𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖕𝖙𝖊𝖗 𝖋𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖙𝖊𝖊𝖓
murderer in the making

(...all about appearances)

✦

         THOUGH EVERYONE AT Hogwarts was intrigued by Slughorn's newly created exclusive club for the best Potions students (or anyone he thought would succeed in life and wanted a connection to), Maia did not agree with the general want to be apart of it. Maybe it's because she was handpicked by him to join, the invitation arriving to her on the train ride over to school, or maybe it's because she could see right through what Slughorn was doing.

It was creative, she could admit that much, and of true Slytherin fashion, but after spending time with the most manipulative and distorted versions of those Slytherins who do anything for success, she kept the new Potions professor at a distance and could herself eyeing all his actions suspiciously.

The tactic to gain friendship with all those he thought would succeed and do something great after Hogwarts to gain benefits from them later in life was the entire reason for the club, Maia could see that, though she did not mention her observation to anyone else. Emilia would roll her eyes and begin a bitterness towards him, now seeing it not as her excellence in the class but of her connection towards some high Ministry officials and the expectation that she would join their ranks after finishing her education.

And if there was anything Emilia hated more than Severus Snape, it was the Ministry. Not for the same reasons as those in Maia's family, for their corrupt nature, but because of her family's pushing for her to become a Ministry official like all of them. Emilia was more partial to becoming a Potions master than anything else.

It didn't help that Maia had a special hatred for wearing itchy dresses and using spells to hold her hair into the perfect arrangement, earrings that hurt her ears, and bracelets that slipped all up and down her wrists. She hadn't had to dress up this fancily for many events, really it boiled down to three things: the Yule Ball two years ago, a party Demetri held over summer which she was forced to attend, and a wedding for Nadia's muggle friend, Janet Khan. Ugh. She hated how this dress felt against her skin.

But it was all about appearances – that's what Demetri said. She had to appear like she was just the same as everyone else; good little Maia Greene who didn't have an evil bone in her body. Maia Greene whose mother was Nadia Greene, not a Death Eater and a dead woman. It was the appearance of things, not the actual substance.

So she dressed up nicely and flickered the mascara carefully upon her lashes, smiled brightly and sat next to Emilia who was practically glowing. She always did like elite clubs, always liked to feel superior to others for her talent and hard work.

Nadia was proud of her when she wrote of her acceptance into Slughorn's little club, and that was good. She even wrote back about her own jealously for not being included. Potions was always her worst subject. And if Nadia was proud of her, that was enough.

She had also conveniently forgotten to mention her acceptance to Demetri.

This was something they didn't talk about, her own hobbies. He didn't know that she had a best friend named Emilia, didn't know that she used to play Quidditch before realizing that she wasn't a sporty kind of person, and he never asked about any clubs that she was in. So, well, she didn't tell him in return. He probably wouldn't care.

And if he did know, if for some reason Draco told him or Blaise Zambini (who was always apart of Slughorn's few and whose parents also pledged their loyalty to You-Know-Who) told him, he never said anything to her.

Maia bit at her ice cream, uncomfortable with the awkward silence and Hermione's confession about her parents being dentists – not that any wizard in the room, who wasn't a muggleborn, knew what that was. Maia herself had only been when she was little because her grandpa said it was important.

"What about you, Miss Greene?" Maia's head snapped up at Slughorn's voice, who looked at her with a kind and curious smile.

"Well, my mum's a teacher at a muggle high school," Maia said, announcing this lie to everyone – well, not lie. Nadia was her mother, even if not biologically. "And I don't know about my dad..."

That. Now that was a lie. Because she knew that Demetri worked in the Ministry, buddies with the Minister himself. She knew that Demetri was a Death Eater and she knew that he killed Nancy Carrow – his wife. She knew all of this, but she could say none of it.

"Oh, are you a muggleborn?" he asked, interested.

She shook her head, "No, sir. My mum just decided to become a teacher after...well, the war. Didn't really wanna be associated with the wizarding world because people hated her after her boyfriend – Sirius Black – was thrown into Azkaban."

