A/N: First, I apologise for how long this chapter has taken me to get out. I have written and rewritten it more times then I can count. The final scene of this chapter was the very first thing I ever wrote for this story, 3 years ago, and I struggled to build up to it properly. I hope you like the chapter, and that it hopefully makes up for such a long wait!x
Chapter 48.
Magnolia worried about Sirius for days after their talk. She couldn't help but think that Umbridge had seen him and knew where he was. The only thing that helped calm her was the lack of mention of him in the Daily Prophet. If Sirius Black had been caught, it would be everywhere.
Harry had told Magnolia about his scar hurting a few days after, and Voldemort had been angry about something. Magnolia and Harry had agreed that whatever it was Voldemort was angry about was the same thing that Sirius had been telling them about before school started again. She was a bit concerned that Harry could tell her so surely how Voldemort was feeling and why, but her twin had shut her down quickly when she tried to bring it up.
Magnolia had thought that night about what it could be that Voldemort was so desperate for. Harry had told her that Voldemort was furious that someone was hiding what he wanted, that things were taking too long. She still couldn't think of anything that Tom Riddle would want so badly, a weapon no less. Nothing in her mind was more powerful then the Killing Curse. Maybe Voldemort wanted something else to kill Harry with, he had been thwarted once by Harry when he used the Killing Curse.
A couple of days after that, Harry had told her to meet him on the Seventh Floor in a place Magnolia knew already. She was stood in the corridor, looking at the door of the Room of Requirement, building herself up to walk through it. She had always associated the Room with Draco and now her brother was wanting to use it as a space for the Defence Against the Dark Arts training.
She eventually walked through, after chastising herself for being so silly. She had to stop thinking about him, he pointedly ignored her when they were in the group together, or he would disappear with Theo or Pansy. Magnolia tried to not show how much it hurt her, especially when Pansy tried to probe her about how she had been. She had stopped quickly when Magnolia accidentally caused a small fireball from one of the candles in their Dorm.
The Room was different then she'd ever seen it. It was larger, with a wall full of books and a few comfy looking chairs by the fireplace, but the rest of the room was full of different things they would be using to practice on. Dark Detectors that she recognised from Moody's time at Hogwarts were scattered around the room too, Magnolia couldn't help but gravitate towards them.
A few hours later, the group had voted to call themselves Dumbledore's Army and Magnolia was beginning to think the idea wasn't as good as she had originally thought. The power was, as Magnolia had thought, already going to Harry's head. She had been partnered with George to practice Expelliarmus, both of them had already mastered the simple spell though, and so were messing with Zacharias Smith from the other side of the room.
On the walk back to her Common Room, Magnolia grumbled under her breath. She had had to practically fight George to walk herself back to the Slytherin Dungeon, and Harry had pulled her aside to find out why she wouldn't let him. Magnolia had rolled her eyes when her brother had snapped at her. He was still pushing her towards George, probably afraid of her going her own way.
She paused and sighed when she walked into her Common Room and saw Draco sat alone in the room. He was staring into the fireplace, leaning his elbows on his knees and didn't acknowledge her until she was about to walk down the stairs to her Dorm.
"You need to be careful."
Magnolia sighed, "Oh?"
"Umbridge has asked me to keep an eye on you."
Magnolia turned to face him then, he was still staring into the fire though.
"Well Umbridge should pay more attention to her students, shouldn't she?" Magnolia snapped, "The last person who would want to be near me is you."
He looked at her then, the fire reflecting in his eyes, "Do you truly believe that?"
"You've made it quite obvious."
"Yes, I have, haven't I?"
Silence wrapped around them, Magnolia could feel the strange tension between them building as Draco stood and walked towards her. He stopped right in front of her, filling her gaze. His eyes pierced her, for a fleeting moment she thought she saw regret in them.
"Umbridge doesn't trust you, Princess, and I know something is going on." Draco spoke softly but firmly, making Magnolia's heart spasm at the name he used to call her, "Please be careful."
"I'm fine."
"Magnolia." He was so serious now, Magnolia could barely breathe, "I am asking you to please be careful. It would not do for you to endanger yourself with Umbridge after so much has been done to protect you from others."
He stepped around her then, not giving her any time to respond before he disappeared down the stairs into his Dorm. Magnolia's mind whirled throughout the night, trying to make sense of what Draco had meant. What did he mean she was being protected from others?
