Chapter Two:
"M-Malfoy?" She stuttered.
He glanced down at her. "Oh… You?"
She erased the surprise on her face and said, "Sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going."
"Where are you headed?" he asked, seeming mildly interested.
She stared at him like he had three heads, he never paid attention to her, let alone care. "I-I uh… I was on my way to a job interview…"
"Oh…" he hesitated for a moment, and then nodded. "Good luck."
"Thanks…" she said warily.
After that awkward meeting, she hurried again to the Disapparate. This was the seventh job interview that she had since the school year ended with the Dark Lord's defeat, and every single one of her interviewers asked about her N.E.W.T report, and when she said that she didn't have it, she was dismissed. Magdalene decided that if she was met with yet another refusal, she would go back to Hogwarts in order to perform her N.E. , or even ask to teach there if possible. She did know a bit of potions, and they were short on teachers since that final battle. After all—
"Can I ask you something?" His voice again, interrupting her thoughts.
She turned Malfoy. "Certainly."
"Why did you save my life?" he asked, making her regret her last sentence.
Suddenly, everything else disappeared. The memories of the final battle came rushing in. She was running for the Great Hall, dodging Stunning Spells and Unforgivable Curses alike, trying to find shelter. She hid behind a door while a jet of red light passed right where she was standing half a second ago. She Stunned the attacker before arriving at a quiet part of the castle where four figures were fighting. She recognized two of them as Draco Malfoy and Blaise Zabini going up against two Death Eaters. She stayed hidden for the most part but when Blaise got Stunned and fell to the floor, leaving Malfoy alone against two Death Eaters, she decided to help the person who had despised her the most during her years at Hogwarts.
"Stupefy!" Draco yelled pointing his wand at one of his opponents but she was faster.
"Expelliarmus!" the Death Eater said, rather enraged, disarming Malfoy.
"Protego!" Magdalene ran to Malfoy's side and procured a shield to separate them from the dark wizards. "Come on, we need to run!" she hissed, pulling him by the sleeve of his dusty, black vest.
"But Blaise—" Malfoy stammered.
"We'll come back for him when it's quiet, come on!" She pulled him harder.
He blinked twice, awestruck before grabbing his wand and following her to one of the Herbology greenhouses. She slid down the wall and sighed as he held his knees, eager for a chance to catch his breath. She gazed at him from the corner of her eye; he looked wounded, and his left sleeve was torn so that she could see the Dark Mark. It was true, then. He was one of them.
"Why were they attacking you?" Magdalene asked suddenly, without meaning to.
He scowled. "What do you mean?"
She eyed his Dark Mark meaningfully before saying, "Aren't you supposed to be one of them?"
He glanced at his left forearm as though he'd just notice he had one. "I've never met those, right there. I'm on the other side regardless."
Insanely, she giggled. "The other side, huh?"
He looked at her as though she were crazy — which she understood — and a smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he said, "Too many people I know on one side and not enough power on the other"
"Are you hurt?" She asked.
"Huh?"
"Is your body wounded?" She asked, emphasizing the 'body' part.
He nodded. "My leg, I think."
She stood up, took a pair of scissors from the tool-shelf, and cut a leaf that she knew would help any physical pain.
"Pants up," she instructed. He stared at her incredulously. "Come on, Muggle blood isn't contagious."
He sneered at her. "Why?"
She knew what he meant, but she derived the subject as she lifted his leg on her lap. "This leaf is great with physical pain, eases almost everything besides the Cruciatus Curse because—"
"—because it's a trick on the mind rather than the body itself." Malfoy finished, and it was her turn to stare at him. "I do listen in class." He smirked.
"Well, that's shocking." She said in a monotone.
"Never thought you would be any good at Herbology, either." He looked on, as she massaged the cut on his left calf with the leaf. "Thanks." He squeezed out, like a spasm in his throat.
"You're very welcome," she sighed, standing back up. "In exchange, I'll ask for you not to try and kill me," she added, with a nervous giggle.
