"- never seen it before."
"Maybe its owner lost her?"
Madeline let out a yawn when some voice disturbed her nap. She started to stretch and let her claws out - And her paws were suddenly in the air, her body picked up by some unmannered brute by the neck.
"What are you doing here, little buddy?" Sirius Black cooed and checked her bottom. Madeline was now fully awake as the boy started to hug her like a baby, "Yeah, she's too pretty to be a street cat."
What just happened.
The memory of the past hours started to kick in. Too tired to walk through Hogsmeade, she had made the decision to use the Willow tree entrance, which would directly take her to the shrieking shack - the path that Remus always used. To avoid bumping into him, her choice was to arrive before or after Remus.
So she chose to come before him - one whole hour before the sun sets. Foolishly, she thought she could use this time to take a nap to make up for her lost sleep at night. She even chose the best spot that could hide her.
Looking at the marauders who eyed her like some kind of new toy, she should have realized the universe never allowed her to rest.
She tried to wiggle free as they talked.
"But what owner would let their cat loose this close to the forbidden forest? The beasts would've eaten her alive! No offense, Remus."
"'S alright."
"We better take her to the castle. The moon will rise soon.
"What if her owner's in hogsmeade?"
It was no use. Sirius's grip on her was firm, and he started to scratch the spot behind her ear that she even purred.
So embarrassing.
"It's already too late to search for her owner," Sirius said decidedly, "We'll take her to Hagrid tomorrow. He'll know what to do."
No, you dummies! I had to be there for Remus!
But her mews were all futile. They brought her to the Gryffindor tower, leaving Remus alone in that gloomy shack. Madeline tried breaking away from Sirius's grubby hands a couple times - but Sirius just passed her on to Pettigrew, and when she tried to break away from Pettigrew, he passed her to James. Then to Sirius again, then to Pettigrew again, on, and on, and on, until it became pretty much a game for them and the urge to claw their eyes out grew by the second.
Now, they're presenting her to an orange cat who seemed to be the owner of the Gryffindor's common room.
It was cute, she supposed. All eyes and fluff. But Madeline was not impressed when it started sniffing her bottom. She hissed at it but the cat was not intimidated at all!
"Oo, I think Mowee has a crush!"
You're not helping, Lily!
Another girl, Mary Macdonald, she thought, went back to her room and quickly returned with a bowl of nice smelling-
"Here, kitty."
- Cat food.
Madeline hissed at the food too.
"No, Mowee, this isn't yours," Macdonald held back the orange fluff with one hand while frowning at her, "You don't want to eat? How odd. She didn't even sniff the tuna... What if she's sick? Are you sick, baby?"
Before the girl could reach out and hold her, Madeline ran and hid behind a sofa. The door was closed, but once it opened, she could finally -
"We'll take her to our room," Sirius grabbed her again and took off, climbing the stairs two steps at a time, his friends following closely behind him. In just seconds, they arrived in front of their door and Madeline was still struggling.
"Phew, I saved you from the orange monster," Sirius said as he waited for Pettigrew to open the door. "You must be really scared, huh? Hey, are you really sick?"
She wasn't listening, though. Once the door was opened, she was too busy mewing in horror at the sight that greeted her.
What happened to their room?
It seemed thsy a tornado recently passed by. Books clattered everywhere, the floor was covered with scattered parchment, broken quills at every hidden nook.
"Maybe we should've left her with Mary," said Pettigrew. "She knows how to take care of a cat."
She would rather they let her out, Madeline mewed, frustrated. Finally touching the floor, she looked around the room and paid close attention to the scattered parchments. Many of the parchments had some kind of lines and shapes drawn onto them - They were making the map, she realized. Though it was nowhere near done.
You know what? She should lay on the best looking parchment. Perhaps that would teach them not to kidnap a cat and take it to their room.
"Pshh, how hard can it be to take care of a cat?" Sirius huffed, pointing at her with his whole hand, "Look. All she does is sleep."
'Yeah. And she's just sleeping on our map," Pettigrew drawled.
"On our what? No!"
