CHAPTER 10: 'SNAKE'
December brought about the cold winter frost to Hogwarts.
The short time that had passed after the first task had been uneventful. With the second task so far away, most of the Hogwarts students seemed to have returned to normal life (minus Quidditch, much to Ron Weasley's disappointment). The most exciting thing that had happened so far was an incident in Care of Magical Creatures, where Madeline and some of the Gryffindors had helped Hagrid recapture some skrewts whilst the rest of the class barricaded themselves in Hagrid's hut.
That all changed, however, at the end of a particularly boring Charms lesson. Madeline had been halfway through packing her bag when Flitwick called the room to attention.
"I've been asked to remind you all of the upcoming Yule Ball," Flitwick announced to the Slytherins and Ravenclaws in front of him, "It is a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialise with our foreign guests."
Madeline turned to her friends in confusion, "The what now?"
"The ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish. Dress robes will be worn," Flitwick continued, ignoring Madeline's gaping expression, "And the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Alright, off you go to lunch you lot!"
"Didn't you know?" Daphne asked as the trio stood up, making their way out of the classroom, "The Yule Ball?"
"I did not," Madeline shook her head, "So what? We're not going home for the holidays?"
"You can choose," Theo explained as the three left the classroom, "There is a list outside the Great Hall. You can put your name down to stay for the ball and go home on boxing day, or to stay altogether, or to go home and miss the ball."
Madeline furrowed her eyebrows, "Isn't that a little unfair?"
He shrugged, "Doesn't make a difference to me. I usually stay anyway."
"So," Daphne interrupted, squeezing herself between her two friends. She looped her arms into theirs, creating a chain, "Who are you all going with?"
Madeline scoffed, "I didn't know we had a ball until like, thirty seconds ago."
"Surely there must be people lining up to ask you," Daphne pressed, "Ooh, maybe you could go with Malfoy! That would surely get Pansy's knickers in a twist."
Madeline scoffed, "I'd sooner die."
"And what about you, Theodore?" Daphne continued, "Any plans? Hot dates?"
"I've been thinking of asking someone," Theo revealed mysteriously, "But it's none of your business, Greengrass."
"You guys are so boring," Daphne whined, "Higgs asked me like, days ago."
The trio stopped in their tracks, Madeline's eyes widening as she dragged her friends to the side of the corridor. "Higgs? As in Terence Higgs?"
Daphne nodded innocently, "We went on that library date. He's sweet, so I said yes."
"You should've told us!" Madeline exclaimed, a grin on her face.
"Krum will be heartbroken," Theo teased, earning himself a sharp nudge from Daphne.
"So, you two better hurry up," Daphne bragged, walking away with a spring in her step, "Or all the good ones will be gone!"
People began pairing off as soon as the news had spread about the ball. Soon enough, the Slytherins began pairing off too. Tracy and her boyfriend had finally made their relationship public when he'd asked her at breakfast one morning (they received obscenely loud applause from the older Slytherins, including Pansy). Blaise Zabini had asked a fifth-year Ravenclaw girl, and everyone assumed Pansy and Draco would be going together, although the latter made no move of asking her.
"Eloise Midgen got asked to the ball today," Daphne had announced as she sat herself down for breakfast, Terence seating himself by her, "Seriously, you guys need to get a move on."
"It's only been a few days since Flitwick told us," Madeline argued, "Surely not everyone is rushing around trying to secure a date?"
"Why don't you two go together?" Terence asked, twirling a piece of bacon on his fork, "Means you wont have to ask anyone."
"Theo wants to ask someone, but he's too much of a wuss to do it," Daphne explained, squeezing Theo's cheek affectionately.
"Actually," Theo interrupted, swatting Daphne's hand away. He cleared his throat pointedly, "They ended up asking me first. And I said yes."
Daphne clapped her hands happily, shrieking. Madeline turned to her friend with a groan, "Oh you traitor."
"This is so exciting!" Daphne exclaimed, "Who is it?!"
"Wait and see, Greengrass. Unlike you, I keep my personal life private."
"So it's just you," Daphne stated, pointing her knife at Madeline, "We need to find you a hot date."
"Keep waving that thing at me and Higgs will have to go to the ball alone," Madeline threatened half-heartedly.
"How about Diggory?" Terence supplied, his arm moving to wrap around Daphne's shoulders, "He's a Hufflepuff, but he's one of the Champions."
Madeline shook her head, "We're friends, it would be weird. Besides, I think he's got a date. His fan girls have been a little less annoying than usual."
"Probably heartbroken," Theo agreed.
"Flint would probably go with you," Terence pushed, "I can ask him, if you'd like."
