Breathe in. Breathe out.
Madeline opened her eyes.
The room of requirement had been modeled similar to DA's meeting room, with mirrors as walls, bookshelves filled with defense books in one corner, and multiple mock wizards for her to fight. Facing down the puppets the room provided her, Madeline sharpened her gaze.
She lifted her wand and three mock wizards were disarmed in fast succession, another one blasted from its feet. Madeline twirled, finding another swarm of mock wizards raising its wooden wand at her, and promptly casted a much stronger disarming charm than before. This time, it knocked all the mock wizards down, throwing them to the walls around them.
If it was the old DA room, then her practice would have been over just like that. She could admit that they had been painfully naive back then, only practicing their OWL spells to prepare themselves for the upcoming war, with several lessons on the patronus charm to ward off the ministry's dementors. But this was not one of DA's practices, and she had long outgrown the mindset of winning a fight with just a disarming spell.
The room formed modified walls by her sides.
Madeline ran along its length as the walls start closing in, intended to trap her, not unlike the maze from the triwizard tournament that Harry told her about - That's where she got the idea, after all. Just as it almost got her, she jumped away, rolling on the ground.
She turned around, exploding the walls with a well-aimed bombarda. It sent ruins to all directions, her direction included, and she managed to put up a shield charm quick enough to come out unscathed. Pieces of walls bounced from her shield, a sign that she managed to cast the charm exceedingly well.
She felt magically drained, though, as the air felt colder and her body grew heavier.
A faint hissing snapped her attention back to focus, and she caught sight of the previous three mock wizards she disarmed rushing at her. Madeline fixed her stance to properly meet them, this time using a simple levitation charm to control the debris and hit those puppets in just one spell. She aimed it at their heads, unbalancing each of them with one momentum. They did not get up again.
Breathe in. Breathe out.
She observed the room. The room was left in quite a state, with broken glass, pieces of walls scattered across the floor and pitiful remains of puppets dangling or sprawled in various locations. She sighed, her shoulder slumped as the adrenalin stopped pumping her up.
Madeline had been trying to regain her magical prowess as Hermione, with the help of the room of requirement. Her training had not been as challenging as she would like, with only puppets as her contender. But even in this kind of training her eleven years old body had not lived up to her expectations. It was only the second session of training for today, and while she managed to cast several strong disarming charm, she realised that her body could not keep up with all the spells she wanted to use. That exploding curse followed by a strong shield charm took everything from her.
Madeline Crouch might be a child, but Hermione Granger was well into her adulthood. This show of skill was just pathetic. She scowled at her growing body.
Closing her eyes, she willed the room to fix itself. Her mind pictured the comfort of Gryffindor common room, with all the red drapes and big pillows. A sofa big enough for her to lay down on it was positioned in front of a warm fireplace, candle lights hovering above it, decorating the room. She was not disappointed when she finally opened her eyes. The sight that greeted her was exactly the one she pictured.
A fond smile escaped her, and she threw herself on the sofa.
Following Hogwarts's explanation on her current predicament, Madeline had been trying to close the gap between her new identity and Hermione Granger. Starting from skills, Madeline had stopped holding back and just showed everyone what she could really do. Yes, she was breaking the normal learning curve, succeeding in doing everything at her first try. But if she was trapped in this life forever, then dumbing down herself wasn't going to cut it.
On another hand, being in an eleven years old body means that her magic had not been as strong as she had been when she was eighteen. Spells such as the exploding curse, blasting curse, conjuration and major transfiguration spells, and complicated charms such as the patronus charm and undetectable extension charm were too exhausting for her, even if she could still cast them. She would have to build up her magical stamina again if she wanted to regain her skills or improve them.
Then there was the matter of her new family.
She grimaced at the thought of the piling letters from mother and Barty, left untouched in a hidden compartment inside her trunk.
It wasn't like she purposefully avoided speaking to them. She didn't! It's just that Madeline felt her eyes stung every time the thought of them entered her mind, her brain went hazy and all messed up. She wanted to cry on them so bad, telling them everything that was weighing her mind. She wanted to hug them silly, to share her nightmares so that they could console her that her dreams wouldn't be.
But she knew that her dreams were real. It was even more real than this farce of a new identity. Therefore, she could not speak to them about it. Not to mention her dreams had been particularly nasty about her new family...
Alright, she might have been evading her correspondence with her family. Those long nights had filled her head with blames (was it so wrong to want to put the blame on something? On someone-) Mostly, those dreams consisted of Hermione Granger, screaming at her friends for not being able to see her, sense her, as if she was some kind of ghost. Years of fond memories being twisted, as Harry and Ron went on their days in Hogwarts without any knowledge of her existence. It was terrible to watch - She should have been there, yet she did not, and they didn't even feel anything was amiss! They were complete, without her. Even a couple times replacing her with Lavender Brown - of all people!
But then they died over and over again because of stupid mistakes they could have avoided if she was just... there. If they remembered her nagging. And then suddenly Madeline Crouch and her new family started to appear, and she screamed. An honest, chilling, piercing, scream, similar to the sound that left her mouth once upon a time during a torture session with Belatrix.
She remembered it vividly. The undiluted hatred, the contempt she had for them as she screamed, seeing them as the reason for Hermione Granger's unraveling. Which, she admitted, was downright illogical, but her sub-consciousness couldn't help but feel that Madeline Crouch only existed due to Hermione Granger's demise. Everything was unfair. Cruel. Rotten. Illogical. Pointless. Dirty.
She was basically cheated from life.
Shaking her head, she summoned one of the defense books from the shelf. If there was one thing that could distract her mind from thinking too much, it definitely was a good read.
