Chapter 5.
As Christmas approached, snow also arrived at Hogwarts. Magnolia had enjoyed the snow for the first time in her life, having been woken by Tracey early on the first morning it coated the grounds. The two of them, along with Daphne, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott had all gone out to the grounds before anybody else had had a chance to disrupt the snow and had a snowball fight before breakfast. The group bustled into the Great Hall, still laughing, Magnolia and Blaise quickly taking their wet cloaks off after they'd tried tackling each other and both ended up lying the snow.
Magnolia had been involved in a few snowball fights; some with fellow Slytherins, some with Gryffindors and one particularly intense fight between the two that a few teachers had ended up having to break up. Fred and George had pulled Magnolia behind a statue with them on her way to meet Harry one afternoon, to show her Quirrell walk down the hall with snowballs following him and bouncing off the back of his turban. The three had laughed as their Professor had broken into a run to get away from the snowballs that continued to follow him.
One morning, a week or so before Christmas, Professor Snape had walked up the Slytherin table taking names of the students who would be staying at Hogwarts for the break. Magnolia had immediately given her name, relieved that she wouldn't have to go back to the Dursley's for the break. She'd also found out that a few Slytherins would be staying behind too.
"I feel sorry for the people who have to stay here over Christmas," Malfoy had said loud enough for Magnolia to hear, "Simply because they're not wanted at home."
Magnolia had laughed at him, "Don't feel sorry for us, Malfoy. Those of us staying behind actually enjoy each other's company, unlike what you're going back to."
Malfoy had growled at her and walked away then, Crabbe and Goyle dutifully following him out of the Great Hall. Magnolia honestly didn't feel sorry for herself. Those who were staying behind had already made plans for their break together.
The night before the holidays started, Magnolia was sat in front of the fire in the Common Room, watching as Theo played Malfoy at Wizarding Chess. Magnolia didn't know anything about chess so couldn't tell who was winning, but she enjoyed watching the pieces come to life and smash the others. Pansy skipped up to Magnolia's seat and sat next to her friend.
"Let's have a slumber party." She grinned.
"A slumber party?"
"Yeah, we can have a Pre- Christmas slumber party. I don't like to think of you stuck here without us over the holidays."
Malfoy sniggered at that, but Theo looked up offended.
"Hey! I'll still be here!"
"Yeah, but you're not a girl so you don't count." Daphne retorted as she and Tracey joined the group. "Come on, Mags, please."
"Will I count if I go and get you ladies snacks?" Theo asked, grinning as his knight smashed through one of Malfoys bishops.
"If there are snacks, I'm definitely in." Magnolia laughed.
"Let's finish the game first," Malfoy interrupted, "Then we can get the girls snacks."
Magnolia frowned, did Draco Malfoy just offer to do something for somebody else? Mr Self Centred? Was he feeling ok? Next to Magnolia, Pansy squealed with delight and hugged Malfoy. Tracey and Magnolia looked at each other, both rolling their eyes at Pansy. Tracey knew, and agreed, with Magnolia's feelings about Malfoy; she was a Half-blood and had been insulted by Malfoy early in the year because of it.
"Great!" Daphne smiled, "Let's go get ready!"
"Yeah, I'm sure Theo will have beaten Malfoy by the time we're ready." Magnolia sniggered, winking at Theo who sent her a wink back.
As the four girls walked down the stairs into their dorm, Magnolia heard Malfoy's indignant reply to her but just laughed it off with Tracey and Daphne.
Magnolia, who was the first to finish getting ready, was sat on her bed in her Slytherin pyjama's when she heard a knock on the door. Skipping over to open it, she found Theo and Malfoy on the other side with arms full of snacks and sweets. Magnolia let the boys in to drop the haul in the middle of the room, she grinned as she remembered Harry's face when she had told him the Slytherin dorms let both genders enter- something the Gryffindor dorms didn't at all.
"Meow!"
Magnolia looked over to Kaida, who was rubbing against Theo and Malfoy's legs purring for attention. To her surprise, Malfoy bent down and stroked her head, scratching her favourite spot behind her ear.
"Hello again."
"Again!?" Magnolia gasped, "When else have you met Kaida?"
"Kaida? Is that her name?" Malfoy asked, still stroking the happy kitten.
"Yes, where else have you met her?" Magnolia repeated.
"Oh, sometimes I find her sleeping on my bed." He shrugged, "Don't tell me she's yours."
