A/N: Hey guys! I'm sure you're all used to it by now, but sorry for the disappearance. I got stuck and then life got in the way. :[ Anyway, this chapter also includes a modified snippet from Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, so I do not own that scene. Enjoy!
"Well, what are you all waiting for?" barked Madam Hooch. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."
Draco stepped forward to stand beside a broomstick, while Ariella stood next to the broomstick on his left.
"Stick out your right hand over your broom and say 'Up!'" called Madam Hooch.
"UP!" everyone shouted.
As he had expected, Draco's broom jumped into his hand immediately. He glanced over at Ariella and smirked as he noticed her broom had also followed her first command. Most of the students around them struggled to get their brooms into their hands, except Potter, of course. Once everyone had hold of their brooms, Madam Hooch showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end. Draco scowled at the redhead beside him when she received praise from Madam Hooch, while she had had to correct his grip.
"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle—three—two—"
Just then, a jumpy Longbottom pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.
"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Longbottom continued to fly high up into the sky. Draco chuckled when he saw his scared white face look down at the ground before sliding off the broom and—
WHAM—a thud and a crack and Longbottom lay facedown on the grass in a heap with Madam Hooch bending over him.
"Broken wrist," she muttered. "Come on, boy—it's all right, up you get." She then turned to the rest of the class. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."
As soon as Madam Hooch and Longbottom were out of earshot, Draco burst into laughter, earning him a glare from Ariella. "Did you see his face, the great lump?"
Most of the other Slytherins joined in, while Ariella continued to glare at him.
"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped one of the Patil twins.
Draco missed Pansy Parkinson's retort as Ariella punched his arm. "Ow!" He narrowed his eyes at her until something on the ground caught his attention. "Look!" he darted forward and snatched the glass ball out of the grass, "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."
"Give that here, Malfoy," said Potter quietly.
Draco smiled nastily. "I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find—how about—up a tree?" He then hopped onto his broomstick and took off. Just before he left the ground, he heard Ariella sigh and say, "You idiot!"
"Give it here!" Potter yelled.
"Come and get it, Potter!"
Immediately, Potter grabbed his broom. Draco could see Granger shouting at Potter before he mounted the broom and took off into the air. He was shocked to see Potter flying up to meet him with little difficulty. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea...
"Give it here or I'll knock you off that broom!" Potter called.
"Oh, yeah?" Draco replied, trying to mask his worry with a sneer.
Just then, Potter shot forward. Draco barely managed to get out of the way in time. As Potter made a sharp about-face, Draco could hear a few people clapping below.
"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Potter called.
"Catch it if you can, then!" Draco shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.
As he landed, Ariella stomped over to him, punching his arm again. "That was so stupid! You could've been expelled!"
"So?" he shot back as he rubbed the spot on his arm where she had hit him, "With any luck, Potter will be the one getting expelled."
She rolled her eyes at him. "Why am I friends with you?"
He couldn't help but smirk. "Because I'm a Malfoy. What other reason do you need?"
Draco smirked when he awoke, but his smirk soon faded when he felt the painful crick in his neck. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was still in the common room from the night before. Rubbing the back of his neck, he looked down to see Ariella still asleep with her head in his lap. He then smiled at how peaceful she looked. He could always tell when she would sneak into his dormitory to sleep with him. He never had nightmares whenever she was next to him. He wasn't sure how or why it was possible, but nonetheless he was grateful for the occasional night without the nightmares.
"Ariella," he called as he shook her gently, "It's time to wake up."
She stirred slightly and stretched her arms out. When she opened her eyes, she looked around at her surroundings curiously. "Are we in the common room?"
Smiling, he nodded at her. "I don't think we ever left."
She groaned and sat up, playing with her fallen ponytail. "I must look awful."
