Imperio ⇢ D.M

Chapter Twelve

Regret 

~Narrator~

Arden, Harry, Ron and Hermione sat together in the Great Hall on a chilly Saturday afternoon. Hermione had her nose in a book, and Harry watched Arden and Ron play wizard's chess, butting in to criticise either player's move.

"Knight to E5." Ron said. The knight moved to the position he commanded, and broke Arden's king piece. 

"God damn it!" Arden whined. Ron had a cocky smirk on his face, after beating Arden at wizard's chess for the 9th time. 

"Care to go for a tenth match?" Ron sneered. Arden rolled her eyes and Ron shrugged his shoulders. "How about you Harry, I reckon you'll be more of a challenge." He teased. Harry kindly declined the chess offer and looked up at the ceiling as countless owls flew into the hall for today's mail. A brown old owl crashed in front of Ron, along with a large box. The Daily Prophet dropped in front of Arden, along with a letter and a small yet heavy satchel. Arden placed a knut in the owl's small pouch for the newspaper, and the owl flew away. 

Ron eyed his box suspiciously, and carefully unwrapped it. Inside was a robe, with frills and laces all over. Ron pulled out the robes and stood up, holding it against his chest. "Mum sent me a dress!" 

"It does brings out your eyes, Ron." Arden teased. Harry and Hermione laughed, and Harry rummaged through the box.

"Is there a bonnet?" Harry pulled out more frilly white material. "Aha!" He laughed. 

"Put those down Harry. Ginny, these must be for you." Ron walked over and held the robes in front of Ginny.

"I'm not wearing that, it's ghastly!" She said in disgust. Hermione lost control of her giggles and covered her mouth to silence them. Ron turned to her and raised an eyebrow.

"They're not for Ginny, they're for you!" She laughed. Arden, Harry and countless other students at the table all laughed at Ron's hideous dress robes. Ron slumped down next to Harry, with a devastated look on his face.

"Murder me Harry. I don't have a date, now I definitely won't get one now that everyone knows I own these." He said. Harry continued to laugh at Ron's misfortune, as did many others. Whilst laughing, something -or someone- caught Arden's attention. A blonde boy sat down at the table across from the table she was currently at. The boy, Draco Malfoy, watched Arden laugh. 

Draco had never felt this way before. He yearned for just something as simple as eye contact between the two. He wanted to know that any form of friendship was not over from the rejection he had to face from her. Draco was in awe as Arden's cheeks grew rosier and rosier the harder she laughed. The corners of her eyes crinkled from her hysterical laughter. Draco's world felt like a better place when he saw her smile, almost as if his problems could fade away. 

Her laughter died down, and she noticed the boy staring at her. Her grey eyes met with his, and they just stared. Arden softly smiled at him, making her eyes light up more than ever. Draco returned the smile, but could feel as if his insides were churning. He felt like he was on a never ending swing the way his stomach felt. Although he smiled at her, his eyes couldn't hide away the intense pain he continued to feel after Arden turned him down. Draco wondered who Arden was going to the ball with, and who beat him to her. 

Harry noticed Arden's eyes locked on the Slytherin boy, and brought it up in conversation.

"What's going on between you and Malfoy?" He asked coolly. Arden's eyes quickly turned away from Draco's, and were now staring into Harry's. Draco felt an ache in his chest when he couldn't stare into her eyes anymore. He felt almost jealous of Harry, that he gets to see her laugh almost every day.