Ever since the disastrous tarot card reading Aria had given last year where she had had a horrible vision of Draco's future, she had done her best to avoid having to give another tarot card reading. However, in fourth year Divination, they were going deeper into tarot card reading. She not only had to be able to read the cards, but Trelawney was also making them do readings for their fellow students and write record each reading. They had to do this with seven different people, six girls and six boys and one adult. Aria had not thought far enough ahead on who she would ask for a teacher. She doubted Professor Snape would let her do it, and McGonagall would just frown at her the entire time since everyone know what the Transfiguration professor thought of Divination. She did briefly wonder if Filch would count, as Trelawney had not said it had to be a professor, just an adult. Would Filch even entertain the idea of her doing a reading for him?
Getting other students to do it, that ended up being a surprising challenge. Many students remembered what happened to her last year and did not want her to get another terrifying vision of their future.
Thankfully, there were a few brave souls. Cedric was more than willing to be one of the boy students and Fleur, having no knowledge of what Aria had experienced last year, was willing to be another student, and had even gotten a few of her classmates to agree to also have their cards read. Tarot card reading not was as popular in France as a form of divination, they preferred astrology, scrying, and even aleuromancy which was divination by use of flour.
Aria thought that made sense for a country known for its pastries.
Fleur and Cedric wanted to go first. Many other students gathered around as Aria pulled out her deck of tarot cards. After a quick game of Spin the Wand to determine who would go first, she began drawing cards for Cedric.
"I like to do a nine-card spread," Aria explained to the foreign students, they were mostly Beauxbatons students though a few Durmstrang students were sitting on the edge of the crowd pretending not to look interested. Viktor, however, happily sat by Aria's side watching her with great interest.
"This first row of three will represent his past, the second row his present, and the third row his future," Aria continued, laying out the first three cards, a the 10 of Cups, the 4 of Wands, and the World. All upright.
"So you're past is pretty great," Aria said after taking a minute to consult her textbook. "The ten of Cups is about embodying happiness and satisfaction in your family. Fulfillment really. The four of Wands, being upright, represents a happy and harmonious home life, while the World . . . you recognize that you, the individual, are part of a the greater rhythm of the cosmos and are happy to participate in the ongoing life of the world."
Several Hogwarts students eavesdropping laughed. Cedric grinned with a nonchalant shrug.
"I must admit," he said, "I've been lucky to have a good home life with my mum and dad. A bit overbearing, Dad is, but still, it has a good life."
Aria drew three cards for the present. All upright again.
"Merlin your life is so well ordered," Aria muttered. "All right, all these cards are upright which mean good things. First, you've got the Judgement card. This shows that you're in a period of awakening . . . due to some self-reflection. Then you've got the Sun, showing that you have every right to the confidence you are currently feeling . . . and you provide inspiration and joy to those around you. Lastly, the Strength card indicates that you have inner fortitude especially in times of danger and distress."
She supposed dragons would count as that.
"On top of that," Aria continued, "this card tells you that your resilience will be a great aid to you . . . and the fearlessness you possess will aid you in speaking your mind."
"I thought this would be more exciting," Fleur said. "It's just telling us what we already know about Cedric."
Aria drew the last three cards. She frowned as she revealed the Wheel of Fortune, the Tower, and the Seven of Wands. To her surprise the Tower card began to rotate once she set in on the table.
"Are the cards supposed to do that?" Viktor asked.
"I've never seen anything like it," Aria answered, hurrying to look through her textbook. "Um . . . well the Wheel of Fortune is reminding you that time turns for eternity. Life is made up of good times and bad times, though an upright Wheel of Fortune doesn't always mean good times . . . the same forces that govern the seasons and rising and setting of the sun and moon is also the master of the Fate." She continued flipping the pages, wondering why all the weird stuff had to happen to her.
"Okay . . . um . . . I don't see anything here that explains why the Tower is spinning, so I'm just going to give you the meaning of an upright Tower and a reverse Tower. The Tower represents change. Like a really big life-altering change. A reversed Tower usually means that a crisis is looming and you're trying to avoid it . . . though it may be beneficial to allow whatever this crisis is to occur so that you can stop relying on false things. A reversed Tower is built on faulty foundations and needs to be torn down . . . however . . . since this card is spinning, it may mean you need to take both the reverse and upright together. Your old ways are no longer useful, and you need to find a new set of beliefs and values to take their place."
The Tower continued to spin.
"Now the Seven of Wands usually indicates a struggle after an event," Aria told Cedric, "usually an event that you found satisfaction in. But it's . . . not about attaining anything but maintaining. You should be ready to defend yourself. Hold your ground, no matter who are what is challenging your position."
