A/N: Wow! It's been forever! I cannot apologise enough for how long it has taken me to get this chapter. I hope you enjoy this chapter, it's definitely not my best work but I'm just glad to be writing again! x

Chapter 50.

The following days were the best Magnolia had had since returning to Hogwarts. She and Draco spoke a lot, a part of her was still worried about him turning on her again, and he was doing everything he could to make it up to her. Their friends were more relaxed with each other then they had been all year, and the entire Slytherin House seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Draco flop onto the couch by the fire and pull Magnolia's legs onto his lap.

Somehow, and Magnolia thought Pansy might have had something to do about it, none of the Slytherins mentioned the change in Magnolia and Draco to anyone. There was no gossip, no whispers, nothing said between friends. Magnolia felt at ease with her relationship in their Common Room, and even outside in the rest of the Castle they couldn't help the subtle differences between them shining through.

Every student knew something had changed, but the entire group explained it away easily. They each had told different students that Harry's outburst at Magnolia had shown them how silly their fractured group had been acting, that Slytherins stuck together no matter what. Magnolia and Daphne had been walking to the Library one evening when they had heard a sixth year Slytherin telling a Ravenclaw exactly that too.

Hermione and Ginny had found Magnolia one evening and had told her about Hagrid being back. Hermione, Harry, and Ron had all gone to see him when he returned, and Hermione filled Magnolia in on what she had missed. Hagrid had been away working for the Order; he had been trying to recruit giants. Hermione told Magnolia Hagrid's story, how he had been in France with Madame Maxime, and had tried to persuade the giants to join their cause, but that there were Death Eaters there too. Hagrid had left with nothing to show for his secret mission. He was hopeful though, that a few of them might come round to the idea.

"You know, you really should apologise to Harry." Hermione muttered when she had finished, "He misses you."

Magnolia scoffed, "He knows where I am. When he apologies to me, I'll return the favour."

"He's just angry; if you just apologised, he'd come round a lot quicker." Ginny replied.

"Why should I apologise?"

"He's just trying to keep you safe." Hermione pressed, "He loves you Maggie, he worries about you. And, honestly, flaunting your friendship with the Slytherins isn't helping."

"Excuse me?" Magnolia balked, "I'm not flaunting anything. They have been by my side since the first day I came to Hogwarts. You all seem to forget what they've done for me. They are my friends, and I will not hide that because my brother is being ignorant."

"They're not all just your friends though, are they?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hermione."

"Your brother might be blind Maggie, but I'm not." Hermione snapped, "Besides, we've spoken about your love life before. Something has definitely changed between you and Malfoy. You know he isn't good for you-"

"If you can see things so clearly Hermione, then you'd be able to see that he is being good to me." Magnolia interrupted.

"He may be now, but we all saw what he was like at the beginning of the year, Mags." Ginny said, sympathetically, "I may not have seen how you two were in your first year, but you know that I saw it after that. If you remember, it was me that mentioned him at the beginning of last year. I can see that he's tried to protect you in the past, but Maggie… you've been so sad since the beginning of this year, and I can't help but think that it had something to do with him."

"And more then you just being sad, you've been incredibly temperamental- now hear me out before you bite my head off," Hermione stopped Magnolia from interrupting her as she saw the fire light in her eyes, "When you were arguing with Harry in the Great Hall, you caused all the candles to throw off fire, and just the power that rolled off of you threw everyone- including the tables- away from you."

"And I saw what you did to Harry, George and Malfoy after Quidditch that time. You threw them in opposite directions without your wand." Ginny added.

Magnolia crossed her arms over her chest and shook her head.

"So, what? Tell me what you're really worried about here." Magnolia snapped.

"We just want you to be careful. We can help you… Harry can help you, being able to do that sort of magic at our age isn't normal… that kind of magic at all isn't necessarily normal." Hermione stammered.

She knew what they were truly saying. Pansy and Magnolia had discussed all of this already, after all Pansy had seen Magnolia causing the candles in their Dorm to ignite before anyone else had. The difference was, Pansy had suggested Magnolia and the girls begin their nightly meditation again as a way to be able to control the emotions that caused her magic to throw off so much power. Hermione was suggesting that she shouldn't have the power at all; that Magnolia should supress it completely.

Magnolia collected her books from the table and placed them all in her bag without looking at the two girls. She knew that no matter what she said, they would never listen to her properly. They proved that with their unfaltering loyalty to Harry, even after he had thrown their parents in her face. If their parents were the great people that they had always been told they were, then they would be proud of Magnolia no matter what. Magnolia slipped her bag over her shoulder and began to walk away from the two girls, before pausing and turning back to them.

"You know, I always thought that out of everyone Ginny, you might be the one to see what it's truly like for me with Harry. You're the youngest yourself. You've had to put up with the standards thrust upon you by your own brothers. You've had to put up with everyone thinking that you would be just like them, instead of your own person.

