Madison Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Chapter 5: Phlegm

Madison Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Chapter 5: Phlegm

Harry, Dumbledore and I approached the back door of the Burrow, which was surrounded by the familiar litter of old boots and cauldrons; I heard the clucking of sleeping chickens coming from a distant shed. Dumbledore knocked three times.

"Who's there?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Declare yourself!"

"It is I, Dumbledore, bringing Harry Potter and Madison Weasley."

I went ashen. Poop cakes. I avoided everybody's eyes as Mrs. Weasley ushered us inside.

At the table sat Tonks, her hair stringy and mousy brown. Hmm...

"Wotcher, Harry and Madison."

"Hi, Tonks."

•••

After some soup, and learning that Mrs. Weasley enjoyed being called Mollywobbles by Mr. Weasley, Harry and I headed up to Fred and George's room. I quickly put on pajamas.

For pajamas, I put on a pair of black basketball shorts and George's Quidditch shirt.

I flung myself onto George's old bed, and snuggled in, a slight smell of him still there. I fell asleep instantly.

Seconds later, it seemed, I was awakened by Harry's voice: "Wuzzgoinon?"

"We didn't know you were both here already!"

"Ron, don't hit them!" Hermione- it was her voice- reproachfully said.

I reached for my glasses and put them on.

"You two alright?" Ron Weasley grinned.

"Never better," Harry and I stated in sync.

"Have I missed breakfast?" I asked.

"Don't worry about that, Mum's bringing you both up a tray; reckons you both look underfed."

"Hello? The last time I had food was last night! And that was the first since... The Veil..."

It got silent.

"Nothing much happened."

"Come off it! You've both been off with Dumbledore!"

"It wasn't that exciting," I said, "he just wanted us to help persuade this old guy to come out of retirement."

"Well, now that Umbitch has left, obviously we need a new teacher. What's he like?"

"He looks like a walrus."

The door opened. It was Ginny.

"What's up with you?" Ron questioned.

"It's her. She's driving me mad."

"What's she done now?" Hermione asked sympathetically.

"It's the way she talks to me- you'd think I was about three!"

"I know," Hermione replied. "She's so full of herself."

I felt left out.

If they were talking about Mrs. Weasley, I suppose I couldn't blame Ron for saying, "Can't you two lay off of her?"

"Oh, that's right, defend her! You can't get enough of her."

Then Fleur walked in with Mrs. Weasley.

Okay, I agree with Hermione and Ginny now.

"Bill and I are going to be married!"

"Wow. Er- congrats!" Harry stated, unsure what to do.

She walked out, and Mrs. Weasley stayed behind.

"Mum hates her," Ginny said quietly.

"No, I don't!" Mrs. Weasley said in a cross whisper. "I just think that they've hurried into the engagement, that's all!"

"They've known each other a year," Ron groggily said.

"Well, that's not very long! I know why it's happened, of course. It's all this uncertainty with You-Know-Who coming back, people think they might be dead tomorrow, so they're rushing all sorts of decisions they'd normally take time over. It was the same last time he was powerful, people eloping left, right and center-"

My face went red.

"Including you and Dad," Ginny said.

"Yes, well, your father and I were made for each other, what was the point in waiting?" Mrs. Weasley replied. "Whereas Bill and Fleur... What do they have in common? He's hard working, down-to-earth, while she's-"

"A cow," Ginny nodded. "But Bill's not that down-to-earth. He's a Curse Breaker, isn't he, he likes a bit of adventure, a bit of glamour... I expect that's why he's gone for Phlegm."

"Stop that Ginny," her mother replied.

"Didn't you elope, Madison?" Harry asked, bringing up the unspoken topic from last night.

My cheeks filled up with a blush as pink as possible. I nodded and stated softly, "Yes."

"With George?" Hermione questioned me.

"Yes. We decided... Well, after The Veil and all, he was the first person I ended up seeing- simply due to chance- and we talked it out. The next day, the two of us went to a church, had Fred be our witness, and had our own little wedding."

"You couldn't have waited?" Harry protectively asked.

I shook my head. "After what happened in The Veil... Being so close... So close to... To d-d-death- Harry don't give me that look, I was almost dead- we decided that we needed to do it now. I had to lie about my age, of course, we both did. I said I was twenty and he said twenty-one. The priest believed us, funny, I'm not even sixteen yet.

"But we wanted to do it. And we've known each other since I was eleven... Been dating since then.."

The topic was left at that for the moment.

•••

So...

I keep bringing up The Veil, and I know that you all hate it so much since I am not explaining anything about what happened at all.

I have two chapters written for a book- Madison Potter and the Tale of the Veil- I know, it rhymes.

Neither of them are published yet, but I might have one up tonight.

I will be writing this book and the other book at the same time.

Hope you all enjoyed!