Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize . . . maybe some day when I take over the world Harry Potter will be mine, but until then, enjoy my story.
A/n: I'm bring this back now, not because I'm caught up, but because HP6 comes out in July (yes!) and my story won't make sense then, so, here it is.
Dedication: To the seniors! Who won raffle? Oh, um, I think that it was, oh, yeah, the SENIORS!
We sold tickets east,
We sold tickets west,
Seniors won raffle because
Seniors are the best!
XxXxX
Harry woke the next morning with his scar twinging and dressed as usual. He felt a pang of sorrow as he saw a few shards of glass at the bottom of his trunk. He closed the lid quickly, turned, and strode silently, not to wake the four other boys, to the door and left.
When he got to the Great Hall, he was surprised to find it completely empty. He hovered in the doorway for a moment, feeling uneasy about sitting alone in the vast hall. Suddenly, he was knocked to the ground and the wind was knocked out of him. Something heavy had landed on his back.
"Oh, I'm so sorry."
He pushed himself up sending the heaviness, books he noticed, tumbling to the ground around him. "Here," he said to the girl who had bent down to pick up her books. "Let me help," he bent down and grabbed a book.
"No it's alright."
"It's no problem."
Harry gathered up a few books and a few spiral notebooks and the girl looked at him. It was Maddie. "Hey," he said with a small smile. There was one lone book on the floor. "I'll get it," he informed her.
"No, it's really quite alright," she said going for it. They both caught hold of one side of it. Each holding about six books under the other arm, they stood up and their heads collided.
"Ahh!"
"Aww!"
The books all fell back onto the floor with a crash. They both grabbed their foreheads. Harry's now throbbing.
"Oh, this is useless!" Maddie waved her wand and the books piled neatly together and, with a flick, glided gently over to the tabletop. "I'm so sorry,"
"It's alright," Harry replied still rubbing his head.
Maddie walked away from him, but he followed her down the opposite side of the table. She had sat down next to her pile of books and watched, enchanted, as Harry sat down across from her.
"You don't have to sit with me you know," she said meekly.
"I know," Harry informed her
"Then why are you?" she asked looking slightly pleased.
Harry shrugged and noticed she smiled. She looked like a completely different; a very familiar person. She looked down at the book she had opened. They were silent until Harry asked a question he had been mental struggling with, "Do I know you from somewhere?"
Her head shot up instantly and she studied him. "Why?" she asked sounding a bit unnerved.
"Well, you just – you remind me of someone."
"Who?"
"I don't know," Harry said slowly and frowning.
She smiled again. "Then how can I remind you of someone if you can't even remember who I remind you of?"
Harry looked at her, perplexed. "I don't know."
"Well, figure it out and get back to me," she said and turned back to her book. Harry sat there watching her until the food appeared and he jumped in surprise. He hadn't even noticed its absence. He started to eat and by then Maddie had pulled open a different book and had pulled out a muggle mechanical pencil and a calculator and was concentration very hard.
Harry didn't want to disturb her, but his curiosity took over. "What are you doing?"
"Algebra," Maddie mumbled, not looking up, pencil clamped between her teeth and her brow hurrowed.
"Algebra?"
"II, actually," she said and then sighing, closed the book, "I don't get it. So, I give up." She pushed it away from her and grabbed the next book off the stack. She seemed to have felt Harry's gaze still on her. She looked up at him. They just looked at each other for a moment and then Maddie laughed. "What?"
Harry, in turn, laughed too. He wasn't sure why, but it felt appropriate. "What?" she asked again.
"I don't know."
"You really don't know much of anything do you?"
He stopped laughing and went back to his food.
People had started filtering through the hall around them. Ron and Hermione came in and both stopped in their tracks, starring at Harry and Maddie. Hermione was the first to recover, she hit Ron in the ribs, and he moaned in pain.
"Good morning," she said brightly, too brightly Harry thought. As Harry eyed her, suspicious of her tone, Maddie settled behind a large text book with the word "Lit" written across the front.
Hermione and Ron started eating and Harry, who had finished, started watching Maddie's book cover. Whenever she would turn the page or moved, the paper cover would crinkle and slide on the shine cover underneath it.
Suddenly, the book dropped with a clunk. Maddie had gone for the next notebook on the stack and the book had fallen without the support. Harry glanced at the story she was reading. "Ain't I a Woman?" was the title that starred back at him. Maddie was flipping through her notebook when Hermione stood up and said, "Ten minutes til charms. We better go."
"Alright," Ron said standing up too. "You, coming?"
"Yeah," Harry answered distractedly. "Do you need help carrying all your books?" he asked Maddie standing up.
"What? Oh—" Harry hadn't waited for an answer and had gone ahead and grabbed half the stack. "Oh, you don't have to do that," she said grabbing the rest and following after him.