In one swift motion, Draco stood up, pushed Ariella back to a laying position, and climbed on top of her. He could feel her jump slightly when he pressed his erection against her thigh. "I have to disagree with you on that." He saw her cheeks turn rosy as he bent down to capture her lips with his own. While their tongues fought for dominance, Draco slowly worked his hand under and up Ariella's shirt, halting once he reached her bra. He could feel her hands running up his sides and then begin to unbutton his shirt. She had managed to get three buttons undone when they were rudely interrupted.
"Aw, come on you guys! Not here, too. I sleep on that couch sometimes!" Adrian shouted from the doorway that lead to the boys' dormitory.
Annoyed, Draco pulled his hand out from her shirt and stood up to glare over at his friend. "Why must you always ruin the moment between us?"
Adrian shrugged, smirking, before coming over to sit on the couch beside Ariella, who had sat up whenever Draco stood up.
Draco stared incredulously at him for a few moments before finally clearing his throat to get his attention. "Don't you have somewhere to be? Class or practice or something?"
Adrian laughed. "It's Sunday, mate. And if I had practice, so would you two."
Draco rolled his eyes and began buttoning up his shirt. "Then why don't you go study or something?"
"You're joking, right?" the other boy asked, giving him a skeptical look. Draco then sighed and fell onto the couch beside Ariella. "So, what's the plan for today?"
"What do you mean?" she asked.
Adrian sighed as he sank lower into his seat. "I'm bored. The three of us need to do something fun today."
She giggled and clapped the boys' knees that were closest to her. "Well, I'm not going anywhere until I've had a shower, so you two can go find something fun to do without me."
As she stood up and made to leave, Adrian replied, "Cool! More fun for just us men." Ariella chuckled and rolled her eyes at him before retreating to her dormitory.
Draco shook his head. "So, Pucey, what did you have in mind?"
Adrian thought for a moment. "We could go flying?"
"That is your brilliant idea?" Draco was ready to get up and go take a shower himself.
"Wait, I know! We can have a race," He could tell that Draco was still unimpressed, so he put on his best smirk and added, "I bet I'm faster."
Draco returned his smirk, "You're on. Let me go change first. May as well be comfortable when I kick your arse."
"I'll meet you at the pitch," Adrian said as both boys stood up and went their respective ways.
After changing into a pair of black jeans and his Weasley sweater, Draco made his way up to the entrance hall, where he found Harry and Ron leaving the Great Hall.
"Potter! Weasley!" he called.
The two boys turned to where their names had come from. Ron was smirking as the two of them made their way over to Draco. "Don't let Ariella hear you call us that," he teased.
Draco smirked. "I'll call you Ron and Harry for her sake, but any other time it just feels weird."
The other two nodded in agreement before Harry spoke, "So, what did you need?"
"Pucey and I were about to have a race to see who's the faster flyer. Care to join us?"
"Why? Is Ariella bribing you to hang out with us now?" Ron joked.
Draco rolled his eyes. "Actually, Ariella has no idea what we're even doing. I just thought you two might be interested since last night went so well."
Ron shrugged. "A chance to beat Malfoy? I'm in. What about you, Harry?"
Harry nodded, grinning. "Sounds like fun. Although, you know I'm going to win, Malfoy."
"You may have your Firebolt, but I'm still the better flyer, Potter," Draco challenged.
After getting their broomsticks, the three of them made their way onto the quidditch pitch to where Adrian was waiting. Adrian raised his eyebrow at the two Gryffindors, leaning in to whisper to Draco. "Why are they here?"
"I thought it might make our race a little more interesting," Draco then turned so he and Adrian were facing Harry and Ron, "Besides, are you really going to pass up an opportunity to beat a couple of Gryffindors?"
Adrian smirked while Ron chuckled slightly. "Keep talking, Malfoy. Harry and I are going to make you eat those words," the redhead challenged.
"Alright, alright. Shall we discuss the course?" Adrian chimed in before Draco could respond.
"How about one lap around the grounds? We'll start here, fly down the hill, across the lake, follow the edge of the forest, and finish back here." Harry suggested. The other three boys all nodded in agreement as they lined up and mounted their brooms. "On three. One, two, three!"
