It was September, four years after Maddie's birth. The family had grown closer, even if not bigger. Maddie was an only child and very rambunctious, the tomboy she was. Katie could no longer put her in dresses and skirts; the child would not wear them willingly. She was very articulate for a four-year-old and was gap toothed. Due to the gap in her teeth, she had a bit of a lisp, which caused her to have difficulty pronouncing some words. Katie hoped the impediment wasn't permanent, though she knew there was nothing she could do if they were.

As Molly had several children to handle, babysitting was now left with Lucy Diggory. Lucy and Katie got along well, as did their husbands. Their children had never met. Cedric, Lucy's son, always seemed to be conveniently in his bedroom or outside whenever Maddie was dropped off to be babysat. He didn't know anything about this child other than who her father was.

"Braiden Lewis, you know him," his mother had said after Katie picked up Maddie just before her fourth and Cedric's eighth birthdays. "He works with your father, they live next door."

"No, they don't," Cedric argued; there was a bit of space between the two homes. "And that doesn't mean I have to know her, does it?"

"To each his own," his mother said, resuming what she was doing as though the conversation had never occurred. "You'll change your mind in time."

Cedric still did not talk to the child after he turned eight, but one morning his mother went up to his bedroom, where he was just waking up, getting dressed. He did not want to be bothered.

"Cedric," she said; he turned suddenly. "I've got to leave the house for a bit and…" She sounded nervous.

"And?"

"Well…" She bit her lip. "I need you to watch Maddie for me."

"Mother…" Cedric started to argue.

"Cedric, please," Lucy said, begging. "It's only for a little while, and your father's not home, and neither one of her parents are, and Molly can't handle her...and you know how worked up she can get," she added, pleading.

Actually, Cedric did not know this, but he didn't say so. Instead, he followed his mother downstairs. In the sitting room was a small girl—blonde and wide eyed—swinging her legs and not paying attention to anything. She was wearing a skirt and a T-shirt with butterflies on it. She seemed to be searching the room.

"Ahem," Lucy said, and the wide eyed girl looked up. "Maddie, sweetie, this is Cedric, he'll be watching you for a while. Will you be alright?"

The girl grinned at Lucy and said, lisping, "Yes, I will." She seemed very grown up; Cedric frowned.

Lucy smiled at the two. "Behave," she warned, then Disapparated.

At first, it was very quiet. Cedric did not want to be there, and the other child sat watching him curiously. After a few minutes, he was aware of this and stared back at her; she grinned at him. Her cheeks, unlike the rest of her face, were very red. After a few minutes of awkward silence, Cedric was alarmed by a voice:

"You're awfully quiet."

He looked over. The girl on the sofa was still freely swinging her legs and looking at him intently, as though trying to figure him out. She blinked, and Cedric couldn't help but notice how green her eyes were. He hadn't really seen anyone with green eyes—at least, not up close. He thought that it was a nice color, especially on the small child watching him.

"I know."

"Why?"

He looked at her; she stared back. "I find it hard to open up to people."

"Oh." She sat still; she even stopped swinging her legs. Finally, she smiled shyly at him and he could feel himself trying not to smile. "You're still very quiet."

He wasn't sure what to say. "I'm sorry."

She looked at him, no longer grinning, and blinked rapidly. Then she motioned him over to the sofa with her with her finger. He stood, hopping off the chair he was on, and crossed the room to her, sitting beside her and watching her.

She smiled a real smile at him; the first thing he noticed was the gap in her teeth. "Maddie," she said. "My name is Maddie."

"Cedric," he said back, extending a hand. She ignored it.

"I don't think I can say that."

He stared at her curiously. There was a momentary pause. "What?"

"I have a speech problem sometimes," she said, "I lisp." Very mature, was all Cedric thought. "Your name's going to be difficult."

"So what are you going to call me?" he asked.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," she said.

He frowned. "How old are you?"

"I just turned four…" She started counting on her fingers. "…three weeks ago." She held up three fingers.

He was shocked. "I see." Even he wasn't as mature as her.

"My parents talk to me like I'm an adult," she said, "and so does your mother. Molly doesn't, but I like her. You think I'm annoying."

Again, he was puzzled. "No, I don't."

"Do you have any friends?"

He thought for a moment. He honestly didn't know any children his age that he could call a 'friend'; he was very antisocial. His mother said he should get to know two of Mrs. Weasley's children, who were just a bit younger than him. They were twins named Fred and George. "No," he finally decided.

"Well, then, are you my friend?"

"Well…"

She looked at him curiously. He thought it over. She seemed to be very nice, and he quite liked her company, especially since he didn't have friends.

"Sure."

Soon, the two developed a close bond and became best friends; they were hardly seen without the other. Maddie was a tomboy; she hated being around girls and wearing the dresses and skirts her mother had her wear. She had long since abandoned the outfit she had worn when she met Cedric and now dressed in jeans and sneakers. This did not make her mother happy.

"Let her be, Kates," Braiden said one night after Katie had tried to get their daughter into something more suitable.

"Bray, please," Katie said. "Do you see what she's wearing? She's four, not fourteen."

"Let her have her fun," Braiden said, as he didn't care what she wore. "Besides, you know how boys are, and if she's around them…"

"I know," Katie said, looking out the window at her daughter. "And that's what worries me."

"I want to come, too!"

"You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because you're a girl."

