The Malfoy Diaries (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

t w e n t y - f i v e 💛

It seemed as though it had rained for the entire day, on New Year's Eve 1997. Aria didn't really mind the rain that much anymore, though. It seemed oddly comforting. It was one of the only constants her life had of late. Everything was changing, including her relationship with a certain Slytherin. She hadn't expected to almost miss Malfoy's irritating presence, but she found herself thinking about him more often than she believed she should. 

Even though it was raining heavily, the sun could be found creating a silver lining in the white clouds above. It reminded Aria of a quote that she had read a while back, that a silver lining could be found in the darkness and that hope could be found in the hopeless. She gazed at the silver lining for a little while longer until she grew bored and decided that it was about time she went to get Malfoy's diary again. She had returned it a little while ago, secretly. She had to. In her recent visits, Malfoy hadn't written much in it. She assumed that he had just been busy reading but she almost missed seeing the fresh markings on the ivory pages each time she flipped the little green book open. 

The tiniest beams of sunlight cast long shadows in the hallways of Hogwarts and Aria noticed, not for the first time, just how quiet the castle had become. For somewhere that had once been so vibrant and full of life, it now seemed so empty and almost dead. 

As Aria continued on down the Hogwarts hallway, she really hoped that she would find another soul soon enough. As much as she loved her independence, she really did miss her friends when she hadn't seen them in a little while. She hoped that she would be able to see at least one of her friends before it was night time again. 

A cold breeze drifted in from one of the open windows, which led Aria to realise that someone must be nearby and sure enough, Aria soon found Malfoy half-sat on the window sill reading. 

 "Malfoy," Aria spoke his name despite herself and his silvery gaze soon found her. 

"Hufflepuff," he said in response. "I'm sort of busy reading here," he told her. 

Aria nodded in understanding. 

"I just...I don't know," she said. 

"What?" Malfoy asked, as he closed his book for a moment. It was clear to him that he wasn't going to be able to read any more for a moment, at least. The Hufflepuff girl did tend to go on, in his opinion. 

"Don't you think it's weird? The castle being so quiet, I mean," Aria said. 

Malfoy considered her question for a moment but soon simply gave a shrug of his shoulders in response to it. 

"Not really. I much prefer it, actually. There's more time to be in peace. I don't exactly get much of that- I don't know why I'm telling you this," Malfoy said, as he quickly returned his gaze to the book in front of him, causing Aria's lips to twitch up a little at the corner. As Malfoy glanced towards her for a second, just to check if she was still there, he caught onto the smile and felt something weird inside his chest. He chose to shut it out as his eyes glued to the text in front of him once again. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Hufflepuff, I am trying to read here. I intend on finishing this book today, so."  

"I know, I know," Aria said, as she pulled her copy of Jane Eyre out of her pocket. "I'll join you," she said. 

Malfoy raised an eyebrow at that statement. 

"Do you have to?" he asked, a little uncomfortably. 

"I won't make any noise, I promise," Aria said with a small smile, which took Malfoy by surprise. 

Since when did they smile at each other? 

"Fine," Malfoy managed to say. 

Thus, the two students began to read together. Well, it wasn't really together together, Aria considered, but it was still something. 

After a little while, Malfoy's gaze returned to the Hufflepuff sitting opposite him on the window sill. 

"I'll be honest- you're not really that bad," he said at last. He couldn't believe he was saying such a thing but perhaps the Hufflepuff was growing on him more than he had ever expected her to. 

Aria felt her mouth smile at this. She couldn't help it. 

"Neither are you," she said. 

"Oh, really?" Malfoy asked, as he folded his arms in front of his chest. 

"Yes. Really. You try to act all big and tough and scary but you're...you're just you. You don't have to be anything," Aria said. 

Malfoy's mouth came agape at that statement but before he could say anything, another familiar Slytherin walked over to the two of them. 

"Theo...are you wearing eyeliner?" Malfoy asked him, as Theodore Nott joined them. 

Theo shrugged. 

"Maybe I got bored. Maybe Parkinson left her makeup set out. Whatever," Theodore said, "How do I look?" he asked, as he spun around in a circle. 

"Amazing, obviously," Malfoy said in a blank tone. 

"I thought so too!" Theo said with excitement. "Anyway, what are you two doing here? More to the point, Malfoy, you hang out with Hufflepuff girls now?" he asked. 

Malfoy stood up with a stern expression upon his face. 

"Leave it out, Nott," he said, as he began to walk past him and back down the hall towards the Slytherin common room without so much as a goodbye. 

Aria didn't know why that bothered her as much as it did. It wasn't as if Malfoy usually gave her a goodbye, anyway. He had a tendency to come and go whenever he pleased. In Aria's opinion, he seemed to do everything else as he pleased, too, with little consideration for others. Then again, Aria thought for a moment, maybe he was a little different compared to how he used to be. He hadn't hexed her for sitting with him, for one thing. 

"See you around, Nott," Aria said, before she stood up and began to make her way back to the Hufflepuff common room, leaving Theodore Nott staring after both Malfoy and Aria with an amused smirk upon his face.