SOFTER

With a bit of a smirk, Narcissa bounced on her feet. “Oh my dressmaker has created loads of new dresses for all of these parties I’ve been invited to and I already taste that Christmas champagne. I do say, no one does Christmas like I do.”

“Your... dressmaker?” Champagne. Parties. Mary’s Christmas break was going to be far quieter than Narcissa’s, apparently.

Turning to the girl he hadn’t even realised felt addressed by his exclamation, Alastor grimaced, “Not you– I mean maybe you, because you’re also a student, but–” He was about to turn to the 7th year he had just been arguing with, only to find said student to be gone. “If I find his sorry ass–” Once again, he broke off, catching the rather anxious look on Mary’s face.

Silence settled between them, Mary unsure how to react to Alastor’s acerbic manner. She wasn’t great at handling people who were very in your face. “...Sorry I bothered you.”

“No?” She questioned, raising an eyebrow. “I don’t know about that,” She said easily. “I think I know you pretty well.”

Mary set her jaw and focused her eyes at the hollow of Alecto’s throat. “How’s that?”

“And why did you have to play the messenger?”

“Because I was last in the room. I didn’t volunteer.”

“When I first met you, I thought you were kind of a dick.”

“You thought I was a dick? Why?” Not that she hadn’t thought he was absolutely weird.

Well - that was friendly enough. It was encouraging. “It’s hard not to. I keep an emergency stash of sweets in my trunk but sometimes it just doesn’t hit the spot,” she said. 

“And the House Elves always make you toast, if you ask nicely.” Mary looked away, thinking fondly of nights spent munching on slightly stale toast and peanut butter.

A silence followed and Alice felt guilt, “No, no — it’s not. Me saying that, was.”

“No no, it’s okay. I’m just a bit stressed out is all. It’ll be fine, after Christmas.” She couldn’t wait to get home, truthfully.

With a nod, Kingsley offered a small smile. He knew what the questioning had to have done to some of the students, especially those who he’d consider mostly innocent. “What’d you think we’d be like?” He asked in an amused tone.

“More...abrupt? I guess, and definitely more suspicious. It wasn’t as bad as being interrogated by McGonagall.”

She smirked. “I don’t,” she shrugged. “I just know that i’m not wrong.” She had heard enough about Mary Macdonald to know that she was easily intimidated.

“You don’t know me.” She wasn’t wrong though. Alecto had that infuriating smirk that her brother had, that so many of them had.

“Oh,” she said, giving the Gryffindor a small smile. She was on friendly enough terms with most of them, but she never knew quite where she stood with Mary. “Most the time I see a Gryffindor down here, they’re trying to find the kitchens,” she mentioned, and then grinned. “Mostly while intoxicated.”

Mary offered Andromeda a small smile. She’d been quite rude to her before, she thought, but she mightn’t have deserved it. “I’ve done that before, too.”

❝You’re shaking.❞ @mcrymacs

“I-” Mary had seen someone who could have been Mulciber and it hadn’t mattered that she saw him all the time, suddenly, just that he was coming towards her and she’d had to get away. So she’d ducked into the classroom and now she had to explain herself. Shit. “I hadn’t noticed.”

❝I’ve got bags of, uh ,hamburgers for you.❞ @mcrymacs

“Hamburgers? Are you alri.... oh, right. Hamburgers. Sure.” God, why was she so dense?