HIS EXCEPTION || Draco Malfoy

T W O

The first week of school went by fairly uneventfully. Ariana found herself distracted in class a lot of the time, which wasn't exactly anything new. She considered herself a decent witch; better at putting things into practice than book work or studying. In fact, most students seemed to be less focused in general and interested in gossip or reading the Daily Prophet for updates on the war. People were worried sick about their families, especially those with families who were well known supporters of Dumbledore. Ariana was grateful that her only living parent, her father, was a muggle.

The Winters family weren't a well known family. Ariana was the first Winters to attend Hogwarts; her mother had attended of course, but she met her father and took his name long after she'd left the school.

On the other hand, some students seemed happier than ever with the war going on. Slytherins whose families were no doubt involved in what was going on strutted around the school like they owned it. As if they had nothing to fear.

The one person Ariana would've assumed would be the cockiest, loudest, most arrogant was now instead quiet and serious. Malfoy almost constantly looked stressed whenever they passed each other in the halls. The Malfoy family were known longterm supporters of Voldemort, rumours of Draco's father having been quite a high ranking Death Eater.

Ariana had no idea why she found herself so concerned about Draco's wellbeing so suddenly. But every time she got a glimpse of him, he looked pale and tired, with dark circles under his eyes, and much too thin. She wondered if Pansy Parkinson even noticed that her boyfriend was this stressed; she was always laughing beside him, grabbing at him, or yelling at the people around them. Her role as Prefect had proven to be a nightmare for everyone around her.

"Uniform check." Pansy slammed a book down on the table in front of Ariana, making her jump in her seat. She looked up to see a smirk on her face, her lips her signature bright red.

"Sorry?" Ariana said, confused as to what Pansy wanted. She had been alone in the library, forcing herself to get her Charms homework done.

"Uniform check." She repeated, her arms crossed. "Stand up."

Ariana stared up at her, willing herself to look as unimpressed as possible. It wasn't hard to do. "I'm busy."

"Did you want me to take points from Hufflepuff?" She threatened.

She sighed, closing the book she'd been writing in. "Is that lipstick shade part of the uniform?"

Pansy's smirk faltered for a moment, her eyes glaring daggers. "Get up."

Pursing her lips together, Ariana tried not to let herself get annoyed. Pansy would love that. As she got to her feet, Malfoy turned the corner, surprising both of them.

"Pansy. Slughorn wants to see you." He said lazily, his hands in his pockets.

Pansy turned to him, looking a mixture of happy to see him, but disappointed that he'd interrupted her. "I'm just doing a routine uniform check, Draco."

"Never mind that. I'll do it." He replied, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Slughorn's office."

Pansy's lip curled up in a snarl as she looked back at Ariana. She turned on her heel and walked away, her hand trailing over Malfoy's upper arm and across his shoulders as she went.