"So, you are the wife our Draco had squirreled away in France, not really hideous like we expected..." A lazy drawl snapped Maia from her thoughts. She was standing on the edge of a large beautifully decorated ball room, Draco left her for the first time to get her a drink. Turning she came face-to-face with a sneering brunette. The woman was a bit shorter than herself wearing a very tight and revealing pink silk gown, she took a step back as she tilted her head to the side to examine the woman before her. Her straight brown hair was cut into a short, severe bob that did nothing for her face, the woman had an up turned nose that gave her an excellent view of her nostrils, even from above but it was the fierce glare that made her raise a brow.
"I'm sorry...?" Maia asked slowly, surely thinking she heard the woman incorrectly.
"No, need to be sorry, sweetie. It was compliment, really." A sickly sweet smile bloomed on the woman's face as she reached out to pat her arm sharply in a condescending manner.
"Hmm." Maia shrugged noncommittally as she turned away from the rude woman.
"I mean, to not have mentioned you the entire time you were married. After all, I've been close to Draco since we were children." The woman sighed sadly, acting as though Maia wasn't ignoring her.
"Oh, you have? Then who are you? You couldn't be Daphne...she's the pretty blonde with Theo, right? I've met Astoria...oh, Millie, right? Draco didn't say much about you...he did say you were in the same house in school!" Maia turned with a bright smile on her face, feigning innocence as the woman's face turned an unattractive shade of puce.
"Pansy, Pansy Parkinson. You know, sacred 28." Pansy said with a tight smile, her blue eyes blazed with indignation. Maia laughed, a high tinkling laugh as she placed her hand on her arm and leaned in as if they were old friends.
"Oh! I should have known! You weren't there when I first arrived! Pansy! Oh, I think Draco mentioned a date to the Yule ball?" Maia's eyes shimmered with barely suppressed mirth as she tilted her head with a wide smile. "I wish I could have been there but you know...private tutoring."
"I wondered why I never met you before...you don't look familiar." Pansy said airily, it was a lie. The woman before her looked like a Black, with her unnaturally bright silver eyes and that smile that so closely resembled Bellatrix.
"No, after my father's death my guardians decided it would be best if I spent my formative years being privately educated and traveling." Maia sighed wistfully, her eyes scanning the room for her husband.
"You di-" Pansy started to get frustrated with the woman's flippant attitude and avoiding her questions when a hand on her shoulder made her jump.
"Maia! I have been looking everywhere for you! Unfortunately, Theo has whisked Draco away for something a little more manly than the bubbly!" Daphne Nott smiled cheerily as she looped her arm with Maia's to pull her away from the petulant witch.
"Thank you." Maia sighed in relief as soon as they were out of earshot.
"Now that I have you alone I need to ask you a very important question. The future of our friendship hangs in the balance of your answer." Daphne whispered urgently as they danced through the crowds.
"Sounds serious." Maia chuckled uncomfortably as he met the witch's cool stare, she wanted friends. Friends outside of her husband, her mother-in-law, and Bella, after reading so many stories of friendship she was excited to see if she could have one herself.
"Oh, it's very serious. In fact, it's the one thing I never joke about." Daphne stopped short once they reached the balcony. After a deep breath, Daphne looked into Maia's eyes and lifted the hem of her gown. "What do you think of my shoes?"
-0-
"Daphne! Your incorrigible!" Maia laughed brightly as they wandered the shops in Diagon Alley. Maia was finally pregnant, barely showing at only four months. Once she moved back to Britain with her husband they went to see some specialists which informed them that she had some residual damage from a curse she took when she was fifteen. After a long potion regimen, Draco wasted no time in making sure Maia was pregnant with their heir.
"What? You can't deny pregnant sex isn't amazing." Daphne Nott née Greengrass smiled wickedly as she patted her much larger stomach. Daphne and Theo were pregnant with their third child in so many years, she was only too happy to fill the wizarding world with healthy Notts. When Maia first came to Britain, Draco invited all of his friends from Slytherin to meet his wife. Some, like Pansy Parkinson, treated her with cool indifference but she quickly bonded with Daphne who at the time was pregnant and lonely with Theo gone on missions so frequently.
"Oh, it is but Cissa would cut out my tongue and Lucius would choke if he ever heard me talk about shagging their precious son." Maia smiled wickedly, a pretty blush creeping up her cheeks.
"Blasted prudes, the lot of them." Daphne waved her hand dismissively. "Would you like to take a jaunt through muggle London?"
"Oh, Draco would be livid!" Maia cried excitedly with only slight trepidation in her eyes. "I've so been curious, there's nothing about muggles in the library...only how dirty and savage they are but..."
"Of course, I keep forgetting you were so sheltered." Daphne sighed sadly, they were all told the story of the pureblood Princess that was stashed away and raised in solitude. Maia was a bright girl who was so warm and inquisitive about everything, at first she worried that Draco would somehow suck that light from his new bride but he was always so patient and kind to her. It was a little unnerving to watch, Draco who quickly became one of the Dark Lord's most feared generals and he was always so cold and calculating but as soon as Maia walked into the room it was like he was a different person.
"I am curious, I know they are just a step above house elves but I've always loved Mipsy..." Maia said hesitantly, watching her friends reaction with trepidation. It was dangerous to speak kindly of house elves, muggles, and mixed bloods. If someone heard her husband would be punished for allowing his wife such liberties in her thoughts. Draco never discouraged her more soft natured side, he seemed to actually enjoy the spirited arguments they would have over creature rights.