It was just before curfew when Madeline went back to her dorm, her stomach already full with dreamless potion (it was tiring to sleep with nightmares everyday, you see. Madeline learned to make do.) With one last silencing spell around her bed, she put herself to sleep, ignoring all the other girls in her room.
The potion was the reason why she did not feel she had fallen asleep at all when morning came. Her sudden wakefulness jolted her from the bed, forcing Madeline to sit. There was no window to let sunlight in down there in the dungeon - contrasting to her own room at the Crouch manor - but her body had been set to be awake in a certain hour, so that was exactly what it did come 6 AM.
Classes weren't going to start until 9. She prepared herself for the day anyway.
She had a routine every weekday morning. First, she drank a glass of water. Madeline was used to have Winky prepared a glass on her nightstand, so after the first week of her stay in Hogwarts and forgetting to prepare a glass of water three times during that week, Madeline relented and ask the help of Whipsy, one of the elf stationed in her dorm room. Whipsy of course never failed to meet her request everyday, as she could see a glass of water was sitting faithfully on her bedside table.
After drinking the water Whipsy prepared, Madeline then reached for her wand to transfigure her night clothes. Smooth silk turned to soft cotton and polyester, as her night gown was transfigured to a form-fitting yoga pants and a loose shirt.
She did her stretches, from her head, arms, hands, upper body, lower body, and her feet. Every muscle was stretched. It always helped her stay fresh throughout the day when she started her day with this routine. Next, she did some yoga movements in the privacy of her bed, continuing a habit she started in her third year, courtesy to her mother who was a health enthusiast.
After training her body, she moved on to start training her mind. Occlumency meditation helped her organize her thoughts. Oftentimes, it helped her refresh any memories from her previous life. So many books she had read were filed away orderly in her mindscape, along with them were books filled with daily bits of Hermione Granger's days. Those memories grounded her, and she liked to think that those memories were her essence - that she remained the same even if she was living a completely different life as Madeline Crouch.
As Orpington's alarm started ringing at 6.50, Madeline stopped her occlumency training at that time. She headed straight to the bathroom, ignoring Orpington's protesting whimper from her pillow.
By 7.20, Madeline left her room, clothes immaculate and pressed, and her curls sat tight in a half-ponytail with slytherin green ribbon tied in it. Her bag, charmed with undetectable extension charm, was filled with any book of her choosing in addition to that day's classes books and her assignments. She took the long way to the great hall.
As Madeline usually spent her time in the library, her room, or the room of requirements, she had little time to enjoy the fresh air of the forest and feast her eyes with some nature. Back then, as Hermione, she could enjoy fresh air just fine in the morning, with the windows at the Gryffindor tower bringing in the morning breeze. Now as a Slytherin, she had to make time to enjoy it. She was thankful that she had a habit of waking up early.
She sat at one bench facing Hagrid's hut and the forest, opening one of her books. Among The Undead was her choice of fiction of the week.
It was 8.20 when she headed back inside. The great hall was alive. Students were chattering as they ate the breakfast Hogwarts elves cooked. The Hufflepuffs were chirping and full of smiles, the Gryffindor was split between groggily eating their food and animatedly talking with their friends. The Ravenclaws quietly brought their books to the table while the Slytherins were calmly conversing, and Madeline observed in jealousy as the upper year had waffles on their set of food.
The Slytherin table had their own hierarchy. The first year sat at the end of the table, nearest to the professors' table, with the second year next to them, and so on. There was no waffle in the lower years area, she noticed. There was, however, a plate of pancakes at the border between the second year and first year area, and it took her only a split second decision before she mentally shrugged and headed straight for the pancakes.
It was not her usual pick of seats, and she welcomed all the discreet questioning glances the boys of her year sent at her with indifference. The border between the first and second year was usually where Regulus Black and his cronies sat, so it must be odd to see her among them. Alas, she was there for the pancakes. She sat there and started to scoop down some.
It wasn't long before owls started to fly in, dropping packages and letters to their table. Curiously, one huge owl landed on her right -or rather, it landed in front of one Regulus Black.
"Is that from your mother?" She heard Lestrange asked the boy. She sneaked a glance at them.
"It is," Regulus Black replied. He was frowning, his attention focused on the letter in his hand and his confusion apparent. Lestrange was barely hiding his curiosity as he drank his juice.
She didn't understand. Was it unusual for Black to receive a letter from his mother? Then again, his mother was Walburga Black. Madeline could not imagine the shrieking portrait of a woman from her memory of Grimmauld Place to write normal letters when such things like Howlers existed.
"She gave you an owl?" Lestrange asked again, and this time she had to stop herself from lifting her eyebrows. At least it was one mystery solved. Owls typically just dropped the packages they carried mid-air, while Black's decided to proudly stand between the breakfast plates, its huge dark body along with its big, round orange eyes stayed menacingly still.
Black moved his eyes from the letters onto the bird, taking its fearsome sight. "It would appear so."
Lestrange furrowed his eyebrows, his eyes trailing to their neighboring table. "Wait- Isn't today-"
"Yes." Black's tone was prompt, cutting Lestrange's words, making her curiosity shot up. What's so special about today?
"Is this her way of punishing him?"
An unlikely snort from Black could be heard. "This isn't a punishment."
Madeline reached for her glass of juice, drinking it slowly. Eavesdropping was not something she actively tried to do, but oftentimes she just couldn't stop herself from satiating her curiosity. Her eyes followed where Black was wearily glancing, catching the sight of one Sirius Black laughing with his group of friends. The letter must be related to Sirius, she deduced.
