Intertwined

Chapter Three

The night before the ball, Maggie couldn't sleep. She tossed and turned for hours, read, got a glass of water, and even threw open the windows (until her roommates woke up and yelled at her to close the windows on the frigid winter air). She felt trapped.

When she had first come to Hogwarts, had her parents see her off at Platform 9 and 3/4's she had been relieved. Maggie was the baby of the family, and so all of her brothers and sisters were already out of Hogwarts.

But the minute she had seen Carter's face she had known she was screwed. Just as she was getting away from everything she had to sought to escape from at home, the Universe had shoved him.

That night in her dorm she had felt...suffocated. Like her attraction to him and her desire to stay far away from him were warring again. Because she felt like the Ball was a turning point, she had allowed the previously ignored battle to come to the forefront of her mind.

The part of her that was attracted to him wanted to act, to get it over with, and to see if he felt the same. And then what? The other part countered. Be with him? Wouldn't that just be proving everyone at home right? Showing them that she was just like them after all? She shivered at that. No. She was nothing like them. What had all that work been for then, if not to protect...everyone? And Carter, he would only bring it out in her. The thing she tried so hard to suppress.

 That would be good. The part of her she had shoved to the bottom, 'the sickness' as she had labeled it spoke. You would be strong again, powerful again. No! She pictured it, just as her Gran had taught her, draining it from her mind, her heart. Letting it flow out of her toes.

When she finally felt clean and safe again, she was too exhausted to think, and promptly fell asleep. She was awakened what seemed a second later by a thump on the head with a soft object. "Wha-?" she mumbled, and woke up to Chloe whacking her on the head with a pillow.

"Get up! It's nearly lunch time! Get up!"

"Alright! Alright!" Maggie shouted back, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.

Chloe was talking it at a mile a minute. "I would have woken you earlier, but Clarissa made me let you sleep. Let's get some lunch and then get ready! Come on! Come on! I'm so excited."

Maggie chuckled lightly and quickly shoved on jeans, a sweater, and pulled her bed head hair into a pony tail. After all, she was just getting breakfast. She'd clean up properly when they were really getting ready. As soon as she was dressed Chloe pulled her from the dorm and down the stairs to the common room.

There Maggie saw Elijah and broke away. She felt guilty from all the day dreams, as though she'd been cheating on him. It was out of this guilt a long kiss was produced, clinging to her bright beacon in the gray winter's morning light.

He made a small noise, as they usually snuck off to some part of the castle to do this type of kissing. Finally Chloe pulled her away. "As nauseatingly sweet as this is, we need to get some food into Maggie and then prepare for the Ball!" Chloe said importantly.

"Yeah." I said smiling warmly. "Have you eaten, you should join us."

"No, I haven't, and I'd love to!" He said brightly and followed them to the Great Hall. As Maggie served herself some Shepard's pie, and Elijah reached for a roll, Chloe gave them instructions.

"This is not a leisure luncheon, is that clear!" she said, almost angrily. "Maybe you boys can just slip on your dress robes, ruffle your hair and be ready to go, but not us!"

"Don't worry Chlo!" she said soothingly, "We're going to have plenty of time."

They ate lunch in a hurried manner nonetheless, and to Maggie's dismay and simultaneous delight she thought she caught Carter staring at her as she left the hall.

*******

He was indeed. Carter had been taking his lunch and contemplating his plan, when he saw Maggie come in. She glowed with grace and beauty as usual, and seemed...extra affectionate with Elijah. She was giving him little kisses at random intervals. He seemed quite pleased with himself, eating with an arm around her shoulders, fingers tangled in her hair.

Seeing his fingers playing with her hair like that, made him so fucking angry that he bent his fork, to the horror of his friends. He explained it away with pre Ball jitters, playing it charmingly off as an elaborate joke.

What was he doing? If she was happy in this relationship, and if he truly cared for as he thought, wouldn't he want her to be happy? He did want her to, so should he just not say anything?

But he felt so sure that she felt something for him too. And shouldn't she be given all her options? That's only fair after all. Yes, yes, whose to say she wouldn't turn him down flat. It was her decision after all. So, he was decided once again. He would tell her.

*******

After lunch Chloe, Maggie, and the others girl from her dorm went to the showers. Maggie was grateful for some time alone, unfortunately the steamy hot water didn't improve her mood about Carter. Once she was clean and smelling good she headed upstairs to the dorm.

Maggie decided on doing her hair into a smooth twisting up do, leaving just a few strand loose, which she made into semi tight curls. As for makeup she didn't wear much, as she never wore any usually. Just some black eyeliner on her bottom lids, and neutral colors on her eyelids, and a bit of mascara to thicken her lashes, along with a light shade of pink lipstick. Something called "Charmingly Flirtatious; A Shade for Daring Women." It had been a bit of joke, but it looked good enough with her hair.

Under her dress she dressed in white lacy undergarments, a silk slip, and then the dress, it's indescribable material spilling over her body. For shoes, she slipped on white heels. When she turned to face her friends, the finished product revealed for the first time, they gasped.

"Oh! It's not fair!" Lynn said, jokingly stomping her foot.

"Seriously though!" her friend Abigail said (who often said that she was more wolf than girl).

Maggie blushed and smiled. "You all look more beautiful than I could ever hope to be!"

"Oh stop! She's humble too!" Chloe said bitter sweetly.

"We should head down." she said quietly, looking up from under her lashes at the dim room.

They took a deep breath and headed down together, gowns swishing against the stairs.