Hermione and Ron were leading the way and, as they were going up the steps, Hermione looked over her shoulder and rolled her eyes at Maddie. Harry hadn't seen Hermione's look, but he did see Maddie's face after she received it and once again the pang of familiarity hit him hard.
They reached the room and took their seats. "What are you going to do with all these books?" Harry asked.
Maddie simply waved her wand at the stack and, with a small pop, they disappeared. Harry's eyes went big in surprise and Professor Flitwick called from the front of the room, "Very good. Yes, indeed, very good, Miss—" he looked down at his class list, "Ahh, well, class this is Madeline Gilmore. She just performed a very good vanishing charm."
"Actually, it was a replacement charm," she corrected, and then looked horrified that she had spoken out and ducked her head. "Sorry, Professor," she mumbled.
"No, no, that's even better."
Charms passed quickly and Transfiguration was a huge bore because McGonagall spent the whole class period lecturing them on the importance of sixth year. "There may not be any exams this year, but that is no reason to slack off."
Potions was as gruesome as ever. But any frame of time spent with Snape was torture to Harry. Snape had paused slightly as her called out Maddie's name. When he had them start their potion, Harry found it a bit odd that Ron said he was going to work with Hermione. Him wanting to work with Hermione wasn't odd, it was the way he blushed and stammered when he had told Harry. So, Harry paired off with Maddie.
"Feel the love in the room," Maddie whispered as a group of Slytherin's pointed and laughed at many of the Gryffindors.
"You have no idea," Harry mumbled as Snape swept past.
Maddie took over the cauldron and left Harry to just stand by and watch. Every so often Maddie would ask for something and Harry would hand it to her. She never looked at the board where the instructions were written. She just kept working.
"I need snake's milk," she said. When Harry couldn't find it, she said, "I'll get it. Just keep stirring this." She handed him a stirring rod and disappeared into the student cupboard.
"Tisk, tisk, tisk," a voice snarled into his ear. Snape was standing behind him. "What a shame," he said in his deathly soft voice. "A zero to start off the year." He raised his wand, but, before he could empty the cauldron, Maddie came back.
"Professor Snape," He turned to look at her, "This is an enlargement potion, but I found that boiling the liquids and then simmering with the stone makes the whole process a lot faster and just as effective."
Snape studied her for a moment. He looked more intrigued then angry. "Well, we'll see about this at the end of class won't we, Miss Gilmore?"
"I suppose we will."
He swept off towards Neville, who Harry had been surprised to see still taking potions.
"Milk," Maddie said showing him the bottle and then asked, "Do the honors?"
Harry looked at the board and tried to figure out how much to put in. "2 1/3 teaspoons," he whispered as he scanned for a measuring utensil.
"No worries," Maddie said prodding the fire to make it burn hotter.
"But," Harry interjected.
"Trust me," Maddie said standing up. "I wouldn't let you do it if it made that big of a difference in our 'simmering concoction'," her last words were in imitation of Professor Snape. Harry looked at her laughed. It felt weird having laughter vibrations rumble through his chest again after so many months of unhappiness. He poured in a small amount of the milk.
Maddie went back to work. This left time for Harry's mind to wander. He found it so odd to have stumbled upon this girl. She didn't just remind him of someone physically, but also in the way she acted. The way she talked, the way she had shown Snape up. Even the way she made him laugh.
"Thinking hard?" Maddie's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Huh?"
She had evidently been watching him. She had put away all the ingredients and their cauldron was letting of a bluish smoke. She pushed herself up and sat on the table top, her feet dangling. "It just has to simmer now. So, still trying to figure out who I am?"
It was almost as if she had read his mind. He looked at her. She was smiling gleefully.
"Yeah, how did you know?"
"Well, no one has ever looked so intently at me before."
Harry made a face; he hadn't realized he was watching her or that she had been watching him watch her.
"Don't look so upset," Maddie told him. "I'm flattered, really." She leaned back, stretching her legs out in front of her. She swung her legs back under the table and, sitting up straight, chuckled, "Yesterday, a simple girl, lost and confused on a train and today, I'm being studied, intently no less, by the ever famous Harry Potter. Who would've ever guessed!?" her chuckle turned into a laugh. Harry felt his face burn.
"How do you know I'm really Harry Potter? Maybe I'm an imposter."
"Yeah, maybe you're a death eater." Maddie laughed. "I guess I should really stop talking to you," she jumped off the table and acted as if she was going to walk away. Harry grabbed her by the upper arm and said, "Here, look. Proof." He shoved his bangs up to show her his scar.
"Aw! No, my eyes!" Maddie yelled playfully and turned her head away as if it had burnt her eyes. Harry looked at her in shock. "Put your hand down," she said forcing his hand down. They looked at each other for a moment and then Maddie commented with a wicked smile, "Nice eyes."
