Contentment

Madeline raised a brow at the redheaded boy, a hundred questions flying through her head.

Boys weren't allowed in the girl's dormitories...were they? No, she's sure that they weren't.

Boys aside, what was he doing here?

"Hi." The read head said again, balancing his weight from foot to foot, eyes as innocent as a child's soul.

"Hi." Madeline responded, leaning against her door frame.

One awkward thing after another seemed to be the theme at Hogwarts.

"I know you're probably wondering what I'm doing here, well-" He looked around the hall as if trying to convince himself that no one was here. He looked like he was breaking a million rules, and that made Madeline more interested in what the hell he was doing here. "Here."

"Yeah." Despite Madeline's shock, her voice came out soft and teasing and she could see him swallow, shaking his head.

"I just wanted to say thank you and to see how you were doing." His words rushed out in one breath. "Wood said that you seemed to be doing okay yesterday, considering all things."

Something inside Madeline filled with warmth at hearing Oliver's last name, and at the fact that he didn't tell his mate about her tears. At least she hoped he didn't. What a great impression that would be.

"I'm fine." She told him, watching him swallow again before he seemed to calm his nervous, shoulders setting in determination.

"Right, that's good. You seem well."

Madeline nodded her head, wondering if he was ever going to get to the part of why he was actually here, breaking rules and all that.  She guessed that just checking up on her wasn't how he rolled.

"It's thoughtful of you to check up on me."  She told him, brow still raised. "What's your name?" She asked suddenly, deciding that she only knew one name, Oliver's.

The read head broke into an awkward smile that didn't match the way he looked back on the train, especially when he extended his hand towards her. "I'm Percy Weasley, Head Boy of Gryffindor." Madeline shook his hand, noticing his bright brown eyes shine with unease.

"Nice to officially meet you, Percy." Percy's uneasiness simmered down at that, a true smile playing around his lips.

He let go of her hand, standing tall and proud and looking very much the snobby part of the boy from the train before his shoulders relaxed again, eyes going round and innocent again. "You as well. Coraline, the only other girl in our year, she's the Head Girl." He told her, a shadow crossing his face as he seemed to consider something for a moment. Shaking his head lightly, his genuine smile returned as he spoke again. "She would have come to welcome you and to show you around, but she's at the early Quidditch practice right now."

Quidditch. Madeline smiled genuinely, happy memories filling her mind from when her parents were alive. They used to take her to Scotland, where her mother was from, to watch smaller scale Quidditch games.

Madeline had gone once, when she was five, maybe six? She wasn't sure, but when her parents had taken her to one of the World Quidditch Cups, she had instantly fallen in love with the sport.

It was something to behold, truly, for a small child who watched in awe as the players flew through the air on their brooms, scoring, swerving from big balls, and people erupting into the loudest cheers that she'd ever heard in her life.

Ilvermony didn't have a Quidditch team. Instead, they preferred to have annual dueling tournaments.

The thought of the games made her shiver with fond memories.

So, was Oliver Wood on a team then?  Madeline shivered at the thought.  Scottish and a Quidditch player.  It was going to be even harder to ignore him.

"And so I thought that you might like some company on your way to the dining hall." Percy told her, breaking her from her thoughts.

"Oh that's very kind of you, but I-"

"It's nothing, really. Breakfast on the weekends starts around eight thirty and goes till about ten, and I figured if you were hungry, well..."

Madeline looked at Percy, really looked at him. He still seemed a bit snobbish to her, if she was being honest, but there was something in his eyes that made her not want to decline.  He seemed like a whole different person than the one back on the train. Nervous and kind.

Plus, he came here of his own free will, didn't he?

And she could use a friend, she thought, slowly nodding to the boy.

"Alright." Percy's smile widened. "Let me just change into something more appropriate." She told him, looking down at her joggers.

"I'll wait for you at the bottom of the stairs." Percy told her, already walking away from her.

Madeline changed back into the jeans from earlier, and slipped some sneakers onto her feet. Deciding to keep the simple black V-neck she had on and put her hair into a ponytail, her eyes longingly looking at the letter from her boyfriend on the small desk.

She wanted to read it, but supposed that it would be better not to keep Percy waiting any longer.  She couldn't place the feeling, but something told her that reading the latter now wouldn't make her any happier. 

Joining Percy at the bottom of the stairs, she watched a few students, younger years, making their way towards the exit.

On their walk to the dining hall, Madeline couldn't help but admire the way the halls were, again, high and wide, decorative even.

