Chapter 29.
Magnolia was stood in the Astrology Tower, chest to chest with George. She had finally told him about her nightmares, her fear that they were somehow linked to Voldemort. Although, she had hoped that he had missed her almost call the dark wizard Tom Riddle.
She still wasn't ready for George to know about that. Only Malfoy knew that Magnolia had called him by his real name. It would be too difficult to explain to George right now; she had kept so much from not only George, but her brother and other Gryffindor friends. George sighed and wrapped his arms around Magnolia.
"I should've realised. After what happened at the World Cup, then Moody showing everyone the Unforgivable's. Then, of course, Harry being thrown into the Tournament. I should've realised that your mind would automatically jump to You-Know-Who."
Magnolia stilled.
"You think I'm just being paranoid?" Magnolia mumbled.
"When you say it like that, I sound like a terrible friend." George laughed smally, "I'm just saying that you've been through a lot and I wouldn't be surprised if Harry being in danger would make you think of You-Know-Who, especially after seeing his Mark at the World Cup."
George brought a hand up to Magnolia's face, stroking her cheek and pushing her hair back off her face. Magnolia gazed into his eyes, Pansy's words from earlier floating through her mind. Magnolia watched, not moving, as George dipped closer to her until she could feel his breath on her face.
His eyes flickered between her eyes and her lips; a questioning look on his face. Magnolia could tell he was asking her permission. Her mind briefly went to Malfoy, just a few days ago she had been in a similar situation with him. She could still feel his hands in hers, his body against hers; she could almost imagine she was there again.
Moments later she felt George's lips on her own. His hand on her face moved to the back of her neck, the one on her back pressed her to him. Magnolia dropped her arms limply at her sides, shock coursing through her body. George slowly moved back, his forehead resting on Magnolia's.
"I... erm..."
"Sorry." George murmured, "Apparently I couldn't wait."
"Er... yeah, apparently. I, erm... I should be getting back."
Magnolia didn't know what to say, she didn't know how to act. She knew that she was being a coward by practically running away, but she wasn't sure what to do and the only idea to come to mind was running away.
"Oh." George replied, dumbfounded, "Sure, ok. Do you want me to walk you home? I mean... to your Common Room?"
"It's ok, I'm sure I remember the way."
"Right. Ok."
George let go of Magnolia quickly, the two quietly making their way back down the stairs into the corridor. Magnolia cringed at the awkward goodbye when they parted ways and chastised herself the entire way back to her Common Room.
She was extra careful as she crept through the corridors; it wasn't as late as it had been when he left the Hufflepuff party, and teachers could still be out patrolling. She breathed a sigh of relief when she turned the corner to her Common Room.
Her relief didn't last long though, it dissipated when she heard giggling from behind a Tapestry opposite the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room. Magnolia frowned at the sound. What made it worse was that Magnolia recognised the giggle. She closed her eyes with a shaky breath.
Before she could hear anything else, she hurried through the Common Room and into her Dorm. She changed out of her clothes, slipping into her pyjama's and picking up Kaida from her bed, before padding back into the Common Room to wait for her friends. They had gone to the Hufflepuff party for Cedric, but she wasn't in the mood to go there now.
Instead, she sat cross legged on one of the sofas near the fire and charmed a crumpled-up piece of parchment to bounce around the Common Room for Kaida to chase. She laughed as her pet jumped onto tables full of student's classwork, ultimately annoying her Housemates.
She looked up when she heard her friends entering the Common Room. Theo, Blaise, Tracey and Daphne were walking over to her, watching Kaida bounding around the room. Theo jumped over the back of the sofa, landing next to Magnolia with a light thump and laugh.
"Having fun tormenting the younger ones?"
Magnolia smiled, "A girl has to keep herself occupied."
"Have the other two come back yet?" Daphne asked, "They left the party before we did."
Magnolia tensed, "I've not seen them, but I believe I might have heard them in the tapestry outside."
Magnolia quickly changed the subject, asking her friends about their own evenings. Theo immediately launched into a play by play of the party, telling Magnolia about all the gossip she had missed.
