𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧

𝟙𝟟. ᥴꪶꫀꪖꪀ ડꪶꪖ𝕥ꫀ

Picture NOT Mine

Draco Malfoy POV

Ria shoves us all out of her room and slams the door. 

"Why does Ria know you?" Potter asks King Gaunt. 

"Thieves under the big A are paired up. Since I was the only one he really trusted, he paired Rogue and I together," Gaunt says. 

"Why only you?" I ask. 

"Rogue was the big A's girlfriend. She helped him run the Thieves Network," Gaunt informs us. 

Ria has a boyfriend? 

"KING! I CAN BLOODY HEAR YOU!" Ria screams. "SHUT UP!"

Gaunt gives us a sheepish look and doesn't answer any more of our questions. 

Hermione Granger POV

"Hermione!" a familiar voice says. 

I spin around. "Harry?" I ask. 

He takes of his Cloak. "I escaped Auror training for a day," Harry explains. "Ron says hi." 

"So why are you here?" I ask. 

"Malfoy and I need help figuring out who exactly is Ria. What's her past?" Harry says. 

"You mean Malfoy as in Draco Malfoy?" I ask in horror. 

"Yes, Granger," Malfoy's familiar voice drawls. 

"Fine," I say. "But this is for Ria." 

"Of course, Granger. I'd expect nothing less," Malfoy says. 

"Rogue Victory Rebel," Harry says. "That's all we managed to get from Gaunt." 

"You mean King Gaunt?" I ask in amazement. 

"Who else?" Malfoy says. 

"H!" Ria's voice yells. "I need your help." 

"Sorry, Lyria, she's helping us," Malfoy snaps. 

"Oh sod off, Draco," Ria rolls her eyes. "Turns out my ex-boyfriend's coming to Hogwarts. I need H's help to set up wards around my room." 

"How do you know this?" Malfoy asks. 

"Because he's right behind you," Ria says. 

We all turn around and sure enough, there's a boy who's devillishly handsome. 

"I missed you, Rogue," he says. 

Lyria Potter (Lyra Thorne) POV

"Hello," I say coolly. "Have you lost your way?" 

"Funny, Rogue," he says. "King found you, I suppose?" 

"Yes, he did," I reply. "Not to anyone's surprise. King was, after all, your hunting dog." 

Ace Hunter rolls his eyes. "Of course you think that," Ace says. "Listen, Rogue. I realize my mistakes. But you've got to know, I truly love you." 

"Well you should've told me that when you went on your killing spree, Ace," I say coldly. 

Ace Hunter POV

I messed up real bad. I lost Rogue forever. 

And she's never going to be mine, I realize that. 

"Can we talk privately?" I ask softly. Rogue gives me a look of pure hatred, but she tells her friends to go somewhere else. 

"I want a re-do, Rogue," I say. "I want to be in your life. As a brother or friend, anything you want me to be." 

Rogue gives me a once over. "I can't trust Ace Hunter, the thief lord of England," Rogue says finally. 

I'm about to say something but Rogue cuts me off. 

"But I can try to trust Ace," Rogue says. She gives me a half smile. "A clean slate, Ace. A chance to start over." 

I give her a relieved smile. "I wont let you down, Rogue." 

She gives me a look. "Rogue's my name from the past. You can call me Ria," she says. 

"Okay, Ria. Let me ask you, since when are you a witch?" I ask geuinely. 

Ria laughs. "I could ask you the same, Ace," she says, shooting me a grin. 

So, like the old days, we leave bantering. 

Harry Potter POV

Ria comes out of the library, bantering with the boy she calls 'Ace.' 

"So, Draco, Potter and H, mind telling us why you're just standing around the library and not actually going in?" Ria asks, a smirk on her face. 

"Because you shooed us out," Malfoy fires back. 

"Yes, I suppose we did. Go on, the library's free," Ria says and Hermione rushes past her. 

"So, Roug- Ria, show me the Common Rooms, yeah?" the Ace guy says. 

Ria gives him a face. "I'm not very equipped to show you around Hogwarts. Draco, do me a favor?" 

Malfoy masks a face of indifference. Oh my Godric, does Malfoy like my sister? "Anything for you, Ria." 

Draco Malfoy POV

I lead Ace Hunter, to the Slytherin Common Room. 

"So, you like Ria, huh?" Ace says casually. 

I stop, my breath hitching. "What's that to you?" I say as calmly as I can. 

Ace gives me a look. "I'm concerned for her. If you break her heart, know you'll have England's most wanted after you," Ace says. 

This perks up my intrest. "How do you two know each other?" I ask. 

"She was sixteen," Ace says. "I was nineteen. Rogue, she almost got away with stealing from us. But she was young and untrained, so my men were able to bring her in." 

"Bring her in?" I ask slowly. "To do what?" 

"Well, originally, to kill her for trying to steal our property. But King, one of my best thieves, reckonized a spark of fire in Rogue's spirit. So King and another one of my thieves trained her," Ace says. "She was the best thief I had, even if she was only seventeen by that time." 

"So you only spared her because of her talent?" I ask dryly. 

Ace gives me a sheepish look. "Yes," he admits. "The first time I saw her after King took her to train was when she was seventeen. Never get on her bad side when she's angry and she has anything harmful. Her aim is deadly. I learned that the hard way." 

I wait for him to go on. When he does, he seems to be crying. "We fell in love. Rogue always said she didn't believe in love because her birth parents abandoned her. But I fell for greed, and Rogue bailed on me the night before we were supposed to get married," Ace says. 

I feel bad for this guy. 

"I suppose I deserve it, and even if she forgives me, I don't forgive myself," Ace says. 

"If there's anything I learned, Ace, it's that Ria forgives anybody. Hell, she'd probably forgive bloody Voldemort!" I say. 

"Who's that?" Ace asks cluelessly. 

I laugh. I think Ace and I will get along just fine. As long as he's not after Ria, that is. 

It's amazing how people can change. Ria's right. A clean slate means new opportunities. A new future.