#(aliyashafiq2)

The Shafiqs had been more than generous with Bailey. They’d given her a home, a lab, clothing, Aliya had paid for her very expensive magical dragon tattoo, and also Bailey was eating better than she had since she graduated from Hogwarts. Also, Zahi had literally saved her life. It was more than she’d ever be able to repay in her lifetime, and she still wasn’t sure how to feel about it all, besides grateful and vaguely uncomfortable. 

None of that stopped her from venturing out of her lab and through the labyrinthine house one day in order to find Aliya. There was something greater at stake than her pride here. Remus was counting on her, and in order to brew Wolfsbane, she had to be able to afford it. 

“Erm- excuse me,” she coughed awkwardly in order to get the older woman’s attention, and shifted from foot to foot. “I was wondering if I could talk to you?”

“Mrs. Shafiq.” It was rare that human interaction actually made Lucius happy instead of neutral-to-miserable, but he couldn’t deny that Aliya Shafiq was someone to look forward to, since she’d saved him from a complete breakdown on Halloween and had been kind of enough not to judge him for it- at least outwardly. “It’s a pleasure to see you again, though I must admit the invitation was unexpected.”

Also, it was nice to have to chance to make a better impression. One where he wasn’t shaking like a leaf in a gale just because his parents were yelling at him. 

“To what may I accord it?”