DA continued weekly, and Hermione had created galleons that she could send messages out on letting everyone know of the date and time of the next meetings. Magnolia was being more careful around Draco after his admission. The group was fracturing again, Magnolia's mood swings keeping everyone on their toes. Draco, Pansy, Theo, and Blaise seemed to disappear a lot, and Daphne and Tracey were cagey with Magnolia about their whereabouts.
Hogwarts started to become unruly in the lead up to the first Quidditch match of the season, Slytherin vs Gryffindor, and Magnolia was slightly glad when the DA meetings stopped for a few weeks before the match. George would attach himself to Magnolia in every meeting, and Harry's ego was growing ever larger. Magnolia's favourite part of all the meetings so far was when Harry had been hit on the back of the head by a book that had shot across the room when he was telling her she couldn't do the Impedimenta Jinx correctly.
Magnolia was stood with Daphne and Tracey, shivering against the cold wind, watching the match. Ron wasn't doing well; he had let in a lot of Slytherin goals. Around her, some of her Housemates had been putting him off his game by singing a cruel song at him and Magnolia was sure she knew where that came from.
Harry ended the game swiftly before Gryffindor could get too far behind by catching the Snitch. Magnolia gasped and started to run down to the pitch when she saw Crabbe aim a Bludger at him as soon as he had caught the Snitch.
"-Couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly, we wanted to sing about his mother, see-" Magnolia could hear Draco saying as she approached.
"Talk about sour grapes." Angelina muttered.
"-we couldn't fit in useless loser either, for his father you know."
Magnolia saw the moment Fred and George understood what Draco was saying, and they turned on him quickly, breaking away from the celebrations of their own team. Angelina was trying to keep them away as well.
"-but you like the Weasley's don't you, Potter?" Draco snarled, "Spend holidays there and everything, don't you? Can't see how you stand the stink, but I suppose when you've been dragged up by Muggles, even the Weasleys' hovel smells ok-"
Magnolia threw herself in front of George, as Harry grabbed his arms to hold him back too. Next to them, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie were all holding Fred back.
"Or perhaps, you can remember what your mothers house stank like, Potter, and Weasley's pigsty reminds you of it."
"Harry! No!"
Harry had let go of George, leaving Magnolia to try and keep them both in place and failing completely. Madam Hooch was still the other side of the pitch, punishing Crabbe for his illegal move. Magnolia tried to push herself in between the three boys, catching only a few words that they were all throwing at each other. She heard her own name, right before a hand was gently splayed across her stomach and she was pushed away from the fight.
She couldn't decide who had pushed her, but not a second after she had moved, Harry's fist flew through the air where she had been standing. Magnolia could see Madam Hooch running across the pitch now. Magnolia threw her arms up and blasted the three boys in different directions across the grass.
"Hem hem."
Magnolia deflated when she heard the tell-tale sound of Umbridge approaching. Harry, George, and Draco were standing up off the ground as she stopped in front of Magnolia, a sickly smile on her face.
"I think you, your brother and the Weasley twins should come with me."
"Professor!" Draco was beside her quickly, "Magnolia was just breaking it up. The other's attacked me, but Magnolia was stopping them. It is her Prefect duty, after all."
"Is that right, Miss Potter?" Umbridge asked, "How did all the boys end up on the floor if that were the case?"
"It is, Professor." Magnolia nodded, "None of the boys were listening to me when I told them to stop, I was actually almost hit myself. I admit I didn't really think too much, I just knew I had to stop the fight, so I blasted them all in separate directions."
"She was protecting me and herself, Professor." Draco added, "Those two came at me like animals."
Umbridge glanced at Magnolia again, looking for her opinion on Draco's words. Magnolia nodded, making sure not to look her brother's way. She knew what she would see.
"Very well. You both can go back to the Castle."
That evening, Magnolia was stood by the doors of the Castle looking out at the grounds. Rain covered everything, and she looked up at the stormy clouds. Behind them, she knew that the full moon shone brightly. Magnolia brushed her fingers against her stomach, the scratches that were so vivid to her tingled, and Magnolia understood her short temper was linked to it.
"Maggie!"
Magnolia cringed as he heard her brother's voice shout her name. She turned to see him stomping down the staircase, followed by George, Fred, Hermione, and Ron. George and Fred looked angry, but Harry looked furious, she had heard that they had been banned from playing Quidditch by Umbridge. The five of them stormed towards Magnolia.
"Banned!" Harry shouted, "We've been banned!"
"I heard, I'm sorry."
"You didn't do anything!"
