𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐈𝐍.
chapter two; The Pumpkin Juice Incident
" Ravenclaws, am I right? "
KAI WAS THE loudest Ravenclaw in all of Hogwarts. This made itself painfully obvious the night of September first when he and Madeline decided to sneak out to the Black Lake instead of battling their insomnia.
Madeline had never been an easy sleeper, no bed, pillow, or position seemed comfortable enough, and the snores of her roommates only made this worse. Kai, on the other hand, was more of a self-induced insomniac. He'd grown far too used to an hour of rest and endless cups of coffee to sleep at a regular hour.
The Potter girl was the first to hear footsteps, not hesitating to grab Kai's sleeve and yank him into the closest alcove. It was tight, not made for more than one person which resulted in their noses nearly touching.
Any other boy, Madeline would've been wildly uncomfortable. But, Kai had been her best friend for a majority of her life and all either of them was worried about was not getting caught.
They didn't expect to be caught by another student.
"Mads?"
"Black?"
"Declan."
"Oh for Merlin's sake—" Madeline shoved Sirius back, wiggling from the alcove and helping Kai out, "What are you doing?"
"What am I doing?" Sirius eyed Kai, "What were you doing?"
"Not Kai!"
"Maddie—"
"Look, we're trying to go somewhere," She grumbled, "Goodbye, Black."
"Wait, wait, wait!" Sirius panicked, latching onto the girl's sleeve, "Where are you going?"
"None of your business, let me go," Madeline grumbled, yanking her arm away.
"Mads."
"We're going to the Black Lake." Madeline glared at Kai after he blurted their plans, "Is that not okay?"
"No, it's not!" Madeline crossed her arms, "Maddie, just trust me—"
"Oi!" The trio whirled around, only to set sights on James Potter. Madeline threw her hands up, much to Kai's amusement, "What are you two doing with Maddie?"
"Okay, slow down," Madeline waved, "This one," She pointed to Sirius, "Won't leave us alone, and Kai's my friend."
"Sirius—"
"She wants to go to the Black Lake." James and Sirius now wore identical panicked looks.
"Maddie, just go to the kitchens or something—"
"Now there's no way I'm going anywhere but the lake."
"Stop being thick, I'm looking out for you!"
"Okay well stop it!"
"Excuse me." The four kids froze, neither Potter siblings dared to turn around. They had been caught by the most terrifying being in the entire castle, the giant squid held no comparison.
"Really, it's all Maddie's fault—"
"Excuse me?!"
James, Madeline, Kai, and Sirius were all sat in McGonagall's office, attempting to explain why they were out past curfew.
"Minnie, you know why we were out," Sirius pulled out the charm that worked on everyone but the two females in the room currently, "And the only reason they starting shouting was for safety."
"Safety?"
"Of course," James continued, "Trying to keep my little sister safe, right, Mads?" The girl glared at him.
"Mr. Potter, Black, your essays will be ten inches longer—"
"We haven't got any essays."
"Your first one then," McGonagall glared at James for speaking up, "Declan, Potter, you two will wash the windows—"
"Wait a second," Madeline cut the woman off, "Why don't we all get the same punishment?"
"Because I make the rules, Ms. Potter."
"This is blatant favoritism," Madeline pointed, "Towards your own house, we didn't even do anything wrong!"
The woman sat stiffly, glaring at the teen who seemed to be very riled up about this certain situation.
"Ravenclaws, am I right?" Madeline smacked the back of James' head.
"Very well, James and Madeline will clean the potions classroom to Professor Slughorn's liking and Black and Declan will wash the window on the third floor."
"That'll take us hours, maybe even days!" Sirius cried out, "Minnie, please, don't stick me with this kid for that long—!"
"My decision is final!" McGonagall snapped, "Now off to bed, all of you, and if I catch you passed curfew again the punishments will be up to Mr. Filch."
The four left, all quite angry at how it had turned out.
"If you would've just kept your mouth shut—"
"You would've gotten off easier," Madeline fumed at James, "But if you'd just leave me the hell alone for once in your life, none of us would've been caught!"
"Maddie," Kai gently tugged the girl, "C'mon."
Both James and Sirius watched the girl walk away, Kai cast one glare over his shoulder the boys gladly returned.