"Deal."
"Let's go find Blaise, hopefully, he's still alive."
That was the most pleasant and civilised conversation that she had ever had with Draco Malfoy. Until their most recent encounter, that was. She couldn't think straight, couldn't think of a good enough answer for his question.
She cleared her throat. "I helped you because you were outnumbered and clearly not at ease with a wand."
"It was my mother's, mine was… I lost it." He muttered, walking to distract her from his avoidance of the topic.
"I've had classes with you for six years; I know what your wand looks like. Potter was using it. Probably disarmed you at some point or something, but that's my mere assumption."
He shook his head. "Why did you come at my rescue when, in your mind, I wouldn't have done the same for you?"
"In my mind?" She glanced at her watch meaningfully rather than for its main purpose and coldly murmured, "I should be going, we'll probably meet again."
With that, she Disapparated, leaving him to his tormented thoughts as he too Disapparated. She arrived in front of the gates of the Zabini estate. It was one of the very few that were not subjected to raids, only because the Zabini family members were never among the Sacred Twenty-Eight for their involvement with Veelas every few generations. Maggie knew that fact because Blaise had been the only Slytherin that she had gotten to know beyond last name basis. The reason behind that was tutoring sessions in the library, which started in third year.
"Take Arithmancy, they said." Magdalene muttered, as she turned a page of a book she had not understood a word of. "It'll be fun, they said."
In her third year, she chose Divination, Muggle Studies, and Arithmancy as specifics. The two formers worked like a charm, but the latter proved to be utter bullshit as she slowly found out that she had set herself up for failure. She gave up and let her forehead fall on top of the open book. She sighed audibly before hearing a shift in the air and the sound of a chair gently scraping the stone floor next to her. She had chosen a spot near the window, overlooking the Black Lake, which meant that whoever had sat next to her meant to start a conversation… Or they were just unaware of the concept of personal space.
"Whoever it is now's not the moment," she grunted.
"Gentleness has never been your forte," an oddly familiar voice mused.
Maggie's head shot up to face "Zabini? To what do I owe the honour?"
"Your comments about your choices are hardly quiet. I initially intended on taking my research to the common room, but you looked so pathetic, I thought you needed the help."
Her eyebrows rose lazily as she regarded him, sitting so casually next to her. "And what do you want, in exchange?"
Zabini chuckled and glanced over her head, at the setting sun beyond the window. "And what makes you think that I'm expecting something in return?"
"Two years in the Slytherin common room as a Muggle-Born. I learned to listen when I got bored of reading. You do the math." She regarded his Muggle Studies related book pointedly.
He followed her gaze and his chuckle turned into a smirk. "How very Slytherin of you. Yes, I'd like to exchange favours with you. I help you with Arithmancy and you help me with Muggle Studies. It seems like your area of expertise."
She lifted an eyebrow. "How very convenient, then, that I just so happen to be Muggle-Born."
"Your comment should best be directed at Draco, since he is the one always going on about being a Pure Blood." He remarked, hiding irritation.
Magdalene regarded him for a full minute before sighing. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be making assumptions. You've never said a word against me."
"I forgive you. It would be preferable if you made assumptions based on what people show you, rather than your own personal experiences."
"It'd be preferable, yes."
He leaned closer to her, peeking at the open book in front of her. "Tell me where you're stuck."
From then on, whenever the pair of them met regularly—especially when Wand Lore was thrown into the mix in sixth year—, they had developed a tentative sort of friendship, and she hoped that it would help her get a job despite having no N.E. to show for. However, she had a feeling that it was not going to happen. She had to try nevertheless.
The door opened and she was greeted by a house elf. "Hello, Miss. Are you the new nurse?"
Magdalene, who had never directly addressed a house elf, stammered, "Ye—uh no, well, I hope I will be."
"You've never been very eloquent, have you?" A familiar voice rang from the entrance hall.
