't do this alone. He had only got so far in destroying the Horcruxes because his friends had been there for him. Although he often occupied a tendency to be independent, this was one occasion where he really was going to have to allow his friends to help him. 

Together, they would have a better chance of destroying Voldemort once and for all. Together, they had a better chance of survival. 

After her conversation with Harry and Hermione, Aria made her way out of the Gryffindor common room and walked right into a firm chest again. 

Helga. She really needed to stop doing that sooner rather than later. She needed to pay attention to where she was going. One of these days, she would probably walk right into Voldemort and that would be where she met her end. Fortunately, the person that she had walked into was a fate far less terrible than the Dark Lord himself. 

"Trust you to never look where you're going, my Hufflepuff," Draco murmured into her hair. 

"Sorry," Aria said. It was only then that she realised her eyes were stinging. Her voice was croaky. 

Draco placed his hands upon her forearms as he moved her back slightly to get a good look at her. 

"Aria...what's wrong?" he asked her. His tone was so soft she could have melted right then and there. 

"Me. I'm wrong. I was wrong about everything. I was wrong about you. I just...I feel like a disaster. All these years, the two of us could have been friends, Draco. We spent all that time fighting. We lost so much time. I don't want to lose anymore time. I don't want to lose anyone," Aria said. Her voice was filled with so much pain that Draco's heart ached, too. 

"I told you I was dedicated to you now, didn't I? I told you that nothing would get in my way. I will always look out for you, Aria. We may not have got along in the past. We may have been through some terrible fights, but I intend to do everything that I can to make up for that lost time. Starting now."