Lady Black gave Regulus Black an owl today, yet something about today led Lestrange to think that this gesture was a punishment for Sirius. She wondered what's so special about today...
"An eagle owl, Black?" Another boy, Warrington, passingly commented on their table's new addition. The huge owl was still there standing in the middle of their table, after all.
Wilkins, in a rare break from stuffing his mouth with food, leaned in, admiring the bird. "Is it yours?"
Black straightened his back, "It is."
"A fine bird to have."
"Quite."
Pyrites, because this day couldn't get curiouser, surprisingly added something weighted. "It's a beautiful female eagle owl. You could see it from how her ear tufts were drooping. The male ones have it more upright. You better watch out, Black. She could grow up to four times bigger than a barn owl. My uncle has one of them, and I've seen them eat a deer for a midnight snack."
She finished her pancakes, no longer following the boy's idle talk.
Her curiosity was just that, a curiosity. No matter how interesting a gift from Walburga Black to one of her sons was, it still wasn't as important as classes. It was 8.45 when she headed out from the great hall, straight to greenhouse one.
She wasn't surprised when familiar faces stopped her on her way.
"Maddy!"
Their bright smile was the first thing she perceived, followed by their striking yellow tie. It was Bethany and her friend, Amanda Foster. She turned to the side, facing their direction with an equally friendly smile.
"Bethany. Amanda."
They beamed, Amanda especially seemed to be delighted by her direct address. Madeline had just been introduced to the brown haired girl last weekend, when she bumped into them at the library. Both of the Hufflepuff girls were as friendly as a swarm of puffskeins that Madeline couldn't help but accept their eagerly offered friendship.
"Are you going to Herbology?" Asked Bethany, her hands hugging a book - One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi by Spore - as she stopped right beside her. Her intention for asking that was as clear as the day.
"I am."
"Great!" Amanda chirped in. "Do you want to walk with us?"
It couldn't hurt, she supposed. Better than walking by herself. She smiled, "I would love to."
They walked to the greenhouse together, not even once accompanied by silence. Amanda was even chattier than Bethany, she realised this as the brown haired girl was the one who mostly directed their talks. Even the smell of damp soil mixing with something rotten as they walked into the greenhouse did not deter her, though she made a passing comment on it.
"Urgh. The smell is particularly strong today - Do you think we will study a new plant today?"
Bethany scrunched her nose. "Let's hope we don't have to observe it too closely."
They weren't studying a new plant, or so they found out later. Professor Sprout came just as the bell rang and informed them about it.
"Good Morning, all. Don't mind the smell- it's from the fungus you will learn at the next term. They've grown nicely, indeed- Today, you can worry about all the plants i asked you to read last week, because you will fill a sheet i prepared for you to identify all the plants in this greenhouse."
The professor's words ignited a hushed murmur. Many were worried, of course. There were no less than a hundred plants that the professor asked them to read. Though, being first years, no one dared to voice their protest, choosing to mourn their grade in the privacy of their mind.
Their fallen expression had not gone unnoticed, as the short witch waved away their worries. "Cheer up, all of you. You'll be allowed to use your books to help you, in addition to working in a group - Hush, now, i haven't ordered you to form the groups yet - The group can consist of two to three students. Feel free to form it with whoever you like, there will be no restriction on the Houses. Now, i want you to remember my cautions while being in this greenhouse. No rough housing, be mindful of the plants, and do not pick the plants - We haven't covered how to do that yet."
Amanda and Bethany sent a hopeful smile at her, and Madeline nodded, agreeing wholeheartedly with their silent suggestion. Grouping herself with them would be a much better option than enduring Hornby's whining for her dirtied boots.
Their assignment went on without a hitch, of course. Both of the Hufflepuff girls didn't even have to open their books. Madeline graciously informed them about all the plants they met.
"How about this one?" Bethany asked, pointing to one extremely familiar plant. Madeline stared down the rope-like plant in forlorn remembrance. It's vines waved at her, as if mocking her abysmal mood. She was tempted to use the sunlight charm at the plant hidden in the shadow.
"It's the devil's snare," she answered, her tone was of one's intonation when reading a book. "Its tentacle-like appendages strangle everything it touches. This particular plant likes damp and dark places, as sunlight and fire could hurt them."
"You're like a walking encyclopedia," Amanda commented. The girl wrote what she explained dutifully and tilted her head at her when she finished. "How do you memorize all of them in just two months?"
Her eyes stayed glued to the devil's snare. "I didn't. I've studied them for years."
Bethany hummed, looking to the side, to where their Herbology professor was watching them like a hawk hunting its prey. The short witch had made a comment on how fast their group went through all plants, and she was correct in her compliment that favors the only slytherin in their group to credit their speed. The Hufflepuff turned to her and leaned in.
"The professors have been calling you the brightest witch of our age, you know? - I heard Slughorn said it one time, and Professor sprout whispered about it just then, when we passed by." The dark haired girl smirked, expressing her pleasure at her own words, "I think it's fitting. You are certainly more knowledgeable than any Ravenclaws i know."
She hummed noncommittally, already aware of this piece of information. She tried to hide her displeasure on the topic.
People surely liked to give others weird monikers. While she was expecting it, she was surprised by how quick Madeline earned this nickname. Hermione Granger got this name after showing her dedication to attend 12 classes and generally being a know-it-all. All Madeline Crouch did was finish her assignments on time, answering the professors' questions when she had to, and showing a bit of aptitude in magic. How could this earn her a name like 'brightest witch of her age'?
- And so much for being called the brightest, she internally scowled. Hermione Granger's so-called brightness failed her when it was most important, as she was now trapped in another's life, her previous one permanently gone.