"She is actually."
As if to prove it, Magnolia moved over to them and picked Kaida up, who immediately rubbed her face against Magnolia's.
"If it makes you feel better, Mags," Theo began before Malfoy could reply, "She sometimes sleeps on my bed too."
"Of course she sleeps on your bed; she's a great judge of character."
Pansy joined them then, ushering the boys out of the girls only slumber party. The four girls pulled their bedsheets off the beds and all got comfy on the floor surrounding the treats they'd received. They spent the evening telling each other stories about their past Christmases, their favourite presents and the fancy balls they'd been too. Pansy and Daphne had more ball stories, Magnolia was starting to understand just what they thought being a pureblood family was like and it was the complete opposite of the Weasley's.
The girls laughed until they cried at a story Tracey told them about the Christmas that both sets of her grandparents had come for dinner and the chaos that ensued between the Magical and Non-Magical folk. Magnolia tried to not give too much information about her own Christmases, but the girls pried some memories out of her; they were all mainly after the day was over and Magnolia got to spend time with just Harry.
It was almost 3 in the morning when the girls finally climbed into their beds, all four had a different hair style then they'd started the evening with and were fresh faced after the face masks Pansy had brought with her. Magnolia curled into her sheets, Kaida purring sleepily next to her, and smiled. The girls had already decided that they would do this every year; Magnolia finally had a Christmas Tradition.
The next few days were strange for Magnolia, a lot of Slytherins had gone home for the holidays so the Common Room seemed almost empty. Theodore had taken it upon himself to teach her how to play Wizarding Chess over the break in the hopes that she'd be able to beat Malfoy one day, they'd promised each other not to tell anyone else he was teaching her so she could have the advantage.
She'd also spent a lot of time with her brother, who had filled her in on the adventures he'd already had at Hogwarts. Magnolia had gasped when he told her about the three headed dog himself, Ron and Hermione had come across in the school. Magnolia had tried to get her brother to forget about the dog but had given up when he started talking about a wizard called Nicholas Flamel.
Magnolia was almost glad that she hadn't been Housed with Harry, other wise she was sure she would have been dragged into the mess he'd put himself in. Hagrid seemed to enjoy it when Magnolia went to visit him with Harry, she made Harry talk about things other than his crazy conspiracy theory.
On Christmas morning, Magnolia woke to an empty dorm room but heard knocking on the door. She padded over to open the door, still yawning and rubbing her eyes.
"Merry Christmas!"
Magnolia blinked at Theo, he was wearing Christmas pyjamas and seemed very awake for so early in the morning. He laughed at Magnolia's blank face and let himself into her dorm, sitting on the bed next to hers. Kaida jumped onto his lap and sat down, looking up at him whilst he stroked her.
"I thought you might be a bit lonely," Theo explained, "Thought you might want company whilst you open your presents."
Magnolia smiled at him, "Thanks Theodore, but I don't have any presents to open."
"You really are rubbish in the mornings, aren't you?" He chuckled, pointing to the end of her bed.
Magnolia gasped at the end of bed sat a pile of presents. A pile. Magnolia could hardly believe her eyes; she'd never have believed she'd have that many presents. Skipping over to her bed, she sat cross legged and pulled one of the gifts towards her. She ripped the pretty silvery paper off the present, to reveal a box of acid pops and chocolate frogs from Hermione.
"You like acid pops?" Theo asked.
"Love them!" Magnolia bounced on her bed, excitedly reaching for another present.
This one was larger, wrapped in brown paper and felt lumpy. She pulled the paper out and held her present up, hearing Theo's laugh as she looked it. The sweater was dark green, obviously homemade, and had a big silver M in the middle of the front. Magnolia glanced at the card that had come with it, 'Merry Christmas Magnolia, love Mr & Mrs Weasley'.
Magnolia could feel tears prickling in her eyes as she read the simple note and told Theo who it was from. Putting the jumper aside, Magnolia worked her way through the rest of the presents; cat toys from Ron, a silver collar with a little jingling bell that looked handmade from Hagrid and a new notebook from Harry that screamed if anybody but the writer tried to read inside it.
Theodore coughed slightly, gaining Magnolia's attention then. He was holding a small rectangular box covered in red and green paper with gingerbread men walking about on it. He handed her the box with a small smile.
"It's from all of us; well Daphne, Pansy, Tracey, Blaise and me anyway."
