Maddy gazed dreamily up at the row of arched windows that ran along the classroom wall, chin resting in her hand. She had finished reading The Maiden's Curse the night before, and had spent the morning daydreaming about the sensual conclusion to Estelle and Maximo's story, wherein the lovers finally consummated there romance on a summer night, under a sky blanketed with stars. It was nothing like what she herself had written for them, but it warmed and thrilled her nevertheless. She had fallen asleep imagining Maximo's strong arms around her.
"... work together with a partner on the translation. Pay particular attention to the way in which the runes feoh and gyfu are used."
Maddy jerked upright in her seat. So wrapped up was she in her thoughts that she had missed Professor Babbling's explanation of the assignment. She stared helplessly at the blackboard, but only an unenlightening string of runes stared back. Panicked, Maddy twisted around in her seat, desperately seeking a partner who looked as if they knew what they were doing.
A pair of dark eyes caught her anguished expression from across the classroom. Maddy froze as Rabastan Lestrange tilted his head in invitation. Biting her lip, she nodded. He sauntered over to join her.
"Hey," he said, giving her an easy grin.
"Er - yes - hullo," she stammered. "Did you happen to hear which page Babbling wanted us to ...?"
Rabastan looked at her curiously. "Same one we've been on for the whole lesson. You all right, Yaxley?"
"Oh, um, of course ..." She flipped through her textbook, as if searching for her lost place.
Large hands took the book from her, turning to the correct page. Maddy's fingers tingled where Rabastan's brushed them.
"A-a charm for Good Fortune," she read from the top of the page, trying to sound as if she had known what the lesson was all along. "We're ... translating it?"
He looked amused. "That's right," he said slowly, as if he thought her a little dim. "And probably writing something about it, after."
Maddy fumbled for quill and parchment, and copied down the runes that made up the charm. Their names and meanings, if she ever knew them, had flown right out of her head. All she could think about was the large, solid presence of the boy beside her.
"So ... what d'you think?" she asked hesitantly.
He laughed. "I think maybe I chose the wrong partner. Am I going to end up doing the whole thing myself?"
"Oh, don't say that!" Maddy exclaimed. "I know the runes. Truly, I do! My mind was just on ... something else."
Rabastan cocked an eyebrow. "Anything interesting?"
"Not really." Maddy's cheeks flamed as she thought of Maximo again, only now he had Rabastan's dark eyes. "So - er - good fortune?"
"I'm just taking the piss, Yaxley," he grinned. "I know girls aren't good at runes. I thought you could use some help."
"Oh. Cheers," mumbled Maddy, flustered.
She cast a sideways glance at Lily Evans, who had the best marks in Ancient Runes in their year. The red-haired girl's head was bent over the parchment she shared with Severus Snape.
Rabastan wrinkled his nose when he saw the direction of Maddy's gaze. "Mudbloods," he sneered. "Runes are meant for wizards. Their sort shouldn't even be allowed at this school, let alone in this class."
Maddy felt a mild shock that Rabastan would say such a thing. Everyone knew that half-bloods and muggleborns were not as good as real witches and wizards, but it was not the sort of thing one often heard voiced aloud in polite company.
"I know," agreed Maddy in a nervous whisper. "My mother says there are other schools that don't let them in. You'd think a school as prestigious as Hogwarts wouldn't either."
"My brother and his friends say it's Dumbledore's lot pushing their pro-muggle agenda on the rest of us," Rabastan informed her, not bothering to lower his own voice. "Once we replace him, things will be different. You'll see."
"Is that going to happen soon?" asked Maddy, puzzled.
Rabastan shrugged. "Soon enough, if we have anything to say about it."
"Oh, well, I supposed that's good."
Maddy was not certain who "we" were, but if their plans meant not having to compete with the likes of Evans, she was all for them.
"I'm not sure girls should be allowed to take Ancient Runes either," Rabastan continued, peering down at her with a frown. "Your dispositions are better suited to subjects like Divination."
"I do take Divination!" Maddy informed him hastily. "But I didn't want to work with smelly animals, and Arithmancy sounded boring, and I wouldn't be caught dead taking Muggle Studies." She wrinkled her nose in disgust.
Rabastan laughed. "I'm just taking the piss again, Yaxley. Lighten up a little. I don't care if you take Runes or not."
"Oh. Sorry." Maddy blushed.
