Chapter Seven: Betrayal

It was the morning of the first Quidditch match of the season, Ravenclaw versus Slytherin, and there was a buzz of excitement around the Great Hall at breakfast. Crabbe and Goyle were boasting loudly about their chances against the Ravenclaw team, who were only sitting at the next table so heard every word. There seemed to be a lot of animosity between the two Houses, who usually got on just fine, they shouted abuse and taunts at each other from across the House tables. Draco rolled his eyes in amusement, his fellow Slytherins were always so accomplished at psyching out their rivals.

Draco felt eyes on him, he turned his head to see Arianwen looking at him disapprovingly. Ever since he'd confessed his new Death Eater status to her, she'd been monitoring his health closely. She would bring food from lunch to their Alchemy lessons if she didn't see him in the Great Hall, and would give him lectures about the importance of sleep.

"You've got to have more than half a slice of toast, love," he liked how her accent would always become much more noticeable when she was being serious.

"Here," she said, piling scrambled eggs, avocado, bacon and more toast onto his plate, "and after that you can have some fruit." She commanded.

He laughed in exasperation, "yes, mother," but started to eat anyway.

She smiled happily at him. "You'll thank me later. You can't do a whole Quidditch match on an empty stomach, your body will start using up the proteins in your muscles for fuel," she paused and smiled at him mischievously, "and we can't have you losing those muscles, can we?"

He cocked an eyebrow at her, she'd been casually flirting with him a lot more over the past few weeks. "I didn't realise you were so attached to them?" He drawled, smirking at her.

"I have eyes, Draco." She smiled at him, looking irritatingly pretty.

"Then why won't you let me take you on a date?" He asked, looking at Arianwen intently.

"Because we're friends." She said, smiling at him teasingly, "and friends don't go on dates."

Draco groaned, must she play so hard to get?

She laughed quietly at his aggravated expression, "besides," she said, gesturing to some eager looking girls further down the table, "I wouldn't want to detract any attention away from your fan club."

Draco was stopped from answering as an influx of owls appeared, carrying mail to various students around the room. His large eagle owl dropped a letter onto his now empty plate, he recognised the writing as that of his mother. She wished him luck for his upcoming match and advised him to eat a hearty meal before the game started. Draco rolled his eyes again and looked up to tell Arianwen.

He was surprised to see two owls in front of her, both carrying official looking letters. Arianwen had already opened one and was frowning as her eyes moved down the parchment; by the time she'd reached the end she looked absolutely livid.

"Everything okay?" Draco asked quietly, he leaned over to sneak a look at the letter but it was all written in a strange foreign language, Welsh, he presumed.

Arianwen looked up quickly, she'd forgotten that she was in such a public place. She arranged her face into a blank expression in an instant and folded up the letter, placing it in a pile with the others. She stood up, "yes, yes all fine. Just need to send a few owls," she said casually. She raised her voice so that Crabbe and Goyle could hear her, "good luck today boys, I don't want to see any of you in the Hospital Wing after the match" after she'd fixed them all with a stern look, she exited the Great Hall, walking purposefully.

Arianwen sat down at a table in the library and pulled out the letters she'd received at breakfast. The first letter was from her uncle's lawyers, it read:

Dear Marchioness Arianwen Gwydion,

I am writing to inform you that my firm, on behalf of Lord Dafydd Gwydion, have filed legal proceedings against you with regards to the will of the late Duke of Pembrokeshire & Carmarthenshire.

You will receive a letter from your legal counsel regarding our charges against you, which are as follows:

1. That you are not the rightful beneficiary of the estate of the deceased.

2. That you, as the executor of the estate, withheld inheritance from Lord Dafydd Gwydion.

In accordance with the Act of Settlement 1296, your assets have been frozen while the case proceeds.

Please consult your legal counsel for more information.

Yours sincerely,

Mr. L. Madox, LLB, JSD.

Madox and Llywelyn Legal Services.

The second letter was from Arianwen's own lawyers, who explained the basis for her uncle contesting her father's will.

The Act of Settlement 1296 is extremely outdated and most people are happy to disregard certain aspects of it when fulfilling probate in order to make the process quicker and easier for the beneficiaries involved. Unfortunately, Lord Gwydion's lawyers have found a clause in the Act that could allow him to gain your father's title before you come of age. The Act states that inheritance may be passed to any male heir whether he is of age or not; if there is no male heir but a direct female heir exists, she may only inherit if she is of age at the time of death. Otherwise the estate should be passed down the deceased's nearest collateral line, which is your uncle.

