Dear Hogwarts Pupil,
We would like to inform you that the school will be reopening on March 17, which is in one week. The classes and extracurricular activities will continue as normal, and there will be no new rules or workings. All previous school rules still stand, and the students will be asked to work very hard as exams are still scheduled for their original date. The carriages will be waiting at Hogsmeade Station to transport students to the school at 8 am. Good luck and we'll be anxiously awaiting your return.
Maddie looked up from her parchment around at all the kids, who had owls of their own. She sighed and threw it down, thoroughly hating the fact that she couldn't decide how she felt about this abrupt news. George and Fred looked disappointed, Ron and Harry looked apprehensive, and Hermione was struggling to hide her excitement. Ginny rushed off to owl Colin and the breakfast table started to thin out. The adults were discussing the latest news flash in hushed tones, and Maddie flounced away, suddenly tired. George followed her, Fred occupying Noah and Elise who were clamoring for the attention they lost when the owls arrived.
"Well," he said quietly, falling into stride with her. She shuddered as they entered a drafty hall, and George wordlessly slipped out of his sweater, pulling it over her head. Déjà vu flooded her thoughts and she started walking faster, up to George's room. Her wand swished wildly as she packed her duffel bag.
"Are you okay?" he asked her. She looked at him with fire in her eyes. She didn't know why, but it was such a stupid question. She wasn't angry at any identifiable thing…but he would do.
"Oh, yes, I'm just fine. I'm absolutely not upset at ALL that we're going back to school, I haven't heard a word about the investigation ending, I'm probably going to get kicked out of the room when I get back, and…and…I DON'T KNOW WHY I'M MAD! JUST LET ME BE MAD WITHOUT ANY REASON!!" George sat down on the edge of the bed slowly, watching with thickly disguised concern as Maddie packed her bag, adding several piles of his own junk in her blind haste. Ron walked in, blankly regarding his black-haired friend fill her bag to the bursting with anything and everything that was in wand range. Harry and Hermione came wandering in after Ron, and Charlie showed up, as well. Every time someone went as if to say something, George raised a hand in a silent plea for further silence. The crowd observed her frantic antics until a ripping sound shattered the air and the abused duffel bag gave up the effort to stay together, spilling startling amounts of junk across the already dirty floor. No one knew what to say.
"Well," said George in a business-like tone, "Now that you've gotten that out of your system, maybe we could talk about what is going on?" Maddie cleared her throat, nodded meekly, and sat cross-legged on the floor where she had been standing. Everyone else filled in the gaps, and they made a circle around the room, ready for serious discussion.
"They don't seem very…cautious. Everything's looks like it's set to run just like it did before. And they don't say a word about the…accident." Ron was picking his words carefully, staring down at the crumpled piece of parchment that had been poured over extensively in the past hour. Even Charlie had had a few cents to throw into the cesspool of doubt, uncertainty and concern. Maddie was speaking very little, listening very attentively, and mentally drafting a wordy letter to her aunt.
"Okay guys, I've had enough of this." Hermione painfully unfolded her legs from the position they had been in for forty-five minutes. "We've sliced and diced this so many times from so many different ways, and all we've come up with is a lot more questions and false answers. Let's just agree to show up next week, smile often, and deal with things as they come. I think past experience proves that that is the only way we're going to make it." Everybody looked a bot surprised at the words of wisdom, then George stood up, dragging Maddie behind him.
"She's right. We have a week of freedom left. Let's go abuse our privileges." Chuckling and rubbing sore limbs, the party left the room. But although the faces were smiling, each person had a different chain that was tugging at their hearts.
(*)
The week sped by so quickly that it seemed as if God had whirled the hour hand of the clock in a fit of boredom. George, Fred and Maddie outdid themselves in a fashion that had been hidden since…since a long time. Tricks and pranks and jokes ran rampant, and the good-natured complaints of Mrs. Weasley were music to many people's ears. The happy-hearted times seemed like preparation, like some sort of cover, some sort of last chance deal. Each bomb had the danger of being the last ever. Each smile had the power to break a heart- what if it was never seen again?
