Let's Start at the Beginning

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When the twins arrived back down in the common room they found Helena with her robes removed and instead wearing grey sweatpants with a dark-red t-shirt that obviously belonged to one of them. Molly was known for placing the twin's shirts in Helena's closet. The younger female liked their shirts, always so comfortable. Helena greeted them happily, "Ready?"

Her hair remained black, messily disheveled and bounced in the air as she ran over to them.

* * *

Aria did have the safety of her own dorm, but Draco figured she'd come back to the common soon later. After all, it wasn't that late yet. Deciding to wait around for a while, Draco laid out on the couch with his eyes slowly drifting shut as the fireplace's warmth lulled him to sleep. He hadn't intended to fall asleep, but clearly didn't protest much.

Pansy, a fellow Slytherin, walked into the room she shared with Aria. "What are you doing?" She questioned, walking over to Aria and looked over her shoulder curiously.
 
The twins looked at her with a grin, and then George just looked at the shirt she wore in recognition. "That's my shirt," he mentioned, but then he shrugged. His mum always did that. Sure it bothered him when they were younger, but he just got used to it. When it came to his mum putting clothes away, she would mistake the twin's clothes with hers sometimes. They just got so used to the clothes switching around.

"Well, let's go," Fred said, leading them out of the common room quietly. At least it was a little past curfew so no one would be roaming around the halls to catch them. They just had to dodge the Prefects that had been around to guard the halls. At least they knew hidden passage ways to get them out of the school.

---

Aria was about to change out of her robes, until she heard Pansy. What did she mean by that? She looked up at Pansy, shrugging her shoulders a little. "I am getting ready for bed?" She responded, unsure about the way to answer the question. Unless the Slytherin girl was speaking about Malfoy, which was likely, but Aria was just going to play dumb right now.

To be honest with the Malfoy situation, she didn't know what she was doing.
 
The hallways were easy enough to sneak around and it didn't take the trio long before they finally escaped from the castle. Helena walked between them as they headed towards the Black Lake. She was almost skipping, seeming a lot happier than before. When they came to the shore, Helena stripped her pants and t-shirt off, leaving her in a crimson two piece bathing suit. Her exposed skin erupted in goosebumps as she suddenly jumped into the chilly water.

Floating on her back with no effort, Helena looked up to the starry sky and smiled. "It's lovely, isn't it boys?"

* * *

"You and Draco are fighting a lot with each other," Pansy stated the obvious. "I don't understand why you seem to favor Harry's company over Draco's."

Figures she'd say something like that. After all, Pansy is an avid admirer of the Malfoy boy. Her own family being close to the Malfoy's, she'd known Draco since before Hogwarts and doesn't exactly hide her affections for the blond male. "Harry is such a troll," she gagged, walking off to her own bed. "He doesn't deserve to be here."
 
At least she was happy, that is all that mattered.

They both smiled as she skipped down to the lake, and they turned away when she stripped down to her bathing suit. Okay, the should have expected that to happen. All in all, they weren't going to swim. Well, Fred wasn't going to swim. George decided to rid of his t-shirt and jeans, as well as kicking off his shoes. When he was done, he dived into the water.

He expected it to be cold, and it made him shiver. "It does feel nice to be away from everyone," he said, swimming around. "Come on, Fred, join us!"

"Absolutely not," Fred said, chuckling a bit.

---

Aria just rolled her eyes at Pansy's statement. Of course she would diss on Harry, a lot of the Slytherins did. It was expected from everyone else. "Right," she said under her breath, getting out of her robe and changing into her pajamas. She wore a green tank top, and black pajama bottoms. Go figure, they were Slytherin colors. "Believe what you want, Pansy, but I have my own things to worry about than what you think about Harry."

She knew that she wasn't going to be able to go to sleep at this point, so she grabbed her book and headed back down to the common room. As she walked down, she noticed the sleeping Malfoy on the couch. Rolling her eyes, she just sat down on an armchair next to the fireplace and opened her book. She wasn't going to wake up the sleeping boy, she had no reason to.
 
Helena swam around the water till she found George and waded in the water behind him, an arm hung over his shoulder as she rested her chin on his opposite shoulder. It might have been a flirtatious display, if Helena and George were not so close to each other in regards to being best friends. When Fred refused to get in the water, Helena already had a plan. She pulled away from George and suddenly dived underneath the water. Swimming beneath the surface, Helena reached out to the shore and snagged Fred's ankles. With a firm tug, Fred instantly fell into the water.

