Chapter 3
"Signorina Benedetti! Signorina Benedetti! Stop!" Louis called after her as she was getting ready to Apparate to the British Ministry of Magic.
"Louis! What is it?" Marie asked, setting her briefcase down. The boy panted, keeling over to catch his breath.
He soon stood back up again, and exclaimed, "What would you like us to do back here? While you are gone?"
"I'm going to give you a huge responsibility, but I think you are capable. You will be in my office to take phone calls, you've trained for this. Just set up appointments, tell them I'm not here, or if it's an emergency, redirect them to Ester, she's been in the office longer than anyone here," Marie advised him. The boy nodded quickly, trying to conceal his panic-stricken face. Marie took his hand gently, and looked him proudly in the eye. "You will be fine, Louis, I have complete faith in you," She promised. The boy had never been in the office without her before, but she would sure he would be fine. It was only two hours. Picking up her briefcase, she focused her mind on her location, envisioned it in her mind, and just like that, she disappeared in a twist of colors. She felt the cold air cutting across her skin as she Apparated right into the Atrium of the British Ministry of Magic.
The lobby was packed with employees and visitors alike, bustling by. It saddened her to see that no one even paid attention to the elegance of the place. Peacock blue ceilings and golden carvings decorated the lobby, a truly breathtaking view. Marie stood in the middle of the crowd, mouth agape. She had been in here many times, yet, she never got used to the unrequited beauty. After a few minutes, she began to move toward the access lifts. She had about 30 minutes until her meeting with Draco Malfoy, she figured she could visit Edward. Typing in the "Level 3" button on the access lift, she was shot up five levels.
When she stepped out, she was bombarded with multiple wizards trying to rush out to an emergency. She came to the realization that no matter what nation she was in, the Department of Magical Law Enforcement would always be crowded and busy. Marie led herself to his office, showing everyone her badge so she would remain undisturbed. Knocking on the door, she heard a deep voice bellow, "Come on in." She swung the door open to reveal Edward in the middle of a discussion with a dark-haired man. His circular glasses were rather large, but brought more attention to his green eyes. "Marie!" Edward cried, jumping up from his seat to crush her in a hug. When he released her, she flattened her pantsuit out from becoming wrinkled. "What brings you to Britain?"
"I'm meeting with Signore Malfoy," Marie informed him.
The man sitting in the seat scrunched his face, and pried, "Why would you meet with the likes of someone like Malfoy?"
"Potter!"
"Yes sir, sorry," The man Marie finally recognized to be Harry Potter muttered, looking down at the ground.
"This is Harry Potter?" Marie uttered, examining the man once more.
Edward's head bobbed up and down, and conveyed, "Yes, the Boy-Who-Lived, he's one of my Aurors, and a very fine one indeed. He just tends to have a mouth on him sometimes." Harry blushed, refusing to look at Marie. "Harry, this is Marie Benedetti, head of the Italian Department of Magical Cooperation, and representative of Italy. That is why she's meeting with Mr. Malfoy," Edward asserted further.
"Merlin! I didn't realize you were such an important, Ms. Benedetti, please forgive me!" Harry shouted, shooting up from his chair and immediately bowing to her.
Marie just let out a giggle, "Signore Potter, I'm not royalty! Just a government employee like yourself, but I am honored by your hospitality." She shook his sweaty hand, the poor guy embarrassed in front of his boss. Marie then let out a sigh, "I apologize, Edward, but I must be going now, I just wanted to stop by and say ciao!"
"Well, it was certainly nice seeing your face again. Just as great as the last time," Edward reminisced, staring at her with an odd sense of longing in his eyes. Marie grew rather awkward, and gave the two men one last wave before fleeing the room and heading to Level 5 for Draco's meeting. When she walked into the office, it was surprisingly low in visitors and complaining people.
Marie strolled up to the first desk and said, "Scusami, I'm Marie Benedetti, and I have a 9 o'clock meeting with Signore Malfoy." The woman slowly looked up from her papers, and pointed to a room in the back. Marie thanked her, but was a little startled by the lack of cheerfulness. She took a large breath, before allowing her knuckles to knock onto the door.