And the silence that followed was almost deadly. She could see Slughorn already regretting this now that she wasn't a clean star to dote on and sink his claws into. She was tainted and, if she was being honest, she didn't care.

"Right. Nadia Greene is your mother, right?" she nodded at his awkward question, "I remember her. She was always bright – well, I guess not always."

Her insides burned, wanting to defend Nadia. Nadia took in children that weren't hers after only seeing them for a moment all because Remelda asked her to. Nadia rose from the ashes of her reputation in the wizarding world and raised her and Leo to always be accepting and to never accept the truth at face value. Nadia taught her kindness and warmth whereas Demetri wanted to train her to be cold and deadly.

Nadia was smart and if she could be anything like Nadia, she would think herself as a success. But she was not, for Nadia was good and she was a murderer in the making.

"Yes, she is very intelligent," Maia agreed, a bit of a sneer in her voice at his insinuation of something else. She loved Nadia; she was a beacon of hope and goodness. Even if she had forgotten that last year, she knew that now and she would not allow anyone else to believe differently.

Slughorn blinked in surprise, as if this was the first time someone had told him off in such a way. Emilia bit back a grin and giggle, as did Harry and Hermione. The others looked either indifferent or shocked at her small outburst as well. Never mind them, though, as Maia picked up her spoon again and bit at her ice cream.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Slughorn was quick to assure her after recovering from his state of shock, "Nadia was always one of the smartest in my class – well, almost, anyway – but everyone makes mistakes..."

She felt disgust pool inside her at him, at his attitude, his careful wording, his secret society. She wanted to scream, she wanted to attack him right them, she wanted to yell at him and how wrong he was – but appearances. It was all about appearances. And even though she wanted to create a scene, that would be counterproductive for her later.

It was safer just to stay down.

She said nothing and Slughorn took the signal to ask Emilia about her own parents. "Oh, they work in the Ministry," she told him politely, much better at making nice than Maia since she had had much more practice with it, "My dad's an advisor to Minister Scrimgeour, and Fudge before. My mum's an Obliviator."

"Interesting," Slughorn praised, much more interested in this than in Nadia's work, as he understood it more, "Please, tell us more."

So Emilia did, and eventually they had gone all around the table and finished their deserts and Slughorn bid them farewell. Maia huffed and brought her wand up to her hair and did a charm so that her hair fell down and wasn't pulling on her scalp harshly anymore. "I fucking hate that dude," she growled as they walked along the corridor back to Ravenclaw tower.

"He was rather rude earlier..." Emilia said modestly, "I mean, that whole thing about Nadia? It was way out of line."

"Of course it was!" Maia proclaimed, "I don't know what made him think he could say something like that to me. Merlin, I wanted to throttle him back there!"

"Well it's good you didn't, I don't know how I'd get through Hogwarts without you," Emilia sighed, "I don't think I could."

Maia grinned at her friend, bumping her shoulder, "You really know how to make a girl feel special."

Emilia laughed and threw her head and after coming down from her high, motioned for Maia to stop. She held herself up against the wall as she took of her heels and groaned at the feeling as her bare foot hit the cold ground. "I hate heels – they're the bane of my existence," Emilia declared, "But mum always says that a proper lady wears heels at a fancy-smancy event like this."

Maia hummed, "I don't think the heels are that bad. It's just the dress – ugh! It's so itchy, Mia!"

The Adams girl grinned at her and giggled at her pain. "That's how you know it's low quality," Emilia told her, "Where did you get it from anyway?"

"I don't know, some place in Hogsmeade?" Maia shrugged, "I didn't really care enough to spend a lot of money on this since I'm only wearing it for these events?"

"The same dress?"

"Yeah."

"To each dinner?"

"Um, yeah?"

"Maia, you're hopeless," Emilia sighed, "You never, ever wear the same dress to the same type of event."

Maia raised an eyebrow, "Now who told you that?"

"My mum, obviously."