She made to look up at Cedric, but realized to her horror he had disappeared. The entire Great Hall and all its students had disappeared and she was left standing in a dark graveyard, the tombstones rising from the ground like ominous spikes. Close by she spotted a large mausoleum and in front of it sat a large cauldron over a fire. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end as in the next instant there was a small whirlwind and Cedric and Harry seemingly dropped from the sky, an object they were both holding bouncing away to roll to a stop by her feet. It was a large crystal trophy shaped like a cup. The crests of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang were etched into its crystal.
As the two boys rose to their feet, groaning, the mausoleum opened and a tall figure stepped out, its hood up and hiding its face. In its arms was a wrapped bundle that reminded Aria of a swaddled baby.
Harry gasped, falling back to his knees and clutching his scar.
"What is it?" Cedric cried, kneeling by Harry but keeping his wand drawn.
"It's him!" Harry cried. "It's him! Get out of here, Cedric!"
"I'm not leaving you," Cedric cried, standing up and casting his face around. "Where's the portkey?"
"There are two of them, my lord," the cloaked figure said.
"Kill the spare!"
The cloaked figure raised its wand at Cedric.
"No!" Aria shouted, stepping in front of Cedric.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Aria screamed as the bright green spell flashed in front of her eyes. It went right through her, slamming into Cedric, the force of it tossing him back several yards, his body slamming against several headstones before slamming to the ground, his eyes wide and lifeless, his face contorted in an eternal look of fear.
Cold seeped through Aria's body. Like ice it settled over her from her heart out. It was worse than the cold of a dementor. It hurt, like frostbite in her blood. Is this what that spell felt like? Eternal, destructive cold from the blood on out?
The cold became too painful. Around her the graveyard faded and she was left standing in darkness with her blood turning to ice. A cloaked figure reappeared out of the corner of her eyes and she pulled back, afraid that somehow this figure would see her and kill her too.
A sharp, blinding pain to her face brought stars to Aria's eyes. When she opened them again, the darkness was gone, she was back in the Great Hall, and she was shivering even though the fire in the hearth and the magic of the castle made it impossible for someone to be cold in the Great Hall.
"Aria?"
She gasped, almost toppling over as the shivers wracked her body. Cedric leaned over the table, mussing some of the tarot cards. He touched her face, jerking back with a hiss.
"You're damn near ice!" he cried.
"S-so cold," Aria managed to stutter, teeth chattering. Viktor put a hand on her shoulder, but he too yanked it back with a hiss. Cedric yanked off his uniform robe and threw it around Aria, casting multiple heating charms over her. She grabbed his wrist, it felt hot compared to her own skin, but it told her he was alive.
"You . . . you were . . ." she stuttered.
"Merlin are her tears freezing?" one of the Beauxbatons students cried.
"What's going on?" Professor Snape suddenly appeared as the students parted to allow him through. Professor Moody limped after him followed by Flitwick.
"She was just giving Cedric a tarot card reading," a student said. "It's for an assignment."
"Good lord," Flitwick muttered. "Did she suffer another vision?"
"Yes, I had to slap her to get her out of it," Cedric answered. "But she's ice cold, and her tears are freezing on her cheeks!"
Snape carefully maneuvered Aria around so that they faced each other.
"H-he died," Aria muttered as Snape ran the tip of his wand over her. "Someone . . . horrible, horrible! Said, "kill the spare!" and . . . and I tried to stop it. Tr-tried to . . ."
Moody joined Snape in running his wand over Aria. Whatever they were doing it was not helping.
"Hush," Snape murmured, "no need to strain yourself. You'll freeze your whole face if you keep crying."
"Avada Kedavra," Aria muttered. Everyone reared back. Several older students shrieked. Snape's mouth fell open while Moody's magic eye spun in its socket. Flitwick frowned, concern deep in his eyes.
"How . . ." Snape's voice failed. "Where did you—,"
"It went through me," Aria cut him off. Someone passed her a goblet steaming with hot chocolate. "The green light. He died. I went cold."
Snape helped her bring the hot chocolate to her mouth and she drank. At the first swallow it was like a bucket of hot water had been poured on top of her head. Warmth immediately refilled her beginning at her heart and moving outwards. The icicles in her blood melted. The tears on her cheeks began to stream downward to drip off her chin, the water steaming against her now red cheeks as heat returned.
"Should we take her to the hospital wing?" Flitwick asked.
"I think a Pepper Up Potion will suffice at the moment," Snape answered. "Moody?"
"Aye, that should do the trick alongside another hot chocolate," Moody agreed. Fleur was quick to whip up another hot chocolate. Steam came out Aria's ears, tickling her head as she downed the Pepper Up Potion.
"Perhaps you should stay away from the tarot cards," Snape suggested.
