"madison! you got your hogwarts letter! c'mon!" ron called for the girl, who was still asleep.
"maddy," ginny whispered, shaking the sleeping girl, who mumbled in response, "you might want to go downstairs."
"too late," the twins bursted in, scaring the younger ones.
"go away," madison groaned, throwing one of her pillows.
"wow, she speaks!"
"i don't think i've heard her talk all week."
it was true. madison doesn't really talk. that way, people won't get to know her and they won't know if they like her or not. if someone doesn't know that, then boom! no friends. no letting her walls down. no more losing people.
she had spent the majority of summer so far missing her parents, staying in her room with ginny, or going on walks.
it's almost the death anniversary of her parents and the weasley's have tried their best to make her smile again.
it hasn't worked.
"leave her alone, fred and george," ginny helped, receiving a thumbs up from the darker girl.
"it's nearly two in the afternoon! she's got to get up at some point. i want to talk to someone my own age!" ron showed up.
"boys! leave her alone. everyone! we're going to diagon alley tomorrow, so madison, wake up early!" miss weasley informed the kids, and pulled the boys away to give ginny and maddy their privacy.
"im going to go eat lunch, want anything?"
maddy shook her head, and ginny frowned. she doesn't know what to do. the older girl hasn't been eating much.
so, she sighed in response and left maddy alone in her thoughts.
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"you got a turtle?" ginny exclaimed when they got home. maddy nodded in response. "what's its name?"
the older girl pulled out a piece of paper that had michelangelo written on it.
"cool! oh, mom said to have everything packed and ready to go to the train station. want some help?" ginny already knew what the answer was going to be but she still decided to give it a shot.
maddy just handed the red-head her turtle with a small smile. fake of course.
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"it's the same year after year. always packed with muggles, of course. come on. platform nine and three-quarters this way! alright, percy, you're first!"
percy proceeded to run towards the wall, and instead of crashing into it, he went through it.
"fred, you're next."
"he's not fred, i am!"
maddy rolled her eyes at the twins, knowing they were messing with their mother once more.
ginny suddenly hugged the girl, and to everyone's surprise, maddy hugged back.
"honestly woman, you call yourself your mother!"
"oh, im sorry, george."
"im only joking. i am fred," the boy smiled, running towards the wall, his twin in pursuit.
"e-excuse me! could you tell me how to...?"
maddy didn't have the patience for this and ran off, leaving the unknown boy surprised.
a few moments after, ron and the boy showed up.
"let's go find a spot," ron said, dragging maddy with him onto the train.
after looking in a lot of compartments, the red-head found one that only had one person. the boy from earlier.
"excuse me, do you mind? everywhere else is full."
"no, not at all."
"im ron, by the way. ron weasley," he then nodded at the girl next to him. "and she's madison we-taylor. she doesn't talk much."
"im harry, harry potter."
ron gasped.
"so it's true? i mean, do you really have t-the-"
"the what?" harry asked, so ron scooted forward and whispered.
"the scar."
"oh, yeah," he chuckled, lifting up his hair.
"wicked."
"anything off the trolley, dears?" an older lady asked, opening the door to our compartment. ron glanced at maddy and she shook her head.
"no thanks, we're all set," he pulled out the sandwich his mom packed him.
"we'll take the lot," harry said, taking out a bunch of coins.
the girl leaned against the window and closed her eyes, zoning out from the conversation the boys were having after choosing all the candy.
she was about to fall asleep when she heard a new voice, and opened her eyes, only to see a bushy-haired girl smiling at her. the new girl then looked back at harry and recognized him.
"holy cricket, you're harry potter. im hermoine granger, and you two are?"
"ron weasley. she's madison taylor."
"wait. the madison taylor?"
she nodded and harry looked at her confused.
"do you have a scar too?"
maddy responded by moving her shirt to the side, revealing a similar scratch to harry's on her left shoulder.
after the other two stopped looking, she covered it and went to sleep, hoping to not have a nightmare.
"we're almost there, go change into your robe," ron whispered to the sleeping girl. she hummed in response and gathered her things, heading to the bathrooms.
when she got back to the compartment, she realized everyone else was already changed and cleaning up. she just stood there's waiting for the train to arrive at hogwarts.
she was still somehow half asleep when they got off, so ron had to keep an eye on her in case she tripped or something.
"right, then. first years, this way please! come on now, don't be shy. come on, hurry up!"
"hiya harry. hey maddy!"
hagrid hugged the two kids.
"woah," ron muttered, staring at the giant, causing madison to flick him.
"right then. this way, to the boats! come on, follow me."
maddy admired the view the whole way, and didn't stop when they entered the school. it was like a castle.
"im professor mcgonagall, welcome to hogwarts. now, in a few moments, you will pass through these doors and join your classmates, but, before you can take your seats, you must be sorted into your houses. there are gryffindor, ravenclaw, hufflepuff and slytherin. whilst you are here, your house will be like your family. your triumphs will earn you house points and any rule breaking, you will lose points. at the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup."
"trevor!" neville suddenly jumped forward, picking up the pet he had lost earlier. "sorry," he whimpered as the teacher glared at him.
"it's true then, what they're saying on the train?" a blonde kid walked up to harry and madison when professor mcgonagall walked away. "harry potter and madison taylor have come to hogwarts. this is crabbe, goyle, and im malfoy, draco malfoy."
"and maddy doesn't care," ron mumbled, catching draco's attention.
"how do you know?" he snapped.
"i just do," the red-head shrugged.
"draco malfoy," draco repeated, looking at the taylor girl. ron snorted. "you think my name is funny? no need to ask yours. red hair, and a hand me down robe. you must be a weasley!"
"bloody hell."
"calm down pretty girl," draco chuckled, causing the girl to flick him and walk to hermoine's side. "we'll soon find that some wizarding families are better than others, potter. don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. you too, taylor. i can help both of you."
"i think we can tell the wrong sort for ourselves, thanks."
"we're ready for you now," the older lady returned, leading the group of first years to the great hall, where they were met with tons of other students, separated into four groups.
"it's not real, the ceiling. it's just bewitched to look like the night sky. i read about it in hogwarts: a history."
"alright, will you wait along here, please? now, before we begin, dumbledore would like to say a few words."
maddy zoned out again until the brunette beside her walked up to where the teachers were.
"gryffindor!" the sorting hat yelled, and that table broke out into applause.
"draco malfoy."
"slytherin!" the hat barely came into contact with his head.
"there isn't a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in slytherin."
"merlin was a slytherin, he wasn't good or bad."
"neville longbottom," the teacher interrupted their conversation.
"gryffindor!"
"harry potter."
the hall went quiet.
the boy mumbled some things, to which the hat responded to, before finally choosing.
"gryffindor!"
"ronald weasley."
the nervous red-head walked up to the stool, trembling.
"gryffindor!"
"madison taylor."
the hall went quiet once again.
the girl walked to the stool, honestly not caring where she'd be placed.
"ugh, another taylor," the hat groaned, confusing the girl. "you're not gonna answer? alright."
maddy looked up to where the weasley's, hermoine and harry were, and they all gave her a thumbs up.
"just like your parents. slytherin!"
the students wearing green colored ties clapped, and madison noticed draco smirking so she looked back at the gryffindor table, and instead of having happy expressions, the six were frowning.
"oh we're going to have a bunch of fun," the malfoy boy said once the girl sat down across from him.
word count~ 1491
date written~ september 12th, 2020
comment anything you want to see!