This thought made her turn to her Hufflepuff friend, blue eyes piercing cold. "I don't know why they bother giving someone that kind of nickname. It would surely blow their ego out of proportion. The ones that can define a person is the person itself, not some glorified names given by some busybodies."
The two hufflepuffs exchanged glances at her harsh tone. Amanda then shrugged.
"It's something to appreciate your brilliance, I suppose. The professors are just excited to have you as their student."
How typical of a Hufflepuff, Madeline mentally flinched at the kind understanding the other girl showed while talking about the professors. Why must they be so nice all the time?
"What about this one?" Bethany pointed at another plant, marked with number 34. A nice change of topic. "I think it's shedding. Can we identify it with just its fruit?"
Madeline nodded, moving on with their assignment. She caught the sight of the plant's purple fruit and started to explain. "We can. In fact, the fact that it's shedding in autumn can help us identify it. This plant is called Shrivelfig. A wonderful potion ingredient, as it has medicinal properties. This plant won't have any more of its leaves during winter, and their flowers are not visible because it's inside their fruit. Professor-"
-Snape is particularly fond of this plant, she had wanted to say.
Madeline cleared her throat, realizing her near mistake. "Professor Sprout hasn't covered this plant."
Bethany nodded at that. "Yeah, she hasn't covered many of these plants. I suppose she wanted to see how many of us really did the reading."
They continued to get through all the plants, and Madeline carefully filtered her words, making sure all she spoke of was strictly from the book. Their group easily finished first, and Professor Sprout enthusiastically announced their achievement to the class as she matched their sheet with her list.
"Perfect! Outstandings, for all three of you. -There are 48 different plants in this greenhouse, everyone, and their sheet is splendidly complete! You should all aspire to meet these young ladies' high standards for your own sheet."
The group was allowed to leave the class early as a reward, earning jealous looks from their classmates. Madeline enjoyed the company of her Hufflepuff friends a little longer, until she finally had to leave for transfiguration while the Hufflepuffs headed on to the potion lab.
Madeline thought nothing was amiss.
She was wrong of course, as two hours later, Parkinson and her clique were throwing not-so discreet glances at her direction during lunch.
"Slumming with the puffs, Crouch?" Parkinson lightly asked, her voice was just an inch away from being malicious. Trust a Slytherin to manage it while looking calmly as she ate a sandwich.
Horston, ever the faithful sheep, followed her lead. "Aren't some of them mudbloods?"
"Could you be any more crude?" She retorted, her rage hid just underneath her skin as she paused at her meal. It was one thing to hear them use that word in casual conversation and another thing to hear the word used to refer to her friends. Opposite to her, Dowson snorted.
"They're filth. What's not crude when talking about them?"
"And you're half-filth," she seethed. "What's your point?"
"Are you a bloodtraitor?" The girl bit back, all subtleties forgotten.
Hermione saw red.
The audacity of this girl, she internally screamed. How could someone be this pathetically dimwitted? Calling her bloodtraitor - of all things! Just because she befriended a couple of Hufflepuffs? The girl knew nothing. She just parotted all the other mindless bigots of this rotten society, all to gain an edge in her one-sided grudge against her. She saw Parkinson sat there by the horrible girl's side, her satisfied expression blatantly displayed, as if hearing the other girl call her that oh-so-disgraceful name made her win something.
How absurd.
Was it because she preferred the Hufflepuffs' company over theirs? This was Draco Malfoy all over again, butt-hurt from having his friendship offer rejected by Harry. Madeline evened her breath, composing her temper.
She would not let the likes of Draco Malfoy get to her.
(-A bit too late for that. As much as she wanted to appear unaffected, even Regulus had noticed how she was one wrong word away from blowing up -And he sat the farthest from the girl.)
As being in control of her emotions differed from not seeking retribution at all, Madeline chose her next action unconcernedly. They must learn their lesson in one way or another, after all. In less than a second, her wand was drawn, twirled between her fingers. She did her best impression of Professor Snape's grave presence as she spoke.
"Accuse me of being a traitor once more and you'll face ...consequences. In the meantime, I will graciously help you wash your mouth, filled with filth as it is."
With a quick flick, a cleaning charm was put on Dowson's mouth.
It was another flex she relished in, as the scourgify spell wasn't covered in first year's material, a glaring contrast to Dowson's own inadequacy at such simple spells like match-to-needle transfiguration (Oh, yes. Dowson was one of the students that had to write essays for weeks because she failed at the practical lesson. She saw Dowson turned in the essay to Professor Mcgonagall just before.) Madeline watched in satisfaction as the girl's mouth moved uncontrollably, overwhelmed by the soap's whirling and bubbling. Dowson made some distressed noises, her hands tried to cover her mouth, and when she realised that her 'friends' did not make any move to help her, the girl hurriedly stood and dashed out of the great hall, ignoring all the gleeful looks she got from her other yearmates.
Pyrites particularly looked like he enjoyed himself too much and Madeline just couldn't stop herself.
"Do you want to taste some soap too, Pyrites?" She quipped at the boy, startling him.
The boy squeaked, "I'm good."
"Great."
The smile she sent him was sharp, all teeth.
Parkinson and her clique did not bother her again for the whole day.
She did not think any more of the incident, especially about Dowson (who threw glares at her in between her ashamed look) or Parkinson (whose indifference was forced as the girl avoided her.) Madeline had better things to do, like studying the charm books she borrowed (or stole, if one wanted to be technical about it) from Mother's collection and finishing up her essays for next week's assignments.
