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chapter twelve | back to black

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GRYFFINDOR WON the Quidditch game, which resulted in a party in the common room, much to Maddie's delight. And it would normally be the buzz and centre of all the Hogwarts gossip for probably the next week - but, this time it certainly did not look like that was going to be the case, thanks to a particular Weasley boy waking up in the middle of a night to a most unpleasant sight.

"Bloody hell, what was that?" Lavender Brown's voice sounded, after a faint bellow could be heard through a couple thin walls.

Maddie sat up, her curls tucked up in a messy ponytail, and rubbed her eyes. She was surrounded by total darkness, but the sound of rustling bedcovers and curtain hangings being moved about signified the wake of the other girls she shared her dormitory with. She certainly wasn't alone in hearing the yell coming from what sounded a couple rooms away. The young Jordan opened her curtains, as a slam of a door sounded in the distance

"Did you hear that?" A sleepy Jess asked.

"Australia heard that," said Maddie with a dreary voice, looking around and practically still half asleep. Parvati and Lavender both lit their lamps, just as Hermione opened the curtains around her bed.

A faint shouting began seconds after, however it was too far out of earshot for any of the girls to make out what was being said. But Maddie could immediately recognise who the terrified voice belonged to.

"It's Ron," she said, before her eyes flicked towards Hermione. "For fuck's sake, it's not that pissing rat again, is it?"

Hermione's alert expression fell slightly at the mention of Ron and his rat - Maddie had forgotten they were currently arguing.

"I... I dunno..." she said slowly.

All the girls in the dormitory scrambled out of bed, eager to know what was going on. Lavender and Parvati grabbed their dressing gowns, but Maddie could not be bothered to fetch her own, and so ventured out into the common room and down the stairs in just her purple satin pyjama set. She adored pyjama sets, she thought they were so cute. Especially the stripy ones, or the ones with little patterns on...

Anyways - boys now were appearing out of their rooms as well, Ron, Harry and the rest of their dormitory all at the bottom of the staircase. The light from the glowing fire highlighted  the leftover mess from the party just a few hours before, and Maddie began to wonder if they were simply just trying to start it back up again.

"Ah, it's riot time," she joked.

"Excellent, are we carrying on?" Fred Weasley said, brightly.

"Everyone, back upstairs!" Percy Weasley spoke in his usual authoritative tone, running into the common room and pinning his Head Boy badge to his pyjamas.

"Perce - Sirius Black!" Ron said faintly. "In our dormitory! With a knife! Woke me up!"

Everyone in common room froze.

"Oh... I hope he's joking..." Maddie said with a grimace.

Jake emerged from his dormitory and found his way over to his two best friends with a frown of confusion.

"What's happening?" He asked. They simply nodded to Ron in response.

"Nonsense!" Percy said, looking startled. "You had too much to eat, Ron - had a nightmare-"

"I'm telling you-!"

"Now, really, that's enough!" McGonagall's voice sounded. Maddie turned her head to see the woman slam the portrait door behind her as she entered, staring furiously around. "I am delighted that Gryffindor won the match, but this is getting ridiculous! Percy, I expected better of you!"

"I certainly didn't authorise this, Professor!" he said, puffing himself up indignantly. "I was just telling them all to get back to bed! My brother Ron here had a nightmare-"

"It wasn't a nightmare!" Ron yelled. "Professor, I woke up, and Sirius Black was standing over me, holding a knife!"

"Oh, shit," The young Jordan spoke aloud. McGonagall just simply stared at Ron.

"Don't be ridiculous, Weasley, how could he have possibly gotten through the portrait hole?"

"Ask him!" said Ron, pointing shakily towards the back of Sir Cadogan's portrait. "Ask him if he saw-"

Glaring suspiciously at Ron, McGonagall pushed the portrait back open and went outside. The entire common room listened with bated breath.

"Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor tower?"

"Certainly, good lady!" Sir Cadogan cried.