Arianwen wrinkled her nose in confusion, surely if Uncle Dafydd was supposed to inherit father's estate then he would've done so already!

The letter then went on to explain that all of her bank accounts had been frozen apart from one, the 'Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire Poverty Fund', which could remain open due to its charitable purposes. This was the main problem for the time being, without any access her bank accounts, Arianwen would have to rely on the few bags of galleons that she had remaining. It may still seem like a lot of money to most people but Arianwen was accustomed to a certain lifestyle.

Feeling angry and confused, she grabbed a bit of spare parchment and began scrawling a reply to her lawyer.

Dear Mr. Powell,

Thank you for writing to me so swiftly. I am saddened to hear that my uncle wishes to deprive me of my father's title and assets.

Whilst I am saddened, I cannot say that I'm surprised that my uncle has done this but I do not fully understand how he can possibly prove his case. In fact, I wish for the second charge to be appealed immediately, on the grounds that I offered my uncle his inheritance, Gelert Manor and its surrounding fifty acres of land. I have a signed document proving that my uncle refused this and chose to reside in my home, Myddfai House, whilst taking on the role of my guardian.

I assume that the Welsh Division of the Ministry of Magic will be able to change the current Act of Settlement 1296. Is this correct?

I would greatly appreciate it if you could come to Hogsmeade Village in Scotland to discuss matters further. I will be there next weekend.

Regards,

Marchioness Arianwen Gwydion.

Arianwen felt better after putting her thoughts onto the letter to her lawyer. She felt sure that the Welsh Ministry would agree to change the Act of Settlement 1296 so that women could inherit in equality with men; and her uncle's point about her withholding inheritance from him was complete nonsense. She went to the Owlery to send her letter, and lent against the balcony railings, taking long breaths of fresh air to calm herself.

A roar from the grounds suddenly interrupted her thoughts. Shit. The match! Arianwen had promised that she would cheer Draco on as he attempted to catch the snitch before Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw seeker. She hurried out of the castle and over to the Quidditch stadium, managing to get there just in time as the announcer alerted the spectators to a green and blue streak, it was Cho and Draco zooming toward the snitch at the Ravenclaw goal posts.

In a spectacular corkscrew motion, Draco managed to snatch the snitch from the air and raised his arm in triumph.

The Slytherin stand erupted into cheers and applause as the commentator announced the final results.

"Slytherin – 190, Ravenclaw – 50!" The commentator groaned.

Arianwen managed to find Blaise in the swarm of students that were making their way onto the pitch to congratulate their team.

"Where've you been?" He asked curiously.

"I had a letter from my lawyer," Arianwen admitted, feeling guilty that she'd almost missed the entire match, "and I had to respond straight away."

"Oh really? What's going on?" Blaise questioned, looking concerned.

Arianwen waved a hand as if to dismiss the issue, "I'll tell you all about it later, I just want to congratulate Draco first." She looked through the masses of students on the pitch until she eventually saw Draco's recognisable white blonde hair. "Or at least I would if I could get through!" Arianwen exclaimed as she slipped through the crowd, Blaise right behind her.

They made it into an opening of the crowd but Arianwen stopped suddenly, astonished by the scene before her. The Slytherin team were all greeting their fans, sharing looks of superciliousness as shouts of adoration came from all angles. There, in the middle of it all, Draco was standing with his hands on Astoria Greengrass' face, pulling her into a long kiss.

Arianwen wanted nothing more than to turn and run away but she knew that she couldn't. She was the one who'd insisted on them being friends, who'd denied him of any opportunity to take her on a date. She had been testing him, hoping that he would show some significant signs of improvement. He'd stopped seeing Pansy and Arianwen foolishly thought that she'd been a factor in that decision, clearly not, she thought hollowly. Arianwen had tested him and Draco had failed.

Before he noticed her, she made her best efforts to look as unreadable as possible and motioned for Blaise to follow her as she walked over to him. They had stopped kissing but were still standing very close and Astoria's arm was wrapped around Draco's waist.

"Draco." Arianwen said flatly, he turned to look at her, trying to gauge her reaction. She remained firmly calm and expressionless as she spoke, "I just wanted to congratulate you on your performance."

For a minute, Draco thought she was referring to his kiss with Astoria, until he realised how entirely unphased she appeared, "thanks. Were you even here?"