"It's only the second time," Aria muttered, embarrassment keeping her face red. "I've done it several times in class. I read Fay Dunbar's cards the other day and before that Lavender's. Nothing happened."
"Unsurprising seeing how uninteresting either of those two are," Snape replied. Flitwick immediately scolded the man while Moody's tried not to chuckle.
"I'm hardly an interesting person either, Professor Snape," Cedric retorted. "Yet it was me she saw . . . she saw . . ." he couldn't finish. Cedric's face had gone very pale, his copper-colored hair a stark contrast. Aria removed Cedric's robe and held it out to him, unable to keep her hand from running over his hand when he reached for it. He was warm. Still alive.
"The future is not written in stone, Mr. Diggory," Flitwick said kindly. "It is distressing for Miss Bourne to witness such things, but what she sees need not necessarily come to past. Our future is created by our choices. Divination only sees a potential path."
"The centaurs told me that peering beyond today only tells us what could be," Aria murmured. "Not what will be. That is still up to us. But they also said not to try too hard to avoid what is seen else we may cause it to come true."
"A self-fulfilling prophecy," Moody muttered. "Wise those centaurs. Take what you see as advice, not as a rule. You'd do better by being constantly vigilant and practicing your dueling."
Aria hurried to scoop up her tarot cards and shuffle them, aware of dozens of eyes on her. She forced a smile onto her face as she looked to Fleur.
"You still brave enough to have me read your cards?" she asked. Fleur studied her solemnly for a moment before nodding.
With shaking hands Aria began pulling cards. As she went through the cards with the French witch, the students that had gathered during her vision began to go back to their seats around the Great Hall. Cedric continued staring at her, a serious frown on his face. Viktor remained silent by her side, giving away none of his thoughts. Some of Fleur's friends looked hesitant, as if Aria might sprout two heads as she read the cards.
Food popped onto the tables just as Aria finished reading Fleur's cards. No visions appeared for which Aria was grateful. She might be warm now, but the mere thought of what she had witnessed brought back the feeling of frozen blood and tears to her. She was certain to have a nightmare or two tonight over it. Especially if she thought of Cedric's frozen face . . .
Harry appeared by her side with Ron. They were both out of breath.
"Have you seen Malfoy?" Harry asked. Aria wrinkled her nose at the slight smell of the animal paddock where Care of Magical Creatures took place came off the boys. They had clearly just come from there.
"No," she answered. "I've been working on my Divination homework."
Cedric snorted.
"He was called to Dumbledore's office just before class," Harry told her. "It was a double period, and he never came back."
"Do you know what Dumbledore wanted?"
"I think you're about to find out," Viktor suddenly said. "Is that not Malfoy coming in now?"
Draco walked into the Great Hall, followed closely by Abraxas Malfoy. Aria's stomach twisted and she suddenly felt sick. There was only one reason why Abraxas Malfoy would be here.
The students in the Great Hall stopped talking as the lord's presence was noticed. Aria noticed other Slytherins walk in for lunch only to freeze at the end of the table seeing the man. Across the hall, Hermione and Neville paused in their conversation halfway to the Gryffindor table.
"Aria," Draco said, standing directly behind Cedric and Fleur.
"Draco," she greeted, sparing only a short glance at his glaring grandfather.
"I cannot take you to the Yule Ball," Draco said. Aria tried not to show any emotion at his declaration. That was what Abraxas Malfoy probably wanted. "It was wrong of me to ask you in the first place. I am an heir of the Noble House of Malfoy and must conform to the expected responsibilities and expectations that comes with that title. You are a witch of no name and little means—,"
That must've meant something insulting as Cedric and Ron both gasped with indignation.
"She's not a bastard, Malfoy!" Ron snapped.
Ah, so that was what 'no name' meant.
"—therefore, it is unacceptable of me to elevate you to the same social standing as I," Draco continued, looking over Aria's shoulder at the wall behind her. "It was wrong of me to give you the false hope of such elevation."
Were they in the Victorian era or something? Merlin, Aria wanted to rip the smug look of Lord Malfoy's face.
Draco was now silent. She supposed she needed to answer.
"Okay," Aria said. Draco startled, a little wrinkle appearing between his eyebrows.
"Okay?" he asked.
"You don't want to take me to the Yule Ball anymore," Aria said. "Okay then. I'll find another date."
Draco seemed relieved at her nonchalance though Lord Malfoy was wrong-footed. Aria hoped her face was not showing how deeply embarrassed she was. What a day this was turning out to be! First a terrifying vision of Cedric's future, and now she was being subjugated to Draco being forced to renege on his promise to take her to the Yule Ball? This was clearly not her day.