As he resurfaced with dampened hair and bangs hiding his eyes, Helena laughed. "Decide to join us, Freddie?" She teased, patting his cheek jokingly.

* * *

Someone else had joined the common room. Even asleep, Draco could sense the presence of another person. Struggling to open his eyes and immediately wincing as the fire's bright flames burned his pupils, Draco sat up with a groan. He rubbed at his sore eyes, blinking several times before he finally regained his vision. Locks of blond stood in various directions, his own bangs falling forward across his forehead.

Draco turned, looking for who was there and saw Aria. A frown grew instantly. "Couldn't resist basking in my presence?" He snorted, falling back onto the couch with his head turned slightly to watch her.
 
George grinned as she swam behind him to rest her chin on his shoulder, and then watched as she swam over to her victim. He just watched in amusement as she swam to his brother. Then he started to laugh when she pulled him into the water. Well, he was going to be soaked in his clothes whenever they decided to head back. He almost felt sorry for his brother.

Fred let out a small yelp in surprise, splashing around frantically and resurfaced. "Clever, Helena," he said, and then he laughed as he splashed her. He just accepted his fate with being soaked, but being in wet jeans was just not comfortable. At this point, he just didn't care to get out of the water.

---

Aria just looked down at her book, just reading it until she heard his voice. Right now she wanted to ignore him, but his little statement made her glare down at her words as she read. "Don't be so full of yourself, Malfoy, I just came down here to read," she told him, flipping the page. She was reading up on mystical beasts, even if she wasn't even taking that class until next year, she just loved learning about them.

"Just ignore me and everything will be fine," she muttered, not even glancing up at him. Her energy was not going to be wasted on batting away this boy because he was just going to come back like an annoying fly.
 
"I know a spell that can dry your clothes so you won't have to walk back soaking wet, Freddie." Helena continued to swim around and did for about an hour, then decided it was time to head back. As she had promised, Helena used the spell on Fred. While George got dressed, Helena did the same. "We should get going." The last thing she wanted was to get themselves trouble for being out after curfew.

* * *

"I'm really not such a horrible person," Draco defended himself. "If you'd just give me a chance."

After all, he had tried to be nice to her on more than one occasion, she just refused to acknowledge him. That's what irked him so badly. Aria was blatantly ignoring him. "Oi," he called out, reaching for her book and gently took it away. "Are you even listening to me?"
 
The twins agreed with her to start heading back, they didn't need to go to detention for staying out past curfew. As much as they wanted to stay out, it was time to get back to the common room. At least they didn't have to sleep, they could stay up to pass time. Fred was the one who started walking to make sure the coast was clear, and when it was, he would lead them through the secret ways.

It was close when he saw a Prefect walking by, but they were headed a different direction. Other than that, they made it back to the common room safe and sound. The fire was still going, and the twins decided to sit on the couch to get warmed up by the fire before they actually went upstairs to go to bed.

---

Aria glared daggers at Draco when he took her book. No one was allowed to take her books when she was in the middle of reading them. It was extremely rude, and she would have to find where she had stopped reading. "Malfoy, you git, give me back my book," she warned. She was going to let him hand her the book before she did damage to him, so she was going to wait.

See, the reason why she didn't like him was because he did stuff like this as well as make fun of other students. The only way she would like him as a person if he stopped being the bully that he was. That wasn't going to happen any time soon though.
 
As the twins sat by the fireplace to warm themselves, Helena was exhausted and wanted to retire for the night. "Goodnight, Fred." She dropped a chaste kiss to his forehead and then turned to George. "Night, Georgie." He was kissed on the cheek. Helena smiled, waving to them as she walked up the staircase. Once in her bedroom, without interruptions, she passed out without trouble.

* * *

Draco tested Aria, seeing how much she could handle before her temper flew off the handle. To his surprise, she was rather collected in her emotions. Finding himself bored and the weight of his eyes beginning to overwhelm his focus, Draco carefully tossed the book back into Aria's lap. "Whatever," he grumbled in annoyance. "I don't know why you read that garbage anyway." Draco quickly walked to his bedroom and stripped his tie off, along with his robes afterwards. Not caring if he woke Crabbe or Goyle, he slammed his dresser draws and stomped across the room to his bed.

