Draco laughed bitterly, "You really think so? Do you think I deserve the brightness? After the dark mark which I have on my arm?" He pulled up his left arm where the Dark snake was coiling around the skull. Aria gasped. She looked like she couldn't breathe. She slowly touched the mark and ran her fingers on it. Her face turned green. Tears went down her cheeks and Draco knew it: He had lost his only true friend. His life.
He expected her to call him a monster. To tell him that he had betrayed her. He didn't deserve to live but instead, she did something he didn't know what to think of. She hugged him and cried more.
"A-Aria" he said. She pulled away and punched him on his nose.
"What were you thinking hiding this from me?!!" she shouted and then took a deep breath. "Draco...I don't know what to say. h-how can you hide something like this? How were you doing this alone, when you have me? You went through so much."
Draco looked at her confused. He had expected her to run away and report him, but here she was...crying because she was worried for him.
"H-Have you l-lost your mind? I-I am Morana's servant. Don't you get an idea from the mark on my arm?" he asked. She laughed. This girl was driving him crazy. she could have cried, shouted, or run away, But why laugh?
"Draco, is this mark craved on your heart? Do you have any intentions to support Morana?" she asked.
"Of course not" he replied. She smiled.
"Then a stupid mark which was given to you by a stupid Morana doesn't matter," she said. Draco couldn't believe his ears. There was someone on this earth who cared for him and is concerned about his heart. There was someone who wasn't judging him by the mark but by his intentions...his feelings. And that 'someone' was Aria. She was like a goddess.
"I will still call you a friend and will care for you, whether Morana's servant or not." she smiled. Draco hugged her once again. She was taken aback but she hugged him back.
"Y-You will not l-leave me?" he asked.
"Not even in my dreams," she said, looking in his eyes, but then something struck Draco.
"What are you doing here?" he demanded.
"meaning?" she asked, confused at the sudden change of tone.
"I asked, what are you doing here?" he repeated.
"well...I saw you running here, crying so I followed," she said.
"Followed?" Draco asked. "I thought the scream was yours. And you were in pain?"
"Yes I was," she said. "But I don't think the poison exists. I don't feel any pain" Draco rolled his eyes.
"Aria, this is her plan. She has done it"
"But I thought-
"I-I'll tell you everything. L-look please do not freak out." He said. He took a deep breath and started, "Your parents were a big supporter of Morana and Morana wanted to be immortal, so she decided to transfer a part of her soul in you so that if anything happens to her, you can sacrifice yourself and she can return but...your parents didn't like it so they took you and flee, but naturally Morana killed them. And now she is trapped. Her soul in you has taken a resting place in your eyes." Aria yelped.
"WHAT!!!"
"ARIA!! calm down!!" shouted Draco. "calm down. I know it is all hard. but please listen. Yes, her soul is in your eyes. Morana has assigned me to kill you in the eyes. If I try to do it anywhere else...Both of you will die. But if I kill you through your eye, you will die and she will live. We need to find out a way so that, you can live. The poison is still in you, professor Gladstone has only removed the pain."
"Professor Gladstone?" she asked.
"Um...yeah. Morana has replaced the real professor with her snake," he said. Aria yelped again.
"SNake? You mean professor Gladstone is not here? It's the snake that..." she trailed off.
"Yes," Draco sighed. "And also I saw your grandmother. I talked to her. She has always been cruel to you right?" she nodded.
"Well...that is because Morana killed her son...her daughter-in-law...Morana basically ended her whole family and the soul of her family's murderer exists in you so...But anyways she is still protecting you."
"How?" she asked.
"You really want to talk all of this here?" he asked. Aria blinked as if coming out of the Morana-Aria life trance and looked around.
"Oh," she said in a small voice. Draco chuckled. He stood up and offered her his hand. She looked between me and my hand.
"I had rather be here all day," she said. Draco remembered the start of the year when she had fallen on the ground and she had refused to take his hand. Aria's expression told him she was doing it purposely this time. She had a taunting and playful look.
"Alright then," said Draco pretending to leave. "I'll go"
"HeY!!" she cried. Draco laughed and picked her up by the arm. She laughed with him.
"well? where exactly are we going?" she asked as we got out.
"To my dorm?" he asked.
"um...professor Lynass will kill me if I am not under her observation," she said.
"Then let her. You are not important anyway," he told her. She acted hurt but laughed.
"Well...I am not in your house," she said, as we stood outside the common room. "Your housemates will attack me if they know their mortal enemy has entered their territory."
