36. Draco Malfoy - Avada Kedavra
*Synopsis: During the war, Maggie finds a way back to Hogwarts as she’s worried about Draco and the friends she made there. She’s surprised to find all of the students and teachers standing before Voldemort, while ‘dead’ Harry Potter was being carried by Hagrid. Spotting Draco, she runs out to the center of the battlefield and calls his name. But a muggle at Hogwarts doesn’t exactly make Voldemort happy.*
*Warning - doesn’t follow the movie 100%, mentions of death, anger, and war. Whatever else is considered a warning*
*Maggie’s p.o.v*
Every inch of my body felt like it was broken when I woke up in the middle of my Grandmother’s old farmhouse. There was a hole in the roof and the speculation of whether or not I fell through it came into question. I pulled myself off the ground; a layer of dust was collected on my clothes causing me to dust it off. Coughing from the cloud of dust, I stumbled out onto the porch and gasped desperately for some fresh air. I was greeted by the sickly green color of the England sky; the feeling that something was wrong burned me deep in my bones. As I stared up at the dark sky, the last couple of months hit me like a ton of bricks. Dumbledore was gone forever, just like Grandma Loral; Draco was a Deatheater, which he had refrained from telling me until the night he asked me to see him, and was meant to kill Dumbledore himself. Draco didn’t know that I had witnessed him trying to kill Dumbledore but failing to do so, or me seeing the mark on his arm when he revealed it. Snape, in the end, was the one who had killed Dumbledore and was a Deatheater all along. Harry and I confronted Snape at the beginning of the school year and I had managed to get him alone as he ran off to avoid confrontation. Our conversation was heavy on my mind.
“Snape!” I yelled out; his body coming to an abrupt stop, “Why? Why did you do it?” “A muggle such as yourself could never understand,” he hissed. “You were his friend!” I yelled back, “and Draco! Where is he?” He watched me and time seemed to move ever so slow the longer he held his gaze. The inside of my throat felt raw and sweat was practically pouring from my skin. “I know Draco met with you,” Snape said, “at your Grandmother’s house after Dumbledore’s death. He told you everything despite what you are.” I swallowed hard, being reminded by the burning in my throat how dry it was. “I love him,” I said; Snape got closer to me. “Even after everything he is?” I couldn’t answer that because I didn’t know if I did. That night I couldn’t abandon him, he was in so much pain, but my feelings for him felt rocky. Every part of me wanted to hold on to that love but it didn’t seem practical with where he was heading. “Yes,” I stated. “Then forget about him. With you around, you’ll only put him in danger.”
The next thing I remembered was a flash of light and I was thrown here. For how long was beyond me; it could have been days, weeks, months. I collapsed on the steps of the porch, fresh tears spilling from my eyes as I tried to cope with all the events that have occurred in however many days it's been. It felt like I hadn’t cried in so long and this was much needed at a time like this. My entire world felt like it was crashing before me and there was nothing I could do. I was nothing more than a muggle and I didn’t hold anything powerful inside me like all of my friends and family. It was a curse being born the only muggle to a family of wizards and witches.
When I was done crying, I picked myself back up and went inside. There must have been something left behind here; since no one was able to sell it so all of her belongings had remained here and sometimes I would come stay here when I missed her so much. I picked up an old, tattered photo album and plopped down on the withering couch before flipping it open and looking through the photos. Like every other photo in the magic world, these photos moved revealing a few seconds before and a few seconds after the snap of the camera. There were tons of photos: my grandmother with her late husband who I had never had the pleasure of meeting, my parents who had died when I was terribly young; they were so young and in love based on the stories I was told and the photos I saw, then there was Draco and I. Some of the pictures I hadn’t known were being taken, for example, the two of us sitting in the garden; Draco’s head rested in my lap while I read to him from one of the many story books I kept around. He was watching me so lovingly, not an ounce of hatred in his eyes or heart that day. Another photo was taken with our knowledge; Draco had snuck away from school to see me on a particularly warm day and we were outside enjoying a fresh bowl of cut watermelon. His arms were wrapped around my waist and I was feeding him a piece when Grandma had snapped the photo. I smiled, a stray tear slipping off my cheek and onto the old paper.
I flipped to the next page which happened to also be the last page of the album. There was something written on the empty page in black ink in perfect, loopy handwriting that belonged to my Grandmother. The words on the page were addressed to me which was odd because I had never seen them before. I traced my fingers over the ink as I read the inscription.
“Those who tell you that magic is the most powerful force known to all have never known the true power of absolute, undying love. Maggie, you may be a muggle but your love and heart are just as powerful as any wand.”
All of the memories of Draco and I flooded through my mind as I was reminded of all the times I was truly in love with this boy. Even now my heart aches to be near him, to touch him, to breathe in the unforgettable scent of his expensive cologne. Of course I was angry at him from betraying all of Hogwarts by becoming a Deatheater, and for him to not tell me or trust me with that information was heartbreaking but there was no denying that I was terribly in love with him because there was a better side to him than all of this. I needed to get back to Hogwarts and check on all of my friends, and I needed to find Draco. Fortunately I had managed to pick up a few tricks on how to get to and from Hogwarts after being there for so long. Not many ways worked for muggles but there were a few including a portkey which I was fortunate to own thanks to Grandma Loral. It was a stupid looking portkey, a piece of yarn with a paperclip attached to it but it was damn powerful. This portkey allowed for me to transport myself anywhere my Grandmother had been and that included Hogwarts. Taking a deep breath, I fished the object out of my jean pocket. As soon as my fingers touched the odd piece of trash, I was transported back to Hogwarts with a single thought of the school in my head.