Arianwen couldn't bring herself to look at Astoria just yet, but she could see her leaning her head on Draco's arm flirtatiously, "yes I saw you catch the snitch-"

"Wasn't he amazing?!" Astoria cooed, looking proud that one of the most sought-after guys in Slytherin was giving her attention.

Arianwen forced her eyes away from Draco and onto Astoria, begrudgingly. "Glorious!" She agreed, forcing herself to smile sweetly at the younger girl. "And how are you Astoria, love? Daphne was telling me that you're mother is trying to arrange an engagement for you again?" She asked motheringly.

Astoria giggled and blushed, "yeah! She's trying to arrange something with Mrs Malfoy!"

Arianwen felt a strange sense of mania creep over her, compelling her to laugh out loud in maddening disbelief.

What a two-faced prick. Her eyes snapped to Draco's, "well isn't that nice for the two of you. Don't you think this is wonderful news, Blaise?"

Blaise looked at her uncertainly, he could tell that she was about to flip at any second, "Yes. Congratulations, both." He said hollowly, pulling her arm, "We've got to go and see Professor Slughorn remember? Let's go!"

Arianwen smiled widely at Draco and Astoria, "see you later guys."

Astoria was absolutely beside herself with glee, she'd finally managed to get Draco Malfoy to not only notice her, but kiss her too; and the famous Lady Arianwen had been so kind to her as well!

The following weekend, in Hogsmeade…

It was the first weekend of December and you could definitely tell. Arianwen shivered as she walked down to Hogsmeade, her fellow Slytherins not far behind. She was regretting her decision to just wear a winter cloak to protect her from the cold, but normally in Wales at this time of year that would've been plenty. It was a good thing that she'd be spending the majority of her day in the Three Broomsticks pub, a classic British country pub with cosy fires and a steady supply of warming drinks.

She had decided to walk ahead of the rest of her classmates as she was going to meet her lawyers and some other associates to discuss a plan of action for her uncle's case against her. While Draco wasn't with Astoria today, he had seen no issue with publicly kissing her in the common room, or going off to his dormitory with her, the whole thing was unbearably arrogant. Sometimes she would tell herself that he may not have been aware of her presence, as she'd taken to sitting in a quiet corner of the common room to look through legal documents, do her homework, and research her next potion idea. She was trying her best to not let it bother her but those annoying pangs of jealousy would ruin her efforts every time. For the most part, however, Arianwen managed to distract herself with a hectic work schedule, from working in the Hospital Wing to reviewing the recipients of her family's charitable fund.

As she neared the Three Broomsticks, Arianwen heard a familiar voice from behind her. "Penny for your thoughts?"

Arianwen halted in front of the pub, her heart skipping a beat, can it be? She turned around slowly, and beamed with a mixture of relief and happiness.

"Gwyn!" Her former boyfriend was leaning against the glass of the pub, arms crossed and grinning at her handsomely.

He walked over to her and bowed, which was a bit odd as her friends didn't normally bother with acknowledging each other's titles and superiorities unless they were in a formal setting.

"My Lady." He said, straightening back up, his eyes twinkling.

Arianwen nodded back respectfully, "My Lord." She didn't have to curtsy as his title was lower than hers; Gwyn was technically Lord Gwyn Bedwyr a courtesy title given to him by his father, the Earl of Monmouthshire.

She made a little leap toward him and wrapped her arms around him happily, he span her around, hugging her tightly. "I've missed you, little one." He said as he set her down and kissing her head affectionately.

Arianwen could see her fellow Slytherins watching their exchange as they walked into the pub but she didn't pay any notice to them.

"I know, I've missed you all so much!" They walked into the pub and looked for an appropriately sized table. Unfortunately the only large table that was still available was right next to the one her classmates had just congregated around. They removed their winter cloaks and sat down, ignoring the gazes of the Slytherins opposite, whom were all eaves dropping intently.

"The others send their love," Gwyn said, speaking in English, "Brianne was desperate to come and see you but I said it's probably not the most appropriate day to come."

Arianwen nodded, they were going to discuss legal issues, which Brianne had no sway over.

"So who else is coming today?" Arianwen asked.

"There should be your lawyer and his business partner, Aneirin is coming on behalf of his father, and the Duke of Montgomeryshire should be coming as well."

Arianwen nodded, "good. It'll be interesting to hear what they have to say about it."

"I don't think you've got anything to worry about there, there's a pretty mutual aversion to your uncle across Wales."