Madeline tried to recall what Flint looked like, her nose twitching in disgust, "No, but thank you."
"Miles Bletchley? I'd suggest his brother Kevin but I'm pretty sure he's going with-"
"Are you just listing people from the Quidditch team?" Madeline interrupted, narrowing her eyes.
"Maybe, but they're still the best option you've got," Terence pointed out, popping a strawberry into his mouth obnoxiously.
Terence wasn't exactly the worst looking student in their year. In fact, most people would call him handsome. The only problem was that he was well aware of what that kind of power meant in Hogwarts. He wasn't very remarkable, but he brought the Quidditch team enough wins that he was considered one of the more popular Slytherin boys.
"I could just go alone," Madeline continued, "I'm not about to attend another ball with someone I can't stand for more than ten minutes."
"You are not going alone," Daphne stated seriously, "We still have plenty of time. I'm sure we'll find you someone."
Madeline all but threw herself on the plush leather couch of the Slytherin common room the minute her lessons for the day were over. She was the first one back, having raced for the comfort of the large room after the hellish day she'd put herself through.
The classes themselves were fine. Snape wasn't in a particularly sour mood (albeit still sour), and didn't try to poison any of them. Professor Sprout complimented her latest catch-up essay, even going as far as telling her she could have a future in Herbology (thank you, but no). Despite how nice her classes had been, Daphne had not stopped trying to find her a match for the Yule Ball.
She'd naively thought that the conversation would have been left alone after their breakfast, but sadly Daphne had other ideas. Throughout the day, she'd throw tiny pieces of parchment at Madeline to catch her attention, discreetly pointing at different people in the class. Every time, Madeline shook her head.
She'd been to a hundred balls before this one, and nothing truly made the Yule Ball anymore special than the others had. Frivolous gowns, stale conversations… If Madeline was really going to sacrifice her winter holidays to attend it, she'd be going with a suitor who wouldn't bore her half to death, thank you very much. She needed someone confident but not overly cocky, perhaps someone that didn't take themselves too seriously.
She was still lying down on the sofa with her head buried in its pillows when the Slytherin Dungeons opened again. She didn't bother lifting her head, figuring that whoever it was could manage without a greeting. Her head only snapped up when she heard quiet sniffling.
"It's alright," Tracy Davis cooed as she sat the young crying first-year girl on the couch opposite Madeline, handing her an embroidered green handkerchief.
"What happened?" Madeline asked, seating herself on the couch properly as she adjusted her hair.
She recognised the girl as Evie Sterling, a bright-eyed first-year with curled cropped red hair. She reminded Madeline a lot of Daphne, with her bright nature and happy laugh. It was a rare sight to see her upset, let alone sobbing in Tracy's arms.
"Some of the older Gryffindor boys were picking on her," Tracy explained plainly, "I found the poor thing in the dungeon bathrooms."
"Again?!" Madeline huffed. Of course, it was no secret that the Slytherins were the most disliked house, even an idiot would know that. However, recently the younger kids had been getting hell of a lot of taunting, Evie most certainly not being the first to end up in tears in the common room.
"What do you expect? They basically set us up for this," Tracy explained, rubbing the younger girls back, "You get sorted into Slytherin and everyone starts booing. They make us the villains so they can feel better about themselves."
"It's pathetic," Madeline agreed, raising her eyebrow as Tracy shrugged.
"What else can we do? It's not like we can change decades of prejudice," Tracy sighed, pulling Evie away from her and holding her at arms length, "Whoever tries to taunt you, or whatever happens, know that the Slytherin Common Room is always here for you. We might be snakes as they like to call us, but we're still a family."
"Right," Madeline nodded, offering the teary girl a smile. Evie smiled back hesitantly, nodding excitedly.
The dungeons door opened once more, a flurry of first and second years rushing in. Tracy smiled at Evie, encouraging her to go join her friends. The young girl whispered a quiet 'thank you' to the two girls before rushing over to her friends, almost instantly giggling as two girls wrapped their arms around her shoulders, leading her up to the dorms.
"It's unfair," Madeline spoke after a while, her eyes still trained on the dormitory hallway, "They haven't done anything wrong. It's unfair that the whole school is against them."
"You weren't here in first year so you didn't get it, but it literally happens every year," Tracy explained, pulling a parchment out of her robe pocket. She handed it to Madeline, "I found Evie with this in the bathroom."
Madeline took the parchment and quickly unfolded it, her blood boiling the minute she unfolded it. In bright red letters, the word 'SNAKE' had been scrawled on what looked like homework notes from one of Evie's essays. Logically, it could've been anyone, but Madeline knew the minute she saw the red ink that there could be only one house culprit.