Magnolia was almost upset that she had missed the Hufflepuff party; Theo had found out a lot of new gossip from it and a lot had happened. She was looking forward to seeing how students reacted to each other in the Great Hall at breakfast the following morning. That was, until she realised that she was one of those students.
Groaning, Magnolia decided she had had enough excitement for one night. Saying goodnight to her friends, she made her way to her Dorm, happy to hear the patter of Kaida's paws following her. She was still awake, mulling over the evening's events, when the rest of the girls came into the Dorm.
The following morning, Magnolia hesitantly walked into the Great Hall with Tracey. She did a quick survey of the room before breathing a sigh of relief when she saw that the Weasley twins weren't in the Hall.
Tracey and Magnolia sat opposite Theo and Daphne, Magnolia reaching for a cup of tea straight away. She was halfway through her second cup when Pansy sat opposite her and Malfoy sat opposite Pansy.
"I didn't see you before you went to bed last night." Pansy said as she reached for toast.
"Sorry, I tried to stay up, but I was really tired."
Pansy bumped her shoulder against Magnolia's, "How was it?"
"It was ok." Magnolia responded, eyes trained on the table, "Party was alright."
"Uh huh, so nothing interesting happened?"
Magnolia didn't answer, instead she just glanced at her friend.
"Oh, come on. You said you'd at least try." Pansy whined.
"I did try." Magnolia responded with a mumble, causing Pans to shriek.
"Tell me everything!"
"Pans, keep your voice down!"
"Sorry," Pansy chuckled, "You still need to tell me everything though. Did you kiss?"
"...Yes."
Magnolia was met by a number of reactions at her admission; Pansy shrieked excitedly again, Daphne and Tracey clapped, Blaise grunted and handed Theo, who was smirking, five Galleons and Malfoy dropped the fork he had been holding and froze.
"How was it?"
"Where was it?"
"Did Harry see!?"
"Is he a good kisser? I bet he's a good kisser."
"Of course, he's a good kisser!"
"Did you do more than kiss?"
"Oh Merlin, I bet he has a good body. All that Quidditch must give him a good body."
Magnolia laughed at her girl friend's enthusiasm, "One question at a time guys! It was nice, it was in the Astrology Tower, no Harry did not see. It was quick, but he's a good kisser, we did not do anything more, but I could feel how firm his body is under those clothes."
Pansy and the girls practically swooned at Magnolia's answers, but Magnolia felt a small stab of satisfaction when Malfoy stood up and stormed out of the Great Hall.
The following weeks went by slowly for Magnolia. She and Pansy spent more time together and with the other girls. Her classes continued as they had, she was still sat with Malfoy in Defence which she was pleased about; Moody had a habit of picking her out of the class and otherwise spending far too much attention on her for her liking.
Luckily, Magnolia's Occlumency lessons were doing well, and she had yet to allow Moody back in her mind. That did mean that she missed quite a lot of her actual Defence class because she was spending so much effort focusing on protecting her mind and it was exhausting. Malfoy had decided that in their Occlumency lessons he would help her study for Defence too.
Magnolia was trying to help Harry with the egg, but the few times they had opened it they had been met with the same horrible screaming. She had also been somewhat avoiding George; the first time they had bumped into each other after the kiss had been awkward and filled with uncomfortable silences. She hadn't known what to say to him, and he hadn't known how to act towards her.
Pansy and Magnolia had been talking about it a lot, as well as Pansy's own relationship with Malfoy. She had tried to talk to Malfoy the night of the First Task too, but not much had changed for them. Malfoy had made it clear that he didn't want a girlfriend, but they had carried on how they had been going.
Magnolia was standing in the Care of Magical Creatures enclosure with the Slytherins, listening to Hagrid as he contemplated whether or not the Blast Ended Skrewts hibernated. Personally, she was hoping they did. She had had enough of the creatures, and the burns they usually inflicted upon her.