"Thank you for being so understanding, Bourne," Draco said. He turned towards the other fourth year girls who had carefully made their way closer and who straightened as if caught sneaking out after curfew.
"Pansy," Draco said, "would you do me the honor of going with me to the Yule Ball?"
Abraxas Malfoy's eyebrow twitched. Aria slowly turned her head towards Pansy who looked like a deer caught in headlights. Millicent, Daphne, and Tracey were as surprised as she to be asked.
"I . . . I'd love to go with you," Pansy managed to say, her voice steady. "Thank you."
Draco conjured a flower crown for Pansy, this one made of pink and purple flowers that were bright pops of color against Pansy's hair. The two sat next to each other. Aria immediately distracted herself by the lunch food in front of her, studying the two different soup cauldrons.
"I hope this is a lesson to you."
Aria paused in her reach for the lentil soup ladle. Was Lord Malfoy really going to remain and gloat? Should she continue to serve herself or did she have to be polite and give him her attention? Should she say anything? Defend herself?
"What lesson would that be, Lord Malfoy?" Aria asked.
"To keep your aspirations from rising above yourself," the man answered as if Aria were a particularly young child. "You would never be able to keep up with our society."
Ron and Harry, who had sat down on either side of Aria, opened their mouths to speak. She stopped them with a soft touch to their arms.
"Keep up?" she questioned. "I don't understand."
"Of course you don't," Lord Malfoy replied, the smug look on his face growing with every word. "I'll speak as simply as I can. House Malfoy is a noble house. We attended to King William as one of many Court Wixen when he crossed the channel in 1066. Our riches and history stretch back to Charlemagne and his court. Our magic even further back. Malfoys continue to help govern and protect the wixen world here in the British Isles. Our wealth is renown and our influence undisputed. We have produced politicians, potioneers, masters and mistresses in all fields of study. People look to us to show them what is right and what is wrong. You, on the other hand, have nothing. No name. No money. No influ—,"
"You're wrong, you know," Aria said. Harry gripped her knee, his fingers digging painfully through her skirt into her skin. What was possessing her to speak? She just managed to keep her voice steady, even as she was aware that no one in the Great Hall was looking away.
"I do have money," Aria said. "I killed a basilisk at the end of second year . . . but I suppose you wouldn't know about that would you? I think you were . . . what did the papers say? Oh, yes, you were in Azkaban for possessing dark artifacts."
Ron squeaked. She imagined his face had paled to the point where only his freckles had color. The smug smirk on Lord Malfoy's face dropped and his eyes hardened.
"I also met and made the acquaintance of the late Nicholas Flamel," Aria continued. "Did you ever have the opportunity to meet the man, Lord Malfoy? I suppose I made an impression on him. He not only left me the bulk of his fortune, but he bequeathed his name to me." Several gasps went through the Great Hall. Most students knew she had inherited something. The ring on her finger told them all that. Only her friends had been aware of the extent of the inheritance. She held up her hand, the Flamel heir ring glistening in the afternoon sun streaming through the windows.
"I could use the Flamel name and all its influence professionally if I wanted to," Aria said. "Or personally. I do like my last name though. Bourne. I had to do a family tree for class in primary school once. We've been in England, as far as we can tell, before the Normans came across the channel. We've lived most of our days in the North West or Humberside. We've never had much, but we've always been hard working, honest folks. There have been a few magistrates in my family. We're listed in the Domesday Book if you can believe it."
For once she was glad for a project from primary school. She had despaired over the project at first, as her mother's side of the family could only be traced, in part, to World War I before a part of it disappeared from the record, and since she did not have contact with that side of the family, she only had the Bournes to extensively research. Kenneth had been a surprising wealth of information as had the local church, since they kept a lot of records. Aria had used the project as a distraction from her mother's death.
"But beyond my family," Aria said, "I can hold my own. I've fought and won against a troll and a basilisk. I'm second overall for my year group three years in a row, and I don't expect that to change this year. I managed to gain a Life Debt from House Malfoy when I was only twelve years old. I've managed to get an offer of apprenticeship from the youngest potions master in Europe, if not the world, and I will be finding a cure of lycanthropy. So, you are correct, Lord Malfoy, when you say we are very different. But you are wrong when you say that I could never make it in your circles. I think, Lord Malfoy, that it's you who can't keep up with me."
Silence. The whole Great Hall held its breath in the few beats after Aria's declaration.
"Ah, Lord Malfoy, I did not expect for you to still be here."
Dumbledore calmly strolled towards the speechless wizard, Madam Pomfrey trailing behind him. Why was it that Dumbledore never appeared when he was actually needed? Aria felt like she could have used the headmaster's intervention several minutes ago.
"I did say Draco and I had business to take care of," Abraxas answered, teeth grinding.
