Chapter 26.

Magnolia was allowed out of the Hospital Wing the following day, just in time for lunch. Harry met her outside the Great Hall with a small picnic and a large blanket and the two sat by the Lake. It was getting colder every day, but as long as the weather was dry Magnolia would venture outside.

Harry had given Magnolia the letter he had received from Sirius the night before, she couldn't help but be excited when she read that they would be able to talk to Sirius properly soon. She was also glad to read that he was thinking along the same lines of Magnolia; someone in the Castle was trying to hurt Harry.

He had also told Magnolia what had happened for the rest of the Potions class, and his horrible meeting with Rita Skeeter during the Wand Weighing. Magnolia couldn't help but feel sorry for her brother as he described the Quick Quotes Quill.

After they had finished eating, Magnolia went back to her Common Room to finish her homework, stopping off at the Kitchens on the way to get a hot chocolate. Daphne and Tracey were already sat by the fire doing their own work when Magnolia walked in, so she sat with them.

They told her about an argument between Theo and Malfoy the evening before, brought on by Theo's concern for Magnolia's injury. He apparently blamed Malfoy for her spending the night in the Hospital Wing. Magnolia cringed at the thought; it wasn't just Malfoy who was at fault and if she didn't blame her brother, then she couldn't really blame Malfoy either.

Although she was angry at Malfoy for calling Hermione a Mudblood, she couldn't blame him entirely for the hex that had hit her. She tried to push the thought aside though as she settled into her schoolwork.

A couple of weeks later, harmony had finally returned to the Slytherin Common Room. Magnolia and Malfoy hadn't argued thanks to the weekly Occlumency lessons that meant they needed to stay civil. Malfoy was helping Magnolia to build a wall in her mind to stop unwanted intruders, and to create fake memories in case her wall wasn't strong enough.

Magnolia had even managed to get Theo and Malfoy to make up, which wasn't nearly as difficult as the girls said it would be. She had sat both boys down separately and talked to them, before forcing them together.

Defence Against the Dark Arts had become less of a lesson and more of a way to get frustrations out for their friendship group. Moody encouraged practical learning, so Magnolia and her friends were often found throwing the hexes or curses at each other if they had had a disagreement. Magnolia imagined that that was more the cause of Malfoy and Theo's make up then her forcing the boys to talk.

The class duels had also worked well for Magnolia. Her friends had made a big fuss when Harry's article had come out, without a single mention of his sister. Pansy and Tracey had been snickering as they read the article, until they finished it. Magnolia hadn't believed how her friends reacted; they were disgusted and had tried to tell Harry the same until Magnolia had sent a Muting Hex their way.

She had become even more protective of her twin since the article had come out. Everyone was treating him as more of a leper as they had been after he had been named Champion. Ron, in particular, had been on the receiving end of quite a few Stinging Hex's from Magnolia whenever she saw him pull faces at Harry.

Harry had convinced Magnolia to keep her Hogsmeade date with George for the Saturday before the First Task, after she had told her brother she could cancel to spend the day with him. So instead, Magnolia was sat in the middle of her Dorm with Pansy, Daphne and Tracey hovering around her as they got her ready for her date.

Tracey was braiding Magnolia's unruly hair to stop it flying around in the wind, whilst Pansy did her make up at the same time as dictating to Daphne what Magnolia would wear. In the end, Magnolia walked out of their Dorm in figure hugging jeans, knee length boots and a warm sweater. She was wrapping her scarf around her and pulling her jacket and woollen gloves on when Pansy squealed.

"Drakey!"

Magnolia glanced over to the sofa's, where Malfoy, Theo, Blaise, Crabbe and Goyle were standing up and moving towards the girls. They were all going to Hogsmeade for the day, and boys were already wearing their jackets.

"Drakey, doesn't Maggie look wonderful?"

Pansy hugged Malfoy's arm as she questioned him. He looked Magnolia up and down before he nodded.

"Ready for your date?" Malfoy sneered.

"Of course she is, look at her!"

Magnolia chuckled, then said goodbye to her friends and quickly left the Common Room to meet George in the Welcome Hall. When she spotted him, he was wrapped in his Gryffindor cold weather wear and looking around all the students that were heading out of the Castle.