"Maia, where do you think I find such lovely shoes?" Daphne smiled slyly as she raised her robe to show off her spiky emerald green stilettos. Rolling her eyes she grabbed Maia by the hand and dragged her through the crowded pub, entering the busy streets of the muggle world for the first time.
"Oh my." Maia gasped as she looked around in awe, stores lined the streets and muggles rushed by speaking in little boxes. It was so much louder and busier than Hermione ever imagined. Daphne smiled knowingly at her friends face as they walked along the streets, browsing in the windows.
"If you want to get anything, I have plenty of muggle money in my handbag." Daphne whispered as they walked by clothing shops, food stalls, and bookstores. Maia turned her silver eyes to Daphne in disbelief.
"Muggles built this?" Maia demanded in a loud whisper, drawing a few odd looks from passing muggles.
"Of course, now I must show you Foyles...break you in, maybe we can come back another day for shoes." Daphne said gleefully as she pulled her into a massive book store. Maia paused at the door making the muggles grumble as they skirted around her. While the manor library was vast and had more books than she could possibly read in her lifetime, this store had entire floors and wings packed with overflowing bookshelves all the way to its five story ceiling.
"Oh, Merlin! You and Astoria both drooling bibliophiles." Daphne laughed happily as she dragged her stunned friend from the door. "Come before you have an accident in the doorway and scare the poor muggles."
"Muggles built this?" Maia exclaimed in a loud whisper as she ran her fingers along the spines of the books. Looking around, there were sections for every kind of book, she couldn't believe that muggles could possibly had written so many books. According to everything she read, muggles could hardly function properly without a wizard instructing them.
"Yeah, my education was a bit more liberal than yours. Father does quite a bit of business in the muggle world so he made sure I atleast knew the basics." Daphne sniffed delicately, glaring at a curious old woman who was openly staring at Maia. The curly headed woman gushed excitedly as Daphne hailed a muggle to hold her books at the counter so she could get more. After a few hours, the women were loaded down with more books than they could possibly carry. After escaping a young muggle who was adamant he carry their packages for them they slipped down an alley to shrink their books so they could easily fit into their hand bags.
"Thank you, Daph. Draco will-" Maia started excitedly but a red stunner hit her friend in the back, her eyes widened in horror as her blonde friend fell face forward onto the ground. Maia flung herself down, narrowly avoiding another red spell. "Vox ranus!" She was quick to whip out her wand and say the first spell that came to mind, she watched as the purple beam hit something invisible as she scrambled back until she touched the stone wall. Taking a deep breath she peaked around the rubbish bins only to find the alley empty.
"Ribbet!" The invisible attacker croacked loudly, Maia looked up and down the alley way, trying to figure out how she could grab Daphne and get to safety.
"What was that, Mad-Eye? You got a frog in your throat?" A feminine voice chuckled and seemed to echo through the alley.
"Just get her, who knows when ferret boy will come looking for his darling wife?" An irate voice cut the woman off from her mad cackles as the man she cursed was still croaking like a frog.
"Come out, Mrs. Malfoy...we don't want to hurt you." The disillusioned woman called out to her in what she supposed was to be a soothing sing song voice, but to Maia the woman sounded as mad as Draco's Aunt Bella.
"Yeah, wouldn't want anything to happen to your friend." The man called out, a dark chuckle sent chills down her spine. Maia looked down at her unconscious friend, Daphne was heavily pregnant and the unnatural angle she lay in made her heart clench.
"What do you want?" Maia called out from behind the rubbish bins, she quickly tucked her wand away in her garter and tried to smooth down her silk dress.
"We just want a chat, if you come out. We promise no one will be hurt and you can be home to ferret boy by supper." The man said in a light voice, she could actually hear the smile. After a deep breath she slowly stood and inched up the wall, steeling her nerves.
"You'll make sure Daphne is taken care of. She's due next month, she named me godmother." Maia tried to say in a light, cheerful tone but it came out much harsher than she intended.
"We promise, we just need you. Now come out of there, girl." A third voice said gruffly, apparently one of them finally fixed the jinx she cast on her vocal cords.
"Are you calling my husband a ferret?" Maia asked curiously as she stepped out from behind the rubbish bins gracefully, quickly stepping between the invisible figures and Daphne.
"Your husband is Malfoy?" One of the men grunted, probably the one she jinxed.
"Yes, I married Draco." Maia said cordially as she kneeled down to roll her friend onto her back to check her over, she never saw the red spell that knocked her unconscious beside her friend.
"Let's get them to Grimmauld, check them for port keys or tracking charms." Ron lifted the disillusionment charm as he stalked forward and began reinforcing the notice-me-not charms they had up.
"Oh my." Tonks whistled appreciatively as she examined Maia's ring, the largest diamond she had ever seen, set in platinum, surrounded by emeralds with the Malfoy crest shimmered on the woman's hand. With a few waves of her wand a smile bloomed on her face. "Ooh, Black blood." She whispered happily as she reached down to pull the ring off the unconscious woman. The ring easily slid off her finger and she held it out to Moody who was finished checking over Daphne.
"What did you do?" Ron demanded as he walked up to the group.
"Only someone with Black blood could remove the ring. It had a tracking charm on it, we need to be quick. I'm sure Malfoy knows she took it off now." Tonks said urgently as Moody disappeared with the ring and she wrapped and arm around Maia. Ron followed suite, easily hoisting Daphne up to carry her bridal style and with a pop they were gone.