(You can time-skip, if you'd like ^^)
 
The twins were getting ready for the first game of the season, and they were excited to kick it off. They were going against Slytherin, as usual for their first game. With the mix of excitement, they were also somewhat nervous. They were also nervous for Harry because this was the first time that he was going to play an actual game that mattered. They did have high hopes for him, and he was going to be an excellent Seeker. As Beaters, they had to make sure to watch him.

They had put on their Quidditch uniform, making sure it was good to go. Now the waited on Harry so they could meet the rest of the team by the field. Oliver Wood waited for the rest of the team before they had to be at the match.

While everyone was getting ready for the match, Aria did meet up with Harry before she went to the field to get a spot in the stands. She told him a "good luck" and gave him a hug, also leaving a small kiss on his cheek. It has been two months, and she grew a close friendship with him as well as Ron and Hermione. She felt lucky to be accepted into their little Gryffindor friends, but she had a feeling that some of the other Slytherins sneered in her direction because of it.

Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain, just gave Aria a sly smirk as she walked past him and the rest of the team. "You sure know how to pick sides, Winona," he taunted. "Don't complain if we rough up Potter or any of those Gryffindors."

"Save it, Flint, because I am going to laugh in your face when you lose," she retorted, waving her hand and walking away from the team to head to the stands to find a spot. After two months, she just learned how to be mean back to the people who were mean to her. Perhaps this was why she was added to Slytherin because of her now quick temper.
 
Helena and the other Gryffindors were all elated for the first game of the season. Harry was the youngest Seeker ever to be chosen, the twins were excellent Beaters and Angelina rode alongside as a Chaser. Gryffindor surely was blessed with tremendous talent. "Are you excited, Ronnie?" Helena dropped an arm around the younger lad's shoulders, standing close to his side. Ron shifted nervously, his crush on the....currently red-haired female hidden from her knowledge.

"Y-Yeah," he shook nervously. "I'm worried about Harry, though."

Helena scoffed, "Don't be! He's got skills and besides Fred and George won't let anything bad happen to him."

* * *

Across the field, Draco smirked happily among the Slytherin students. He enjoyed Qudditch and always has. Even if Potter was given the chance to be the youngest Seeker in history, Draco wouldn't allow that news to ruin his enjoyment of the game. He looked above and saw the Slytherin captain, an elder student named Marcus Flint. Draco frowned when he saw Aria walking by.
 
The twins grinned as the whole team walked up to join them. Their nerves became excitement, nodding to each of the others players on the team. When Oliver gave a thumbs up to the team, they got onto their broomsticks and headed off onto the field for quick warm ups. Fred and George had flew beside each other as they did a lap around the field, waiting for the match to begin.

Marcus watched the Gryffindors as they paraded around the field, and he had sent his team up into the air. They were so eager to beat the opposing team, especially that they wanted to beat them because Potter was a new Seeker. Anything could have happened.

---

Aria sat in the stands with the Slytherin team, her arms crossed over her chest as she looked up at the players. She smiled as she saw Harry on his broomstick, glad that he was actually on the team. As a first year too. That never happened. She glanced over at Malfoy, knowing where he was standing because she walked by him when she got to her spot. She sighed, and soon looked back up at the Quidditch players with a smile on her face.
 
The game began as Madam Hooch tossed the Quaffle into the air. Students flew about the field as spectators watched in pure amazement. Ron, Hermione and the others of Gryffindor seemed elated at Harry's performance and were completely enthralled with the game. However, Helena found herself watching the twins rather than keeping an eye on the famous lad. She enjoyed seeing the twins fly, they balanced themselves perfectly and even after swinging the bat to block a Bludgers' attack, they never once seemed to waver in their ability.

"He's bloody brilliant, isn't he?" Ron praised Harry's flying and focus towards capturing the Snitch.

Helena smiled, her head turned in the opposite direction. "Yeah, he is."

Ron quirked a brow, "Why are you watching Fred?"

"Huh? That's George."

Ron shrugged, "Whatever. Harry is over there!" He pointed to the field where Harry was now standing on his broomstick and trying to reach for the Snitch. Helena managed to return her sights to Harry just as he toppled forward and immediately looked like he was going to be sick. She gasped, leaning forward on the railing and narrowed her eyes, "Harry!"

The boy didn't reply, instead he coughed up a small golden object into his palms. Suddenly it grew wings and the crowd erupted into cheers. Lee Jordan announcing the winners of the match to be Gryffindor. "Harry Potter caught the Golden Snitch! Gryffindor wins!"