She did mulled over the thought of being called a bloodtraitor as Professor Binn droned on about Goblins (Hermione Granger would have been horrified if she ever knew her future self was not paying attention to her class, but Madeline Crouch had read much better history from her father's collections. She had memorized all about Goblin Wars, anyway) Being called a mudblood was old news, but bloodtraitor? The irony wasn't lost on her.
Bloodtraitor. How fitting of a name for a former Gryffindor muggleborn who paraded around as a pureblood Slytherin. She knew Dowson meant the word as a pureblood who favors muggleborns over other purebloods, but the definition had been wonky since she came to this new life.
Mother said bloodtraitor means someone that betrayed what their family stood for. By that definition, Ron was not a bloodtraitor. But his whole family was called bloodtraitor, so what gives? Did those who invent the word bloodtraitor saw the pureblood community as one big family? Then again, she mused, they might have been very correct in calling it like that, what with all the inbreeding they did.
In any case, Madeline Crouch was not a bloodtraitor. Befriending a halfblood and a muggleborn Hufflepuffs didn't warrant it. The Crouch was not a 'bloodtraitor' family and she certainly didn't betray her family, as Mother told her to befriend anyone and be courteous with everyone. Though, she recalled mother told her once that she would have to marry someone from the sacred twenty-eight families... She grimaced at the memory. It was spoken so offhandedly while they were in one of her etiquette lessons that Madeline came to a conclusion: Mother had thought it was a given that she would marry someone pureblood.
She didn't know what to think about that.
Before, Hermione Granger laughed at the notion of marrying someone as Madeline Crouch. She certainly hadn't planned to stay in this life after she eminently finish her mission. Now that Hogwarts straightened her misunderstanding...
She probably should stop this train of thought.
The next period went by slowly, and when that day's classes finally ended, Madeline made a beeline towards the room of requirement.
She never asked to talk with Hogwarts again after that day, even though she became a constant user of the room. Hermione Granger would disappear, Hogwarts had said it loud and clear. She didn't need to know more about it. Right now, having a space in complete privacy that provided her all she needed was satisfactory.
She climbed to the seventh floor, already planning to practice one of the techniques in an advanced book on charms. It was a most interesting technique, something that had a potential to be useful for her mission. Previously, Madeline had known how to put conditions in her charms, such as how she charmed the DA paper to put conditions on the boiling curse, so that only those who utter the name Dumblerdore's Army in front of non-charmed people (those who didn't sign their name) would be affected by the curse - But she wanted more than that. She wanted to be able to put conditions that was deeper than surface-level acts. Madeline wanted it to be tied to human's intentions, thoughts, and emotions.
She thought she might have found the way to do it.
Harry once told her how the mirror of erised from the Philosopher's stone last defense was charmed so that only those with the intention to find the stone but do not want to use it could pull the stone from the mirror. Madeline found something related to this intention-based conditional charms in one of Mother's books. She decided that it would be a useful technique to have, as even Dumbledore himself used it to protect something as precious as the philosopher's stone.
The thought of being able to do something a person in Dumbledore's caliber could do was thrilling, and in her eagerness, she forgot that her notes on this particular technique was hidden in her trunk.
The realization of this came upon her right when she arrived in front of the dancing troll painting.
Madeline groaned.
With a huff and a scolding to herself, Madeline turned around and dived to the stairs, fully intending to quickly grab her notes from her room.
.
Later on, there was the fat lady portrait on the wall in front of her, the woman in the picture staring down curiously at a Slytherin girl as Madeline cursed at herself.
"What is wrong with me?" She cried out, almost stomping her foot in frustration.
She was in front of the bloody Gryffindor dorm entrance! Madeline thought she was done making this mistake. Why did her feet still automatically lead her to the Gryffindor tower when she desperately needed to go to her room? It's been two months, for Merlin's sake!
She sent one last nasty scowl at the innocent portrait before marching on to the direction of the grand staircase.
- Only for her to bump into someone at one corner.
Madeline thanked all the training she put her body through as without it, she would have lost her balance and fell to the floor. Alas, she managed to stand on both of her feet to give another scowl at the other person.
- But the sight of him made her drop her scowl to blink in surprise. It was none other than one flustered Regulus Black.
"Sorry, Crouch," The boy hurriedly said. "I wasn't looking and i-"
"It's fine," she cut in, eyeing the boy. "It was mutual carelessness."
Black snapped his mouth shut, composing himself at her prim tone.
Madeline unashamedly frowned, gazing at the boy in displeasure. Why was she so clumsy today? And why must she bump into someone like Regulus Black here? Wait- What's a boy like Regulus Black doing here, in a corridor that only leads to the Gryffindor tower?
As if reading her thoughts, Black nodded at her in haste.
"Well then."
He promptly turned around, running away from the scene.
Her frown deepened. "Weren't you going in the other direction?"
"No," he replied quickly.
Too quickly.
She tilted her head, curiously watching the boy as he paused hesitantly at his own impolite reply. He turned to her again.
She gave him her best skeptic look.
His pale cheeks turned faintly red.
"I was," he admitted finally. "I'm not anymore."
Madeline hummed, observing the boy a bit more closely this time. (The dark haired boy was her height, making it easier for her to do it without so much as moving her head.) Black had a letter in one of his hands, she realised. It was the same letter she saw he got over breakfast.
Ah.
She had an inkling on what he intended to do in this corridor.
As she did this, Regulus, who was getting increasingly uncomfortable at her stare, decided to clear his throat and offered his arm. "May I escort you to wherever you might be going, Crouch?"
She mentally shrugged. Might as well.
She accepted his offer with a smile, and soon, they were walking side by side to the grand staircase.