"Shit," Maddie repeated, a worried expression crossing her face.

Apart from the young Jordan swearing, there was a stunned silence, both inside and outside the common room.

"You - you did?" said Professor McGonagall. "But - but the password!"

"He had 'em!" said Sir Cadogan proudly. "Had the whole week's, m'lady! Read 'em off a little piece of paper!"

Maddie's face flashed with confusion, and as her eyes flicked about the room, they met Ron's, and he exchanged a horrified glance with her.

Professor McGonagall pulled herself back through the portrait hole to face the stunned crowd. Her face was white as chalk.

"Which person," she said, her voice shaking. "Which abysmally foolish person wrote down this week's passwords and left them lying around?"

A short silence followed, until a trembling hand was slowly raised into the air - the hand, of which, belonging to Neville Longbottom.

"Neville!" Maddie whined loudly. "For fuck's sake! We're all gonna die now! Thanks a lot!" Her expression then flashed with panic, for a split second, after realising she'd let her mouth run off again. "Okay, sorry I didn't mean to go off on one, I know you didn't mean any harm, I'm just... shit..."

"Miss Jordan," McGonagall said. "We do not need your input, right now, thank you. Nobody is going to die,"

But Maddie wasn't the only one stressed. In fact, the whole of Gryffindor tower didn't sleep, that night. They knew the school was being searched again, and the whole house stayed awake in the common room, waiting to hear whether or not Black had been caught.

Although, after a short while, it became obvious nobody was coming back to the common room, at least, not tonight. Hours on end of sitting tiredly on the sofa was beginning to take a toll on several students.

"Are you actually yawning, right now?" Jess pulled a face at her best friend, the trio now curled up in their usual corner of the common room.

"Yeah, this is so boring," Maddie replied, receiving several glances that suggested she was, in fact, a lunatic.

"There's literally a mass murderer in the castle-"

"Yeah, but he's not in here, is he? I dunno why everyone's having a big song and dance about it,"

"Mads, it's Sirius Black. Ay, you two," Jess nodded, at Seamus and Dean who was just walking over to join them. "Did you see him?"

"No," Dean said. "I woke up, and Ron was just screaming. No sign of Black, nothing. It was like he vanished into thin air,"

Jake's eyes narrowed in thought. "But did anyone see him leave? Like did any of the teachers maybe consider the fact that he might not have left the common room?"

Maddie had been sitting with her back sunken into the sofa, but straightened up at these words, exchanging wide eyes with Jess.

"Oh, come on," said Seamus. "You don't think Head Boy over there," he nodded to Percy Weasley, "hasn't been doing rounds around Gryffindor tower all night, as if his life depended on it? If Black was here, he'd have been caught by Weasley. We're fine,"

Harry and Ron now began to make their way over, also to join the group. Maddie and her two friends were beginning to feel quite popular, truth be told.

"Okay, well," Maddie said, a mischievous glint suddenly appearing in her eye at the sight of the two boys sitting down next to them. "If he does come back to the common room and we have to make a sacrifice, I nominate Ron," she said, ruffling the boy's fiery ginger hair.

"That's not funny, Maddie," he said, giving her a scowl. He was still clearly shaken up by the night's events.

"So what actually happened, Ron?" Jake asked.

"Well, I was asleep," the boy began explaining. "And I heard this ripping noise, and I thought it was in my dream, you know? But then there was this draught... I woke up and one side of the hangings on my bed had been pulled down... I rolled over... and I saw him standing over me... like a skeleton, with lots of filthy hair..."

Maddie shuddered.

"...holding this great long knife, must've been twelve inches... and then he looked at me, and I looked at him, and then I yelled, and he scarpered,"

"Merlin," said Jess.

"Yeah," Maddie nodded. "If I fell asleep and then woke up to that, I'd honestly believe I'd died and I'm in hell. Like - that's terrifying,"

"It was," Ron nodded, rather enjoying the experience of having so much attention.