* * *

While everyone else was celebrating, Draco and his fellow Slytherins were brooding with contempt. Slytherin should have won, at least in their opinions. The game was over and students were asked to return to the Hogwarts campus. Draco happened to catch Aria's arm as she was making her way along the stands. "You're not going over to the Gryffindors are you?"
 
The twins were zoned in the game, beating down the Bludger whenever it got near any of them, or anyone else in the team. Then when they saw that Harry had caught the Snitch, they grinned widely at the Seeker. They were very proud at this moment that they won the game, and they celebrated with everyone else.

"Good job, Harry!" They both exclaimed, giving him a high five.

"Brilliant flying," Fred stated, congratulating the young boy.

"With you on the team, I am sure we will have more victories," George added, clapping his hand on Harry's shoulder.

---

Aria was proud of Harry, and she did want to congratulate him for the win. She spotted Flint in the corner of her eye, and she only smirked at him. He simply ignored her as he flew off the field with the rest of the team, their heads were low as they left. When she was about to go down, she was stopped by no other than Malfoy. Her eyes rolled at his question, letting out a small laugh. "I can do what I want, Malfoy," she told him calmly, wanting him to release her arm. "What's it to you anyway?"
 
"I say Harry has earned himself a place on the Qudditch team and shown the truth of his abilities," Helena praised the blushing boy with a brilliant smile. "You've certainly proven yourself, Harry."

He smiled sheepishly, not accustomed to overhearing such compliments. Harry thanked Helena and the rest of their friends as the group headed towards the Great Hall. Dinner would be served soon and Ron was already complaining about stomach pains. For such a small lad, he could eat endlessly. Helena giggled, drawing attention from a few Gryffindor boys, their Qudditch outfits making them noticeable.

Suddenly a older student approached Helena, tapping her gently on the shoulder. Turning to face him, Helena found the Gryffindor's Team Captain standing before her wearing a large smile. Immediately her cheeks grew florid and Helena nervously stepped back, "Oliver?"

The Scottish lad's lips tilted into a smirk, nodding his head, "Aye. I was wondering if we could talk?"

His accent, Helena adored it. She agreed, waving off to the others, including the twins. "Sure, what about?"

Oliver said nothing, just gently took her arm and guided the ginger-haired woman away.

* * *

Draco grew angry at her comment, unable to fathom her complete disregard for her own house. "You're a member of Slytherin and yet you'd so happily go and congratulate the Gryffindors for their victory?" To him, that was inexcusable betrayal. "Have you no loyalty to Slytherin?" She may not have accepted the Sorting hat's decision, but Slytherin is where Aria belonged and Draco wanted her to at least acknowledge that.

Goyle and Crabbe appeared at his sides, both wearing identical frowns and narrowed eyes at Aria as the trio waited for her reply.
 
The twins were talking to Ron about something, but then they noticed that their Captain had pulled Helena away. This made George slightly narrow his eyes, but then he relaxed a little when Fred put his hand on his shoulder. Was this a hint of jealousy? George had no idea what this feeling was. He never experienced it before, especially a feeling that was geared towards Helena.

"What do you suppose he is gonna talk to her about?" George questioned, looking at his brother before looking back to where Oliver had led Helena.

Fred just shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, but I am sure that it isn't anything harmful," he spoke. He then eyed Angelina for a moment, hoping that she would have something to add in. Perhaps she could say something about not worrying.

"I am curious," George said.

---

Aria just looked at Draco, dumbfounded at his questions. She looked at his little goons, and then looked at him. What was she supposed to say or do? She felt cornered. For some reason, she could never defend herself in front of him. It bothered her how she couldn't. "It's my choice, Malfoy," she told him, taking a step back from them. "I have my own loyalties to Slytherin that you may not see. Now, please excuse me."

She turned on her heel, walking away from the Slytherin trio. Her appetite was completely ruined. She walked away from everyone, wanting to get away. For a moment she was thinking of heading to the common room, but she knew that Malfoy could easily find her there. So, she just headed a different direction than that, with no idea in her head.
 
When Helena returned to the twins she was smiling brightly. Oliver was following her from behind and quickly pecked her cheek while walking off. She blushed darkly in the cheeks, watching him leave for a moment before looking back to the twins. "He asked me out!" Helena announced happily, rocking on her heels. "He actually asked me out to Hogsmeade this weekend!"

Angelina, whom had just gotten George to calm down, offered an uneasy hug to her friend. "That's nice, Helena. I didn't think Oliver would go after third years, though?"

