Fourth Book
Mid-October, 1994
Sixth Year
The new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Alastor Moody, did not like Ara.
The blonde pretended that she didn't mind, but it did bother her. Because, in Ara's eyes, there really was no good reason for Alastor Moody to hate her the way he did.
She was an exemplary student, after all. She did all her homework and got good grades. She was a darn-good, and fair, prefect. She even stayed out of trouble, which was much harder than she'd like to admit, due to the twins. She also had the type of charismatic wit that adults usually adored, which was the result of 16 years in pureblood society, but nonetheless, Professor Moody did not like her.
The twins found the whole predicament hilarious because they were his favourite students.
How the tables have turned.
For the first time in six years, Ara got to experience what the twins usually did in terms of teachers, and the blonde could not understand how they managed.
Fortunately, Ara became well-aware as to why Alastor Moody hated her rather quickly. And unfortunately, it was due to something she wasn't be able to change.
At least, not for a while.
You see, other then her little brothers havoc-wrecking behaviour, Professor Moody's strong dislike for Ara Malfoy mostly stemmed from the forsaken predicament of her last name, and the reputation that followed it. Ara had never met a man as transparent as Professor Moody when it came to believing in that reputation.
Ara had quickly given up in trying to get Alastor Moody to like her, in fact, she had decided that she hated the Professor just as much as he hated her, if not more.
But, she sucked it up and hoped that the Defence Against the Dark Arts teaching curse would take good care of the old man.
"Today, we will be taking up the unforgivable curses," Moody began while he prowled around the classroom; he looked somewhat like a predator searching for his prey.
He'd seemed to have found his 'prey' upon locking eyes with Ara. She gave the man a dull look.
"-Now, at your grade level, you should all know of these curses already," Moody continued to eye Ara, her dull look was slowly turning irritated, "-Malfoy! Why don't you tell us what they are, as a quick review?"
Moody was convinced that Ara was stupid. He was convinced that she'd somehow scammed her way into Sixth Year.
"The Killing curse, Avada Kedavra, the Cruciatus curse, Crucio, and the Imperius curse, Imperio," Ara replied calmly, she raised an eyebrow at her Professor when he made a disappointed face.
Moody cleared his throat loudly.
"Yes, well, names and incantations are easy to memorize, especially for those lucky enough to be able to afford tutors, in the real world, however..." The old man trailed off, continuing his lesson. Ara clenched her jaw and drowned out his stupid voice.
She didn't have a tutor. Hell, she tutored half his class! For free!
"-You must all know how to fight off these curses, only those with actual talent will excel at-"
*SCREECH*
Ara stood up from her seat, the sound of her chair sliding against the classroom floor had forced Professor Moody's lesson to a halt.
"Ar', calm down,"
Ara could hear Fred's voice plead softly but she paid him no mind, instead, her and Alastor Moody glared daggers into each other.
"Is there a problem, Malfoy?"
Ara clenched and unclenched her jaw.
"Professor, why don't we show the class an example, hm?" She asked harshly, Moody gave her an unamused look, "-Show them what it looks like to fight off an unforgivable curse? Show them what real talent looks like?"
Professor Moody stared at the girl, realizing that he'd pushed one button too many.
"And who would suffice, for this demonstration?" Moody asked daringly.
Ara let out an angry laugh, one that reminded Alastor Moody of a certain curly-haired witch who'd long since been in Azkaban, the blonde stepped away from her desk.
"Is it not obvious, Professor?" Ara gestured to herself, "-Me,"
There was an awkward silence in the classroom. Ara was completely fixated on her Professor. Her anger was unwavering, that is, until she felt a soft tug on her wrist, looking down, Ara saw Fred giving her an unamused look.
"Sit down, now,"
The look on his stern face almost made her do it.
"Fred Weasley! If the lass has decided she likes being embarrassed, so be it!" Moody's voice interrupted the pair.
