Chapter 49.

"Tell me why."

Draco had rushed Magnolia through the Castle, dripping water behind them as they went, until they had arrived in the Prefect Bathroom. He had quickly started to fill the gigantic bath that was more like a swimming pool and filling it with all different sorts of bubbles. Magnolia had been glad when she could slip into the hot water and warm up her body.

"Why what?"

"Draco…"

The two were sat on a ledge in the bath, completely covered by the multicoloured bubbles, and Magnolia wanted to know what had happened to them, before anything else did. She needed to know why Draco had been so cold towards her, so hurtful. She glanced at him; he was staring into the bubbles with a pained look.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, "I'm so sorry. You'll never know… you'll never understand how sorry I am for everything I've put you through, for everything I've said."

"Help me understand. I thought we were good when we left the train for Summer. I don't understand what happened."

Beside her, Draco made a noise he had never made before. A pained sob. It wracked through his body like it had taken control. Magnolia moved closer, searching for his hand under the water and linking her fingers through his.

"He was there, Princess." Draco muttered reluctantly, "Mother collected me from the station. I knew instantly something was wrong; we always Apparated straight to the Manor but this time she said we had errands to run… she was trying to keep me out of there for as long as she could. I didn't know at the time why, and it was infuriating.

"Eventually night fell, and she had no choice but to take me back. The whole aura of the Manor had changed. It was palpable as soon as I saw it. Father was livid that we had taken so long, and then I heard a voice. It sent a chill up my spine… just that voice. He summoned us into the Drawing Room, and that was when I first saw him.

"I knew I couldn't write to you whilst he was in the Manor, but he never really left. Every day, he joined us for a meal. Every day, he questioned me about my life… about school… about the students. He asked what I thought of Potter… Father had told him you and I were Housemates, friends, so he probed me about you too.

"He was so interested in you, his entire demeanour changed when he spoke about you. I've never felt a mind with that much power before, he saw straight through the memories I put up to hide the truth. I tried to show him our arguments, our fights, but he cracked through each and every one until he saw what I loved about you, how my feelings changed for you, how you made me feel.

"He laughed. Love is weakness. That's what he said, what he told me. He said you and I, we would be each other's weaknesses. But he was glad about it. He wanted me to use our relationship to make you come to the Manor. Just for dinner, he said. I knew that wasn't all, he would have never let you leave.

"So, I didn't write to you, and I forced my resentment to grow over you not being able to write to me. I needed to really feel the emotion. Theo and Pansy helped with that, I made them. Their parents would come to the Manor to see him, and they would bring them too. They hated the idea to begin with, but they knew why I had to do it. None of us know what the Dark Lord is planning, or why he wants you so much, so we couldn't risk him getting anywhere near you.

"It was harder when we came back to school. And… saying those things to you, I hated myself. But I knew I had to do it to keep you safe from him. I almost broke so many times. We had to tell Blaise. He was enraged about what I said when I broke up with you… he had me against the wall in our Dorm. He wasn't happy about it either.

"I don't know if it was him or Pansy who told the girls, but one of them did. I couldn't walk properly for two days after they finished hexing me. I think Theo and Pansy had forgotten how very real the danger is against you; so when Blaise, Daphne and Tracey turned against us for hurting you, they agreed and tried to get me to tell you what was going on. Neither of them had liked how harsh I was when I broke up with you.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I never want to hurt you and I will never forgive myself, but I need you safe. I needed it to be as real as it could be. I couldn't even be around you, every time I saw you I wanted to wrap myself in you, to smell your hair and feel you lips against mine again… to beg for your forgiveness.

"You made it so difficult. Arguing with Umbridge, when you got that damned detention, your hand, when you got hurt by Longbottom, then the fight at Quidditch. I almost broke completely when I saw you walk into the Three Broomsticks with Weasley. I wanted to rip him away from you, show him that you are not his to look at or touch like he was.