The six of them had been becoming a bit of a group, always sitting together at meals and walking to classes together. Magnolia took the gift from Theo, feeling glad that she had brought them all a small gift too. She pulled the paper off, carefully after she had started to rush but was told off by one of the gingerbread men much to Theo's amusement.
Opening the small box, Magnolia gasped at the bracelet that laid inside. It was silver and already had a few charms on it; each signifying one of her friends. Pansy's was a black dress that swayed as her moved her hand almost like a dress would if you were wearing it. Tracey's was clearly the red lollipop that smelt of strawberry. Daphne's was a purple, green and pink butterfly that flapped its wings every now and then. Blaise had chosen a snowflake, and Theo a knight chess piece he had explained.
At breakfast Magnolia sat with Harry and watched in amusement as all the Weasley brothers walked into the Great Hall wearing similar jumpers to her gift from Mrs Weasley. She tugged on her own jumper, glancing at Harry's and chuckled.
"I see you've also been welcomed into the family." George laughed as he and Fred sat opposite Magnolia.
"That's good, eh George." Fred chuckled.
"It's a tradition in our family for Mother to make us each a jumper for Christmas every year." Percy interrupted the twin's antics to explain, "She's made yours very tasteful with your House colours."
"Thank you, Percy."
That Christmas was the best Magnolia had ever had.
*
Life continued on as normal for Magnolia after the break, her and her friends would go to class together and she would split her time between them and her brother, Ron and Hermione. The other Gryffindors never seemed to mind when she sat with them for a meal. They had welcomed her with open arms after she had thrown herself onto the bench next to Hermione and launched into a 20-minute rant about Malfoy after a double Potions lessons that she'd been partnered with him for.
Magnolia had made it very clear to Harry, Hermione and Ron that she wanted nothing to do with their antics over the supposed Philosophers Stone that was hidden in the Castle but had somehow still managed to get caught up in trouble when the four of them had gone down to Hagrid's Hut one evening.
It was boiling when Magnolia entered Hagrid's home, and she had immediately glanced suspiciously at his fireplace that had a roaring fire and a small pot hanging over it. Magnolia went to the fire to peek into the pot but had been ushered away by Hagrid.
As the four had enjoyed their tea together, they suddenly heard a small noise from the pot over the fire. Hagrid shot up, moving to the fire quicker then Magnolia had ever seen him move and pulled out a large black egg.
"Hagrid!" Ron exclaimed, "That's a- a dragon egg!"
Hagrid placed the egg on the table, nodding excitedly and relaying how he had come to have the egg in his possession. Magnolia watched in wonder as the egg slowly started to crack, she couldn't believe that she was watching a dragon hatch! A few moments later, Magnolia was sat in front of a tiny dragon that was moving cautiously around the table.
Hagrid cooed over the small dragon as it sneezed fire and bared its fangs at him, talking to it like a mother would talk to her new baby. Magnolia snorted as Hagrid announced the dragon's name; Norbert, but cleverly hid it behind a cough when Hagrid looked at her confused. Hagrid's celebrations, however, where cut short when his face dropped.
"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtain." Hagrid breathed, "It's a kid, he's runnin' back up ter the school."
Magnolia looked through the window Hagrid had pointed at and groaned.
"Malfoy." Magnolia turned to the others, "I'll go after him. Hagrid, you have to get rid of Norbert."
Magnolia grabbed her jacket and quickly put in on as she ran out the door and after Malfoy. She hoped she'd catch him before he could get to a teacher, but she had no idea what she could say to get him to not tell on Hagrid.
"Malfoy!" She called as she got closer to him.
Soon she was close enough to grab his arm and pull him to a stop. The pair were panting, and Malfoy tried to pull his arm from Magnolia, wrenching it around until she let go.
"You can't tell!"
"Tell what?" Malfoy sneered at her.
Magnolia could tell that he was enjoying this. She wasn't going to say anything out loud though, who knew what sort of scheme Malfoy had concocted.
"What are the two of you doing out of bed?"
Magnolia and Malfoy froze, there eyes wide as Professor McGonagall walked down the staircase next to them. McGonagall made them follow her to her office and they were sat listening to her chastise them for being out of bed after curfew when Filch opened the door to her office, and pushed Hermione, Harry and Neville into the room.
