Slytherin Poison

eighteen

"Madam Malkin," my lips curl as I enter her shop lithely. "This visit is long overdue."

Madam Malkin, who had been straightening some robes, paled instantly as she met my eyes.

She looked a simple elderly woman with silver hair and mauve robes. Madam Malkin made the best robes in Diagon Alley and ran a humble shop that was empty at the moment. That was all this lady was known for. I knew better. 

Or at least, now I do.

"M-Miss Yvons-" 

"Please," I sneered at her, slamming her shop's door closed. "Why pretend?"

Madam Malkin didn't respond, but I saw her eyes harden. 

The woman behind her wrinkles and kind smiles was starting to escape.

I waved my wand and the blinds shut. Only the flickering candles gave us light. To anyone, this shop would be closed. Just what I needed.

"The last time I stepped in here, I was so oblivious. You weren't. Not at all." 

I started walking around the shop slowly, taking my time. Nostalgia should have attacked me but all I felt was a cold amount of hatred. 

"I was eleven," I admired some robes as I spoke into the shadows. "Draco and I came in, thinking you would not notice. But you did."

Madam Malkin snapped, "I don't know what you're talking about."

I smiled, humorlessly. "You do. How could you forget?"

"I don't-"

I whirled around, my gaze harsh and unflinching. "You don't what? Did you not manipulate us, Malkin," I spat out at her, "or did you not attempt in murder?"

Her hands quivered, weathered and old. She looked to me, with pleading eyes, as she wobbled out, "Please. Please. I didn't have a choice."

I watched her, circling the frail woman. "You look so weak but are so strong. Strong enough to be a snake."

Madam Malkin shook her head, again and again. "I didn't mean to. I didn't."

"You're a death eater," I accused, coolly.

She laughed but it quickly dissolved into coughs. "No, no, I'm just an old granny nobody cares for. Why would they-"

"Not officially," I snapped. "But you're their way to keep an eye on things. You're their in-between."

"Maybe but I don't know what I did-"

"Yes, you do!" I cried out, emotions breaking through me. "You knew that the letter contained vital information. Why did you want us to open that envelope?"

Coming back here was for another piece of the truth, one only Madam Malkin could offer. Still, it didn't make me happier. It only made me feel a bit heavier.

"Your grandparents, your boy's parents," she finally cracked, tears in her eyes. "They wanted me to send that letter out to the Warringtons."

I didn't move or show any emotion because I came to this conclusion as well. How else would Cassius have entered the vault?

He must have read from the letter. 

"Why?"

"They-" she hesitated but then saw my cold expression. "They had my girl."

I couldn't help but look at her in surprise. When I saw that the elderly lady was already crying and trembling, taking off her glasses to wipe them.

"My grandchild!" Madam Malkin shouted in outrage and sadness. "They have my grand-"