His silky smooth voice came wafting through the crack under the door, "Come." Marie carefully opened the door, with a lot less ferocity than before with Edward. "Marie, how nice of you to join me, and five minutes early. You just couldn't wait to meet with me, could you?"
"Quite the opposite," She responded, taking a seat in the nice, plush chair placed across from him at the desk.
"Listen, Ms. Benedetti, I would gladly appreciate if you can swallow your enormous pride while we meet. You have made me swear to swallow mine, so I suggest you do the same, so we can both work well…together," Draco lectured, leaning forward on the desk as he spoke. His grey eyes bore into her own honey brown ones, and she gave him a single nod, keeping her mouth closed. "Now that is out of the way, I think we will get along just fine," He added.
"I suppose we will."
"Well, you are the veteran here. Lead the meeting, 'Signorina'," Draco teased, finding a bit of joy from seeing Marie's face grow hot with frustration. She clicked open her briefcase, pulling out a stack of papers. She shuffled through them, and then yanked out a yellow packet.
Placing her reading glasses on her face, she cleared her throat and began, "According to my reports, there has been an issue with wild hippogriffs fleeing the British countryside and going all the way into Italy. This is affected hundreds of wizards, Signore Malfoy,"
"Well, you can't just expect me to send out people from Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to catch a couple of stupid hippogriffs."
"A couple? Try a couple hundred. They're fleeing your country because you haven't outlawed the hunting of hippogriffs, so they're coming to us where they know they're safe."
"Laws take time to pass, it could take weeks, maybe months!" Draco exclaimed, exasperated.
Marie crossed her arms, "Then see to it that it is done."
"And what if I don't?"
"Then I will make sure that as the Italian representative to expose Britain's harsh practices on their own magical creatures at the next International Confederation of Wizards meeting. And considering you are Britain's representative and don't strike me as a man to take the heat of others very well, I recommend you agree to my terms," Marie demanded calmly, leaning back in her seat. This is just an average Monday meeting for her. Draco stared at her for a few moments, then had a smile curl upon his lips.
He opened his mouth and said, "Well, I can certainly respect a woman who has the audacity to demand things from a Malfoy. Despite my burning hatred for hippogriffs and apathy whether they go extinct or not, I'll agree to your terms, as long as you agree to help me."
"Of course I'm going to help you, stolto! I'm not going to have some, some amatore mess up some an important law to be put in place," Marie scolded, her fiery eyes showing all her emotion. Draco couldn't help but continue to grin shamelessly at her.
"You're rather feisty, aren't you, Ms. Benedetti?"
"Only when I have to be."
"Well, it certainly is…interesting. Forgive me to mentioning, but I must say, for a half-blood, you are quite a pleasure to be around. I would almost be completely infatuated with a woman like you," Draco divulged, his grin turning into a smirk. He loved playing games like these with women, because whether they liked him or not, they always felt the need to prove themselves.
Marie shrugged, and then challenged, "I am admired by many, an interest to many men, envied by many women, what makes you any different than the many other men who have tried to appease me?" She shifted uncomfortably in chair, completely aware that there wasn't that many men interested in her, and that many girls who envied her. She just wanted to make Draco feel unworthy of her, a feeling he probably wasn't used to.
He thought for a moment, then whispered, "The difference between me and those other men, is that I can have you if I so desired, but you could never have me, even if it was your dying wish." Marie's nose twitched and Draco just sat back and watched as her emotion completely unraveled.
"You're a complete idiota! You couldn't have me if you begged, if you were on you mani e ginocchia! I have never met someone as stupido e male e pretenzioso as you! Addio!" Marie roared, slamming her papers in her briefcase and closing it as she spoke. She rose from her seat, with a pure look of hatred on her face.
"Ms. Benedetti, please, take a seat."
"No, good day, Signore Malfoy! Sadly, I will be seeing you on Wednesday." She huffed, and with those finally words, she spun on her heels, stomped out the door, and shut it with such fury that the trinkets on his desk trembled with fear.
"I like her," Draco mumbled to himself, his face a look of amusement.
I hope you guys liked this chapter, you got to see some Draco and Marie in action, and well...it's not going very well for them, is it? Don't forget to comment, review, message, like, or share, anything is helpful. Without you guys supported me, I don't know what I'd do! Don't forget, stay awesome, Gotham!
-April