She had visited a muggle castle once during one of her many visits to Scotland. The structure had been partially in ruin, partially empty. But Hogwarts, it seemed alive. Full of people. Full of life and beauty.

Percy did most of the talking, telling her about some of the larger moving portraits that had people, long gone from this plane of life, moving around in them.

He had introduced her to a ghost, Nearly Headless Nick, and Madeline instantly felt more at ease when Nearly Headless Nick made some remarks on Percy walking with a girl. And what a nice change in routine that was.

So, Percy Weasley wasn't one to keep a female as a friend. Madeline wondered why, when he wasn't bad looking and he seemed to be genuine.

Madeline had to take in a deep breath when they came to a large set of double doors, leading into a large room filled with students, and the smell of breakfast.

She didn't eat the dinner that Oliver had brought her last night, opting to take the sleepless drought instead. She wished that she had eaten something though when her stomach twisted at the smell of food, telling her to get something inside or she might pass out right by the entrance.

To her relieve, not many people stared at her when she followed Percy to a table on the right side of the dining hall. The ceilings were adorned in a bright sky, signaling day and she could see small clouds moving slowly.

Percy introduced her to a few more redheads at the Gryffindor table. His siblings, he told her as two almost identical boys shook her hand, wearing the same sporting uniform that the boys on the stairs had.

"I'm George, and that's Fred." The one who's hand she was shaking told her, smiling kindly at her. "Oh, and that's our little sister, Ginny." He added when a younger girl took a seat on his left, reaching her hand out.

"Nice to meet you Ginny." Madeline told her, gladly accepting her handshake.

Madeline had always wanted a sibling, a younger sister to adorn on, or a brother to play chase with. Her parents had told her that they themselves had wanted another child, but her mother had an extremely hard time getting pregnant with Madeline, and a midwife who delivered her, had told her parents that they would most likely never have another child.

Perhaps it was for the best, seeing as it would be just one more child without a family. Madeline grimaced, pushing the thought away.

She didn't want to let her mind think in that way.

Buttering her toast, Madeline noticed one of the girls from her compartment on the train, the one that barely said a word while her blond friend had been chatting happily away, come up to her, eyes wide.

"You're in Gryffindor." The younger girl exclaimed shyly and Madeline smiled at her, thinking this was the first time she heard the girls voice this loud before.

"I am."

"Astoria is going to freak out when she finds out." The girl half whispered, still looking at Madeline with wide eyes. "I'm in Gryffindor too."

"That's wonderful." Madeline looked around the dining hall, seeing if she could spot the blond girl. Astoria. "Is your friend in Gryffindor as well?"

"Oh no, she's in Slytherin. After the train, she kept saying that she hopped you'd be in her house. You know, after you saved that older boy from the monster? She said it would be so cool if you were a Slytherin."

Madeline smiled at her, scooting slightly closer to Percy to give the girl some room to sit when she noticed the younger girl look around the table, like she was unsure of where she should sit. 'Would you like to sit?"

"Oh." The girls eyes went wider and Madeline suppressed a chuckle. "Is that alright?"

"Of course it is. We're house mates now, and you and your friend are technically the first people I met, so you could say that makes us friends."

The girl hesitated for a moment before smiling and sitting down next to Madeline.

"I'm Madeline, by the way." She told her, shaking her hand.

"I'm Eli. Well, Elizabeth, by my family calls me Eli and you can call me Eli too, if you'd like."

Madeline nodded her head, still smiling. "That's a lovely name Eli."

Before either one of them could say anything else, more student's made their way to the Gryffindor table and Madeline looked up, seeing Oliver Wood and the other two boys, accompanied by a pretty brunette girl, all still wearing sporting clothes like the twins.

She looked at Percy who started talking to one of the other boys, while the other girl sat down across from her, eyes narrowing on Eli.

"What are you doing here?" Madeline's smile vanished at the hostility in the brunets tone, and she turned to Eli, watching the younger girls hand shake when she placed her spoon, still full of porridge, back into her bowl, innocent eyes looking back at the brunette.

"Lina don't." Oliver suddenly said, taking a seat across from Percy.

"It's just a simple question Ollie." The brunette told him, not turning her eyes away from Eli.

Madeline heard Eli take in a shaking breath. "I was-I was just-" She trailed off, holding off tears now and Madeline turned her attention back to the other girl, watching her raise a cruel brow at Eli.

"You were just what, Greengrass. Thinking that you could sit with us? Just because you're in our house, doesn't mean that you're suddenly allowed to sit here, with us."