She turned back to their potion. Harry's watch followed her once again, the things she did amazed him. She didn't seem impressed by him. She still hadn't seen his scar even though he voluntarily showed it to her. She had made an odd comment about his eyes. And most importantly, she made him laugh.
She extinguished the flame and scooped out the stone. "It's done," she announced. "So, what now?" He looked at her. He didn't know what to say. Luckily enough, Snape came back over to them just then.
"Ready?" he asked skeptically.
"Go right ahead," Maddie said smiling sweetly.
He took a dropper full and went over to his desk. "Gather round," he stated. The class scuttled up to the desk. Maddie stayed where she was, so, Harry did too. Snape had a jar of spiders on his desk. He removed one and let a drop fall onto it. Within a few seconds, the spider swelled. Some of the girls gasped and Ron let out a strangled sound.
Snape looked very sour as he announced, "It worked effectively."
He strode over to Maddie, "Congratulations, you've shown me wrong. Don't do it again." He turned and walked away.
"'Don't do it again,'" Maddie mimicked after him. "Whatever. He's just being a pain because he thinks he's superior to the rest of us. I guess we can leave right?"
"Oh, yeah," Harry said grabbing his book bag and they started to leave when Snape called after them, "Miss Gilmore, a word."
"Go ahead," Maddie instructed and hung back.
So, he left her alone by the door as he caught up with Ron and Hermione. They went to dinner and not long after they sat down, Maddie came in fuming.
"What happened?" Harry asked.
"Snape, he, he—is such a—hmm," she let out a long breathe. After she found her tongue again, she seemed to force out a voice of calm, "He told me I need to be more careful about whom I make friends with. Unbelievable!" she screeched and then started eating.
Harry looked at her for a second, and then agreed with her, silently, that Snape had no right to tell her not to be friends with him.
As they ate, Parvati and Lavender came up and Parvati said, "Hi, Harry," she gave him a smile and Lavender giggled. Once she had stopped, she said, "Hermione, come sit with us."
Hermione sent a quick look at the two boys and said simply, "Sure," and grabbed her bag and was gone.
"What the bloody hell is that about?" Ron asked Harry looking after her in shock.
"Dunno. Maybe she just wants to hang out with the girls," Harry guessed.
Maddie looked after Hermione looking none-to-happy about the new development. She turned back to her plate, but she didn't eat anymore. She just stared at her food. "I'm going to the common room," she announced, stood, and left.
"So, what's up with Maddie?" Ron asked.
"What'd you mean?" Harry answered trying to sound nonchalant.
"Well, you just spent the whole day with her. What's her story?"
"I don't know. She won't tell me."
Ron looked alarmed. "That's a bit odd. You should be careful about her."
"You think she's a death eater or something?" Harry asked feeling his anger rise and he was sure Ron could hear it in his voice.
"No, I'm just saying be careful." They got up and headed back to the Gryffindor tower.
Maddie was sitting in front of the best seats in the common room, surrounded by books again. She was submerged behind her "Lit" book again. Harry and Ron came over and sat down with her. She looked up at them as they pulled out their transfiguration books. She then turned back to her reading without saying a word.
Harry started his essay and was half-way through when Hermione appeared with Parvati and Lavender. They were all giggling. They stopped, looked over at them, burst out laughing again and went up to their bedroom.
"Hermione, not doing homework?" Ron asked in shock. "What the hell happened over the summer?"
Harry shrugged and went back to his work. Around eleven, Ron announced he was going to bed. "You coming?"
"Soon," Harry scratching out what he had just written on his charms essay.
When he had finished, he looked over at Maddie. She had fallen asleep on top of her Algebra II book. Harry got up to wake her and noticed her planner lying open. The date was decorated and she had squeezed the assignments along the edge of the large decorative words, "My B-day!" Harry felt a pang of guilt. He hadn't known it was her birthday. He wished she had said something to him about it.
Her markers were lying beside her on the floor. So, he leaned over and grabbed the pink one and wrote inside the little space left in the box, "Happy Sweet 16th!" He closed the planner and put the marker back before he shook Maddie awake.
She looked up at him through sleep filled eyes. "Bedtime?" she asked before starting to laugh.
"Yeah," Harry said smiling at her joy of her own question.
"Ok," she got up with a groan and waved her wand. All her stuff piled neatly together. "Good night," she said.
"Yeah, good night." Harry watched her go upstairs to bed, her books floating along in front of her. "Happy Birthday," he whispered as she disappeared around the turn in the stairs.
XxXxX
I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Well, I hope you enjoyed it! Leave me a word, please. Oh, please, please. I won't beg, it's beneath me. (please!) Anyways, I defiantly like writing this one and I hope (fingers crossed) that I can update this quickly. Ok, later days!