As each student crushed themselves into the small blue car that Fred always drove, Elise and Noah and the rest of the remaining family gave a sometimes tearful goodbye. Noah was quite reluctant to let Maddie out of his sight, and Elise didn't want Harry and 'her boys' to leave at all. Ginny and Hermione were both sniffling as Fred ran over a rosebush, backing out of the yard, but Maddie was dry-eyed and stony-faced. She announced that she was boycotting emotion, and Harry congratulated her on her good idea. The mood was eerily light and it seemed almost sacrilegious that they were giggling at a dirty joke as they drew up to the station, full of people milling around.
"That's that," declared Fred as he parked. The laughter died away, and no one made any move to get out of the car. Finally, just when the silence was starting to hurt, Maddie reached over George and self-righteously yanked the door handle. The door swung open and people tumbled out- George, Maddie, Ron and Hermione fell on top of each other, laughing once more. Giddy, acting almost drunk, they shouldered their bags and went to join the crowds awaiting the carriages.
"Be careful dear, keep your eyes open and make sure you owl me absolutely everyday."
"Mum! I'll be fine!" The scowling first year jerked away as his mother tearfully hugged him. She looked quite apprehensive about leaving her son on the platform, but a wizard standing behind them looked like his father, and was in the process of convincing her that "everything would be fine, darling." A couple of paces away, there was a similar scene.
"Daddy, please promise me that you'll send lots of owls…I don't really want to go back, Daddy…" A small, brown-haired girl was clinging to the hem of her father's robes and obviously fighting tears. The tall man frowned and held her to him, probably resisting the urge to scoop her up and away from the very thing she was dreading.
"Now, now, Cammie, you've got to go back and get ready for exams." He smiled once more and helped her into one of the awaiting carriages. Maddie nervously watched him walk away wringing his hands, and climbed into a carriage after Fred and George. Hermione, Harry, Ron and Ginny squished themselves in…the group was getting used to small, confined spaces by now. Fred tried desperately to regain the light-hearted attitude of before, but nothing could start it up again, and the short ride to the Entry Hall was silent.
The person that greeted them as they walked into the Great Hall was none other than Aunt Rachel herself. Maddie threw her bag down and flung her arms around her aunt's neck, eagerly looking up for an explanation or even a reassuring word, but there was nothing but a warm smile of return. Maddie slowly drew back, hiding her disappointment as Aunt Rachel bid hello to her friends.
"You'd better hurry back to the table- the brunch will be beginning soon." As they turned to obey her, Aunt Rachel shoved a slip of paper into Maddie's hand. Winking, she stalked up to the teacher's table, where she held a guest seat of honor.
Dumbledore's Welcome Back speech was as big a let down as anyone would have guessed. He simply went over what had been in the letter and then tried to crack a few jokes. The mood none-lightened, food began filling the golden platters and students half-heartedly dug in. Under the table, Maddie read the paper that she hadn't yet opened.
Meet me in the Trophy Room at 9. I'll explain, I promise.
Maddie bit down on a squeal of excitement. As she shared the paper with the friends around her, she grinned and felt the fingers of light-heartedness grabbing her soul. With a belly full of Belgian waffles, a handsome boyfriend running his fingers over your back and the knowledge that your biggest mystery could be solved within fifteen minutes, it's hard to have a bad outlook.
(*)
"So what happened? Did you find anything? Why are we back ALREADY?" Maddie paused quickly for breath and her aunt smiled, putting out her hand as if to stop the flow of words.
"Hello to you, too. Now, before we start in on all that…" Aunt Rachel held up a piece of white lingerie with a grim look on her face. Maddie gave a disbelieving snort and threw her hands into the air.
"I am a VIRGIN! Everybody needs to get PAST the sex thing! Okay? Now can we drop this and continue on to the LIFE-CHANGING issues?"
Aunt Rachel shifted nervously and glanced questionably back at George, who was a few paces away. He shrugged and nodded, somewhat disappointedly. She shifted again and cleared her throat.
"Well, all the same, Maddie, you're growing up quite fast…seeing a seventeen-year-old…and I just want to make sure that you know…know…the way things work." Aunt Rachel suddenly resembled a freshly dug beet.
"What ARE you talking about?" said Maddie in a tired voice.
"Well, you know…the birds and the bees…the way THINGS work- dear?" Maddie had walked over to the stone wall and was gently but steadily banging her head against it.
