AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello, my lovelies. Sorry haven't updated since forever ago. Life has been crazy. Classes. Tests. All the same excuses. BUT I just finished my last final so I do hope that I'll be updating more frequently and perhaps even finish the series. Heaven knows it's gone on for forever. But let's not get ahead of ourselves! Let's just dive into what we have here so far! Cheers!

Chapter 28 The War Begins

Aria watched herself in the mirror. She was back in her Malfoy pureblood clothes again. She was wearing a crisp emerald green pencil dress under a lush black cloak. Her hair had been pulled back into a loose bun. She sighed. She had to accept it. She chose this. There was no turning back. Not this time. Draco suddenly walked into the room, massaging his neck and muttering to himself. He was back in his Malfoy clothes as well. He looked over at her with interest.

"Heading over to the Lestrange Manor now?" he asked.

"Yes," Aria said, finally tearing her eyes away from the mirror to put on her shoes.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Draco asked.

Aria grinned at him. "I'll be fine by myself, Draco," she told him. "Besides, don't you have etiquette studies or business studies or whatever they're punishing you with?"

"Just finished, actually," Draco sighed, dropping onto the bed. "I think I'm going to have a bit of a nap."

"Well, enjoy yourself," Aria commented.

Draco watched her fuss over her hair and put on some jewelry. "Why are you going over there, Aria?" he asked. "What are you planning?"

"Planning?"

"Don't be coy," Draco rolled his eyes.

Aria chuckled and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I only have some things I want to ask Daphne," she told him. "I'll behave, I promise."

Draco regarded her suspiciously. "You're up to something."

Aria smirked at him but said nothing.

"But how are you feeling?" Draco asked after a pause.

"Feeling?" Aria repeated.

"You had a rough conversation with your parents this morning."

Aria sighed and closed her eyes. Indeed, her parents had come to the Malfoy Manor that early morning. Ken Kinsey had yelled himself blue and Melissa Kinsey stood with a stern look on her face.

"DO YOU KNOW HOW BESIDE OURSELVES WITH WORRY WE WERE?" Ken bellowed at Aria who only sat in a chair, her eyes on her lap. "JUST WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?! WE EXPRESSLY FORBADE YOU FROM SEEING THAT BOY! AND YOU WENT AND ELOPED?! STAND UP! WE'RE GOING HOME THIS INSTANT!"

"I'm sorry, Dad," Aria said in a firm voice, "but I'm going to stay here."

"YOU DARE TO DISOBEY YOUR FATHER?!" Ken raged.

"Dad, when I was a little girl, I respected your wishes most of all because I was your daughter and you were my father. But I'm married now. The person whose wants and wishes I must respect now is my husband's. Draco's place is here and as his wife, I've decided to stay with him."

Ken Kinsey stared at her, outrage simmering in his eyes.

"I know I broke your orders but like I've told you in the beginning, it was my choice to marry," Aria continued. "And only I will choose when to leave."

"You're still my daughter," Ken hissed.

"I know," Aria conceded. "I will never stop being your daughter."

Ken gave his daughter a hard stare. "You must really love being wealthy," he told her. "You want to stay here so desperately."

Aria stared at him. "Dad, do you really think Draco and I lived like rich people for the past three months?" Aria questioned. "We barely had anything but we were happy. I'm not staying because I love being rich. I'm staying because I love Draco."

Ken's furious gaze softened into a sad look. He exchanged looks with his wife who was wearing the same sad look but had an expression that seemed to suggest that she was expecting this.

"I felt like I've lost my daughter," Ken said, his voice wavering.

"No, you haven't," Aria said, squeezing her father into a hug. "I'm just all grown up now."

The parting was bittersweet. Aria felt that she had officially stepped over a threshold. She had made a choice. It was now time to carry it through. She felt a pair of arms wrap themselves around her waist.

"Are you alright?" Draco asked.

"Yes, I'm fine," Aria said and eased out of his touch. "Why don't you take your nap and I'll see you at dinner?"


Aria found the Lestrange Manor even darker and more depressing than the Malfoy Manor. This was a very difficult thing indeed as Aria had never seen such an ominous, dark, stiff, fun sucking place as the Malfoy Manor in her life. To be more depressing than the Malfoy Manor was quite a feat indeed. Aria felt that more candles and more windows open would certainly brighten the place up considerably and she resisted the urge to open a window herself.