"Hermione, with your intellect, you should be able to see what Harry is like. You should see that he is prejudiced against my friends and I, not for anything we have done but simply for the House we were sorted into. Weren't you the one who was encouraging everyone to become friends with the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang in Fourth Year? Weren't you the one that said that we all need to stick together now that Tom Riddle is back?"

"That's different Maggie… the other schools aren't likely to follow him. And you know I didn't mean that we should just start trusting the witches and wizards who are likely to. We have to protect ourselves against him."

Magnolia smiled at Hermione's quiet words. She hadn't missed the look Ginny had sent her way when she called Voldemort Tom Riddle, but for now she would move past her own slip up and focus on Hermione's words.

"Did you ever think Hermione, in your infinite wisdom, that maybe if you did trust the students in my House, if they were protected from him too, that maybe they wouldn't feel they had no other option but to follow their parent's footsteps?"

Magnolia saw Hermione's face fall as she heard the truth in Magnolia's words. She didn't give her a chance to respond though, asking just one more thing of the girls before she turned on her heel and walked out of the Library.

"Just… don't tell Harry about Draco, will you?"

A few days later, Magnolia and her friends were trudging their way through the snow to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. Magnolia was yet to see Hagrid properly since his return the school; she had just seen him at his seat at the teachers table in the Great Hall. Behind her, Crabbe and Goyle were laughing with each other as they imitated Hagrid's class if Umbridge was watching him.

Magnolia felt Draco slip his hand into hers as she turned to face the two boys, pulling her away, as he shot a glance at her. She huffed and let him walk with his hand entwined with hers until they were close enough to class that they could see the other students. Reluctantly, they both let go of each other's hands and moved apart slightly. Magnolia's eyes instantly fell on Hagrid, who was holding an animal carcass over his shoulder.

"We're workin' in here today! Bit more sheltered, anyway, they prefer the dark!" Hagrid happily began as the students got closer.

"What prefers the dark?" Draco's voice drifted to Magnolia from behind her, "What did he say prefers the dark- did you hear?"

Magnolia chuckled, and turned to him, "Don't worry Draco. We'll protect you from the big bad Forest."

Their friends chuckled with Magnolia, but Draco sneered at her. They had both been in the Forest only once before this and neither of them had had a great experience. Draco had run off, leaving Magnolia and Harry to be rescued by one of the Centaurs. Their friends had been furious with Draco, even though back then Magnolia and Draco didn't get on at all.

"At least I'm not the one who had to be rescued from her own Dorm after her botched attempt at transfiguring a rabbit into slippers." Malfoy smirked, as the group followed their class further into the forest.

"Hey! That was traumatising!" Magnolia hit Draco's arm.

Draco laughed, tucking Magnolia under his arm to hold her close to him.

"Good thing I was there to save you then."

"Erm guys… are you two suddenly not caring whether Harry finds out about you?"

Theo's voice pulled Magnolia and Draco apart as they realised their carefree bickering was in public and only metre's away from Magnolia's twin. Things had been going so well for them, so easily in their own Common Room, that they had noticed it was harder to hide it from the rest of the Castle. They had discussed it one evening, Draco didn't know why they were hiding their relationship from anyone anymore, but Magnolia still couldn't help but not want Harry to know.

She was having fun with Draco, she felt safe and happy with him. None of their friends had ever seen Draco so carefree, laughing so light-heartedly, then when the two were together. Magnolia didn't want to risk that. She knew, as soon as Harry knew, then he would make her life miserable by telling her all the reasons she shouldn't be with Draco, that she shouldn't trust him. Deep down, Magnolia was worried that her twin would want her to choose between them, and as angry as she could be with Harry- she knew she couldn't choose.

The class stood around in a clearing in the Forbidden Forest as Hagrid threw the carcass on the ground in front of him and made a strange shrieking noise. He told the class to wait patiently, but Magnolia could see everyone around her shuffling around with confused expressions. Minutes later, Theo tensed beside Magnolia, his eyes focussed on the area directly behind the piece of meat Hagrid had bought.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" Hagrid smiled, "Now, put up yer hands if you can see 'em."

Magnolia glanced around just as confused as most of the class. Only two people put their hands up: Harry and Neville. She sent Theo a questioning look when Hagrid explained that the animals were Thestrals, mainly used for pulling the Hogwarts carriages, and that only people who had seen death could see them. Unfortunately, it was then that Umbridge decided to make an appearance. Magnolia could barely suppress her groan.

She elbowed Draco's side when she heard him snicker at Umbridge's off putting mumbling as Hagrid tried to continue his class. She actually placed her head in her hands when Umbridge told Hagrid that Thestrals were classified by the Ministry of Magic as dangerous. Magnolia growled at her friends when Umbridge asked them questions about Hagrid's class and Pansy practically cried with laughter. Draco had the sense to look apologetically at Magnolia when she pushed herself away from them.