The bell above the door to the pub rang, signaling the entrance of Arianwen's guests. Four important looking men entered the pub and Gwyn rose to greet them, guiding them toward their table.

Two of the men were dressed in expensive looking black robes and carrying briefcases, they bore matching expressions of solemnity.

The other two men swept over to the table with such regal grace that they caught the attention of most of the rest of the people in the pub. The younger of the two was wearing deep rich emerald coloured robes, which were extravagantly embroidered with golden thread, his family crest emblazoned on the breast proudly. The other man looked to be in his mid fifties and wore the same style robes as his counterpart, only his were a luxurious royal purple and he bore a different crest on the breast of his robes.

Arianwen and Gwyn were also wearing the same extravagant robes, Arianwen's were a rich garnet red while Gwyn's were cerulean blue. Arianwen arose and moved around the table to greet the new arrivals.

The two men in black robes bowed to her and each shook her hand in turn. She turned to the younger man in the green robes and smiled at him, shaking hands, "Thank you for coming Lord Aneirin, I hope your journey was pleasant." As they were both equals in terms of peerage, neither had to bow to the other. Aneirin was the son of the Duke of Gwynedd, who had great influence in the North of Wales and a bounty of titles to his name. As his heir apparent, Aneirin had the title of Marquess.

Finally, Arianwen turned to the regal man in the purple robes, the Duke of Montgomeryshire. She bent into a low curtsy gracefully and bowed her head. "Your Grace."

Then addressing the group as a whole, Arianwen asked for everyone to sit. To the dismay of the Slytherins at the next table, who had been watching the whole ceremonious display take place, the group started speaking in Welsh.

"I wonder what they're talking about!" Tracey whispered so the Welsh table wouldn't overhear.

"I assume it must be something to do with that article in the Prophet about her uncle freezing her bank accounts." Theodore Nott drawled. There was a general understanding and nodding of heads, they'd all seen the article, it had been hot gossip in the Slytherin common room.

"Can anyone do the translation charm?" Millicent asked eagerly.

They all looked at each other until Goyle announced, "Draco can!" The group all turned to Draco expectantly.

Draco was actually quite interested in what was going on with Arianwen but didn't want the others to know so rolled his eyes and sighed as he cast the spell on an empty glass and pointed it towards the opposite table. They all leaned in nosily, catching the middle of one of the lawyer's sentences.

"-so we can't unfreeze her Ladyship's accounts until the case has been dismissed and the law changed to reflect the right, as a woman, to inherit in equality with male heirs."

"The law should have been changed years ago!" Aneirin exclaimed in annoyance, "We are not misogynists like some of our neighbours in the UK. It seems ridiculous that we are still following the laws made by central government, we have ruled in our own right for centuries."

The rest of the table nodded in agreement, "indeed." The Duke of Montgomeryshire spoke, "this situation sets us back greatly, especially as it's been so widely publicised. Lord Gwydion must not be allowed to discredit us in such a manner. What can be done to stop him?"

The lawyer spoke, looking stressed, "we will need to start a petition appealing to the Ministry of Magic to amend the Act of Settlement 1296. It would be advantageous to get the signatures of all the families currently presiding over the other twelve counties."

"There should also be signatures from the common folk in your counties, Lady Arianwen, and any other high-profile figures would be advisable." The other lawyer suggested.

"That shouldn't be a problem, we have a plethora of contacts between us." Gwyn said.

Aneirin, Arianwen and the Duke all nodded in agreement.

"There is another problem," The lead lawyer, Mr Powell, said hesitantly. It was somewhat intimidating advising such high profile, influential characters.

"Oh?" The Duke questioned, looking irritated.

"I received word from Lord Gwydion's legal counsel today, advising that Lord Gwydion is also challenging Lady Arianwen's position as Warden of the South."

There was a shared look of outrage on all the faces of the Welsh gentry at the table. "That position has been with the Duchy of Carmarthenshire since the reign of King Arthur Pendragon!" The Duke raised his voice angrily.

"Yes I understand that," Mr Powell said calmly, "but it is an elected position and elections haven't been held since the regrettable passing of the Duke of Pembrokeshire & Carmarthenshire."

"Well my father certainly won't dispute it!" Gwyn proclaimed.

"Neither will mine," Aneirin agreed, "Lord Gwydion would surely abuse the position and Lady Arianwen has already done more for her people than Lord Gwydion could achieve in a lifetime." Arianwen smiled, she was very appreciative of their support. Not that my contributions to society are the only reason that the Duke of Gwynedd will support me, Arianwen thought in amusement, her uncle's wife had left him for the Duke after all.

