Through the Haze

Three weeks after Scorpius had gone missing, Mairen found herself in a bit of a jam. It was frustrating to note that not only did she blame herself - everyone else did, too. She had been trying to keep the Malfoys safe, and yet they all seemed to hate her. Scorpius had left her to go Merlin knows where, Francesca openly blamed her, his parents basically ignored the fact that she existed (as far as she knew), and... well, she wasn't sure about Isadora. The girl had never openly been as cold as the rest of Mairen's new 'family.'

Although she had attempted to get in touch with Keiran, the letter had been intercepted, and the news had been sent her way. Without memory of his father's murder, Mairen had no reason for him to help her - or even know her. It was almost certain that he wouldn't know her name - aside from the fact that she was a Malfoy, though she wasn't certain that Keiran would actually talk to her because of that.

...Not that Mairen could actually talk. That point needs to be made. Scorpius had left a few months after she lost her voice and fell into her more reserved, essentially depressed state. She couldn't claim that it was totally her fault, but she couldn't blame him, either. Now that he was gone, Mairen couldn't help but feel guilty for making him go. The only thing she couldn't figure out was - what had been the tipping point that made him leave?

The time was over for thinking about that, though. Ana had been more and more public as of late, and Mairen was becoming more worried about the secret she held onto. Her family weren't the only ones in trouble -- Scorpius's family was part of the deal, and even if he had left, she didn't dare insult him by risking his family members. So she had to find a way to get in touch with the only one who she thought might listen. Or, rather, read her words.

The only place Mairen knew that Ana wouldn't have an eye on? Hogwarts. The woman hated the school, and though Mairen herself didn't understand it, she wasn't interested in questioning it. The hatred gave her a chance to contact Isadora and try to explain what she knew - even if it wouldn't help them find Scorpius. The Malfoys needed to be warned. If they could come to some understanding, perhaps she could help Keiran after he was given the news. If they knew, then her in-laws wouldn't be in danger.

Nothing had really been the same since the accident. There was a part of Isadora that wanted to renounce all involvement in the event and everything preceding it. She wanted to go back to her original state of being before she’d been married and before all of her best laid plans had, indeed, gone awry. In lieu of being able to do that, however, she’d been storing her memories into bottles in order to get a decent night’s sleep. She was also studiously avoiding her husband whom she had not really had much to do with since the first of the month.

Whether she’d realised it or not, Isadora was also avoiding her family, too. She’d known about Scorpius going away without leave but she had her own personal dramas to deal with principally and the girl had really begun to give into her selfish side – with good reason, really. Today, however, she was drawn out of Potions for an audience with her sister-in-law and thus she was pulled rather forcibly out of the black hole she’d unwittingly buried her head in and she knew that in going to see Mairen, she’d also have to put an effort into speaking to Alexander, finally, too.

The door of the guidance office was opened by the blonde haired Malfoy-Nott, the Prefect who had escorted her there disappearing down the corridor outside. She stepped inside, her shoes clicking on the floorboards, and she closed the door behind her, folding her arms in front of herself as she perceived Mairen coolly from underneath her long eyelashes. She took her bag off of her shoulder without saying anything and set it down in the seat of one of the spare chairs before finally venturing to address the elder woman.

“How are you?” Isadora asked gently, straightening her back. Her brows furrowed all of a sudden. “Is everything alright?”

Mairen looked up at Isadora's entrance, half expecting the Ravenclaw to be frustrated that she had to meet with the redhead. For all the older woman knew, Isadora actually was annoyed with her, but was hiding it fairly well. The one who perhaps really should have been frustrated, though, was Mairen herself. She wasn't sure how to explain things without actually writing it out. She supposed it could always be burned in Keiran's office after their meeting ended and Isadora went back to class. Avery would be willing to help her with that, Mairen knew. So it was probably the best bet she had, considering Non-verbal magic had never been a skill of hers. Figures. Anyway, she couldn't use any sort of spell to write it out for her, so that would have to be done by hand.

She shook her head at the second question, biting her lip as though it mattered in some way or other. It wasn't like it held back any secrets or words, considering Mairen couldn't form those. Or, vocalize them, at any rate. She turned and walked around the desk, searching for a pad of paper. Opening a drawer, she found files and quickly shut it back, uninterested in getting into trouble by messing with them. Instead, she went for the long drawer underneath the center of the desk, and found a yellow pad - probably brought in by Keiran himself. A pen, too, was there so she took it up in her hand. Surely Isadora wouldn't begrudge her necessary quirk. After all, the girl had seen her at the wedding, unable to even say her vows.

Not that they necessarily mattered at that point, mind, considering he was gone. Mairen figured that hers would always be true, even if she didn't understand Scorpius's take on things.

Still, she passed Isadora an apologetic look, supposing she should have written it out before the Ravenclaw arrived. Deciding it would be better to go piece by piece and explain more thoroughly, she wrote out her first point.

I know a secret, and I could get in huge trouble for telling you. In fact, your family would get in trouble, too. But it's about a murder of someone who deserves to know what happened to his father. It could take Ana Levski down for good. I want to tell you, but it's absolutely required that you not tell anyone until we figure out what to do. I can't solve this on my own, and I don't really have a family to talk to outside of yours, so...

Her writing slowed on the last sentence, but she knew it needed to be said. Otherwise, why would she have gone to Isadora in the first place, right? So she passed the pad towards the younger girl, clasping her hands tightly atop the desk. Her lips curled in briefly, but she forced herself to relax as she waited for some sort of agreement or refusal.

It seemed as though unlike the rest of her family, Isadora had something of a soft spot for the dark haired edition to their family. She took a seat slowly, steadying her gaze upon Mairen, and she waited patiently as the elder woman wrote out what it was she wanted to say. When the pad was handed to her, Isadora took it into her lap and smiled in thanks before lowering her gaze to scan what had been written in the neat script the woman had. She discerned it faster than she would have normally and her head snapped up, a bone in her neck clicking with the action.

Isadora felt her heart leap into her throat and she glanced down again, electing to re-read at a slower pace and take in the meaning of every word. She drew the implication easily. In murder, only negligence when it came to investigation or an order to do it could ruin a politician. She supposed it could be either, considering how Ana Levski had her priorities elsewhere. Yet the fact that it could cause her family great hurt made Isadora think twice about taking the naïve route. No, this was the latter, wasn’t it? Only the order to kill could have wider consequences for them.

“So,” Isadora began, trying to measure her words and decide what she wanted to say. “This is … this is big.” She considered finally, her lips twitching at the absurdity of her assessment. Isadora rose to her feet again and set the notepad down on the desk for Mairen to take if she wanted to reply. She turned then and leaned against the desk, folding her arms over her chest as she thought.

“What does this mean for us, though?” She asked. “As a family, I mean. Why does this affect us?” She reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck thoughtfully before continuing. “And do we tell the guy? Like, the one whose dad …” she blinked and then shook her head. “No, right? Surely that’s too dangerous at the moment. But what do we do, Mai? Surely he needs to know. We can’t… we can’t deal with it, surely? How do you know all of this?” Isadora took a breath.

“This is bigger than big, isn’t it? This is huge.”