"Aria?"

Aria turned and found Raphael standing at the top of a grand staircase wearing a surprised but hopeful expression on his face. Raphael had dark circles under his eyes. It seemed that whatever Daphne was doing as a new wife, it was taking a toll on Raphael.

"Congratulations on your marriage, Raphael," Aria said, her voice carefully blank. "I'm sorry Draco and I were not there to attend it."

"What are you doing here?" he asked, waiting with bated breath for her answer.

"She's here to see me."

Daphne made an appearance from a room. She threw Raphael a hard gaze.

"Why don't you go back to your reading?" Daphne said to him. "Aria and I have so much to talk about. We are all family now after all."

Raphael met her gaze. His face was carefully blank but his eyes had gone stone cold.

"I'll leave you to it then," he said. He gave Aria one last look and then turned to walk out of sight.

Daphne looked then at Aria with a smile. "Shall we have tea?" she asked. "I had it all set up in the garden."

The Lestrange garden was quite a bit less depressing than the inside of the manor. Daphne sipped her tea, her legs elegantly folded. She was the epitome of what a good pureblood woman should be like. Aria felt incompetent just sitting with her.

"How is married life?" Aria asked.

Daphne sighed luxuriously. "Raphael is proving to be tougher to handle than I initially expected. He won't sleep in the same bed as me. He insists upon staying in the library and reading until his eyes bleed."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Aria said.

"Don't you worry about me," Daphne said with a triumphant grin. "I'll have him eating out of my hands eventually. I'm nothing if not persistent. Men's feelings are so terribly easy to sway in any direction as you know."

"I suppose so."

Daphne gave her a direct look then. "I heard you and Draco just returned yesterday," Daphne said.

"Yes," Aria answered.

"It was awfully brave of you two to run off together like that," Daphne chuckled. "I couldn't have done it myself."

"You don't think I should have done it?"

"No, I thought it was excellent," Daphne responded. "It was about time you two did something besides mope."

"Yes," Aria said, not knowing how to respond.

Daphne gave her a look. "Pansy was beside herself, you know," she snickered. "Yelled about it every time I saw her. She's certainly making herself ridiculous. Everyone's starting to talk."

"You and Pansy are still friends," Aria said.

"I don't agree with anything she's doing," Daphne sighed, "but I've accepted a long time ago that she was a horrendous bitch."

"I just-" Aria said and paused in thought. "I don't know where your loyalties lie."

"My loyalties?" Daphne asked, raising a perfect eyebrow.

"If I ask you for help, I don't know if you'll help me or betray me to Pansy."

"That all depends on what you want," Daphne said. "My loyalty is to myself. I'm inherently self-interested. So if what you're suggesting is contrary to what I want then my loyalty shan't be with you."

"I see," Aria said.

Daphne regarded her with interest. "Is there a particular reason you ask?" she questioned.

"You told me once that when someone burgles your house, your burn theirs down," Aria said and then looked straight into Daphne's eyes. "I think I'm ready to start burning houses down."

Daphne stared at her carefully for a minute and then grinned like a Cheshire cat at her, folding her hands under her chin and leaning in towards her. "Tell me what you need."


Aria left the Lestrange Manor earlier than expected. The information Daphne gave her buzzed around her head. Aria felt a strange sort of exhilaration as what she planned to do careened around in her head. She pushed open the door to hers and Draco's room. He was still asleep on the bed and was slightly snoring. He must have been tired, she thought.

Aria shrugged off her cloak and looked up to find an owl swoop into the window and land on a chair, a rolled up piece of parchment clamped in its beak. The owl was looking intently at Draco's sleeping form. Clearly, the letter was meant for him. Suspicious, Aria walked right up to the owl, giving it a savagely angry look. The owl blinked nervously at her. Aria stuck her hand out towards the owl and it immediately dropped the letter in her hand.

"Get out," Aria hissed at the owl and it flew out the window at great speed.

Aria unrolled the parchment and read:

Draco,

We need to talk. Meet me at Diagon Alley at our usual café at noon. I'll wait all day and night for you. I won't go home until I talk to you. I miss you.

Pansy

Aria's glare pierced the night sky. The bitch does not know when to quit. Aria whipped her wand out and set the parchment on fire. With another flick of her wand, she sent the ashes flying out the open window. Aria was getting tired of this ridiculousness. If that bitch wants a war, then a war she'll get.


