A Heavenly Betrayal (Draco Malfoy Love Story)

Huge Mistake

During the next two weeks, Maria’s frustrations seemed to slowly catch up with her. Their plan was marvellously achievable, except for one piece of the puzzle that was missing: how would they get Dumbledore out of the school? Every time Maria evoked the Headmaster’s name, Draco would be of no help whatsoever. She knew these were exceptionally hard times for him, but sooner or later he would have to face the facts; and she would rather have it sooner than later. Tension was building between the two of them and more and more often, quarrels would burst like they always used to. They had hit a wall, and Maria was begging Draco to acknowledge it. Unfortunately, he didn’t. So, Thursday evening, Maria headed to Dumbledore’s office, convinced it was the only thing left to do. As soon as she halted in front of the stone gargoyle, it turned, revealing a staircase which she started climbing. She didn’t even have to knock; the door opened up for her. The Headmaster had clearly been expecting her. 

"I was wondering when you would come and visit me again, Miss Cleaver," he said with an amused voice, gesturing for the young witch to sit down in front of him.

"I take it you must know why I’m here then," she said sitting down in the huge armchair. Dumbledore’s knowledge really did amaze her.

"Of course," he answered warmly, "you are about to ask me when is the next time I will leave the castle – there was a short pause – or to complain about U-No-Poo."

Maria laughed, but quickly returned to her serious face while lines of worry wrinkled her forehead.

"I’m afraid I do not yet know the precise date; for that matter, I also think it would have drawn suspicion if young Mr. Malfoy had divulged a particular date."

Maria simply nodded swiftly to demonstrate her understanding.

"However, I can assure you that it will happen in early June. You will know in time."

Dumbledore peered over his half-moon spectacles towards the door. Maria, understanding the message, got to her feet, and thanked the Headmaster for his time and very welcomed help before heading back down the spiral staircase. Once she had passed his doorstep, Dumbledore found himself gazing upon his blackened hand and the mysterious ring it bore. He didn’t have much time left, yet he had so many things to see to. His thoughts wandered upon Maria and he embraced her good heart. Never would she have guessed that Dumbledore actually intended on returning just in time to let Snape finish off Draco’s job, for the own boy’s sake.

(A/N: You all know the real story; this is not of my invention...)

***

It had been a long time since Maria had slept that well; in fact, she didn’t even remember what being well rested felt like. The following day, Friday, had been an extremely good day, since it marked the last day of school before the Easter Holiday. Students were eager to go back home for a long, peaceful week and particularly cheerful; so were the teachers. The sun was shining brightly, melting the last bits of snow that had persisted well after their time. Everything was worthy of a dream - well, at least that’s how everything was before the evening. Maria had been too naive in her happiness to give her actions some serious thought. Her evening was, to put it simply, nightmarish.