Helena shrugged, "He's only a year ahead in grade and age. I don't see a problem with it." Of course she wouldn't. No one had ever shown romantic interest in her before and she wasn't going to reject him. Helena had accepted the offer. Her hair changed shade, turning bubblegum pink with her happiness.

* * *

"I don't understand that girl," Draco mumbled angrily.

Crabbe and Goyle shared his confusion. Together the trio walked to the Great Hall for their dinners. Draco had expected to find Harry, but the lad was nowhere to be found. Unknown to everyone, including his own friends, Harry had decided to follow Aria. She seemed upset by something and he wanted to know what. Perhaps he could be of some help? After all, she is the nicest Slytherin he's ever met and doesn't have anything against her at all.

As Aria hurried to get away from everyone, Harry quickened his pace and continued behind in her tracks.
 
When she had returned, Fred looked up at Helena and saw that Oliver kissed her cheek. Uh oh. That didn't seem like a good thing, especially that George had looked like that he was going to blow at any moment. They just got done calming him down, and then she had to say that Oliver had asked her out. He didn't say anything to her, he was just worried that his brother was going to say something stupid.

"That's nice," George said, trying not to sound bitter, but he slightly did. He looked down at his plate, and then he stood up. The boy was actually jealous that Helena was going to Hogsmeade with his Captain. Of course she didn't reject his offer, most Gryffindor girls fancied him anyway. "I hope you have a great time."

"Oh, not good," Fred whispered to Angelina, and then looked at George.

---

Aria had kept walking, and she had soon stopped at the courtyard. Sitting down on a bench, she looked down at her lap as she frowned. Maybe she did belong in the wrong house, but the hat put her there in the first place. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't just switch her fate. Draco was just going to keep being on her case because she didn't even root for her own house. It was just going to keep on happening.

"Stupid Draco," she mumbled under her breath, letting it get under her skin.
 
Helena frowned, "What's wrong with him?" She couldn't get an answer out of Fred nor Angelina, so Helena decided to confront him alone. After all, she's grown up with the twin brothers and won't tolerate either one being anything aside from happy or joyous. Helena followed George out of the Great Hall and caught him at the Common Room.

"George!" Rushing up alongside the ginger-haired lad, Helena reached out a hand to his. "What happened? I thought you'd be happy for me?" Before he could protest and point out that he had, in fact, wished her a good time with Oliver, Helena knew it had been forced and wasn't sincere. She stepped forward, lacing their fingers together and she held his hand firmly. "Are you mad at me? What did I do wrong?" Helena hated having Fred or George angry, it didn't suit them.

* * *

"Aria?"

He'd found her. She was seated alone on a bench, looking rather depressed. Harry cautiously approached, not wanting to accidentally invade her space. "I'm sorry." The words slipped freely from his mouth. A blush following directly afterwards. "I noticed you weren't going to the Great Hall and I wanted to check on you." He confessed honestly, never usually someone to fabricate lies.

Hearing her prior comment about Draco, Harry gathered that the blond was the source of Aria's troubles. "Do you..." He struggled not to sound nervous, although he truly was. "Do you want to talk?"
 
George had stopped walking as he heard her voice. He let her lace her fingers with his, and the little action made him sigh a little. He didn't want to be mad, he really didn't, but it was hard not to. Maybe feelings were getting in the way. No, they couldn't be feelings. He didn't know what he was thinking about at this point. Who says it was about feelings?

"Nothing, nothing is wrong," he lied, but he knew that she wasn't going to believe him. With his free hand, he scratched the back of his head. "I am happy for you, I am, but at the same time I am not." At least then he was trying to be truthful to her. He just didn't know how to go about it. He looked down at her, giving her a slight smile. "Don't worry, Helena, I am not mad at you."

He wasn't mad at her, just mad at the situation.

---

Aria looked up quickly when she heard a familiar voice. Oh, it was Harry. She patted the spot next to her so he could sit down, wanting him to actually be there with her. At least he was a friendly face that wouldn't try to put her down. "It's just that Malfoy is trying to corner me, and I do not like it," she told him, sighing a little. "I just feel that I don't belong to the Slytherin house. Maybe I was supposed to be a Ravenclaw, or maybe a Gryffindor even."

Everything happened for a reason. She remembered that well, but right now, life seemed to be unfair for her. "Just a few more weeks until I can go home for winter vacation and ask my parents what is wrong with me," she said, laughing lightly. "Maybe nothing is wrong with me, but I just view things differently than Malfoy and everyone else in the Slytherin house."
 
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