WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU PUMPKINS , james potter

━ seventeen. when life gives you pumpkins

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN:
- when life gives you pumpkins -
1977

THE CORRIDORS ALL LOOKED THE SAME. You'd think that in attending her dream school, Madeline would have scoured every inch of the magic castle, but even after spending seven years at Hogwarts, many of its long halls remained a mystery. She followed the map Thomas had conjured her, turning left then right, a few more rights and left again, walking in circles of the intended route. Besides how cold the castle got at night (and an annoying ghost who thought it was funny to play practical jokes), patrolling the halls was Madeline's favorite task as a prefect. It was quiet, there were no people, and she got alone time to think.

     It was Halloween, so students sneaking out was something Madeline was prepared for. So far she'd caught three second year Gryffindors playing tag, a drunk Slytherin couple snogging, a pestering flying ghost named Peeves, and a first year who snuck out of his dorm to return a book from the restricted section. Honestly, why even have a restricted section available to students? Before you know it, you'll have weirdos running around trying to make themselves immortal or something.

     Hogwarts had gotten quiet after a few hours and by midnight Madeline was making the last few rounds before her patrol was over. She'd spent a lot of the time pondering the week's schedule, mentally checking off and adding tasks to her to-do list. She needed to check in with her professors in the classes she'd missed, catch up on her running schedule, and write her monthly check-up letter to her mother.

     But time and time again, Madeline's mind would drift off to James and the stupid Gryffindor Halloween party and how idiotic they were probably acting and how loud and terrible it must be. She never really planned on going, simply throwing out the word maybe to get Potter off her back, but she was curious. What would have happened if she went? The question continued to gnaw at the back of her mind. Not even her mental pros and cons list or studying chart for the week could work as a distraction.

     Turning a corner, Madeline pulled out her father's rusted pocket watch she'd kept from when she was younger. It was 12:30 and her double patrol shift was officially over. She sighed to herself, making her way back to the Slytherin Common Rooms. Madeline glanced down at Thomas's map, proceeding the way she came. After about ten minutes of walking, she looked around and realized she was lost.

Twisting the map to look at it from another angle, Madeline frowned in confusion. Had she meant to make a right in that last hall or a left? Which floor was she on again? Madeline stopped to survey her surroundings when she suddenly caught a flash of black from the corner of her eye. She quickly turned to find a grinning pumpkin sporting a formal suit and tie jump in her face and yell:

"BOO!"

Madeline barely had time to react, instinctively pulling out her wand and yelling, "STUPIFY!"

The now bodiless pumpkin flew across the corridor, rolling down the end of hall to stop and knock against a brick wall. Before Madeline could catch her breath and confront the idiot who decided it was a good idea to scare a prefect in the middle of the night, the high-pitched, exaggerated shriek of a boy was enough of an explanation. Potter.

Picking himself up from the ground after being swept away by Madeline's spell, James ran to the pumpkin's aid. "No! Mr. Pumpkin!" he howled in grief.

"Oh my God, Potter, why would you do that?" Madeline stuffed her wand into her robe pocket, huffing at James's over the top dramatics.