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chapter four | sweet sabotage

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"AND, WE ARE BACK!" Maddie greeted with a smile, dragging her stool out and sitting down at her Potions desk.

Ron's face flickered with surprise at the girl's casual, friendly demeanour. Maddie only assumed he expected her to get angry or be somewhat passive aggressive, after overhearing his complaint about her.

But, in her own opinion, Maddie didn't have the energy to be angry all the time - she just saw it as a waste. The girl always figured that, if something or someone pisses you off in the moment, speak up, move on, and stop dwindling on everything - just have a laugh, and that, instead. That's a much better way of living than Snape's default ill-tempered state. He could learn a lesson, or two, from her, she reckoned.

"Nice to see you too," Maddie continued, after Ron stayed silent, avoiding eye contact. He was going to be a tough cookie to crack, this one.

Oh yeah, and Malfoy returned to his lessons, today, acting like he'd just fought a heroic battle.

"How is it, Draco?" simpered Pansy. "Does it hurt much?"

"Yeah," he replied, attempting some brave sort of grimace, before turning to Crabbe and Goyle and winking. Diana, a few seats down, rolled her eyes.

"Eurgh," Maddie pulled a face. "You know when the cringe hurts? It hurts,"

"Hm," Ron replied. He didn't want to warm up to her too quick, after what happened last lesson. He was still supposed to hate her.

Emphasis on 'supposed to'.

But his dislike for Maddie would soon be nothing compared to his antipathy for Malfoy, as he set up his cauldron next to the pair, which meant they unfortunately had to share ingredients with him.

Maddie wasn't sure if Malfoy had seen Ron and forgotten Harry wasn't next to him, and so thought it would be fun to torment the two - he flashed with confusion when he looked up from his cauldron and saw Maddie paired up with the Weasley boy, and then a face of realisation followed. Still, he stayed put. They were making a new potion today - a Shrinking Solution.

"I might just put my cauldron in front of his stupid arm and blow it up on purpose, today," Maddie muttered to Ron, giving Malfoy a scowl. They didn't have to work in pairs today, they were to use their own cauldrons - much to Ron's relief.

"Sir," Malfoy called. "Sir, I'll need help cutting up these daisy roots, because of my arm,"

"Weasley, cut up Malfoy's roots for him," said Snape, not even bothering to look up. Ron's face turned bright red.

"There's nothing wrong with your arm!" he hissed at the boy, who only smirked in response.

"Weasley, you heard Professor Snape, cut up these roots,"

"Bad luck, Ronald," said Maddie, chucking her ingredients in her brass cauldron carelessly, as Ron seized his knife and began to chop Malfoy's roots roughly, so that they were in all kinds of uneven chunks.

Maddie quite enjoyed the sight of Ron being aggressive towards someone else, for a change.

"Professor," Malfoy drawled. "Weasley's mutilating my roots,"

Snape walked over, staring down his hooked nose at the roots, before giving Ron an unpleasant smile from beneath his greasy hair.

"Changs the roots with Malfoy, Weasley,"

"But sir-!" Ron began.

Maddie had just witnessed Ron spending the last fifteen minutes carefully chopping up his own roots into exact equal pieces.

"Now," said Snape sternly.

Ron aggressively shoved his beautifully cut roots across the table at Malfoy, before taking the knife again.

"And sir, I'll need this Shrivelfig skinned!" said Malfoy, sending a smirk Maddie's way. She clenched her jaw.

"Jordan, you can skin Malfoy's Shrivelfig,"

Maddie almost flipped Snape off, like she usually did when he turned his back, but - much to her surprise - Ron grabbed her fist and kept it firmly under the table. She turned her head towards him with a raised eyebrow. He didn't even glance her way, he just knew that Malfoy would only make things worse if he caught her flipping the bird to their potions teacher.

"Pass me that knife, Ron, I'm gonna kill this little blonde bitch," Maddie said, her eyes set firmly on Malfoy with a scowl.

She snatched his his Shrivelfig before skinning it as fast as she could, and flung it back at the boy, whilst Ron attempted to fix his damaged roots. Maddie caught the eye of Jess, who was sitting next to Harry - somewhat glad he didn't have to sit with Ron and put up with Malfoy, today.

"Weasley, you and Potter seen your pal Hagrid, lately?" the blonde asked quietly.

"None of your business," said Ron jerkily, without looking up. Maddie could feel the tension between the two - if possible - rising even further. She unknowingly skipped a step in the Potion and started adding her leeches.

"I'm afraid he won't be a teacher much longer," Malfoy continued. "Father's not very happy with my injury-"

"Keep talking, Malfoy, and I'll give you a real injury," Ron snarled. Maddie grinned at him.

"-he's complained to the school governors. And to the Ministry of Magic. Father's got a lot of influence, you know. And a lasting injury like this -" he gave a huge, fake sigh. "-Who knows if my arm'll ever be the same again?"

"I wish the bloody Hippogriff had gone for your throat Malfoy - maybe it might've made you lose your voice and you could shut up," said Maddie, not looking up from her potion - which was slowly becoming a disaster.

