Restricted

Chapter 24. Fire

The following day, Madeline and Fred spent every moment of their spare time together.

At first, it wasn't as much by choice.

Jolie was preoccupied with her revisions, something Madeline knew she should be doing as well, but her roommate seemed to prefer doing it alone. Fred had explained George seemed equally as distant and distracted as her friend, so they let the couple be. 

Even Daphne came across as a bit on edge. She expelled a constant string of excuses to cram for upcoming exams and was too absorbed in her own objectives to spare a free moment.

So it didn't take Madeline much effort to slip away, either after mealtimes or in their free hours between lessons to meet with him.

After dinner on Thursday, she and Fred sneaked their way to the Astronomy Tower, only to narrowly avoid the astronomy club and Professor Sinistra ascending the steps half a minute before they did themselves.

Madeline, however, was less disappointed at the club's meeting when they'd chosen to spend the evening in Merrythought's office instead.

They welcomed the solitude of the office, and the plethora of the esteemed professor's private collection of knowledge. Or, at least, Madeline did—Fred was just overjoyed to reunite with his prized loveseat.

As Fred took to unwinding on his pride and joy, enveloped in maroon and cushion, Madeline took to the shelves, familiarising herself with Merrythought's work once again.

She combed through the array of books, making a healthy stack in her arms before depositing them aside the sofa, then returning again to find more.

Anything before the eighteenth century seemed to have caught her eye as she filtered through the professor's delightful assembly of tomes organised by subject and year.

"Going for a personal record?" Fred mused.

Madeline turned to spot him eyeing the already knee high stack beside him, his assessing stare over the books accompanied with an arched brow.

Laughing, she pulled the spine of 'Guidebook of Grim Sites', and walked over to place it on top.

"I only grabbed whatever seemed useful," she replied, her proud grin wavering as the stack wobbled.

If she were telling the truth, it was her life mission to read all the office had to offer before her time at Hogwarts came to an end.

Fred picked up the most recent addition she'd pulled and skimmed over the cover before flipping through its pages. Her grin returned when he pulled a face at its contents.

"I take it back," he grimaced. "That does seem plenty useful," he added, extending the open book to her as she sat beside him.

Taking the book in her hands, Madeline let out another chuckle as she glanced over the page.

A heavily detailed illustration of a Banshee, surrounded in a field of gravestones as her drawn frown screeched and wailed.

"If I want to get ahead in Defense Against the Dark Arts, I'd say it is," she sighed, flipping through the chapter.

At her side, he exhaled a heavy sigh and returned to reading his own book. Madeline took a glance at the cover in his hands and withheld her surprise.

She hadn't noticed what he'd settled on when they arrived, what he had occupied his time in whilst she combed through the stacks.

"What's this for, then?" she asked, reaching over to tap on the tops of the pages.

Fred brought it higher to cover his face, mumbling his reply from behind it.