Chapter 13

Echos of The Past

(Opening song. Danger Danger by FZMZ feat. icy.)

(Thursday night)

"You-You bastards!" Arianna cried out in tears standing in the middle of a great hall. "You said this marriage was one for peace!"

"And now peace and order have been restored. Now that they're all dead, magic can now be controlled properly." a robbed figure said, standing next to a large shadowy figure sitting on a throne.

"Just because…they were more powerful than you!? More well attuned to the mana than humans!? THAT'S WHY YOU SLAUGHTERED THEM!? THAT'S WHAT THIS WAS ALL ABOUT!?" Arianna yelled out, her face twisting into a snarl as tears ran down her face.

"You will be silent Arianna! you've played your part in service to the kingdom, now know your place!" the large shadowy figure barked at her, as it stood up from its looming throne, casting a shadow over the young girl.

"She was right about both of you! You only live to take and control what you fear!" Arianna spat, her anger growing uncontrollably as green lightning radiated off her which made the robbed figure step back in a defensive position.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU'VE DONE, THE BOTH OF YOU! I'M GOING TO DESTROY EVERYTHING YOU HAVE BUILT DO YOU HEAR ME!?" Arianna yelled in fury as she drew a black sword annotated with green emerald jewels.

She lunged at the two figures with blind hatred in her eyes slashing at them with fury as she yelled-

Arianna gasped as she shot straight up from the nightmare. She breathed heavily as she tried to catch her breath. Her forehead was drenched in sweat and a tear rolled down her face. She looked around and saw that all the girls in the Gryffindor common room were asleep.

"Damn it, that nightmare again" she sighed as she ran her fingers through her hair. She looked over in the mirror on the opposite side of the wall to look at herself. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at the lightning bolt-shaped scar on her cheek

"I will bring you all back. I swear it. The magic thieves will pay for their betrayal." Arianna thought with a hard expression on her face. She looked up and met her reflection set of emerald eyes pierced the darkness like a green flame. " and then maybe...I'll be able to atone for my sins" she thought as her look softened and turned into a frown. Her disgust and disappointment in herself clawed in her mind as she played back the nightmarish memory.

She then sighed and went back to bed, her head hitting the comforting cool pillow as she fell back to sleep.

(Friday Afternoon)

Arianna walked to Defense Against the Dark Arts class after Divinations. She decided to start up a conversation with the Golden Trio, who have been keeping to themselves lately, along with a few other students in Gryffindor.

"Hey guys, so you excited about the Quidditch game tomorrow? I hear were playing Slytherin" Arianna says cheerfully,

"Yeah, should be a good game," Harry said quickly.

"Just a good game? Isn't Slytherin and Gryffindor supposed to be the biggest rivalry game of the semester?" Arianna asked a bit perplexed by the short answer.

"Sure is, We'll talk to you later," Ron said as quickly.

"Oh, ok..well see ya," Arianna says as they walk off past her. She took her seat a few seats away from Harry, as Umbridge walked into the class.

"Wands down! Quills out!" she said in a fake sweet tone.

The class was boring as usual, and this was the fourth class that Arianna had noticed that Harry wasn't sneering or giving dirty looks to Umbridge. In fact, he seemed rather smug throughout the whole lesson. Arianna doodled in her notebook trying to think what they were up to. She couldn't exactly go up to Yuno for suggestions, since that would draw suspicion from the trio. What could she have done to make them so on edge around her, it didn't make any sense.

As Dinner ended she tried to talk to some other students such as Dean Thomas or Lavander Brown, but she got the same standoffish attitude from them despite them acting friendly days prior. It was a similar reaction that Harry and Ron. She leaned against the wall and sighed, she twirled her hair trying to think things over.

She noticed that they were acting the same way to a couple of other students as well, even the Gryffindors. It was like they were excluding certain students for what reason that reason was, she wasn't sure. She gritted her teeth as the answer was lost on her.

As she twirled her hair deep in thought, she looked back as she felt the presence of someone behind her, and sure enough, it was Draco Malfoy. He held his usual smug attitude, delighted to see Arianna frustrated at something for once rather than confident.

"What's the matter princess, not as popular as you thought you were?" he taunted.

Arianna nodded and continued to twirl her hair deep in thought without saying a word

Draco smirked as Arianna didn't snark back like she normally would, and he stepped closer to her.

"Are you actually quiet for once or is your confidence finally failing you?" Draco chuckled at his taunt and moved to block her view.

