Elemental

Clark--Madison Clark

I nod. "Crabbe has no idea what's coming to him if he doesn't stay in line."

"You are a first year," he points out. "I mean, I know you're no stranger to curses, times being what they are, but can you pull it off?"

I shrug. Choosing my words carefully, I decide on telling him, "I wasn't planning to curse him. But you know what they say. The extreme always seems to make an impression."

Colin looks at me strangely, then goes back to his dinner.

Only then do I notice that Juli is gone.

I see her, about to disappear down a corridor leading out of the Hall. "Excuse me," I mutter as I nearly trip over Colin running after her. "Juli?" I call. "Juli, where are you going?" We agreed after she was kidnapped to travel anywhere together. Times being what they are, I can't help but worry.

I sprint to catch up. "Juli, joke's over, okay? This is serious."

She doesn't respond, turning the corner deliberately, moving quite quickly considering her relatively short stature. "Juli," I beg. "Stop. You're scaring me. Please, just stop it!"

My friend leads me into a room. Suddenly, she stops, then grabs me by the shoulders. "Mia, you have to go!" she pleads. "He--she--they--I don't know--they got me--Imperius Curse--made me come here--please, go--don't worry about—" She breaks off sinks to the floor in a dead faint.

I kneel over her. "I'm not leaving you," I vow, praying that she isn't on her deathbed as one would think listening to me.

Hearing footsteps, I whip my head around to see who it is. A girl who can't be more than a year older than me steps into the light. "Who are you?" I ask, my voice hoarse from screaming. Was I screaming? I didn't think I was.

She laughs and tosses her hair. "As if you don't know me!" She's acting like a popular mean girl from a bad, cliché high school movie.

"Afraid not, sorry," I reply coolly.

She seems genuinely shocked. "My name's Clark," she says. After seeing my lack of recognition, she adds, "Madison Clark? Pureblood? Oh," she realizes. "Right. You're a Mudblood, you wouldn't know people of my status."

"Shut up," I shoot back. Her better-than-you attitude is really pissing me off. "And what the heck did you do to Juliana?"

She laughs and tosses her hair, again. "Well, I had help, of course. I was the help, actually. Poor Crabbe was afraid to get his hands dirty, didn't want to be linked to an Unforgivable Curse."

"Crabbe," I mutter bitterly.

"You aren't going to ask which?"

It's my turn to laugh, if not with humor. "I already know which."

She seems surprised. She must be at least a second-year, if she doesn't know about my friendship with Ralph. "Well, then. Now, I'm afraid you're in a bit of a situation," she continues. "You see, your friend here is a bit...shall we say...dead to the world."

"What did you do to her?"

"Oh, she's only Stunned," she says. "You see, it's not what I did do to her," she informs me. "It's what I could do to her. If you want her untouched, you'll have to do what I say."

"Anything," I promise, not intending to keep it but prepared to if I must. My normally razor-sharp mind draws a blank. Madison is older, more powerful, and physically bigger than me. She doesn't seem to dumb, either.

"And if you try anything," Madison warns, "I'll make sure you regret it." She draws her wand and points it, flickering from me to Juliana, for emphasis.

Oh, gods, she means business. I nod, terrified for my friend. I can't lose Juli. I can't bear to lose anyone again. "What do you want?" I've got nothing. I'm trapped.

"Now I've got your attention," she notes approvingly. "You are going to sit here as I do what I want with you. Or your friend dies."

"You can't do that," I point out immediately. Can she? "You're, what, a second-year?"

"Third," she replies indignantly. "And I'm obviously more powerful than you think."

"Isn't thirteen a little young to be a murderer?"

"Fourteen. Isn't nine a bit young to be sacrificing yourself for your friend?"

"Eleven, as you very well know, and no, it isn't. Perhaps for you, but that's why you're a Slytherin."

"You can't figure out how to save yourself and your friend. That's why you're a Gryffindor. Slytherins aren't all evil and pureblood, you know."

"No, but you make up a good three-quarters."

"You're just full of witty replies, aren't you?"

"She's coming to!" I exclaim suddenly as Juliana sits up.

"What happened?" she asks groggily. "Did I—Clark!" she growls, seeing my adversary for the first time.

"At least you know it," Madison gripes. "The Mudblood didn't know it."

"Don't call her that!" Juli yells.

"I'll call her what I want to! And if you want to survive, you'd better get out."

Juli looks to me. "I'm not leaving you," she says, just as I had said to her after Madison Stunned her.

I shake my head. "Go. Save yourself."

"No!" she protests.

"Go. Please. I can't lose you."

"Alright, alright, settle down, showtime's over. You've got three seconds. And you'd better not tell anyone about this little chat. I'll know," Madison threatens.

Juli's eyes don't leave mine. "I can't—"

"Three," Madison counts.

"Go!" I urge.

"If you die," Juli begins.

"Two!"

"I want you to know—I'll never forget you!" she swears, her time running out. "You're like a sister to me, and I—"

"One!"

"Go!" I repeat, my mouth like a record stuck on repeat. I know what she's going to say--I love you. I don't what to hear it--I think I'd cry, and I don't want her to see me like that, especially if it's her last memory of me.

Juli dashes out of the room as Madison shoots her a stony glare.

"So." Madison shoots me a vicious smile that the Carrows would be proud of as she shuts the door with a flick of her wand.

"Let's get this started."

This chapter wasn't part of the original Elemental. It used to belong to another fanfiction that I quit writing, only because it was so similar to this one, if that makes any sense. Madison Clark was created by Sam, on o