"I think what she means to say is she already knows all about that," offered George. Maddie turned around and angrily tugged at her hair.
"Why are grown-ups so uncomfortable about sex?" Aunt Rachel sputtered noiselessly. "It's the same way guys get about periods…" As George instantly became insatiably interested with the floor design, Maddie let out an enraged scream. "CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT NORAX?"
They snapped out of it. Much more in her element now, Aunt Rachel began to describe the situation in detail.
"Dear, there's not much to talk about, if you want to touch the topic of the investigation. Lucius Malfoy was in here, raising hell and insisting that we start by tossing out Dumbledore. The girl's parents were so…strong. They stood up and said they didn't want anyone to leave, they just wanted to find out what had happened. So we began with that. We combed the whole school, especially the hallway where it all took place. The only thing that was there was the girl. Multiple stab wounds- she was wearing a nightgown and slippers. The final decision was she was kidnapped from her room, possibly by a Dreamcatcher spell, and then killed in the hallway. The message was gone by the time we were there. And that was it." Maddie had a hand over her mouth and George grimaced, thinking back over the many times Norax had used the Dreamcatcher spell on Maddie.
"It was Norax, wasn't it?" she breathed. Aunt Rachel shook her head sadly.
"The mark was there, burned into her skin under her arm. But no one can prove anything from the simple spiral. They're marking it down as unsolved, and a search for suspects is pending. The parents were strong, but clearly dying inside. When they identified the body…" Aunt Rachel trailed off, and Maddie took a deep breath. George instinctively moved closer.
"So what now?" Aunt Rachel looked down at the stone floor, the mystery behind her eyes nearly burning holes unto the cold tiling.
"We wait. We hope. We pray. And only time will tell."
(*)
Sunlight was streaming in through the window. Happily shifting on her big comfy couch in the dormitories, Maddie somewhat guiltily reveled in the familiar scarlet cushions and grinned as she ran her hand over the wall next to her head. She was exhausted from her long singing lesson the night before. Needless to say, it had been…awkward. George insisted on coming along, and sat in the corner, glaring the whole time. Shane didn't talk to Maddie or George, but relayed all his messages through a slightly confused Celestia, who spent half of the lesson piecing the puzzle together. It was still a good refresher course, and Maddie was excited to be so adept at many of the spells that were so complex.
"Guess I better start working on getting up," muttered Maddie with her eyes still screwed shut. Slowly stretching her hands over her head, Maddie frowned as she tried to take a deep breath and felt something pushing down on her ribcage. She slowly opened her eyes and fell out of bed.
It was the dress.
Ripped and bloody and fitting as tightly as ever, it was THE dress. The cream colored one that Maddie had worn for her first encounter with Norax. The cream colored one that June Moore had worn to her last encounter ever. Maddie screamed. Now that she was actually wearing the dress, she could see, in detail, the places were the knife had torn fabric and flesh. Right down the stomach, across the throat and a few cruel, unnecessary lines crisscrossing her ribcage. The blood had dried a sickly reddish-brown, and there were darker stains from Maddie's ordeal where she had earned her scar. And something else, something strange and starkly out of place. Strands- no, locks- locks of black hair were raining around her shoulders with every step…falling around her neck and catching in some of the jagged ends of ruined corset. Maddie screamed again, and people began to wake up.
"Wha- Maddie? Oh, God, Maddie." George frantically ran over and grabbed a handful of the black silky stuff off the bed. Maddie was trembling with anger as the boys stared at her in disbelief. Not many of them knew the origin of the dress, but the sight of it was telling it's own tale. Ron, Harry and Fred dashed over.
"Is that…" a look of recognition washed over Fred's face and Maddie nodded, viciously clawing at her back. Securing the zipper between two fingers, she yanked hard and the back fell open, leaving Maddie to scramble out of the material and stand in her bra and underwear in the middle of the dormitory. A couple of fourth year boys gasped, and Harry turned around quickly, Ron and Fred following suit, but George simply looked at his raging girlfriend with questions dancing in his eyes.
"He cut my hair, didn't he?" she asked coldly. George nodded slowly, reaching out and running his fingers over her hair to get the loose bits out. She calmly stepped away, then erupted.
