After a huge argument about Aria's plan about becoming Morana's servant or not, Draco straight away shut himself in his dorm. He didn't even allow his friends, Nico and Theo with whom he shared it. They kept banging the door and yelling his name but Draco was stubborn. He didn't open it the whole day and mind you, he had put a spell so that no unlocking charm would work on it. He sat on this bed, putting his head in his palms, frustrated. He let his silent tears flow. It was out of pure guilt, rage, pain and a feeling of betrayal and carelessness.
Aria...he thought was the most understanding person. But now...
Aria hadn't betrayed him but it felt like that, whatever she was doing was for the world's and his good, but what if she... herself passes away from the world? If Morana would get a chance, she would torture Aria until she died...and no one could do anything but watch because it was her own choice. He would die himself rather than let Morana control her life. He agreed with her that the poison would eventually kill her but Draco would do something before that happened. He couldn't leave her to die in the hands of an evil witch, instead, he would put his own soul before her. Aria had no idea how much he had grown to care about her. The girl, who Draco didn't give a damn about had now taken a very important place in his heart.
Now he came to think about it...he had accepted the mark because he was scared of dying...he wanted to live, but now he wouldn't hesitate to place himself before Aria to save her from pain. In fact, he wouldn't feel the pain if it meant Aria is safe.
"DRACO!!" came her voice through the door. Draco gritted his teeth. He was sure, Nico and Theo had brought Aria cause they knew he would open the door for her. But this time, Draco was not going to melt.
"DRACO!!" She shouted. "FOR GOD'S SAKE OPEN THE DOOR!!"
"WHY?" he shouted angrily from this side of the door. "You wanna see how my mark will look on your arm?"
She stopped shouting or even banging the door. There were muffled voices outside the door and Draco heard footsteps exiting. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that no one is going to irritate him now but how very wrong he was.
"Draco" Aria whispered through the door. "Please. Look, don't open the door, okay? at least talk to me quietly?"
Draco felt the knots of anger in his chest melt a little. Her voice sounded as if she was begging. He walked towards the door but didn't open it.
"What?" he asked, acting unbothered.
"I-I" she stuttered. "l-look...I know you are worried for me but someone must take the risk, Draco or there won't be any safe place in this world."
"And why that someone has to be you, Aria?" He asked, through his gritted teeth. "Why can't it be anyone else?"
Draco heard a sob, "We need a hero, Draco and that's what I have to be."
"Fine," he said. "We have plenty of heroes to do that. We don't need you. Why can't you stay quiet at home like a good girl."
"Draco," she said, her voice breaking. "If we don't do anything, there won't be any home to come back to."
Draco's heart broke. He knew she was right. If they thought about themselves there won't be any home to come back to. But the problem was that no one understood how dangerous Morana was...except maybe Aria. If she was willing to risk her life...her mind was pretty set ad she wasn't going to back off for Draco. Marissa's voice replayed in his mind.
"She just cared for you and you have no idea which extent she can go for her friends."
Draco knew she was right, I mean, what is worse than risking her life?
Draco took a deep breath and gently opened the door. Aria was leaning on the door and when Draco opened it, she fell...on him. Draco hitched on his breath and by the looks of it, Aria did too. They both stared at each other for minutes which felt like years to Draco. He stared into the warm blue ocean coloured eyes. Looking into them was all that Draco needed, the perfect comfort that Draco didn't know he missed, the perfect warmth that was enough for him to do anything for her. He couldn't believe that Morana's soul existed in those beautiful, twinkling eyes. His mind buzzed, hardly aware of his surroundings, but sadly or luckily, Draco didn't know, but he finally snapped out of it when he heard a loud crash as if someone had just crashed a huge asteroid in the great hall.
Aria got off his chest where previously she had fallen and looked at me in alarm. They locked eyes and Draco saw all the emotions he was feeling reflected in her blue ones. Once again, they were snapped out of their trance when they heard screams and shouts for help. Aria grabbed his hand and they both ran towards the sound. They ran down the stairs of the boys' dormitory and Draco exceptionally noticed that it was empty.
"Why is it empty?" asked Aria, noticing the obvious.
"dunno" replied Draco, trying to keep up with her running pace. "But I assume all the noise is from the great hall."
She didn't reply but continued running with more strength. Draco did the same but they both suddenly stopped when they heard a...cackle.
"W-What i-is that?" he whispered, pulling Aria close to him. She again didn't reply and the distance between them told Draco that her heart had either stopped beating or was beating very fast. She blinked back tears and hugged him. He wrapped his hands around her as well. They stood there for a second. It wasn't awkward or something instead it was something they both needed. He rubbed her arm and she pulled away.
"l-let's go," she said. Draco nodded and held her hand tightly. She looked deep into his eyes, but he looked away.
"we'll be together," he said. Again, she didn't say anything which made Draco look at her questioningly. She was looking down at her shoes. He took her chin and forced her to look at him.
"Promise," he said. she sighed.
"Promise," he said, in a more demanding tone.
"I think we shou-" Draco cut her off
"Promise or I am not talking to you from now." She looked at him shocked.
"Draco," she said. "There is something going on in there and you are asking me for some stupid promise?"
This angered Draco. Were his feelings stupid? He just asked her for a meaningful promise.
"Aria Rosewood," he said, his tone angered. "If you think this is stupid, walk away from my life cause this bloody promise means a lot to me," he said and started walking away towards where the noise of the chaos was coming from. The screams were more prominent now as if more students were gathering.
"Promise" he heard from behind. He stopped.
"I promise we will be together," she said, standing beside him. A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
"let's go," they both said in unison and ran towards the great hall.