Maddie ran to breakfast the next day and angrily confronted George.
"So you thought it was some sort of joke to get me drunk?" she greeted him.
"Good morning to you, too, dear. Now what were you saying about you being drunk? I can hardly see that."
"Well, you must have last night- don't play innocent with me." George's smile faded the slightest bit.
"Maddie, I seriously don't know what you're talking about."
"I woke up in the middle of the night last night, and I didn't remember going upstairs, and then I looked out the window and saw all sorts of weird things- hallucinations! You spiked my pumpkin juice, didn't you?" Maddie accused.
"Maddie, you don't remember going upstairs 'cause you weren't awake. I carried you up. What are you talking about, weird things out your window?" Fred and Harry were listening now, as well as Ron and Hermione. They were all sitting at the breakfast table, eating sausages and eggs as they spoke. Maddie wrinkled her nose in concentration and shrugged lightly.
"Just some sort of spinning black spiral thing. And yellow light. Are you SURE you didn't do anything?"
"Wait a minute," broke in Ron, "you said you saw something black and spiral shaped?" Maddie nodded casually, still regarding the twins suspiciously, but Ron jumped out of his seat.
"Dumbledore was saying something about a black spiral being on some papers that he got over the summer! I overheard him talking with some Ministry man during my detention from the food fight!" Now Maddie looked intrigued.
"Over the summer? Hold on a sec..Ministry man? Hey, I heard something like that, too!" She filled them in on the eavesdropping she had done in the infirmary. Hermione gasped.
"Madame Pomfrey was telling me about that! That my mono should have been picked up the fields...that they were broken down. Remember, Ron, I was telling you about that the night that everything happened!" She was referring to the night that Fred and snapped on Draco. Ron nodded gravely, and the six friends all stared at each other with wrinkled brows.
"I think," said Harry slowly, "that something is up."
"Here we go again," muttered Ron. Hermione put her head down on the table.
"Will a year EVER go by without some potentially life-shattering event taking place?" she moaned into the grainy wood.
"Not as long as we've got Harry, here," remarked Fred with a light grin. "No one can ever say you don't make things interesting." Harry frowned and brushed his bangs over his scar.
"That's my specialty."
(*)
"Ouch! FRED! Ugh, you call yourselves mischief makers? You can't even creep properly!" It was the dead of the night, and Maddie, George and Fred were going back to the spot where Maddie had seen the spiral the night before. The boys wanted to see how she was at nighttime excursions, and she wanted to be quite sure that they had not spiked her drink.
"Maddie, hush. Now where did you say this was? On the border of the Quidditch field? Well, that's a rather broad area." They were standing near the bleachers, shivering in the light wind
"Fred, you idiot, it's right over there." Maddie darted towards a patch of trees and the twins immediately saw what she had been talking about. There was a spiral on the ground the size of a large man lying spread-eagle. It was radiating a soft yellow light, and the tinny melody was wafting through the air. It seemed that only people within viewing distance of the spiral could see the light or hear the haunting music.
"Cool," breathed Maddie. Fred and George nodded wordlessly. She squinted in the spotty moonlight and leaned forward from her tree shelter. "I think there's something else out there." Before either boy could stop her, Maddie was skipping towards the light, oddly carefree. George shook his head a followed, Fred close behind.
"Maddie- what is it?" called George. She motioned them closer.
"Look, there's a word inscribed on the spiral. The same thing over and over." Maddie knelt down and hesitantly traced the white words on the black stone spiral. "Norax," she read. All of the sudden, the ground began to quake, and the music swelled importantly. George hauled Maddie to her feet as the spiral began madly spinning, the light flashing all shades of yellow, and the stone began to melt. The ground and air seemed to rotating as well, going 'round wildly until they climaxed and simply disappeared. Finally, after a few confused seconds, the sounds and sights calmed themselves and you could make out an opening in the ground, as large as the spiral had been. A pair of weathered stone steps led down into God knew what. The friends exchanged awed looks.
"I've heard that name before," whispered Maddie, "a centaur in the forest was saying something about it...but I thought that was an illusion..."
"Looks like a lot of your supposed hallucinations are turning out to be real," pointed out Fred, staring at the slightly smoking hole.
"Well, it's obvious what we have to do," said Maddie. The boys nodded and started towards the steps, but she stopped them.
"You guys have to wait up here while I check it out," she said, ignoring their looks of amazement.
"How do you figure?" asked George, crossing his arms.
