The Malfoy Diaries (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

s i x t y - s i x 💛

Harry Potter. 

The words echoed in her mind, long after Aria had awoken from the worst nightmare of her life. 

It was her birthday yet Voldemort was closer than ever. 

She swallowed hard as she managed to force her way out of bed and into the main sitting area of the Gryffindor common room. She hadn't wanted to be alone. Thus, she had spent the night there. Hermione and Ginny hadn't minded. They were on edge, too. Everyone could sense that the Dark Lord was on his way.

Harry winced as he placed a hand upon the scar on his forehead. 

"Harry," Ginny said with compassion in her voice, as she hastily went to sit next to him. She took one of his hands in hers and gave it a gentle squeeze. 

"I'm fine, really," Harry said with a warm voice. 

"Why am I not convinced by that?" Ginny asked. 

Harry gave a slight shake of his head, before he glanced towards Ginny with an appreciative smile. 

"I'll be fine. Eventually. We all know he's getting weaker. There's only a few Horcruxes left," Harry said. He seemed to become a little more serious after saying that. He knew that he was one of them. 

Nevertheless, Harry was willing to do whatever he could to protect the school and people he cared about more than anything else. Harry's friends and family were everything to him. He wasn't scared to go down fighting for them. They were all worth it. 

"I know you're worried about me, Ginny, but I will be alright. We need to keep calm. I know it's not exactly the easiest of things to do right now but running around like headless chickens isn't going to make Voldemort go away any quicker," he said. 

Ron scoffed at that. 

"Ronald," Hermione said, with a warning tone. 

"What? You have to admit that it was sort of funny," Ron said. 

"Let's not fight right now. We need to be there for one another. It's more important now than ever to be there for one another," Harry said. 

Ron and Hermione met each others gazes for a few moments, before they nodded in agreement. 

There was soon a knock upon the Gryffindor common room, which prompted Aria to stand up from her seat. 

"I'll get it," she said.

She walked to the door and a hand quickly grasped her wrist, pulling her out into the hallway. 

It only took her a few seconds for her eyes to settle on the person who had done so. 

"Draco?" she said. 

"Hey. I know it's your birthday and...Blaise said I was being ridiculous but I ignored him. I meant what I said yesterday- about things being different. I brought you some books. They're leather-bound wizards books. I know, disgusting. However, I thought you could take a break from all of the Muggle crap. I mean...Muggle books," he said. 

Aria's eyes brightened slightly in astonishment, as Malfoy passed her the stack of books. 

"Happy birthday, my Hufflepuff," he said. 

"Your Hufflepuff, huh?" Aria asked. 

The corner of Draco's lips twitched up slightly in response to that question. 

"Well, yes. You're my friend and you're in Hufflepuff," he said. 

Oh. 

Aria wasn't sure what she had been expecting for him to say. She shouldn't have been so silly. Of course, he only wanted to be friends with her. Wasn't that what she had wanted all this time, too? So, why did she feel somewhat disappointed? 

She quickly forced a smile onto her face, as she thanked Draco for the gifts. 

"You're welcome," he said. "I'm going to be honest. I don't usually do this whole birthday celebration thing. I hate my own birthday but... I wasn't sure what you thought about birthdays and I wanted to make things up to you and-" 

Aria stepped forward then to wrap her arms around Draco, taking him by surprise. 

The two of them stumbled back a few steps together. 

Aria released a gentle chuckle. 

"Thank you. It means so much to me, Draco, really," she said. 

Draco couldn't help but smile then, too. It was only a half-smile, barely there, but Aria wanted to keep it in her memory forever. 

"It's no problem. It's kind of like a thank you gift, too, I suppose," he said.

When Aria raised an eyebrow at him in her intrigue, Draco went on to explain what he meant. 

"What I mean to say is that you're one of the only people that actually listen to me, Aria. Even when you should have absolutely hated me, you stayed there. You didn't give up on me. I really, really, don't understand why you stayed but I am so glad that you did. Words wouldn't even begin to cover my gratitude. You're not afraid to be wrong. I think...I think that has always been something that I have struggled with. You showed me a different side to that, though. You showed me that sometimes people make the wrong choices, but it isn't too late to change. I have to be honest, I never really realised how much change I was capable of until I met you, Aria. I don't truly understand why you mean so much to me, all I know is that you do. I will do everything within my power to make sure you survive this war." 

"You know that I have always tried my best to accept you, Draco, even when I suspected you wanted to kill me," Aria said. "I just guess my main question is- why the change of heart? Why does my life suddenly matter so much to you?". 

"Why?" Draco repeated and then released a quiet laugh, as his eyes burned intensely into Aria's. 

"Why do I want to make sure you survive? I want you to survive because you scorched something into my soul, Aria Honey. You made me realise that even if I won this war alongside my parents- I still would have lost. I would have been left with absolutely nothing. I want you to survive because nobody could ever convince me that you deserved anything other than a happy life. Perhaps it is a little selfish of me to admit, but I want you to survive because I honestly believe that losing you would break me entirely, Aria. That's why. You have to survive. You have to survive because without you, I am nothing."