Restricted

Chapter 4. Familiar Faces

Morning finally crept up on the witches, sleeping peacefully in their opposing twin beds.

Their dorm wasn't as dark as the night before. The lit sconces barely gave the room any light in the dungeons.

But as the sun rose, the lake behind the window lightened in hue. Streams of glimmering light floated across the glass, catching Madeline's attention beyond her closed lids.

Madeline cracked open an eye and ran a hand over her face.

It was much too early to be awake, she thought.

Madeline blearily stared at the top of her four poster bed. Finally sitting up, she stretched her arms and craned her neck to see Jolie still sleeping.

She smiled as she looked around the room. Everything felt right.

From the wardrobes, their single desk, even the stone beneath her bed, it all felt meant to be.

It was her first official day as a Hogwarts student. A day full of classes, meeting with her friends for meals, exploring the castle... she couldn't bear to stay in bed a second longer.

She donned her bunny slippers and whispered a quick morning greeting to Tea Kettle. The tuxedo cat stretched and comfortably tucked closer to Jolie's feet at the end of her bed.

Madeline tiptoed around the dorm whilst Jolie slept unbothered.

She quietly gathered her school supplies from her trunk and stashed them into her school bag. It was going to be a long day to prepare for.

While she felt more than comfortable with the late start to Potions, Madeline definitely needed a few study sessions in order to keep up amongst the other fifth years.

As she prepared the day's uniform and straightened her Slytherin tie around her neck, she caught a glimpse of herself in the full length mirror.

The uniform skirt fell just below the knee, her white button down was without a single wrinkle. She felt she bore a resemblance to the school girls she'd seen in Islington. Right down to the Mary Janes she fastened a second before.

Thankfully today, her hair was cooperating. She simply brushed it back repeatedly until it laid flat, then parted it down the middle.

As Madeline was tucking, then untucking her hair behind her ears, she thought back to the last time she'd been in a school uniform.

Ms Whitby had fiddled with her Muggle camera to find the right button to take a photo for Madeline's first day of primary school.

It was one of the many photos Ms Whitby kept on the wall in her flat; Madeline smiling with a big grin, one of her front teeth missing, with high dark pigtails, each tied in a white bow.

If only Ms Whitby could see her now. Perhaps pop into their flat for a morning coffee as she normally would before her lessons at home.

Madeline finalised the look by proudly throwing on her robe and securing her wand into the front pocket.

She thought it'd be best to wake her sleeping dormmate. Madeline didn't want her to accidentally sleep through their first day.

A small voice in her head also selfishly wanted at least a bite of toast by now.

Madeline stepped over to Jolie's bedside and gently nudged her shoulder.

Well, what she assumed was Jolie's shoulder. It was hard to tell from the plethora of blankets she was buried beneath.

Nothing. Not even a stir.

Perhaps, she hadn't pushed hard enough.

Madeline tried again. Nothing.