"Welllllll, someone has to stay up here, keep watch, be ready to reopen the spiral in case it closes. And since I found it, I'm automatically on the Going Down list. But if one of you went with me, than the other would feel left out. So you two can stay up here, and I'll go down, and it works out for everyone!" The boys stared at her, speechless from her maddeningly sensible logic. But logic wasn't utmost on the Weasley requirement list.
"No way," said Fred firmly, "that's a no-go. We're coming, too!" Maddie pouted and turned her huge brown eyes to the boys with an expression of sorrow that would have melted the heart of The Abominable Snowmonster. The boys knew she was faking, but the pitiful face was literally painful to look at.
"C'mon Maddie, cut it out-"
"-that won't work on us-"
"Squirt, quit it!" Maddie simply twisted a strand of her long black hair around her finger and allowed a lone tear to trickle down her round cheek. She dropped her head slightly, then lifted it with the tinniest of sniffles.
"Fine!" roared George, averting his eyes. Fred tried to glare at her, but she hadn't yet wiped the last remnants of the display from her face, and he only succeeded in staring viciously at the ground. Maddie started down the stairs, but George grabbed her arm.
"What's the warning signal?" he asked her.
"Warning signal?"
"You're not going down there until you make one up. Something to do so we can come and help you if you get in trouble." Maddie concentrated for a second, then stepped back and quickly sang a scale.
"Do ray mi ray do. There. That's my signal."
"Make sure you sing it extra loud, so we can hear you," warned Fred.
"Oh, you'll hear it no matter how loud I sing. It's specially formulated for the ears of only you."
"How'd you do that?" asked George, interested.
"Melodicia theory class. Comes in handy now and then," she said with a grin.
"Oh, are you still taking those?" said George.
"Nearly every time you have a Quidditch practice. Now stop stalling me. See ya!" With a final wave, she turned and began jogging down the gray stone steps.
"You know," muttered Fred jealously as they sat against a nearby tree, "we really need to learn how to say no."
(*)
There were so many steps. For the first hundred, there was excitement and anticipation. For the second hundred, there was weariness and wonderment. Now, at three hundred and twenty-four, there was annoyance and boredom. As Maddie trudged down another flight, she wished she had volunteered to keep watch. Let the men do the heavy climbing. But then, she could see a faint yellow glow, and- WAHOO- the end of the steps. Filled with elation once more, she quickened her pace.
The bottom of the staircases faced a heavy oak door, scarred and antique looking. There was a large black spiral knocker near the top, and huge metal padlock on the handle. Maddie went up on her tiptoes and saw that the knocker was exactly the same as the spiral had been above ground. She crossed her fingers and whispered, "Norax."
The padlock began clicking and magically popped open. It then retransformed into a doorknob that glowed yellow. Mentally patting herself on the back, Maddie turned the knob and slipped into the coldest moment of her life. Sconces on walls held mysterious balls of yellow light, floating gently and not doing an outstanding job of lighting the cavernous room she was now standing in. Even though it was only October, the whole room felt distinctly as if it had been full to the rafters with snow for a very long time. The walls were wet and dripping, and questionable gook had gathered in frequent pools. It seemed to be empty, but Maddie had an odd sense of claustrophobia as she stood in the center of it. Even though she was getting plenty of air, her lungs itched.
She began strolling around the large room, the itchy, claustrophobic feeling increasing as she did so. She heard an odd whispering coming from the stones that held the walls in place. She rubbed her arms, the goosebumps making her feel nervous. Then, suddenly, the balls of light flickered and went out. The walls seemed to be throbbing, spinning, and finally, closing in on her.
"I'm imagining it," she told herself firmly, "I'm imagining it." But then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw another glowing doorknob. Where you find doorknobs, you'll often find doors, and knowing this, Maddie dashed towards the light. She ran to the door, and, seeing it also padlocked, shrieked, "Norax! Norax!" The door opened, to slowly for Maddie's liking, and she threw herself inside.
She lay on the damp ground, breathing deeply for a few minutes, before finally looking up and seeing what she had thrown herself into. She later said, "I wasn't scared at first. Not until it dawned on my brain to work again."
The room was full of skin. Not just any skin. Human skin. Piles and piles and piles of full skins, still whole. But it wasn't the entire layer of skin- no, it resembled the skin a snake shed when it was growing. Resembled, but was not. This stuff looked...realer. It looked more...alive.
"This skin isn't dead," whispered Maddie horror. She trembled violently, threw back her head and screamed from the very pit of her stomach.