"That's it," Madeline announced as she stood up, the parchment crumpling in her left hand, "I swear to god I'm going to end up hexing that entire house into the Black Lake."
"Who's set her off this time?" Theo asked as he entered the common room, Daphne not far behind him as she echoed him with a grinning "Uh-oh."
"I'm going to pay a visit to the Gryffindors," Madeline stated darkly, "Don't wait for me for dinner."
Madeline marched through the Hogwarts corridor with a fire that would put the Goblet to shame. Everyone hurried to get out of her way as she stormed through the corridors, her robes flowing behind her as her hand held the parchment with a bruising grip. She climbed the ever-changing stairs, the portraits looking at her with fear as she made her way to the Fat Lady.
"Pig snout," Madeline snapped unprompted, the Fat Lady's eyes bulging out of their sockets at the furious state the girl was in. Without another word, she swung the frame open.
Ron Weasley really should keep his voice down if he didn't want her knowing the password.
"Don't kill anyone!" the Fat Lady called behind her as Madeline stepped through the archway, muttering, "Merlin knows the stains are hard to clean…."
Meanwhile, Harry and his friends had been having a rather unimportant conversation, unaware of the approaching disaster. Fred and George happily hopped down the staircase from their dorm, seating themselves on either arm of Ron's sofa.
"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.
"No, he's off delivering a letter," replied Ron. "Why?"
"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," Fred said sarcastically.
"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," continued George.
"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" Ron asked.
"Nose out, Ron!" Fred cut in, waving his wand threateningly. He pulled himself onto the sofa, peering at the golden trio, "So… You lot got dates for the ball yet?"
"Nope," Ron replied bitterly.
"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," George teased, pulling himself onto the sofa exactly like Fred had.
"Who're you going with, then?" Ron asked, fully turning his body to his brother.
"Angelina," George replied proudly, without a trace of embarrassment.
"What? You've already asked her?!"
"Good point," George replied. He leant over the back of the sofa, calling across the room, "Oi! Angelina!"
Angelina Johnson, one of the star Quidditch players for Gryffindor had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire. She lifted her head and looked over at him with a frown on her face, "What?" she called back.
"Want to come to the ball with me?"
Angelina gave George an appraising sort of look, a small grin breaking on her face, "All right, then."
"Piece of cake," George bragged to the boys as he turned back around to the small group.
"Fine then, who are you going with?" Ron turned to Fred, raising his eyebrows.
Fred shrugged, "Haven't asked anyone yet."
"Oh go on," George teased, turning to the group, "There's a special someone he's too scared to ask."
"Sod off," Fred laughed, throwing one of the red pillows at his twin.
"Why don't you ask her?" Hermione asked, "I'm sure she'd say yes, you know. Unless someone's already asked her."
"I'll do it when I see her next," Fred promised, winking at his brother.
"We should get a move on, you know. Ask someone. He's right," Ron said to Harry, "We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."
Hermione let out a sputter of indignation, Fred and George whistling lowly.
"You shouldn't talk about women like that, little brother," Fred chastised, clapping his hand on Ron's back.
"Well - you know," Ron shrugged, "I'd rather go alone than with Eloise Midgen, say."
"She's really nice!" Hermione protested, "And she got asked this morning, by the way."
"Her nose is off-center," Ron stated.
"Oh I see," Hermione scoffed, "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"
"Er - yeah, that sounds about right," Ron nodded, "Even Madeline Bisset would be better."
"And what's wrong with Madeline exactly?" Hermione pressed, Harry pointedly pulling himself away from the conversation. Even the twins leant back and away into the sofa.
Ron snorted, "She's just another spoilt rich girl, just like Malfoy. The two are probably snogging in Snape's office after classes."
"You're ridiculous!" Hermione exclaimed, "She's been nothing but nice to Neville and Harry, but you're too stubborn to see her as anything other than a Slytherin!"
"Well let's be honest Hermione, they don't exactly have the best rep," Ron shot back, "She'd probably tear this place down if she was given the cha-"
"Which one of you twats did this?!"
Every head in the common room snapped to the entrance as Madeline stormed in, holding the parchment high in the air as if it were the head of an animal she'd just killed. The word 'SNAKE' was clear, the red almost accusatory.
"So?!" Madeline asked again, almost getting louder.
"Madeline!" George greeted amicably, staying a cautious distance away from her, "How's your week be-"
"Save it, Weasley," Madeline snapped, walking over to the small group and slamming the parchment onto the wooden coffee table, "Tracy and I just consoled a crying first year Slytherin because one of you Gryffindorks thought that this was a perfectly acceptable thing to do."