"Not when talking to a house elf for the first time, no." Maggie chuckled. "I didn't know you lived here…"
"Did 'Zabini' not ring any bells?" He inquired, leaning against the door frame, wearing simple black trousers and a dark polo sweater over a white button down shirt. He folded his arms over his chest, and looked down at the elf. "You can go back now, get tea ready in the drawing room."
"Yes, Master Blaise." With that, the elf disappeared with the snap of Apparition.
He then turned to Magdalene. "My grandfather is waiting for you. Fair warning, though, he can be a bit of a tease."
"By 'a bit', you mean—?"
"A lot, yeah." He pushed the French doors and murmured "Good luck, Magdalene."
He arrived in front of the silver gates, but not those at the Malfoy estate. He had decided to play a trick on Magdalene, make his family's oldest friends require only Os in the N.E. of their interviewee. He was let in by the same elf that had greeted Magdalene only hours before heading straight to the study where he knew he would find the old wizard he was looking for. He knocked, and the French doors opened to reveal a grand mahogany desk surrounded with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves and the Zabini family tree illustrated in a tapestry. Behind the desk sat a silver-haired wrinkled man wearing rectangular glasses, Draco knew him as Edmund Zabini, Blaise's grandfather. And behind Edmund, the wall was composed of floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the luxurious gardens of the property.
"Well, if it isn't little Draco Malfoy," Edmund murmured with a suave, velvety voice, "What brings you here by this fine evening, son?"
"I hear you're hiring," Draco began, a plan forming in his head "and I happen to know today's candidate very well."
"Do you, now?" He asked leaning in, clearly interested.
"Magdalene Middleton, am I correct?" Draco asked back. Without waiting for an answer, he carried on, "Careless, lazy… Between you and me, Edmund, I don't even think that she's a pure."
"Blood status holds no importance to me, son, never have been," he declared, eyeing Draco expectantly. "You should know that…"
Draco coughed nervously. "Naturally, sir. Did I tell you that she did not even pass her N.E. ?"
"Did she not?" He asked, clearly unimpressed. "What about you? And what about that cousin of yours?"
Draco's mouth fell. "Uh— I— I uh…"
"I will only refuse to employ Miss Middleton on one condition," Edmund spoke, leaning back.
"Which is...?"
He cleared his throat. "You, along with Middleton and your cousin, have to go back to Hogwarts for your seventh year. I want to see you three and my grandson in this office a year from now with your N.E. , and I will not take no for an answer. If this is not accomplished, you, instead of Middleton, will do the work that she's applying for today. Is it clear?"
Draco cringed at the thought of having to take care of the man in front of him. "Crystal." He stood up and shook Edmund's hand. "Pleasure to see you, Edmund, my greetings to your grandson."
"Naturally," he drawled with a satisfied smirk.
Draco left the study rather swiftly, eager to leave this God forsaken house. He Floo'ed to Malfoy Manor, where the two most important females of his life were. His mother, Narcissa, grieved ever since the final battle: her husband was in Azkaban, her eldest sister died, and her estranged sister was taking care of her orphan Half-Blood. The second most important female in his life was his cousin, best friend, and confidant, who lost her parents in that final battle. Draco lost one of his oldest friends, more or less, in that battle too. Not to mention his father's imprisonment. Overall, life could have been better. Draco ignored the house elf that suggested he hung his vest, ignored his mother asking him where he had been, and made his way as fast as he could without actually jogging to his cousin's room.
Victoria Malfoy. Physically, she could be his twin sister with her stormy grey eyes, mid-back length wheat blonde hair, and cocky facial expressions. But when it came to personality, they were slightly different. Draco thought it was because they simply had different parents, but Victoria thought it was because her principles were placed more strategically. Whatever the reason, their similarities, as opposed to their differences, have made them best of friends and confidants. Being Victoria's best friend had its benefits, but the cons thereof were just as pronounced: her teasing, her fake haughtiness around other people and mostly the fact that Draco knew exactly how she would take Edmund Zabini's proposal. Draco braced himself and knocked on the door…