(*)
Up above, a very bored George sat up straight as the bloodcurdling sound reached his ears. He nudged Fred, who was sleeping next to him.
"Mhhhh, oh Mummy, just five more minutes," Fred rolled over in the grass and settled his head in his arms.
"Fred!" said George urgently, "Maddie's in trouble." Fred jerked awake and sat up quickly.
"The warning signal?"
"No, but I think a scream works just as well." Fred nodded and ran with his brother to the stone steps. Together they flew down the steps in half the time it taken Maddie. They only hesitated a moment at the Norax knocker before saying the word and slipping inside the grimy room. Much quicker than before, the room went under it's shrinking transformation, and the boys took longer than Maddie to find the other door. They very nearly didn't make it.
Still gasping for air, the boys fell down next to Maddie, who was shivering on the floor.
"Maddie, Maddie, what is- oh, God," George stood and surveyed the terrifying sights around him.
"I- is that.." Fred broke off, holding his stomach and looking queasy. Maddie morosely nodded.
"It looks like...like something- someone- just sucked that life out of them. Literally. All the bones and organs. And left them with the empty..." George trailed away, pulling Maddie unsteadily to her feet.
"Human wrappers," said Fred in the quietest of voices. "They look like someone took out the goodies inside and left just the wrapping paper." At his morbid metaphor, Maddie burst into tears.
"Shh, shh," George put an arm around her and stroked her hair. "S'ok, we're leaving." They quickly left the room to find the main corridor back to it's normal size and state. Hurrying before it shrunk again, they sprinted across the hall and out the door that opened on the staircases. Once they were there, they took their time getting up. Half an hour later, they stood uncertainly in the moonlight once more.
"What now?" asked Fred into the silence. No one answered for a second. Above the gentle night time sounds, a loud whoosing, like that of a vaccumn, rang out clear. The trio spun around and were dumbstruck. The hole in the ground, the staircases, the light, the music, the spiral, everything, was absolutely, totally gone. Not a trace of anything, anywhere. Maddie dropped down on her hands and knees and stared, disbelieving, at the unmarred ground.
"No way that just happened," said Maddie, quoting one of her favorite moves without realizing it.
"Maybe it was an illusion?" said Fred, not sounding like he thought that was a possibility.
"It's impossible for two people to have the same illusion at once. Medical fact." Maddie was standing now, hugging herself in an effort to keep the wind from cutting through her thin t-shirt. George absently pulled his sweater off and pulled it over her head without bothering to push her arms through. She threw him a grateful smile and huddled in the huge folds of fabric.
"Well," said George, breaking the lull of the night, "I think it's bedtime. Let's go." Maddie looked at the sky and was surprised to see tiny fingers of pink reaching into the deep blue. They slowly snuck inside, narrowly avoiding a run in with the Grey Lady. Maddie collapsed into her bed and fell asleep the second her head hit the pillow. It had been a long night.
(*)
Lavender awoke the next morning, fuming. She had had a terrible dream about Fred, and the terrible look he had given her on that fateful night a week ago. The plan- a total failure. Oh, she had enjoyed the looks of pain, shame and guilt running rampant across Maddie's face, but all the suffering in the world from her would never be worth the lengths she had seen the twins go to to protect her, or the renewed bonds of friendship that sprung from the terrible events. Just as close as ever, she had watched them spinning her in circles, playfully grabbing her sides, getting her drinks at the party. And Draco was now incredibly angry with her. Anyone with a half a brain knew that being on the bad side of a Malfoy is a deathwish. Rushing through her morning routine much quicker than usual, Lavender ran down to the common room to watch how the Weasley boys and Harry would spend their morning.
"Uh, Lav, you like, don't look so good. What's the deal?" Lavender spun around to see Parvarti walking towards her, looking like she expected a society photographer to pop out from behind the potted tree at any second. She had an expression of concern pasted on her face, but in moderation. Worry lines, thought Lavender ruefully.
"Nothing, Pav. Just, you know, scooping the scene." Parvarti nodded appreciatively and settled back to join her.