"Oh yes, I remember now. I suppose I just thought it would not take so long. Though . . . you are not looking so well, my good sir. It's quite fortuitous that Madam Pomfrey has made her way down to speak to a student now isn't it? Poppy, perhaps you could take a look at what might be ailing Lord Malfoy?"
"I know what ails him, Headmaster," the mediwitch answered. "Unfortunately, there is no treatment for a bruised ego and a wounded pride."
Lord Malfoy's hand twitched. Madam Pomfrey was faster. Within seconds her wand appeared in her hand and she held it at the man's chest.
"Now, now," Dumbledore said, patting Madam Pomfrey's hand until she lowered her wand arm. "Lord Malfoy is our guest. Come, Lord Malfoy, I'll escort you down to the gate. There's nothing like good, clean, crisp air to cool a building temper."
Abraxas Malfoy cast one final glare at Aria before following Dumbledore out of the Great Hall. Madam Pomfrey came around to Aria's side, laying a hand on her shoulder just as the student body erupted into lively chatter about what they had all just witnessed.
"Has she eaten lunch?" Aria heard Madam Pomfrey ask.
"I don't think so," Harry answered.
Aria felt the magic of a diagnostic spell run over her like invisible water. She turned to Madam Pomfrey.
"Did Professor Snape give you anything?" the woman asked.
"Um . . . he gave me Pepper-Up."
"Let's get you to the hospital wing."
"I don't want to go to the hospital wing."
"And I am not one to be disobeyed, child. You look like you're about the keel over even with a Pepper-Up in your system. No, no, Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, you stay here."
With a firm hand on her arm, Madam Pomfrey dragged Aria from the Great Hall and away from the eyes and the whispers of the students. It did not take Aria long to realize that leaving was the right choice. Her entire body began to shake as the adrenaline from the entire afternoon began to leave and the events that had just occurred began to fully register in her mind.
Without a word, Aria wrenched herself from Madam Pomfrey's grip and dashed into Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, vomiting promptly into the first toilet. She heard the matron open the stall door and pull back her hair with gentle hands.
"I hate him so much!" Aria sobbed, collapsing to her knees, head bent over the toilet seat. "I never did anything to him!"
"Oh, child," Pomfrey murmured. "People like Abraxas Malfoy don't need a reason beyond their own misguided belief in their superiority to hate someone."
"I think . . . I'm pretty sure . . . I mean, I didn't see his face . . ." Aria took the offered toilet paper and wiped her mouth. "At the World Cup . . . Death Eaters almost . . . they almost . . ." Madam Pomfrey rubbed her back. "I think one of them was Lord Malfoy. I . . . he has the same eyes."
"Oh, love—,"
"And Theo said he overheard some of the older students talking earlier this year, and he thinks that I was a specific target at the World Cup by some of the Death Eaters!" Aria turned to the woman. "I didn't do anything!"
"I know, dear."
"It's not fair! I didn't ask to have magic, I was just born with it! I just want to be normal! I don't want to have visions and angry lords coming after me. I just . . ." more tears burned at her eyes. "I just want to have a nice vision for once! Both of them . . ." she could still hear those terrible words "kill the spare" and "Avada Kedavra" ringing through her head.
"Lord Malfoy's in both of them," she told Madam Pomfrey. "And . . . more importantly . . . I just wanted to go to the Yule Ball with Draco."
Madam Pomfrey chuckled.
"Oh, Aria," she said, "in the midst of all this and that's what you've got to say?"
Aria laughed at herself.
"Suppose it's a bit silly, based on everything else," she admitted. "Childish."
"I think you're due being a child," Madam Pomfrey answered. "You of all people have grown up too fast."
Aria sniffed.
"I didn't realize you and Mr. Malfoy were friends," Madam Pomfrey said after a minute.
"We actually met when Professor Snape took me to Diagon Alley just before first year," Aria told her, smiling at the memory. "We were in Madam Malkin's and his parents were there and I thought Mrs. Malfoy was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen. Still do, actually."
"Narcissa Malfoy has always been very pretty. It's the Black blood I'm sure."
"He was nice," Aria continued. "I mean, we didn't talk for very long, but they were all nice to me. Then I got here, and he was mean and he pulled my hair and me across the courtyard that first flying lesson. That's when I first met Lord Malfoy. He took one look at me and disliked me! And I think it makes him angry that I beat Draco at school, though he doesn't have it out for Hermione."
"She isn't in the same House, so she probably doesn't cross his mind."
"Doesn't help that Mr. Malfoy owes me a Life Debt," Aria sighed. "Lord Malfoy was not going to acknowledge it. Publicly too, which I guess is a big no-no or something."