Luckily there weren't many left, so Magnolia stood back, wrapping her cloak around her tightly to fight the cold, as the Gryffindors forced the Skrewts into wooden boxes. Magnolia crept forward when they had all been nailed shut, to look in through the top of the boxes that had been magicked for the students to be able to see through.
She yelped when the boxes started moving around, the Skrewts fighting their way out viciously. Malfoy grabbed her and pulled her out of the way, helping her to avoid being hit by a shot of fire. He pushed her behind him as the Skrewts began rampaging through the enclosure.
She clenched her fists into the back of his shirt as they staggered backwards, watching as Harry, Hermione and Ron helped Hagrid to capture the angry creatures. The rest of the class had hidden themselves in Hagrid's Hut, locking the door before Magnolia and Malfoy could get in.
"Are you ok? Did it get you?" Malfoy asked as he pressed Magnolia against Hagrid's door, his body still shielding her from the Skrewts that he had not taken his eyes off of.
"No, you moved me before I got hit." Magnolia responded, "Thanks for that by the way."
Magnolia's attention was drawn to the lady in bright clothing, stood on the other side of the enclosure watching Harry and Hagrid as they battled with the Skrewts. When only one remained, Magnolia let go of Malfoy and slid out from behind him to join her brother. Hagrid had jumped on top of the remaining Blast Ended Skrewt and had safely tied it up away from the students when Rita Skeeter approached him and began asking questions.
"Oh! It's you."
Skeeter's eyes roamed over Magnolia as she stood next to Harry. They narrowed for a moment before she sent a sickly smile towards her, which Magnolia responded to with a glare.
"Next to Harry, again. Seems like I always find you by his side; a fan, are you?"
Magnolia scoffed and turned when the bell rang out across the grounds. She was hoping to give the woman as little information as possible about her.
The following day, Magnolia was sat with the other Slytherins in a large classroom watching Snape as he paced between them all. They had all been summoned after dinner and split into boys and girls on each side of the room.
"A traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament is approaching, and I expect you all to show the best of yourselves and our House. I will not have any of you embarrassing me or our noble House." Snape began, "The Yule Ball will take place on Christmas Day evening, with students from Fourth Year and above able to attend and the students from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang also in attendance."
Magnolia cringed at the idea of a ball. She had never danced before, and she had a horrible thought it would involve more formal dancing then she could handle. Snape continued, telling the students that they would be having a few dancing lessons before the Yule Ball in order to not embarrass him. Magnolia let her head fall into her hands. She was in a House that had a lot of Pureblood's that probably knew all the dances and had been doing them for years, she was going to stick out like a sore thumb.
"Miss Potter." Snape's voice broke through Magnolia's thoughts, "I assume you've never been taught how to dance correctly."
Magnolia shook her head, embarrassed.
"I thought as much." He snarled, "I've already made plans for you. You will be practicing with Draco; he has had a superior tuition in formal dance."
Magnolia gasped; she couldn't dance with Malfoy. Pansy would be dancing with Malfoy. Before she could respond, he appeared next to Professor Snape who excused himself after telling Malfoy to whip Magnolia into shape.
Malfoy stepped closer to Magnolia, taking hold of her hand and wrapping his own around it.
"What- What are you doing?"
"Putting you into the dance position." Malfoy responded, rolling his eyes.
He pulled Magnolia closer to him, placing her free hand on his shoulder and resting his own on her waist. For the next hour, Professor Snape wandered through the dancing students, giving them direction when they needed it and Malfoy attempted to teach Magnolia the steps to the basic formal dances.
She was not doing well. She cringed every time she stepped on Malfoy's foot or moved the wrong way. He was trying to help her, but she could see the annoyance in his eyes every time she messed up. When Snape told them to finish for the day, he strode up to Magnolia and Malfoy, informing her that she would need extra lessons before he let her loose at the Yule Ball.
"Sorry." Magnolia mumbled to Malfoy after Snape had left.
Malfoy just shrugged, "Hey, what's another thing to teach you in our 'Occlumency' lessons."