Regulus, already regaining his wits after his moment of blunder, broke the silence. "Did you have something of importance to do in this corridor?"
Madeline gave the boy a half smile and a lie. "I just got lost in my exploration, that's all."
The boy mulled over her answer, sneaked a peek at her, and quickly thought that he had figured it out.
"Do you have many friends from other houses?"
He was referring to the incident during lunch, and Madeline deduced Black had made an assumption that since she had friends in Hufflepuff, she must have befriended the lions. As the boy had asked it with genuine curiosity and not out of malice, Madeline replied, her voice light. "Not yet."
"So you're planning to?"
"I am not planning to do anything," She countered. "But isn't it better to think i will have more friends in the future, no matter their houses?"
The boy looked like he wanted to reply to her, when rambunctious laughter prevented him. The Slytherin pair shifted their attention to the source.
"Trust me, good lads," a boy with a mop of jet black hair and round glasses pleaded solemnly to his friends, "we shall have the best party Hogwarts has ever seen!"
Madeline froze.
(His smile hurt. Madeline suddenly felt like she was back at her old life, with Ron and Harry-)
"Aye!" Another boy, this time one who shared similarities with the boy beside her, shouted.
"With cookies!" "-Aye!" "And lots of cakes!" "-AYE!"
The other two boys cackled at their friends' antics.
She wasn't ready for this.
(Hogwarts had just told her she lost them forever - Universe couldn't just throw her at his duplicate -)
One of the boys stopped mid his laughter.
(Professor Lupin, her mind screamed. She saw his corpse-)
Finally noticing that they had company, the scarred boy paused in his walk, making the others follow his lead.
"Lupin?" Sirius questioned, just before he caught what his friend saw. His eyes widened when he did.
"Reggie?"
"Sirius."
Madeline tightened her hold on the boy's arm.
(She wasn't ready for this.)
Mistaking her gesture for another sign, Regulus put his other hand on hers. "May I introduce you to my classmate, Madeline Crouch?
All the memories that haunted her momentarily dissolved, as the manners Mother ingrained in her slapped her across the face.
Madeline curtsied. "How do you do."
Someone snorted.
She felt Black's hand on hers stiffened.
"We don't do that here," Sirius told them, sending an amused smile at their propriety. "You can stop being so stiff now."
James Potter scrunched his nose, as a thought had just occurred to him. "What are you Slytherins doing here? You're not plotting something, are you?"
Just like that, the others narrowed their eyes, suspicion hiked up.
"I smell something fishy," another boy added. He had brown hair and was pudgy looking.
Peter Pettigrew, her mind screamed.
Before she could think better of it, she said, rather harshly, "then I suggest you improve your personal hygiene." She then turned to the boy beside her, ignoring the increasingly narrowed eyes from the group of boys, "Don't you have something to say?"
Her eyes fluttered to the older Black boy, and then back to the younger one, subtly nodding at the latter in encouragement.
The boy's eyes flickered, comprehending her meaning, before he stubbornly lifted his chin.
"I do not." He nodded quickly at the Gryffindor group. "Until later."
The walk to the dungeon after that was silence.
Quietly, Madeline fumed. She wanted to shake some sense into the boy beside her. She knew that the boy had wanted to speak to Sirius -Why else would he bring the letter related to the older boy to the Gryffindor tower?
Sirius- the old sirius- was pained everytime his brother became a subject of their talk, and even in his death, he didn't know that his assumption of his brother was wrong! Regulus Black died, but not cowardly like Sirius thought. If only the brothers just talk and listen to each other-
It was not until the pair of them got to the dungeon that another piece of information entered her mind frame.
"It's his birthday," she breathed out, her mind connecting the dots.
Madeline turned to Black with vigour, startling him. "Today is November, the third. That party they were talking about is for your brother."
That must be why Lestrange thought the gift for the younger Black was a punishment. Today was Sirius's birthday, yet their parents made it clear on who they favored!
(It felt like she was back with Harry and Ron, completing a puzzle to beat some nefarious plans - Only this time, the relationship between two brothers was what's at stake.)
Regulus eyebrows shot up, though he chose not to comment on how the girl knew the date of his brother's birthday. "It is."
She barrelled on. "Why didn't you talk to him?"
He looked away, his voice quiet as he replied. "He doesn't want to talk to me."
"That's false." Honestly, how thick could boys get? "Come."
"Crouch?"
All the yoga she did had improved her strength, and Regulus Black stood no chance against her as she pulled him by the arm towards the staircase once more.
"You have to talk to him," was the only explanation she offered.
Regulus was utterly shocked. How could a girl have a grip as strong as this? "W-wait- I don't think-"
"Good," she cut in, still dragging the boy to the stairs. "Don't think."
"Just- hang on a second-!"
Madeline relented, letting go of the boy.
She still turned to look at the boy and attempted to convince him.
"It's his birthday," she stressed, meeting his confused grey eyes. "And you're his brother. Any excuse to not talk to him is invalid."
Regulus gulped, pure blue eyes bore at his eyes, full of determination.
What was he supposed to do against that?
It wasn't like he idly decided against talking to Sirius. This issue between Sirius and him was complicated. He was mad that Sirius got sorted into Gryffindor, igniting's mother's ire and got their family in trouble (Many had thoughts the Blacks were going Bloodtraitors, with Andromeda's elopement and Sirius's sorting -They even had to push Bellatrix's wedding date earlier to shut people's mouth, or so Mother said.) While Sirius... well, Sirius was probably mad that Regulus obeyed mother when she asked him to stop writing to him. Or that he declined his offer to sit with his friends on the train.
