Chapter Ninety

ARIA WAITED IN the common room for him to show.

She knew that she was being petty and disgusting, but she didn't care. George had taken everyone's side over hers. It was a betrayal, especially when he knew how sensitive she was when it came to being his girlfriend and having to deal with the constant criticism from not only his friends but hers as well.

So now it was her chance to betray him.

The blond head of hair that she had been waiting for made its way into the common room and immediately towards Aria. "Hey." Draco sat down on the couch beside her. "Had a crazy Potions lesson today—"

"That's nice." Aria cut him off. She scooted closer to his body, turning to face him and leaning in to whisper into his ear. "You heard that I have my own room now, right?"

He nodded, staying silent as Aria's hands fiddled with his tie.

"Do you want to... come up and study with me?"

Draco gulped and she almost laughed when a strange pink tint appeared on his pale face. "And by study you mean..."

"You know, studying. On the desk, on the bed, on the floor..." She trailed off and sent him a smile before standing up. "If you don't want to—"

"Wait!" He stood up as well. "I want to."

She smirked. "Come on, then. There's this spell I've been dying to show you."

And no more than thirty seconds later did Aria find herself lying flat on her bed, Draco hovering over her, his lips pressed against her collar bone. She had barely finished locking the door before he had picked her up and thrown her onto the mattress. He peeled off her robes and tossed them to the side. Her shirt was in the process of coming off, his mouth moving along her breasts. Aria was surprised by how thoroughly she was enjoying his touch. She went to remove his shirt, but something stopped her.

It wasn't a moment of realization that set in or the desire to do the right thing and not cheat on her shitty boyfriend, instead, it was that bloody ring on her finger that snagged on the hem of Draco's shirt.

Draco stopped as he realized the problem. "You're still wearing that thing?" He stared down at her, now far from her face, nothing but confusion and possibly hurt in his eyes.

Aria didn't answer. She wanted to smash that bloody ring for ruining the moment. Again.

"Aria. Why did you bring me up here?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you could've brought your boyfriend. I know you're still together, you wouldn't still be wearing that thing if you weren't. So why?"

"Because I felt like it, Malfoy."

"Mmm." He stood up and buckled his belt, reaching past her for his robes.

Aria grabbed his arm to stop him. "Draco—"

"What, Aria?" He looked at her with such anger that she flinched when he grabbed his robes from behind her.

"I don't know what you want me to say." She whispered and watched as he fixed his clothes.

"I want you to say that you're not just using me for whenever you and your bloody boyfriend fight!"

"I'm not—"

"That's exactly what you always do!" Draco snapped. "At the Yule Ball, you were angry at him and so you came to me. At my house the other day, I know you were feeling lonely, so you came to me. And now? You're fighting with him again, aren't you?"

"Draco..."

"Aren't you?"

"Yes." Aria sulked. "But you don't understand."

"What don't I understand—your need to keep me around and use me?" He rolled his eyes. "Whatever it is that I don't understand, either tell me or this is done. I've waited for you, but either you want this or you don't."

When she didn't say anything, Draco sighed and turned to the door.

"Draco, wait. Please don't go."

"Why should I stay?" He didn't look back at her as he spoke.

Aria bit her lip as she whispered, "because I have feelings for you."

He stopped, hand on the door, and even with his back to her, she could hear his breath hitch in his throat.

It was the first time she was saying it out loud. The first time she was saying it at all, actually. The thought had occurred to her, but she had never considered it. Although now that she had admitted to it, nothing about it seemed like a lie. In fact, it sounded like something she was already accustomed to as if she'd already known it and said it countless times.

Draco had turned and was staring at her now. "You have feelings for me?"

She nodded and walked over to him. "I do. I can't explain them or why I have them, but they're there. I feel something every time we kiss or whenever we're next to each other." She gulped. "I'm not good at this confessing stuff, but you get what I'm trying to say." She avoided his eye as she spoke, feeling more and more silly with every word she uttered.

Draco tenderly pressed his lips to hers. Neither of them pulled apart, both just stuck in the moment, absorbing the other's emotions.

Aria was the first to pull away. "But we can't be together. Not yet."

"Why not?"

"For starters, you're a fifth year. People will spread rumors about us like wildfire. And also, with everything going on in my life, I owe it to George to be with him after all he and his family have done for me. I can't leave now."

Draco nodded, she could see he wanted to say something but stopped himself. "It's okay, I've waited five years already. What's a few more?"

She smiled up at him. "But I do love George." She clarified. "A lot. We're just so different..."

Draco nodded.

"And I'm not promising you anything, my having feelings for you doesn't change the fact that every time we do this I cheat on George and you cheat on whatever your girlfriend's name is."

Draco didn't bother to correct her.

"This needs to stop. We can't just snog all the time."

Draco nodded again, although it seemed as if he wanted to contradict her, but he didn't.

Aria nodded, "good. So we have a deal then? Back to just friends?"

"Fine, but I find it strange how when you finally admit that you're in love with me is when we have to stay just friends." He laughed, but she could tell he was serious.

"It's strange and wrong, but it's how it has to be."

"I know."

She smiled up at him, not wanting to let him go. 

"I just hope you know that you're going to have an awfully hard time resisting me." He smirked.

"Is that so?"

He nodded. "You'll believe me soon enough. I'm promising right now that our lips won't touch again until you're rid of the ginger and all mine."

She didn't know whether it was appropriate to laugh, although she did crack a smile and watched as he left.

Once she was sure that he was down the stairs, she collapsed onto her bed and screamed into the pillow.

The guilt was eating away at her, but the pain of George's betrayal still stung, although she knew that cheating was worse than taking someone else's side.

He had embarrassed her, though.

She huffed and screamed again.

Aria didn't have feelings for Draco! She had made up everything on the spot just to get him to stay, but if that were true then why was it that everything she had said to him came out so naturally and felt like it was the truth?

Another scream and Aria realized that she definitely had feelings for Malfoy.

One more scream and she realized how much George meant to her.

However, no matter how many more times she screamed, nothing else became clear to her. Not what to do about her feelings for her friend, or what to do about her relationship with George or how she should handle the whole situation with Harry and the lessons. Nothing else, except confusion and pain.

She stuffed her head under her pillow and allowed herself to sleep, but she experienced many uncomfortable dreams that night.

Just a quick A/N

I hate writing the cheating scenes ugh breaks my heart and I know you all hate reading them even though some of you are crazy Draria shippers. But I promise this all ties in perfectly with what I have planned for the very near future.

PS - also, just because I hate writing the cheating scenes doesn't mean I hate writing the Draria parts, I've been waiting like 70 chapters to start with their romance! Huge revelations are very near so stay tuned!

And thank you all for your constant reads, votes, and comments. I appreciate every single one of you!