Chapter 58.
On the morning of the Hogsmeade trip, Magnolia was pacing her Dorm Room in front of Pansy and Tracey, chewing on her nails. She had been looking forward to the day so much that she hadn't thought about what she and Draco would do, or where they would go, that they wouldn't potentially be caught by her brother or his friends.
After Draco's sudden mood shift the night he took her flying, he had simply pecked her on her lips and then the pair had strolled into the Slytherin Dungeons like nothing had happened. Magnolia's head was still spinning. He had gone back to normal after that, being just as attentive as before but every now and then, she would catch him looking at her the same way he did that night behind the Tapestry.
Magnolia hadn't told anyone of course, neither of them had ever told anyone what was said after those magic words they would whisper to each other. It had been that way since Second Year. 'Can I tell you something that you won't tell anyone else' had been the sentence that bridged the divide between the two at the very beginning. It seemed to be the phrase that had allowed Draco to drop his Pureblood-Malfoy-Slytherin-Prince persona and show Magnolia a glimpse of the real Draco Malfoy.
The week's Occlumency lessons had been just as difficult as any other for Magnolia and her twin, especially as Magnolia was determined to fix things with her brother. Sirius' words to Harry from Christmas echoed around her mind. He had never spoken much about his brother, but Magnolia knew enough to see that he was worried about history repeating itself with the Potter twins. She knew that things might not be the same as they had been before, but she wouldn't let them be truly split apart.
The slight improvement between them was making Magnolia more nervous about her date with Draco. She knew that some people already knew about Draco, but if Harry were to truly find out, Magnolia thought things would blow up completely. In front of her, Pansy and Tracey were trying to calm her down, apparently Draco had planned the day out well. Magnolia was sure he would, but anything could happen really.
When Magnolia eventually walked up the stairs from her Dorm into the Common Room with the girls, meeting the rest of their friends, her worry instantly left her mind. As soon as she saw Draco, she couldn't help the smile that bloomed across her face. She had always loved how he looked when he was wearing his casual clothes. His own smile matched hers as he took her hand and softly kissed her cheek.
The pair wandered down to the Village, their friends some way behind them, chatting animatedly. Around them, it seemed like half the school was also making their way down to Hogsmeade on romantic encounters. Magnolia and Draco couldn't stop commenting and laughing at some of the pairings they saw. In the back of Magnolia's mind, she knew that others were probably looking at her and Draco and thinking the same, but right now she couldn't form the full worrying thought.
Before Magnolia and Draco made it to the main part of Hogsmeade Village, Draco pulled her away from the crowd and down what seemed to be a residential area of Hogsmeade. The small cottages that Draco and she walked past were exactly what she had imagined the villagers would live in. The picket fences, the thatched roofs and small front doors enticed Magnolia into a deep sense of comfort.
"What do you think their lives are like?" Magnolia asked Draco, dreamily.
"Probably incredibly boring." Draco drawled, "They wake up in their tiny homes, go to work- most likely in the Village- deal with the same people and the same things every day, then go home to work more with their food and housework, before going to bed and starting the whole thing all over again."
"What will your life be like? After Hogwarts I mean?"
Draco smirk grew, "We'll live at the Manor. I'll work in the Alchemy Room at St Mungo's where you'll be a Healer. We'll travel the world together; I think you'd love Southern Italy."
"We?"
"Yes, I told you I plan on marrying you."
Magnolia moved closer to Draco's side, wrapping her arm around his, her hand still linked between his fingers. He sounded so sure about everything, like there was nothing that could possibly happen to throw his ideas off plan.
"What about the War?" Magnolia questioned quietly, resting her head on Draco's shoulder.
"The War? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see what happens with the War."
"Lord Voldemort wants me for something, do you really think he'd let me go running around the world with you or for us to have normal jobs?"
Draco pulled Magnolia to a stop, moving his hands to her neck softly, "We'll figure it all out, I promise. For now though, please let us just enjoy our date like normal schoolkids."
Magnolia smiled and nodded, revelling in the feeling of Draco's lips against hers again. All too soon though, he pulled away and began to guide her through the houses again. Magnolia made him laugh by telling him all the ways she would want to change the Manor; pointing at doors and window on the cottages they would pass that she would want in the Manor, showing him the flowers that she would want in the Gardens.
By the time the pair had came to a stop, Draco had agreed to a Secret Walled Garden for Magnolia in which she could put anything but had warned her that his mother might have a few things to say about her choice of decoration for the inside of the Manor. Magnolia had just shrugged and commented that maybe her and Draco should live in a small cottage just the two of them instead then.
Magnolia looked up at the shop in front of her, Dominic Maestro's Music Shop. The shop itself was tucked away from the main street of Hogsmeade, and Magnolia didn't think she could see anyone inside. Draco proudly opened the door for her, without a moments hesitancy, and following his example Magnolia walked through.
The inside of the shop was dimly lit, with only one other person in the building. Every inch of the walls was taken up by album covers, both Magical and Muggle, Magnolia noticed. She felt Draco place his hand on the small of her back, escorting her through the shop, whispering in her ear that there would be plenty of time for her to check out the music.
Magnolia gasped as they approached the back of the shop, a small table covered in finger food was set up in front of a comfortable looking sofa, and both were surrounded by candles. The one other person in the shop slowly stepped out of the shadows next to Draco and whispered to him as Magnolia felt her entire body lighten. Draco had done this for her.
