Dammit, she wasn't answering him. Too embarrassed, maybe?

"What was that all about?" said a soft voice, and he turned to see Pansy. He shrugged.

"She was staring, I caught her, goaded her a bit, and she ignored me."

Pansy frowned. "That doesn't sit right with me. You said that she was rather outspoken against you in her first class with Trelawney?" Draco nodded, but dismissed it.

"Maybe she's just shy. But this gives me some ground to work on. She must be attracted to me on some level, so I've still got a chance against Blaise." He smiled slightly, when a new voice entered their conversation: Blaise's.

"Draco," Blaise growled. "What are you doing?"

"No reason to get jealous, Blaise. Or maybe you do have reason. After all, the girl you like was eyeing your best friend." A smirk. 

Blaise gave another low growl. "I want to call off the competition. She's worth more than a stupid bet." Draco only tsked.

"No can do, Blaise. We made a deal, remember? I don't think you realised it, but when you proclaimed this deal, a magical oath was sealed. You didn't feel the magic around us?" Blaise, looking horrified, only shook his head. "Well then. Even if I wanted out, it won't work unless you want both of us to lose our magic."

Blaise still looked shocked at this revelation. Speechless, he turned away, just as Aria came back. She began tapping the desk, and Pansy sent both Draco and Blaise worried looks. She hadn't known about the oath. She hadn't felt it, either. What had they gotten themselves into? 

Aria left quickly.

"What was that all about?" Pansy asked, frowning. Both Blaise and Draco exchanged looks.

"I have no idea," Draco said.

"She looks like she needs space," Blaise said softly. "Leave her alone." He found that the way Aria was acting was odd. He didn't know what to make of it.

Draco and Pansy put their hands up in surrender. "We weren't going to do anything." Pansy took out her timetable. "Free period, guys. What do you want to do?"

Blaise began walking away. "I'm going to the dorm to think." They knew what was left unspoken. He was going to think...about the oath. They let him go.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me, Drake," Pansy said, looping her arm through his. "Where to?"

"I think the lake might be nice," Draco said thoughtfully. "We can go taunt the Giant Squid." Pansy smiled and shook her head disapprovingly.

"You're so cruel, Draco," she said, but she left with him anyway.  

Blaise walked into the Slytherin Common Room, and saw Aria disappear quietly up to her dormitories. She looked troubled, and Blaise couldn't help but worry. He decided that he could do his thinking out in the common room, so he settled himself in a sofa and sat there. At least this way, he could make sure Aria was alright. 

He thought. He thought a lot. About Aria, about Draco, about the bet and about the magical oath. He hadn't realised it. He hadn't even known that it was possible for a minor to take the magical oath, but obviously, it was. How could he not have known this, having grown up with magic all around him?

He pondered that for a moment, which turned into a long time, until he was so frustrated with this thought that he wanted to bang his head on one of the expensive glass top tables. Instead, he sat up and wondered where Aria was. As if on cue, the girl wandered back into the common room and threw some letters into a fire, not seeing him. She sat on the sofa beside his and began rubbing her temples.

"Are you ok, Aria?" he asked sincerely.

Blaise ignored her question. "He?" he asked, brow furrowing. "You're getting these letters from a guy?"

He didn't like it, but that came out slightly possessive. Damn it. Oh well.

She was getting letters from a guy. A guy who put anti-burning charms on them. So obviously, there must be a reason she wanted to burn the letters. Stalker letters? Threats? His fist and jaw clenched.

"I don't know this guy, do I?" he asked, voice lowered dangerously. 

Despite the soothing hands on curled around his fists, Blaise didn't calm down. He began to tremble slightly. "Who is this guy, Aria?" Blaise said quietly. He began to run over a list in his mind. A list of all the boy he knew went to Durmstrang, who would have the resources to track Aria and would be attracted to her.

There were quite a few in his list. 

All of them were purebloods, since Durmstrang only accepted the pure. He could easily see some of the darker ones leering at Aria, wanting her on his arm as a trophy. Despite her unfortunate blood, she was quite the sight.

Blaise sighed and closed his eyes. He didn't talk for almost five minutes, trying to keep his emotions in check. When finally he deemed himself calm enough to talk, he opened his eyes.

"Ok," he said emotionlessly, "ok. I trust you to do that, though, if you ever need to." They didn't talk for a few minutes, and Blaise's thoughts gradually turned back to the reaosn he was here in the first place - the oath. He knew how Aria was, and she'd be the perfect confidant - if not for the fact that the oath was about her. And then she'd be totally mad at him and would not talk to him at all. Despite only knowing her for only a few days, he had becomed extremely attached to her. He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice Pansy and Draco come in until they were right in front of him.

"Earth to Blaise," Draco said, waving his hand in front of the other boy's face and looking at him strangely. Blaise jerked.

"What?" he said rather rudely.

"I said," Draco replied, in a patronising tone, "did you want to go to the kitchens for a snack?" He also directed this at Aria.

Blaise shrugged. "Yeah, whatever. Do you want to, Aria?" 

Draco was taken aback at her outburst. What had he done to deserve that? They had made up...and he hadn't said anything too bad to her since then. So...what?

The mark on the side of his face suddenly started burning, and he realised she had slapped him. Him. Draco Malfoy, Slytherin prince. And it didn't matter what else she had said, because she had slapped him. 

His face darkened until his eyes were dark, stormy and terrifying. Pansy, who had been smiling only a minute before, took a step back when she saw his face, apprehension creeping into her frame.

"D-drake?" she stuttered, watching his angry face and his clenched fists. She sent a terrified look Blaise's way, but even he didn't know what to do. He looked helpless, and he knew that going near Draco when he was like this would only result in grievous bodily harm. He was terrified for Aria. 

By now, the whole of the Common Room had gone quiet, and they were watching the confrontation anxiously. They had all accepted what Aria had said as fact a long time ago, and it wasn't the accusations that had shocked them. No, it was that the girl had touched the older Slytherin. Without his permission. Like Pansy and Blaise, they scrambled to get out of the way. 

Draco was silent for a few seconds. He seemed to be breathing deeply in and out, trying to control his temper, but it was obvious that the attempt was in vain.

Finally he talked, and his voice was a whisper, but eveyone heard him. "Now you're going to see what happens to Mudbloods in Slytherin." His face snapped up, and he grabbed Aria's forearm very, very tightly - so tightly that the area around the pale skin began to go red at an alarming speed. He dragged her out of the Common Room, and no one stopped him. No one dared. 

((Oh gosh. xD))

Draco stared at the thing for a moment. He had heard of this. Many of the old Dark Pureblood families did this to their wives to ensure total obedience and fidelity to the husband. His mother didn't have one because of her total devotion to his father, but he knew Blaise's mother had once had one to her first husband. Since he was dead, and she couldn't have another one put on her, she was in her own total will.

It seemed Aria was now under the control of one, and to an unknown boy as well. It didn't excuse what she had done to him, though. 

"Learn to control it," Draco said viciously, wiping his face of all emotion. He was angry, and concerned as well (where did that come from?), but he still wanted to scare her into never touching him like that again. 

Who was this Calix kid? Draco wanted to meet him, and pummel him. Not only out of concern for Aria, but also out of concern for all the other witches the disgusting boy had probably done it to. He didn't agree with that aspect of Pureblood tradition.