Hey, I'm officially done done done, with school! Until I go to college that is, but in any case, I've got a few months of freedom, and I hope my updates on other stories will be a little more frequent. I don't know about this one, however, since Sophia is back at Kent for the summer. I'm sure she'll make some time for us.
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Malon's eyes fluttered open against her will. Cursing the cruelty of her internal clock and its hateful tricks, she struggled to recall where exactly she was. When at last her mind managed to tell her that she was curled up on a couch in the Gryffindor common room, her face contorted into a disgusted scowl directed at Hermione's foot which, up to that moment, her arm had been wrapped around.
Yikes, I've just spent the night cuddled up with my mate's foot as a teddy bear, she thought. If not for the fact that she'd only been awake a short time, Malon would have smiled. Instead, her uncooperative facial muscles moved into a somewhat pained expression.
Contented for the moment to watch her friends sleep while she tried to gain total control of her mind and body, the girl relaxed back into the comfort of her previous night's bed. Hermione shared the couch with her. She lay spread out – somehow managing to take up every bit of space not occupied by Malon – on her stomach with an arm dangling over the side. Directly below Hermione's sleep-curled fingers was a shock of red hair that could only be Ron. Since the last time she'd seen him he was sleeping sitting up in the chair with his head tilted back and some rather amusing noises escaping his throat, Malon had no idea how he'd gotten to his current position; although, she vaguely remembered Harry teasing Ron about being a restless sleeper. Ron's hair, Malon noticed, was in fact the only part of him visible, as he'd found his way under the rug. The chair cushion lay propped against his back. Harry, however, was sleeping in by far the most interesting position. He had remained in his chair and was currently resting halfway between on his back and on his side. One arm was wrapped around the back in a sort of loose embrace, the other held closely to his body. Both of his legs were draped over the arm of the chair, and Harry's face was pressed into the back. He hadn't removed his glasses, and they were askew on his head.
Finally feeling capable of functioning in reality, Malon realized she desperately needed to both pee and stretch. Before she had a chance to decide which had higher priority, her muscles took over involuntarily. Her legs and arm uncurled, extending fully. Malon was aware that she was practically laying on top of Hermione, but her attempt at an apology came out as, "Syaaaaaaah" through a tremendous yawn. The first sensations of renewed power over her appendages had just returned when a half-asleep Hermione kicked both her legs, effectively launching Malon off the couch.
As Hermione grumbled and glared, Malon couldn't help but burst into hysterical laughter, which was only fueled by her lack of sleep and general excitement about being back at Hogwarts. She paused long enough to whack each of her friends with Ron's rogue pillow. The redhead, and only true morning person out of the four, attempted to start a cushion battle but only succeeded in annoying Hermione who threw a nearby candlestick at him.
By the time they were all sufficiently awake and presentable, most of their housemates had wandered down into the common room, and the really adventurous ones had set out for breakfast. Colin Creevy dug out his camera for a bit of "start of the year memory preservation," as he put it, so the four sixth years didn't linger long in the tower.
As they walked through the quiet and empty corridors, Ron and Hermione launched into a debate on how long it would take the studious Gryffindor to start nagging the others about their studying habits.
Malon listened for a while but drifted into her own little world as Hermione said, "Ron, you know that NEWTs are at the end of next year," and the two conversationalists pulled ahead.
She was unaware of anything else until Harry's hand suddenly joined hers inside her pocket. Feeling a deep blush wash across her face, she smiled without looking at him as their fingers interlaced.
"You're different, Malon," Harry had said while they sat in the common room, nearly alone, on one of their last nights of last term.
She laughed. "How so?"
"I don't know… maybe because you're American."
"I was born here, though, and my parents are British," she informed him.
"Right, but you lived there."
"Yes," she replied, though it hadn't been a question.
"Why?"
Malon hesitated and, watching his face, said "Voldemort."
A micro expression of surprise and pain flashed in his expressive green eyes. "They worked with my parents, didn't they?"
"Yes. About the time your parents first knew they were in danger, mine got the same kind of information. We moved to the states and lived in a sort of underground wizarding community. Lots of refugees. There was so much fear there. Even years after Voldemort was apparently gone, people didn't move back to their homes. And then, when rumors of his return began to reach us…"
She shuddered, and he gently covered her hand with his.
"Why did you come back, then?" he questioned softly.
"Security. It was safe in our little underground community, but the magical school I attended, while well protected against Muggles, was no match for any kind of dark magic. The Americans didn't think it would be an issue; they're very complacent."
"But your parents sent you alone?"
Malon seriously studied the carpet. "They're not the people they were once. Fifteen years ago, they were dedicated to the cause. They wanted the world to be safe from evil, and they would never give up until it happened. They embodied the virtues of the Hufflepuff, but now they only personify the house's weaknesses. They've grown lazy. They're comfortable where they are."