Panicked, Sirius lifted her over his head as he checked on the parchment. James, who had just took off his sweaters, stressfully ran his fingers through his hair, "If we have to start over for the third time, I swear -"
"It's fine, it's fine! The map's fine!"
Simultaneous sighs could be heard.
Sirius brought her to his eye level, "You almost ruined our map, you rascal." He put her on one of the beds and patted her back. "Sit there and don't move a muscle."
A lazy blink was her only reply.
She watched as three boys started to clean the mess that was their room. They were quite slow, and their effort to clean the room was actually a bit pitiful - the books were just stacked on the corner of the room like a tower, the parchments were messily put on the desk. Broken quills and empty ink bottles were gathered on another corner and she thought she saw James hiding a pile of dirty clothes near the loo. Did the house elf just forget to clean their room?
After they were finished, Sirius dropped his body onto the bed across from her, tapping the spot next to him with his fingers.
"Come here, kitten."
Perhaps it was the way his fingers move. She unconsciously approached him and almost bit his fingers - she snapped out of it, of course. Choosing to lay beside him while still staring at his fingers.
"Did you see that?" James said.
"What?"
"She sat there when you told her to and came to you when you called her."
Sirius's eyes glinted in intrigue and looked at her. "Do you understand our words?"
"Maybe the owner taught her some tricks?" Pettigrew added. "Like how they teach dogs to sit and roll over."
"Roll over," Sirius commanded.
The urge to have them all praise her suddenly resurfaced. Impulsively, she did as Sirius commanded. The three boys watched in awe.
"Wicked."
"See this ball?" James had a golden snitch in his hand, and then he threw it. "Catch it!"
Her mind told her that no, she would not be chasing after a snitch - But the snitch was golden and it shone so brightly in her eyes so her paws were suddenly running and jumping, chasing it all over the place until she finally caught it in her mouth.
James was so giddy he jumped every time she jumped, his cheers the loudest among the three.
"This is awesome! Can't we keep her instead of sending her to Hagrid tomorrow? She can be our mascot!"
"She must have an owner though," Pettigrew said, hesitant and uncomfortable to speak against James
James, on the other hand, simply said, "Aw, shucks."
"But let's teach her how to jump an obstacle," Sirius proposed, receiving 'Hell yeah!' from James.
What came after was a tiring night. The price for her one hour nap, according to the universe, was an abduction to the Gryffindor tower and being forced to do all kinds of tricks to the entertainment of three teenage boys from dusk till dawn. Even when she tried to get away from them and lay to sleep, they would bother her and poked her here and there. Those hellions did not seem to tire at all - Sirius even managed to sneak out to the kitchen at midnight and brought back some snacks.
Once the sun was up, the three of them with bags under their eyes and an excited smile on their face, carried her down the stairs.
She managed to wiggle free from Sirius for once.
"Huh? Do you want to come down? Wait, where are you going?"
She ran. She ran as fast as she could down the stairs, right to the dungeon.
"No, let her," she heard James heard from far behind.
"Huh? But-"
"The cat's smart, isn't she? Maybe her owner's there."
"...Damn it. I'm going to miss her."
She's finally free!
.
Transforming back into her human form after one whole night as a cat was disorienting. It was probably made worse by the cat instinct running amok the whole time she became a cat. Madeline unsteadily approached the Slytherin entrance.
Coincedently, Valerie came out of the door when Madeline just wanted to enter her dorm and rest.
Just her luck.
"Madeline? I thought you went to the great hall already."
An awkward smile escaped her. "I.. forgot my bag."
"Really? I'll wait for you here, then."
"Actually, I'm thinking of skipping classes today," Madeline said quickly. "I don't feel well."
Valerie inspected her more carefully.
"I can see that... You look a bit haggard and you even forgot your bag." That's just because she hadn't been sleeping... "I'll tell the professor. Are you sure you don't want to eat breakfast, though?"
"Yeah, I don't think I can eat."
The girl nodded. "Alright."
.