"But I couldn't. It was good that Weasley was trying to get you to move on. I thought, maybe, if you started to fancy him then you wouldn't seem so sad or angry when I saw you. You wouldn't be as affected by me as I was by you. I know I need to be strong and stay away from you, Princess, but I don't know if I can do both.

"I can't see you navigate what is coming on your own. I can't stand by and watch your brother treat like he does or listen to them preach about how he needs protecting from the Dark Lord and not you. I've finally understood what our friends were saying… what the Dark Lord got wrong and will never understand. Love is not our weakness, Princess. Love will be our strength. Together we're stronger, happier, better. Together we can take on anything. Us being together is the best way I can protect you."

Draco was looking at her now. He had turned, resting his arms outside of the pool sized bath, his fingers playing with her hair. Magnolia hadn't been able to look away from him, to interrupt him at all, whilst he was speaking. Now he was looking at her though, she felt like she could cry. Voldemort had been living with Draco through Summer break, and Draco's main thought was to protect her from him.

Her heart hurt. She gasped as the tears slid down her cheeks, and Draco pulled her close to him. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tighter than he ever had, and burrowed his face into her hair. Magnolia clung to him too, unwilling to let him go for what seemed like hours until she got control of herself. She pulled back slightly, suddenly feeling very self-conscious in just her underwear, even if she was surrounded by bubbles.

"Did he hurt you?" She mumbled, needing to ask the question but not wanting to know the answer.

"No more than I could handle."

Magnolia felt the tears well in her eyes again and rubbed them away.

"Was it… was it an Unforgivable?"

Draco nodded slightly and this time Magnolia couldn't stop the tears from falling. He had been tortured. Voldemort had tortured him because he wanted her, and Draco wouldn't help him.

"Why didn't you just do what he wanted?"

Draco pulled back from her, to look in her eyes, "What he wanted was you. I would never give him you."

"He tortured you." Magnolia's voice was small.

"And I'd go through it again if it meant keeping you safe." Draco placed his finger and thumb on her chin, making her look at him, "I don't regret it, Princess. The only thing I regret is wasting the past few months that I could have had with you and treating you the way I did. I will think of a way to stay with you and keep you safe from him. I promise."

Magnolia had felt too tired to keep talking after that. She didn't want to know any more of what had happened to Draco, not then anyway. Then she just wanted to press herself against him, lean into him, and find out what it meant for them.

"Well, personally I'd like to be your boyfriend again. You're incredibly foolish boyfriend who has a lot to make up for." Draco replied when she muttered the question.

They had stayed in the bath for a while after that, not really speaking but just enjoying the other's company like they used to. Later that night, when Magnolia was wrapped in her own duvet with Kaida asleep by her feet, she thought back to it with a smile. They had never been so undressed with each other before, both only wearing their underwear, but they had barely touched, barely kissed. She was just glad to know what had been going on.

The following morning, Pansy pushed Magnolia's curtains open and bounced on her bed with a range of breakfast foods. Daphne and Tracey quickly joined them and grilled Magnolia on what happened. Magnolia had groggily asked what they meant, and the three girls pointedly glanced at her bedside table. A mug of tea was sat there, just like it had been every morning when Magnolia and Draco had been together the previous year.

Half an hour later, a knock sounded on their door and Theo poked his head around the door with his eyes closed. Magnolia and the girls laughed at him, and Magnolia took the opportunity to throw a piece of toast at his head.

"Hey! I just wanted to make sure you were all decent!"

"Wouldn't that have been more easily accomplished by waiting for one of us to open the door first?" Magnolia replied.

"I think he actually wanted to see us changing." Daphne teased.

"He better not have." Draco's voice came from behind the door as he pushed Theo through it, "The only one seeing Magnolia in any state of undress is me."

Magnolia couldn't help the smile that made its way onto her face, or the blush that covered her cheeks. Blaise followed the two into the girls Dorm; he and Theo sat on Tracey's bed next to Magnolia's and Draco glared at Tracey, Daphne, and Pansy until they moved off of Magnolia's bed onto Pansy's on the other side.

