Madeline woke up on Monday morning with a bad feeling. She didn't know why. She just felt something was wrong.
She showered, she wore her uniform, she chatted for some time with Alice and Lily, and then they all walked out of their dormitory to go to breakfast.
She expected to see James and Sirius, waiting for her as usual in the Common Room, with tired smiles on their handsome faces. The previous night had been a Full Moon one, after all. But they weren't there.
She thought they had probably overslept, and so she shook away her surprise and followed the other girls out of the Gryffindor Tower and towards the Great Hall.
The Marauders weren't at breakfast, as she had presumed. Moony was probably still in the Hospital Wing, recovering from the transformation.
As she lazily looked at the Slytherin table, hoping to see Severus' calm, onyx eyes, she noticed he wasn't there, too. Mulciber and Avery were sitting at their usual places, eating some breakfast, and talking in low voices. But there was no trace of Snape.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Marlene, who sat in front of her and pouted. She looked like she had just cried, for she had swollen, red eyes. "Have you seen Sirius?" She asked, slightly annoyed. "Yesterday he told me he'd meet me before the beginning of lessons, but I can't find him anywhere!" She complained.
Madeline shrugged. "I haven't seen him, or James, or Peter, for the matter... They all probably overslept." She casually said, and Lene was about to nod when Frank Longbottom knitted his brows, and simply said. "They weren't in our Dormitory when I woke up."
As soon as Frank's words registered into her mind, the Gryffindor girl knew something terrible had happened.
Marlene instantly looked at him, and then she turned to Madeline, surprised.
"Why did you lie?"
"What?" Madeline asked, with a high-pitched tone of voice. "I haven't! I don't know where they are!"
Marlene sighed, "Stop pretending, Mads! Everybody knows Sirius and James tell you everything!"
"What? No, I'd tell you If I..."
"Why do you want to keep him to yourself?" Almost shouted Marlene, making a lot of heads turn towards them.
Alice put a gentle hand on Madeline's shoulder when she noticed that the girl was speechless. "Enough, Lene" she said, "You can't freak out to her just because you have problems with Sirius". The little girl explained.
Marlene shut her mouth, then, and her cheeks reddened visibly. She stood there ashamed and fixed her gaze on her empty plate. Madeline understood she had to get away from there.
"See you later, guys" she said, and she practically ran out of the Great Hall. She tried to think about where her friends could be. The worst-case scenario was that something had happened in the forest the previous night, and that they were still there, possibly hurt and in need of help. She instantly became very anxious and tears threatened to fall from her eyes. She had always thought that they were careless in going into the Forbidden Forest, even if they were in animal form. They had always assured her they'd be cautious… Fuck, why had she dropped the matter so easily? A million different tragic thoughts crossed her minds as she walked rapidly down the corridors of the Castle.
At the same time, she couldn't push away the feeling that Severus had something to do with their absence... But then again, no, she was probably just having a sort of anxiety attack, and her worst fears were coming back to the surface. It was surely a coincidence… Surely.
She suddenly realised that, if Remus was in the Hospital Wing, also her friends would be in the Castle. They were the ones who usually brought him there, after all. She had to check. She ran towards the stairs and directed to the Hospital Tower. Her heart was beating so fast she thought she might be sick.
Lots of students turned to look at her as she rallied up the stairs, looking concerned and frightened. She was about to turn a corner and enter the corridor who brought to the Hospital Wing when she suddenly bumped into someone.
Strong arms wrapped around her hips before she could fall, and she found herself trapped against a solid chest.
She recognized his perfume before she even saw his face. Mint; ink; expensive aftershave.
Professor Rathbone's green-grey eyes sparkled with amusement when they locked with her blue ones. Madeline instantly reddened. She could feel the tension in his arm muscles through the fabric of his dark grey robes. It was a good feeling, she thought.
"Miss Green" he hissed, with his husky voice.
She regained her equilibrium and straightened up. The man gently let her go but did not step backwards. He had a smug grin on his handsome, unreadable face. "Professor Rathbone... Good morning."
"Good morning to you, too." He replied. Then, when he took a better look at her ragged breath and messy hair, he knitted his brows. "You're going to check on your friends, aren't you?" He simply said, nodding towards the closed door of the Hospital Wing.
"What? Why should I? Are they there? What happened? Are they hurt?" She started asking, and her eyes filled with tears once again. She panicked and her heart started beating so fast she swayed on her feet.
That's when Rathbone got pretty concerned and laid a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. "Madeline…" he whispered, and knelt lightly to make eye-contact with the girl. "Breathe." He whispered, slowly. His tone was so reassuring that she easily obeyed him. The situation was so embarrassing, yet she couldn't help but be shaken and frightened for what may had happened to the Marauders.
She inhaled and exhaled softly as Professor Rathbone continued to stare at her.
"Are you calmer, now?" he asked after some time.
She managed to nod and give him a pained, tiny smile, one that resembled his, for it didn't reach her face.
Rathbone cleared his throat. "Look, I didn't mean to worry you… Your friends are fine." He stated. "There was an incident last night, but no one was hurt. They had to go to the Headmaster's office, to tell him what happened... They were afraid, I presume" he genuinely said, "Which is wise, for such young people" he added, before shaking his head and rapidly saying. "Then, Dumbledore asked me to bring them here to explain the situation to Mister Lupin too. The Headmaster was afraid there could be a fight if no one supervised the boys"
That's when Madeline thought something was definitely wrong. "A fight? Why would they fight? They're best friends!"
The Professor sighed, then. "Miss Green, a good friend doesn't always support and praise you. He also tells you when you're wrong. He gets mad at you. Let's just say… Mister Potter is pretty mad at Mister Black at the moment. Mister Lupin, too, but he's not in the condition to do anything about it now, is he?". Of course, Rathbone knew about Moony's condition. Sometimes, Madeline forgot the staff was aware of his nature. The Marauders and she were the ones who weren't supposed to know about it, actually. But Madeline could read it in her Professor's eyes that he knew she knew too.
She shook away that thought, and confusedly asked: "James and Sirius? That… Can't be possible. They're brothers."
"Yeah… I've seen that all year." He murmured, "That's why they were just about to throw hands, I think."
Madeline got more and more curious at that. "But-"
"Believe me, Madeline, you'll probably get mad too." Rathbone warned her, and a smirked grace his lips as if the thought of seeing her mad amused and interested him. Then, his voice turn more solemn as he said: "Just remember this: we do stupid things when we're young. That's what being young is for."
She could only nod distractedly at that. "What happened, Professor?" She asked.
Rathbone sighed, "I think you should hear it from them." He simply said.
Madeline nodded and lost no time, then. "Thank you, Professor... For calming me, and everything… I really appreciate your help."
"My pleasure, darling."
Madeline blushed a bit more, then, and whispered an embarrassed "Goodbye."
"Goodbye, Miss Green. I'll see you later in class." he whispered back.
She gave him a little smile and started walking towards the Hospital Wing, determined to finally find the truth about what had happened the previous night. If it had made Sirius and James quarrel, and if Remus was so mad too… Then, something awful had probably taken place. She had to know.