A witch's heart [Draco Malfoy x oc]

Marigold

The song fits best with the start of Draco's half, if you wanna listen to it while reading :)

This one's above 6k words, so uhm. Sorry. Or you're welcome.
Also, trigger warning: mention of suicide in the latter half.

Happy reading ❣️

[Niela]

I lifted my hand and knocked three times.

"Are you sure this'll work?", I asked Draco. Simply knocking on a house this big seemed incredibly ineffective.
"I know it will", Draco said, though I could feel how nervous he was.

A few minutes later, a forest elf opened the door. Their green eyes stood out on olive skin. An old, worn-out rug served as clothing, loosely hanging from their frail body.

'Spread awareness amongst the wizards, and teach the houseelves about their past values and rights. That is the only way.'

I'd done a crap job at keeping that promise.

"What's your name?", I asked.
"Mary, Miss.", the elve answered.
"My name's Niela Eletherya, this is Draco Malfoy. Do you know someone by the name of Nyle Fawley?"
Mary nodded. "He's my Master, Miss."
Well, hopefully we could change that.
"Is he home?"
"No", Mary squeaked, "but he'll be here soon."
"We're friends of his.", Draco said, with his most diplomatic smile. "I'm sure you've heard of my father, Lucius Malfoy?"
The little elve sighed. "Of course, Sir. You may enter."

Mr. Farley's house looked more like a museum on the inside. He was obviously a passionate collector; all sorts of magical objects decorated his shelves. Glowing plants, antique family crests, crystal balls and paintings, which vividly argued over an upcoming Quidditch match.
The Merfolks' crystal stood out. It had something uncanny to it, as if to draw you in and simultaneously push you away. I almost felt bad, since he hadn't known who it belonged to - but my sympathy vanished the moment I saw a stuffed forest elf sitting on one of the shelves. It was a gruesome image with horror locked in that elves' eyes, as though he knew what was coming for him.
I felt the urge to throw up. Death reeked from the elf. All his resentment, sadness and anger hit me in my stomach. In a slow breath out, I pushed the pain away, though a bitter taste was left in my mouth.

"Do you like working here, Mary?", I asked.

She followed my gaze to her dead peer. Her smile faltered a little before she replied: "It is always a pleasure to work for Master Fawley."
"Don't you think you should be compensated?"
The elve lowered her head. She was full of discomfort and deep rooted pain - though her cheerful voice could've fooled anyone. "His kindness is all I require, Miss Eletherya."
Small, purple sparks danced across my fist.
I plastered on a smile. "I see."
Freeing her should be easy, then.
"I shall go and prepare some refreshments." Mary excused herself with a bow and left the living room.

I released the pent up magic. Violet lighting escaped through my wand, creating a small fire in the chimney. It's been a long time since my magic acted on its own, the kidnapping incident aside. I must not have been this angry in a while.

Draco sat down, legs crossed, an eyebrow raised.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

His eyes wandered towards the fire.
"Sure."

"Did you see that?" I pointed towards the elf in his ragged clothes standing on the chair, as if he couldn't escape his duty, even in death. "That's fucked up, Draco. How could he treat them that way? And what's worse, Mary has to see this, every day, and be reminded of what her bastard of a Master sees her as. To him, they're disposable. A trophy on top of a shelf, not worth living, not worth respect."
"I understand that. But they chose to work for wizards- "
"Slavery and paid work are not the same thing. No one deserves to be treated this way. Also, that 'choice' was made hundreds of years ago. The elves were tricked into this bullshit. Mary was born into slavery, she didn't get to choose! None of them did."