"Less chit-chat at the back, if you please, Mr Lestrange, Miss Yaxley," Professor Babbling called in a warning tone. "I want to see quills on parchment."
Maddy's blush deepened, but Rabastan looked unconcerned.
"Don't worry about Old Babbles," he told her. "You know she hardly ever takes house points. This charm'll be a snap; I'm almost certain I've seen it used before."
Maddy spent the rest of the lesson trying to focus on their translation. Feoh means wealth, she repeated silently, determined to make it stick in her mind. But whenever Rabastan looked at her or smiled at her, everything else went right out of her head, and when his knee pressed briefly against hers under the desk, she felt warm and tingly all over.
"I want fifteen inches of parchment on this charm from each of you by lunchtime on Monday," Professor Babbling informed them at the end of the lesson. "That should include discussion of the ways in which different materials may be employed to alter its effects."
As Rabastan shoved his textbook and quill into his satchel, Maddy summoned up her courage and plucked at the sleeve of his robes.
"Um, cheers for helping with the translation. I was wondering if maybe you'd be interested in working on the assignment together over the weekend?" she said in a hopeful rush.
He looked her over consideringly. "Yeah, all right."
She swallowed her wildly pounding heart. "Um, so, Saturday evening in the common room, then?"
Rabastan grinned. "See you there."
"Hmm?" said Maddy, realising her cousin had spoken to her.
"I said, have you been Confunded?" Venice repeated, peering at her with an expression of annoyance and concern, as they descended the spiral staircase from their last lesson of the day.
Maddy made a face. "I was just thinking. Is that against the law?"
"Seems like you were 'thinking' all the way through Divination," said Karima.
"Maybe I was," Maddy informed her. "We have OWLs coming up this year; there's a lot to think about."
She had not yet made up her mind whether to tell the others about the study date she had made with Rabastan.
Venice shuddered. "Don't remind me."
Ravenna was waiting for them at the foot of the staircase. She fell into step beside them. "Don't remind you of what?"
"OWLs," groaned Venice. "They're still months away. We don't have to start thinking about them already, do we?"
"You'd better start soon," said Ravenna. "Fifth year goes by quicker than you'd think."
"You weren't really thinking about OWLs, were you, Maddy?" asked Karima, dark eyes twinkling. "You looked much too happy about whatever it was, for one thing, and you asked me whether I could see a tall, dark, and handsome man in my scrying glass."
Maddy blushed.
"Someone's been reading The Maiden's Curse again," chuckled Ravenna knowingly. "She's got Maximo on the brain."
"I finished it last night," Maddy admitted, glad for the excuse not to explain the real reason for her mood. She reached into her satchel and handed the novel over to her cousin. "The ending was really good."
Ravenna tucked the book under her arm, looking smug. "Told you so. I'll bring you another tomorrow at breakfast."
"Cheers."
They halted outside a drab wooden door on the second floor.
"Time to face the music," said Venice, with grim humor. "Ready?"
Maddy rolled her eyes. "As I'll ever be."
Pushing the door open, they filed through it.
"Oh, it's you," said a petulant voice.
A girl peered at them from over the top of one of the toilet stalls. Her face, her hair, and even her thick spectacles were all made up of shades of translucent grey.
"Hi, Myrtle," said Venice, feigning cheeriness.
"I thought you'd forgotten me," the ghost girl whined. "Off enjoying your summer, with never a thought for poor, dead Myrtle. I know you've been back for days. I could hear you all out there, clomping around on your loud, solid feet. I suppose you finally decided to come see whether I was still here, or had faded away altogether."
"You know how busy the first few days are, Myrtle," Karima said gently. "We're here now."
"Oh, yes," sneered Myrtle, "everything's so terribly busy and important when you're alive."
Wailing, she soared through the air over their heads. Ravenna and Maddy ducked, exchanging a grimace.
"If you don't want us here, we can always find somewhere else to spend our time," said Maddy tartly.
It was not really true. There were few places where students from mixed houses could gather to socialise during their free time, and fewer still where Gryffindors and Slytherins could do so, free of judgmental stares.
"No, you can stay," grumbled Myrtle. She slid dramatically down the tiled wall to slump in the basin of a sink. "You have no idea how boring it is here when everyone's gone home. Nothing to do all day but think about death."