"You're just putting it on to try and get Hagrid sacked," said Ron, nodding to his arm wrapped in bandages.

"Well, partly, Weasley. But there are other benefits too - Jordan, slice those caterpillar parts for me,"

"Shove them up your arse," said Maddie, not moving a muscle.

Ron bit his cheek to prevent himself from smirking. He needs remember, he's supposed to hate this Maddie girl. Why was it so hard to dislike her? He needs to step up his game.

"Oh, really?" Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Sir-!"

"Oh my god, what are you, five?" Maddie snapped, aggressively slamming the knife down on his caterpillars, and saying to the blonde boy before he could open his mouth,

"Say 'sir' one more time, and I'll shove this knife down your throat,"

But Professor Snape was distracted, anyway - because, a few cauldrons away, Neville was in trouble. Maddie knew that Neville regularly went to pieces in his Potions lessons. Just like her, it was his worst subject - but unlike her, he had a great fear of Snape, which made it all ten times worse.

His potion, which was supposed to be a bright, acid green, had turned-

"Orange, Longbottom," said Snape, ladling some up and allowing it to splash back into the cauldron.

Maddie leaned forward a little, so as to cover hers, which had, for some odd reason, turned a bubblegum pink. Hey, at least it looked pretty.

"Orange. Tell me, boy, does anything penetrate the thick skull of yours? Didn't you hear me say, quite clearly, that only one rat spleen was needed? Didn't I state plainly that a dash of leech juice would suffice?"

Ah, shit. There it was - Maddie had added much more than a dash of leech juice. She liked to think Malfoy distracting her was to blame, but in all honestly, she really was just a disaster at potions.

"What do I have to do to make you understand, Longbottom?"

Neville was pink, and trembling. He looked as though he was on the verge of tears. Jake was watching sympathetically.

"Please, sir," said Hermione. "Please, I could help Neville put it right-"

"I don't remember asking you to show off, Miss Granger," said Snape, coldly, and Hermione went as pink as Neville. Maddie exchanged glances with Jess across the room. "Longbottom, at the end of this lesson, we will feed a few drops of this potion to your toad and see what happens. Perhaps that will encourage you to do it properly,"

"Sir, that's cruel-" Maddie spoke up.

"Close you mouth, Jordan," Snape snapped, moving away and leaving Neville breathless with fear. "And five points from Gryffindor for your cheek,"

"Not my fault I have stunning cheeks," said Maddie sardonically, before she blinked and her eyes widened a little. A horrified expression crept up on Ron's face. "Uh, that sounded wrong. Shit," she added, with a laugh.

"Do you enjoy losing your house points, Jordan?" Malfoy taunted. "Is it a sport for you?"

"Well it's not like they matter, is it?" said Maddie. "Dumbledore always rigs it at the end so we win. Welcome to Hogwarts - where everything's trying to kill you, and the points don't mean shit."

"Juice my leeches," Malfoy demanded, giving Maddie a dirty look.

She was so angry, she might as well have had steam coming out of her ears. So she did what she could do best - fucked up a potion.

She picked up a pile of spare ingredients - leeches, leftover roots, caterpillars, and wormwood... and tossed them all into Malfoy's potion, angrily.

It bubbled, rising to the top of the cauldron, before overflowing vigorously. Malfoy gaped at her.

"Oops," she said bluntly. Ron wasn't holding back his grin, now.

"Sir-!" Malfoy cried out.

"Ooh, Sir," Maddie mocked with a high pitched voice.

"Jordan's sabotaged my potion!"

Snape nostrils flared at the sight of Malfoy's mess of a brew, before giving Maddie a cold stare. She was used to this, though, and so crossed her arms and stared back.

"Looks like you've just gotten yourself another detention, Jordan. Friday night," he sneered. "Clean this up. Now."

Maddie smirked, as she flicked her wand and the potion that had seeped out onto the desk slid back into the cauldron, the hot bubbles calming down and leaving nothing but a foul-smelling yellow-ish mixture.

It was at that moment, Seamus snuck over to the three, Harry and Jess following because they were bored of potion-making and wanted to laugh at Maddie's careless demolition of Malfoy's Shrinking Solution. It was the happiest Maddie had seen Harry all lesson.

"Hey, Ron, Mads, I've just told these two," Seamus said, pretending to examine Ron's cauldron as though he was checking it was similar to his. "Have you heard? Daily Prophet this morning - they reckon Sirius Black's been sighted,"

"Really?" Maddie's eyebrows raised.

"Where?" Ron asked quickly.

"Not too far from here," Seamus continued. He almost looked excited. "It was a Muggle who saw him. 'Course, she didn't really understand. The Muggles think he's just an ordinary criminal, don't they? So she phoned the telephone hotline. By the time the Ministry of Magic got there, he'd gone,"

"Not too far from here..." Ron repeated, glancing towards Harry. Jess had crept around the table and reached Maddie's side. Jake was watching the group gathering from across the room with a slight frown as he wondered what they'd be on about - but he stayed with Neville, as he and Hermione attempted to help the boy with his potion.

