Chapter Two
When Madison opened her eyes, the light coming in from a window to her left was nearly blinding. "Ugh," she groaned, sitting up and looking down at her wrist to check the time, but her father's watch was gone. She sat up in a panic, before the events of the past several hours rushed back into her head. Had it actually worked? She stared around the room, recognizing her childhood bedroom, all done up in a pale green. She winced. Before Hogwarts, green had been her favorite color, but after six years of running away from those wearing the color, she couldn't stand it. Around her thirteenth birthday she'd convinced her father to let her repaint, and she'd done her room up in a dark blue to match her school colors.
A knock on the door had her grabbing for her wand out of instinct. She relaxed after a second, and called for whoever it was to enter. Her dad came in, a cup of tea in one hand and the newspaper in the other. The watch she'd been wearing not even ten minutes ago was fastened tightly to his left wrist. She stared at it for a bit, before realizing her father was speaking.
"We're running late," he informed Madison, handing her the cup of tea. "We've got to be at the station in two hours, and there might be traffic. Got everything packed?"
Madison nodded, accepting the tea and taking a sip, her eyes never leaving her dad's face. She hadn't seen him in almost five years, not like this. He'd died at King's Cross right after you-know-who had come out in the open, and had murdered every muggle at the train station, and numerous wizards and witches as well. She'd been there, in the shadows, searching for him. She hadn't been able to go home, and she knew her father had no idea she wouldn't be on that train. He'd died in front of her, not long after she'd been able to find him.
Theo had saved her life, then, getting her out of there before you-know-who or his followers saw her.
She got out of bed, heading over to her closet and taking out some muggle clothes. She then glanced over at her dad, who nodded at her and left the room. Getting dressed only took a few minutes, and on the way out of the room, she paused by her dresser, her eleven year old face staring back at her. It was a strange sight, she had to admit.
She still felt like she was trapped in a dream, but it wasn't really a bad one; the chance to save her father's life was, if it worked, an amazing opportunity, and the fact Percy Weasley had come to her and Theo..
She sighed, turning away from her reflection and heading downstairs. Her father was taking her trunk into their car already. He saw her and grinned. "Feel like helping your old man?" She grinned back, taking one end of the trunk and helping push it into the back seat. She pushed her dark hair out of her face and climbed in the passenger side. "You excited?" her father questioned, putting the car into drive and pulling out of their driveway.
She nodded nervously, looking out the window at the neighborhood she'd left behind. Before going into hiding at the safe house with Molly Weasley, she'd come back here once to retrieve a picture of her dad, but the place had been burned to the ground. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering you-know-who had gotten all the muggleborn records and had had his death eaters systematically kill them and their families. Houses had burned all around the country for the past five years.
It took them an hour, but they soon reached King's Cross and Platform Nine and Three Quarters. She hesitated at the barrier, then turned to her father. "I love you, I can go on alone from here."
It was her father's turn to hesitate. "Are you sure? That professor said I could go onto the platform with you if you-"
Madison quickly shook her head, shaking the image of her father's death out of her mind. "no, I'm okay, dad. New world, and all that. I should go alone." If she saw her father on the platform-
"Alright. I love you." Father and daughter hugged, before the twenty two/eleven year old Madison ran through the barrier, eyes closed. She opened them when she heard the sound of a crowd, and stared in amazement at the Hogwarts Express.
"First year?" an older girl questioned from behind her, and she turned to see Penelope Clearwater, a fellow muggleborn and someone she had seen die. All she could do was stare, and Penelope laughed. "I assume that's a yes. You want help loading that up?" She nodded towards Madison's cart. Madison nodded eagerly, trying to look the part of nervous first year, and Penelope laughed again. "Come on."
Madison followed behind as a crowd of redheads entered the station, a dark haired boy in their midst. She waited until they were all on the train, thanked Penelope for her help, and went in search of Theodore and Percy.
Walking through the train, she peered into each compartment she passed, and finally, she saw Theo and Percy seated across from each other, seemingly engrossed in conversation. She tapped on the glass and they both looked up, seeing her. She slipped through the door and sat down next to Theo.
"So we've concluded this is not a dream," Theo began, glancing over at her. "We're actually... we did it."
"I know," Madison whispered, thinking about her father again. Before that morning, this was the place she'd last seen him. "I... What should we do first?"
"Ron - my brother, Ron - will have just met Harry Potter," Percy informed her, holding up a notebook. "I've been working on a timeline, of sorts, but I've really only done today's. I should have planned more, however-"
"So, should we go down there?" Theo questioned. Madison shook her head. "Why not?"
"We should, but not together," she explained. "Either you go first, or I do, but not both of us together. It'd be too weird."
Percy looked back up. "Weird how?"
"Theo's a pureblood. I'm a mudblood," Madison said, raising her eyebrows.
"Don't - don't use that wor
d," Percy said, before she could continue. "It's not common usage yet." Theo snorted. "Not to most people," Percy amended.
"Fine. I'm muggleborn. Still. It's a little obvious we can't be seen walking down the halls together until we've officially met."
"I'll go first," Theo stated, standing up and leaving the compartment. Madison sat across from Percy as the redhead worked on his timeline. After enough time had passed, she stood up.
"I'm going to go find them," Madison said. Percy nodded.
"Meet me on Saturday, in the room of requirement. You know where that is? Eight am." Madison bid him farewell and headed towards the back of the train, looking in the windows until she spotted Theo again. She knocked, getting their attention, before sliding the compartment door open.
"Hey," she said softly, twirling a strand of hair around her fingers, an old habit. "Do you mind if I join you guys?"