"Why are they acting so standoffish? I only interacted with them a couple of times and they suddenly started giving me the cold shoulder" Arianna said to herself furrowing her brow

"And now you're so confused that you're just talking to yourself, what a surprise" Draco chuckled mocking ger and moved to block her view "You finally lost your confidence, and your ego was bruised. How tragic"

Arianna didn't answer but simply sidestepped him so she was standing next to him. She grabbed Draco's necktie and began to fidget with it in her fingers, still deep in thought.

It took all Draco's willpower to not gasp at her hand that was toying with his necktie. He forced a small glare on his face. "Are you gonna explain what you're doing with my tie, again?"

"Oh shush, it's helping me concentrate," Arianna said not letting go.

Draco's face reddened as she told him to shush, "Stop playing with it, you could concentrate on keeping your hands to yourself y'know"," he grabbed her wrist to stop her fiddling with the tie, "And why are you so deep in thought anyway?"

Arianna didn't respond and continued to stare off into space thinking which caused him to tighten his grip "Are you even listening to me!?"

"They've been acting happy lately, and yet they're distancing themselves from particular students," she said more to herself

Draco rolled his eyes at her still talking to herself, "Who's distancing themselves?" he questioned

"Potter and his little band of sidekicks. They've been selective of who they interact with, but it just seems random to me" she said finally glancing over to Draco.

"Are you upset that the golden boy isn't giving you attention?" he scoffed with an eyebrow raised.

"Have you ever seen Gryffindors ignore their housemates?" Arianna asked as she leaned the side of her head into his chest, still staring off down the hallway lost in her thoughts.

Draco immediately felt his face burn red, he hadn't expected her to lean her head against his chest, and he silently hoped she wouldn't notice how fast his heart was beating. He looked away from her and cleared his throat, "You're not exactly a normal Gryffindor, and can you please explain why you're practically laying on me!?"

"Just answer the question dragon"

"No, I haven't, and stop calling me that already" he complained through gritted teeth.

"So you see my point," Arianna looked up at him "Why the sudden change in attitude? There has to be something in common between all the students they've snubbed over the past few days?"

Draco sighed and started to think about the situation more, he was trying to make sure he had his head focused and not on Arianna being so close to him.

"Fine, I'll humor you. If what you say is true, it is rather odd that Potter's group of friends are ignoring their own housemates," he said.

"Exactly," Arianna said twirling Draco's tie between her fingers. "Why that is, I don't know?"

"Okay but what are you getting at? Why does it matter if they're snubbing people?" he was still trying to concentrate on the conversation despite her fidgeting with his uniform's tie.

"Because it's something you do when you have something to hide," she answered.

"Potter's always up to something, that shouldn't be a surprise,"

"Obviously. With the way Umbridge has teachings, I figured he'd start some sort of a secret group to defy her, but I don't know why they're excluding certain people?"

Draco furrowed his brow at her words, "You're right, pushing away potential members doesn't make sense."

Arianna looked over at the girl Lavander and Dean had blown off earlier. "Tell me about her, She's one of the students they've given the cold shoulder to recently. The last name is "Quick," I think.

Draco followed her gaze at the girl she was staring at. "What do you I look like a Gryffindor to you!? Why would I care about some mudblood transfer from Beauxbaton," he snorted.

Arianna's eyes widened as she straightened up and let go of Draco's tie "What did you say she was?" she asked a bit surprised

"What? Were you offended by that word?" he taunted with a smug smirk as he folded his arms across his chest.

"No not mudblood comment, the other thing. You should know by now I think that slur you purebloods use is idiotic."

Draco couldn't help but feel offended at her dismissal of the slur, surprised that she had such a casual attitude on the word that so many other muggle-borns got offended by. "If you're not offended by me calling that girl a mudblood, then what are you concerned with then?" he scoffed

Arianna stroked her chin her eyes darting back and forth fitting the pieces together. "Transfer, She's a transfer student just like I am. Damn it why didn't I see it sooner" Arianna muttered to herself.

Draco raised his eyebrows, now he understood what she meant."Wait, so you're saying they're suspicious of you and those students you were talking about because you're all transfers?"

"And I have you to thank for helping me see that, dragon," she said turning back to him with a sly smirk. "Looks like you just earned the Slytherin Quidditch team their first fan from Gryffindor"

"First of all, stop calling me that. Secondly, I don't care about Gryffindors who are fans of my Quidditch team," he said crossing his arms.