It was a good thing Fred still had a firm grip on Ara's wrist, or else she would've lunged at the man across from her.
"Imperius?" Moody said, as if it were a question.
Ara tried to hold back a smirk, giving the man a sickly sweet smile, she pulled her wrist away from Fred.
"Ready when you are, Professor,"
Moody pulled out his wand and practically screamed 'Imperio', as if his volume would somehow scare Ara in submission.
The class watched eagerly, curious as to what would come of this demonstration. Alicia Spinnet, from across the classroom, could hardly contain her excitement.
Surely this will put the serpent in her place.
Angelina Johnson, who sat beside the latter, did not share her excitement, in fact, she looked somewhat distraught. Alastor Moody's persona had always made her somewhat uncomfortable but she couldn't believe he was actually practicing Dark Curses on students.
Fred and George watched helplessly; they knew Ara was a powerful, talented witch. But, Moody was their Professor, and, as great as he was, he was also insane. They knew he wouldn't hold back against his least favourite student.
"Hop on one foot,"
A voice seemingly echoed around the room, not that anyone but Ara could hear it.
Unbeknownst to her, Ara's big blue eyes clouded over with a translucent milky film. Fred and George both held back a groan.
She hadn't been able to fight it off.
Fred had to look away, he was unable to watch the girl perform whatever command she'd been asked of. That's why, unlike his twin, he hadn't seen Ara blink away the milky glaze just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Really? Hop on one foot? I expected you to have a more interesting command, Professor,"
Ara's smug voice was like music to Fred's ears. The redhead snapped his head over to the blonde. She was standing up straight, with a wide smile on her face.
Fred was proud of her.
Moody grumbled something under his breath and the tension in the room practically evaporated as all the Sixth Year Slytherins cheered for Ara. Adrian and a few other boys even stood up to pat her on the back.
"Sit down! Quiet!" Professor Moody yelled, making a few student jump, everyone fell to their seats silently, except for Ara.
"What? Aren't you going to be on the receiving end or are you-"
Moody snapped his head over to Ara, but luckily for her, before she could finish her borderline insult, Fred intervened.
The redhead quickly grabbed Ara's wrist and pulled her down. Fred wasn't exactly sure what the plan had been when he'd done this, but to have Ara fall into his lap was certainly not it.
"Professor, she's just joking," Fred said quickly, seemingly unfazed by the awkward position. He even wrapped an arm around the blonde's waist to keep her still. Ara stared at the ground, trying hard to keep the blush forming on her cheeks to a minimum. She'd forgotten whatever it was she'd wanted to say to her Professor.
"Just joking," Alastor Moody muttered to himself while turning around swiftly.
He liked Fred, and he liked the Weasley's, so, he let Ara be, for his sake. Moody was too off his rocker to actually realize that the girl was sitting in Fred's lap.
"Too bold for your own good," Fred whispered into the blonde's ear. Ara took a deep breath and found the courage to meet Fred's eyes.
"I don't think he'll be bothering me anymore, do you?" She asked softly, giving him an innocent smile.
Fred glanced at Moody and then back at Ara, he chuckled and smirked.
"I don't,"
A gagging sound could be heard from beside the two; snapping their head to where it came from, they saw George sitting next to them, who was pretending to look sick.
Fred cleared his throat awkwardly and practically lifted Ara off of him, not that she noticed since she was too busy teasing back and forth with his brother.
"Where are they?" Ara asked, clearly irritated.
It was Cedric's birthday.
"Relax Ara. You know the twins, they're probably just working through the last details of my birthday prank," Cedric laughed.
He was turning seventeen today.
"They only had one prank planned, and they've already pulled it," Ara grumbled under her breath, Fred and George had made Cedric's breakfast explode all over him after it sang a comical Happy Birthday song, "-Now they're just being inconsiderate,"
She'd seen exactly where the twins were. They were at Honeydukes, a local sweet shop, chatting up Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson.
