𝐀 𝐑𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 | ʟᴜᴄɪᴜꜱ ᴍᴀʟꜰᴏʏ ꜰᴀɴꜰɪᴄᴛɪᴏɴ

ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴇʟᴇᴠᴇɴ: ʜᴇ ɪꜱ ᴡʜᴀᴛ?!

"Good morning to our favourite professor!" I was warmly surprised by the Weasley twins who came to my classroom earlier than the other students. Fred greeted me, and I smiled.

"How have you been?" George asked.

"Good morning, boys! Much better, thank you!" I replied, trying to mimic their cheerful tone.

"Professor McGonagall said that you would come back today, so we wanted to give you this," Fred said and gave me a bar of hazelnut chocolate.

"We assure you that there is nothing wrong with it," George stated, making me chuckle.

"It is nice to know that. Thank you, boys! I just hope that it wasn't that bad to have classes with Professor Snape," I added and their cheerful faces fell down, telling me everything.

"You don't have to say a word, I get it," I replied, and a few moments later the other students barged into the classroom.

That was a sign for me to start the first double class. I had to prepare the Boggarts for the next class, so I kept myself busy with that during the pause.

The morning teaching period went by pretty fast, and since I never had classes in the afternoon, I was free until dinner.

***

My mind was erupting with the things I had to say to Zelda. As I was walking down the castle halls, I was mentally listing the things I mustn't forget to mention her. The Library door opened and Madam Pince greeted me.

"Catherine, dear. How do you feel? I heard that the flu went hard on you," She said with a warm smile on her face.

Actually, I found her so elegant and nice, realizing that the only thing that made Zelda hate her was because she danced with Severus at the Yule Ball.

"Oh, it definitely was merciless, but it's much better now. Have you seen Zelda?" I answered, looking for my cousin.

"I suppose that Miss Collins is at the Restricted Section, sorting out the new books," She said in a cold tone.

"May I?" I pleaded, and she just nodded approvingly.

I walked through all the bookshelves and finally saw Zelda crouching down to put the books on the lowest part of the shelf. As she stood up to grab more books from the pile, she managed to see me.

"Hi, Katie. How can the best librarian in the world help you?" Zelda asked playfully.

"I have so much to tell you," I whispered, cautious from all the curious ears.

She left her books immediately, leading me to her office.

As I entered a small office, I was faced with the smell of scented candles, enchanted to never burn out. The scent was pleasant and warm, cinnamon and apples dominating it. The other candle was vanilla scented. I noticed a big wooden desk, a comfy armchair and a few big piles of paperwork, which were probably students' records and book files.

It was pretty dark, and if it weren't for the big window and the candles, it would be almost black. The fireplace was silently crackling as Zelda approached the kettle to make us some tea.

"Chamomile?" She asked.

"Does any other exist?" I asked back, and she chuckled.

"Of course..."

I made myself comfortable in one of the armchairs, and a few moments later Zelda brought us two cups of freshly brewed chamomile tea. I took one, and she sat down in an armchair in front of me, taking another cup.

"So, what is it that you want to spill?" Zelda asked in a fake formal tone, and I chuckled.

"You see, while your favourite cousin was sick, she had a meeting with Malfoy Senior," I spilt out, and her jaw dropped with a loud gasp.

"NO!" She exclaimed excitedly. "And?!" She questioned, and I laughed.

"Well, it passed by really good, let's say that I am very satisfied," I said, and she smirked.

"Don't tell me that you two had..." She started, and I shook my head a 'no'.

"Of course not! He is a married man and just came because of his son's marks!" I replied, and she exhaled dramatically.

"Umm, Katie..." Zelda started, her tone changing to a rather serious one.

I looked at her, confusion written all over my face.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Fuck it, if you had already met him, I cannot hide it from you anymore. It's clear that you are clueless," She said, making my confusion grow bigger.

"I don't know how this fact escaped from you, but let's say he's more available than he'd ever been," My face remained still as I was trying to process what she had said.

"The man is divorced, you dumbass!" My eyes widened.

"He is what? Since when?" I was amused by her statement.

"I don't know how you didn't know this, it has been all over the front pages. Rita Skeeter gave him a hard time," She said, and I gave her a look.

"It happened about three years ago," Zelda added, and my face froze from the surprise.

She chuckled as she was looking at me.

"You're lucky that you're sitting, you would fall on the ground if you were standing!" Zelda teased through her laughs.

"Who wouldn't?! Tell me, does it happen that he has someone?" I asked her with a smirk.

"I don't know that many details! But if I had to bet, I would have said yes. He's the richest man in the world!" Zelda said, sipping on her tea.

"Although, you have Karkaroff. I heard how he took care of you these few days," She added, and I smiled.

"M-hm, he was so attentive and careful, and now I definitely know I feel something for him, but..."

"Katie, Lucius Malfoy is very evil and rude to everybody. He got divorced because he cheated on his wife. If you don't want to be hurt, please stay with Igor," Zelda urged me, and I looked at her.

"Really?" I asked quietly.

"Of course. He even asked me what your favourite tea is, so he could brew it for you," She said, and I smiled.

"But what will happen when he leaves? We'll communicate only by letters, and I'll be seeing him only a few times a year," I said, clearly more able to look at the further future.

"Maybe he marries you, and you two move to Bulgaria. You know how you were always telling me about the subject of Dark Arts in Durmstrang," Zelda said with a playful smirk., which made me sigh.

"It's all a 'maybe'. If you want it like that, maybe he'll forget me when he returns to Bulgaria," I said, annoyed by the hot tea I couldn't drink yet. I quickly cast a cold air sphere over the mug, cooling the tea.

"Igor? Forgetting you? Sis, after all these looks I saw in his eyes, I can assure you it'll never happen."