"You never know, Potty seeing me in the stand with the other Slytherins might throw him off just enough for you to swipe the snitch under his nose," Arianna chuckled with a mischievous look.

Draco couldn't help, but laugh at her comment "It would be hilarious to watch Potter's face when he sees one of his housemate in the stands cheering for Slytherin"

"What's this? Draco Malfoy, the prince of Slytherin genuinely laughing along with a Gryffindor? Must be a sign of the apocalypse." Arianna teased

He immediately stopped and the smirk on his face went into a mock glare. "Shut up, I'm just humoring you, don't be so full of yourself," he said, mentally cursing himself for letting her see him being amused.

Arianna giggled. "Either way I'll be singing along to "Weasley is our King" in the game tomorrow. I'll see you soon, dragon" As she was about to leave, she gave him a peck on his cheek, only this time he was unfazed and rolled his eyes. "What? not flustered this time?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You've lost your touch princess." he said while crossing his arms and mocking grin, "That's the third time you've done that. It's getting old"

"I suppose your right" Arianna mused. "Guess I'll have to up my game" As she walked by her hand flew back and smacked his lower backside.

Draco jumped forward on the impact, his cheeks immediately turned red as the smack echoed slightly in the hallway, and a bubble formed in his mouth to stop the gasp. He looked around hoping that no one saw her.

"SHE DID NOT JUST!" he thought to himself

"You…I…You…Did" he stammered, resulting in a giggle as Arianna looked back with a wink. Draco shook his head from the shock and turned towards her with a glare.

"Darkwood!" he snapped "That's 60-no 75 points from Gryffindor, do you hear me!?"

"Worth the points" she shouted back with a smile as she rounded the corner he let out an exasperated sigh turned walked away opposite of her.

"Unbelievable, insufferable woman!" Draco huffed.

A couple minutes passed as Arianna walked down the halls still deep in thought about the revelation about Potter and his friends not trusting transfer students. It threw a wrench in her plans to infiltrate the group, but maybe there was a way to salvage the new development. She walked along the staircase leading to the Gryffindor common room.

"Stand and fight, you mangy cur!" said Sir Cadogan's voice from the painting. Arianna stopped in her tracks, her eyes widening at his voice, her brow furrowing. She slowly turned to look at the moving portrait.

"YOU!" Arianna hissed at the portrait, her eyes filled with blind rage

The knight in the painting turned his attention to her and a wide grin appeared on his face.

"Oh good, a new person to fight!" he exclaimed and he brought out his sword pointing it at her.

"You don't have the right to speak to me you pathetic excuse of a knight." she spat at him with a low menacing voice.

Sir Cadogan was confused by her reaction, he had expected some playful banter. Instead, she was staring at him, anger rolling off of her in waves and it made him pause.

"What's with that look, girl?" he asked tilting his head.

Arianna let out a dry chuckle. "Right...you're not actually him, but seeing that coward's face still pisses me off"

"Coward?" he said a bit annoyed at that, "Did I do something personally to anger you?" The knight in the painting was still puzzled by what on earth this girl was talking about, he had never seen someone so angry by seeing his face.

Arianna looked around to see if the coast was clear, once she saw no one was around. She turned to the portrait, and her hand burst into flames akin to a Phoenix, slowly reaching her hand for the edge of the portrait

The knight's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open once he saw her hand burst into flames, he instinctively took a step backward from the flame.

"H- Hey! What are you doing!?" he stuttered out, now suddenly becoming nervous by the flaming hand reaching for the canvas.

"You may not be him, but it's worth it to see his smug face in agony," Arianna said as she touched the portrait with her flaming hand. The knight's face twisted in fear when he saw the flames on her hand starting to burn the canvas, he tried to back up all the way but eventually hit the wall in his painting with a thump.

"No no no no! Stop! Please I'm not the person you're looking for! Stop!" he yelled frantically.

"How does it feel to be in the same position as all those innocents you helped slaughter? Cadogan," Arianna said coldly, her face still holding a venomous glare.

When she spoke those words, it felt like cold water was dumped on top of him. Sir Cadogan's eyes widened his brain finally registered Arianna's face.

He started to become more frantic and worried. "Wait no- I didn't-" he stuttered.

The knight could feel his body slowly burn and the pain that was searing through his body. But he didn't scream or cry out in pain, he was still in too much shock to fully realize the pain. Instead, he looked straight into Arianna's eyes and spoke to her in a pain-filled voice.