Maddie was now five and Cedric, nine. He was being friendlier with boys and had now started to hang around with Fred and George Weasley. Occasionally, Maddie and Ginny Weasley, too, were seen together, but Maddie still considered Cedric her best friend. At that moment, Cedric, Fred, and George were off doing Merlin knows what, and Maddie had decided she'd tag along too. However, the twins did not think this was such a good idea.

"So what?" Maddie said defiantly. "Your sister's a girl, too."

"You don't see Ginny here, do you, Fred?" George asked his twin.

"Well, no, I don't, George," Fred answered.

"So you shouldn't be here either," George finished.

Maddie crossed her arms over her chest. "That isn't fair."

"Life's not fair," the twins said together.

"Ceddie, please," Maddie said (due to her lisp, she had given up on trying to say 'Cedric' and shortened his name to 'Ceddie', which she could pronounce).

"Ooh, look, Fred," George said, smiling. "Ickle Maddie-kins is running to Ceddie for help…"

Maddie and Cedric both flushed red. "Leave her alone," Cedric said, "she's only five."

The twins continued taunting her for a while. Cedric could tell this would end badly; she had her arms crossed over her chest and she was looking very angry, getting angrier by the second.

Things took a turn for the worst when Fred said, "Just go home…little girl."

At that, Maddie lunged at him.

Soon, they were on the ground punching each other and basically trying to kill each other. Cedric and George both tried to pull them off each other. They only succeeded in getting them to stand up, as they still were attacking each other. Suddenly, Fred punched Maddie full on in the mouth; both Cedric and George were speechless. Maddie coughed once and spit out two teeth on the ground. Both Cedric and George's eyes went wide and their mouths dropped open. Instead of what Cedric expected her to do (cry), Maddie made a fist and punched Fred back—hard.

Cedric, before anything else could go wrong, grabbed her at her elbow and dragged her home. She was clearly angry.

"Maddie, get a hold of yourself," he said.

"He knocked my teeth out!" she screeched.

"And your mum won't be happy about that," he warned.

"So?" she said, crying now.

He stopped. "What's wrong?"

"You hate me!" she said, crying hard. "You hate me because I'm a girl and you hate me for wanting to be your friend and you hate me for getting my teeth knocked out and you hate me for…for not wanting to be friends with girls and I bet you hate my…"

"Stop." She stopped talking. "I don't hate you, and I never could. You're my best friend."

"Then why don't you want me around when Fred and George are there?" He couldn't help but notice her lisp was much worse now that her teeth were missing.

"Because of what just happened," he said, trying to make her feel better. "Boys are rougher than girls are, and Fred and George can get…well, they can get a bit carried away, you know how they are. You're better off…"

"With girls, I know!" she said bitterly. "Mummy tells me that all the time!"

He shook his head sadly. "Go home. I'm sure your mother wants to know about this."

Katie nearly fainted when Maddie came home and her teeth were missing. She quickly told Molly and Lucy about the incident, and Molly made Fred apologize in person to Maddie for it. Still, things were not better between the two.

Maddie and Ginny soon started to become friends and Maddie and a girl named Luna Lovegood became friendly with each other as well. Luna, Ginny, and Maddie soon became as inseparable as Maddie and Cedric were. They liked to giggle and talk about anything that came to mind.

When Cedric was eleven, almost twelve, and Maddie was almost eight, he received his Hogwarts letter. She was heartbroken; her closest friend was leaving her.

"You've got Ginny and Luna now," he reminded her. "Besides, you'll be going to Hogwarts, too, in a few years. We'll see each other then." He promised to write letters to her, and she felt a bit better about the experience.

It was while he was at Hogwarts in about April of his third year that he got a letter that said:

Dear Cedric,

Mummy says I need glasses, as my eyesight isn't as sharp as it was. I just know I'll look dreadful; I don't want to get them. I'd rather not be able to see.

Yours, Maddie

He laughed; she was being silly. He wrote back that he was sure she'd look fine and she would be able to see better; he wondered if her eyesight had anything to do with when they were climbing trees over the Christmas holiday (he had taught her when she was seven) and she fell eight feet to the ground. She laughed it off and said she was fine, but still, Cedric worried.

He got home from Hogwarts for the year and Maddie was waiting outside of her house, her mother just behind her doing yard work. He left his parents for a minute to go say hello.

"I'm telling you, I won't wear them!" Maddie said, very defiantly.

"Hello, Maddie," he greeted.

"Just please, Mad…"

"No!"

Katie sighed, shook her head, and went back inside. Cedric looked at her curiously. "What…"

"I'm not wearing them."

Immediately, he knew what this was about. "Maddie, put them on," he said. "Do you have them with you?"

Hesitantly, she took a pair of black glasses out of her pocket and held them in her hand. "You saw them," she said, starting to put them away. Cedric glared at her. She put them on her face slowly then said, "See, dreadful, aren't I."

"You don't look bad," Cedric said truthfully; the frames seemed to brighten her eyes and made her look more mature.

"You're just saying that," she said, but he couldn't help but notice the smile she was trying to hide.

This was kind of just a filler chapter to fill in on how Maddie and Cedric got to know each other. Lame I know. And on my profile is a link to Maddie's glasses, except her's are black and not Juicy Couture, lol, but other than that they're the same (you'll have to scroll down past my info about myself to find the link). Please review; next chapter will be a bit more interesting.

-Hatter of Madness