Chapter 45.

Magnolia was sat outside in the Grounds the following day, eating her lunch, when she saw George and Fred saunter out of the Castle. She could tell that they were up to something by the way they were fervently looking around them and whispering to each other. From her spot, she knew they hadn't seen her, so she snuck up behind them.

"I do hope you're doing anything that I, as a Prefect, would have to punish you for." Magnolia spoke loudly as she popped between them.

The twins jumped and gasped in shock.

"No, nothing." Fred replied quickly.

"Yeah, Nola, when have we ever done something wrong?"

Magnolia sent George a disbelieving glance, "A few things come to mind."

"Ok, so maybe we have."

"But we aren't now."

"Nope, not at all."

Magnolia laughed, "Come on guys, tell me what's going on."

"Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Will you stop asking us all these questions?"

"It's like the Spanish Inquisition over here, Georgy."

Magnolia laughed again at the twins. Harry, Ron, and Hermione passed them then, and Hermione shot a disapproving look towards the Weasley twins. Magnolia frowned; they had definitely been up to something.

"Seriously, what's going on?" Magnolia asked, "Why is Hermione looking at you like that?"

"Honestly?"

"Honestly." Magnolia nodded.

"Hermione has been abusing her power." Fred stated.

"We've been testing our Skiving Snackboxes." George continued.

"Only on volunteers, and they know what they're signing up for."

"But Hermione has taken it upon herself to put a stop to our testing."

"It isn't like it's not safe."

"We test everything out on ourselves first."

"Nothing goes to the other kids until we know it's safe for us."

"Oh. I don't see the problem, as long as you've explained all the risks and everything to them beforehand." Magnolia shrugged.

"The problem, Potter, is that none of their little products have been properly tested to make sure they're safe for students."

Draco's hard voice came from behind Fred, and Magnolia glanced over at him, not missing George's eyes widening at hearing Draco call her Potter again.

"They've tested them all on themselves first."

"That doesn't make them safe, who knows what they've put in those sweets." Draco snarled, "Just because you turn a blind-eye at their obviously dangerous stunts, doesn't mean all of us Prefects will."

Magnolia bit back her response when Draco stalked away, and shook her head when George tried to start speaking to her. She was going to be late for Care of Magical Creatures if she didn't leave soon, so she picked up her bag and stomped down the Grounds to Hagrid's Hut. Magnolia stopped next to Harry when she got to the class and stayed there through Professor Grubbly-Plank's introduction of the Bowtruckles.

"What's up with you?" Harry asked Magnolia quietly.

"Just my fellow Slytherin Prefect being a prick." Magnolia replied, just as quietly.

She knew she couldn't tell her twin everything that was frustrating her about Draco, but she could give him the general story. She told Harry how dismissive of her Draco had been, and what he had said to her in front of George and Fred.

"You shouldn't let him talk to you like that." Harry told her, as he pulled her towards their teacher, "Where's Hagrid?"

"Never you mind." Professor Grubbly-Plank replied curtly.

"Maybe, that stupid great oafs got himself injured." Draco's voice floated towards Magnolia and Harry.

"Maybe you will if you don't shut up." Harry snapped back.

"Harry, calm down." Magnolia pulled her brother away from Draco quickly, glaring at him as she and Harry moved away.

The rest of the day, Magnolia had to keep her own mood in check with Draco. It seemed like he was going out of his way to aggravate her, and she didn't know why. She would though, she had decided that she had had enough. When she got back to the Common Room after dinner, she made a beeline to her friends who were all sat around the fire.

"There you are, Mags!" Pansy cried.

"We didn't see you at dinner." Theo continued.

"Sorry guys, I was with Hermione and Ginny." Magnolia turned to Draco quickly, before she lost her nerve, "Can we talk?"

"About what?"

"We just need to talk, Draco." Magnolia resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"Is it a Prefect thing?"

"No, but-"

"Well, then we have nothing to talk about, Potter." Draco looked away from her, back to the book he held in his hand.

"In case you've forgotten, we're supposedly together." Magnolia snapped. "Why have you been acting like this? Why make those comments about Hagrid? You know he is my friend! Why talk to me like you did in front of George and Fred?"

Draco snapped the book shut and stood up opposite her, "Because I don't care."

Draco was looking Magnolia straight in the eyes, and she refused to let him see how his words affected her. She took a deep breath as he carried on talking.

"I don't care about the oaf, I never have, I never will. I don't care if it hurts your precious little feelings, I just don't." Draco snarled, "You try to make people think that you're nothing like your brother, but you are exactly the same. Everyone has to consider your feelings, no matter what."

"Draco, mate, that's a bit uncalled-"

"Keep out of this, Nott."

"Fine." Magnolia crossed her arms, her voice raising slightly as Draco's had, "But can you at least be on the same page as me as a Prefect? That seems to be all you care about that moment."