After the lesson, Magnolia and Hermione were pacing furiously in front of a shocked looking Harry and Ron. Magnolia had made her way straight to the three Gryffindors when her own friends had taken Umbridge's appearance as the best thing to have happened recently.

"That foul-"

"She's a cruel-"

"-lying-"

"-evil-"

"-twisting-"

"-pompous-"

"- old gargoyle."

"-waste of space."

The two girls were both talking at the same time, equally as furious as the other over Umbridge's shambolic lesson inspection. Harry and Ron had yet to be able to say anything at all as the girls fumed. The wind was quickly picking up, whipping around them as the girls vented.

"You see what she's up to?" Hermione continued.

"Going the right way for a particularly nasty hex, if you ask me." Magnolia interjected.

"It's her thing about half-breeds all over again!"

"Surely there's a way to take her out for good."

"She's trying to make out Hagrid's some kind of dim-witted troll."

"She shouldn't be allowed anywhere near students!"

"Just because he had a giantess for a mother."

"Did I tell you what she did to two of the first years in my House last week!?"

"And, oh, it's not fair, that really wasn't a bad lesson at all!"

"She used the blood quill on them both! First years!"

"I mean, all right, if it had been Blast Ended Skrewts again, but Thestrals are fine."

"What kind of a wicked, vile, cockroach do you have to be to use a blood quill on First years!?"

"In fact, for Hagrid, they're really good!"

"Umbridge said they're dangerous." Ron quietly mumbled.

Magnolia and Hermione both stopped pacing and span to face Ron. The wind that had been swirling around the pair suddenly disappeared, leaving the Grounds eerily quiet.

"Whose side are you on, Weasley!?"

Ron held his hands up, his face turning bright red as he sputtered. Magnolia just shook her head at him, still fuming from everything that woman had done. Hermione was right, that was a good lesson, especially for Hagrid. It was just unfortunate that the Ministry had let a prejudiced, heinous, toad have her way with Hogwarts.

She wasn't just annoyed with Umbridge, she was also disappointed with Pansy and Draco for their responses. She expected it from Crabbe and Goyle, who she only put up with for Draco, but not from him. She couldn't understand how her friends could act so differently around her then they did with others. She was still thinking about it when she eventually made her way through the Common Room entrance later that evening.

Looking around, Magnolia noticed one person was missing, and ignored the rest of the group as she strode to the Dorms and let herself into the Boys Dorm Room. The curtains were pulled around Theo's bed, so Magnolia sat on Draco's bed and sighed. She picked at the sheets on Draco's bed for a few moments before speaking.

"It's just me, Theo." She murmured, "I just wanted to make sure you were ok. I'm sorry I disappeared after class- I should have been here for you. I don't think the others would have noticed that you saw the Thestrals too."

The silence lapped over Magnolia for a few minutes before Theo pushed his curtains back from around his bed and looked at her. Magnolia instantly moved from Draco's bed to sit next to her friend, placing her hand on his. He looked morose; she had never seen him like this before.

"How did you know?"

"I wasn't having quite as much fun as our friends were with Umbridge." Magnolia mumbled, "I actually could see what was going on around me."

"Was I that obvious?"

"Probably not to anyone outside our group."

Theo nodded slightly and sighed. His eyes found Magnolia's, making her frown. She could see the unshed tears in his eyes, the pain he was holding back.

"You don't have to tell me, but you know you can, if you want to."

"I know." Theo looked away from her again, squeezing her hand tightly, "I just… I've never spoken to anyone about it, not even my Father."

The pair sat in silence again for a while after that. They didn't move from their positions on Theo's bed, hands still clasped together as Theo tried to build himself up to tell Magnolia his deepest secret.

"…It was my mother." He eventually muttered.

Magnolia stroked her thumb over his hand as she felt him grasp her hands tighter as he spoke. She didn't move otherwise or saying anything at all. He spoke so quickly, like he had to rush to get the words out otherwise they would never be said.

"She had been becoming weaker and weaker for a while. I was so young, only 7 years old. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't play with me, why she would spend longer and longer in bed. I remember once, arguing with my Father because he told me off for staying in bed so long, and I couldn't understand why I couldn't when Mother did.

"I quickly learnt not to say that sort of thing in front of him again. Before then, he'd been stern and strict, but I'd not seen him lose it like that before. It woke Mother up, she forced herself out of bed and downstairs because she heard me crying. I remember being so shocked by her appearance then. She was grey, like ash, and so gaunt.

"She got worse and worse from then, so much quicker. I think that was the last time I saw her out of her room. Father was at work one day; he'd told me not to disturb Mother and to finish my work from my tutor before he got home. I was so bored though, so I went to see Mother.