"We have a couple of hours." Draco told her as they sat down, "I thought that would give us enough time to have something to eat, have a listen to some of the music and then still have time to do other things around Hogsmeade."
Those two hours went by too quickly for Magnolia. She had jumped up when Draco told her where the turntable was and that she had free rein of the entire shop's worth of music. Magnolia had giggled and belly laughed as she subjected Draco to all sorts of different music, including plenty of muggle songs. When the time eventually came for them to leave, Draco brought a turntable for himself and a group of albums from different genres.
"Have them sent to the Manor, I'll let my mother know to expect them."
"I can't believe you brought all of that, where will you put it?"
"My room. It was good to see you light up so much when the music was on, you looked so carefree." Draco replied as the pair left the shop, "Where did you learn about so many different types of music? I wouldn't have thought that the Muggles would allow it."
"Merlin, no!" Magnolia laughed, "They wouldn't be caught dead listening to half of that! I only really started listening to it myself in the past year or so, Siri-"
Magnolia cut herself off quickly before she went any further. She hoped that Draco hadn't noticed, but she could feel him looking down at her as they walked.
"Sirius showed you?" He asked gently, "Lia, you know that we know about Sirius. Don't worry, there are no plans to harm him. The Dark Lord knows how important Sirius is to you, I don't think he would put you through the pain of Sirius being harmed. Besides, with the Ministry blaming everything on Sirius Black, it actually works in the Dark Lords favour."
The pair were near the Shrieking Shack now, Magnolia sat down on the cold ground to watch as it creaked until Draco sat beside her. She felt as he cast a warming spell over her, only then realising that she had been shivering. She couldn't tell though, if her shivers had been due to the cold or the fact that Lord Voldemort knew about Sirius and had calculated him into his plans.
"Lia, I don't want you to feel that you can't talk to me about your God-Father. I know you love him; I know he's the closest thing you've got to your parents… to having a parent. I love you, and I don't want there to be secrets between us."
Magnolia paused, thinking over what Draco had said. He seemed sincere, and he had told her at Christmas that they knew about Sirius with nothing bad having happened since. Magnolia sighed, leaning against him and cuddling into his side as he wrapped his arm around her.
"During Summer break, he showed me the albums he had collected when he was our age." Magnolia began quietly, already smiling softly at the memory, "It was just Sirius and me. We were in his room, Gryffindor stuff everywhere- he told me that he'd cast a spell on it all so that it couldn't be removed from the walls, could you imagine? Well, we sat in his room for hours, just listening to different songs from his youth on a turntable like the one in the shop."
"It sounds peaceful."
"It was. I love those moments, when it's just Sirius and I and we don't have to think about the War or Harry or anyone else. I think Sirius needs those moments too, I think he needs to feel normal after so long- I think he needs to feel alive."
"He obviously loved you very much." Draco mumbled, his lips ghosting across her hair, "It's good to know that if I'm not around to protect you, someone else will be."
On the way back up to the Castle, Magnolia and Draco met back up with their friends, but Magnolia was quickly beckoned away by her brother. Harry told Magnolia all about his date, making Magnolia groan at her brother's complete idiocy, but also feel elated at the stark difference between Harry's date with Cho and her own with Draco. Hermione then told Magnolia about her plan for Rita Skeeter to write an article in the Quibbler; an interview with Harry telling his side of the story of what happened when Tom Riddle returned.
Magnolia wasn't sure what she thought of the idea. In a way, it would be good to get the real story out and into the public, but did she want that? Did she want people knowing what had happened to Harry? Did she want people to be judging Harry and what he was saying? Did she want people to know what happened when the Dark Lord returned?
"Are you sure this is a good idea, Harry?"
"People have to know that he's back, Maggie." Harry replied with a shrug as they walked into Great Hall and towards the Gryffindor table, "With the Death Eaters escaping Azkaban things are only going to get worse, and if the Wizarding World isn't prepared- because the Ministry are covering it up- then can you imagine how many people could die? Rita Skeeter doing this article is probably going to be the only good thing she does for this War."
"What's this, Harry?" Fred's voice floated from behind Magnolia as she took a seat.
"Doing interviews again?" George continued, taking the seat next to his brother.
"Didn't learn from the debacle last year, huh?"
"They do say that fame is a fickle friend, Fred."
Magnolia giggled, "Try saying that five times faster."
The Weasley twins smirked at Magnolia and nodded, happily accepting her challenge before quickly chugging the pumpkin juice in front of them and turning to face the other in such perfect timing that Magnolia thought someone who didn't know them would believe it was one man and his mirror image.
"Fame is a fickle friend, Fred." George started.
"Fame is a fickle friend, Fred."
"Fame is a fickle friend, Fred."
"Fame is a frickle fiend, Fred."
"Fame is a freckle find, Fried."
Around her, half of the Gryffindors were laughing as George and Fred became more and more tongue tied the faster they tried to speak. Magnolia herself could feel the tears begin to roll down her cheeks as she laughed. She couldn't remember the last time she had had such a good day. The time she had spent with Draco had been nothing short of perfect, and now sitting at the Gryffindor table beside her brother and laughing with her friends here, Magnolia could almost forget all of her troubles.