𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬, 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 • (𝐝.𝐦.)

𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐟𝐢𝐯𝐞

"If Lucius was to ever find out and tell the Dark Lord, your father would be disgraced. He would be disgraced and you would be killed," He said, and I scoffed, "God forbid." 

 "Mags, be serious," Blaise said, looking only a little disproving of my jokes. 

"Fine. Alright, fine," I said, crossing my arms. It was getting colder as the night got later. 

"Dinner's being served soon. A lot of the guests went home, we have to be there now," He said, and I nodded, walking next to him through the maze and back inside as quickly as I could without freezing to death. 

When we stepped inside the threshold, warmth hit me pleasantly and I felt better immediately. We walked down the hall, hearing my high heels click as we rushed to the dining room. When we got to the doors that entered the grand dining hall, Blaise hesitated before entering. 

"Remember what I told you," He said, and I nodded. I knew it wouldn't be safe for them to know I was a half-breed, it would only end in death for me, and possibly for my dad. 

Blaise raised his wand to me, muttering something quietly and my hair went back into its tight updo. I looked up at it, thanking him for remembering that, but growing nervous. 

"We can't use magic outside of school yet," I said, slightly alarmed, but Blaise shook his head. 

"My dad will clear it up with Fudge," He explained. 

I nodded, not wanting him to get in any trouble but believing he could handle it from that explanation. 

Without any further discussion, Blaise pulled the doors open and took my hand, striding in confidently and guiding me to two open seats at the ridiculously long table littered with Death Eaters as far as the eye could see. 

Draco sat across from me, but I ignored his piercing gaze as I made myself comfortable in the chair. 

At the far end of the table, in the most important looking seat, was a grey-skinned man with hardly any nose, just slits like a snake's face. He sat high and mighty, paying special attention to Blaise and me after we came in. 

"Announce yourselves, children," A man with long blonde hair, similar to Draco's, demanded snidely. 

Blaise stood back up and I followed his head. He turned in the direction of the snake-like man and bowed to him. "Blaise Zabini, my Lord," He said. 

The snake man was him. The Dark Lord. Voldemort. 

I couldn't help but grow anxious as his eyes locked on mine next. 

I snapped out of my trance and curtsied slightly. 

"Magdelena Warrington, my Lord," I said. 

"Zabini, Warrington, and Malfoy. Three separate bloodlines with fresh faces," He said, staring at me to the point where I was extremely uncomfortable. It felt as if insects were crawling all over my body, but I stood my ground. 

"You may sit, children," Voldemort said, and we listened. "Don't mind Nagini," He said, motioning to the snake that was slithering up the table. 

I sucked in a breath. 

Sitting back down, they began to discuss things amongst themselves and many people started eating. On either side of Voldemort was Lucius Malfoy, as I gathered, and a woman with wild hair who I recognized from newspapers: Bellatrix Lestrange. 

My father sat next to Lucius, but he hadn't looked at me once. Even as I spoke to Voldemort, he avoided my gaze. 

On the plates in front of everyone, the same meal had magically appeared a few minutes earlier. I wasn't very hungry, hyperfocused on my surroundings but not trying to show it. 

"Eat your food," Draco said from across from me. 

I looked up, wondering what he was doing telling me what to do again. 

"Just do it. You're acting odd, they'll catch it. Just eat, please. Trust me," He whispered desperately. 

Something about his tone compelled me to pick up my fork and start eating. For the most part, he was right. This was no longer the time to be stubborn, I had to start acting natural. 

If I didn't, I could be killed. 

♔

so... veela! i wanted to make maggie a veela, but not a whole veela. veelas are known to mate with wizards and produce half-blood offspring, so i incorporated that to the best of my ability. a veela's powers include the ability to produce flames from their hands when they get angry and transforming into a giant winged beast. however, since maggie is a half-blood, i wanted to only make her hair change its color. she still can perform magic like any witch, but considering she is not a pureblood, this puts her in tremendous amounts of danger bc voldy hates anyone that isn't pureblood. also, her dad is so sus.  

hope that explanation helped!