What idiots.
They'd left her alone with Cedric, which in itself was not out of the ordinary, but unfortunately the Hufflepuff had brought his girlfriend.
Cho Chang.
That made for a lot of awkwardness.
Cho and Ara had never gotten along, but for Cedric, they tried. The three sat quietly in a booth at The Three Broomsticks Pub. Cedric was desperately trying to start-up a conversation.
"We had an agreed upon time," Ara muttered while shaking her head. She leaned out of the booth when hearing the doors to the pub open.
Upon seeing that it was just a few Third Years, she rolled her eyes and fell back into her seat.
Ara sat alone across from Cedric and Cho. The pair was cozied up together, which made the blonde feel like even more of a third wheel then she already was.
"And we're only a few minutes late from that agreed time!" Fred and George's voices said in unison, before they seemingly fell from the ceiling.
How'd they even get up there?
The boys felt very pleased with themselves, having scared Ara and Cho so badly that they'd jumped and screamed respectively. After their surprise pop in, they patted the birthday boy on the back roughly while teasing him a bit.
"Yeah, I suppose you were too preoccupied entertaining-" Ara muttered as the twins slid into her side of the booth.
"Hush Ar', no time for your jealousy," Fred cut her off, not bothering to look at the blonde seated next to him as he spoke.
She was squeezed between the wall and him.
"I am not jealous!" Ara hissed, Fred glanced at the blonde smugly.
"Sure you're not," He winked.
Cedric must have found that quite amusing, because he laughed rather loudly.
"Alright birthday boy, I don't need you getting cheeky too," Ara gave Cedric an unamused glare, but it quickly morphed into a kinder look upon seeing how happy the Hufflepuff was.
She rolled her eyes and shook her head before smiling softly.
"Honeydukes had an awful line today, but, you only turn seventeen once," George explained to the whole table, which effectively forced everyone's bickering to a halt, "-And, need I remind you, turning seventeen once means you are able to buy your generous friends Firewhiskey forever!"
Cedric, although amused, shook his head. Upon noticing Ara and Cho's stifled giggling and the twins seriousness, he began to laugh.
George, with a flick of his wand, magically summoned five miniature cakes, and corresponding silver cutlery, in front of everyone at the booth, including Cho.
"You two shouldn't have," Cedric said happily, Ara watched as Cho smiled at the boy lovingly.
Although they had their differences, she couldn't deny that the Ravenclaw made her best friend immensely happy, and that she was clearly in love with him.
Oh, to be in love.
Ara felt a pang of jealousy at the thought. Biting the inside of her cheek, the blonde glanced up at the redhead next to her, who even while sitting seemed to tower over her.
Finally becoming aware of her own thoughts while she stared at the boys lips, she gulped and quickly looked away.
No. Not happening.
"Yes, we should've! Now, enough with the pleasantries, let's eat!" Fred waved his friend off, reaching for eating utensils.
Ara rolled her eyes and quickly grabbed his wrist.
"No! We're forgetting the most important part. The birthday boy hasn't gotten to blow out any candles, yet!" She shook her head at the redhead, who gave her a sigh, but fell back into the booth.
Fred watched Ara attentively as she shot him a quick smile. He felt a warm feeling bubble within him that he could've sworn only she'd ever been able to cause.
Ara hadn't noticed the practically hungry look Fred gave her because she had turned her attention to Cedric, who seemed to be blushing. He knew what the blonde was about to do and was already embarrassed.
"Madam Rosmerta! Lights!" Ara yelled, the pub owner let out a heartily laugh and nodded.
Birthdays were always celebrated this way amongst the four friends, and it never got old.
"I was wondering when you'd ask!"
With that, the whole pub fell into a pit of darkness, and with a snap of Ara's fingers, exactly seventeen candles popped onto Cedric's cake, already lit.
Fred and George began drumming on the table while Ara and Cedric laughed at them, even Cho looked amused by their antics.