The five of them had all been given detention; Neville had been caught out of bed trying to warn Harry that Draco was planning on following him. They were being escorted to their detention by Filch who seemed to revel in the idea that students were being taken into the Forbidden Forest as a punishment.
Magnolia stuck close to Harry as they got to Hagrid's Hut, where he was stood outside waiting with Fang. He quickly led them into the Forest, explaining that they were looking for an injured Unicorn. Hagrid split the students into 2 groups: Harry and Hermione with himself, Magnolia with Malfoy, Neville and Fang.
Magnolia walked with the two boys and Fang into the Forest, following the path Hagrid had pointed out to them. Every now and then she noticed some silvery blood on the floor or leaves on the trees. Magnolia sighed; the poor creature must be in so much pain.
"ARGH!" Neville screamed behind, immediately sending red sparks from his wand.
Magnolia whipped her wand out as she span around looking for the danger. Instead, she just saw Malfoy laughing and Neville on the floor.
"What the hell happened!?"
"Oh, calm down Potter. Longbottom's just a bit jumpy." Malfoy snapped back.
"We're supposed to be looking for an injured animal, Malfoy." Magnolia growled, "Can you not be a decent human being for one evening!?"
Hagrid crashed through the trees to them then, looking around for what had attacked the children.
"Malfoy thought it'd be funny to scare Neville, Hagrid." Magnolia explained, as Harry and Hermione ran to them as well.
Hagrid looked furious, he told Harry to swap with Neville and to keep looking although he angrily told them they'd probably lost their shot now after making such a ruckus. The new group moved on, Harry keeping close to Magnolia at all times. They walked a while farther, Harry having to tell Magnolia and Malfoy to stop bickering so much a few times.
Magnolia was furious with Malfoy, just like Hagrid. He couldn't contain himself for one night!? And now, he'd probably ruined their chance of being able to help the Unicorn they'd been looking for. Magnolia saw small pools of the Unicorn's blood on the floor and pointed it out to Harry. As they walked, it seemed to be getting more and more.
"Look." Harry mumbled, throwing out his hands to stop Magnolia and Malfoy.
The three looked into the clearing just ahead of them, and Magnolia whimpered at the sight. It was the Unicorn, but it was dead. They were too late. Magnolia thought she'd never seen anything so beautiful, even in death. She took a step forward, but Harry's hand quickly caught her arm to stop her. She heard the slithering that had stopped Harry in his tracks before she saw a cloaked figure crawl into the clearing to the Unicorn and lean into the wound that was still weeping blood.
"AAAAAGH!!"
Malfoy's scream broke the silence in the Forest, and as Magnolia turned to tell him to stop, he was already running back through the Forest with Fang, leaving Harry and Magnolia. The cloaked figure stood, stalking towards to the twins. Magnolia felt Harry stagger back beside her and grabbed onto him before he could hit the floor.
His eyes were scrunched shut in pain, his hand holding his head over his scar. Magnolia sank to her knees with her brother as she heard a gallop of hooves behind them and saw a great Centaur jump over them towards the cloaked figure.
"Harry," Magnolia whispered as the Centaur chased the cloaked figure away, "Harry, please talk to me."
As the figure disappeared into the trees, Harry looked up at his sister's worried face. They both looked at the approaching Centaur who had just saved their lives and Magnolia helped Harry off the floor.
"Are you alright?" The Centaur asked in a deep voice.
"Yes, thank you." Harry replied, "What was that?"
"You are the Potter children." He answered instead, "It is not safe for you to be here. Can you ride, it will be quicker to get you back to Hagrid that way?"
"Y-yes." Magnolia mumbled, feeling uncomfortable under the Centaurs blue eyes gaze.
He had known her. He was the first being she had met in this world that knew her before she had been introduced to him.
Magnolia let Harry climb onto the Centaurs back first and grasped his hand when he helped her up. The Centaur, who had now introduced himself as Firenze, began to gallop away from the clearing but was soon stopped by two others.
"Firenze! What are you doing? Allowing humans on your back, do you have no shame!?"
"Do you know who they are Bane?" Firenze implored, "They are the Potter twins. The sooner they leave this Forest, the better."
The two Centaurs argued back and forth, Magnolia understood that Centaurs were creatures that usually didn't get involved in things. They watched the stars and believed in fate and destiny and had no right to intercede in such things. Eventually, Firenze stopped arguing and just ran with Magnolia and Harry on his back, away from Bane.
