antebellum [t. riddle]

xxxvi.

december 1944

"one of the elves said there was shouting going on outside the library. is everything alright, dear?" mrs. malfoy asked as she gestured for sicaria to take the seat across from her. they were sitting in some sort of greenhouse, filled with exotic plants, both magical and muggle. in the center of the room, sat two chairs and a table. from this angle, they had a view of the gardens and the fountains that littered the estate.

sicaria shook her head and gave a tight smile. "just a friendly disagreement, is all."

mrs. malfoy gave a slight laugh under her breath, but cleared her throat before sicaria could question it. "how are you liking hogwarts?"

"it's a beautiful school," she said truthfully. "most have been very welcoming, and the professors are very accomplished. i am happy to be finishing my education here."

"have you made many other companions?"

"none like them," she said, gesturing to where the five of them were huddled behind a closed window in the south wing. there's no one like them.

the malfoy matriarch crossed her arms and leaned over the table toward sicaria. she ginned as though sicaria had taken the bait, and this conversation was going in the exact direction she wanted it to. "so what makes my son and his friends deserving of your friendship, dear?"

the question startled sicaria. 

"well, they're..." kind? no. trustworthy? no. empathetic? occasionally. respectful? sometimes. devious? yes. "i don't really know honestly. they just exist."

"no? alright then." she said as though sicaria hadn't given a truthful answer. she opted for a different line of questioning. "how is it you came to be friends with them?"

"well that's a rather long story," she said, thinking back to the first night she interacted with them as a group rather than as individuals. it was the night they had tried to break into her room, but she couldn't tell mrs. malfoy that. she settled for the vaguest version of the truth. "i knew them each individually, but then there was a... situation where i was introduced to them collectively."

honestly, sicaria had never understood the phrase 'a whole is more than the sum of its parts' until she met them. perhaps she didn't believe it still. maybe a whole was just different than the sum of its parts.

"i see," she said amused. "what did they do?"

"uh," sicaria started, before realizing that lying would be futile. "nothing unforgivable."

mrs. malfoy let out a tinkling laugh. "you are very loyal to them. what have they done to earn it?"

sicaria's jaw actually dropped. she needed to learn to stop underestimating people.

"i'm not certain what you're implying, but they've never done anything to me that i haven't forgiven them for, mrs. malfoy."

"i see," mrs. malfoy said once again. "it seems i have underestimated you, ms. edwards. i'm sure you can imagine my surprise when my son told me that he wanted to bring a girl home with him over christmas, especially after months of dodging betrothal requests. i assumed he was courting you, even with his vehement denials."

sicaria opened her mouth to deny anything romantic between her and abraxas, but the other woman beat her to it.

"yes, i know there is nothing going on between you and my son. a terrible loss, on his behalf. he would be so lucky to be wed to someone like you." sicaria didn't know how to respond to such an awkward compliment, but mrs. malfoy continued without noticing her silence. "i've observed the relationship between you and those boys for the past two days and i must say that the difference between them this year and all the other years i've known them is startling."