Mel lay upon her bed, idly picking at a rogue thread that had come loose from her rainbow and unicorn printed comforter. She twisted it around her delicate finger, careful to avoid her perfectly manicured fingernails. She sighed and brought her fingertips to her temples, rubbing them in soothing circles.

"I am troubled, very troubled," said Mel to her room mate, Ginny, who was reclining against pillows and sitting upright, studying a Divination book and jotting down notes on a wrinkled piece of parchment.

"I'm vexed, terribly vexed," lamented Mel aloud, "Vexed beyond the point that I have ever been vexed before and into a new, unknown, new level of vexation."

Ginny sighed, "You said new twice in that pitiful excuse for a sentence."

"Impossible," snapped Mel impatiently, "I See before I speak."

"Oh," said Ginny passively, "Right. Do you want to see into this crystal ball for me? I'm vexed, impossibly vexed, vexed to a whole new level." Mel ignored her.

"My Sight is unclear. I cannot decipher the vague from the clear like before. It is a new sensation, a novel quandary, and I dislike it. I dislike it a lot," Mel said in a breathless, misty voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that," mumbled Ginny, stifling a yawn. She snapped her Divination book shut and rolled up her parchment, "I'm going to dinner."

Mel rolled off of her bed and approached her vanity that her parents had gotten her as a present. It was made of finely polished oak, the best there was ever, and it had a beautiful mirror and some niceish drawers and stuff. Mel picked up her brush and ran it through her silky, shiny, chestnut or blonde or ebony hair. She hummed her favorite song from Gil's band Kill Me Quickly which she couldn't wait to go see as she primped herself for dinner.

A few minutes later, Mel finished primping and blew a strawberry lip gloss flavored kiss to her reflection and turned to make her way out of the dorm and down to dinner. She had just curled her perfectly manicured fingers around the doorknob when she noticed that Ginny had left all of her belongings scattered about her bed.

"Really," said Mel, swooping down upon the bed and gathering up Ginny's things with the intention of putting them in Ginny's trunk, "I can't believe I am cursed with such messy room mates."

Mel dropped the parchment and Divination book into the trunk and was reaching for the crystal ball when she noticed that the fingers of fog inside the crystal globe were swirling rather ominously. She picked up the globe and held it barely a few inches from her face, squinting her eyes in an attempt to see clearly through the fog, tilting her head slightly to get a better angle, willing and pleading for the mist to take shape. The fog twisted, curled, swirled into shape. Mel's chocolate, emerald, or maybe aquamarine eyes widened as she gasped audibly. It was unmistakable. She was certain that it was…

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"Meatloaf," groaned Ron, "Are the house elves honestly this lazy? Honestly? This is the second time this week!"

"Just eat it, Ron," said Hermione, eyeing her dish wearily, "It's good for you."

"I have my doubts," said Ron, prodding the meatloaf with his fork. Hermione glanced at Harry, who was staring at his meatloaf with tears lining his bright green eyes.

"My appetite," wept Harry, "evades me. I no longer desire to fill myself with nourishment when I remain so very, very empty."

Ginny joined the table and watched as meatloaf rose up from her plate. She sighed and pushed her plate away, reaching instead for a roll.

"All in all," said Ginny as she buttered her roll liberally, "I'd rather have a pizza."

"Even I could not enjoy a pizza," bemoaned Harry, who raised a hand dramatically to his forehead as he spoke, "It does not fill-"

"The emptiness inside of me," finished Ginny, "Yeah, we know."

"Ginny," said Harry, placing his hand upon hers, "If only you knew the pain and suffering that I have been pained with suffering and stuff! I do not know when, where, or how Sirius will return. What if I must wait years, days, minutes!"

Hermione had had enough. She slammed her silverware onto the table and began to get up, "Harry, you are being irrational and just plain stupid as hell. Sirius can not come back even if you had an actual Seer and a FULL ghost. Nobody has ever come back. Ever."

Harry buried his face in his hands and bawled girlishly. Ron cleared his throat.

"So," he began in a gruff, very manly and not girlish voice, "Are we going to Hogsmeade this weekend?"

"Oh yes!" gushed Hermione, "I've already bought us all seats for the Kill Me Quickly show!"

"That Gil," said Ginny who nearly swooned, "He is so very manly with his silver hair, his luminous eyes, his tenor vocals!"

"I am manly!" cried Harry, whose voice cracked and squeaked like a prepubescent boy. Someone from the Hufflepuff table pointed and laughed.

But the laughter was short lived because at that moment, that pretty much exact same moment, Mel and Lavender Brown burst into the Great Hall. She was out of breath, having just run down pretty much all the stairs and stuff.

"NOBODY PANIC, BUT-"

"OMG I'M PANICKING!" shrieked Dumbledore, who pulled at his whiskers in utter despair. The whole student body erupted into a clamor as students stumbled over themselves in order to exit the hall.

"THE GRIM IS IN THE HALLWAY!" cried Lavender who promptly fainted soon after revealing this shocking and totally cliff-hanging revelation.

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Authors' Comments:

Gillikin: Wow! Thrilling! Lyssoh blew me away!

Meg (Beta!): U guys are the best! I love this fic!