It didn’t matter how many times I used this thing, I would never be use to the sudden landing of the portkey. My knees always buckled and I always ended up falling down because of the lack of balance in my body. Oddly enough, there was no one around. Pulling myself from the ground, I did a swift scan of the halls of Hogwarts. They were in ruins; dirt and gravel and chunks of other pieces of the building were scattered all over the place. Something had definitely happened here. I ran to the window and popped my head out. Everyone was standing out there in front with defeated looks on their faces. Standing a couple of feet away from the people I’ve grown to call family was an ungodly pale man in dark robes in front of an even larger group of darkly dressed people. It hit me instantly, this was the man everyone had been scared of, who Draco had told me about that evening Dumbledore was murdered: Voldemort. Even from up here, I was terrified. Hagrid was walking forward with a person being held in his arms but I couldn’t really make out who it was. All I could really see was the sad look over Hagrid’s face as if he had just lost someone beloved to him. Then it hit me hard with the realization that it was Harry being cradled in Hagrid’s arms.
From underneath I heard some murmuring but couldn’t make out the words. That is until Voldemort started speaking, his voice booming over the schoolyard.
“Harry Potter…is dead!” He yelled.
“No! No!” Ginny screamed, trying to push herself forward.
“Silence!” Voldemort bellowed, raising his wand and throwing a spell towards Ginny causing her to stumble backwards, “Stupid girl. Harry Potter is dead.”
Every inch of my body felt hot and I found it harder and harder to breathe as I held back more tears.
“From this day forth,” Voldemort continued, “you put your faith…in me. Harry Potter is dead! And now is the time to declare yourself. Come forward and join us…or die.”
From behind Voldemort stood a man who looked like a much older Draco; he lifted his hands and waved frantically forward. I could hear his voice as clear as day as he called out.
“Draco! Draco.”
But even in the crowd I could hardly make him out because of the people surrounding him. Then a woman stepped forward, her black hair had a single streak of white in it. She raised her arms openly and spoke in a soothing voice.
“Draco, come.”
Draco emerged from the crowd and slowly approached Voldemort and his family. A low, eerie chuckle left Voldemort’s lips as he reached his arms out to greet Draco.
“Well done, Draco. Well done.”
I watched as Draco made his way to his parents slowly before holding onto who I assumed was his mother. The look on my face made my heart ache. He looked sad and defeated, like he didn’t want to be where he was anymore. Not wasting another second standing at this window, I ran off down the hall to the entrance. I could hear more chatting, a speech is what it sounded like but it wasn’t coming from Voldemort, instead it was coming from Neville. I rushed out the side of the building and some of the students turned to me, gasping at the mere sight of me. I scanned the area and saw Neville speaking to the entire crowd while holding something in his hand, it looked like the sorting hat. He pulled out a sword from the hat ready to use it. That’s when Harry fell out of Hagrid’s arms and pointed his wand.
“Confringo!”
The spell blasted towards the snake beside Voldemort rather than at him but it bounced off and into the crowd of Deatheaters. Harry took off running and some of the Deatheaters started to leave at the sudden situation; most of them were being yelled at by some frizzy haired woman who wanted them to stay and fight. I pushed past everyone, even passed Professor McGonagall who tried to grab me but failed. Voldemort was shooting random spells at Harry, who managed to dodge a lot of them but used his wand to get rid of the ones he couldn’t. I ran past him but muggles have a different scent than wizards or witches, they lack the smell of magic, so as soon as I ran past him he noticed me. His eyes tearing away from Harry and I could practically hear him snarl behind me.
“Muggle,” he hissed, angrily.
“Maggie! No!” Harry yelled.
“Draco!” I screamed.
The blonde haired boy stopped and turned around quickly, his eyes almost popping out of his head at the sight of me.
“Draco! I love you!” I called out, “I’ll always love you! No matter what! Do you hear me?! I love you, Draco Malfoy!”
*Draco’s p.o.v*
“I love you, Draco Malfoy!” Maggie yelled towards me.
Tears started to stream down my face and I yanked myself away from my mother and father as they desperately tried to reach me. The single sight of Maggie filled me with so much warmth, and all I needed was for her to be in my arms. As I started walking faster towards her, her own feet carrying her even faster to meet me, I spotted Voldemort raising his wand towards her. Everything felt slow and I could hear the sound of my heart beating inside my chest rapidly as I watched.
“Maggie!” I cried, time returning back to its normal path and more tears spilling from my face.
She didn’t bother turning around as if she knew what was coming next. Instead, she smiled at me.
“Avada Kedavra!” Voldemort hollered.
A green flashing light soared through the sky towards her.
“Maggie!” I screamed just as the flash of green light hit her.
I felt my mother grab me, trying to drag me away but I just pulled myself away from her again and ran to Maggie’s body that now lay on the ground. I fell to my knees and grabbed her body; it was heavy and limp with no sign of movement. My tears fell onto her face as I cried.
“No, please. Maggie, please, wake up.”
Voldemort raised his wand at me this time but his spell was defiled by Potter causing the attention to be thrown back to him.
I pulled Maggie’s body upwards and hugged her tightly as I sobbed; my mother’s hands touched my shoulder as she knelt beside me. She tried to pull Maggie out of my arms but I didn’t allow it.
“I love her!” I cried out, “Don’t take her away from me!”