Immediately, all four of them kicked off the ground and sped off. Harry took the lead with Draco just behind him, while Adrian and Ron fought for third. As they made their way down the hill toward the lake, Draco managed to pass Harry, and Ron finally overtook Adrian.
Draco looked back over his shoulder at Harry, who was flying close behind him, and smirked before turning back to focus on where he was flying. They were now speeding above the Black Lake. Draco breathed in deeply, filling his lungs with the cool air. This was exactly what he needed to clear his mind and relax. Ever since his nightmares had started over a week ago, he'd felt a tension that never seemed to go away. Thankfully, he was able to hide the stress from Ariella, but he wasn't sure how much longer he would be able to keep it up. Just then, Harry and Ron zoomed past him, startling him slightly.
Ron was laughing. "See you later, ferret!"
Draco narrowed his eyes and pressed forward, catching up with them quickly. "Think again, Weaselby!" Draco shouted as he passed Ron around the Whomping Willow. It was the final stretch and Draco continued to press as hard as he could to catch Harry. He was now close enough that he could reach out and touch Harry's broom. Unfortunately, just as Draco was inching his way forward, Harry reached the finish line and declared himself the winner.
Harry had a massive grin stretching across his face, which caused Draco to roll his eyes. "I told you I would win," he exclaimed as Draco flew over to hover beside him.
Draco smirked, shaking his head. "So you did."
Harry raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Who are you and what have you done with Draco Malfoy? You've never handled losing this well before."
Draco snorted. "You noticed," he then looked around and saw Ron and Adrian arrive at the finish line before turning back to Harry, "Mind if I have a word with you?"
Harry nodded and shouted over to the other two boys, "We'll be right back!" He then followed Draco as he flew a short distance away from the pitch. When he finally stopped, Harry spoke. "What's up?"
Draco took a deep breath. He couldn't believe he was actually going to talk to Harry Potter, of all people, about his problems, but he seemed like the one person that might understand. "I've been having nightmares."
Harry waited, expecting Draco to continue. When he stayed quiet, Harry looked at him, confused. "And?"
"They're not...normal nightmares, if that makes any sense. They feel real...almost like a warning. And they're always the same."
Harry's eyes widened slightly. "What happens in these nightmares?"
Draco swallowed hard. "I'm always running around in a panic and they end with me finding Ariella's dead body." He heard Harry hum as he considered this. "There's one more thing; a few days after the nightmares started, my Mark started bothering me. Ariella thinks they're connected somehow."
"I agree with her. There's no way that can be a coincidence."
"What do you think it all means?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it can't be good. Have you mentioned any of this to Professor McGonagall?"
Draco huffed. "Now you sound like Ariella. No, I haven't, but I'm sure you're going to tell me I ought to."
"You're the one that came to me for help, Malfoy. It's not my fault if I didn't tell you what you wanted to hear," Harry said, sounding irritated. "Why are you telling me all of this anyway?"
"I thought you would understand what I was going through," Draco noticed the surprised look on Harry's face. "Don't play ignorant, Potter. I know you've had similar nightmares."
"Yes, but—" Harry paused as something clicked inside his head, "that's it. That's it!"
Draco looked at him, confused. "Mind sharing whatever it is you're going on about?"
"Don't you get it, Malfoy? My nightmares were brought on by my connection with Voldemort." Draco gave him a look of surprise. "Long story. Not important. What is important is your connection with him. I'd bet anything that all of this is happening because of him."
Draco nodded slowly. "Okay, but that still doesn't tell me what it all means."
"I really think you should tell Professor McGonagall. She can help. She can keep you and Ariella safe."
Draco shook his head. "No. Not yet anyway. I need to figure out what it all means first."
Harry sighed. "There's no point in arguing. I would've done the same thing. Just be careful and promise you'll go to McGonagall before things get worse." Draco nodded. "Also, if you need someone to talk to about all of this, you can come to me. I know how it feels to carry a weight like that around with no one to talk to."
Draco nodded again, smiling slightly. "Thanks, Potter."