"Indeed it is." Madam Pomfrey smoothed Aria's hair down. "None of this hatred is your fault, you know. I need you to know that."
Aria nodded.
"Do I actually have to go to the hospital wing?" she asked. "Or did you know I was going to be sick?"
"Professor Snape asked me to come check on you," Madam Pomfrey answered, rising to her feet and helping Aria up. "And I've been practicing medicine for years. I know when someone needs and excuse to get out of an embarrassing situation. You still look peaky though. I'd prefer it if you at least came and had a nap."
"Not a little kid," Aria muttered, following the witch out into the corridor.
"No, but a nap never hurts no matter how old you are."
Madam Pomfrey was right (as usual). A nap did help. She even got Aria excused from her afternoon classes, for which Aria was thankful for. After classes ended, she met Hermione in the library and the two slipped into the Restricted Section and into the hidden room. Fawkes appeared and settled in Aria's lap, cooing a little song that made Aria's heart glad. She sat, cuddling the phoenix to her chest. Hermione sat shuffling papers in her bag, organizing them.
"Oh!" Hermione held up a lined piece of Muggle paper. "I forgot. This came last night from my parents. They've done some research and from what they've found, "bite of madness" and "fear of water" are two archaic phrases for what scientists and doctors believe to be rabies."
Rabies. Rabies . . . she had read something . . .
"Of course!" Aria cried, jumping to her feet. Fawkes squawked, fluttering over to the top of a chair. "Did you ever read Old Yeller as a kid?"
"It made me cry," Hermione admitted. "Dad had the old movie on VHS."
"What is lycanthropy is just the magical form of rabies?" Aria asked, voice rising in excitement. "Just like that author from the book I was reading from here? The Muggles have figured out a . . . is it a cure of is it a treatment?"
Hermione glanced through the letter from her parents.
"They say that rabies is treatable so long as the person gets treatment before symptoms begin," Hermione told her. "Symptoms generally take 3 to 8 weeks, but some could be longer."
Aria began pacing.
"Can you blood test for rabies?" Aria asked. "And can we blood test of lycanthropy? Does the curse immediately take in a person's body or does it only come at the full moon? I need to write all this down." She accepted the paper and quill Hermione handed her and began jotting down all her questions. After writing them all down, the girls gathered their things and headed out to do their research, Aria stopping briefly to drop a kiss to Fawkes' head.
Out in the library the girls slipped back into the main part and went straight for the card catalog. Aria moved to the "R" drawer while Hermione went to the "B". They quietly shuffled through the cards. Aria pulled several that she thought might be useful.
"Good afternoon."
Aria nearly lost her footing on the ladder at the sudden greeting. Warm hands steadied her, helping her turn. Nikola grinned sheepishly as she sat on one of the ladder rungs.
"Don't do that!" she admonished, slapping his shoulder.
"Apologies," he answered. Behind him, Viktor rolled his eyes.
"Ve vere concerned vhen ve did not see you after lunch," Nikola continued. "Viktor told me about your . . . vision? And I vitnessed the horrid excuse of a vizard make the Malfoy boy choose another girl for the Yule Ball."
"It's certainly not been one of my best days," Aria said. "Madam Pomfrey wanted me to take a nap and wanted to check my magical core, make sure everything was okay."
"Is something wrong with it?" Viktor asked.
"She battled a mountain troll in first year and won," Hermione explained with a grin. "Burnt her wand out and everything! So her core's been larger than usual since."
"Ah, a core that grows quicker than the vitch or vizard can cause problems," Nikola agreed. "You are allright though?"
"I'm fine," Aria assured him. "My heart's a bit bruised I think, but it'll pass."
"So . . . no boy has had time to ask for your hand?" Nikola asked.
"In marriage?" Aria questioned.
"Er . . . no."
"Sorry, that's what the expression means in English."
"Ah. Vell . . . I vould like to ask you if you vould go to the Yule Ball vith me."
Aria blinked. Then looked at Hermione. Had she heard correctly? Hermione's eyes were wide in surprise. She had heard correctly.
"Wouldn't me going with you cause as much problems as me going with Draco?" Aria asked Nikola. Nikola shrugged.
"I don't care," he answered. "Ve don't have to tell anyone."
"And someone went and owled Lord Malfoy," Aria pointed out.
"No, I mean, ve tell no one. No one knows until the Yule Ball."
Oh. That . . . might be the better option. Still, Aria was not completely convinced.
"Isn't your family coming to the Yule Ball?" she asked. "Wouldn't they be very upset?" They had never really discussed the reaction of his parents at her blood status being revealed. She had no idea what their reaction was!
"Mother and Father are . . . traditional," Nikola admitted. "They do not hate Muggleborns like many do . . ."
