Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related insignia and characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and all associated company.
Deceiving Appearances
Ch. 1: Nightmares and Dreamscapes
Her room was plain, only because she had not unpacked. She did not even bother to do so before she went to sleep, stubbornly fighting back the tears of a frustrated child. She had not known how despairing it would be to come back here, to a place where she could never retreat to; the one place she had ever felt safe, the corner of the Slytherin Common Room nearest the fire with Severus, Lucius, Lily, and Narcissa.
She could not believe that she had allowed things to move so far from what should be. The one time her sister had spoken up, and offered to fight on the front likes to help her was Melinda's downfall and Malana's demise.
And he had had the impudence to tell her that this deception was not necessary! If any other option could have been taken, she would have taken it, even going so far as to turn herself in, if she could have saved Malana's life. Wasn't necessary... bah. As if he had any right to preach to her. It was him that got Melinda into this mess after all.
No, it was her own fool of a heart.
As much as she hated Severus, part of her still loved him, and longed to follow him around like she once had, practically worshipping his potion ingredients. The part of her that hated him sneered at the Other-Her, and another part entirely wished that she had been a muggle, and never heard of Hogwarts, or Severus Snape, or Lord Voldemort.
It was with these petty and disturbing thoughts that Malana slept, and with them that she dreamt. And when she dreamt, she found her Younger-Self standing on the crest of a hill, with some of the people that she detested the most now, and was blindly devoted to then. They stood, from right to left: Marcus Avery, Peter Pettigrew, Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, Severus, and Herself, and they surveyed the scene of chaos below. Wizards and witches throwing hex, curse, and charm alike at each other, flying through the air and thudding down to the ground, unconscious, some had for gotten their wands, and were wrestling with each other among the fray. And on the hill, the six stood hidden, watching all.
Melinda felt her heart harden when she caught sight of her aunt and mother, fighting against each other, neither letting past emotions disable them. Both were strong yes, but careless also. Her Aunt had chosen the light, a sure sign of death. Her mother had spoken just a little too loudly at the last victory about her memories of her sister.
Melinda would have gladly killed the both of them, if she had not feared what her father would have done to her when he learned. That was also a death warrant.
She and Severus both spotted the solitary figure running from the battle at the same time, and she motioned that he should take the wretched fool, which he was more than pleased to do. Concealed by the invisibility spell, he took off at an odd angle down the hill, swerving then to attack the deserter at the edge of the forest. Melinda watched him fell her - as the hair was so long, it was quite apparent now that the foolish one was indeed a girl - with the Death Curse, and laughed. It was cold, and empty, mocking what true laughter should be, but a laugh nonetheless. He stooped down beside the fallen woman and pulled back the sleeve of her cloak, to identify whether or not she was one of their order. Apparently she was not, because he threw the arm down, and pulled back the hood of her cloak. Melinda could not see who she was, not that she carted. The girl had died a cowards death, one she obviously deserved.
Pulled out of her reverie by a loud, "HA!", from Avery, she looked back to the main battle, where the Dumbledore's AURORS were pulling back. Sadly, she saw her aunt dissapparate, and her mother, also still breathing; throw one last curse at where she had been. "Good for you, mum," Melinda thought in deadpan, "Waste your valuable spellcasting energy on air."
After the last of the phoenix forces had dissapparated, all but Their Lord charged down the hill to bring back those who were wounded, and burn those dead. Melinda went straight to Severus, who, staggaring only slightly, was walking away from the bushed where the body lay.
"Severus, who was she?" She asked, fully ready to praise him if the fool was an AUROR and console if it was only a child stumbled onto the battlefield. His black eyes were empty, haunted, with a look in them no nineteen-year-old should ever see in another nineteen-year-old's eyes.
"Malana." He whispered, looking stricken. Melinda watched him, wondering if this was some kind of sick joke.
"Malana? Oh, please Severus. She's at home, miles away. She just got back from taking her app- ... her apparition test... Oh god." It was too simple. She had gotten home, discovered the family away, heard the news if the battle, and apparated into the middle if it to stop them. But she couldn't. Not when she was this new to apparition. It couldn't be.
She tore past Severus, her heart pounding and her face paler than usual into the underbrush, to the unmoving body. It was her. Or it might as well have been Melinda; for all that her twin was a carbon copy of her older sister. Her black hair fell over her cheeks, and her wand hand was clenched tightly, her face looking like she had changed within a split second from praising god, to damning him. It just wasn't right. It never was.
It never was.
Never in a million years had Malana wished to relive that day, when she lost her identity in order to stay safe, and profaned her sister's name in talking it. She hoped that, wherever she was, the real Malana was not turning in her grave right now.
And with that thought, Melinda, though she was now Malana, opened her eyes to the darkness of her room. She was unaccustomed to the shadows, but felt undeserving of a fire. Why should a fire remove the darkness from her soul?
Getting up, she decided to draw herself into a good book, in the library. She preferred a book of historical orientation that she might sleep soundly with boredom. Quietly, she left through the dark common room, and, after several missed staircases, found the place she was looking for. It was late, she assumed, knowing the time that she went to bed, and Illiana would surely be asleep. Sure enough, she thought, the stern looking woman was gone, and most of the lights out, but on the far side was another person, one who often used to haunt the library at night.
Malana decide that her best course would be to ignore him, snag a book, and leave a note for Pince that she'd return it in the morning. Quietly, so as not to disturb Snape - who was lost in whatever book he was reading - she walked through the aisles, looking for a sufficiently boring HoM textbook. She finally settled on the advanced course, which went into Middle Eastern history. Taking the volume from the shelf, she found it quite a bit heavier than expected, but managed not to drop it. Again, she strode quietly through the shelves and up to Illiana's desk, borrowing a scrap of parchment and a quill, writing:
"Pince,
Borrowed-" she checked the spine. " 'An Advanced Study of Middle Eastern Culture, 500 B.C. to present'. Return tomorrow.
Professor Wells"
Turning to leave, she found herself looking directly at a most annoyed Potions Master. She smiled to herself. The sound of quill and paper must have dragged him away from that lovely book.
"What are you doing here?" He asked her sullenly.
"What, are you the only one allowed to have insomnia, Snape?" She retorted, gaining, without knowing, a flicker of interest on his part.
"More like a devil of a nightmare." He muttered. Malana took no interest in this though; she would not give him the satisfaction of proving him right. She just left, hoping that the book would provide the rest she needed, if she read for long enough.
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As if. Come on, should I let her get some sleep? I'm feeling quite merciless at the moment. Maybe, maybe not. At any rate, now you know a bit more about Malana or is it Melinda? lol. Yes, for those of you who reviewed this the first time round, this will be Snape/Melinda but it will take a while for either one to trust again. After all, they broke each other's hearts way back when.
xX Ruth
Next Chapter: Quoting Shakespeare