When he saw her approaching, he stood taller and smiled.

"Hey, are you uh… are you ready?"

Magnolia nodded and wound her arm through his when he offered his arm. As they walked down to the Village, George told Magnolia about a prank he and Fred were planning. Magnolia liked how carefree George was, he was easy to get along with and in what seemed like no time at all, the two were walking through the streets of Hogsmeade.

Magnolia giggled at George's excitement when they entered Zonko's Joke Shop; he showed Magnolia everything and explained what each thing did and how he and Fred would work them into pranks. Magnolia was caught up in his enthusiasm and offered some of her own prank ideas.

When they walked into Honeydukes, Magnolia gasped in awe. It was the first time she had actually seen the sweetshop, last year her friends had described the shop but seeing it first-hand was amazing. There were sweets lined wall to wall, floor to ceiling, and displays throughout the small shop too.

Magnolia didn't know where to begin, so let George escort her around the shop. She picked her favourites, as well as some new sweets that she hadn't tried before. George laughed as Magnolia tried a sweet that made her sing everything she said for a few minutes. Magnolia made sure to buy a bag of them.

"Are you hungry? We can go to The Three Broomsticks for some lunch?" George asked.

Magnolia nodded and followed George into the busy pub. The two looked around for a spare table and rushed to sit at one when another pair left. Magnolia stayed at the table, looking around the pub as George moved to the bar to order drinks and food.

She couldn't believe how busy the pub was, and not just with Hogwarts students. Some Durmstrang's and Beauxbatons students were also in the pub, as well as older customers. Magnolia waved at Hermione, who was sat by herself with two drinks in front of her on the other side of the pub.

"So, how have you been?" George asked when they were sat eating, "You know, with the Harry thing going on."

"Oh, erm worried, I guess. Somebody obviously wants to hurt him, somebody in the Castle. He could be killed in this Tournament; he doesn't have as much experience or knowledge as the other Champions."

"Harry will be fine; you don't need to worry."

Magnolia looked down; she couldn't help but feel a twinge of annoyance at George's reply. She knew that he was just trying to comfort her, but she needed to talk to someone about her fears for Harry.

"George, this Tournament has killed people. What if that's Harry?"

"Harry will get through this; he gets through everything." George shrugged, "He is after all, the Boy Who Lived."

Magnolia laughed with George as he wiggled his eyebrows. Maybe she couldn't tell him the darkest thoughts she had, but he had made her smile when she worried. George reached for her hand, holding it in his and looked her in the eye.

"Seriously, Harry will be fine. He has all of us looking out for him, he knows we'll help him if he needs anything."

Magnolia thought he could be right, but they didn't even know what the First Task was, how would they be able to help him? She pushed the thought aside as George changed the conversation, asking Magnolia about her classes.

Hermione interrupted their conversation, sitting in between them with a shy smile. Magnolia looked at her friend in confusion.

"Sorry to interrupt your date. I just, uh, need to talk to Maggie about something." Hermione mumbled. "Um, I need to talk to her about a girl thing."

George shot out of his sit, "Say no more, I see Fred over there, I'll go say hello!"

Magnolia laughed at George's awkwardness at the mention of girl's things, and he hurried away from the two girls.

"Sorry about this. It wasn't my idea." She mumbled.

"Maggie."

A whisper that sounded like her brother came from the spare chair at the table. She looked to the chair with a frown, until she saw her brother peek his head out from the Invisibility Cloak. She rolled her eyes, of course he would still go to Hogsmeade.

"Did he drag you with him so he wouldn't be alone?" Magnolia asked Hermione, who nodded, "Harry take that off."

Harry had retreated back into the Cloak, so Magnolia couldn't see him at all now.

"I just wanted some time without everyone looking at me or talking about me as I walked past." Harry's voice replied, "I just wanted to tell you that I'll be outside your Common Room at 12:30 this evening with the Cloak."

True to his word, Harry was waiting for Magnolia under the Invisibility Cloak at 12:30 that night. She had managed to sneak out of her Common Room without her friends knowing, after dealing with hours of questioning by Pansy about her date with George.

