The Kingdom of MAE | George Weasley

Chapter Four

third's a pattern ——— "GOING SOMEWHERE?"

Nephthys shut the cupboard door and came face to face with Blaise Zabini. She stared at him blankly, "I don't see how that's any of your business. Aren't you supposed to be upstairs with Draco kissing his arse or something?"

He scoffed, "Hilarious."

"Aren't I?" said Nephthys with a teasing smile before she walked past him. Blaise followed her out of the kitchen, "Can I help you with something or did you grow bored of my cousin?"

"'Potter this' 'Potter that' Someone ought to tell him his obsession is getting out hand," said Blaise, "Where are you off to?"

"Ah, so you're also victim to his endless Potter obsession, you should see his father's face whenever he brings up Potter," said Nephthys before she stopped walking and turned around, "Why are you asking? Want to come with?"

"Is that an invitation?"

"I'm simply giving you the opportunity to invite yourself," said Nephthys before she turned back around, "I'll be in my room for the next half hour. You know where to find me if you make up your mind."

Nephthys hurried up the stairs and locked herself in her bedroom before she walked to her desk. She placed her peanuts in a corner and looked down at the recipe Rosie gave her. She calculated how much of each ingredient she'd need for multiple trials and added it to a separate list, along with a count of cost. As she looked over the ingredient list, she felt something was missing.

She walked to her trunk and shuffled through it to find her Potions book. She flipped through the different pages and common potions ingredients. She wrote some of them down on the bottom of the page with the rewritten list. Once she was done, Nephthys folded the original paper and stuffed it into her book. She slipped the list into her pocket.

She glanced at her watch, she had to ask permission to leave the house. She wasn't sure if Mrs. Malfoy would let her go on her own and Blaise hadn't sought her out yet. Was he really not going to go with her? He would've been perfect, Mrs. Malfoy definitely wouldn't have any complaints. Should she swallow her pride and seek him out herself? No, she couldn't do that. His head would inflate even more and he'd tease her endlessly.

She figured it was worth a try to ask Mrs. Malfoy if she could go off on her own. Nephthys approached the door just as there was a knock on the door. She pulled the door open to see Blaise standing outside.

He raised his eyebrows in amusement, "You couldn't wait, could you?"

"Don't flatter yourself," said Nephthys as she rolled her eyes, "Are you coming?"

"Well, I don't know — do you want me to?" asked Blaise.

"I'm only trying to be nice," said Nephthys, "I'd rather you not."

"Nice doesn't suit you," said Blaise, "I'll go — but don't get the wrong idea."

"Trust me, I won't," said Nephthys as she walked past him, "Wait for me in the living area."

Nephthys found Mrs. Malfoy in the library as she looked through some books on the shelves. She approached silently until Mrs. Malfoy looked up. Mrs. Malfoy smiled, "Nephthys. How are you doing today, dear?"

"Great," said Nephthys, "I checked everything you bought me like you asked me to. There's nothing missing, thank you."

"You thank me too much and Draco could thank me more," said Mrs. Malfoy, "What brings you in here?"

"I'm sure you're aware that Draco has friends over and one of them is Blaise Zabini?" Nephthys watched as Mrs. Malfoy nodded before she continued, "I heard him mention how he wants to go to Diagon Alley and I offered to go with him. So. . .could I?"