spite
Maggie arrives late to the next order meeting, blood drenching her cloak. It causes raised eyebrows and horror from the younger members of the order.
Maggie pointedly avoids where Percy is sitting with his older brothers.
“What is this about?” Arthur asks, “If you are fresh off a killing spree on innocent lives-.”
“I just killed Dolohov.” Maggie says, “Him and his little followers.”
She guesses the wicked grin on her face sends a few on edge.
“Revenge.” Severus hums, shoving a slice of potato in his mouth.
“For multiple reasons.” Maggie nods, reaching up to rub her hand across her cheek. She raises an eyebrow at the crimson that smudges on her palm. “I didn’t know I-.”
“Looked like a crazed maniac?” Severus asks, “You definitely do. I'd hate to see Dolohov.”
“You can’t see him. He’s in pieces.” Maggie says, her voice full of pride. “For Gideon and Fabian.”
“Gideon and Fabian?” Molly says, her voice loud and full of hurt confusion.
“Those were my best mates.” Maggie says, nodding her head as she sits next to Severus at the table. “We met in Knockturn Alley-.”
“My brothers? in Knockturn Alley-?!”
“They always told me about their fretting little sister, Miss Molly Prewett.” Maggie laughs, “and dear god, you were their favorite little human.”
Maggie finishes the sentence in a sentimental sort of way, before sighing and letting her face fall into her hands.
The room around the
m is silent for an extended period of time.
“Voldemort sent Dolohov to kill me.”
“What?” Severus asks, his fork clunking to settle on his plate. “What-Why-?”
“I’ve gone too soft. So to avoid me becoming sloppy and dying brutally or joining the other side, he ordered Dolohov to kill me. He framed it as a mercy killing, to keep me from getting myself killed. That he cares for me.” Maggie laughs, a waver in her voice following, “I poured my fucking heart out to one of my oldest friends, the man who knows that everything he’s preaching, the torture, the rape, goes against anything we ever stood for. He-.”
Maggie tightens her grip on her face, dragging her bangs into her fists as she sobs brokenly.
“I told him I was done. I was done with the organization if we started to use rape as torture, He made sure. He made sure! That rape would never be used in his organization. So he thought my mind was fucked, because I never gave him an inkling that I would ever leave the organization, that I would ever leave him.”
Maggie stops speaking in fear of destroying her reputation ever farther.
“You couldn't put off your breakdown for a little while longer?” Snape sighs, and Maggie barks out a laugh as the room jumps to defend her.
“I wish.” Maggie laugh-sobs, “I’m of no use to the order anymore, and Voldemort is going to kill me sooner or later-.”
“Hush, We could still use you in the inevitable fight against him and his followers.” Molly says, “Now, It’s not safe for you to return to your home, so you will be staying here-.”
“That isn’t necessary-.”
“It’s not a question.” Sirius dismisses, “Take it as us making sure you aren’t fucking with us.”
Maggie doesn’t say anything as she sits back in her seat, before finally glancing around the room. The room returns to normal, conversations start and the world continues on. She studies the people around her, noting how close Remus and Nymphadora are, how closed off Sirius is from everyone else, and how exhausted Harry Potter was.
Her eyes finally settle on Percy.
She was incorrect early, and Percy is not sat between his older brothers. His older brothers are on the same couch, but Percy is between Oliver and Penelope.
Penelope is leaning back on Percy’s shoulder, talking to one of Percy’s brothers. Maggie has yet to learn the difference between Percy’s siblings, aside from Bill. Oliver is pressed into the arm of the couch, Percy nearly on his lap, with his fingers running up the back of Percy’s neck to his scalp. It’s entirely possessive, but Percy’s eyes are boring into Maggie.
She meets Percy’s eyes hesitantly, swallowing roughly when she sees the rage and aching in his eyes.
She looks away quickly, and her eyes fall to her lap.
She doesn’t know how long she sits with her head facing her lap, and the only thing that pulls her out of her dissociative state is a call of her name.
“Severus very rarely stays the night here, but he is tonight. We are out rooms to give out, so can you stay in Severus’s room with him tonight?”
Severus makes a noise of offense and Maggie laughs heartily.
“C’mon, Sev, You don’t want to share a room with me?”
“Fuck off.” Severus bites, “I have no issue sharing a room with you.”
“Awww.” Maggie laughs, reaching over and jabbing her finger into his side. Severus jumps away and bats at her hand angrily. “May I use a bathroom to shower-?”
“She can use the one in my room.” Severus says, standing up slowly, “I need to speak with her anyway.”
“If you are questioning her, You should do that in front of us-.” One of Percy’s brothers starts to say, but Severus rolls his eyes.
“It’s personal. It has nothing at all to do with Death Eaters or The Dark Lord or the Order. We are friends outside of this all.”
Maggie rolls her eyes at how cryptic Severus makes it sound, like they’re discussing something heavy and important.
“Well, Goodnight.” Maggie says, taking Severus standing as her cue to move. “If you hear any news about Tom, er Voldemort, let me know please.”
“You’ll be the first to know.” One of Percy’s brothers says, a nicely concealed jab in the words.
Once Maggie and Severus are out of the kitchen and up a floor in stairs does she speak again.
“Do they ever believe you?”
“Some are always skeptical, while some sometimes believe you, it’s just how it is.”
“So never?”
“Not really.” Severu snickers, stopping two floors up and opening a door close to the stairs.
The room is barren, a bed and a dresser along with a chair in the far corner. The room is a deep red, with matching sheets and such. A door is on the adjacent wall to the entry.
It’s boring.
Maggie reaches for her wand that’s under her coat, then freezing before she moves anymore.
“I was about to be very furious with you.” Severus breathes, holding his hand out. Maggie removes the wand from her waist band and hands it to Severus. “You know you are traceable now.”
“Sadly.” Maggie says, “Will you kill me, Sev?”
“No. Don’t ask again.” Severus says, snippy and final. “Should have let Dolohov kill you if you wanted to die.”
“I’d rather get hit by a bus than let Dolohov kill me.” Maggie laughs dryly, “That would have made him cream his pants.”
“Strip.” Severus says, “Let’s see the damage.”
“Take me on a date first.” Maggie says weakly, pulling her cloak off.
“I’m not eighteen and ginger, love.” Severus says, taking the cloak and waving his wand once to clean it.
“He’s twenty.” Maggie corrects, pushing her pants off her hips. “His birthday was a few days ago. The twenty-second.”
“Shut up.” Severus grumbles, “I don’t know how the Dark Lord didn’t see how whipped you were sooner.”
Maggie hands her pants to him, followed by her shirt and socks. Now she stands in front of him, in just her undergarments and bloody skin.
“He’s with Clearwater and Wood now.” Severus says, “I heard him whispering to his mother about how you don’t love him and only used him for sex.”
“What can I say, I’m a Class-A actress.” Maggie laughs, horrified by how watery it sounds, “He deserves them, not someone almost three times his age, who was best friends with his uncles. I’m older than his mother for christ sake. They love him, he loves them, sounds correct to me.”
“Why are you such a self-sacrificing idiot?”
“Ironic you are saying that.”
Severus does a quick clean of her body, scanning and healing her wounds as he goes.
“Molly told him that wasn’t true and to give you time.” Severus says, “Wood and Clearwater didn’t waste any time reeling him in.”
“It’s been months.” Maggie laughs humorlessly, “He moved on.”
“They had him in their bed a week after he showed up at the burrow alone.”
“He-.” Maggie’s voice trembles, “He uses sex as a punishment to himself. He’s hurting himself with them.”
“Cry if you need to.” Severus says softly, and the dam she had carefully crafted cracks.