"For he's a jolly good fellow!"
The twins and Ara began, Cho joined in shortly after.
"For he's a jolly good fellow!"
About half way through the song, Ara felt Fred's arm wrap around her and instead of protesting, she leaned into him. The Slytherin smiled contently, quite liking the heat that radiated off the redhead even during the cool autumn weather.
"For he's a jolly good fellow! And so say all of us!"
The rest of the pub joined in on the singing as well, Cedric chuckled into his candles.
Colin Creevey, a young Gryffindor who never went anywhere without a clunky camera around his neck just so happened to be in the pub during the birthday song. He happily captured the moment his upperclassman were having.
"For Cedric's a jolly good fellow! And so say all of us!"
"Make a wish, Ced!" Cho giggled, the boy glanced at Ara and Fred, he smiled upon noticing their embrace.
After making his wish, Cedric kissed Cho's cheek and blew out his candles.
The pub erupted in cheers and then the lights flickered back on.
"You two haven't hexed this, have you?" Cedric asked the twins cautiously as he reached for the silver cutlery he'd been provided with.
"And waste a perfectly good cake? We're pranksters Ced, not monsters!"
The five students in the booth laughed loudly.
Ara and Fred forgot to let go of each other, they continued laughing with their friends while curled up together. No one said anything about it, but Cedric couldn't help but think that perhaps his birthday wish was going come true this year.
Cho was the first to leave the pub, claiming that she had somewhere to be. In reality, she just wanted to give her boyfriend some time alone with his friends. He was going to be hers for the rest of the night anyway.
After she'd left, the four friends got a bit out of hand.
Cedric, being in a good mood, had agreed to legally purchase some Firewhiskey for his pleading pals. Although he didn't want to drink much himself, for Cho's sake, she was going to give him his present later on, he did partake in a few shots.
By the time the four friends had decided to go back to the castle, George was wasted, Ara and Fred were tipsy, and Cedric was the most sober of them all, but still didn't have his head on completely straight.
They all stumbled back into Hogwarts and tried their best to look normal. Which proved to be difficult since George was being dragged around by his brother while he sang loudly.
After helping Fred drag George up Gryffindor Tower, Ara and Cedric hurried towards the lower ends of the castle together, where their respective dorms were.
"Rare sight to see, Freddie being the more responsible twin," Ara whispered, Cedric laughed and nodded.
Ara cleared her throat when they to the stairs that led down to the Slytherin dungeons. She leaned against the wall and gave Cedric a nearly sad look, she'd sobered up instantaneously.
"Don't suppose there much I can say to convince you not to put your name in the Goblet now, is there?" She asked, the previous lightheartedness of their conversation disappeared.
She was referring to the Goblet of Fire, which chose the participants for the Triwizard Tournament.
"It's to good of an opportunity to miss," Cedric said, nearly guiltily.
Ara sighed and shook her head.
"An opportunity to die?" She teased, although there was a seriousness in her tone that told the Hufflepuff she was more worried then she was letting on.
"I'll be fine Ara, I promise!" Cedric assured, "-Besides, who knows if I'll even get picked,"
"Oh please, if there's anyone deserving of the 'honour', it's you,"
The two laughed and then hugged goodbye, parting ways. As Ara got ready for bed, she found herself repeating Cedric's words in her head.
Like a mantra.
'I'll be fine Ara, I promise!'
hello everyone, i hope you enjoyed this chapter! i wanted to treat you lovely people with two updates this week since the previous chapter was sort of short and filler-like. i feel like this chapter is DEFINETLY a bit more interesting plot wise, but let me know what you think/if you have any criticism!
anyway, speaking of the last update, i still haven't picked Ara's zodiac sign lol. Its something I'm surprisingly putting a lot of thought into!
alright, i'll see you folks soon! i love you all! leave a review if you'd like, it makes my day ❤