Medici the Magnificent meets Hogwarts. Maria Fiore, adopted friend and sister of the Medicis, must overcome her draw to the enigmatic Francesco Pazzi. Or give in.
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I had all summer to think about Francesco Pazzi. A dangerous pastime...
Busy with a part-time muggle job, no longer dating Giuliano, and hearing very little from Bianca, I felt cut off from the wizarding world. I wondered what my friends were up to, but most of all I wondered about Francesco. He had been my rival in the Tournament (something that my parents were horrified to hear about when I told them), but he proved to be something more than that in the end. He became an unlikely ally. And then we kissed... I couldn't figure that out for the life of me.
Upon returning to Hogwarts, I became determined to forget about him. After all, I would never see him again. He had graduated and probably had some fancy job in wizarding banking now. No, I would instead focus on myself this year. It would be just me and Bianca, having the best year of our lives at Hogwarts. It had to be.
And then Bianca ghosted me. We sat together during the sorting ceremony, but she seemed more focused on eye-flirting with Guglielmo across the great hall than catching up with me. I didn't blame her for it. Guglielmo was a catch, and it was obvious they were in love. However, I did feel a little bitter that she didn't spare me some of her time and affection. We hadn't seen each other all summer, and it only got worse after that first day back. Bianca became wholly obsessed with Giuliano, and they were always together.
I tried to tell her as much the next day, but I was reprimanded for it.
"Don't be selfish!" she scolded. "He and I are really struggling right now. Our families will never let us be together after school. Have you even thought to ask me how I was doing with that?"
I grit my teeth and refused to respond.
Bianca left me alone at lunch. Our little fight had only served to push her further into the arms of Guglielmo, and further away from me.
"Let me guess," Giuliano drawled as he strolled up to me after Bianca had brushed past him too. "You tried to talk some sense into her, and she yelled at you."
"Something like that," I grunted. I wasn't actually against the match, but I wished Bianca put at least half the effort she did in her relationship with Guglielmo into our withering friendship.
"Welcome to my world." Though he hadn't been invited to, Giuliano took a seat beside me. He sunk his chin into his palm, and I saw plain as day that he was still heartsick over Simonetta. It had been three months, and still he looked like a sad puppy with watery, innocent eyes.
It kind of stung to realize Giuliano found real love after me. We had just been wasting each other's time really...
I tried to change the subject since Giuliano didn't have anything else to say after that. "Have you had Defense Against the Dark Arts yet?" I asked. A new professor had come from the Ministry to fill the role. She seemed like a sweet little lady at the first feast. Umbridge was her name.
"Not yet. I have that next. You?"
"Same," I echoed. "Should be interesting. I heard someone say she's banning the actual use of defensive spells."
"What's the point of the class then?"
"My thoughts exactly."
He grunted. "Probably just more Ministry propaganda she's supposed to shove down our throats. All these rumors about the Dark Lord returning have really gotten out of hand. Now both sides seem to have lost their minds."
I neither agreed nor disagreed with Giuliano. The jury was still out on whether or not the Dark Lord was back, though there was some pretty compelling evidence that he was. More and more deaths and hate crimes directed against muggles were popping up, though the Ministry tried to cover it up in the papers. Either they were trying to prevent hysteria because things truly weren't that bad, or there was something else going on. Something more alarming than we were being made aware of.
"I just hope it doesn't ruin our last year at Hogwarts," I sighed.
.✫ﾟ･ﾟ｡.★.｡･ﾟ✫*.
Defense Against the Dark Arts—DADA—class was pure torture. Umbridge made us read quietly from a juvenile textbook, then answer questions from a painfully simple worksheet. One of the questions actually said, True or False? I will need my wand for this class.
The correct answer was false.
At the very least, everyone else looked as pained as I did, including Giuliano. Though he and I had ended things last year on not-so-friendly terms, I was beginning to feel a rekindling of at least something resembling friendship with him. In his heartbroken state, he didn't have any friends. Like me. Since my actual best friend abandoned me...
On the way out of class, I walked beside the sulking Giuliano. We shared a similar look that said we both thought that class was a disaster.
At the end of the hall, students bustled to their next classes, but I could have sworn I saw a familiar tall, dark, and brooding young man. In fact, I was quite sure no one in Hogwarts had slicked back curls as defined as his.
"Is that—" I held my tongue because of present company. Giuliano didn't care for Francesco Pazzi, so I decided not to bring it up. Instead, I quickly said goodbye and sped up to inspect for myself.
I exited the flow of students down a less crowded hallway where professors had offices and storage rooms. Very clearly now, I saw that it was indeed Francesco.
"Francesco?" I called curiously.
He slowed and turned, then stopped altogether when recognition dawned in his eyes. "Maria."
"What are you doing here?" I walked a few more steps to catch up to him but stopped to leave a few feet of distance between us. He had graduated last year and frankly had no business being here now. I had already tried desperately to forget him, so his showing up unannounced really put a kink in that plan.
With a ledger in hand, he lifted his thumb to point in the direction of a nearby office. "I'm here to visit Umbridge. Ministry business."
"Umbridge? You work for her now?"
"For the Ministry more specifically," he clarified with a wobble of his head. "I'm a lead financer."
Of course. Someone who grew up learning the banking trade would surely have a promising future in finances lined up. Although, it did surprise me to learn he wasn't working directly for his uncle. "Oh," I said lamely because I couldn't think of a better response.
"There you are, Mr. Pazzi," Umbridge crooned. Her low heels clipped on the stones as she approached with her extra textbooks in arms. "Let's step into my office to go over your proposals we chatted earlier about."
She strolled right by me without so much as acknowledging my existence.
Francesco turned, about to follow, but he paused long enough to look at me a moment longer. "It is... Good to see you again."
Was it good? The clenched feeling in my stomach didn't exactly feel good.