Draco laughed, "Let me guess, you're annoyed because I didn't agree with you about the Weasel's little project? I have no need to keep them on side, Potter, and I'm certainly not going to agree with you just to make you feel and look better to them."

"What in the name of Merlin is wrong with you!?"

"You!" Draco shouted back, "You are what's wrong with me! Anyone else would've gotten the hint over summer when they didn't hear from me, but not you, oh no. You're too self-centred and conceited to believe that anyone could not want you!"

"Draco!" Theo was stood now too, "Simmer down."

"Always coming to her rescue, hey Nott? Well, you can have her now, I'm finished with it. You better get in there quick if you want her though before she takes Weasley off the string she's been holding him on."

Magnolia gasped at Draco's words. He was really breaking up with her. He was being cruel, intentionally saying the things he knew would hurt her. Magnolia could hear her heart pounding, feel the fury crashing inside of her. Before anyone could say anything in response to Draco, she stepped up and slapped him.

The sound echoed around the Common Room, causing the rest of the students in there to look over at the pair. Magnolia could already see the red outline of her hand shining from against Draco's cheek. He looked back down at her, his eyes cold and hard, a new distance in them. She knew that he was seeing the exact thing reflected back at him, though.

"You disgust me." She spat.

"I don't care."

With that, Magnolia moved away, storming into her Dorm and leaving her friends and Malfoy behind her. She could hear their voices as she descended the stairs to her own Dorm, they didn't seem to be getting any quieter the further she got away, so they were obviously shouting at each other.

Kaida was curled up on Pansy's bed when Magnolia threw the door open and stomped to the bathroom. She stepped into the scolding shower and stood under the water for what felt like hours, replaying the entire argument in her head.

She didn't know where it had come from. Yes, Draco had been acting horrible towards her since the train, but where had that come from? Those things he had been saying, the look on his face, they didn't come out of nowhere.

Magnolia felt like a fool. She had been waiting impatiently to get back to Hogwarts, back to Draco, and now she wished she was still in Grimmauld Place with Sirius. Magnolia had thought that she and Draco would last, he had said such sweet things to her when they parted at the end of their Fourth Year.

She was angry with him; she was furious, hurt, embarrassed, confused. A part of her, though was still hoping he'd come to her on his hands and knees apologising and begging for her forgiveness. She knew he wouldn't, not after that. He had made it clear what he thought about her, her only question now was why it had taken him this long to tell her.

Reluctantly, Magnolia decided she needed to move from the shower. She knew that the girls were most likely on the other side of the door and she sighed, she didn't want to have to talk about what had happened. She just wanted to go to bed. As she stepped out of the bathroom, the three girls looked up at her with worry written all over their faces. Magnolia didn't let them say anything, she just shook her head and pulled her curtains around her bed, wrapping herself in silence.

A few days later, Magnolia was sat with Harry and Hermione as Harry told them about his scar hurting around Umbridge. Magnolia's first instinct was that they needed to tell Sirius, but Hermione quickly told them they couldn't do that and to talk to Dumbledore instead.

"Hermione, we can't go to the Headmaster with every little thing!" Magnolia retorted, "Besides, Sirius would want to know. And he'd be able to tell us what to do."

Magnolia knew she was being snippier than usual with Hermione, she was being like it with everyone, but only Pansy, Tracey, Daphne, Theo and Blaise knew why. Well, Draco did, but she had barely seen him since the argument. When she saw that he was with their friends, she decided to spend time with her brother and Gryffindor friends and they had come to an unspoken agreement that during Patrols they would take separate floors.

"Don't you remember what Moody told us? We can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted anymore!"

"Fine!" Harry cried suddenly, "Fine, I won't write to Sirius."

The following day, Magnolia met her brother in the Owlery so early that no one else was awake. She had written her own letter to Sirius, and Harry was just going to tag a bit on the end about his scar. Magnolia coaxed Hedwig down from her sleeping spot with some treats before Harry tied the letter to her leg and explained that Snuffles was actually Sirius.

"so, uh, what's been going on with you?" Harry asked, as the twin leant against stone wall and watched Hedwig fly away.

"What do you mean?"

"You've not been in a very good mood since we got back here."

"I just… I uh," Magnolia stumbled, unsure of what to say to her twin, "I miss him. I was so looking forward to coming back here, and now that we've been back a week, I don't know why."

"Yeah, I get that."

Magnolia heard footsteps behind them and turned to see Cho Chang walking up the Owlery steps. Harry was already going red, so Magnolia said goodbye to him quickly and skipped past Cho to leave the Owlery. She didn't go back the Great Hall like she was planning though, instead deciding to walk around the Great Lake.