Pansy entered the little café, the bell over the door tinkled as she entered. She looked around curiously.

"Back again, Miss Parkinson?"

The café owner looked at her with kind eyes.

"Yes, Horace," Pansy answered. "I'm meeting someone here today."

"Oh, there's a person waiting for you already," the old man said.

Pansy's heart skipped a beat. "What's the name?" Pansy asked eagerly.

"Malfoy, I think it was," the old man said thoughtfully.

"Where?" Pansy asked impatiently.

The café owner directed her towards the back of the café and Pansy practically ran there. He was actually here! She didn't think he would actually come but he had! Perhaps there was hope for them after all. Maybe. Just maybe.

"Draco!"

But it was not Draco who was sitting at the table. A woman sat with her back to Pansy. Upon hearing Pansy shout, the woman stood up from her seat and turned to give Pansy a cold smile. Pansy's stomach dropped as she stared at Aria's face.

"Good afternoon," Aria said languidly, her eyes glittering.

Pansy glared angrily at her "Where's Draco?" she demanded.

"Oh, he shan't be coming," Aria said in an almost bored voice. "Draco went to the Ministry with his father. My husband's very busy nowadays so I thought I'd handle his more unimportant affairs. I know I'm not the Malfoy you expected but perhaps I can entertain you just as well."

"I don't want to talk to you," Pnasy snarled. "Draco's the one I want to talk to!"

"There's nothing you can say to my husband that can't be said to me," Aria snapped. "As his wife, I am privy to these kinds of information."

Pansy glared at Aria. Aria only continued to grin pleasantly at her.

"Shall we sit and have tea then?" Aria said, gesturing to the seats. "I ordered the finest tea. It would be a shame to waste it."

"I'm not having tea with you!" Pansy said loudly.

Some of the patrons in the café turned to look at her, slightly scandalized. Aria looked at them from the corner of her eye and smiled wider.

"It wouldn't be a very good idea to make a scene here," Aria told Pansy. "You know how people love to talk. Why don't you have ta with me instead of yelling and making a scene?"

Aria sat in her place and looked at Pansy who had clenched her fists and was giving her an angry glare.

"Would you rather have people say that you're some sort of rude heathen who's lost all sense of respect and decorum?" Aria questioned. "That doesn't bother me one bit but I must say, that would be embarrassing for you."

With one final glare, Pansy lowered herself into a sitting position opposite Aria. Aria gave her a triumphant grin and poured tea for her.

"Please," Aria said, gesturing to the cup she poured for Pansy and sipping her own.

Pansy didn't touch the cup. She continued to stare icily at Aria. "What do you want?" she finally asked. "Are you going to yell at me? Are you going to threaten me? Well, go ahead!"

"I'll do nothing of the sort," Aria chuckled. "Honestly, I'm more interested in what you have to say. You seemed like you had so much to tell Draco. Let's hear it then."

"It's not for you to hear," Pansy snarled. "Why should I tell you? He was mine and you stole him from me."

"If I remember correctly, it was you who threw him away with both hands and eagerly went to France," Aria said with another sip of her tea and a shrug. "I suppose you don't have to tell me. I expect it'll sound the same as the many other times you've begged and pleaded."

Pansy glared again. "What do you want?"

Aria put her cup back in its saucer and looked at Pansy with a hard smile. "There is something you need to understand," she told Pansy. "Draco is my husband. Mine. Whatever happened between you two is over. He doesn't love you anymore. I don't ever want to hear that you're trying to get at him. I don't ever want to hear that you're begging him to take you back. Salvage whatever's left of your dignity and walk away. You don't want this to get ugly."

Pansy scoffed. "What can you possibly do?" she sneered. "Unleash a herd of cows at me?" Pansy laughed at her.

Aria allowed her to finish, her eyes cold and glittering. "Have you no secrets, Parkinson?" she asked. "Nothing you'd like to keep quiet? Better be careful. You don't know who knows your secrets and who doesn't. It would be a shame to tarnish that nice reputation of yours."

Pansy met her gaze. "You don't know anything."

"Are you absolutely certain?" Aria asked and leaned forward, her eyes as cold as ice. "You don't know who you're dealing with."