"Not when she has a personal guard," said Draco, bowing. She laughed.
"I must say I hate this guard. He puts me in trouble."
"You like trouble" he retorted.
"And my guard too," she said, smiling. Draco looked at her and rolled his eyes.
"Don't think you will say that when I punch you in the face" He said, going inside the common room and sitting on one of the armchairs.
"In your dreams, Francis. You will never have the satisfaction of punching my face," she said, sitting next to him. Draco raised his hand pointed at her face, in a punching manner.
"Wanna have a demo?" he asked.
"You wish," she said putting on a sarcastic smile. Drac laughed. They both sat in comfortable silence and looked at the dancing flames of the fire. Looking at it, Draco got a warm, but weird feeling. He felt like home. Not his manor where currently the stupid Morana was sleeping, but the home he craved. The home he wanted. His parents had never shown any affection towards him. Draco's father had always cared about the reputation of their name in the pureblood society. But Draco had a weird suspicion that his father always put on a mask. He never showed his true intentions. He was always unpredictable. And Draco's mother was a completely different story. She cared for Draco very much, no doubt, but even she seemed like she had different intentions in her mind. Draco still didn't know if his mother had seen something of the future as she was a diviner, but Draco didn't push the matter.
"You know what?" said Aria quietly. "Grandmother had warned me that you were Morana's servant." Draco raised his eyebrows.
"I know." he said "She told me. But how did she know that?"
"Dunno, but...since she told me that, I saw something different in you," she said, still looking at the fire.
"what?" he asked.
"Well...before that, we always fought over the fact that you are a pureblood...and I a muggle-born...and now...the same enemies are best friends. I always thought you were a brat, a stupid boy who only cares about money. But this year, I saw something else. You no longer boasted about your family, no longer did show pride in being pure-blood..." she trailed off. "Ever wondered if I am a muggle-born, then how does my grandmother know about the wizarding world?"
Draco's eyes went wide. All this time he had been so occupied in thinking about Morana and Aria's connection that he forgot that Aria was a muggle-born. But then, the Rosewoods...
"But the Rosewood was the most trusted family of Morana, right?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied. "When I got the letter that I am accepted in Ivermorny school of magic, another surprise was waiting for me. I first lived with a muggle family, but then on my eleventh birthday, my grandmother told me that I am a pure-blood and I had magical parents. She told me to live with her. I didn't like it, but I agreed. I have mixed feelings about my decision. I wanted to stay with gran because, well...she was my gran. But I didn't want to leave my muggle family. I grew up with them."
"But then why didn't you tell anyone that you were a pure-blood?" asked Draco. "I wouldn't have bullied you for so many years. And why didn't I hear your name if you were from an ancient family?"
"Because Rosewoods were disrespected in the society," she said, a sad glint in her eyes. "And I didn't want to draw any attention by saying I am a pure-blood."
Draco diverted his attention back to the fire, letting the information sink in. He felt terrible hearing the information. He was always jealous of Aria as he thought she had all he didn't. A nice loving family, money, home...
But now he regretted it. She had been through so much, alone. And Draco knew the pain of being alone. She never had a loving family. Her gran was cruel to her, her muggle family loved her, but Aria couldn't tell them about what she was going through. She had money...but that was something she didn't want. She wanted peace and a nice life...which she wasn't getting. She wanted a home, a simple life, but...
"I-I am sorry," he told her, quietly not looking at her. She turned to look at him, the first time since their conversation started. Draco didn't turn but kept a hard gaze on the crackling fire.
"For what?" she asked.
"For bullying you for so many years," he replied. "For throwing hurtful insults at you"
She chuckled, "I got that from gran. your insults weren't so worse." Draco raised his eyebrows.
"Why do you always be so chill?" he asked her, frustrated. "You would have cried, shouted, screamed, be angry? But why laugh? I hate that. Especially if there is nothing funny." She smiled in an amused manner.
"That is because...laughing is better than crying," she said, chuckling. Her chuckling soon became a laugh and minutes later, Draco and Aria, were laughing till they were out of breath. She gasped for breath, trying to stop laughing, but was unsuccessful.
"S-so Moran's soul is in my eyes?" she asked, once she calmed down.
"Yeah," he replied.
"So...the eyes that I carry is hers? The color too?"
"no. They are yours. Your eyes don't have an evil glint and the color is definitely not hers. The beautiful electric blue in the middle of the green forest can't be hers, can it?" he asked, smiling. She blushed.