The accumulation of her fatigue resulted in a mild fever. Madeline thought to brew some potions by herself, but she eventually decided to come to the hospital wing instead. After all, she had to check on someone she had unwillingly abandoned last night.
"Madam," she called for the witch sitting on the corner table of the hospital wing.
The stern looking witch looked up, noticed her state, and promptly said, "Oh dear. You have a fever."
"I also have a headache," Madeline said helpfully.
"Go lay on the mattress, miss Crouch."
As Madam Pomfrey went to the back of the room, no doubt searching for potions to bring down her fever, Madeline's eyes caught Remus Lupin' stealing glances at her from the mattress farthest from the door.
She smiled and chose the mattress next to him.
The madam returned, "How long have you been feeling warm, dear?"
"Just this morning, madam."
The madam nodded and gave her a spoon of fever-reducing potion. "It's nothing a couple of potions can't fix, but i must urge you to take a rest for today."
"I'll do that, madam."
Her face scrunched as she swallowed the potion. Another spoonful of potion, this time for reducing headache, and she swallowed it too. Then another spoonful of potion - must be the healing potion from the smell of it. Madam Pomfrey then immediately pushed a glass of water to her face. She quickly accepted it and took a big gulp.
"Thank you."
"I must also thank you for not attempting to brew these potions and drink it by yourself."
Madeline blinked and smiled as innocently as possible at the madam. "I would never do that, madam. That would be an obstruction of your work."
"I'm glad we've come to meet an agreement. Now rest, young lady."
At her command, Madeline finally let her head rest on the pillow. She sighed contently with her eyes closed, her headache seemingly calmed down.
Soon enough, her eyes opened again and she came face to face with the next mattress' boy. She chose not to mention the gauze on his arm.
"So we meet again."
"Hullo, Crouch," the boy greeted her. Now in a close distance, she noticed he was looking worse than she was. "How's your mattress?"
She let out a hum of approval as she let the soft mattress swallowed her,. "It's comfy enough. How is yours?"
"Could be better, but at least the company is improving."
How cheeky. "Is that so?"
"Did I not clearly tell you to rest, miss Crouch?" Madam Pomfrey interrupted them, a fierce glare pointed at their direction.
Madeline sheepishly smiled.
"I was just greeting my neighbor.."
"That neighbor also needs his rest."
"Have you no care for the woes of your patients, madam? Just lying here, weak and restless may prove to be detrimental to our mind and recovery.."
"And what about our eternal enemy, boredom?" Lupin added, "Truly rots the mind, that boredom."
"I see you both are feeling better."
She grinned.
They stayed silent for a while, until Lupin started to talk in whispers, "the madam's a bit much sometimes, don't you think? You'll get used to it."
"I sure hope I won't. Lying here instead of attending class is no fun.."
"My hearing is not yet impaired, mister Lupin. I'll be sure to inform you when they are so you can talk whispers with my other patients."
That shut them up, and this time, the silence stayed.
As Madeline let her eyes closed, the weight of her accumulated fatigue was finally felt, and everything after that was blank. After some time, though, she was woken up when the discomfort in her sleep could no longer be tolerated. Her clothes felt sticky on her skin, and the mattress was too hot -
"Madam Pomfrey? I think there's something wrong with Madeline."
The madam suddenly appeared by her side and put her palm on her forehead. "I don't understand. The fever should have broken down by now..."
Right. It should have. But unfortunately for Madeline, her case was a bit different from her peers.
"Don't worry, madam," she assured the madam with a dry throat. The madam immediately gave her water to drink. "This is normal for me. I'll be better after some time."
Her immune was always weird. She rarely fell sick, but when she did fall sick, she often fell hard. It could take her longer to heal.
But it shouldn't take too long this time, since it was just fatigue.
"Can I change into something, though?" She said to the frowning lady. "I'm sweating through my shirt.."
"Sure."
"Can I also have two towels, please?"
The Madam nodded and left to bring her the items she asked for. When she came back, she closed the curtains around her mattress and helped her change. One of the towels she used to wipe her sweat, while the other one she folded and filled with ice. The madam stared at her hard when she did the last one.