Madelines eyes widened.  Oh hell no.

"I invited her to sit with me." Madeline chimed in, her voice growing cold, just as her mood. No one talks like that to an eleven-year-old girl.

All eyes were suddenly on Madeline, and the brunette unglued her eyes from Eli, settling them with an amused smirk onto Madeline.

"Oh, new girl. Didn't even notice you were here." Madeline raised an unamused brow.

"Right. Too busy being a snob to Eli." She felt Percy shift in his seat, but didn't look at him. She didn't take kindly to bullies. Not home, and certainly not here. She guessed that this was Coralina, the Head Girl of Gryffindor.

What a total bitch.

"Madeline, is it? Well, since you're new here, let me spell some things out for you, since you don't seem to know who the girl that you invited to sit by me and my friends is."

Madeline didn't lower her brow, and didn't look at Oliver when he spoke, trying to diffuse the tension.

"Lina, seriously, drop it."

"No Ollie, I don't think I will. I'm not sure who Madeline thinks she is, but there are rules that we adhere to here, and if she's going to sit with us, she's ought to learn them." Coralina told him in a calm voice, turning her eyes back to Madeline.

"This girl, she's a Greengrass. Do you know who they are? No, I suppose you don't since you're not from here. They used to support You Know Who. You know? The Darkest Lord to walk the lands and all that shite. Her whole family, for generations, have been placed into Slytherin. Now, this year, the hat must have had a mental break down when she placed one of their filthy cousins into Gryffindor."

Madeline's jaw set at the way she described Eli, and Astoria, who she assumed was Eli's cousin. Astoria seemed kind and eager to get to Hogwarts, and Eli seemed shy and sweet. What the fuck was wrong with this so-called Head Girl?

"So, she's not allowed to sit with us. By us. Or anywhere in our sight, for that matter."

"Right." Madeline said, looking back at Eli who had silent tears running down her cheeks and into her untouched porridge.  Her blood boiled at the sight of tears on the younger girl's face. Turning back to the brunette, Madeline smiled sweetly, a tab bit too sweetly. "Coralina, right? I hear what you're saying, but do you know what I think? I think that the only filthy thing here is your mouth. Talking like that about one of your own house mates? It's disgusting, and shameful, really. I may be new here, but I am well aware of what a Head Girl is supposed to represent, and you." Madeline looked at the whole table then, her sweet smile turning into pure disgust and disappointment as her eyes landed on Oliver Wood, who looked slightly pale. "All of you, for that matter, are disgusting if you think that what she said holds any merit as to how you should treat a person."

Turning back to the girl crying beside her, Madeline put a gentle hand on her shoulder, standing up from the table. "Let's go find a friendlier place to sit at, yeah?" Eli looked up at her, pure shock eminent on her face as she stood up and let Madeline lead her towards the end of the Gryffindor table that was still empty.

"You didn't have to do that." Madeline looked at the girl, face growing soft as she shook her head.

"We're friends now, yeah? That's what friends do." She told her and brought the girl into a hug. "Don't listen to what that girl was saying. The hat knows exactly where each and every person is supposed to be and you are right where you're supposed to be Eli."

The younger girl thanked her, and the two sat about eating in silence.

Madeline's mind was running a second a mile while she sorted through her thoughts.

Oliver had visited her yesterday in the hospital wing, thanking her for saving him. She had even thought that he looked good, and kind.  No, she scolded herself. Nice had been the word she used.   

Percy seemed like a completely different person this morning too. But she supposed the few seconds on the train didn't give her the right to judge him.

His brothers seemed fun and genuine.

As did his younger sister, Ginny.

What a shame it was though, that not a single one of them shut that awful girls mouth.

Madeline despised people like Coralina.

Shame indeed.

Eli and Madeline parted ways after breakfast, the younger girl telling Madeline that she was going to see Astoria in the library.

"If anyone from our house, no, make it from any house, ever says anything mean to you again, you come straight to me." She had told Eli whose eyes were shining again, trying to hold in more tears as she nodded her head, and Madeline watched the girl disappear down the hall.

She couldn't help the intrusive thought's, the ones that she always tried to push away. She thought that maybe she'd be friends with Percy, but if he was friends with such a vile, filthy mouthed witch, she wasn't sure that she could manage being his friend.  She didn't do well with ignoring bullies.

She'd have to visit Minerva in the near future, if only to discuss why such a monstrosity was the Head Girl of her new house.