There's Something About Potter

Chapter 4

Aria sighed in exhaustion as she loosened her tie and followed Neville down the dungeons toward the Slytherin Common Room. Neville glanced at her from the corner of his eye and gave her a comforting smile.

"Not bad for our first week of classes in Slytherin, wouldn't you say?" He teased.

"I'm exhausted." Aria whined as she adjusted her bag strap over shoulder and dragged her feet after him. "I'm beginning to regret wanting to become an Auror, by the way. If I knew back then how many classes I'd be taking this year, I might have chosen something easier. Like a dragon tamer perhaps." She kidded.

"Don't forget. We still have to sign up for 6 units of those elective classes." He reminded her as they rounded a corner.

"Ugh, great."

"It's not that bad." Neville cajoled, nudging her lightly. "On the bright side, it's Friday today so we'll have a bit of a break this weekend." Neville cajoled.

"Aren't you forgetting about that big essay assignment due tomorrow?" Aria pointed out, causing Neville to wince in realization. "I haven't even started on that yet so I have to work on it when we get back."

"I'll join you." He chimed in, looking a little dismayed at the thought. "Actually, I remember seeing some good study tables in the Slytherin Common Room. Do you want to finish it there?" He pointed out.

"Sounds good."

They rounded another corner and Aria followed him towards a stone wall at the end of a long narrow, hallway. Neville muttered the password ("Machiavellian") and they both clambered through the entrance.

It wasn't long before they were greeted by the warmth of the Slytherin Common Room and they made their way over to the separate study nook adjoined to the main area. They froze, however, when they realized that the study table was already occupied.

Aria shifted uncomfortably when Draco Malfoy, Blaise Zabini and Pansy Parkinson all looked up from their pile of books and stared blankly at the two former Gryffindors.

The awkward silence seemed to hang over the room for a few agonizing seconds before Blaise finally put them out of their misery and spoke up, flashing them a small grin and gesturing to the empty seats.

"Potter. Longbottom. Do you need the table?" He ignored the death glare that Pansy was shooting him from across the table and swept some of their books aside to make room for the other two Slytherins.

"You can study with us if you like. We were just working on that big Potions essay due tomorrow." Blaise offered.

"No, that's okay. We don't want to impose—"

"Nonsense, what are you talking about?" Blaise interrupted Aria's half-hearted attempts to escape and pointedly patted the seat beside him. "There's plenty of room, go ahead and lay your books out. I promise we're a good study group, we're really quiet. Right, Drac?" He nudged Malfoy beside him, causing the blonde to let out a grunt in acknowledgment but otherwise ignore him, deliberately flipping a page of his textbook.

"I suppose—" Aria glanced at Neville in question, rolling her eyes when he just offered her a shrug and sat down onto the seat beside Parkinson.

Sighing, Aria reluctantly took the seat beside Blaise, careful not to accidentally knock over the piles of books scattered around them. Blaise grinned at that and rewarded her with a wink before turning back to his essay, which, Aria couldn't help but notice enviously, looked about halfway finished.

They all fell into a surprisingly comfortable silence after that, and the only sounds heard in the room were the scratching of their quills against their parchment and the occasional footsteps of other Slytherin students who happened to pass by their strange group while entering or exiting the Common Room.