"Well, you can tell your mum to shove it because I'm not wasting anymore of my money on another stupid, itchy dress," Maia snapped, though it was more playful than anything else.

Emilia looked at her as if she was crazy. "As if I would ever tell my mother such a thing, she'd murder me!" she exclaimed, "But you can borrow one of my dresses for the next one. I mean, my mum sent me, like, three when I told her about this whole club thing. She'll probably send me more so you can just borrow one."

"You'd do that?" Maia asked.

"Of course," Emilia agreed easily without truly thinking it over, already accepting to lend Maia a dress, which touched her friend.

"Thanks."

"No problem."

The two girls reached the spiral staircase up to the tower and began the climb, Emilia muttered, "Merlin, I'm so glad I don't have to go up these in heels," with Maia hitting since she was still wearing her own pair, regretting her decision already.

"Hey," Emilia hit Maia lightly before pointing up, "That ghost is here again."

"Really?" Maia frowned before looking to where Emilia's finger was pointing causing her frown to further, "Do you think Dumbledore even knows about her?"

Emilia shrugged. "Well, usually he introduces all of the ghosts as a warning to the first years, but not this one. Maybe he didn't think anyone would see her?"

"Or she's stayed so hidden that not even he knows," Maia suggested, "I mean, we went years and never saw her."

"But now we see her. It's weird. I mean, the way she dresses...well, it's so seventies," Emilia said.

"So, the seventies? That's around when she died?" Maia asked, though it wasn't like Emilia knew the answer.

"I guess? I mean, that's the clothing and I doubt she was going to a costume party in that...but, if she's been dead for so long, how did she get to Hogwarts – and how has no one else seen her?" Emilia fired off questions, "It's just so weird. Like, why now, you know?"

Maia frowned, stepped up to talk to Lucie again, but as she did, the ghost disappeared into thin air. "Great," she huffed, "How are we supposed to get any answers if she disappears every time we try and talk to her?"

"Come on, let's go to bed," Emilia said instead of answering, "It's late and we have classes tomorrow."

"It just sucks," Maia complained, but moved up the steps and did as Emilia said.

✦

Maia held onto her books for DADA and Transfiguration as she moved around the crowded corridor. DADA, of course since it was with Snape, went terribly and she felt like tearing his head off, especially know that she knew he was a Death Eater because of his presence at the Malfoy Manor over summer.

It was probably a shock for him to see her there as well, but he didn't get to talk about her when he was deceiving everyone by trading secrets with Voldemort. Well, not really deceiving, everyone knew that he was secretive and a bit...darker, to say the least.

She wouldn't say that Snape made DADA worse than usual, because it wasn't like the class had a long list of great professors. There was Quirrell, who was Voldemort himself, then a self-centered bastard who didn't know shit about defending anyone from Dark Arts, and then her uncle – who was the best professor ever, in her unbiased opinion – then a Death Eater disguised as an old Auror, and then the devil in pink, and now Snape. So well, he wasn't exactly the worst professor she had in DADA, but he was far from ever being the best.

Walking around a corner, she felt someone tugging at her arm harshly, forcing her into a hole in the corridor. She yelped as she felt the pull, muttering out a "hey!" until she was shushed, causing more anger until she looked up to see Draco.

"What are you doing?" she hissed, looking at him in anger for being pulled from going to class. Professor McGonagall was going to skin her alive if she was late...

"I had to talk to you but you were ignoring me," Draco snapped back at her, pulling away his arm and straightening out his robe.

Maia took a step back, looking at him with reproach because, well, it was true. She had been ignoring him. Some part of her, as foolish as it was, believed that if she ignored Draco and their mission, it would all go away and she could pretend to be the pretty little Maia Greene – a pure princess.

Out of sight, out of mind, really.

But now she was confronted with this and she can't turn back, can't look away. It's in sight, it's in mind, and she can't escape it. She never really could.

"What? What do you need to say?" Maia questioned harshly, unfairly but needed on her part.

He looked at her, eyes flicking to behind her, before leaning in. "I have a plan," he whispered into her ear.

