Jo had been shocked at what she had seen in the Orb. Wanting to see the boy that she had had a crush on for so long, she had brought into her mind her memory of Alastor. He was tall, athletic, and had mischievous brown eyes. His dark brown hair was short, but it hung slightly in front of his eyes. He was funny and great at Defense Against the Dark Arts, repelling the practice curses shot at him with an almost lazy ease. The Alastor of today was wilted and old. He had longish grizzled gray hair and an old, weather-beaten face. His nose had a chunk missing. Instead of having two normal brown eyes, he had one regular eye and one light blue, magical eye that spun and moved constantly. Still, Jo hoped with all her heart that inside he was still the same Alastor that she had known, and loved. Now she was back at Hogwarts. Her best friend was pulling her excitedly through the familiar entrance hall. They were going to see Albus.
@----))-------
Maddy froze in front of the stone gargoyle.
"I can't do this!" she moaned. "Oh, why did we come? I haven't seen him since, er, a long time ago! What if he doesn't remember me? What if-" She was cut off as the gargoyle came to life and jumped aside. Standing there, looking cheerful, was Albus. Not quite looking at her, he spoke.
"Ah, Miss Granger, we've been w-" He stopped abruptly, clearly recognizing her. His light blue eyes widened.
"Maddy?" Their eyes locked for a moment, and then she ran to him and threw herself into his arms.
"Oh Albus! I've missed you so much!" He hugged her tightly.
"You look exactly the same as I remember you! But you're alive…? I thought that HE killed you…" He looked incredulous.
"Albus, I am dead," she said quietly. "I'm an angel. You know, as in Lives in Heaven? Jo is too."
Looking over her shoulder, he saw Jo, smiling at him.
"Jo? Is that really you?" Jo nodded happily and bounded to his side. He put one arm around her, holding both of them close to him. "It's been so long… I must owl Alastor for him to meet us here. Won't he be surprised!" Jo looked up.
"I'll do it," she said. Albus looked doubtful.
"Do you want me to help you find the Owlery? Because if you-" Jo raised her hand, silencing him.
"My dear Albus, I am perfectly capable of finding it myself. I did spend five years of my life here, you know. Plus, time goes slower in Heaven. We've only been gone a couple years up there… I think I can manage." Albus, barely suppressing a smile, quickly penned a letter and handed it to her. She strode off. He laughed.
"Same old Jo." Maddy smiled.
"Yeah, you should have seen her today! She was playing a pickup game of Quidditch with this really nice boy named Cedric. She'll never change." Albus froze on his way through the entrance to his study, a look of mixed emotion on his face.
"Cedric? Cedric Diggory?"
"Why yes, do you know him?"
"In fact I did. But that is irrelevant, now we must catch up on everything. I'm dying to know what Heaven is like, I fear I'm not far from it myself…" Maddy touched his arm lightly as they ascended the spiraling staircase.
"It's great Albus, really. But you still have more life to live. Your father is up there too, you know." Albus stared.
"My father? Are you serious? You've seen him?" Maddy gave a laugh.
"Albus, he's like a second father to me and Jo," she chuckled, "He's the one who gets cross and punishes us when we bother the older angels, or when we stay out too late, or…"
"I get the idea," said Albus, smiling. He and Maddy entered his office. There sat Lily and James' son, Harry, who was looking at them curiously. Maddy's dark brown eyes widened slightly.
"Harry…" she gasped, staring at him. Seeing him up close, she noticed just how much he looked like James, except for his eyes. They were Lily's sparkling bright green eyes, full of laughter. The look on Harry's face was one of confusion.
"Harry…" Maddy repeated, remembering what Lily had asked her to do before she had left. Albus quickly drew up a chair for her, and she sat gratefully.
"Er, yes?" asked Harry slowly.
"I… I'm supposed to give you a message… from your mum…" Harry's eyes grew wide with surprise.
"From my mum? But she's…"
"Yes, I know, she's dead. But so am-" Maddy cut off and looked at Albus, not knowing whether to tell Harry about herself. Albus smiled and broke in.
"This is my… er… friend, Harry. Madeleine Potter, Maddy for short." Harry looked even more confused.
"But, If your surname's Potter, then you must be…" He trailed off, looking at Maddy curiously. She sighed. She could see it was going to take a long time to explain everything.
@---))-------
An hour later, Albus and Maddy finished telling Harry everything. Everything from the their time at Hogwarts to the day she died. Maddy took over after that and told both of them about Heaven, and about her meeting Lily and James. Jo was still not back from the Owlery, but they soon found out why. Professor Snape strode in, yanking a furious looking Jo by the back of her red windbreaker.