"Harry…" Hermione tried to shush him.
"You just stood there and agreed with Malfoy!"
Magnolia seethed, "I told Umbridge the truth, Harry. It's not my fault that you attacked him."
"He started it!"
"Well I finished it."
Magnolia pushed past her brother and made her way into the Great Hall seething. She threw herself down on the bench next to Daphne and Blaise. She barely joined in the conversation; she was fuming at her brother for his display before dinner. She hadn't done anything wrong.
"I think I'm going to go back to Common Room."
"Do you want us to come with you?"
"No, you enjoy your dessert Blaise, I know how much you love it." Magnolia chuckled, trying to push her annoyance down.
"We won't be long, I'm sure."
Magnolia swiftly walked the length of the Hall, stopping only when she got near the doors and Draco walked in flanked by Theo and Pansy.
"Mags, we heard about what Harry said to you." Theo began as she tried to sidestep them.
"I'm sorry I put you in that position." Draco added.
"Are you ok? I know you don't like being against your brother." Pansy finished.
Magnolia scoffed; they were worried about her.
"She doesn't need you lot putting anything else in her head!"
Magnolia rolled her eyes, of course her brother had to get involved. Moments later Harry, Hermione, Ron, the Weasley twins, Blaise, Daphne, and Tracey had appeared by Magnolia. Her Slytherin friends had seen more of Magnolia's outbursts recently then the Gryffindors, as usual Magnolia tried to hide that side of her from them.
"Like what?" Theo snapped at Harry, "We're not the ones trying to diminish her."
"Diminish her!?" Harry cried, "I'm trying to keep her on the right path!"
"And you know what that path is, do you?" Magnolia turned to her brother.
"Magnolia, you're a Slytherin! Do you think mum and dad would have been proud of that!?"
Magnolia felt like she had been slapped, and instinctively whipped her wand out, throwing a stinging hex at her brother.
"Maggie!"
"Protego!"
A shield of light appeared between the twins as Harry pulled his own wand out of his pocket. Magnolia was breathing hard, her anger palpable. How dare Harry bring their parents in to this?
"This is exactly what I'm talking about! You never would have acted like this before we came to Hogwarts."
"I wouldn't have done a lot of things before coming to Hogwarts… Magic for example!" Magnolia snapped back.
"We stood by each other, Maggie! Through everything! Every day with the Dursley's, we protected each other, stood up for each other! What the hell happened to you!?"
"I still do that! Being in different Houses hasn't changed that!"
Harry scoffed, "You being in Slytherin has. You've let them change you into someone you shouldn't be."
"I'm still me, Harry!" Magnolia shouted, "Maybe I'm not the Golden One like you are, but not all of us have the advantage of being insanely lucky as a baby! Because that is the reason you're so famous… you were lucky!"
"Lucky? You think that's what being orphaned before I was a year old is? What having to live with the Dursley's is? Not knowing about the Wizarding world at all until I was 11, or having a crazy dark wizard after me is? Luck!?"
"WE!" Magnolia exploded, the candles surrounding the Great Hall all threw off fire balls, the doors flung open and the people around her were pushed back by the force of magic that rolled out of her, "We were orphaned! We weren't even a year old! We had to live with the Dursleys! We didn't know about the wizarding world! We!"
"Maggie, calm down."
Magnolia span to face Hermione, behind her and Harry stood the rest of his Gryffindor friends, all staring at her like she was the enemy.
"He's just trying to help you. To protect you."
"You shouldn't be such a cow to him Magnolia." Ron said after Hermione finished.
Behind Magnolia, she heard a growl, and someone step forward but Theo's quiet voice told whoever it was to not get involved. She couldn't think straight. Were the people who were supposed to be her friends as well going to stand against her, to agree with her brother? Magnolia shouldn't have been surprised, this had happened before, and it would likely happen again.
Magnolia looked at them all, briefly glancing over the mess in the Great Hall, before spinning on her heel and pushing her way through the crowd of her Slytherin friends behind her. She could hear them behind her, arguing with her brother and the Gryffindors. She knew better then to go to her Common Room now; her magic was tingling at her fingertips like she had never experienced before.
Instead, she thundered out of the Castle into the sodden grounds. She knew where she was going, and she slipped and slid as she hurried through the wall of rain towards the Great Lake. She didn't stop as she got to the Lake but plunged forward into the dark water.