Maia frowned. "About what?"

"Um, getting Death Eaters into the school, duh," he rolled his eyes.

"I think the murdering supposed to happen first," she told him, causing him to give her a look.

"Yes, I realize that, but I don't wanna do that until I can get them into here so it's more logical to find a passage way in than to plan a murder," Draco explained to her, though annoyance bled through.

"Well? What loophole did you find?" she asked him.

"The Vanishing Cabinet."

"The Vanishing what now?"

"The Vanishing Cabinet," he repeated, "You put something in there, close the door, and it'll be sent somewhere else. There's one at Borgin and Burkes that I have a hold on and I found one here. It's broken, but it won't take much to repair it. After that, we just need to start a connection between the two."

"Okay, so the Vanishing Cabinet...is that it?" Maia asked him.

"Well, for now, yes. I haven't really been planning a murder right now," Draco rolled his eyes.

She stared at him, finding herself becoming increasingly annoyed with him and his dislike towards her. So what she hadn't been thinking about this already, she doesn't want this – she never wanted this – but by the looks of it, Draco didn't want it either.

"Well, I'll meet you tomorrow night near the kitchen. We can talk more then," Maia said, knowing that she couldn't go back to ignoring her problems. Draco nodded and she stepped away from him and into the corridor again.

By the time she did reach Transfiguration, she was late but (thankfully) Professor McGonagall didn't give her detention.

✦

Leo enjoyed Thursday nights because those were family nights. Not extended family, not everyone together, but just Nadia and Leo and no one else. There was no Sirius, who lived with them and was always around, there was no Remus or Nymphadora (who was trying to get Remus to look at her, though her efforts were failing so far), no Regulus, no Thea or Jasper, just them.

Just them and popcorn Nadia had made, staring at a TV and watching Friends, laughing along with it and not having to worry about the world. Nothing could touch them while they were there, it felt like, and Leo just loved not having to do anything for an hour or so while they hung out on the couch.

"So how are Thea and Jasper?" Nadia asked, chomping down on a handful of popcorn.

"They're good. Thea and I are going out tomorrow and on Saturday we're going to the movies with Jasper," Leo informed her.

Nadia nodded. "Regulus invited us to dinner Sunday. He's having a get together with everyone over at Grimmauld. Apparently, he just finished his downstairs bathroom and he wants to show it off."

Leo forced a smile, even though he hates going over to Regulus' house all because of what it had looked like the year before. With the cobwebs and dust, with the dark décor, with the evil magic polluting it, and the eerie feeling everyone got, with the depression, with the cold feeling that crawled over his skin. It didn't look the same, what with the redecorating and fresh, bright paint on the walls and new furniture (all the old being burned), but it still incited the same bad memories.

He admired Regulus for redoing everything and making it a sanctuary rather than a prison, but he still couldn't see it the way it looked now, still trapped in the past.

"Can't wait," he lied, hoping that Nadia didn't see right through it. "How's everything with Sirius?"

"Oh, he's good. Still trying to adjust and everything," Nadia answered, "He's not used to being able to just go outside."

Leo nodded, knowing how he sees Sirius walking away the neighborhood in the morning while he gets ready for school. He wouldn't be surprised if the same did that throughout most of the day too. He always looked better, more at peace, when he came back from his walks, less jittery.

"Oh, Maia wrote today. Or, well, I got a letter from her today," Nadia smiled, "She says she's good and all of that. You know that club she's apart of? For Potions? Well, she hates it apparently."

Leo cracked a smile, "She never did like after class activities."

"Like you can talk," Nadia rolled her eyes, "You haven't done any after school activities since I made you play football."

"That's because football sucks and I don't like sports," Leo defended himself.

"Then do something else."

"I don't wanna."

"Then don't say anything about Maia, at least she does something," Nadia insisted, and if she had said it any other way, he might've taken offense, but he knew that she was being light-hearted and not mean.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved it off, "You know what Regulus is making on Sunday?"

Nadia shook her head, "Not a clue."