The Malfoy Diaries (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

s i x t y - s e v e n 💛

May came along quicker than Aria had expected, but it didn't bring along any warmth with it. Instead, it felt as though all of the heat and light had been vacuumed out of the atmosphere, all thanks to the emergence of Lord Voldemort on Hogwarts' grounds. 

As everyone settled into the Gryffindor common room together, everyone apart from one glaringly obvious absence, Hermione came to say the words that everyone had been dreading to hear.

"Harry, he's here. Voldemort is here," she said. "At least, he is on Hogwarts property. He can't actually infiltrate the castle unless the Death Eaters-" she cut off then. She found this entirely too grim to talk about. They were dreaded words indeed, but Aria also couldn't help but feel that they were inevitable.

Aria met her brother's gaze from across the room for a mere moment. He didn't say a word.

Everyone seemed equally as anxious as she felt.

"Harry Potter," spoke Voldemort's voice. He hissed like a snake, Aria believed. "Bring me the boy within the next twenty-four hours and receive a great reward. If you fail to bring me the boy, then you will suffer a terrible, terrible fate. I will find Harry Potter soon. This war will be over imminently. You have been warned. I'm on my way!" as he said the last sentence, his voice became filled with energy and excitement. It figured that Voldemort would get excited over all of this bloodshed. He was a truly wicked man, after all. He seemed fairly self-confident in his abilities to finally destroy Harry.

Nevertheless, Harry and his friends were never going to allow that to happen. They all knew that they had to bring Voldemort to his end once and for all. The atmosphere of the Hogwarts castle felt cold and dark but they knew that they could bring back the light. They just had to work together. They had to find the final Horcruxes.

Hermione turned to Harry and her eyes shone with concern.

"Harry... What are we going to do?" she asked.

"We aren't going down without a fight," Harry said with determination. "And nobody is going to need to take me to Tom. I'll go and find him myself. The point is that we need to keep fighting. The point is that I am one of the last Horcruxes. There's one more we need to destroy."

"That snake," Neville said now, causing everyone's eyes to look towards him. "The snake is a Horcrux too."

Hermione nodded in agreement with this.

Soon enough, Aria spoke up too.

"Voldemort isn't our only concern. There's Bellatrix. She is a terribly wicked and dark witch. If you get in her way, she won't hesitate to kill you within seconds. She takes great joy in watching others suffer. I... Should know as much," Aria said.

Hermione's throat bobbed, as she appeared unsettled.

" I know. You weren't the only one in that Manor. We need to defeat her, too. And we will. No, Harry, Ron, don't look at me like that. She is a horrible woman and... I won't hesitate to take her down. No matter the costs. Aria and I can go after her. We will take her down when she least expects it. I know its going to be a difficult task. I'll be honest, I'm terrified but... Courage in the face of terror is what we're all about, isn't it? We have to keep fighting no matter what," Hermione said. "And I don't care how long it takes, Harry. We are going to end this. I am not leaving you to win this war alone. We started all of this together. We will end this together. We have to. For our friends, for our families, for ourselves and for Hogwarts."

"Hell yes!" Fred and George said simultaneously in their excitement, then.

"Please be careful, Hermione. Bellatrix Lestrange isn't exactly known for holding back. If she sees you, then she will kill you," Ginny said, with an expression of complete concern.

Hermione gave an understanding nod at that. She knew what the dark witch was capable of. She was willing to take that risk. She knew that she had to. As long as Bellatrix Lestrange was alive, people would be in danger. Her friends would be in danger. She couldn't allow that.

"Who's going to go after Lucius?" Luna asked then, prompting everyone to turn to her, this time around.

Blaise turned to her and determination glimmered in his eyes. "We will," he said with decisiveness.

Luna's bright eyes flashed with admiration, then.

"Just remember that he is dedicated to the Dark Lord but he is also dedicated to his family. He is going to do everything they he can to try to find Draco," Harry said.

"Not if I have anything to do with it," Aria said quietly, which caused everyone to glance towards her with expressions of curiosity. "I know what Lucius is capable of, believe me. We are capable of more. He is dedicated in his tasks to the Dark Lord. He is completely devoted to him. However, he has grown weaker over time. All of his Death Eaters grow weaker, the weaker that Voldemort becomes. I think it has something to do with their Dark Mark. It seems to affect everyone but Draco, actually. I don't really understand it..." Aria trailed off then and Harry considered her words for a couple of moments.

"Maybe it doesn't affect Draco so much because he isn't a true Death Eater," he said thoughtfully. "Maybe he doesn't suffer the same as other Death Eaters because he is now on our side, thanks to you, Aria," Harry said with a small smile of respect.

Aria gave a shrug of her shoulders at that.

"I always saw the good in him. I guess I just had to beat it out of him with a metaphorical stick," she said, as she chuckled softly. "Speaking of which, I should find him," Aria said a little more quietly. All of her determination became evident in those honey-coloured eyes of hers.