Permission granted, Maddy and the other girls removed handfuls of colorful cushions the size of puffball mushrooms from their satchels, and scattered them in a corner. A few Engorgio charms later, they had made a comfortable space for themselves.
"How was Runes?" asked Venice. "Any better than last year?"
Maddy shrugged, biting her lip to hide a secret smile. "It was all right."
"Wow," said Ravenna, "I think that's the first time I haven't heard you complain about it."
"I guess it was a good day," said Maddy evasively. In truth, it was probably the first time she had not regretted choosing it as one of her special subjects. "D'you think it's true that girls aren't as good at Ancient Runes as boys are?"
Venice made a face. "That's just something boys say to make themselves feel superior. They say girls aren't good at Arithmancy either, but Karima's top of our year." She and Karima beamed at one another proudly.
"Arithmancy and Ancient Runes are both taught by witches," Ravenna pointed out.
"I suppose that's true," said Maddy, poking at a crooked tile.
A small part of her had been relieved by Rabastan's pronouncement. It meant that her bad marks were not truly her fault. Maddy was much more comfortable with Divination, and there were more girls than boys in that class, so Rabastan was probably right about that, too.
"I was terrible at Ancient Runes," said Myrtle.
"What were you good at, Myrtle?" Karima asked kindly.
Whinging, thought Maddy.
"I dunno. Charms, I guess," said the ghost girl sullenly. "It's hard to remember. Anyway, I didn't get much chance to find out what I was good at, did I?"
Maddy rolled her eyes. Listening to Myrtle natter on about her death was tiresome. She had been dead for more than twice as long as she had been alive. Surely she should be over it by now.
"Anyone heard any good gossip?" Maddy asked, pointedly changing the subject.
"Some third year pipsqueak grabbed Tildy Hathersage's tit," said Venice. "She punched him right in the face."
"Did you see it?" asked Myrtle eagerly, eyes almost as big and round as her spectacles. She adored gossip and drama even more than she loved recounting her own demise.
Karima shook her head. "She told us about it. The boy lost ten house points for 'inappropriate behaviour', and Tildy lost twenty for hitting him, plus two weeks' detention."
"That's not fair!" exclaimed Maddy, sitting up. "What was she supposed to do, just let him get away with it?"
The other girls shrugged.
"Tell a professor, I guess?" suggested Ravenna.
"I would've screamed and screamed," said Myrtle happily.
Maddy scowled. "I would've hexed him. Make him think twice before trying something like that again."
"Then you would've got detention, too," Venice pointed out.
"Worth it," muttered Maddy. She had not been able to defend herself against a grown wizard, but she thought she could probably make a third year regret touching her.
Raising her voice, she added, "I heard Dumbledore might be getting the sack."
Ravenna frowned. "Says who?"
Maddy shrugged. "Just people," she said evasively. "Can't remember who."
"I don't see why they would sack him. He's a good headmaster," said Karima. "A bit mad, though," she added thoughtfully.
"I don't care about boring old Dumbledore," said Myrtle impatiently. "What else?"
"Stubby Boardman started a band over the summer with Dorian Gaveston and Tristram Scabior," Venice offered. "They're calling themselves the Hobgoblins."
"I heard them practicing," said Karima, making a face. "They're not very good. Mostly just loud."
"Good-looking, though," giggled Ravenna. "I'd snog any one of them. Or all three. What is it about Gryffindor that you get all the fit blokes?"
Not all of them, thought Maddy, recalling dark eyes and an easy grin.
"They're all right," said Venice with a shrug.
Her sister punched her in the shoulder. "Oh, c'mon, Ven! Which one would you snog?"
Venice laughed and shook her head. "I dunno. Maybe Boardman?"
"I never got to kiss anyone," said Myrtle tragically. "I always wanted to when I was alive, but all the boys at school were awful."
The others ignored her.
"Which one would you kiss, Maddy?"
Maddy shrugged. She did not really know the Gryffindor boys. "Gaveston, I guess," she said, choosing at random.
"What girl wouldn't want to snog him?" giggled Ravenna. "Except for maybe Indira Patil ..."
"Why wouldn't she?" asked Karima.
"You know, because she's a -" Ravenna dropped her voice to a dramatic whisper, "- lesbian."
"Oh," said Karima, as Venice and Myrtle tittered in shocked delight.
Maddy frowned. "What's a lesbian?"