The Duke of Montgomeryshire looked at Arianwen approvingly, "and I know that the Earls and Countess' in my region will elect Arianwen without hesitation." This was probably less to do with Arianwen's popularity and more to do with the Duke himself. He was Warden of Mid-Wales and was very well respected in their circle.

"There we are then," Mr Powell said, "with the support of the Warden of the North," he nodded to Aneirin, referring to his father, "and the Warden of Mid-Wales, you should easily retain your position as Warden of the South, Lady Arianwen."

"I am most humbled by your support," Arianwen smiled regally at the men before her, "I will, of course, still visit each of the great Houses to ensure their loyalty."

"I'll join you, Lady Arianwen. It would be pragmatic to display a united front." Aneirin advised ardently.

"Thank you, Lord Aneirin, that is most gracious of you." She said, smiling appreciatively at him.

There was a general air of satisfaction amongst the gentry, feeling pleased to have planned their next course of action so efficiently. Their gratification was soon dulled by Mr Powell's associate.

"I wanted to warn you, Lady Arianwen, of the great importance of your success in this case with your uncle." The man paused as all eyes looked at him with concern. "I have heard word from a trusted source that Lord Gwydion intends to join the forces of Lord Voldemort and offer your people to him to join his army of purebloods."

Arianwen felt rage coursing through her and from the looks of the others at the table they felt the same. "My people have no business fighting the Dark Lord's battles for him." She hissed. The Slytherins at the next table raised their eyebrows at each other, shocked that she would openly defy their Lord. "The Wardens defied him in their first war and as the Warden of the South, I have no qualms in doing so again. If the English had paid more attention to the management of their blood purity as we advised them in the 10th century, they would have more than twenty-eight truly pureblooded families and wouldn't have any need for this war." She hissed venomously.

The Slytherin's looked at each other; Crabbe, Goyle, Nott and Pansy Parkinson all looked outraged, while the other girls just looked scared for Arianwen, and Blaise and Draco shared looks of concern.

Draco's attention was taken suddenly by the movement of Katie Bell, she was heading towards the girls toilets. He stood up and walked stealthily in the same direction, he had a job to do.

By the time Draco returned, only Arianwen and her male friend remained at the table opposite his. They were chatting and laughing happily, she looks happier than she has in a while, he mused jealously.

"Did I miss much?" He asked his friends.

"Not really, the others just excused themselves." Theodore informed Draco.

"And now that lovely Gwyn guy is trying to get her to go out with him again!" Daphne squealed excitedly.

Draco sat down slowly, making sure that his face didn't give away the emotions he was feeling inside.

"They were a couple were they?" He drawled, succeeding in sounding casual.

"Oh yeah didn't you know? We saw a photo of them together, they were so sweet!" Daphne cooed.

"Shh!" Kathleen said, annoyed. "I can't hear what they're saying!"

The table silenced again, listening to the unknowing Welsh couple beside them.

"Oh come on, you miss me a little bit, admit it!" Gwyn was smiling at her flirtatiously.

"Yes, I miss you as my friend." Arianwen said firmly.

"Nah come on, you miss me as your boyfriend! Just think about if we got married, we'd have almost all of South Wales. All we would need is for our son to marry the daughter of the Earl of Glamorganshire and we'd own the whole area!" he said excitedly.

"How romantic." She replied sarcastically.

He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek, she smiled and shook her head, "I'm just messin'," he said, his deep voice and attractive Welsh accent causing some of the Slytherin girls to giggle girlishly.

"Such an idiot." Arianwen said, laughing and swatting her friend away.

"I'll try not to be too offended," Gwyn said, laughing, "Brianne told me that someone else has got your attention?"

She shrugged in a non-committal fashion, "there was someone for a bit," she paused, smiling at Gwyn mischievously, "but he ended up being just as conceited as you are."

Gwyn laughed loudly at this, he pulled her closer and kissed her cheek again, "he's not as good-looking as me though right?"

She rolled her eyes and laughed, "case and point right there!"

"I think that's enough" Blaise said to his classmates, pointing his wand at the charmed glass and watching as it reduced to ash.