Ron turned to see Malfoy watching closely.

"What, Malfoy? Need something else skinning? Bit late now, don't you think? You're potion's already gone to shit,"

But Malfoy's eyes were fixed on Harry, as he leaned across the table.

"Thinking of trying to catch Black single-handed, Potter?"

"Yeah, that's right," said Harry, offhandedly.

"Of course, if it was me," said Malfoy, his mouth curving into a mean smile. "I'd have done something, before now. I wouldn't be staying in school like a good boy, I'd be out there looking for him,"

"What are you talking about, Malfoy?" Ron asked roughly.

"Yeah, what are you on about?" Maddie asked, exchanging glances with Jess. She was wearing a rather baffled expression, compared to Harry and Ron's faces of enmity.

"Don't you know, Potter?" breathed Malfoy, his eyes narrowed.

"Know what?"

The boy let out a sneering laugh.

"Maybe you'd rather not risk your neck," he said. "Want to leave it to the dementors, do you? But if it was me, I'd want revenge. I'd hunt him down myself,"

"Malfoy, don't,"

Maddie turned her head to see Diana a few cauldrons away - obviously she'd been listening in - she was glaring at the Slytherin boy. She seemed to understand whatever he was saying.

"You're being a prick, stop," she told him.

Malfoy's sneer seemed to dim for a slight second at Diana's words, but it soon reappeared once he'd turned away from the blonde girl and ignored her.

"What are you talking about?" said Harry angrily - looking to Diana for help. But she now had her back to them, sorting out her own potion and chatting softly to her friends Allison and Daphne.

Before Malfoy could open his mouth, Snape interrupted.

"You should have finished adding your ingredients, by now. This potion needs to stew before it can be drunk - clear away while it simmers, and then we'll test Longbottom's..."

There was a short silence, in which Harry and Jess rushed back over to clear away as quickly as possible, so that they could return to Ron and Maddie's desk and continue to talk to them.

Maddie was watching Malfoy with a puzzled expression, still trying to understand what on earth he'd been on about - and Diana, she seemed to know, too. Was it some kind of Slytherin joke? That might explain why Diana was calling him a prick, she never sided with him when he'd insult Harry or his friends. Yeah, maybe that was it.

"What did Malfoy mean?" Harry muttered to Ron, as soon as he and Jess had returned to the desk. Maddie and Ron were still clearing away. "Why would I want revenge on Black? He hasn't done anything to me - yet,"

"He's making it up," said Ron. "He's trying to make you do something stupid,"

"But then, how come Diana knew? She clearly knew what he was talking about..." Harry said, frowning in thought.

"It's probably just some Slytherin joke," Jess spoke up. Maddie nodded in agreement.

"You know how they are - and Diana's not one to side with their stupid games, is she? That's probably why she was getting him to stop,"

Harry glanced her way and did a little nod, though the expression on his face suggested he was still deep in thought about it as the class made their way to surround Neville's desk. Maddie wasn't sure if she could watch Snape feed his potion to that poor toad - but she caught sight of Jake and Hermione exchanging hopeful glances. Maybe they'd save the day.

"Everyone gather round," said Snape. "And watch what happens to Longbottom's toad. If he has managed to produce a Shrinking Solution, it will shrink to a tadpole. If, as I don't doubt, he has done it wrong, his toad is likely to be poisoned,"

"I hate it here," Jess muttered to Maddie, as the two stared at their Professor with cold expressions.

"He's such an asshole," Maddie added.

Snape picked up Trevor the toad in his left hand, and dipped a small spoon into Neville's - now green - potion, before trickling a few drops down the toad's throat.

There was a moment of hushed silence, in which Trevor gulped - and then there was a small pop, and Trevor the tadpole was wriggling in Snape's palm. Maddie smiled with relief, and looked towards Jake and Hermione, who were grinning at each other.

Snape, looking sour, pulled a vial from the pocket of his robe and poured a few drops over Trevor - and he reappeared, suddenly, fully grown.

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, which wiped the smiles off everyone's faces. "I told you not to help him, Miss Granger. Class dismissed,"

Jake looked relieved Snape hadn't spotted him also helping Neville - but instead sent a sympathetic glance Hermione's way. But she seemed to have something else on her mind, for she was busy rushing, around, getting her stuff together.

Maddie and Jess were exhausted - and they'd barely done anything, that lesson.

Maddie was just dreading seeing Snape next, because he certainly wasn't going to be happy at the sight of her, still pink, potion.

At least she didn't have any pets for him to poison it on.

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A/N: Maddie physically can't put up with Draco's shit and I love her for it.

I just thought I'd let you all know that I've posted a code on the introduction of this book and in my bio for a playlist inspired by this story, if any of you fancied a listen! It'll have some of Maddie's tunes on there as well as songs that may or may not refer to the plots or characters in this story ;)

And this chapter and the previous one was going to be all in one but I got scared it was too long so I split them into two and that's why I'm already posting a chapter when I literally posted the last one yesterday! :)

Hope you enjoyed! <3