Regulus winced internally. He didn't regret it - he honestly preferred Rab's company over Sirius's friends - but he must admit that it didn't help their case.
But hearing what Crouch had said reminded him of how it used to be - back when it had been just Sirius and him. Regulus very much wanted to be like that again. He missed Sirius. His brother always had this positive outlook on things, a trait that Regulus longed to have as he was too much of a pessimist.
He straightened his back, the girl's conviction had infected him.
Sirius was his brother, he reminded himself. And he was Sirius's brother.
He didn't know why Crouch was so invested in his issue with Sirius, but looking at the girl, Regulus got an inkling that she genuinely cared - So Regulus told Crouch of his original plan, the one he had thought over and over during the whole day, ever since he got that letter from Mother.
"The owl." She repeated, her tone oddly proud.
Regulus nodded. "Yes. It was given to me by my parents -But I think it was implied that the owl is Sirius's gift as well."
"That's great!" Madeline didn't really understand the way their family worked, but she had heard from Harry -that heard it directly from Sirius himself- that Sirius thought his family had casted him away the moment he made his choice of friends.
But it must have been a misunderstanding if his mother still thought of his birthday - Oh, think of how happy Sirius would be if he knew that his family still cared for him!
She nodded at herself, making it her mission for the two brothers to mend their relationship.
"Come on. I'm coming with you -Just to make sure you won't back down in the last seconds."
The pair of them quickly climbed up to the owlery, which fortunately was a bit close to the Gryffindor tower - Regulus noted in bewilderment that Crouch didn't even look bothered at the amount of stairs they had to climb. How was he supposed to play Quidditch if a girl beat him in physical fitness? - and Regulus carried the new owl he got from his parents all the way to the Gryffindor entrance.
Madeline, being friendlier than Regulus, asked a gryffindor to inform Sirius Black that his brother was waiting for him by the Fat Lady portrait.
They didn't have to wait longer than a couple of minutes, before Sirius stumbled out of the portrait.
The brothers stared at one another for an awfully long time.
She cleared her throat.
"I'll just... wait for you from over there."
Madeline scrambled towards one corner, leaving the two brothers to talk in privacy - not that she respected their privacy very much. As soon as she turned at the corner, Madeline spinned to peek at the siblings.
"Happy birthday," she heard the younger Black faintly said, his arm that carried the owl was pushed in the direction of his brother.
She couldn't see Sirius's expression, but his tone was mild as he replied, "Did mother give you it?
"She," Regulus corrected. "She's a female - But to answer your question, yes. She said I can do anything with her."
"I don't want anything that came from her," Sirius said, with a surprising amount of loath, looking as if he wanted to leave the scene.
Madeline frowned. She didn't expect this reaction.
Regulus, however, had indeed predicted this. That was why he had his other hand in his pocket, hurriedly reaching for his letter.
"Wait! I think she wants me to share her with you. See here?"
She couldn't read the letter from where she stood, but she still leaned in, attempting to get a better look. Regulus had urged Sirius to read something on the letter - the parchment was practically shoved at the older sibling's face - and Madeline could only watch as Sirius's posture went stiff.
"She calls you the heir now?"
Her eyebrows shot up. Uh oh.
"No! I mean- read this part, Sirius."
Reading the part the younger Black wanted Sirius to see didn't seem to help very much, as Sirius threw away his face in contempt.
"She wants me to share her with you," Regulus tried again, a hint of desperation could be heard in his voice. "I think she's your birthday gift."
Madeline hated this point of view. She couldn't see Sirius's expression! It was quite a pause, making her anxious as she waited. She held her breath.
"No she doesn't," Sirius said with finality. She deflated. " - And I don't want it."
"It's a she!"
(Why was he focusing on the bird?!)
Sirius appeared to have similar thought with her as he shouted, "You can have the bloody bird!"
Regulus's face darkened.
"If you ever listen to Mother," he snarled, "she would have given him to you directly."
"Well she's a crazy old hag!" Sirius barked back. "Look at you! You're listening to her and end up in Slytherin, along with those insufferable people we used to mock!"
Should she intervene?
Oh, why did she think it was a good idea to meddle? What if she made it worse?
"Why Slytherin, Reg?" She heard Sirius say, his voice dejected. "I thought you're better than that."
"Why Gryffindor?" Regulus retorted. "I thought you're smarter than that."
Hermione Granger felt slightly insulted, but she quickly chastened herself - It wasn't the time nor place for some misplaced Gryffindor pride. She watched as Sirius clenched his fist, his shoulder pulled to the back, no doubt to puff his chest.
"I don't want your bloody bird."
With that, Sirius gave the other Black one last scathing look and marched back to his dorm.
Madeline lingered, not sure on what to do.
The younger Black seemed to shrank, no longer putting up a mask, as he thought he was without audience. Madeline felt guilt stabbing her chest as the boy leaned his back to the wall.
She forgot that she was in a different time. The old Sirius was not this Sirius. Her Sirius had years of regret, twelve years of it and more, while this one only had anger, his conflicts had barely begun. Would this incident have made it worse for them, she wondered? Madeline watched as Regulus Black's dejection quickly changed into frustration as he kicked the wall behind him, his hand scrunched the letter in his fist.
Bracing herself, she walked out of her corner.
Black immediately stood straight at the sight of her at his side, his face blank.
"I'm sorry," She said, regret filled her voice.
Black looked down, not answering her.
Madeline winced. She thought of all the things she could say at a time like this -to make the situation better. She was never socially adept, but Madeline was aware that she could easily make the boy feel worse if she said something insensitive...
Luckily, their mutual company did all the work to make it better.