Harry spoke to Firenze then, being told that Unicorn blood could keep someone on the edge of life and told him his suspicions were true. The Philosophers Stone was in Hogwarts. Magnolia shivered as Firenze implied that Voldemort was after the stone.
"Good luck, Harry Potter." Firenze said, after they had met Hagrid, "And good luck to you too, Miss Potter; I fear your decision will be grave."
*
The last few weeks of term seemed to disappear before Magnolia's eyes. There had been a divide in the Slytherin Common Room since the night Magnolia and Malfoy had their detention; a lot of their House were angry with Malfoy for leaving Magnolia when he ran away. Even Pansy had been seen shouting at Malfoy.
One evening, when Magnolia was sat in the Common Room with Daphne and Tracey, Professor Snape walked through the Common Room door. Everybody in the room went silent; it wasn't very often that Snape came into the Slytherin dungeon. He glanced around before his eyes rested on Magnolia.
"Miss Potter, come with me." He drawled.
Magnolia slowly stood to follow her Head of House, feeling the eyes of everyone in the room watching her. Snape led her away from the dungeons and up the many stairs to the Hospital Wing without saying a word. He stopped, with a flick of his cloak, outside the Hospital Wing and turned to her, placing a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't panic too much, he will survive."
The doors to the Hospital Wing opened, and Professor Dumbledore appeared, smiling at Magnolia.
"Ah, Miss Potter, please follow me. Thank you for escorting her Professor Snape."
Magnolia was still perplexed by Snape's strange words when he turned to leave, leaving her alone with Professor Dumbledore. He smiled at Magnolia again, reassuringly, before leading her into the Hospital Wing. Magnolia looked around; she hadn't actually been in here all year. As her eyes swooped around the room, they fell on one bed that was occupied with a black-haired boy.
"Harry!"
Magnolia ran to him quickly, picking up his bandaged hand, and looked between him and Dumbledore.
"I'm ok, I promise." Harry whispered.
"What happened!? Why are you in here!?"
"It was the Stone." Harry explained, looking down at his lap and away from his sister's disapproving look. "Hermione, Ron and I went after the Stone so somebody else couldn't get it. But we were too late, by the time I got to the Stone, he was already there."
"Who? Who was there?" Magnolia had a million other questions, but they could wait until her twin wasn't laying in a Hospital bed.
"Quirrell."
"Quirrell!?" Magnolia cried in shock.
"Well, Quirrell and... and Voldemort."
Magnolia's heart skipped a beat. Her brother had been in the same room as Voldemort. Tears welled in her eyes as she thought of what Harry must have been through as he explained what had happened between himself and Voldemort.
The rest of the time Harry was in the Hospital Wing, Magnolia stayed with him. Madame Pomfrey had gone to them the first evening Harry stayed in to send Magnolia back to her House but had instead seen them both sound asleep on Harry's bed.
Daphne, Theo and Tracey had visited a couple of times, mainly to pull Magnolia away and take her to the Great Hall for some food. They'd told her that they knew what she would be going back to once school finished, so she needed to eat as much as she could now.
On their last day, as they were heading to the train, Magnolia's friends had promised to write to her over the summer and to send treats. Pansy had tried to get Magnolia to go home with her, away from 'those horrible Muggles!', but Magnolia had kindly turned her down; she needed to stay with Harry.
As Harry and Magnolia sat in Kings Cross station, waiting for their Uncle to pick them up, Harry explained more of what had happened that night with Voldemort. This was the first time they'd really been able to speak without other witches or wizards around.
"Dumbledore said that I saved my mum." Harry began, showing Magnolia why this was a conversation between the twins. "Mum sacrificed herself for us when we were babies, and that love is a strong magic that will still protect us. But Mags, he wanted you there."
"What do you mean?" Magnolia asked, watching her brothers worried face.
"Voldemort. He wanted you there. He sounded disappointed when you weren't. And the way he talked about you, Mags. It was horrible. It was like he owned you. It was like you were all he wanted."
Magnolia shivered.
They still didn't know what happened to Voldemort after that night, or where he went. Magnolia gripped Harry's hand tight, frightened now about their future. She felt safe at Hogwarts, but her brother had almost been killed there. What if Voldemort came back again? What if this time, both of them were there?
Magnolia was brought out of her worrying thoughts by Uncle Vernon's gruff voice as he approached them, hurriedly telling them to follow him out of the station and away from 'those strange folk' that surrounded them.