"But they still think we're a lesser kind of wixen because of it," Aria finished for him. His face was bright pink now.
"Bulgaria needs to change," Nikola insisted, "I intend to lead that change. But I cannot change anything if I don't first show that I believe in it. I know for fact that more Bulgarians . . . and others in the Eastern bloc, think as I do, but the traditions of our people stop them from speaking out. My people must see me to believe in a better future."
"Ah, so I'm just a political tool," Aria argued, though her tone lacked real bite and the little grin on her face showed she was not upset.
"You are more than that!" Nikola retorted. "Did I ask any Muggleborn? No. I asked you because I know ve get along. I can talk potions vith you vhen the ball gets boring."
Viktor rolled his eyes.
"Alvays talking about your potions," he complained to Nikola. "If you vere not a prince, you vould be a potioneer." He turned to Hermione.
"Do you have a date to the ball, Hermione?" he asked. Aria tried not to giggle at his mispronunciation of her friend's name. Viktor had been working hard to say Hermione's name properly, ever since they had been introduced, but it was just not coming.
"I do not," Hermione replied.
"Vould you do me the honor of going with me?"
Hermione grinned, a sweet blush spreading across her cheeks.
"I would love to," she answered. "But . . . could we keep it under wraps? Like Aria and Nikola?"
"I haven't actually given an answer yet," Aria pointed out, but Hermione and Viktor were too busy staring into each other's eyes to notice. She huffed.
"We've been shunted off to the side," she complained. Nikola leaned closer to her. "Quick, say something to make me look at you like that."
"I vould love to hear about your lycanthropy research."
"Aw, you know the best way to a girl's heart. I guess I will go to the Yule Ball with you. But let's definitely keep it under wraps. I don't want another visit from Abraxas Malfoy. I'm sure he'd find a way to take offense of me being your date."
She showed Nikola her list of questions. "What do you know about blood testing in the wizarding world?"
Aria skipped dinner, using that time to continue researching in the library. She did not think she could handle everyone after what had happened in the Great Hall that afternoon. Therefore, she did not see much of her friends and house mates until she returned to the common room near curfew.
While in the library, she had had some time to ponder over the events of the afternoon. Her vision concerning Cedric was as terrifying at the one she had had about Draco, even if it had not been as painful physically for her. She still remembered how she how gored scratches into her arm after seeing the vision of Draco being tattooed like Professor Snape, and she doubted she would ever forget how cold she had become today. The phrase "her blood turned to ice" had never been truer and she wondered if it had originated through a similar experience as hers.
But she had also pondered over the Abraxas Malfoy situation. Besides the fact that she was now more resolute to be successful in everything she did just to spite the man and others like him. But how had he come to hear about who Draco was taking to the Yule Ball? She doubted Draco had told him, but had Draco written to his parents and Abraxas was told by them? She also doubted that. Draco had said once that he and his parents had reveled in the time Lord Malfoy had been in Azkaban for nearly a year, so she doubted Mr. ad Mrs. Malfoy would have told him, even if they did disapprove. Which meant that someone in Slytherin had decided to write to Abraxas Malfoy and snitch on them.
And she would bet a heap of Galleons it was Pansy Parkinson.
Entering the common room, multiple heads turned in her direction. Draco surged to his feet from where he had been waiting for her.
"It wasn't Pansy," he said in way of greeting. Aria raised her eyebrows. Was she that predictable? Her eyes moved to where Pansy sat with the other fourth year girls. Her eyes were still red rimmed, which was strange, seeing as she had gotten her wish and was now going to the Yule Ball with Draco.
"Pansy didn't tell my grandfather that we were going to the Yule Ball together," Draco said again. Aria sighed, more than a little miffed that all the anger and resentment that she had been building up over the last few hours could not be released at the person she had been building up resentment and anger over for the last few hours.
"Well then, who did?" Aria demanded. Every hushed conversation in the common room stopped, everyone waiting to hear Draco's pronouncement.
"I'm just waiting for them to arrive," Draco said, a grin as smug as his grandfather's crossing over his face. "Grandfather said I needed to ask them to the Yule Ball, as a reward for telling him about my . . . poor choices."
"But you still chose Pansy?" Aria questioned. "And she didn't do it?"
"No, she did not do it," Draco said. "And I chose Pansy because Grandfather would never think of disrespecting her family in the way he disrespected you. And I'd prefer to go with Pansy than—,"
The portrait door swung open.
"—Astoria Greengrass."
Astoria and Seraphina froze a few feet into the common room, their giggles dying as they realized everyone was staring at them. Behind them Harper, who seemed to only be friends with them because of their wealthier status, backed away a few inches. Aria noted that Harper was carrying their bookbags.