The huge owl leaned its beak at the boy, hooting softly, as if to console him. Black took a glance at his owl, his face looked pained for a second before it softened. He leaned back to his owl.
Madeline exhaled, releasing the tension in her chest, as she watched the boy's frustration evaporate after some time.
She raised her hand to pet the owl's head. "Do you really think your mother wanted to give her to your brother?"
Regulus glanced at the letter.
He felt weirdly detached now, so he replied easily, "I do. She wouldn't have mentioned him if she didn't think about it."
Although, he realized now that showing the letter to Sirius was probably not a good idea. He hadn't thought of the difference between a Slytherin and a Gryffindor much, but it must have existed if Sirius couldn't read the subtleties in Mother's words...
Mother might have said that she gave him an owl befitting for the Black's heir - but then she explicitly said that he could share the owl with his brother! Sure, she called Sirius 'your unruly brother' in it, but the intention was still the same!
The fact that she mentioned Sirius at all was what outed her. Mother must have been too proud to give the owl to Sirius directly, as they had quarreled all summer.
Of course Sirius failed to notice mother's intention, as he too was too proud to listen to anything mother said.
"Why do you think your brother rejected the gift?" Crouch blurted out. He could tell she regretted it as soon as the words left her mouth. Regulus didn't blame her at all for being curious.
"Well..." He grimaced at the memory of his summer. "Mother hasn't been very kind to Sirius lately."
Madeline nodded at that, relief flooding her mind. At least the boy wasn't blaming himself at all. Whatever Sirius's problem was, it stemmed from Walburga Black, and not because Sirius didn't want to talk to the younger Black like the boy thought previously. Perhaps the Black brothers could still reunite, after all...
- She stopped herself at that thought.
Madeline bit her lip as a thought occurred to her. She must stop meddling in like this. What if reuniting Regulus Black with his brother changes his fate so much that he isn't entrusted with the locket by Voldemort? She would have lost her lead on the locket.
She wasn't thinking at all when she started this, was she? She was too impulsive - too eager - as she thought of being useful, of doing something significant-
She averted her gaze from the boy.
Black, unaware that she had been playing with his fate, gave her a half smile. "I'll escort you back to the dorm."
Madeline accepted his offer quietly.
She pondered over her actions as she walked back to the dungeon. It was foolish of her to try to change the fates of the Black brothers this early. Hadn't she already decided that she needed to be careful to not change the timeline too much? She knew that Hogwarts said that there was no timeline, but it didn't mean that she had to alter it too much. Her only advantage was her knowledge of the future - if she changed it too much, she wouldn't have any advantages at all, would she?
She really had to focus her mind. Why was she so determined to do it in the first place anyway? Because she was frustrated that the younger Black decided to not to talk to his brother? Madeline grimaced, realizing that was exactly the reason.
Turning to the boy in the sudden urge to talk about anything to distract her mind, Madeline quickly found a new subject.
"Have you given her a name?" She asked, referring to the owl on Black's arm.
Black tilted his head at the owl, his eyes hazy. "I haven't. I had thought... Sirius could name her."
Sirius was the creative one, after all. Regulus had always let Sirius do these kinds of things.
Madeline nodded stiffly. Better avoid talking about that. "Well, now you can name her whatever you like," she said cheerfully.
Black seemed to think on this very seriously, before moving his head to observe his new owl.
It was a huge owl, indeed. Her feather was a mixture of grey, brown, and white, with black spots all over it. She looked like a typical owl, if not for her size and her face. Her ear tufts looked like an extension of her eyebrows, making her fierce, and her round orange eyes were somehow distinctive from the other owls… She looked positively grand.
"Nyx," Regulus declared. "Her name is Nyx."
She nodded sagely, though her tone was playful. "The Goddess of night. A most fitting name for a bird, I must say. Was it chosen to suit the star-themed naming the Blacks have or was it because she's a nocturnal?"
Regulus blushed, sensing that she was mocking his choice of name.
"It's a lovely name," she sincerely said, making him relaxed. Then the corner of her lips turned up. "There are definitely worse names - Or you could have named her Nyx after phoenix from her flaming orange eyes."
Regulus snorted. Now he knew Crouch was just being ridiculous.
The air around them had lightened when they arrived at the dungeon, and Madeline stood in front Black again. She sheepishly apologized.
"I'm sorry I pushed you to talk to your brother. It didn't end the way I expected it to."
Regulus gave her a small smile -a sad one, but it was still a smile - telling her that there was no grudge between them.
"I got the impression that you mean well."
Madeline nodded, relieved at the boy's mature response at her foolishness. It was one thing lifted off her chest - She wouldn't know what to do if she made another enemy out of her classmates.
"Well, then - Good night."
"Good night," he replied. Even though it was too early to bid someone good night, it did fit in this situation. Regulus knew that he wouldn't see Crouch again today - The girl very often skipped dinner, disappearing to her room. Probably.
She went into the portrait, leaving the boy watched her curly hair bounced from the back.
.
After they parted ways, Madeline found herself gazing at her trunk. She found her notes on the intention-based conditional charm of course, but her eyes trailed off to the pile of letters from Barty. She bit her lips as she counted the number. Barty hadn't skipped a week, as she found one letter for each week she had ignored him.
Her mind went back to Black - The boy had avoided her eyes as he admitted that he didn't think his brother would want to talk to him - And Madeline felt guilt trickling into her.
"It wasn't their fault," she said aloud, tasting the truth. Her chest felt weird - but it also felt oddly liberating. She continued. "My nightmares are not their doing. Me being here was not their doing."
Madeline chanted those mantras in her mind as she sat down and grabbed a parchment.