Quick A/N

So hey :) just wanted to let you know that I am aware this book is really long and as I'm revising the beginning chapters I'm realizing that they're really short so I plan to combine a few so that it ends up having fewer chapters and fewer, longer ones. (Although I HATE extra long chapters!)
Please let me know what your preferences are, do you mind longer fanfics or do you solely prefer the short ones?

Also, I was reading another Draco fic earlier and for some reason, I felt animosity towards the OC and was like "nope, Draco loves Aria." As if she's like his only s/o lmao I think I'm a little obsessed :0

Anyways, happy reading please remember to vote!
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Chapter One Hundred

ARIA HAD ALMOST finished unpacking all of her boxes. She knew that it was long overdue, but being a Professor was a full-time job and it wasn't even her job yet. Although her father did let her teach a fair amount of the classes.

She only had one box left to unpack and she was dreading this one. She knew that inside it was a small memory box and everything she had left of George.

It was better to get it over with.

At least, that's what she was repeatedly telling herself as she emptied the contents of the box onto her lap.

Considering she had ended things with him, she assumed that she wouldn't be sad about it, but there were days when she did miss him and days when she barely remembered they had ever been together.

However, as she picked through the things on her lap, countless memories flooded through her head. There was a small bag of birdseed from when he had turned her father into a canary. A clipping on the Slytherin Weekly popped up next, the one about them kissing - that had been the beginning of everything.

Next, there were countless souvenirs from Egypt. A few photos (which she immediately set alight), a bunch of rocks, a vial of sand, and the newspaper clipping of her and the Weasleys. Thinking of Egypt brought back countless memories, many of which pained her to remember. A few tears slipped down her cheeks.

There was a flower he had picked her on the night of the Yule Ball that she had pressed and kept. It was withered and old, but still beautiful.

One of his Gryffindor ties was in that box, she remembered all too well how she had come to be in possession of that. However, the sock with gold and red stripes that she pulled out next she did not remember at all.

She had a few of his "tricks" in her box as well, things that he now sold at the shop. Those she dumped. They held no good memories.

And last but not least lay the beautiful ring that he had given her. It seemed so innocent laying on her gray skirt surrounded by grains of sand.

It evoked a strange pain inside of Aria's chest that she did not like one bit and so she did the only thing that seemed right. She sealed the ring into a small envelope, scribbled George's name on the front, and sent it off with an owl, back to its rightful owner.

And with that, she was finally rid of him. Sure, she would keep the small things to look back on in fifty years, but that was that. He was gone and Aria didn't know how she felt about that.

ϟ

A day had passed since Aria had finished unpacking. Many students were at Hogsmeade and so the corridors were virtually empty apart from the first and second years as well as some professors.

She was about to head to the library to pass time when Malfoy rounded the corner and practically collapsed at her feet.

"What on earth..." She looked down at the blond boy, assuming he was up to some funny business, but began to panic when she saw his bleeding nose. "Bloody hell!" She leaned down and elevated his head. "Are you okay?" Specks of red ruined his shirt as a trail of it dripped down his face.

It was a stupid question and all he could do was groan and mutter angry phrases she couldn't quite make out.

"I have to get you to the hospital wing!" She lifted him and threw his arm over her shoulders.

"No, no." He argued. "Not the hospital."

"What do you mean no? You're bleeding!"

"Not the hospital." He repeated and wiped his bloody nose with his white sleeve.

His hair was a mess and his shirt was stained in multiple areas with both mud and blood. His tie hung, practically only a string now, from his collar and he was missing about three buttons from his shirt. His hair was unusually messy and his eye appeared a little swollen.

Blood dripped from his nose onto the floor and there was quite a harsh split in his lower lip.

Aria did the only thing she could after his multiple rejections to going to the hospital wing and hurried him to her room.

She had eventually managed to make him sit still as she tended to the wounds. "So, care to tell me what happened?" She asked as she fixed his nose back into place.

He groaned as the bone clicked back into place. "I was minding my own bloody business in Hogsmeade when your Weasley boyfriend appears out of nowhere and breaks my nose." He cupped it. "And proceeded to kick me in the face. Several times. But not to worry, I scared him off."

She ignored his obvious attempt to not appear weak. "George?" Aria wondered aloud. "Are you sure?"

Draco nodded as he felt around his face, feeling for any remaining wounds. "Positive. Told me to leave you alone."

Aria rolled her eyes. He must have received the ring back and not taken it well. She couldn't blame him, but that was no excuse to hurt Draco so damn badly. "Well, I'm sorry about him. I don't know why he did that, we're not even together anymore."

"Not?" He perked up.

She shook her head. "No, I left him..."

There was a moment of silence and although Aria avoided looking directly at Malfoy, she could feel his stare.

"Why did you do that?"

She shrugged. "Oh, it was time. We had outgrown each other." Lies, lies, lies.

Draco snorted and adjusted his position on the bed, straightening his back. "He didn't seem to think so. How about you stop lying to me and remember that I know you better than anyone."

"You do not."

He lifted his eyebrow as if to say "don't I?"

Aria sighed. He was right, there wasn't much she could hide from Draco. "I left him because it wasn't fair for me to stay in a relationship with someone when I..."

"When you?"

"When I have feelings for someone else." Aria internally cringed at her word choice. She felt as though she was back in her third year, confessing her love for Cedric all over again.

Draco lifted her chin with his thumb so that she looked directly into his eyes. "You left him to be with me."

She didn't want to say yes, but the answer wasn't no. "That's one way of putting it-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence for his lips met hers at that moment. All thoughts of reason and why she shouldn't kiss him back left Aria's head and all she knew at that moment was that she wanted Draco more than she had ever wanted anything before.

His scent was intoxicating, his touch addicting. She removed his torn shirt, his flawlessly pale skin mesmerizing her. It was strange that for all the years she'd known him, she only recently realized just how perfect he was.

Sure it was wrong. She was a professor and he was her student, but it felt so right. Aria was sure that what she was feeling had to be love. She'd never felt anything quite so passionately for anyone. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that she would do anything for Draco.

Anything at all.

He just had to name what he wanted and it was his. At that moment, what he wanted more than anything was her and so she gave herself to him.