"What is his point?!? He didn't even show himself this time- I slept SO GOOD! And this isn't a Severing Charm; this is plain old scissors handiwork! And the dress- ugh, the dress! Where is my nightgown? I want to know WHERE the nightgown I was wearing is. I feel so dirty, I need to take a shower…oh my God, what am I going to do!" Maddie grabbed a pair of jeans and jumped into them, throwing them away in disgust when she realized that the waistline extended up to her neck. Finally finding a pair that was hers, she continued her tirade, still shirtless and fuming.
"Look at this…LOOK AT MY HAIR!" She was standing in front of a mirror, grinding a brush through her hair that now fell unevenly around her chin. Heavy showers of her once luxurious hair were fluttering to the ground. George walked up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, visibly calming her. With a wave of his wand and a whispered word, her hair was even around the edges, and her eyes were pacified once more. Maddie turned somewhat sheepishly to the crowd of anxiously waiting boys, who immediately took on the position of people who had certainly not been listening, and George sat her down on the couch. His strong façade was fast disappearing as he looked at the hair surrounding them and the bloody garment that was to his right.
"Do you know how…or when…or why?" he asked simply, and she shook her head no emphatically.
"I woke up, my hair was gone and I couldn't breathe. George, this is the second time that he's undressed me in my sleep without me knowing it!" His grip on her shoulders tightened painfully. "There was to be some sort of alert spell, some sort of way of knowing…we're as helpless as Muggles!" George pressed his forehead to hers silently, biting his bottom lip and brushing a strand of hair off her neck. The look in his eyes was a second cousin to defeat, and a pulse of fear quivered its way through Maddie's body. The road ahead was growing darker everyday.
(*)
Hermione opened her mouth to comment, but a joint look from the boys the next step up silenced her quickly. As Maddie hurried ahead of the group and George ran to join her, Ron and Harry quickly filled her in on what had gone on in the dormitory that morning.
"That dress? On her!" Hermione was as shocked as could be expected by the news of the morning. The elusive dress was not only a very emotional symbol for the friends, but could also serve as a key piece of evidence in the investigation of June's murder. After a quick whispered conference, the three students pulled an about-face and dashed up the steps to the dormitory. The REAL investigation had begun.
"This place is more mess every time I come up here," tutted Hermione disapprovingly as she picked her way through the door.
"It's mostly Maddie," protested Ron lightly as he put his hand on the small of her back to guide her around a stray trunk. They made their way to the back of the room and approached the section of the room that Maddie claimed her own. Bundles of clothing and a few stray hair elastics or brushes dotted the carpet, and a blanket scattered with hair clippings was draped over the couch in the corner. Ron and Harry gaped at a suspiciously empty area on the cluttered floor, and then, before their eyes, a piece of parchment bloomed up and filled the empty spot.
What? Didn't like the trim? I'm ever so disappointed. Stay tuned for part two of the Katerina Makeover Files. Up next- the Face Lift.
Ron looked at Harry, Harry looked at Hermione and Hermione looked horrified. As if someone had yelled, "Break" they turned a booked it for the Great Hall. Who knew how much time they had? They reached the Hall in a jumble of panting voices, and as quickly as possible explained their adventure.
"So it was gone?" demanded Maddie brusquely, but the parchment in her hand was quaking. Hermione nodded nervously, throwing a side-glance at George, who was dousing his Honey Bunches of Oats in orange juice. Ron and Harry were both trying force down some toast, but the combined effect of what they had and hadn't seen in addition to the foreboding tone of Norax's latest note was still the appetite killer it had been in the past. Finally, the bell rang and the absence of silence filled the air.
"Watch her," whispered George through gritted teeth to Harry, who nodded as Maddie pushed away from the table and hoisted her bag onto her shoulder. Ron and Hermione had already positioned themselves around her, flanking her as if to ward off the unseen forces that had terrorized them for so long. Giving her a kiss and ruffling her hair, George swept up his own bag and dashed off after his brother. Maddie smiled at her Hermione, who was doing a bad job of hiding her concern, and they set off towards Potions.