A few minutes later, Arianwen and Gwyn stood up and left the pub. Draco watched as they said goodbye to each other outside one of the pub's windows. He watched as the attractive Welsh man kissed Arianwen on the head softly and pulled her into a hug, the feeling of jealousy was so strong that his fists curled into balls. Gwyn walked away but Arianwen carried on standing outside the pub, looking visibly upset as she watched him go. She took one deep sigh and turned to walk back to Hogwarts. She clearly still loves him, he thought, feeling glad that he could distract himself with Astoria from that weird foreign feeling that he had whenever he saw Arianwen.

Arianwen walked back to the castle, replaying her last moment with Gwyn.

"Your father would be so proud of you Ri. You're handling all this bullshit so well."

She looked up at him, unable to control the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"I'm not." She admitted sadly, "I've just pushed everything to the back of my mind but one day I know I'm gonna' have to face my loss, and I don't know how I'll react. I really don't."

Gwyn kissed her head softly, he couldn't even imagine how hard life must be for her at the moment.

"You've always got us, little one. There'll always be a place for you in our homes."

He pulled her into a long hug, not wanting to leave her while she was so vulnerable. As she pulled away she flashed him the same strong smile that she always did when she was trying to control her emotions.

"Thanks for coming, Gwyn. Tell the other's I miss them?"

"Will do. Look after yourself, okay?"

She nodded. "I will. Bye, love. See you soon."

He nodded, "yeah, see you soon Ri." He turned and walked away, before apparating at the end of the street.

She watched him leave, thinking about her father. She took a deep sigh to clear her thoughts, and started walking back to Hogwarts.

She was forced away from her thoughts suddenly by a terrible, eerie scream. Running along the path she saw a girl's body suspended in the air, her head tilted backwards, eyes rolled back creepily. She looked as though she was experiencing some unimaginable torture. Then her body plummeted to the ground, slamming down on the cold stone 10 feet beneath her.

She recognised three Gryffindors in her year, all staring in horror at the scene before them. The Potter boy went to examine the necklace that was strewn on the floor, its wrapping lying ripped apart next to it.

"I told her not to," another girl was saying, over and over again.

"Don't touch it!" Arianwen shouted just as the Potter boy's fingers were inches from the chain. "It's cursed!"

She ran past the Gryffindors and crashed down next to the girl's limp body. She pressed her ear to the girl's mouth, listening for breath. She could hear a very faint rasping and then…nothing.

"No!" She shouted desperately. She balled her left hand into fist, while pointing her wand at the girl's heart with her right hand. In perfect unison, she punched her hand onto the girl's heart as hard as she could while casting a spell to help kickstart the girl's heart. Her body jolted and Arianwen pressed her ear to the girl's mouth again, she could hear her breathing.

She knew it wasn't over yet, she didn't have time to get a consciousness potion…she'd have to use an ancient form of Welsh magic that had been passed down through the generations.

Discarding her wand, she held her hands over the girl's chest and started chanting a long incantation in ancient Celtic. Bright white light burst from her hands, penetrating through the girl's robes and into her heart and lungs.

"What's happened here?" She heard the loud panicked voice of the school's gamekeeper but ignored him, eyes closed, focusing on the incantation.

She was reaching the end of the incantation and could hear the girl's breathing getting louder now. Then with one last push, the light disappeared and Arianwen gasped for breath. She felt the girl's pulse, it was weak but steady.

She looked up and shouted to the gamekeeper, "take her up to the castle! Tell Madam Pomfrey that I've restarted her heart but she needs 50ml of essence of dittany immediately. She'll need to go to St. Mungo's."

The giant nodded, rushing towards the girl and picking her up with ease. He turned back to the Potter boy and shouted, "don't touch it! Just pick it up by its wrappings, take it to Professor McGonagall!"

Hagrid started running towards the Hospital Wing. Arianwen was still struggling to regain her strength; she wasn't very practiced in the ancient magic passed down from her famous ancestor, 'The Lady in the Lake', a famous healer from Arthurian times.

The Gryffindor's rushed towards the castle, taking the other girl with them. Arianwen managed to stand up slowly, still panting. She looked back towards the village, trying to think who would be foolish enough to give someone that terrible necklace. Her eyes met Draco's, his face was as white as a sheet and he looked hauntingly petrified, she felt her heart plummet. No, please not you. Please say this wasn't you.

His wide eyes confirmed her fears in an instant.

A/N: Thanks to everyone that's stuck with the story so far, there's lots more drama coming up in the next few chapters. I'm trying to update as regularly as possible but work is starting to get a bit more hectic!