Harry's eyes sparkled, "So what did they say when they heard you sorted into Gryffindor?"
"Don't do anything stupid," she whispered. "That was the whole letter."
"I'm sorry, Malon."
She smiled at him. "Don't be. I just want you to know that I'm not that different from anyone else. I'm a down-home British girl attending magic school. I've lost my family to Voldemort, perhaps not physically, but lost all the same. I'm nothing out of the ordinary."
"Right. And Snape wants to come up here and give me a big hug. Malon, you're a rarity. You're not the same to me as Hermione or Neville or even Ron. You're the first person I've known who has liked me just for me. You were my friend before you had any idea I was Harry Potter, The-Boy-Who-Lived."
She flushed. "Don't remind me about that. I still feel like an idiot. I have a friend named Harry Potter, dark hair, green eyes, lightning scar, but of course he's not the Harry Potter with dark hair, green eyes, and a lightning scar."
"I've spent five years with Ron and Hermione. I know them well, and I can trust that they aren't just my friends because of what I did fourteen years ago, but I knew right from the start that you were the same. If that's not special, I'll eat bubotuber pus."
Malon smiled. "You're too kind, Har-"
But before the words were out of her mouth, Harry's covered it. He tasted sweet and spicy like pumpkin pie, and the end of the kiss left her breathless and tingling with magic energy.
Then he looked at her, emerald eyes deep and full of emotion and said-
"Malon? You're awfully quiet."
She snapped out of her memory and felt heat creep across her face. "Sorry. I was, er, thinking."
Harry grinned at her, and she saw on his face that he knew exactly what she'd been thinking about. He pulled their hands out of her pocket, kissed a knuckle, and dropped her hand as they entered the great hall.
"Get lost?" Ron asked through a mouthful of some unidentifiable substance as Malon and Harry joined them at the table.
Loading her plate with strawberries, the girl quipped, "We got here fine though we weren't power walking through the corridors first thing in the morning."
"It wasn't by choice," the redhead joked. "Hermione was giving me the breakdown, in minutes, of how long we have until NEWTs." He stole a strawberry from her plate.
Hermione scowled playfully around her cup of tea. "Now Ron, you know I won't start doing that until at least next month."
Grinning, Malon shuffled through the items in her bag, extracting a half completed essay, her favorite quill, and a bottle of ink. She frowned at it, but added a few words at a time between bites of strawberry.
Breakfast continued in silence until she realized her hand was dancing across an empty plate. She looked up and spotted an unfamiliar face at the head table.
"Is that the new Defense professor?" she asked, gesturing to the exotic looking woman.
"Yeah, that's her," Harry responded.
"I wonder what she's like."
"She's really nice, and she's smart and funny," Ron told her.
Malon stared at him amusedly. "I'm glad you were able to garner the intricacies of her personality from just looking at her across the room."
Ron sputtered, "I-I, no, ye-you…"
Hermione patted his hand in a patronizing manner, and looked ready to tease him mercilessly. Instead, the words that came out of her open mouth were, "Ooh! Schedules!"
Malon began to scribble more frantically on her parchment. "Somebody look and tell me when we've got potions. If the answer is, 'First thing this morning,' just yell 'Write faster!'"
Hermione glanced at a schedule. "We don't have potions until Thursday, Malon."
"Wicked." In one swift motion, the girl dropped everything back in her bag.
"You know," Hermione mentioned, "if you just finished that right now, you wouldn't have to repeat this scene on Thursday morning."
Malon looked at her in surprise and quickly pulled out her school tie to look at it.
"What are you doing?"
"Well, you thought I'd do my homework in advance. I thought maybe I'd accidentally ended up with some Ravenclaw's uniform. Nearly gave me a heart attack."
Ron and Harry both sniggered into their napkins as Hermione frowned at her friend. "No, if you were a Ravenclaw, that'd have been done long before July." Looking down at her schedule again, she announced, "And now for the bad news. We've got History of Magic in ten minutes."
Malon had ended up next to Ron in Professor Binns' class, but even his melodramatic facial expressions in response to everything the professor said couldn't keep her interest for long. She ventured a listen.
"Soon, international ministries may be making history of their own regarding the future of werewolves in society. These dark creatures are known to seek out powerful evil. With the re-emerging fear of Lord Voldemort in our world, many foresee the werewolf as being his powerful ally. If – probably the better word is when - the Werewolf Transfer Act is seen to completion, all known werewolves will be hunted, captured, and imprisoned or destroyed for the safety of our world. Werewolves-"
Malon was distracted by the distraught looks that had appeared on each of her friend's faces at this news. "What's wrong?" she mouthed to Ron.