The one she knew to be Ron mumbled something with his mouth full, and she stared at him blankly until he swallowed what was in his mouth. "Sure," he repeated, gesturing to the seat next to Harry. She eyed him nervously before sitting down, holding out a hand.
"I'm Madison," she said, as he took her hand and shook it."Harry. That's Ron, and Theodore," he introduced, then held out a box to her. "Every flavor beans?"
Madison quickly shook her head. "I heard those have every favor, not just the good ones," she said, with a little laugh.
Ron nodded."My brother swears he got a bogey flavored one once!"
"Oh, you have brothers?" Madison questioned, as if she didn't know this fact. And so the four of them became engrossed in conversation about their families, until it came to be Harry's turn.
"Wish I'd known my parents," he said bitterly. "I've lived with my aunt and uncle since Voldemort killed them."
At his name, Madison froze, not breathing, waiting for the red-eyed man to appear in their compartment. She could barely think above the roar of her blood rushing through her veins.
A knock on the compartment door shocked Madison out of her stupor, which was a good thing, as Harry and Ron had begun to look at her with concern evident in their eyes. A round faced boy entered, looking like he'd been crying. Neville Longbottom. She pictured him as she'd seen him last; in the ward with his parents, tortured into insanity just like them by the same witch-Bellatrix Lastrange.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" The group shook their heads, and he let out a sob. "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"I'm sure he'll turn up eventually," Madison said in a cracked voice. She cleared her throat. "Have you tried asking one of the prefects to summon him for you? It might be possible."
"I'll try that, but if it doesn't work-" He sounded miserable.
"We'll let you know," Harry said with a friendly smile, and Neville left.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," Ron said in the following silence. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk." He held up a ancient looking rat, and Madison stared at it. She'd never met Peter Pettigrew in person, but she'd read the newspaper articles and had heard from Molly how the old family rat had been a murderer in disguise. But for now, she put on a fake puzzled look. She'd discuss that with the boys later.
"Are rats allowed at Hogwarts?" she questioned, attempting to sound curious. "I mean, they aren't on the lists, are they? Mine only said I could bring an owl, a cat, or a toad. Is it different for people with magical backgrounds?"
Ron shrugged, staring at the rat. "I dunno," he said. "My brother Percy had him before me, and nobody ever said anything, I guess it's alright."
"Excuse me, has anybody seen a toad?" A bushy haired girl said, just entering without knocking. Madison stared at her open mouthed, recognizing Hermione Granger-Weasley.
"Uh, no," she said. "N- we already told him no, the boy that was here." She sighed and made to leave, and Madison knew she couldn't let her. "I'm Madison, by the way."
The brown haired girl turned back. "I'm Hermione Granger." As another round of introductions went around, Madison caught Theo's eyes. He was looking at her, concerned. She hadn't been able to help freezing when Harry had mentioned you-know-who's name, even if the man - if he was even a man at this time - wouldn't be in power for years to come. With their knowledge, hopefully he'd be stopped before he could kill anyone.
She'd tuned out their conversation and was brought back in when she heard Ron say, "Did you hear about what happened at Gringotts?" Madison looked up.
"That's the bank, isn't it?" Hermione questioned, tilting her head to the side. Ron nodded eagerly.
"Someone tried to rob a high security vault!" Ron said with a dramatic tone to his voice. "But the person who did it? He hasn't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything."
"Then why rob the place?" Hermione stated.
"They think - well, they think you-know-who's behind it," Theo said, speaking up. He caught Madison's eye again. As the conversation turned away from Gringotts and to Quidditch, Madison stood up.
"Where you going?" Theo questioned.
"I-bathroom," she said quickly. She made to leave, but the compartment door slid open, and Draco Malfoy stood there, leering into the compartment, Crabbe and Goyle on either side of him. He ignored her, and she quickly sat back down.
"Is it true? They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," Harry said.
"My name's Malfoy," the blonde said, after introducing his 'bodyguards'. "Draco Malfoy." Ron let out a cough that may have been a snigger, earning a glare from Malfoy. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford." Ron was glaring at Malfoy, and Madison stood up, brushing past the Malfoy heir and fleeing to the end of the train.
Draco Malfoy hadn't killed anybody yet. She knew that. But he'd been responsible for the deaths of Dumbledore, George and Bill Weasley, Professors Flitwick and Sprout... All had died in the same night, the night he'd let Death eaters in the castle. None of them had died by his own hand, but later, he'd been the one to kill Fred Weasley, as well as Madame Pomfrey and Professor Snape.
"Madison?" She turned to see Percy walking towards her, and she brushed away her tears. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she lied, looking down at the floor. "How.. how did you manage? With seeing all of them?" She didn't say who, but she didn't have to. Percy let out a small sigh, jerking his head towards an empty compartment.
"It was difficult. I thought I was dreaming, at first, I wasn't sure if this would work," Percy said, once they were seated inside. "Fred, George, Ginny... none of them know that I watched them die. And they can't know. Not for a long time. Not until this is all finished, until he's... until he's gone. We can't tell anyone."
"Not even a professor?" Madison questioned. "Dumbledore, maybe, or McGonagall?"
"Dumbledore was as responsible for a lot of the deaths as much as you-know-who was," the red head said darkly. "No. We don't tell them. We keep it to ourselves. I can't even tell Penny."
"Can I - Would you mind leaving me alone for awhile, Percy?" Madison asked softly. The older boy nodded, leaving the compartment, and Madison laid down on the seat, staring up at the ceiling, remembering this ride the first time round and how she had had so many hopes. Now her only hope was to live through the coming war, and bring everyone with her.