"Ugh, did you see June Moon today? She's actually trying to pull off the Indian princess braids thing! It takes serious skill to do it right, and obviously she does not have it. Just look at the way she carries herself! And her face- not a scrap of make-up, moisturizing cream- nothing!" Lavender tuned out as Parvarti eagerly gossiped away. Her mind was on more important things. More attractive things. Ah, there they were. Those toned, Quidditch muscles; strong, sculpted faces with the adorable smatterings of freckles across their noses. The red hair that was the perfect mix of unruliness and style. She couldn't tell them apart, but what did it matter? They looked the same. They looked good. And at the minute, they looked very un-Maddified. Should she? The dream and the picture of Fred glaring vindictively at her from across the Hall hovered in her mind. But she had an overactive imagination. He was probably just mad...for some other reason. She rose, smoothed her hair, and pulled her robe down to better display her cleavage. Just as she was about to stroll seductively over, a little butterball popped out of nowhere. The only difference between Maddie Wells and a pig was the annoying tangle of dark hair. Lavender repeated that to herself over and over, but she knew that, damn it, it was a lie. The hair was so painfully carefree and confident, and those eyes. She had seen the way guys looked at those eyes. Those eyes held a power Lavender would die to get her hands on.
Lavender bit her tongue and sat down hard. Parvarti didn't even look up from where she was counting reasons she needed a new Wonderbra. Lavender watched with bated breath and Maddie sat on the arm of George's chair, holding onto a bundle of fabric. She moved slightly away from Parvarti so she could hear what they were saying.
"Thanks for this- I was freezing last night!" Maddie tossed the sweater into George's lap and rubbed her arms self consciously. By now, Ron, Harry and Hermione been filled in on the previous night's events.
"Are you okay?" asked Hermione, in a concerned tone. Maddie smiled and truthfully nodded. Even she had to admit, it was a lot harder to get all worked up about the weird underground lair in the bright sunlight and cozy noise of the Gryffindor common room. They talked lightly about normal, teenager things. The Halloween feast. The Hogsmeade trip. Homework. For a second, the problems of the weeks past were not as important, not as pressing. It was a different story.
Then it happened. The clincher. Looking back, Lavender realized it wasn't such a big thing. Not big at all. A bystander would have hardly noticed it. But to Lavender, it was the clogged pore that messed the Barbie's complexion. Maddie, acting some cute little story out with her arms, lost her balance and began to topple from the chair. And that's when Lavender saw it. George's eyes, lit up with something. Some odd emotion. Fear. He lunged forward, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled her toward him, all in less than a second. To Lavender, it was an action that took four years to play out in front of her eyes. And every second, she saw worry in his eyes. Fear and pain. An urge to protect Maddie. And then, when she was curled up in his arms, something else. Relief. In that second Lavender lost him. Or would have, if she had ever had him.
What possessed her, no one knew. But she ran over to the happy group, any thought of seduction wiped from her mind. She barreled over to where Maddie was still sitting in George's lap, and screamed. Just screamed a loud, guttural, animal scream. Maddie jumped and George pushed her to the side, quickly standing up.
"Lavender, what is the problem!" he yelled at her. She stared back with eyes of fire.
"What is the problem? WHAT is the PROBLEM? Do you want to know the problem!" She lowered her voice to a growl and ducked behind the tall boy to meet Maddie's eyes. "They were MINE! I was here first. I worked on them for YEARS! And then you showed up with your damn voice and damn problems and hair and eyes and YOU STOLE THEM!" Lavender was ranting now, face red and arms flailing. It took two fourth years to pull her off Maddie and shove her in a chair. George looked at her with disgust and spoke in a dangerously quiet voice.
"First of all, Lavender, my brother and I belong to ourselves. No one else. Not Maddie, not anyone, but especially not YOU. Second of all, even we had ever given you a second thought, we prefer to find girlfriends that consider us people and not possessions. You say you worked on us? Well, we worked to stay away from you. You have done some shallow things, but what you did with Draco wins the prize. Would you like me to enlighten this group?" Lavender sat, frozen. Consorting with a Slytherin to another Gryffindor's downfall. Not a good thing. George stood with his eyes narrowed, body tense. "No. I'm not like you, Lavender. I don't take joy in other's humiliation. Get out of my sight. You disgust me."
(*)
Lavender slammed herself down the bed, frowning. To hell with worry lines. The morning had been terrible. A qualified disaster. That little plump angel and her never-ending line of protectors. And those ugly Weasley boys! What had she EVER seen in them? Ugh, with their carrot top hair and huge brown splotches across their faces. She hated them. And their little Maddie. But all was not lost. Just this morning, she had watched Harry Potter sitting in the common room, in that same little group. She had never noticed how good-looking he was before. Those intense eyes, that hair that screamed, "I need a woman to groom me!". Lavender smiled to herself. One woman ready to groom, coming right up.