"Forgive me, your Hi-" his voice cut off as the fire enveloped his face.

Arianna's expression remained vengeful as the embers from the canvas burned away. She let out a subtle sigh as her face relaxed. She pulled her hand back, and the moment her hand was away from the burning portrait, the fire immediately extinguished, and the remnants of the painting started to crumble had to mentally calm herself as the rage that was once flowing through her body was now replaced by exhaustion.

"Pathetic fool," she muttered as she looked at the charred canvas. She then turned towards the Gryffindor common rooms.

(Saturday morning)

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed as he looked at the charred painting of where Cadogan stood. Harry looked at the ashes portrait where Sir Cadogan had once been. He, Ron, and the twins were on their way to their Quidditch Match when they saw a crowd surrounding the burnt portrait.

"Fred, George, was this you?" Ron asked horrified.

"Yeah, no. We may cause some trouble and play some pranks a lot," George said, crossing his arms over his chest, "But killing the little Knight? We wouldn't go that far." He finished firmly.

"Poor bastard" Fred muttered, as he looked like he was going to tear up a bit.

"I know Fred," George said, his face somber as he looked at the blackened portrait. He reached over and placed a hand on Fred's shoulder, giving it a subtle squeeze as he felt bad for the portrait as well. "I know we caused him a lot of trouble, but he didn't deserve this," George said, a slight frown on his face.

Harry sighed as he ran his hand along his face, trying to relieve some stress. Neither gave Cadogan much thought, but someone killing him wasn't something he couldn't just ignore.

"This has Malfoy written all over it," Ron said through gritted teeth.

Agreed," Fred agreed instantly, spitting on the ground at the mention of the Slytherin's name.

"We should track the little ferret down," George said, his eyes narrowing and turning in the direction of the Slytherin common room.

"Save it for the game you two," Harry said.

The twins grumbled in unison, not wanting to wait until the quidditch match to get their hands on Malfoy. They huffed in frustration but ultimately agreed with Harry.

"But I'm getting my hands on that git after the match," Fred said, practically seething with rage

The Great Hall was filling up fast when they arrived, the talk louder and the mood more exuberant than usual. As they passed the Slytherin table there was an upsurge of noise. Harry looked round and saw that, in addition to the usual green and silver scarves and hats, every one of them was wearing a silver badge in the shape of what seemed to be a crown. For some reason many of them waved at Ron, laughing uproariously. Harry tried to see what was written on the badges as he walked by, but he was too concerned to get Ron past their table quickly to linger long enough to read them.

"What the hell is on those bloody things?" Fred muttered in annoyance, a scowl on his face.

Harry cast a curious glance at the crown-shaped badges as they passed the Slytherin table, and this time he made out the words etched onto them: Weasley is our King.

Ron also saw the badge and then let out a moan. "Shite, they're already mocking me" Ron complained, as he put his forehead on the table.

"I'm mental for joining the team," he said in a croaky whisper. "Mental."

"Don't be thick," said Harry firmly, passing him a choice of cereals, "you're going to be fine. It's normal to be nervous."

"I'm rubbish," croaked Ron. "I'm lousy. I can't play to save my life. What was I thinking?"

"Get a grip," said Harry sternly. "Look at that save you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and George said it was brilliant."

Fred and George sat on either side of Ron, looking at him with faces of concern and worry. The twins loved making fun of their younger brother, but they were just as concerned about his performance.

"Harry's right," George began, "That damn save was amazing," He said, lightly punching Ron on the shoulder.

Fred nodded in agreement, "You're going to be great, mate. You just need to calm down and relax," he told his younger brother, placing a hand on his back.

"I didn't mean to do it - I slipped off my broom when none of you were looking and when I was trying to get back on I kicked the Quaffle by accident," Ron said as he banged a fist onto the table.

"Well," said Harry, recovering quickly from this unpleasant surprise, "a few more accidents like that and the game's in the bag, isn't it?"

The twins exchanged glances with one another before their lips twitched up into grins.

"That's the attitude, mate," Fred began, nudging Ron's shoulder once more.

"You just need to accidentally stop those damn quaffles and accidentally knock the Slytherins off their brooms," George teased, a smirk on his face.

Hermione and Ginny sat down opposite them wearing red and gold scarves, gloves, and rosettes.

"How're you feeling?" Ginny asked Ron, who was now staring into the dregs of milk at the bottom of his empty cereal bowl as though seriously considering attempting to drown himself in them.