"I hate him." Sirius crossed his arms, "Maddie shouldn't be hanging around him."
James stared at his best friend, "Do you fancy my sister?"
"What? No!" Sirius sputtered, "Look, I just don't like Declan, alright?"
"Good," James crossed his arms, "I don't like him either."
"I've got an idea."
ϟ
"Why would we do that?"
"Because we don't like Declan," Sirius said in a duh tone, not understanding why Remus wasn't on board with the plan.
Sirius and James had hurried back to their dorm, excitedly explaining their genius plan to Peter and Remus. Peter agreed immediately, but Remus seemed hesitant.
"Well, right, but couldn't this get Maddie if it goes wrong?" Remus questioned frowning.
"It won't go wrong," James sighed, "Declan sits in the same spot and eats the same thing every morning."
"But—"
"I wouldn't put her in harm's way," James reassured, "C'mon Remus, even Peter's on board."
"Fine."
"Brilliant!"
ϟ
To say Madeline Potter had a crush on Nico Keeler would be an understatement. He was a Ravenclaw, the quidditch team captain, friends with Kai, brilliant and older than her by a year.
And, as she had been reminded the day prior, he was fit.
Kai and Madeline were going to breakfast, as Bluebelle decided to sleep in when Nico joined them. He and Kai were in conversation, Madeline not speaking up until Nico turned to her.
"Do you know how to play quidditch?"
"What sort of a question is that?" She laughed lightly. "Yeah, I was on a junior league team. Keeper."
Nico grinned, "You should try out this year."
"Oh, no," Madeline shook her head, "Quidditch is my brother's thing."
"Well, we need a new keeper this year," Nico sighed, "No one on the team's good, so just know if you do try out, you'll have an advantage."
"Why's that?" Madeline questioned as they entered the Great Hall.
"Because you're already the captain's favorite."
Madeline blushed harder as she followed the boys to the table. Due to Nico sitting where he did, Kai allowed Madeline to scoot beside him instead of sticking himself in the middle.
"I've been trying to convince her to join for 3 years now," Kai informed Nico, pulling some eggs onto his plate, "She's too self-conscious."
"I'm not that good!" Madeline laughed.
"She is," Kai nodded, "I've seen her play, never let a quaffle in."
"Now you have to try out," Nico grinned, "We might actually win the house cup with you on the team."
"Maybe I will." She smiled shyly, picking up her pumpkin juice to take a sip.
James was already running towards her, but poor Madeline was faced the other way and didn't see the panic on her brother's face. No, the boy was moments too late and the pumpkin juice that seemed so innocent exploded all over Madeline Potter.
Both Kai and Nico jumped back, James turned the girl around by her shoulder only to see her squeezing her eyes shut and the liquid running down her face. Her previously neat hair was now quickly curling into itself, as it didn't matter how sticky it was, it was wet and that was enough.
And then the laughing started.
Slowly, one Gryffindor let out a snort. Then another, before the whole maroon table was laughing, it spread throughout the Slytherins and Ravenclaws, even a majority of the Hufflepuffs couldn't contain the laughter.
Even Nico Keeler was laughing.
James stood frozen as Madeline blinked her eyes open, the redness of her cheeks visible despite the orange tint to her face. The only four not laughing were the ones she couldn't care less about, and it sent her heart to her throat.
Bluebelle seemed like an angel in that moment. Arriving just in time to see the situation, she shouted something Madeline couldn't hear as it felt like the world had gone fuzzy. The blonde stormed over, roughly pushing James aside and gently guiding Madeline away.
Bluebelle even yelled at Kai and Nico, who hadn't said a word but had been in laughter.
"Maddie."
"Leave me alone."
"You have to go to classes!"
"No, I don't."
It had been an argument going strong for five full minutes, Bluebelle on one side of the bathroom door, Madeline on the other. The Potter girl has taken a shower to remove excess pumpkin juice and now simply refused to leave.
"Maddie—"
"Please leave me alone, Blue."
"I'm getting you at lunchtime."
( AUTHOR'S NOTE. )
The number of pranks Maddie has
probably at the receiving end of,
accidentally or not, is endless poor bb