since umbridge became headmistress, she attempted to stop the training sessions the taylor twins were having, but gave up and focused on all the trouble the weasley twins were giving her.
due to dumbledore disappearing, snape went back training maddy, but had to cancel some sessions because of harry, so maddy used the time to do more research.
there had been appointments with the head of the houses to talk about your future career, and when it was maddy's turn, professor mcgonagall actually mentioned the defense against the dark arts position.
after everything that happened with the weasley twins, maddy felt a bit better.
although she was going to miss the two, she was glad things were looking up for them, and was also glad that the year would be coming to an end in a few months.
for their game against ravenclaw, maddy had been a big part in helping in winning the cup, despite having her mind occupied by the questions popping up every so often, wondering why hagrid had taken hermione, phoebe and harry away from the match.
turns out, he showed them another giant living in the forbidden forest.
but back to quidditch.
ever since that game, cho had avoided maddy, so the taylor girl just assumed it was because she had caught the golden snitch under her nose.
it was quite a sight to see when the ravenclaw girl landed on the ground once the match ended, chucking away her broom as her eyes brimmed with tears.
as june arrived, maddy replaced all the time she was using for homework with studying, seeing as teachers began devoting their classes to reviewing the topics on the exams.
hermione eas actually quite glad about this because she got an excuse to spend more time with her girlfriend, and to her surprise, maddy didn't complain about having to spend afternoons in the library.
training sessions with professor snape came to an end when may did, seeing as all maddy had left to do was practice, which he couldn't help with that much.
back to the struggling couple, maddy knew she had to spend as much time with her girlfriend as she could, knowing what she would have to end up doing at some point.
she hated thinking about it, so she tried not to, but it just didn't work out, which was exactly why she spent so much time by herself since christmas.
whenever they had the time, the taylor twins would quiz each other, often including hermione because the two boys weren't very intelligent.
to her surprise, maddy had actually been doing an amazing job with her exams, even having received a bonus point for producing a patronus, just like phoebe and harry.
their astronomy practical was interrupted by hagrid, minnie, umbridge and several others.
the toad and those who had come with her attempted to stun the giant, causing a lot of commotion so that no one could concentrate on their exam.
the night ended with hagrid running into the forest with fang and no one could stop talking about it.
"harry! what happened? are you alright? are you ill?" hermione asked the boy as he ran up to the usual group after their history of magic exam.
"where have you been?" ron demanded.
"come with me. come on, i've got to tell you something," harry spoke rather quickly, leading the four to an empty classroom. "voldemort's got sirius."
"what?" maddy's eyes widened, looking at the boy who was leaning against the locked door.
"you're kidding right?"
"how d' you-"
"saw it. just now. when i fell asleep in the exam."
"but—but where? how?" hermione questioned, her face turning white.
"i dunno how, but i know exactly where. there's a room in the department of mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of the row ninety-seven—he's trying to use sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there—he's torturing him, says he will end by killing him."
the boy's knees began shaking, as well as his voice. maddy was the first to notice and she quickly went to his side, making sure he got to the nearest desk without falling.
"how're we going to get there?" phoebe softly asked.
there was a moment of silence.
"g-get there?" ron spoke up.
"get to the department of mysteries, so we can save sirius!" harry raised his voice.
"but—harry?"
"what? what?"
hermione and ron were both gaping at him, while the taylor twins seemed to be thinking.
"harry—er—how—how did voldemort get into the ministry of magic without anybody realizing he was there?"
"how do i know? the question is how're going to get in there! you two are with me, right?" harry turned to maddy an phoebe, who instantly nodded in response.
"but harry—think about this-"
"mione," maddy whispered.
"no, listen to me. it's five-o-clock in the afternoon—the ministry of magic must be full of workers—how would voldemort and sirius have got in without being seen? harry, mads, phoebe—they're probably the most two wanted wizards in the world—you think they could get into a building full of aurors undetected?"
"i dunno, voldemort used an invisibility cloak or something! anyway, the department of mysteries has always been completely empty when i've been-"
"you've never been there, harry. you've dreamed about the place, that's all," hermione said, her quiet voice different from harry's loud one.
"they're not normal dreams," phoebe defended.
"how do you explain the whole thing with ron's dad? the exact same dreams we had," maddy said, pulling harry back as she gestured between herself and her sister.
"how come we knew what had happened to him?" harry shouted.
"they've got a point," ron mumbled.
"but this is—just so unlikely! harry, how on earth could voldemort get a hold of sirius when he's been in the grimmauld place all along?"
"sirius might've cracked and wanted some fresh air."
"he's been desperate to get out of that house for ages," maddy informed.
"but why," hermione persisted. "why on earth would voldemort want to use sirius to get the weapon, or whatever the thing is?"
"i dunno, there could be loads of reasons! maybe sirius is just someone voldemort doesn't care about seeing hurt-"
"you know what, i've just thought of something-"
"that's new," maddy interrupted the red-head, who playfully glared at her.
"sirius' brother was a death-eater, wasn't he? maybe he told sirius the secret of how to get the weapon!"
"yeah—and that's why dumbledore's been so keen to keep sirius locked up all the time!"
"look, i'm sorry, but none of you are making sense, and we've got no proof for any of this, no proof voldemort and sirius are even there-"
"hermione, harry's seen them!"
"okay—i've just got to say this-"
"what?"
"you—this isn't criticism, harry! but you do—sort of—i mean—don't you think you've got a bit of a—a—saving people thing?"
"and what's that supposed to mean? a 'saving people thing?'" harry glared at the bushy-haired girl.
hermione proceeded to remind the others of the time during the triwizard tournament, where harry saved the little delacour girl.
the two continued to argue, harry beginning to raise his voice, but they were interrupted when ginny and luna barged into the classroom.
the seven continued to make a plan, where hermione and harry would check the fire in the toad's office to see where sirius was, ron and phoebe would get peeves to cause trouble and tell umbridge, and the last three would be the lookouts.
minutes after clearing out the corridor, luna, ginny and maddy were suddenly ambushed by slytherins.
well, only the blonde and red-head.
as soon as draco noticed his brunette best friend, he stunned her with a spell and forced the others to leave her alone.
they had gotten all of them, and maddy was once again, alone.
and she had no clue what to do.
word count- 1349
date written- november 1, 2020