"It's to cool my fever down," Madeline explained, to which the madam glared.
"I know that. What I want to know is why are you casting a high level magic when you're sick."
But conjuring ice was not high-level magic for her...
A sheepish smile was her only reply.
She laid down again and asked the Madam to open the curtain again - the curtain being closed only makes her feel hotter. She was thankful that the new clothes the Madam brought for her was made from cotton. It's also white so it would trap the heat less, and the fabric was thin so Madeline could feel even a light breeze on her skin. She let her right arm lifted over her head to hold the ice towel on her forehead, and she closed her eyes, enjoying the cool sensation on her skin...
"Are you alright now?"
Oh, right! She glanced at Lupin and gave him her best smile, "Yes. Thank you for calling the madam.
The boy cleared his throat and looked away. "Well i'm a good neighbor.."
Before sleep could claim her again, a barrage of visitors suddenly came through the hospital wing door, with a frantic Barty on its lead. Madeline glanced at the clock - lunch time. That explained it.
"One at a time!"
"Madeline!"
Barty immediately stood by her side and put his hand on her neck.
"Do not crowd the patient!"
"You're burning!" Barty exclaimed, eyes wide and unsettled.
She sighed, raising her body a little to sit and lean on her pillow. "I will be fine in a couple of hours, Barty."
But Barty wasn't reassured. "You were fine yesterday. Why did you suddenly - "
"It's normal to fall sick sometimes, yes?"
Barty looked at her with concern and fear. "But you- what if you - "
Madeline sighed. "It won't be like that time, Barty."
Her brother was always like this whenever she fell ill. Even though it was never serious, he would hover over her and worry over her constantly - perhaps the memories of his earlier years stayed in his mind. With Father always telling him that she was too sick to come out and meet him...
She moved her attention to the others. It was then that she realized how many people were watching them. Amanda, Bethany, Valerie were all standing in front of her. Evan was putting flowers in the vase on the drawer near her mattress. Regulus and Rabastan were standing on her left with some books and rolled parchments.
She was suddenly conscious of her thin dress and her messy hair.
"Why did you all come? I'm not looking my best right now..."
"We're worried, of course!" Bethany bursted. "You never missed Herbology before."
"Never missed any class, even," Valerie corrected.
"And you look as fine as always, so don't worry about that," Regulus added.
A snicker was heard from behind him.
"Smooth, Reg."
Madeline narrowed her eyes at the voice. The reason for her sickness. The bane for all napping cats. Sirius Black, James Potter, and Peter Pettigrew had apparently come when she was distracted and were all standing next to Lupin's mattress.
"Don't barge into other people's conversation, Sirius," Regulus said through gritted teeth.
"Why, i'll just join you then." In the next second, Sirius Black was already standing next to her head with a wide smirk. "Hullo, Madeline. I hope you will get well soon so we can go on another of our infamous dates." His brows wiggled.
The Slytherin boys' faces were all contorted in disgust while Bethany gasped.
"Just go away" - "Watch your words." - "Don't bother her, Sirius."
The last one was Lupin.
"Aren't you visiting the wrong mattress, Sirius?" She said, a push for Sirius to return to his friend's side.
But the frustrating boy only smiled wider. "I can spare some time for you."
"Madam Pomfrey! I petition for Sirius Black to be banned from visiting the Hospital wing for as long as my sister's here!" Barty shouted at the madam with his hand raised.
The madam sighed tiredly.
"Petition granted. You, out."
"What!" Sirius Black squawked. Before he could protest though, a glaring Regulus was already dragging his brother outside the Hospital room, with the help of both Rabastan and Evan. "This isn't fair! I've been wronged! They're just jealous because I've - "
Lupin winced apologetically at her, the incomprehensible shouts of Sirius stood out as his backsound, "Sorry about him. But you can rest assured. These two won't bother you as much."
James Potter and Peter Pettigrew nodded eagerly, with James shouting, "Scout's honor!"
It made Amanda frown. "Are you even a scout?"
