Innocent | d. malfoy

- forty three -

Aria Rowen

Draco stayed long enough the following morning to shower— and we might have done a little more than just showering, but that's beside the point.

Right after we were through, he left to go to Hogsmeade.

He'd gone to my room before he left to get me some clothes, which I gladly changed into rather than having to walk all the way to the Hufflepuff common room in the same skirt and top from last night.

I exited his dorm, being quiet as I closed the door since the last thing I needed was to wake anyone else up.

"Aria?"

I almost jumped as I turned around, but gave a sigh when I saw that it was only Dylan— but then I remembered that I was supposed to be mad at her.

"Hey..." I fastened the doorknob behind me before turning back to face her.

"Hey—" She glanced down at the folded bundle of clothes in my hands before rolling her eyes. "—you're back with him?"

"Uh, yeah," I briefly looked at her, trying to read her expression. I couldn't tell if she was upset, disappointed, or even angry.

"Oh. Look, I'm really sorry about not telling you— Jenna was talking to me last night about it and— I feel awful and I can't even—"

"Dylan," I took a small step closer to her. "Let it go... I don't really care anymore."

"Really? But Indy and I were terrible to you over the past month or so..."

"I forgive you. I can't excuse what you two did by keeping it from me... but I still forgive you..." I gave a tiny nod and a smile, trying to prove to her that I really was going to let it slide.

Yeah, I was hurt by the fact that they kept the whole 'dare' thing to themselves when they could've stopped it from going any further without me knowing, but our friendship was more important than that.

"So how did he... fix things between you two?"

"Well, he told me his side of the story, and I believe him."

"You do?"

"Yes, Dylan. I believe him," I gave a reassuring nod as I leaned back against the door. "It's called trust. I trust Draco when he says that he cares about me... things are different now."

"And you're positive that he won't use y—"

"Dylan. I'm positive, I swear."

She sarcastically rolled her eyes before smiling. "Ok— just don't become the other kind of positive, if you know what I m—

"Stop!" I gave a quiet laugh as I spoke, playfully reaching over and hitting her shoulder.

"I'm kidding... kind of," She laughed too as I sent her a glare.

Merlin forbid I get pregnant. I didn't even know what Draco's thoughts on kids were, and I didn't want to know— not now at least. We were far too young to be thinking about something like that, but maybe one day...

-

Draco Malfoy

I exited the potions shop, clutching the small brown bag in my hand before stuffing it into my pocket. Alternis Serum, of course. I wasn't about to get Aria pregnant.

She'd kill me.

Her friends would kill me.

I hurried back towards Nott and Zabini, who'd both finished picking up the materials they needed for class while they waited for me to run my own errands.

"Hey Malfoy..."

Just as I reached the two boys, I heard my name ring loud and clear, the voice coming from behind me.

All three of us turned around, unfortunately seeing Luke Carrow approach us.

"Fancy seeing you three here... out for a morning stroll?" He swung an arm over Theo's shoulder, but the boy shrugged him off. We all used to be great friends with Carrow, but ever since fifth year, things went downhill. I distinctly remember the first time we'd realized how he was just as awful as his father, Amycus.

We'd all been sitting in the common room when Luke brought his girlfriend, Emans, in. We thought that he was stupid for dating a Gryffindor, but we hated him even more after we saw him yell at her, disappear for the rest of the evening, and then the next morning she had a bruise along the corner of her eye.

We were boys and didn't realize how truly disgusting he was until a few months later. We tried talking to him on several occasions, but he never seemed to listen.

"What do you want, Carrow?" Blaise snapped back at him as we all began making our way back towards the castle.

"To talk— like we used to..." He gave a dark chuckle, slowing his stride to walk beside us. "Oh— Malfoy, I saw you take Rowen back to your room last night, you two back on?"

"Yeah, actually... we are."

"Hm..." He gave a small sigh as he looked at me and the others. "I'm shocked that she doesn't hate you."

Blaise took it upon himself to respond this time. "And I'm shocked that your such a dick to everyone— oh wait. That's not a surprise at all."

Nott gave a small chuckle, but he was silenced when Luke glared at him.

"How funny, Zabini. At least I'm not fucking a mudblood."

That was the final straw for Blaise.

I was able to step in front of him before he completely murdered Carrow in front of everyone. Blaise was my best friend, and the last thing that I needed was for him to get in trouble for something like this going down in the middle of the streets of Hogsmeade.

As death eater offspring— or actual death eaters like me, we were already on thin ice with Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. No one trusted us, and I didn't blame them. Some of our war crimes were detrimental enough to land us in Azkaban, but as minors we were granted pardon.

"Don't say that again... she's not a mudblood... she's muggleborn," Zabini narrowed his eyes over my shoulder as I tried to keep him calm.

"Isn't that the same thing? Neither belongs among us—"

"Shut the fuck up, Carrow," Theo quietly spoke to the boy, not wanting to cause a scene.

Luke scoffed before turning away. "You'll all realize it eventually... just wait."

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A/N- Hey y'all. Sorry for not being too active this week. i've been really stressed and sick about everything lately which is why i decided to post and take my mind off of things.