Promises
September 1st 1971
“RAVENCLAW!”
McGonagall took the hat off her head and Madeline stood up. The Ravenclaw table erupted into applause. As she made her way over, she caught Sirius’ eye. Despite James trying to spark conversation with him, Sirius looked utterly defeated.
After the rest of the first years were sorted, the feast commenced. James and Sirius had been joined by Peter and–much to Madeline’s dismay–Remus. This left her with the task of reaching out to her fellow Ravenclaw classmates. Hayden Lovett was a nice boy who spoke with a bit of a Scottish accent. His parents both had high profile jobs in the Ministry, his father was an Auror and his mother worked in the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. The first thing Madeline had noticed about Esmerelda Pitts was her hair. It was long and shiny and blonde, Madeline would be lying if she said she wasn’t a little jealous. Esmerelda’s parents were both muggles. Madeline found then that this girl, despite being muggleborn–and regardless of what her family would have her believe–was exactly the same as any other.
The trio had talked throughout the entire feast, pausing briefly here and there to eat. Madeline could not remember the last time she’d enjoyed anyone’s company that much. Every now and then she’d look over at the Gryffindor table. To the untrained eye, Sirius looked perfectly happy engaged in rigorous conversation with the other boys. However, Madeline knew he was scared shitless about his family inevitably finding out that; not only was he not sorted into Slytherin, but that he was instead, sorted into Gryffindor. She knew he’d pull her aside at some point in the coming week.
After the feast ended, they were led to the Ravenclaw common room by their Prefects. Madeline would be sharing a dorm with Esmerelda and two other girls who she was yet to be introduced to. All their belongings were already set up, and Madeline had been given the bed furthest from the door. Her bed was in a little nook, pressed up against one of three floor length windows, and she had an incredible view of the Whomping Willow and the forest beyond.
The two other girls in their room were a half-blood named Joanna Crest and, much to Madeline’s surprise, Pandora Malfoy. Madeline had run up to the girl and instantly captured her in a tight hug. Madeline wasn’t as close to Pandora as she was with Sirius but the girls were still friends.
It was funny, Madeline thought as she lay in her bed that night. That three children from pureblood families, all expected to be in Slytherin, had ended up elsewhere. At least her family would accept Ravenclaw as a reasonable second choice. They’d always been a little more lenient than the Blacks and the Malfoys.
September 2nd 1971
When Madeline traipsed into the Great Hall at 6:30 that morning, she was shocked to see that Remus and Sirius were already there. She headed over to their table with a smile, seeing Sirius so engaged in conversation with someone else–especially someone he just met–put Madeline at ease for the first time in years. “Hiya boys,” she beamed as she sat down opposite Remus. He smiled warmly at her, despite only meeting the day prior the two had formed a stronger bond than the others in their group. She turned to Sirius and nudged him with her elbow. “We need to talk later,” she whispered, the boy only nodded in response, waving to James and Peter as they entered the hall.
Although she had only just met the boy, Madeline did not think much of Peter Pettigrew. There was just something about him that she didn’t trust.
Eventually the rest of the girls in her dorm entered the hall and Madeline went to go sit with them. The three girls were very disgruntled at the early wake up, and as such there was not much conversation to be had, Madeline didn’t mind, she was content to just enjoy their presence.
***
Madeline’s first class of the day was Defence Against the Dark Arts and she was pleased to find out that Gryffindor would be combined with Ravenclaw for the year. Her and Remus had walked to class together, seeing as they’d both ended up in the library after breakfast. When they arrived, James and Sirius were having great fun playing catch with a balled up piece of paper that Madeline could only assume was Peter’s timetable, if the way he was scrambling to retrieve it was anything to go by.
Their fun was cut short when the paper caught fire.
The class turned to see their teacher, Professor Huxbey, with a rather unamused look on his face. “Mr Black, Mr Potter, I do sincerely hope that you will put more focus into your studies than you do mucking around.” Madeline stifled a laugh as she returned to her seat. James had gone beet-red, earning himself a smirk from Remus as he sat down.
The rest of the day had been rather boring. Aside from Defence Against the Dark Arts, her classes had been with Hufflepuff which had annoyed her more than anything. Madeline had never thought of herself as being a competitive person, however her classmate Gilderoy Lockhart was more of a know-it-all than she was and between him and the Hufflepuffs she had struggled to get a word in edgeways all day.
***
Madeline had pulled Sirius aside after last period, basically dragging him up to the owlery. The second she was sure they were alone, she hugged him. His reaction was instant.
“Bella told my father already,” he said, voice muffled by her hair, “I’ve barely had a chance to come to terms with it myself, and now I’ve got a howler to look forward to tomorrow.” Sirius inhaled shakily before pulling away. He refused to face her as he wiped his eyes. “What about you? Has daddy dearest said anything yet?” Madeline shook her head. “No, and I assume he won’t. I mean, my mother was in Ravenclaw so in some way I’m still upholding tradition.” She shrugged and walked over to the window, “my guess is that Jax will say something though, or my dear cousins, because they’re incapable of minding their own business.” That got a laugh out of him at least, as he joined her by the window.
Madeline turned to him, suddenly serious. “I’m not gonna let anything happen to you, I promise.” He smiled softly, pulling her into a hug once more. “What would I do without you Mads?”
***
When Madeline got to her dormitory that night, Pandora was hysterical. “..and now father is threatening to not allow me home for Christmas or Easter! All because of a stupid dusty hat.” Esmerelda was doing her best to console the girl, but Madeline knew first-hand that once she got going, only time could alleviate an outburst from Pandora.
Joanna was down in the common room with her brother Jason. Madeline didn’t know much about the girl but she definitely wasn’t a very social person, that much was clear. All Madeline’s attempts to get to know her had been met with icy silence, although she supposed that could be because she was a Carrow and her family were very openly against anyone who wasn’t pureblooded.
Eventually, Pandora had tired herself out and had abruptly declared that she was going to bed, and that it would be within everyone else’s best interests to do the same. Esmerelda and Madeline had zero objections and had swiftly followed suit. By the time the three girls were in bed. Joanna still hadn’t come up. As she lay in bed that night, Madeline thought of her promise to Sirius. He was her best friend and Madeline would do anything in her power to keep him safe.
Of course, some promises are harder to keep than others, a fact that Madeline would be faced with in the years to come.