Lupin sighed, "for the last time, James, you are not a scout so the honor would mean nothing to you - "
"What a bunch of idiots," Barty muttered.
.
Her fever stayed for three days. Come Monday morning, the fever left without trace. It was on brand of the universe to rob her off her weekend and then told her to go to her classes on Monday, so Madeline wasn't surprised. Fortunately, Madam Pomfrey told her to rest for one more day.
"It's better to be safe, Miss Crouch. Your condition was truly peculiar... common fever that lasted for three days... and the potions didn't work!"
The Madam shook her head at the supposed peculiarity of her condition.
After giving the madam her promise to take it easy this week, Madam Pomfrey finally let her back to the dorm. Once the classes started though, she was surprised to find that all the professors forbade her to do any assignment that week - it turned out Madam Pomfrey had talked to all of them. She returned to the Hospital wing on Wednesday afternoon, thanking the madam once again with a bunch of her favorite chocolate.
Barty insisted that she didn't do any of her projects that week. To ensure his command was obeyed, he untrusted Regulus to escort her everywhere - Barty would have preferred to entrust her to Valerie, but they both know how easily she could trick the poor girl. Meanwhile, everytime she tried to trick Regulus to escape him, he would catch on immediately and worse, he would tattle on her to Barty. Then Barty's eyes would start glistening and Madeline would start feeling guilty -
She really thought Barty was overreacting. He even contacted father, a letter filled with overprotective orders that concealed worries from the man was the evident.
Fed up with her brother's overprotectiveness, Madeline begged Regulus to convince Barty to let her go to the last Slughorn dinner this year. Oddly enough, the boy eagerly accepted her request.
She couldn't believe he succeeded.
Now, on one Saturday evening she sat, in her fancy dress, next to Regulus, surrounded by Hogwarts finest that somehow talked about everything and nothing at the same time. She sure hoped that getting through this dinner would finally convince Barty that she was truly fine...
Her hands quietly played with her dress, feeling the textured fabric. Regulus had been steering the conversation so that she didn't have to talk much. In her silence, she realized now how different Lily's dress was compared to all the other female guests. Marlene Mckinnon, Amelia Bones, and even Madeline herself were all wearing a dinner dress that would bring them no shame even if they're meeting the minister. Lily's dress, on the other hand, was quite ..casual.
Was it really fine? According to mother, they shouldn't wear casual clothes for this kind of dinner. Even Slughorn was wearing a suit.
But did no one say anything to Lily?
Well.. this dinner is, of course, pitiful when compared to formal events the ministry usually had. But she bet Slughorn had taken inspiration from there... should she talk to Lily about this? She couldn't believe she hadn't noticed this before.
"Has he really?" Slugghorn cried out suddenly, pulling her from her thoughts. Slughorn was looking to her right, "Did he come home bearing anything? Stories, perhaps? I remember he was such a storyteller when he was still in Hogwarts."
Regulus wore his cordial smile as he replied, "He still is. And yes, he brought stories and of course, quite a lot of gifts from his trip. I believe I heard your name being mentioned for one of the gifts, professor. But please pretend to be surprised when receiving it."
"Ohohoho! I sure will! Oh, I'm sure it will be an interesting gift! A gift from Asia!"
Asia? What was the Black Family doing in Asia?
"Which uncle is this again?" She asked Regulus.
"My mother's brother, Alphard," the boy eagerly answered her, and the name made her relaxed. "He ran all our businesses that run in the primary and secondary sector. With the help of my great aunt Cassiopeia, though she also dabbled in the tertiary sector."
"I can't imagine how busy he is," Slughorn shook his head. "Explains why he hasn't married, I suppose. And what a pity, that is! He had quite a long line of admirers as he was an amazing beater in his time. Remember boys and girls, get married before life gets you busy! I would know! Though now it's more of a choice for me."
The dinner went on. When they finished dessert and Slughorn finally allowed them 'to enjoy the rest of the party', Madeline calmly left the table to go to the corner. There was a seat she had been eyeing since the dinner.
A hand stopped her by the arm.
"Where are you going?"