The rain lashed down around Magnolia, but she couldn't feel it anymore; she was already soaked to the skin. She could feel the water lapping against her shins, the small waves created by the Giant Squid swimming lazily across the top of the lake. Magnolia imagined what that must be like; spending all day swimming around, not having to deal with siblings or drama.
She knew she shouldn't have exploded at Harry like that, but he infuriated her. Of course, she wasn't surprised at all that the others had immediately jumped to his defence, even though they heard what he had said to her.
"Magnolia!"
A voice rang out behind her. Of all the people she thought might follow her, and she hadn't thought many would, she hadn't imagined he would.
"What in the name of Merlin were you doing in there?"
He was angry. Of course, he was. She was a prefect; she shouldn't be blowing up like she had, she was embarrassing their House. Before she could contemplate any more, she heard splashing behind her and then felt a hand grab her arm and pull her from the Lake, back to shore.
Magnolia finally looked up at him; his silver blonde hair was wet and stuck to his forehead with water droplets cascading down his face. He looked furious and for a moment Magnolia still thought that fury was directed at her, but in his eyes there was no fury towards her- just worry, concern.
"What are you doing out here, Malfoy?" She asked, wrenching her arm out of his hand.
"I saw what happened-" Malfoy began, softly.
"Yeah, half the bloody school saw what happened, but why are you here?"
"I wanted to make sure you're ok. We are Housemates after all."
Magnolia felt like she could explode again. She was sick of the looks and tension between them, the half answers, and veiled comments.
"Housemates!? You followed me out into this downpour, got yourself even more soaked by wading into the lake to get me out, simply because we're Housemates!? You'd do that for any Slytherin, would you?"
Draco looked down for just a moment and when his gaze came back to Magnolia, he had changed. The air around them seemed to feel it too, electricity flowed through the air between them as his arms shot out, his hand wrapped around one of Magnolia's wrists pulling her closer so his other arm could wrap around her waist.
Draco looked down into her eyes as the walls they'd built around the both of them crumbled. He could see the tears running down her face, mixed with the rain so people wouldn't notice. But he did. He always did.
"Your brother was wrong to say those things. He was wrong." Draco started, before he seemed to finally say what he'd been hiding for months, "They all seem to remember that the Dark Lord wants him dead, but what about you? The Dark Lord doesn't want you dead, he never has, but none of them even think about that because it means you're safe, right? I've watched for the past 5 years as everyone, including you, run to St Potter's defence. But who runs to yours?"
Magnolia looked up at Draco as he spoke, more passionately then she had ever heard speak before. His hand around her wrist gripped tighter, his hand on her waist flexed against her soaking uniform as he continued.
"The Dark Lord wants Potter dead. That's all. What does he want from you? He wants you alive. But why? Why is the most dangerous wizard of our time so interested in you!? That's more terrifying then him wanting your brother dead. Because no one knows what his plan is for you. They're all so worried about Potter, I bet they've never even thought of that. They're all so worried about keeping him alive, I bet they haven't even thought about keeping you safe."
Magnolia quivered in Draco's arms; his hand had left her wrist now, had travelled up her arm until he was cupping her cheek, forcing her to keep eye contact with him as he poured his truth out.
"But there are people who have thought about that. People who will put you first and not St Potter. Because you deserve to be put first. Something I don't think I've ever seen you do. But we'll help you. Your friends. Your Slytherin friends will help you, protect you, put you first."
Draco's thumb stroked against Magnolia's wet skin, sending a shiver down her spine as she saw the words he was about to speak shine through his eyes.
"I will help you. I will protect you. I will put you first, above everything else. I may be the Slytherin prince, but you've always been our Princess. I thought by pushing you away, by denying what I felt, I could protect you. But I can't stand by and watch this anymore, you have to know you are loved. You have to know that I love you and I'm not going to be the idiot that lets that go because of the Dark Lord."
And that was it. All this time they'd been dancing around this inevitability, but Magnolia couldn't hold back anymore. She brought her hands up to his shirt, gripping it tight and pulled him closer to her. Standing on her tiptoes, pulling him down to meet her, their lips finally pressed together.
He held her closer now, as her hand travelled to his hair, running through the wet strands, holding onto him. Magnolia had never been kissed like this; with so much desperation and passion, with so much truth behind it. The rain fell around them like a sheet, the wind whipping around them but neither noticed now. All Magnolia knew was that she was safe. She believed him. She believed Draco when he said he'd protect her, that he'd look after her, that he loved her. She'd heard the raw honesty in his voice, seen it in his eyes and now she could feel it in his kiss.