And well, he did pretty much become an instant celebrity the next couple days, and was happy to sell anyone who asked what had happened with a wealth of detail. Maddie had to hear it three times one potion lesson, and she honestly thought she was going to walk out before she made it to the end of another of Ron's dramatic explanations.

"You used to never talk in these lessons, and honestly, I'm starting to prefer when you were on mute," she'd said after he'd finished for the third time. He'd playfully shoved her in return.

Just like she'd said before, being sat next to Ron meant that Maddie got to hear all the gossip (because for some reason he was happy to tell her?) and, as well as the big drama about Sirius Black, she'd also come to know that the Hippogriff that had scratched Malfoy, Buckbeak, was now facing a trial thanks to the mini accident and the unfortunately high status and power of the Malfoy family. Pricks.

And in their Care of Magical Creatures lesson, when Maddie, Jake and Jess sat themselves near the golden trio (just because of Jake's helpless crush on Hermione) they finally learned that Buckbeak had lost his trial - and Malfoy knew it, too, considering the sickeningly arrogant look on his face.

"Eurgh," Maddie said to Ron, as the two watched him with disgusted expressions. "I could punch him - but then, I'd better not, I could be put on trial and then executed,"

It wasn't the best time to joke about the Malfoys' unfair amount of authority that was getting a Hippogriff executed, but in Maddie's defence, it just kind of slipped out, like the majority of anything she said did. She was just lucky Hagrid did not overhear, really.

Walking back up to the castle with the rest of the class was when Maddie began to feel real pity for Hagrid as he spoke with Harry, Ron and Hermione. She was trailing just behind them and so overheard their conversation - and the way they talked about poor Buckbeak made her heart drop.

And then Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle were ahead of them all and continuously looked around just to laugh derisively. Although, Diana was nearby and did tell them to shut up and stop being so annoying after a while, so the Gryffindors had a bit of peace for about a minute or two, before Silverstone and her friends were out of sight.

"...I'm jus' gonna make sure the rest o' Beaky's time is the happiest he's ever had. I owe him that..."

Hagrid turned round and hurried back towards his cabin, his face buried in his handkerchief. Maddie's face fell. She'd never really had much to do with Hagrid apart from him being her teacher, but her heart still ached for the man, considering he was going to be so very unfairly losing one of his pets soon.

"Poor bloke," said Jake, speaking almost exactly what Maddie was thinking.

"Look at him blubber! Have you ever seen anything quite as pathetic?" Malfoy sneered. Diana had now vanished - so he, Crabbe and Goyle were all standing in the castle doors, listening. "And he's supposed to be our teacher!"

And then Maddie learned that sometimes trailing behind on the way out from a lesson was worth it - because she and her friends then all got to watch the events that followed shortly after the bleach blonde boy had gotten just a bit too cocky.

Harry and Ron both made furious moves towards Malfoy - but Hermione reached him first.

And then Maddie's most favourite thing to happen all week did - the bushy haired girl gave him a great punch around the face with all the strength she could muster. Malfoy staggered. Jake's eyes looked like they were going to pop out of his head.

Maddie let out the most loudest, obnoxious laugh she could, before saying with a jolly tone,

"Yeah, that's it, 'Mione! Fuck him up! Beat the shit out of him now - I'll even help if you want - oh, if only Di was here to see this-"

But Hermione wasn't listening to Maddie, she raised her hand again.

"Don't you dare call Hagrid pathetic, you foul - you evil-"

"Hermione!" said Ron weakly, trying to grab her hand. She swung it back.

"Get off, Ron!"

Hermione pulled out her wand, which caused the trio to hurry and join Harry and Ron, who were standing flabbergasted.

Malfoy stepped backwards, and Crabbe and Goyle looked at him for instructions, thoroughly bewildered.

"C'mon," Malfoy muttered, before all three of the Slytherin boys began to head towards the passage towards the dungeons.

"You had it coming, Malfoy!" Maddie continued to shout after him, until he was too far away to hear. "You deserved it! You little poltergeist shit!"