"You fucking bitch," Aria said. Astoria had the audacity to gasp in offense.
"Don't speak to me like that!" Astoria ordered. "You can't speak to me like that!"
"I'll speak to you however I want to," Aria snapped, slowly drawing her wand. The blackthorn thrummed excitedly in her hand, anticipating a fight. "You wrote to Abraxas Malfoy? Fucking little snitch!"
"Why shouldn't I have written to him?" Astoria demanded.
"Because it wasn't your place," Daphne yelled, rising to her feet. "If you really concerned you would have written to Father and he would have decided whether or not to write to Lord Malfoy. Not you!"
"Father wouldn't have done anything," Astoria argued. "It wouldn't have mattered how much I told him that Bourne doesn't deserve to go to the Yule Ball over better pureblood girls, it wouldn't have mattered how unfair it is that Ginny Weasley and Looney Lovegood get to go but no one has asked me—,"
"It's 'cause you're a bitch," Theo snarled. "Has that ever occurred to you?"
"—Father would not have helped me," Astoria went on, ignoring the others. Her face was turning red the angrier she got. "So, I had to take matters into my own hands. I could have gotten over Weasley and Looney getting to go, but I could not stand the thought of a Mudblood bitch getting to go with one of the most eligible boys in our generation."
Several hexes ran through Aria's mind. Hexes that would make her dad ground her if he knew what they could do and would make Snape exasperated but privately proud of her. She imagined Astoria held up in the hospital wing while Madam Pomfrey struggled to undo the magic, because she would make sure that the hexes stuck.
"I swear, Astoria, you are intent on making our family name a pariah," Daphne cried. Aria noted Blaise and Millicent were holding Daphne back from attacking her sister.
"Well, you didn't get Draco," Aria settled on saying. "You're still not going to the Yule Ball."
"Neither are you."
"Are you sure about that?" Aria asked. Astoria's snarl dropped from her face and was replaced with shock. "I am, after all, one of the hottest girls in the school according to Daphne. It wasn't really difficult to find a replacement."
"Gee, thanks," Draco muttered with a self-deprecating laugh.
"You can't have already found another date!" Astoria cried.
"Well, I have. And you are not going to know who it is until the day after the Yule Ball," Aria told her. "Because if you think this little stunt of yours is going to get you a date to the ball, you have another thing coming. No one is going to ask you to the Yule Ball once they find out it was you who wrote to Lord Malfoy. Unless perhaps a Durmstrang student decides to ask you, but I doubt it seeing as you're only thirteen."
"Someone will ask me!" Astoria cried.
"Is anyone in Slytherin willing to go with Astoria to the Yule Ball?" Aria asked the common room. Ever the older pureblood students shook their heads. Aria might not understand a lot, but even she could figure out that Astoria had broken some kind of social rule by writing to Lord Malfoy instead of going through her own father with her concerns. She would have to have Daphne or Draco explain it to her later. On top of that, because Draco had asked Pansy, she had probably suffered through something this afternoon. Aria could not imagine her friends in other houses making it easy for Pansy.
"No one will take you to the Yule Ball," Daphne stated. "You'll be lucky if Father doesn't bring you home for the holidays after I tell him what you've done."
Astoria burst into tears, sprinting out of the common room to the third-year dorms. Aria's blackthorn wand hummed with some disappointment at the lack of a fight.
"I'm sorry," Draco murmured.
"We'll talk later," Aria muttered. She cast an eye around the room. "Where's Harry?"
"He had a meeting with Dumbledore after classes," Blaise answered. "He skipped dinner and has been in his room since."
Aria sighed. Harry would be in a mood then. He always was after a meeting with Dumbledore. The headmaster was at least checking in on the youngest Triwizard champion, and Aria was glad to see him do his job for once, but it always made Harry moody afterwards.
Climbing the stairs to the boys' dorm she slipped in and opened the bed curtains to Harry's bed, finding him curled up on the edge. She flopped down beside him with a dramatic groan, closing the curtains behind her.
Harry flipped over onto his back, lacing his fingers with hers. The two stared up at the canopy in silence for a few minutes. Aria's eyes followed the swirl of pattern on the underside of the canopy, trying to organize her thoughts and emotions as best as she could. She recalled some of the advice from a book Prudence had lent her back in first year, about clearing her mind and putting memories and emotions in certain places within her mind. Eventually, though, she spoke.
"Today has been awful," she whispered.
Harry squeezed her hand.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"I really wanted to go with Draco."
"You deserved to go with Draco."
"Someone else's already asked me to go with them. I've said yes."
Harry looked at her.
"Who is it?" he asked. Aria could not help the smile that spread across her face.
"Someone that will make Abraxas Malfoy even more angry," she said.
Harry laughed.