Chapter 21 A Change

A shoe sailed over Aria's head and she ducked, feeling her heart beat thunder in her ears. A man without knickers on ran past her, cackling his head off. Two Healers ran past Aria with their wands drawn, debating the wisdom of petrifying their patient.

Aria truned away from the scene and walked away, focused instead on the click of her heels on the linoleum instead of the sound of a body being petrified. There was something about St. Mungo's that grated Aria's nerves. Aria tried to keep herself away from St. Mungo's and its Healers. She gripped her bag tighter as she neared Cho's room, worried about what she would find there.

Aria entered the stark white room and heard ringing laughter. Aria was surprised to see Cedric Diggory sitting at Cho's bedside, holding her hand and telling her an amusing tale. Aria felt awkward watching the two of them. Affection radiated from Cedric's eyes and Cho smiled at him fondly. Aria felt a surge of jealousy prick her for a moment. They were happy. Aria gripped her bag even tighter. She wanted so much to have something like what they have. But the difference was Cedric and Cho chose each other. Aria chose misery. She should have been able to accept it. But she couldn't stop the surge of jealousy.

Cho turned her head and her eyes landed on Aria

"Aria, hi," Cho said, extending her other hand to Aria.

"How are you feeling?" Aria said, gripping Cho's hand and noting the look of suspicion and dislike on Cedric's face.

"Tired," Cho said, with a weak smile.

"I brought you some chocolate," Aria said, pulling a gold box of chocolate from her bag. "I really don't know what to give people who are ill. Sorry."

"It's alright," Cho said, handing the box to Cedric. "Aria, there is something I must tell you."

"Cho," Cedric said warningly.

"She has to know," Cho argued.

"What is it?" Aria asked, confused.

"Aria," Cho began, her eyes moist, "that poison in your cup… I put that there."

Aria let her hand drop out of Cho's hand as she took a step back.

"What?" Aria whispered.

"I brought the poison and I poured it into your goblet hoping you would drink it," Cho said, crying now. "I'm sorry, Aria. I'm sorry."

Aria backed away from her, shaking her head, trembling. Her hand was spinning. Aria felt like she would drop to the floor. She felt the ground shift under her. Her vision began to get darker. The vision of Cho crying and Cedric standing up protectively floating in and out.

"Aria, I never meant to hurt you," Cho cried. "Please."

"Cho, that's enough," Cedric said. "Don't push yourself."

"Aria, please…" Cho moaned.

"Why?" Aria whispered. "Why did you do it?"

"Pansy convinced me to do it," Cho confessed. "She gave me the poison and told me what I should do. Please, Aria, I was just jealous. I didn't know what to do."

A fresh surge of anger pierced Aria at the mention of Pansy's name. "How can you do this?" Aria said, her voice shaking with anger earning her a disapproving glare from Cedric. "I thought we were friends."

"Aria, please…"

"I trusted you!" Aria hissed. "I told you things! I shared things with you! How could you do this?"

"Stop it!" Cedric roared. "Cho's sick! How dare you come in here and accuse her like you're doing? Just because you're a pureblood socialite you think you can come here and say all these things?"

"Cedric, please," Cho said pleadingly. "You don't understand. Please."

"No, she has to know!" Cedric yelled. "Just because she's this privileged woman doesn't mean she can come in here and say wants! What does she know of how we live?"

Cedric's assertion hit Aria in the chest. "What?" she whispered, shocked.

"You're one of those posh rich girls, aren't you?" Cedric said disdainfully. "Been given everything you've ever wanted, haven't you? What do you know about jealousy? What do you know about sacrifice? About wanting something you can't have?"

"Cedric, please don't," Cho said, getting hysterical as she turned to Aria. "Aria, please-"

Without another word, Aria turned and ran out of the room. She ran through the hall, aware of her heels clanging against the floor but not hearing. She passed the mad man without his knickers on but didn't see him. She felt her heart pound against her chest and her mind began to spin out of control. Aria flew into the lavatory and splashed her face with cold water.

After the water hit her face, let the silence fill her ears. She looked up at her reflection and her heart stopped as she stared herself. There in the mirror, a stranger stared back at her.

Aria looked away from the sink, the sound of her heels foreign and haunting. She stared at the stranger in the mirror unable to believe that the strange beautiful socialite in front of her was the same farm girl that existed only less than a year ago. Instead of the loose bouncy hair she had loved, tame curly hair framed around her face. Instead of the simple shirt and shorts she preferred, she wore a pencil dress underneath a double breasted wool cloak.