"Poltergeist?" Jess repeated with a questionable frown and a laugh. Maddie shrugged.

"Just rolled of the tongue,"

"Hermione!" Ron said again, sounding both stunned and impressed. If they hadn't made up, before - which, Maddie had pretty much assumed they had - this definitely sealed the deal.

"Harry, you'd better beat him in the Quidditch final!" Hermione said, shrilly. "You just better had, because I can't stand it if Slytherin win,"

"Erm... we're late for Charms," said Jake, slowly backing his way down the hall until the rest of the group noticed. "Just thought I'd mention it, you know..."

"Oh, yeah," said Ron. "We'd better go,"

"That was brill," Maddie could hear Jake saying to Hermione as the pair walked behind the group

"Ah, that was so funny," Maddie grinned at Ron, wiping a tiny tear that had emerged in her eye from all the laughing and bellowing.

"It was..." he replied, still quite obviously shocked from what had just happened. In fact, Ron didn't even get to finish his sentence, as they entered Charms. "It-"

"Boys - and girls - you're late!" said Professor Flitwick reprovingly. "Come along, quickly, wands out. We're experimenting with Cheering Charms today. We've already divided into pairs,"

Jess linked arms with Maddie immediately, and Ron and Harry hurried to a desk at the back, opening their bags. Jake looked around, before his face flashed with confusion.

"Where's Hermione?" He asked. Harry and Ron turned to look towards the door, their expressions forming the same bewildered frown as the blonde boy.

"That's weird," said Harry. "Maybe - maybe she went to the bathroom, or something?"

Jake dragged a stool to the end of Maddie and Jess' desk to form a three, now that the class was in uneven numbers.

"She was right next to me, when we walked in," he said.

"Perhaps she wasn't quite finished beating up Malfoy," said Maddie. "She'll probably be back, in a bit,"

But, judging from Jake's continuous glances towards the door throughout the entire lesson, Hermione did not show up at all.

"She'll be fine," said Jess. "You overthink too much, that's your problem," she said to Jake, who was still concerned that the girl hadn't made an appearance - especially straight after her confrontation with Malfoy. Especially after she didn't show up at lunch.

"Yeah, but it's Hermione," said Jake. "When has she ever missed a lesson, apart from when she was petrified last year?"

"I dunno, Jake, me and Jess both don't have obsessive crushes on her like you do," said Maddie, giving him a playful glance. He rolled his eyes and gave her a small shove.

"Speak for yourself," said Jess, before giving Jake her own mischievous grin. "Nah, I'm only taking the piss. She's all yours," the brunette added.

"Jess is too obsessed with Alicia Silverstone from The Crush anyways," Maddie said. "I'm quite surprised really, you're normally one for the gingers, J,"

"Yeah, well, what can I say," Jess grinned. "Alicia's a beaut,"

"Yeah, fair enough, she is," Jake nodded in agreement. Maddie snorted.

"Swear the only thing you two have ever agreed on is girls,"

She wasn't wrong, either. Maddie could not count the amount of times she'd had to watch both Jess and Jake comparing each other's celebrity crushes - and then fighting each other if they ended up fancying the same one.

"Well, I can think of one other thing," said Jake. Jess raised an eyebrow. "And I reckon even you'd agree, too, Mads,"

"What?" Maddie frowned.

"That we're all dreading our next Divination lesson,"

The two girls groaned at the reminder.

"Yep," Maddie nodded regretfully. "You hit the nail right on the head, Jakester,"

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A/N: writing maddie is so fun because nine times out of ten whatever comes out of her mouth is usually a load of shite 😭 like she does not shut up and most of the stuff she says is just random bollocks anyway i love her lmao

also I KNOW hermione slapped malfoy in the books but I loved it in the film when she punched him so I just,,, combined,,, the two haha

also I just realised how close we are to the end of POA? Like OH shit okay

anyways thanks for reading! let me know what you thought :)