The Era of Aria Snape

13

Chapter Thirteen

THE SUN WAS streaming in through the thin curtains that lined Aria's windows, waking her from her peaceful slumber.

She stretched out, yawning. A small smile came onto her face when she realized that it was finally holidays and that she would be going home.

The events of the previous day made their way to the front of her mind. She remembered exposing Annabelle, cursing Madison, and getting yelled at by Professor Carrow.

She sat up and looked around her room. The other beds were stripped down and the cupboards were empty. All the bags were gone. Her roommates had left, which she was thankful for - Aria hated awkward goodbyes.

"Alright, father. Give me a minute-" She turned to see his cage, only, it wasn't there. There was no sign of it or him. Panic set in as Aria realized what had happened. "Oh, Merlin! They've stolen my father!" She screamed to herself.

Those thieves had something coming to them. They had no idea that the stupid canary they had stolen was in fact their head of house who was due to become his human self again in a matter of hours.

Aria recognized that as long as her roommates were not murderers, her father was perfectly safe, regardless of where he was, and that when he did return to being human, those girls would be the ones to pay the price.

A smug grin appeared on Aria's face as she considered them getting expelled. She began to get dressed and packed her bags, heading down to the common room.

It was mostly empty apart from Malfoy and a few other students.

Despite not exactly liking him, Aria knew it would have been good manners to at least say goodbye. "Happy Christmas, Malfoy." She sat down on the sofa beside him, glancing at the clock and seeing that there was another half an hour before the train left.

He turned to look at her and smiled. "And to you. Going home?"

"No, I just felt like packing all my bags up for the fun of it." She mumbled sarcastically. "Yes, I'm going home." Aria rolled her eyes.

"No need to be rude. I only assumed Professor Snape would be staying at Hogwarts."

"And what about you? Are you leaving?"

He scrunched up his nose in disgust. "Obviously. Couldn't imagine staying in this horrid place for Christmas break."

"You've only been here a few months."

"And it's horrid." He looked away for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "Where is your father? I'd like to speak with him before I leave."

"What about?"

"Father wants me to invite him over for tea or something. You're welcome to come."

"How polite of you." She snorted. "Let's go find him, then." Seeing as Aria had half an hour to waste, she figured that messing with Malfoy was the perfect pass time. He wouldn't find her father and watching him search would be amusing.

Cedric was standing right outside the common room and his face lit up when he saw Aria. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Malfoy gag.

"Hey, Cedric. What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping to catch you before you left."

"Oh, why's that?"

He smiled and leaned down, placing his lips onto hers. "I had to give you your goodbye kiss."

Aria found herself unable to form a complete sentence. It wasn't often that she was rendered speechless, but Cedric seemed to be awfully good at taking away her breath and ability to form words. "Uh... thank you."