"It's a woman who doesn't like men, so she kisses other women instead," said Ravenna authoritatively.
Venice shook her head. "It's more like women who want to act like they're men."
"I think it's just women who like women," said Karima uncomfortably. "I don't think it has anything to do with men at all."
"Maybe Myrtle's a lesbian," smirked Ravenna, eyeing the ghost girl.
"What?!" cried Myrtle, rocketing up to the high ceiling at this unexpected attack.
Maddy grinned. "She did say she thought boys were awful, and she spends all her time in the toilets, spying on girls with their robes up and their drawers down."
"HOW DARE YOU?!" shrieked Myrtle. "Boys may be awful, but girls are just as bad! You're proof of that!"
"We're just teasing," said Ravenna, rolling her eyes.
"You know how I hate teasing," pouted Myrtle. "I haunted the girls who teased me when I was alive. I'll haunt you, too. You'll never know a moment's rest!"
"Leave her alone," said Karima wearily. "We know you're not a lesbian, Myrtle. I don't believe that lesbians spy on people in the toilets, anyway."
"Sorry, Myrtle," said Ravenna, as Maddy, too, mumbled an apology that was less than heartfelt. "We didn't mean anything by it."
Myrtle began to drift slowly back down from the ceiling like a balloon losing its buoyancy. "Well ... just don't do it again," she grumbled.
"How do lesbians ... you know ... without a prick?" asked Venice, her face scrunched up as if she were trying to work out a complicated Arithmancy problem.
"They don't," Ravenna informed her. "They just hold hands and kiss each other."
"That's not true," said Myrtle unexpectedly.
"How would you know?" asked Maddy.
"Because I've seen them at it in the prefects' baths."
"I thought you didn't spy on people?" scowled Venice.
Myrtle gave her a sour look. "Just wait until you're dead and trying to find ways to pass the time."
"What do they do, Myrtle?" Karima asked, propping herself up a little straighter on her pile of cushions.
Myrtle puffed up with self-importance at being the purveyor of gossip for once. "Well, I didn't really get a good look, because of them being under water, but they felt each other's tits, and touched each other down below, and they got very loud and excited about it. One time," she continued, dropping her voice to an eager whisper, "one of them sat on the edge of the tub, and the other one licked her right between her legs!"
"You're making that up!" said Venice, shocked. "Why would anyone do a thing like that?"
"I swear on my own grave they did," Myrtle said solemnly, holding up her right hand.
"People don't really do that, do they?" asked Maddy uncertainly, looking to her older, wiser cousin.
Ravenna shrugged. "I dunno. I still think it makes more sense if lesbians just kiss and hold hands. It's usually men who want to do sex stuff, isn't it?"
"Have you ever seen two boys in the baths?" asked Karima curiously.
Myrtle nodded, eyes wide. "The blond one and the ginger one with spectacles. Last year. Or maybe three years ago. Or five." She shook her head, confused. "It gets hard to remember when things happened after you've been dead for a while."
"Two girls doing it makes more sense to me than two boys," declared Venice, wrinkling her nose. "They only have the one hole!"
Maddy's mouth dropped open in shock. "They never - !"
"I heard they do," giggled Ravenna. "Right up the arse!"
The tiled walls rang with shrieks and gales of scandalised laughter.
They were interrupted by the screech of the door's hinges. Their laughter died away immediately as the five of them turned to stare at the small girl standing in the doorway, an uncertain look on her face.
"What do you want?" demanded Myrtle.
The girl's eyes widened in alarm. "To ... use the loo?" she squeaked.
"Well, I'm not stopping you." Myrtle gestured toward the row of stalls with a translucent hand. "Couldn't if I wanted to, could I?"
Five sets of eyes followed the girl as she hurried across the room. They waited in silence through the hesitant tinkling and the flushing of the toilet, until the unwelcome visitor re-emerged and nervously approached the sinks.
"That one doesn't work," snapped Myrtle. "Use one of the others."
The girl did as she was ordered, and fled without drying her hands. As the door banged shut behind her, Maddy and the others fell about once more, giggling.
"First years," snorted Ravenna. "They never make that mistake twice!"
"I hope she warns the others," Myrtle snickered. "Only people I like are allowed in my toilets."