Draco swiftly took their place, pulling Magnolia into his side and leant back on her headboard. Magnolia breathed a sigh of happiness and contentment. Things felt better already between them all. Draco's lips ghosted across her forehead.

"I thought you might like it if we all got together and had a chat about the past few months." He told her, "I know you hated being the only one not knowing what was going on, and if we're going to keep you safe then we all need to know what is happening and have plans in place in case things go wrong."

"I think you're being a bit dramatic with the plans." Magnolia muttered.

"Maggie-Moo, let him deal with this his way." Theo interrupted before Draco could respond, "He's worried enough about getting close to you again. Trust me, Blaise and I have heard all the pros and cons to this."

"Oh, that reminds me." Draco grinned, and slid his wand out of his pocket sending a stinging jinx to Theo.

"Ow!" Theo cried, rubbing his arm, "What was that for!?"

"Maggie-Moo?" Draco drawled, "No more pet names for my girlfriend from you."

Magnolia's attention was drawn to the girls on the other bed squealing, and she looked at them questioningly. They were all smiling at her and Draco.

"I'm just so happy that you guys are back together." Pansy told her, "It's nice to see Draco being protective of you over something normal like Theo's flirting."

It was nice. They all got comfortable and chatted for a while about normal things; what they had all missed from each other whilst they had been covered in tension, and a lot of gossip from all over Hogwarts. By lunchtime, Magnolia was still wrapped in Draco's arms, neither of them wanting to let the other go, and everyone was starting to get hungry again.

Eventually, Magnolia and Draco were left in the girls Dorm whilst the others went to the kitchens to gather some lunch and snacks for them for the afternoon. Blaise had expressly told Draco and Magnolia that they did not want to walk back into the Dorm to see any funny business going on.

Draco was watching Magnolia closely when she looked up at him. He leaned down to press his lips against hers and she melted against him. She missed days like these. Days where them and their friends could hang out so easily. She knew that when they got back with the food though the difficult decisions would begin.

Luckily, Daphne had had the good sense to bring back a lot of sweet treats for the afternoon's discussions, and when everyone was back and settled the air around them all changed. Everyone knew what they needed to talk about, but no one really knew how to broach the subject. Magnolia was becoming more and more uncomfortable with the awkward silence.

"So, old Voldy really does want me then?" She snapped, unable to hear the silence for any longer, "And no one knows why?"

"None of our parents would tell us anything that went on in the meetings." Draco answered her, "He obviously thinks you're important for something."

"Could it not just be because I'm Harry's sister?" Magnolia questioned, "Maybe he thinks Harry will comply better if he could use me as bargaining chip?"

Draco shook his head, "One thing I do know is that the Dark Lord has different plans for you then your brother."

"You haven't heard the way he speaks about you, Maggie." Pansy added, bashfully.

"Yeah, it's weird." Theo added.

"Like he wants to take care of me?" Magnolia guessed.

Her friends, with the exception of Draco, all looked at her shocked. Magnolia took a deep breath and told her friends about her experiences with Tom Riddle already. She told them about how he behaved with her in the Chamber of Secrets, when he had told her that he would protect and care for her. She told them about what he had said to Harry in the graveyard earlier that year, and what Barty Crouch Jr had revealed.

"Ok then." Theo spoke whilst everyone else stayed quiet, "So, the Dark Lord is willing to go to immense lengths to keep you safe. From you've told us and what Pansy, Draco and I have heard from him, he wants to keep you safe and protected. Maybe, that's what we need to play on."

"What do you mean?" Blaise asked.

"He obviously has a soft spot for Mags, we may not know why, but we know he does. He's tried to kill her brother all those times, but never her. In fact, he's always done what he can to protect her; I assume we're all in the same mind that he definitely cast whatever spell it was that made everyone forget her."

Everyone was watching Theo closely, the plan he was thinking of whirling around his mind. Magnolia could see it coming together in his eyes.