When they stepped into the Gryffindor Common Room, Magnolia looked around and was relieved to see that no one was there. The twins moved to the sofa by the fire, waiting for Sirius to appear. Harry had told Magnolia that the First Task was dragons, after being shown by Hagrid, and she was now vibrating with unease.

The twins heard a small cough from the fire, and both fell to their knees in front of it where Sirius' face was. Magnolia broke into a smile at the sight of her Godfather. He looked better than the last time she had seen him, being away from Azkaban and the Dementors was doing him good.

"Sirius! How are you?"

"Never mind me, how are you two?"

"I'm fine." Harry replied, automatically.

Magnolia frowned at her brother, before looking back at Sirius, "He isn't fine."

The two of them told Sirius everything that Harry had been through since being named Champion. Magnolia felt a swell of happiness when Sirius smiled proudly at her after Harry told him about the hexes and curses she had been sending people. His face turned from pride, to concern when Harry explained the first Task included dragons.

"Dragons we can deal with, Harry, but we'll get to that in a minute. I haven't got long here; I've broken into a wizarding house to use the fire. There are things I need to warn you both about."

"What?"

"Karkaroff. He was a Death Eater. You know what they are, don't you?"

Magnolia cringed and nodded. She listened with increasing worry as Sirius explained that Karkaroff had been in Azkaban with him, and that Moody was the Auror who had caught him to begin with. Magnolia scowled when Sirius told them that Karkaroff had been released after striking a deal with the Ministry of Magic, and that after reading Rita Skeeter's article in the Daily Prophet he thought that Moody had been attacked the night before he arrived at Hogwarts.

"How is he acting at Hogwarts? Word is that he's gotten paranoid in his old age."

"He's great," Harry replied, "He's an amazing Defence professor."

"That's good news, Harry. What about you, Princess? You've been quiet about old Mad-Eye."

Magnolia, who had been focused on picking a thread of the carpet during the conversation, now looked at her Godfather. For a moment, she debated not telling him her true thoughts of her Professor but decided to be honest with Sirius.

"I don't like him." She spoke quickly, getting everything out before she could stop herself.

Magnolia told Sirius about the times that Moody had spoken to her, how she felt like he was reading her mind sometimes, although she didn't mention Malfoy's assistance to stop that, and how uneasy he made her every time she saw him.

"I just…I sometimes feel like… like he's overly interested in me."

"I was worried about that." Sirius huffed, "I've heard whispers about you."

"About me!?" Magnolia cried.

She was used to her brother being spoken about, but not herself. This was a new feeling for Magnolia.

"Yes. Confused whispers, between Ministry officials and who I would call Dark Wizards." Sirius elaborated, "No one remembers you, unless they meet you it appears. If someone is told about you, they have no recollection of you… even if they knew you."

"That makes no sense." Magnolia retorted, "You remember me."

"I don't know how it works, or what it is, but there is something strange going on with you."

Magnolia bit her lip in confusion, she wasn't happy with the idea that there was something wrong with her. She had known that people didn't know about her until they met her, even though her brother was famous.

"We have noticed that. When Harry and I first entered the Wizarding World, everyone knew about him, but no one knew about me."

Sirius nodded, "I've spoken to Remus about this. I was concerned after last year. When I escaped Azkaban, I made my way to Privet Drive first, to see Harry. And when I saw him, after you had both left the Dursley's, I saw you with him. Until that moment when I heard Harry say your name… I couldn't remember you myself."

Magnolia froze, her own Godfather had forgotten about her. What had happened that made everyone forget she existed? Sirius continued, he told them about the rumours he had heard surrounding her, some of the people she had met that knew about her thought that it was Dark Magic that caused her to be forgotten the night her parents died.

Magnolia left shortly after that, using the Cloak to get back to the Dungeons without being caught. It was gone 2am and she didn't think any teacher would be happy if they caught her roaming the halls at that time of night. She pulled the Cloak off as she approached her Common Room, pushed it into her bag and walked in, not thinking that anyone would still be awake at that time of night.

She was surprised when she was Malfoy still awake and pacing the Common Room. Magnolia paused, he looked irritated, so she didn't want to distract him and incur his wrath. As he turned, though, he spotted her, and he stomped towards her with an exasperated sigh.