If any of her friends had acted like this after a breakup, Magnolia would tell them to pull themselves together; to move on and forget about the jerk that broke their heart. She had told herself that, but she wasn't very good at taking her own advice.

Eventually, she started heading back towards the Castle, but was distracted when she saw Harry and Ron heading towards the Quidditch pitch with their brooms. She jogged over to them, grateful for another reason to not go back to her Common Room.

"Have you read the Daily Prophet today?" Harry asked as she approached them.

"No, why? What's happened now?" Magnolia groaned.

Harry handed her the paper, pointing out the article he was talking about. Magnolia sucked in a breath, her body freezing as she read the article.

'The Ministry of Magic has received a tip off from a reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass murder who escaped from Azkaban two years ago, is currently hiding in London.'

Magnolia stopped reading. How could they know? Who could've seen them? She scrunched up the paper in her hand, she shouldn't have let Sirius go with them to Kings Cross. She had been caught up in her excitement to spend more time with him before leaving him for so long, and now this was happening!

"Sturgis Pudmore has also been arrested; he was found trying to get in some door at the Ministry." Harry added when he saw she wasn't reading the Sirius article, "We have practice this afternoon, but can you meet us in our Common Room after?"

"Sure. I have some homework to do anyway, I'll join Hermione for the day and get through some."

The afternoon went quickly, Magnolia managed to finish the work she had left and was sat with her feet up when Harry and the rest of the Quidditch Team returned to Gryffindor Tower. She sat beside Harry and Ron as they tried to finish some of their own work, laughing at the state of their essays. She was sat watching as Hermione tutored the boys on one of their essays when something in the fireplace caught her eye.

Magnolia slid from the sofa onto the floor and crawled closer to the fire, hearing Harry questioning her behaviour behind her. She beckoned him to the fire just as she saw Sirius' head pop again. A smile broke out on Magnolia's face, as it did on Sirius' too. She could have cursed Hermione when she began to tell Sirius about the risk he was taking.

"For Merlin's sake, Hermione, let our Godfather talk."

"This was the only way I could think of to answer Maggie and Harry's letter without resorting to code- and code can be broken."

"You didn't say you'd written to Sirius!" Hermione cried, hitting Harry's arm.

"I forgot." Harry shrugged.

"I just didn't want to tell you." Magnolia stated when Hermione turned to her.

"I know it can't be fun when your scar hurts, but we don't think it's anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year didn't it? Well, it's bound to hurt more now that he is back." Sirius explained, calmly.

"So, you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me during detention?"

"I doubt it." Sirius smiled a little, "I know her by reputation, and I'm sure she's no Death Eater."

Magnolia sat back for the rest of the conversation, just happy to hear her Godfather's voice again. It soothed her mind and her sadness over the breakup with Draco. She chuckled when he told them that he wasn't surprised that they weren't being taught actual magic in DADA, because Cornelius Fudge was worried that Dumbledore was creating an army against him.

"When's your next Hogsmeade weekend, anyway?" Sirius asked, "I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn't we? I thought I could-"

"No!"

Magnolia frowned at Harry and Hermione's quick response. She wanted to see Sirius. She needed to see Sirius.

"Sirius, didn't you see the Prophet?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, that." Sirius chuckled, "They're always guessing where I am, they haven't really got a clue."

"Yeah, but we think this time they really have." Harry replied.

"Guys, stop." Magnolia sat forward, "If Sirius wants to come to Hogsmeade, let him. I, for one, would like to see my Godfather in person."

"Of course I want to see him too, Maggie!" Harry frowned at Magnolia, "But I also don't want to see him chucked in Azkaban!"

Magnolia saw Sirius' smile drop, replaced by a frown, "You're less like your father than I thought, Harry. The risk would've been what made it fun for James."

"Look-"

"Well, I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs. I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back to the fire, then shall I? If you can stand to risk it?" Sirius interrupted Harry, "Bye, Princess."

Magnolia barely had time to reply before her Godfather disappeared from the fire. She glared at Harry and stood up quickly, blaming him for Sirius' sudden mood change and the end of the conversation. She didn't even say her own goodbyes to him, Hermione, or Ron, but just picked up her bag and left the Tower.

Magnolia hadn't realised it had gotten so late. The hallways were dark, and Magnolia had to creep through the Castle to try to get to her own House without being caught. She peaked her head around a corner, before slipping round it and hurrying down the corridor. Magnolia had done this before, but usually with the Marauders Map or the Invisibility Cloak to help her. She was close to the Slytherin Dungeon now.

"Well, what do we have here?" She heard a voice from behind her say.

Magnolia tensed; she didn't need to turn around to see who it was that had found her sneaking back to her Common Room so late at night.

"Now, Miss Potter, I don't think students are permitted to be out of bed so late at night, are they?" Professor Umbridge smiled at her as Magnolia turned to face her, "Even Prefects, like yourself."