"It's obvious none of us will be able to hide Draco and Maggie's relationship from him now. Draco's the best out of us all at Occlumency and the Dark Lord got into his mind easily enough in Summer. So, we let him know-"

"Are you crazy!?" Draco demanded, "I lost months with Lia because he can't know about us!"

"Hear him out, Draco." Magnolia mumbled, thinking she knew where Theo was going.

"We let him know exactly what you've been doing to keep her from him and why." Theo was talking quickly now, "We show him that we just want to protect Maggie. From him, from the other side, from everyone. If he gets to Maggie, she could get hurt by other side. We have to make him see that where she is right now is safest, because as we all know very well, they don't worry about her too much."

"And by showing him that you guys, and especially you Draco, will keep me safe then hopefully he will let me be. My brother is already concerned about me being a Slytherin, if Voldemort suddenly took me, I wouldn't be surprised if they thought I was in on it the whole time."

"So, what?" Draco questioned, "I keep you safe from him, away from him, by protecting you for him and not from him?"

"It's perfect." Pansy breathed, "We can't fight against him. When you can't beat them, join them. We were going to have to anyway. Let's all be honest, Theo, Draco and I had the choice between death or joining him. At least this way, we keep Mags safe at the same time."

Magnolia glanced between Daphne and Theo, none of them knew how bad things had been during their friend's summer break. Magnolia had been aware of the plans against Voldemort, but hearing her friends speak about him after being around him for so long, it all became real. None of the people Magnolia cared about were safe. Not anyone in the Order going against Voldemort, or her friends who were being sucked into the Death Eater world. She had to be able to help them.

"Maybe I could-"

"No." Draco interrupted, "I know where you're going with that and no. We can handle ourselves; you are not getting involved with his side."

"But-"

"No."

"Draco-"

"No. You wouldn't be helping, Princess. We're keeping you away from him for as long as we can."

"If he cares about you and wants you safe that much, he'll see that's all we want too." Pansy jumped in.

Magnolia shook her head, "You're talking about him like he's a reasonable and sane person! Like he reacts or thinks about things the way normal people do!"

"I think…" Theo mumbled, "I think with you we can expect him to react how we think. We've already seen it, remember."

"He used the curse on me because I wouldn't give him any information about you." Draco told her, "If I can placate him with updates on your safety, maybe that will be enough."

"And if it isn't?"

"Then we think of another plan."

Magnolia grimaced, she couldn't decide whether she thought that plan was good or not. To begin with, she had agreed with Theo but after Pansy had been so plain about their choice… Magnolia didn't want her friends following him because of her. They were resolute in their plan though. Even now, they were discussing it more.

Draco was due to go back to the Manor for his Christmas break. He would write to his mother as he usually did each week and tell her about their relationship in confidence. They all knew Voldemort would know straight away. Draco would write about how he couldn't push his feeling down anymore after seeing how Magnolia had been at school, how her brother treated her because of her House and her friendships with the other Slytherins.

Then, when Christmas break comes and Lord Voldemort questions him, he would reinforce everything he wrote with his own memories. Pansy had suggested showing him some of the memories of this afternoon, how far their friendship group would go to protect each other, including Magnolia. Draco would agree to protect Magnolia and update him on how she was, so long as Voldemort let her continue living how she had been. It wouldn't do for Harry to find out just how far Voldemort would go to get to Magnolia, she would never be allowed back to school.

Magnolia wasn't sure that their plan would work, and she worried that Draco would be hurt whilst trying to carry it out, but she was outnumbered. The only thing she had to do was carry on with what she had been doing, to not let Harry or the others know what was going on, and she added to continue hiding hers and Draco's relationship from her brother.

A part of her was worried that Draco would leave her again. That something would go wrong, and he would decide to leave her. But when she felt how tightly he held her and how desperately he wanted this to work she felt a small relief.

Now, all she had to do was keep her relationship with Draco, and their plan for keeping Voldemort away from her, secret from her brother. She certainly wasn't going to apologise for what happened in the Great Hall, he would have to first. He was the one who stepped over the line. Magnolia looked around at her group of friends and smiled; she felt stronger than she had for a long time.