The hallways were crowed and the chatter was excited. A few kids whose parents were involved with the Ministry or the police force were eyeing Maddie warily, knowing the story behind the story, but for the most part, she slipped through the corridors unnoticed. Hermione was just starting to relax and they were nearing the dungeons when a slight girl with red hair and red eyes (which probably would have been blue under normal circumstances) popped out from behind a statue, sniffling and trying to kill Maddie with her glare.
"Well, look who it is!" she said in a loud, sarcastic tone. Maddie frowned and shifted her bag.
"Do I know you?" asked Maddie politely. The girl narrowed her eyes and thrust her hand forward.
"Elisabeth Whitney, Hufflepuff fourth year, also known as former best friend of June Moore." Maddie winced and the girl sucked in a deep breath. Ron, Harry and Hermione moved in on all sides. A tall boy with blond hair ran forward and put a hand on Elisabeth's shoulder.
"Elisa, come on, we've got to get to class," the boy muttered desperately, but Elisabeth shook him off and continued to stare Maddie down. "Don't do this!"
"It's been quite a terrible past few weeks for you, hasn't it? Poor girl, chased by some maniac, nearly got yourself killed countless times, away from school, your mummy, simply everything dear to you!" The sarcasm was biting at Maddie's soul, but she knew it was nothing compared to the raw pain in the girl's face.
"It's been a time for me, too. See, nothing much happened. Just one teensy thing. My best friend died. Yeah, she got STABBED to death. In a hallway. Feel bad for the people who had to find her. Must have been terrible for them, too." The blond boy was now tugging on Elisabeth's bag furiously, but she was crying and stomping her foot and somehow, everyone knew she would say what she needed to say.
"But I must say, it's really lucky that it was her. ADMIT IT, THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK! You may cry, and feel bad, and know that it's very upsetting, but the only way you can sleep at night is think, "At least it wasn't someone I love." Well I have news for you. IT WAS SOMEONE I LOVE!" Elisabeth was hysterical now, screaming and banging on the wall. The blond boy was just standing near her, crying as well, and several people were watching, frozen to the floor.
"Now what am I supposed to say, so I can sleep at night? At least I'm alive? 'Cause I'm not! When she died, part of me died to. So now I'm stuck with a lot of memories and half a soul. And you're safe, you're warned, you're ready for whatever comes, with your friends watching out for you and your sins on your own back. Don't you understand that there are more people than you involved in whatever you do? This may come as a shock, but you are not the center of the universe. And still you've managed to turn my universe upside down. It may have been a warning for you, Miss. Maddie, but for some of us, it was the end." With a final dry sob, Elisabeth pulled herself up to her full height, shouldered her bag and marched away shaking with tears streaming down her face. The unashamed boy, still crying, shook his head sadly and followed her miserably.
Horrorstruck, Hermione, Harry and Ron looked down at Maddie, who was staring at the spot where Elisabeth had been standing with her mouth hanging open and her hands clenched at her sides. Tiny trickles of blood proved that she had driven her fingernails into her palms.
"Maddie, you know she was just upset…she knows as well as you do that you had nothing to do with June or Norax or ANYTHING like that…you don't think she would ever say in her right mind…"
"Do you ever think that?" she asked abruptly. Ron stopped in his tracks, looking bewildered.
"Think what?"
"At least it wasn't her? At least it wasn't Maddie?" Ron looked into her eyes for a split second before tearing his gaze away and looking over her head. Maddie wildly spun around to Hermione and Harry, but neither could honestly match her gaze.
"Okay. That's what I thought." Maddie spun on her heel and began running up the steps to the Gryffindor tower. They followed her at a quick pace, but she raced to the portrait, threw herself inside, and was hidden inside George's four-poster by the time they reached her, grabbing at stitches in their sides.
"Maddie?" asked Hermione timidly.
"Yes, I'm in here. You can go back to class, I have some things to take care of."
"Er, okay!" called Ron, but he silently signaled that he was going to wait for her to come out, and Harry and Hermione joined him on Maddie's normal bed, where they started worriedly discussing the situation with silver letters in the air.
Inside the velvet world, Maddie was not in the mood to care whether or not her friends waited for her- but they would be waiting awhile. She drew a deep breath and began drafting the letter. It was so hard to write, it literally hurt her heart. Better my heart than anyone elses, she thought bitterly. And she knew it was true