"Headmaster, I found this student, whom I have never seen before, walking down from the Owlery. She is inexcusably out of uniform and out of bed. I suggest twenty points from her House, which she claims is Gryffindor, and a detention every night for the next two weeks." Both Albus and Maddy looked at the enraged looking Jo and burst out laughing. Snape, who had obviously never seen the headmaster act in this manner, looked slightly bewildered.
"God, Jo, we haven't even been back for a day and you've already managed to get a detention?" gasped Maddy, trying to regain her breath. Albus, whose face was tinged red from laughing, spoke.
"My dear Severus, there is no need for any punishment. This 'student' as you call her, is and old friend of mine. Please, sit." Snape released his hold on the back of Jo's neck. Jo scowled and rubbed her throat.
"This stupid oaf never would have caught me if I'd had my wand," she hissed, shooting a mutinous look at Snape. Snape, however, didn't see it, as his beady eyes were flickering around the study.
"Potter…" he hissed. Both Maddy and Harry turned and narrowed their eyes.
"What?" they asked irritably at the same time. Everyone except Snape burst out laughing again.
@---))-------
As a few days passed, everyone began to notice more than a few similarities between Harry and Maddy. Besides the fact that they were both Gryffindors, they both were also exceptionally bright, had a sense of humor, excellent at Quidditch, seemed to attract people (Maddy had only been back at Hogwarts a couple days, not even attending classes, and she already had a group of awed students following her around), and they both were extremely powerful wizards. They also got along extremely well, often going out to the pitch for one on one Quidditch games, or going for a walk around the lake so they could talk (mainly about Harry's family, and also Harry's problems with the Dursleys). They had an excellent relationship, considering that they had only met just recently and that Maddy was, well, dead. Harry often confided in Ron that Maddy was like the sister that he never had.
"I can tell her anything, and she won't laugh," he said quietly, a week after Maddy and Jo had arrived. He and Ron were watching Maddy drift around the common room with Jo. "And she can tell me all about my grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, even my parents! She's great."
"Yeah," said Ron dreamily, his eyes locked on Maddy's pretty, cheerful face, "She's terrific." Harry rolled his eyes at his friend's dazed expression.
"Great. Another crush," he muttered. "This is going to be just like the Fleur thing." The girls made their way over to Harry and Ron, Hermione with them. Hermione was deep in conversation with Maddy.
"You were top of every class?" asked Hermione. Maddy smiled.
"Yeah, me or Albus usually. I heard from Harry that you are too. But people never seem to understand that we get stressed too, you know?"
"I know exactly what you mean! These two," Hermione tossed head towards Harry and Ron, who were watching with interest, "They never understand what I go through! Always calling me a know-it-all and such…" Maddy gave Hermione an understanding smile.
"Don't let it get to you. They're just jealous." She shot a mischievous grin at the pair. Ron blushed, his face turning the same colour as his hair.
"You can sit over here, Maddy!" he said quickly, moving over so Maddy could sit next to him on the couch. She gave him a funny look but sat. Harry moved so Hermione and Jo could sit.
"So, how long are you guys going to be here for?" asked Hermione. She and Ron had been informed of the, er, unusual circumstances after they had promised not to tell anyone. The rest of the students had been informed that Jo and Maddy were relatives of Albus's there on holiday. Most of the teachers knew the truth, of course.
"We don't know," said Jo, "I guess we just tell them when we want to go back?"
"Well, there was that instruction book. You know, with the rules…" Maddy trailed off, looking up at Jo in horror.
"We forgot about the rules!" they gasped at the same time. Maddy jumped up and dashed up to the 5th year girls' common room, where she and Jo were staying temporarily. Jo sat back, looking pale. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked confused.
"Rules… What?" Maddy dashed back down with a thick (white, of course) booklet clutched in her hands. The title on the front read:
Extremely Important Rules to Follow While on Earth Put in Place for Your Own Protection
(Do not break at any costs)
Maddy turned to the first page, her hands shaking slightly. There was a long list of rules, spanning the entire booklet in extremely fine print. She scanned them quickly.
"Well, we're all right here… Do not sell your soul, do not eat cabbage, do not wear a moo-moo at any time, avoid fire as much as possible…" She flipped to the back, where there was one rule, written in large red lettering. She read it out loud, looking horrorstruck, her deep brown eyes wide.
"Rule number 2563337: The most important rule of all is this- DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, MAKE ANY CONTACT WITH MORTALS. This includes touching, talking to, or even approaching a humans or any otherwise living sentient being. Those who do not abide by this rule will be severely dealt with. Have a nice trip!" The group looked around at each other in alarm.
"So what happens to us now?" whispered Jo, gripping Maddy's hand.
"I don't know."
@---))---------
Disclaimer: I only own the unrecognizable characters, though if you've read my series then you recognize them by now, so I dunno if this does any good…
A/N: Probably only one more part left in this "spin-off" story, I think. Maybe two if you're lucky!