"Where the hell have you been?"

"Excuse me?"

"I saw you leave at gone midnight, Potter. So, where have you been?"

"How did you see me leave!?" Magnolia replied in confusion, she swore she hadn't seen Malfoy when she walked through the Common Room.

"That doesn't matter. Why won't you answer my question?"

"It's none of your business."

Malfoy's eyes narrowed, his trademark scowl on his face, "Let me guess, you were with Weasley. That good of a date, was it?"

Magnolia bristled; how dare he assume that of her.

"When will you realise that he isn't good enough for you!?" Malfoy almost shouted, "You shouldn't be wasting your time with a Muggle Lover, especially after how Muggles have always treated you. I bet he pushes that aside, doesn't he?"

Magnolia stepped closer to Malfoy, glaring at him, "Actually, he didn't push it aside when he saw my cousin grab me in the Summer."

Malfoy gripped her arms, holding her in her position; their chests almost touching as they heaved with emotion. He looked furious, his eyes glaring down at hers with disbelief.

"He isn't right for you. You know that."

"He could be." Magnolia murmured.

Neither of them moved, Malfoy was still holding her, but his grip wasn't hard; it was desperate.

"If he was, you'd be able to tell him about how you felt with Riddle in the Chamber, you would of told him that you fear your scratches will turn you into your Boggart, you would have told him about Moody."

Magnolia had never seen Malfoy, or anyone, look as passionate about something as Malfoy did in that moment. She could almost forget everything else and just listen to the words he was saying, to what those words really meant from him.

"If he was right for you, he'd understand that you're complex. You're not just good. You're not just bad. You're a beautiful, perplexing, mix of lightness and darkness. If he was right for you, he'd understand that both sides of you are just as much deserving of his affection as the other."

"Malfoy…"

Magnolia couldn't deny Malfoy was right. She felt numb, but she also felt everything. Malfoy knew her better then anyone did. He was infuriating, obnoxious and cruel sometimes; but he listened to her, he helped her, and most of all, he didn't judge her.

Magnolia felt her body sway, leaning into his, as his hands moved down her arms to lace his fingers through her own. They were so close, Magnolia could feel the heat emanating from Malfoy's body, his breath on her face as he looked down at her.

Suddenly, a noise came from the stairway that snapped Magnolia out of her trance and she pushed away from Malfoy, pulling her hands out of his. She looked towards the sound in time for a first year to appear looking dishevelled. She seemed startled at the sight of the two older students.

"Are- are you ok?" Magnolia spluttered.

She felt like she was hyperventilating, her breath coming out in short pants as her body yearned to be back in the warm embrace that she had just ripped herself away from.

"I had a nightmare." The first year muttered. "My cousin graduated a couple of years ago and said that Professor Snape experiments on students with their own potions. What if my Forgetfulness Potion is too strong? I don't want to forget everything."

Magnolia smiled and walked towards the younger student, placing a hand on her shoulder, "I promise, your cousin was joking. I've never seen Professor Snape experiment on a student, have you Malfoy?"

Malfoy shook his head, his eyes glazed.

"See? And besides, even if Professor Snape did do that, do you think he'd try it on one of his own House?"

"No. He's nicer to us."

"Exactly." Magnolia replied, turning the girl around so she faced the stairs again, "Now, I think you should go back to sleep."

The girl nodded and looked back at Magnolia with a small smile before descending the stairs to her Dorm. At the safe distance from Malfoy, Magnolia turned to look at him, her mind conflicted over her next move. The more rational, light as Malfoy had put it, side of her won out.

"We should go to bed too, it's late." Magnolia mumbled, "Goodnight, Malfoy."

Moments later, Magnolia was curled up in her bed cuddling Kaida. Magnolia couldn't get what had just happened out of her mind, she would have kissed Malfoy if that young girl hadn't come into the Common Room at the perfect moment. Pansy and Malfoy were still a thing, Magnolia had been out on an actual date with George just hours earlier; she shouldn't have even been thinking about what had happened.

Magnolia couldn't help but wonder what had possessed her to almost do it. She rolled onto her back with a sigh as she realised, part of her still wanted it.