Aria leaned her back against the wall and slid down to a sitting position, staring blankly at the pipes underneath the sink. She felt her life slip out of her hands. She felt the decision she made wasn't hers at all. She felt her life spin out of her control. Aria didn't recognize herself anymore. When Cedric saw her, he saw a cultured pureblood socialite. But that's not me, a faint voice in her head weakly answered. She is not herself anymore. The Aria that existed back then had ceased to exist. The Aria that existed now remembered and missed her as if she was another person entirely. Aria felt her heart crack and barely felt the tears fall down her cheeks. What's happened to me? Who am I? What have I become?

Draco dragged himself back to the Malfoy Manor near sunset. He went straight upstairs to see if Aria was in their room. She wasn't. The room was cold and empty. Draco went downstairs to the library. He found his parents and grandmother sitting in front of each other, gripping their tea cups tightly, looking grave. Lucius looked up at him sharply.

"Where have you been, Draco?" Lucius demanded. "It's sunset."

"I was just…" Draco mumbled, "… out. What's going on? Where's Aria?"

"Aria is missing," Narcissa said tightly. "She's been missing since noon."

It was as if lead dropped into Draco's stomach. "Where did she go?"

"Aria went to visit a friend at St. Mungo's and never returned," Druella answered. "If you weren't off doing who knows what, you would have known that."

Draco flushed under his grandmother's admonishing glare.

"She might just be at her parents," Draco mused and turned to leave. "I'll owl them right now."

"They've already been owled," Lucius said, tightly, making Draco stop. "They've heard nothing. They demand to know what's being done."

Draco gritted his teeth and made a dash for the door.

"Where are you going?" Narcissa demanded.

"I'm going to look for her," Draco said over his shoulder.

"Look for her where?" Narcissa said, surging to her feet.

"I don't know," Draco said. "But I can't just sit here drinking bloody tea."

Draco rushed out of the library. As he walked, he saw Raphael storming toward him.

"Where's Aria, Draco?" Raphael demanded.

"I have no time for you, Raphael!" Draco said, attempting to brush him off. "I've got to look for my wife."

Raphael grabbed his arm. "Where have you been all day?"

Draco wrenched his arm away. "I'm not doing this now!" he said loudly. "I've got more important things to do."

"She's missing because of you!" Raphael accused. "You've done nothing but give her misery!"

"Don't tell me that as if you've done nothing but make her happy, you damn hypocrite!" Draco said vehemently. "Do you think she wants to be chased by you? Do you think she likes the position you put her in? Don't make me laugh."

Draco turned away, leaving Raphael to glare at him. As the door slammed, marking Draco's exit, Raphael heard an amused chuckle. He turned to see Daphne leering at him.

"Quite a hit you took," Daphne commented.

"Bugger off," Raphael hissed.

"But he has a point," she continued. "You know he does. Why else could you not have answered?"

"Don't test my patience, Daphne," Raphael warned.

"You're fighting a losing battle, love," she said almost sadly. "You know they quite fancy each other. If you really care about Aria, you'd help her be happy not stand in the way of that happiness."

"You have no idea how it feels, "he said, glaring down at her, "when the person you love wants someone else."

Daphne raised her eyes and looked at him meaningfully. "Don't know, do I?" she asked, irony dripping in her voice. Raphael took the hint.

"Don't make this about you," Raphael snapped.

"About me?" Daphne scoffed. "When has this ever been about me? I've been patient with you, Raphael. I've been waiting. But you're chasing someone who'll never want you. You need to wake up."

Raphael began to walk off without answering her.

"Where are you going?" Daphne demanded.

"I'm looking for Aria," Raphael murmured. "Go home, Daphne."

She watched him walk off and clenched her fists. Something is going to have to be done about Raphael, she thought angrily. She refused to be beaten. She refused to give up. It wasn't over. Not yet.

Snow bit into her cheek but she didn't respond. She has been sitting in the snow for the past six hours, ignoring everything. She ignored the cold biting into her flesh. She ignored the hunger gripping her stomach. Aria saw nothing but the castle in front of her. She focused on the lights twinkling in each window. She traced the outline of the four towers: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw. The castle was no doubt starting to prepare for the slew of holiday cheer that was soon to creep upon them. Aria felt as if she was oblivious to holiday spirit. She felt oblivious to everything. She felt nothing but numbness.

Aria wanted nothing more than to close her eyes and open them to find herself eating with her friends in the Great Hall once again. She longed for life that was simpler. She longed for life that was hers. But she opened her eyes only to see the lights being put out in Hogwarts one by one. Aria watched the lights flick out, feeling her heat sink lower and lower with every light doused.

"Quite an odd place to sight see."

