An American Fangirl at Hogwarts《1》of the ☆Ink and Pixels☆ series Harry Potter

Chapter 16: Badgers

       The early morning sun broke through the stained glass windows. The colorful lights danced across the quilt of a broken girl, their bright colors contrasting with the darkness she felt weigh her down inside. She pushed the quilt off of her body and trudged to the bathroom. Every step felt like she was trapped in a pool of tar and she had weights on her feet pulling her down further and further until it can finally engulf her in the darkness she so desperately feels trapped within.

      When she opened the bathroom and examined herself in the mirror she saw that her eyes were incredibly swollen from her crying. Across her face there were small red splotches and dark circles under her eyes. She debated on whether to bother with makeup or not.

   "It's not like anyone cares. I'm not good enough for anyone to care" she thought to herself. Madison knew no one else cared, but she also knew that later on she would feel angry with herself for not putting it on.

     After consideration, Madison slathered makeup on her face to hide the puffiness, dark circles, and uneven skin tone. Once she felt satisfied that her face didn't look like she sobbed excessively and stayed up all night, she threw her hair into a messy bun and dressed herself. She jerked on some skinny jeans and a t-shirt. For an extra layer, she grabbed a baggy hoodie and then walked into the common room.

      She was the first person in the common room so she claimed her usual corner seat and enjoyed the peace. Unfortunately the peace and quiet didn't last very long before other students began to pass by excitedly. She considered just sitting there and ignoring everyone when she remembered. Him. Cedric. He would have to pass by to leave the common room and would see her sitting there.

        Madison hopped up from her seat and hurried out the common room along with the herd of other students. She was quickly able to blend in with the others as she was used to being invisible.

     The Hufflepuff dorm rooms quickly emptied all except for one lone badger. The badger walked into the common room expecting to see his fellow badger in crime, but saw that her usual seat was empty. He wasn't sure if he was sad or relieved to see her empty seat. Unfortunately, he didn't have much time to process his feelings before a few of his friends rushed back into the common room to fetch him, dragging him off to Merlin knows where.

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      The sun that had greeted Madison this morning had ran away and was replaced by dark clouds accompanied by their dear friends, heavy rain and thunder. Madison watched out the windows of the Great Hall as the heavy pellets belted down and part of her wished she could walk outside and stand in it, but she knew as soon as she stepped in it, she would regret it so she settled for sitting in the Great Hall with the others.

      The Hall was packed with students surrounding the Goblet of Fire. They all looked at it excitedly and whispered to their friends. Some students would swagger up to it and place their name in. Each student was met with a smattering of applause. She hadn't been paying too close attention as to who exactly was putting their names in until she heard a voice say, "Come on Cedric! Put it in!" Madison looked up just in time to see a soaking wet Cedric being pushed towards the age line by his friends. He submitted his name into the Goblet and that was that. One of her fears was confirmed. He could be chosen. Cedric turned and his eyes landed on Madison. Madison quickly looked away and pretended she didn't care. If she wouldn't have looked away she would have seen the frown on his face as he turned away and joined his friends.

      Madison looked around the hall at the underage students as they excitedly watched the submitting of names. She hoped none of them were dumb enough to try to enter anyway. Suddenly the hall erupted in cheering and applause and as she looked for the source of the excitement she saw the Weasley twins rush in.