He gave her a shaky smile and whispered, "Explain later."
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Up late for the second night in a row, this time alone, Malon poured over her Arithmancy homework. Normally, she didn't bother with doing her homework, at least not until the last possible moment, but Arithmancy was the one exception. For some reason, she loved playing with numbers. Hermione had finished her own work about an hour before, but then again, she was like a knowledge sponge. Squeeze her a little, and stuff poured out everywhere.
Jotting down a few more numbers on the chart she was creating, she was surprised to hear footfalls on the stone steps that lead to the boys' dormitories. Harry came slowly down, glancing carefully around the common room, invisibility cloak draped on his arm. He did not see her until his eyes made a third pass. Face lighting in surprise, his posture became awkward as he said, "Oh, hallo."
She stood and came over to him. "You're going to see Dumbledore."
His surprise grew.
Malon grinned at him. "You're a great friend Harry, and I know you want to keep my secrets. But you've got this added burden of saving the world that makes you second-guess everything. I had a feeling you would go see the Headmaster about my mystery stair friend."
Harry looked relieved. "Thanks… for understanding."
She threw the cloak over them both. "But as punishment for being caught, you have to take me with you."
They made their way silently through the halls. No one was about, not even Peeves or Mrs. Norris. As they passed a cluster of large windows, Malon stopped suddenly.
"Harry, look," she hissed.
He stared out into the night at the object that caught her attention, or rather, the person. A solitary figure crouched near the edge of the forest, lights sporadically sparking from the end of their wand.
"What's going on down there?" he asked, sounding incredulous.
Each knew the other's mind, and their destination was wordlessly changed. Malon knew that it was imperative that they stay together. If he tried to go one way and she another, things could get messy and loud. She knew any number of paths to the doors. Though she had only one year at Hogwarts under her belt, Ron liked to call her a walking guidebook. It was almost a hobby for her to find new and interesting ways around the castle.
She had a good idea though of how Harry would get there. He was steady. She wouldn't say predictable, because nothing could be father from the truth; he was one of the most spontaneous and surprising people she knew. It was more that he was reliable. While Harry was always up to trying a new way she'd thought up, he always walked the same route to class. She suspected it was not because he liked the routine, but because if anything happened, he'd be easy to find.
Indeed, the course they took was the one she'd expected, and they made it outside without a glitch just in time to see the mysterious figure creep into the forest. They continued forward, but Harry stopped her just as the reached the edge.
"Under no circumstances do you follow me," he told her gravely as he wrapped her in the invisibility cloak. "It's not safe."
And it's really safe for you, Harry, she thought but did not reply.
He stepped into the forest and so did she. Malon walked to the side and a little behind him. It was not until they were quite far in and Harry went to pull out his wand that he saw her.
"I told you not to follow."
She blinked innocently. "I'm not following. I'm coming with you."
He frowned disapprovingly, but she could read something akin to gratitude and relief in his eyes. "All right, but stay as covered as possible. I don't want anything to happen to you."
And on that note, his hand found hers and they walked quietly together. After she got over the initial amusement of Harry's arm disappearing below the elbow, Malon couldn't get over the fact that she was holding his hand again. True, they weren't dating or anything. She knew that it was impossible for now. He was too much of a public figure. If he got a girlfriend, it'd be all over the news within hours, and then, of course, Voldemort and various death eaters would have a very easy way to get to him. Malon knew that Harry cared far too much to let something like that happen. She was more than pleased with the increasingly less awkward private displays of affection. It felt so good to just be with him.
As she came back to reality, she realized that she'd been not paying attention for a long time. The full moon was exactly overhead, and all she could see in any direction was forest. Harry slowed to a stop, eying the wand sparks appearing in a small thicket ahead. He let go of her hand, and she knew to wait. Painstakingly, he moved forward in a low crouch, wand out.
Malon decided it'd be best if her wand were at the ready as well. Just as her fingers touched it, she heard a low growling to her left. Fear tightened all her muscles as she saw a monstrous werewolf sizing up the oblivious Harry. With lightning-fast reflexes she didn't know she had, she whipped out her wand while throwing the cloak up into the air. Before it had begun its descent, she used a banishing charm to move it to Harry. Miraculously, it hit him perfectly. He was just gone.
Malon took a deep breath, trying to stop shaking. She put her wand back in her pocket, and looked up straight into the fierce face of the werewolf. Caught by surprise and unable to move, she watched its legs bend in preparation to jump. At the last moment, she raised her right arm. She felt the razor sharp teeth puncture her skin, and heard the crushing of her bones. And then she knew nothing.
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If I had a review, I'd review in the morning, review in the evening… all over this land –Sophia and Carlyn