Madeline turned, sheepishly smiling at Regulus. She forgot that she came with him. "To my friend." She made a glance at Lily, a gesture Regulus easily noticed.
"Don't you want to greet the members of our house first?"
She bit her lips. At first, she was trying to not make an enemy out of the other Slytherins. That was the only reason she tried to make nice with them. But if she did it too much, it would only scare the other side away... Making up her mind, she pulled Regulus closer and spoke quietly in his ears.
"Greet them on my behalf. I'll sit there with Lily and pretend I'm not feeling well. Please?"
Regulus let out an exhale.
"Yeah. Sure. Of course."
She met his eyes, smiling from her eyes, "Thank you."
Just as she wanted to pull away, he held onto her and pulled her even closer, his head tilting down and his warm breath tickling her ears, "Wait, You're not really feeling unwell, are you? Because if so, we can just leave."
It triggered goosebumps all over her.
This is getting uncomfortable, she thought. Her left shoulder was touching his chest. "Don't worry. I've been healed already since Monday."
"Alright. But let me do this."
A shaky breath escaped her when he finally let her go. Before she realized it, she was already covered with his coat, and then with a flick of his wand, the length shortened, the black color turned cream, and the shape and the design changed, making it look …surprisingly good on her.
Did he really just - ?
"Transfiguration for something woven won't be practiced until next year," she blurted out, not knowing what to say.
Regulus smiled and led her to Lily's direction. "Rest well."
With one last nod, he left her on the corner table with Lily, who was watching her like a hawk. Madeline took a glance at the retreating Regulus, now only in his white dress shirt and black vest.
"So.. you and Black?"
Her head snapped to Lily. "What?"
One of the girl's eyebrows was lifted. "You and black. Are you together?"
"We came together but we're just friends."
"That's not how friends act."
"What nonsense! We are friends and we act how we like."
"Hmm." Madeline turned up her nose at Lily's doubtful look. "Anyway, Sev told me that you're working him to the bones. Is there anything I can help with?"
Madeline welcomed the change of topic easily. Lily thought she was subtle when she dropped hints on how much she could help to ease their task load for their project, but Madeline could sense her hints from miles away. Her relentless efforts, of course, were answered with Madeline's no less subtle rejection, but as always, Lily was being stubborn as a mule and pretended not to notice.
She eventually managed to change their topic again - and this time Madeline brought up the topic of their dresses. It turned out Lily also felt a bit underdressed, but Mckinnon said her dresses were all fine, and if anyone gave her troubles for it, she could always throw troubles back at them.
"But according to our etiquette rules, events like dinner such as this shouldn't be attended in casual clothes.."
"There are rules like that?" Lily bit her lips. "Why don't I know about this?"
"Just dress nicer from now on," Madeline advised her.
"I will - This is actually a good thing. I have a good reason for splurging on dresses this summer!"
Lily then left to confront her friend, leaving Madeline alone on her chair. She swirled her drink and took a sip. When she put down her glass, someone in a nice black dress was already standing in front of her.
"Crouch."
She looked up at Amelia Bones and smiled. "Yes? May I help you?"
"Amelia bones," the fifth year girl offered her hand to shake.
She happily accepted it. "I know. Both of your brothers work in DMLE, and I heard you'll be joining them."
"Unlike them, I'm hoping to join another office."
"Both of your brothers are in the auror office, yes?"
"Yes. My brother, Edgar, is leading the downfall operation."
Madeline immediately casted a wandless muffliato and threw the girl an annoyed look. "That is not an information you should speak freely about."
The older girl stared quietly at her, observing.
Madeline knew the older girl wasn't stupid. It was meant to be a bait. If Madeline didn't know about this operation, then she wouldn't react like this. Perhaps she should have pretended that she didn't know - but it was too important for her to act nonchalantly about it. In the end, Madeline resigned her fate. Now Amelia Bones, and probably her whole family, would know that she was somehow also involved.
"How much do you know about the current operations?" Bones boldly asked, to which Madeline huffed.
"Enough."