"Here," said Rabastan, pointing at the page of the open book between them. "See? Depending on what type of good fortune you're hoping to have, you use different materials to make the charm. Like, for wealth, you'd etch the runes in gold or silver. For health, you'd use the juices of medicinal plants to inscribe the runes on the body. For fertility -" he broke off, giving her a sideways look, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, "- you're probably too pure and innocent to know about things like that."
Between the fire in the common room hearth and the nearness of the boy beside her, Maddy felt very warm all over. "I know about stuff. You can tell me."
His grin widened. "Do you? Well, in that case, you'd use the man's seed to write the runes on the woman's belly."
"Oh." Maddy flushed bright red at the thought.
"But you probably shouldn't mention that use in your essay; you'd give Old Babbles an apoplexy."
"Right," agreed Maddy. "Um, well, I suppose I have almost enough other examples ..."
"Of course," continued Rabastan, "blood is the strongest of all. You can do almost anything with runes and blood."
"But ... isn't blood magic illegal?" Maddy asked hesitantly.
Rabastan shrugged. "Sure. I was just saying. My brother thinks they don't want us to use blood because it's too powerful. They wouldn't be able to control us."
"Who's 'they'?" asked Maddy, intrigued.
"The Ministry," said Rabastan, slinging a casual arm across the back of the sofa, almost around Maddy's shoulders. "People with power. People who control things, behind the scenes. People like Dumbledore."
"Oh," said Maddy again. She had never thought about it like that before. "Um, you seem to know a lot about it."
Rabastan accepted the compliment with a tilt of his head. "You can learn a lot just by paying attention to who is telling you what, and what they're not saying. It's like a game, where they're talking in code. Once you know the code, you start to understand what's really going on."
"What is really going on?" Maddy echoed, feeling foolish.
"It's like I said before;" Rabastan informed her, "Dumbledore's lot pushing a pro-muggle agenda, taking away pure-blood rights, destroying the traditional wizarding way of life, forcing us to interbreed with half-bloods or worse. I've heard they're trying to install a mudblood as Minister for Magic. What's next? Putting muggles in charge? Repealing the International Statute of Secrecy, and letting them tell us how we can use our magic? Taking children from pure-blood families to be raised by muggles?"
"I never knew about any of that," Maddy admitted. "I don't really know much about politics." She shuddered at the thought of being forced to marry a muggle.
"You don't have to know anything about it," he assured her. "A pretty, pure-blood witch shouldn't worry herself about politics; she should have pure-blood wizards looking out for her interests and protecting her from radical pro-muggle types."
He thinks I'm pretty! Maddy swallowed an undignified squeak of delight.
"That's - um - it's always been just Mum looking out for me," she found herself telling him. "No men." No men who ever actually protected us, she amended silently.
Rabastan gave her a thoughtful look. "That's a shame. You should have someone looking out for you. A champion."
"That would be nice," Maddy admitted, heart fluttering. Was he offering ...?
Rabastan stretched. "It's getting late."
Maddy glanced around the Slytherin common room in surprise. The fire had burned down to embers, and the two of them were the last people left in the circle of lamplight.
"The house elves will be along any minute," said Rabastan. "We should be off to bed."
"I suppose so," said Maddy with a touch of regret. She did not feel ready for the pleasant evening to end.
She gathered up her textbook, parchment, quill, and ink, dragging out each action, as if she might make the night stretch on forever. Rabastan followed her as far as the shadowy entrance to the girls' dormitory corridor, which was protected by a charm to prevent boys from entering. Maddy hesitated on the threshold, her arms full, not knowing how to say good night.
"Um, cheers for helping with the assignment," she told him. "I had a-a really nice time tonight."
Rabastan smiled. "Me, too. It's nice when a pretty girl owes me a favour."
"A-a what?" asked Maddy breathlessly.
Rabastan took a step nearer, so that they were almost touching. "Unless you want to pay me back now?" he said softly.
Maddy could hardly breathe. He was so close, and they were all alone. After, she could not recall if she had leaned toward him, or if he had leaned toward her. All she remembered was that his mouth was warm and wet on hers, and when his tongue forced its way between her lips, it felt strange and exciting. But that was nothing compared to the feel of his large hand circling her waist, sliding up her ribs to the curve of her breast, and giving it a squeeze. She gasped, and he pulled away, grinning.
"Night, Yaxley." He turned away and trudged back toward the boys' dormitory.
Maddy stood staring after him, books and parchment clutched to her chest, trembling with some new and nameless feeling.