The routine had been the same every evening since they'd arrived back at Hogwarts two weeks ago. Draco would be sitting peacefully in his chair, putting off doing his homework, telling Crabbe and Goyle how thick they were, or not reading a book, when Ariadne would come along and drag him off to some deserted room or other. Once they were both locked inside with a silencing spell around the door, Ariadne began to practice.
When Lucius Malfoy had returned on the evening of Christmas Day, he had called Ariadne into his study. He had explained about his allegiance with Lord Voldemort, how he was convinced that Ariadne would be a perfect Death Eater, and how all they had to do now was convince Voldemort of this.
At first Ariadne hadn't been too keen, especially when she had found out about the considerable punishment awaiting both of them if she couldn't learn to perform the Unforgivable Curses. But then Lucius had found a way to convince her. From his pocket, he had produced a ring, made up of two serpents whose heads crossed on the front. Each serpent's eye was made up of a single emerald imbedded within the silver.
Lucius had slipped the ring onto Ariadne's finger, and instantly she had experienced the rush she had felt down in the secret chamber below the drawing room floor, when she had been surrounded by the hoards of dark objects stored down there. However, this time the feeling didn't go away. It stayed with her, and as long as she wore the ring, she felt powerful, strong, and almost... connected to the Dark Side. From that moment on, she could think of nothing but learning to perform the curses so she would be accepted by the Dark Lord.
So with the assistance of Draco and numerous spiders, butterflies and other bugs of various descriptions, Ariadne had mastered the Imperius curse and the Cruciatus curse, and had almost got the hang of Avada Kedavara. Each time she performed it however, the spider that was supposed to be dead still twitched and several made it back onto their feet, until Ariadne stepped on them in frustration.
Draco had been the unwilling volunteer to have the Imperius curse practised on. He had so far been subjected to, amongst other things, dancing the cancan, pretending to be a dragon, leapfrogging over the desk, and, Ariadne's favourite, kissing a terrified-looking rat she had found in the corner of the room. Much to Draco's relief, she had mastered that curse, but he hadn't managed to master fighting it off.
On this particular evening, Ariadne was desperate to perfect Avada Kedavara. Having reduced at least 10 spiders to quivering wrecks, she came to a conclusion.
"I know why I can't get this Draco," she said, as Draco threw the remains of the last spider out of the window. "It's because I have no desire for the spider to be dead. I have to want to kill it with all of my being. I need something else to try on, something I can really hate." She paused for a second. "I've got it," she said suddenly, a wicked glint in her eyes. "That Gryffindor mudblood. The one that tripped me as I came out of the Great Hall this morning. He'll do nicely."
Draco's head flew round to face Ariadne. "A human? A real person? I... I... What makes you so sure you can kill a person when you can't manage a spider properly?"
"Because, Draco," she replied nastily moving closer with every word, "I know I can do it. Don't you dare doubt me, or you know what I'll do."
Draco backed away, looking terrified. "Now go and get me that MUDBLOOD!" she yelled. "And don't come back without him, or I may have to find someone else to practice on..." Draco shot out of the room like a rabbit.
*
Draco was fuming as he walked through the corridors towards Gryffindor Tower. He had no idea how he was going to get the boy back to the classroom, let alone how he was going to get into the common room in the first place. He stopped, a plan forming in his mind. Why should he do all this for her anyway? Why should he run around after her, help her learn all these dark curses and be a guinea pig for her to experiment on?
With these thoughts running through his mind, he turned sharply on his heel and walked quickly down the nearest staircase. Why should she be allowed to boss him around? He was a year older than her after all. He rounded another corner, heading for the staff room. Yes, that's what he's do. He'd get a member of staff, preferably Snape, or McGonagall, to come down to the classroom and find out exactly what Ariadne was doing. Then she'd be thrown out of the school and he wouldn't have to put up with her anymore.
Draco had to admit it; a lot of what he was feeling was jealousy. His dad had given Ariadne the Dark Lord's ring, when by rights, if anyone should have had it, it should have been him. And then, as if that wasn't bad enough, his father had instructed, no, ordered him to help Ariadne learn the Unforgivables, assisting in any way possible. Well, he'd had enough now. He wasn't going to be ordered around any more. Not by his father, not by Ariadne, not by anyone. Ariadne had changed dramatically since Christmas. She wasn't the girl he'd fooled around with last term, the girl he'd brought home with him for the holidays. She was someone different. She had changed, and he didn't want anything to do with her anymore. And the first step to getting rid of her was to get her thrown out of Hogwarts.
As Draco rounded the corner by the staff room, he expected the corridor ahead of him to be empty. But it wasn't. Ariadne was standing a few feet ahead of him, blocking his path to the door. She looked directly into his eyes, and spoke.
"Well, it looks like I've caught the real Golden Snitch now, doesn't it?"