"He's just nervous," said Harry.

"Well, that's a good sign, I never feel you perform as well in exams if you're not a bit nervous," said Hermione heartily.

"Hello," said a vague and dreamy voice from behind them. Harry looked up: Luna Lovegood had drifted over from the Ravenclaw table. Many people were staring at her and a few were openly laughing and pointing; she had managed to procure a hat shaped like a life-size lion's head, which was perched precariously on her head.

"I'm supporting Gryffindor," said Luna, pointing unnecessarily at her hat. "Look what it does…"

She reached up and tapped the hat with her wand. It opened its mouth wide and gave an extremely realistic roar that made everyone in the vicinity jump.

"It's good, isn't it?" said Luna happily. "I wanted to have it chewing up a serpent to represent Slytherin, you know, but there wasn't time. Anyway… good luck, Ronald!"

Ron gave Luna a small, almost pained, smile, "Thanks, Luna," He said weakly, feeling a pit in his stomach at the thought of the match.

She drifted away. They had not quite recovered from the shock of Luna's hat before Angelina came hurrying towards them, accompanied by Katie and Alicia.

"When you're ready," she said, "we're going to go straight down to the pitch, check out conditions and change."

"We'll be there in a bit," Harry assured her. "Ron's just got to have some breakfast." The two boys finished their breakfast and started to head towards the changing room.

"Good luck, Ron," said Hermione, standing on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek. "And you, Harry -"

Ron seemed to come to himself slightly as they walked back across the Great Hall. He touched the spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him, looking puzzled, as though he was not quite sure what had just happened. Harry hurried Ron across the Entrance Hall, down the stone steps, and out into the icy air. The frosty grass crunched under their feet as they hurried down the sloping lawns toward the stadium.

(In the Stands of the Quidditch Stadium)

"So… why the song again?" Galin asked Arianna as they sat in the Slytherin section about 20 minutes before the game started. He was staring at the badge in confusion, the pair of them sticking out like sore thumbs in the sea of green and silver.

"Has to do with Weasley sucking at keeping or something, and he's the reason why Slytherin will win the game" Arianna said. "That's what Yuno told me anyway"

"So is it to get at Potter, or to get at Ron? Cause honestly the keeper position is kind of pointless since the snitch is the only ball that wins the game" Galin said raising an eyebrow at the Quidditch Pitch.

"I don't know, I guess just to screw with them both. Why do you care?" Arianna said crossing her arms and leaning back a bit.

"I don't," Galin said looking over at her from the corner of his eye. "This game's too complicated. This is why I prefer doing mixed martial arts"

"What, 'cause punching people in the face is so much easier?" she said with a light scoff.

Galin shrugged, "More fun. And less rules. And the other guy knows what you're thinking."

"Got me there, about the less rules part," she said crossing her arms and watching the players take to their brooms. The crowd roared to life as the teams rose in the air.

"Anyway, what was up with that name you came up with Saturday night?" Galin asked

"What name?" she asked looking back at him to raise her eyebrow at him

"You told Gellert to call us 'The Dark Triad.' Where'd you come up with it?" Galin asked

"Eavesdropped on Weasly that night, and that's what he called us. They still don't know about you or me, but Yuno was right about them listening in on his conversation with us the first night of the semester" Arianna said

"Ah…" Galin said as he turned to look at her with a slight look of annoyance on his face. "I hate how he's constantly right"

"He's the smartest out of the three of us." Arianna said "That said, we should probably stop trying to be nice with them. I don't think we are getting into their secret club"

"Why's that?" Galin asked.

"They're excluding transfer students, probably assuming any of them could be one of us," Arianna said.

"That's just paranoid," he said with a slight scoff.

"The more paranoid you are, the easier it is to keep a secret" Arianna retorted back

"So what, you think we should start being jackasses and mess with them?" Galin said as he leaned back in the seat, crossing his arms behind his head

"Maybe, but that might give students the "wrong impression" about us. We still need to hold some influence" Arianna said. "We should brainstorm on how to salvage and reevaluate how to proceed tonight."

"Fine, let's see what you two come up with, and hopefully it's something fun. The past few days have been boring as hell" Galin said. The whistle shrilled throughout the stadium, signaling the start of the game.

"Patience, Gal. For now, let's see what opportunities we can find during the biggest rivalry match of the year" Arianna as a mischievous smirk appeared on her face.