Aria looked to her left to find Raphael standing near her, gazing out towards the castle as well.

"What are you doing here, Raphael?" Aria asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," he smirked.

Aria stayed silent.

"The Malfoy Manor is worried for their princess, you know," Raphael said.

"I'll keep a look out for her then," Aria said dryly.

Raphael chuckled. "Draco's searching for you fervently," he added.

"A few more hours won't kill him."

Raphael looked down at her. She hadn't taken her eyes off the castle. He sat next to her and watched her flinch as his arm brushed against hers. He gritted his teeth.

"Why are you sitting out here, Aria?"

"Do you ever wish you could go back?" Aria asked hoarsely. "Do you ever wish you could redo some things? Do some things differently? Live a different choice?"

Raphael let the silence hang meaningfully. "All the time," he answered. "But that's not really feasible, is it? We can only move forward into the future."

"If only things were that simple," Aria breathed, watching her breath billow into a fog in front of her.

"You're not happy, are you?"

Aria didn't answer for the longest time. "No," she finally said. "I feel empty. I don't know who I am anymore. I don't know where to go from here."

"I wish I could take it away from you," he confessed.

Aria sighed. "If you know how to end it, I'd do anything you ask," she said tonelessly.

A faint ray of hope floated to Raphael as he looked at Aria's blank face. As he stared at her face, he grabbed the faint hope she presented and ran away with it.

"You wish to be away from this life, don't you?" he asked. "You wish to have your old life. You want to be free."

"I don't know what I want."

Raphael stayed silent for a long while, debating the wisdom of telling her what he knew. He had no way of knowing what Aria will do with the information once she had it. However, he reasoned, if she did not know it, his chances of getter near her were infinitely slimmer.

"A marriage is sacred, I'm afraid," he mused. "A marriage between a witch and wizard is virtually undoable. The bond between them is one of the strongest magic we know of. But there is one way to undo a magical marriage."

Raphael was pleased to see her eyes flick towards him with interest.

"It's called a Separation Ritual," Raphael informed. "It's a ritual performed where a couple renounces each other and recite a spell in sync for an hour. But both parties must both desire the separation. No doubt or regret must cross either party's mind or it won't work. After the hour, if all's gone according to plan, the couple will be thrown back from each other quite literally ripping each other form each other's lives."

"Sounds quite painful," Aria commented tonelessly.

"Also quite difficult if one partner doesn't wish to separate," Raphael added. "But it's a way out for you."

Draco paced the floor of their room, his face scrunched into a worried frown. It was past dinner time and Aria still hadn't turned up. What if she had been kidnapped? No, they would have sent a ransom letter. She would have Apparated. He sat down on the bed with a sigh. What if she was mortally wounded? What if she lay bleeding somewhere? What if she was dying? He resumed his pacing.

The door opened and Aria walked in with a listless look on her face. Her eyes met Draco's but no emotion passed over her face.

"Aria!"

Draco pulled her into his arms and noted the lack of response he received from her.

"Where have you been?" he demanded. "Merlin, you're freezing."

He shrugged off his coat and made to wrap it around her shoulders. "Don't," she said blankly to him, taking the coat and tossing it at a nearby chair.

"Where have you been?" Draco asked her as she stood looking blankly at the floor. "Everyone has been positively beside themselves with worry."

No answer.

"Aria, are you alright?" he asked worriedly, lifting her chin to look into her face. "You're not sick, are you?"

"How was Pansy today?"

Draco felt as if she punched him. Aria didn't lift her eyes to him. Draco sensed something terribly wrong with her. Was he losing her? He put his hands on her shoulders as if attempting to keep her with him.

"Aria, what's wrong?"

"I've been put in a position I can't turn back from, Draco," she answered languidly. "But it seems I have no choice."

"What are you talking about?"

Finally, Aria lifted her eyes to look into Draco's face. She lifted her hand and for a split second, Draco thought she would slap him. But she only touched his cheek with such gentleness that it took Draco's breath away. She moved her hand from his face to his chest and stared at her hand as she held it against his chest. Her hand looked fragile and small compared to his chest. She moved her eyes back up to his face and with one swift motion, she pushed him backwards and Draco tumbled onto the bed on his back.

Draco didn't bother to hide the look of clear surprise on his face as Aria climbed on the bed and straddled him. He didn't have time to protest as she swooped down and kissed him passionately and intimately on the lips, lighting a strident fire in Draco instantly. Aria peeled off her damp shirt and watched Draco's eyes slide downwards to her exposed chest, watched him swallow anxiously. Aria gripped her wand and waved it to the door and locked it before diving into Draco's arms and getting lost in his touch and his kiss.