Everyone stayed quiet, most eyes fixated on the parchment. Hermione seemed horrified, while the boys seemed expressionless.
"You know what? I'm just about sick of other houses feigning entitlement because they're not from 'The Evil House,'" Madeline continued, "Eleven year-olds get sorted into Slytherin and get boo'ed. Over something they can't control. It's not their fault they value leadership and resourcefulness, is it?"
"You don't understand-"
"Shut it, Weasley," Madeline snapped, glaring at Ron, "They are literally kids! And they're forced to go through the most important years of their lives being outcasted because guys like you think it's fine to do shit like this, or are doing absolutely nothing to stop it. And this isn't the first time something like this has happened."
"She's right," Hermione chimed in. Madeline didn't know if the girl genuinely agreed, or was simply repaying the favour Madeline had made her when she'd joined her House Elf freedom brigade, "It's not fair that the first-years are treated like that."
"Exactly. So, you guys better fix your house, or me coming in here will be the last of your problems," Madeline snapped, unbothered by their gaping expressions. She grabbed the parchment from the table and tucked it into her pocket, storming out in the same manner she'd come in.
"Bisset; wait up!"
Madeline had been halfway down the first set of stairs when she heard her name. She turned around, half expecting to see Harry or Hermione.
She was greeted, instead, by Fred Weasley.
"If you're about to try and get me to apologise, the answer is-"
"Do you want to go to the Yule Ball with me?"
Madeline's eyes widened, her mouth falling open. What the hell?
"Seriously?" Madeline asked after a few moments, "Even after I ripped the entire Gryffindor Tower a new one?"
Fred shrugged, putting his hands in his pockets as he grinned cheekily, "To be quite honest, it was kind of hot."
Madeline's eyes widened even more. On one hand, she should curse him out for his awful timing. On the other hand, it was absolutely perfect.
"Alright, yeah," Madeline eventually agreed after she'd shaken herself out of her initial shock, nodding, "I'll go with you."
"Wicked," Fred grinned even wider, Madeline pointedly ignoring the Fat Lady's shocked expression on the wall behind Fred. "I'll, uh, see you at dinner, yeah?"
"Sure," Madeline nodded, ignoring the unfamiliar fluttering in her chest, "See you later."
Fred nodded, but seemed to hesitate. He squeezed Madeline's shoulder, almost too amicably, before jogging back through the Gryffindor entrance.
So, Madeline had a date to the ball after all.
"That didn't take long," Theo complimented as Madeline re-entered the Slytherin common room. Theo was sat on one of the couches next to Daphne and Terence, the other one occupied by Tracy and a couple of third-year girls. Malfoy, Pansy and his goons were sat on the table just behind them, paying no attention to Madeline.
"So? Any blood spilt?" Daphne asked, leaning forwards, "Ooh! Please tell me it was Finnigan."
"No, actually," Madeline replied stoically, seating herself at the armchair between the two couches, facing the fireplace.
"Well then, what happened?" Daphne pressed.
"I, uh, got a date to the Yule Ball?" Madeline replied hesitantly, "Oh, and I pretty much screamed down the Gryffindor Tower. I'm pretty sure the Fat Lady is going to give me a lifetime ban."
Everyone's eyes were on Madeline. Even Malfoy had lifted his head out of his book to stare at her, an unreadable expression on his face. Daphne looked at her friend incredulously, "You did what?"
"It was quite good, actually. They didn't really say much. Think I called them all a bunch of twats at one point-"
"No, I mean the date!" Daphne squealed, "Who is it?!"
"If it's Potter, I'm locking you out of the common room," Terence threatened very, very seriously.
Madeline rolled her eyes, "It's not Potter. Actually, it was one of the twins."
Tracy spluttered, eyes as wide as saucers, "The Weasleys?!"
"Huh. Fair play," Daphne nodded in satisfaction, leaning back into the sofa with a grin on her face, "They're hot."
"Greengrass!"
"She could do a lot worse with the sorts they have in Gryffindor," Daphne argued.
Malfoy snorted, drawing the small groups attention, "Please. If Bisset has sunk so low to have to go to the ball with a Weasley, she may as well not go at all."
"Shut up Ferret," Madeline called back, snickers echoing into the common room. She turned back to her friends, "Anyway, now that we all have dates, can we please stop talking about the ball until Christmas?"
Daphne smirked, stretching her arms onto the back of the sofa, "Oh darling, I've barely started."
A/N: TO CLARIFY: This story is still intended to be a DRACO x OC eventual ending, but Madeline has far too much of a sense of self to be attracted to Draco with his current values/traits. They both need to be broken down a little more!