"If you could plant a trustworthy person in the department, which office will be more beneficial for the current efforts in thwarting you-know-who? The investigation office or the Wizengamot Administration office?"
Madeline tilted her head. What was this? A test or a genuine question? Either way, her answer would be the same.
"The later."
"Will you use me properly if I enter it?"
A pause.
"I'm not sure what you mean..."
"You planted Professor Baddock in the auror training school and the number of intercepted personnel in the auror office is reduced significantly."
That's right. With the thief's downfall, the chances for the Dark Lord to implant an imperioused person to the ministry was close to none. Which means, the only way to infiltrate the ministry was to plant his loyal servants. But with Professor Baddock's presence in the auror training school who had a sharp instinct against dark wizards, he had managed to detect some of them, especially during the training about the unforgivables. And that made it harder for them to infiltrate DMLE.
"My brothers are very curious about you and so am I," Amelia Bones concluded.
They stayed in silence as Madeline thought. In the end, she thought that this was a good thing. Hadn't she decided to gather her own people?
She met the older girl's eyes, "Why are you interested in the effort against the Dark Lord?"
"Aside from wanting to help my brothers, i also want to make a real difference in the world."
Madeline guffawed. Making a real difference in the world - that was what Hermione Granger used to want. Still wanted, even.
Madeline smiled.
"I think we can be good friends."
The older girl nodded. It seemed that she wasn't one to dilly dally or make small talks, because she immediately went to her friend, Kingsley, after a few more words were exchanged.
Madeline was alone for just a few seconds before the next person approached her.
"Hullo, Madeline."
"Hi Callum," she greeted warmly and took a sip from her glass. "Thanks again for the present."
The dagger was very useful for ritualistic purposes.
The boy smiled. "I'm glad you like it."
"It's quite useful."
"Of course. I knew I had to give you that as each of your words wouldn't leave my mind. The same applies for everything about you though - You just wouldn't leave my mind."
She raised her brows at his shameless flirting. "Have you tried 'obliviate?'"
Callum snickered, "no - and I won't. It's too good to be forgotten."
Wow.
They began to converse after that, and it was actually quite pleasant because for once, Madeline was not actively trying to pique his interest with some random gruesome facts. They talked about his classes. Her classes. Her recent illness. His recent injuries. And then suddenly they touched the topic that was the duel club - which was when she learned that Snape had joined them.
Through a story about Regulus no less!
Madeline's mind was in a scramble. Why didn't Regulus tell this about her? They met Snape every week and he didn't mention it even once?
"Snape? Severus Snape?" She repeated to confirm.
"Yeah, the halfblood in my year," Callum nodded. "You know him, don't you? You're acquainted with his mud - ehem, I mean muggleborn friend."
"Severus Snape is in the dueling club," She repeated again because her mind was having a hard time accepting it. Did that mean her persuasion had failed? Was everything bound to happen sooner or later?"
Callum, oblivious to the mess that was Madeline's mind, kept on talking.
"Yeah, can't believe it either. Rowle must have gone mad. But I suppose he proved his worth when he beat Black easily. Easily, I tell you. A halfblood like Snape winning against Black, so of course no one is saying anything against Snape joining."
"I see."
There was a pause in the concersation as she tried to organize her mind.
"Say, Madeline," Callum said again. "The term is almost over. But, do you think we can plan an outing together next term?"
Her eyes sharpened. "An outing?"
The boy wet his lips and nodded, hiding his eagerness. "To Hogsmeade, for example. Just the two of us. Maybe we could talk about muggle wars. I heard they had ingenious weapons."
(Across the room, a furious Regulus was blocked by three older Slytherins)
Madeline thought about this thoroughly. Perhaps she could make use of this chance to gain something substantial. Something like information.
Yes. Information. Because apparently, having both Regulus and Rabastan did not guarantee that she would know everything that was going on in her own house, let alone what was happening on their side of the war.
Madeline smiled. "That sounds lovely, actually. But can you keep our plan a secret for the time being?"
Barty definitely would not approve this.
"Of course! I'll be waiting impatiently for our outing, then."
But she would never miss this chance.