"She looked a bit better that day, she said she had more energy. We stayed in her room, but she let me bring the chess set in from the Drawing Room and she taught me how to play. I begged her to keep playing for hours, I wish I'd just left her to rest now. As the afternoon wore on, I could see her struggling more and more.

"Eventually, she just stopped moving her pieces at all. I remember her saying my name, smiling at me and holding my hand. I… I thought she had fallen asleep to begin with. Then I noticed she wasn't breathing. I… I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want my Father to be angry at me, so I tidied everything to how it had been before I had gone in that morning, I moved the chess board back and I sat in the garden doing my work until Father came home."

Magnolia could feel her own tears falling down her cheeks, just as Theo's were. His grip on her hands hadn't lessened, he had seemed to curl in on himself as he spoke.

"I just left her there. I didn't do anything. And I pretended like I didn't know when Father told me that he had found her."

"Theo…"

"I shouldn't have left her."

"Theo…" Magnolia pulled her hands from Theo's and turned to face him properly, placing her hands on his cheeks so he would look at her, "You were a child. You were scared, and grieving. No one would expect you to know how to act in that situation."

"I've always wished I could go back and stay with her, no matter how my Father punished me."

Magnolia could feel her heart breaking for Theo. He had been so scared of his own dad that he felt like he couldn't even stay with his mum when she passed. Magnolia could see that Theo had been shouldering this ever since on his own, and she hoped that he at least would feel a bit better having told someone.

Theo leant forward, resting his head on Magnolia's shoulder and wrapped his arms around her as she did the same. They both knew he wouldn't let himself think about this with the others around, Magnolia could see how much he regretted what had happened that day even if he was only a child. The pair sat like that for a few minutes, until they heard footsteps outside the door.

Magnolia quickly moved back as Draco opened the door. His eyes swept across the room until they found her and narrowed slightly as he saw her sat on Theo's bed. Magnolia watched as he sauntered into the room, sitting on his own bed opposite them.

"I wondered where you two got to." Draco started, "Are you ok, Theo?"

"Better now, sorry about earlier."

Magnolia frowned and looked between the two boys, wondering what had happened before she had returned. Opposite her, Draco chuckled lightly and told Theo he had nothing to worry about. Theo smiled in response and moved back to the Common Room to see the rest of their friends, leaving Magnolia and Draco alone.

"Are you ok, Princess?"

"It's just… that woman…"

"I know." Draco sighed, "You have to protect yourself against her though. She's already hurt you once."

"Is that why you acted like a complete jerk in class today?"

"We have to protect our own, protect ourselves, in whatever way we can because no one else will. I'm not going to let her hurt you when we're siding with a much greater evil then Professor Umbridge already to keep you, and ourselves, safe."

Magnolia scoffed, "I don't know about 'greater evil'. Riddle is Dark, but that woman is a pure psychopath."

Magnolia never did find out what Theo had done before she had arrived back; as winter descended on the Castle her mind was occupied with too much already. Her Professor's were giving more and more homework to the Fifth Years, Magnolia and her friends were often found huddled in small groups bickering about which piece of work was most important to complete.

Her Prefect duties had also become more laborious, as well as their usual patrols she and Draco were roped into helping decorate the Castle ready for Christmas. Magnolia couldn't complain completely about the extra time her prefect duties were taking up, she was spending all that time with Draco.

As Christmas break approached Magnolia was sat with the girls in the Common Room, her head in her hands, when Draco and the rest of the boys sauntered over to them, dripping wet. They had been at Quidditch practice, and by the looks of Draco's face it hadn't been a good one. Magnolia grimaced, she wasn't going to make him feel any better by asking him to help her with her Potions essay. Her frown deepened when Draco stalked straight past the group and down into the Dorms without so much as looking at her.

"What happened in practice to make him so grumpy?" Pansy asked.

"It wasn't so much what happened in practice, but what happened after." Theo replied, glancing at Magnolia, his eyes filled with concern.

"What happened?" Magnolia pressed.

Theo swallowed nervously, "Draco received a letter from his Mother."

"Is she ok? Has something happened?"

"Not yet. She wrote because… well, she told Draco that… She asked him, well she told him…" Theo stumbled over his words, as if he didn't want to say them at all.

"Theo, spit it out. What did the letter say?"

Theo looked directly at Magnolia; worry etched over his face. Magnolia's heart pounded at his obvious fear and concern. The sound of Draco's footsteps approaching them caught her attention and she jumped out of her seat to stand in front of him. Magnolia could see the storm in his eyes, her breath caught in her throat. Draco's fingers found her own, and the rest of the room seemed to melt away.

"What did the letter say, Draco?" Magnolia whispered.

"The Dark Lord has requested your presence for Christmas."