The Girl Who Saw Tomorrow II » Harry Potter

2.18 | Unlikely Allies

15C, Knockturn Alley, 1 PM.

Narcissa Malfoy's clean scrawl took up half of the torn parchment. Then as an afterthought, she wrote two more words on it:

Destroy this.

Despite the magic they all possessed, Narcissa had always thought their communication techniques were quite antique. Letters could be intercepted, fall into wrong hands and give a rise to suspicions. Narcissa couldn't afford any of that.

The tiny borrowed owl named Barney flew out of the Malfoy owlery. Hopefully, the girl had the ability to navigate through Knockturn Alley. A thought nagged the back of her mind – she was too young to do so alone – but Narcissa ignored it.

Margaret Xenakis may be young but she had proved that she wasn't ordinary.

Amongst her impossible feats, one that stood out the most was that she had gotten Narcissa's only son to lie to her. Draco may not be the kindest of kids and he may not share everything with his parents, but he never lied to his mother. This was so rare that it had been clear as day when he did.

Dear Mum,

Tell Father to expect seven straight O's. I told you O.W.Ls is child's play. At least for me. Crabbe and Goyle brought their potion to life. Poor Professor Snape didn't look thrilled.

Anyway, I know I should say this. I know I must. Even though it brings me immense pain to admit it. Mum, you know how I hate to disappoint you. It would be the last thing I would ever want to do, mum. But it seems that in this matter I have no other choice.

I couldn't find anything about Margaret Xenakis. I've searched the library, I've even had her belongings searched, but there is nothing special about her. She is ordinary. Not even like Potter and his Weasels, she just scuffles after them to get a taste of that false sense of importance that clings to Potter. Much like that mudblood Granger.

That is not to say she's a muggleborn, either. I heard her telling the Weasley's daughter, Ginny I think her name is, that her father often travelled by portkey. To where, I don't know, but he must be a wizard then. So she might be half-blood.

It seems that this is one of those rare but disgusting cases where muggles have adapted a pureblood wizarding title. Or perhaps their family chose to marry muggles. What a shame, truly.

Don't forget to tell Father about my O's!

- Draco.

The first giveaway was how Draco had tried to sweet-talk his way. No matter how well the mother and son got along, Draco never sweet-talked to Narcissa, not even sarcastically. He would get whatever he wanted without any need to sugar-coat things.

Secondly, if Draco had in fact searched the library at Hogwarts, he would have come across the collection of old newspapers stacked there. At the very least, he would know the name of Alfréd Xenakis.

Lastly was his effort to separate her from Harry Potter and his friends, and claim that Margaret Xenakis was a half-blood. This made it clear to Narcissa Malfoy that her son was smitten.

Draco didn't want to ruin his chances with this girl and found any way that he could to make her seem ordinary in his mother's eyes, hence keeping her away from the Dark Lord. But Narcissa had confidence in her upbringing. Draco may have had silly crushes but he would know better than to pursue anyone whose status was less than pureblood.

In trying to stir her attention away from Margaret, Draco had only made Narcissa more intrigued about the girl and somewhat confirmed her doubts about her.