Late at night, the four friends walk half-way into the Great Hall. Melanie looks around and realizes that Draco was not one of the present. Her heart sinks just the slight. He was still at madam Pomfrey's; it must have been bad. Hermione says something Melanie doesn't hear, too preoccupied by her own thoughts. "Melanie!" She says louder. Melanie looks down at her already seated friends, realizing she was awkwardly standing behind, staring at nothing in particular. She then realizes she wasn't going to rest until she knew he was okay, so she came up with an excuse to see him, knowing how much her friends hated him, not that she blamed them. Still, it didn't help how strangely worried she was.
"Right. Sorry, guys. I'll be with you in a minute." Melanie said.
"Where are you going?" Hermione asked.
"Washroom." She lies before walking off. Melanie heads up to the hospital wing. She passes his supposed friends on her way, which were probably heading to the Great Hall as well, after checking in on Draco that is. Melanie ignored them and moved on, but not before earning an intense glare from Pansy.
Standing before the hospital's doors she was, about to enter just as Draco was making an exit. They simultaneously bump into one-another, Draco hissing in pain, arm bound in a sling. "You trying to break it, Redwing?!" He yells. She immediately falls in guilt.
"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" She asks, alarmed, lightly touching his arm to insure she didn't cause any damage to it or the sling. He eyes her carefully, feeling the slightest bit of shame he'd ever felt for yelling at someone. After all, she was the one by his side when he fell, not Crabbe, not Pansy nor Goyle. Just her.
"I'm fine." He replies bitterly, bothered that he feels shame, that he feels the need to be nice, that she was so bloody sweet all the time. She turns her eyes to his, now realizing how close they were, a blush creeps up her cheeks. She takes a few steps back and looks to the floor, trying to regain posture. And just why was she feeling this way? "What were you doing here anyways?" He asks, feeling like he already knew the answer, but he didn't want it, he didn't want her kindness nor care, he didn't deserve it. She was a Gryffindor for god's sake.
She was calm now, back to her old, honest self. "Ironically, I was checking on you?" She replies. What on earth would he say to that?!
"Really, Redwing? First you point your wand at me, now you're asking how I am!" He exclaims furiously. She was always like this, too good for her own kind, and he hated it, he hated the way she made him feel.
"I had a good reason for the wand, and you know it." She insists just as calmly. She was right of course, and he knew it, but wouldn't be caught dead admitting it. "But that doesn't mean I want to see you get hurt." She says, softly this time, trying for the sake of life, to fan the tension, to make him think.
Draco stays quiet, once again, tongue tied up. She catches on. "Look, Draco. I don't know if it's because of Harry, if it's because I'm a Gryffindor, or if it's simply because you're…you," In Malfoy's mind, it was all of the above. "but I'm tired of this pointless rivalry." She says, pushing her arms up to emphasize her disinterest.
She starts taking several steps back, thinking she'd been gone long enough and ought to get back to her friends before they got suspicious, but she wasn't leaving before he got the point. "I don't expect you to share my perspective, but just…think about it." She last says before walking off completely, leaving a now seriously confused Draco all alone.
….
Melanie sat by her friends in the nearly empty Great Hall. Draco entered moments later, looking her in the eye subconsciously, like she was the first thing he was looking for, for no apparent reason. She looked down, fiddling with her nails. She could feel another blush creep up her cheeks. Hermione, who's sitting beside Ron, and Harry by Melanie, they eye her curiously, Harry catching Draco's gaze and Hermione noticing Melanie's flushed face, turns to face Draco, the only person standing, walking to his own group.
Melanie, several seconds later, feels their eyes on her. She turns to them. "What?" She asks. Harry looks onwards, simply worried that Draco was planning on insulting Melanie again and making sure he'd be there when he does, Hermione, however, noticing Melanie's blushing, caught on to a bit more, eyeing her suspiciously.
Ron, on the other hand, had been munching down a pop-tart, just then realizing his friends were talking about something. "What?" He asks curiously.
"Nothing." Hermione replies lastly, making sure she'd keep a close eye on the interactions between her friend and Draco of all people. "Would you stop eating?" She asked, more like demanded, of Ron seriously, who looked at her innocently, gulping down his last bite.
"Why on earth do you care how much I eat?" He asked irritably. Hermione sighs tiredly. She had several reasons.
Just then, Pansy's voice tunes in. "Does it hurt terribly, Draco?" Melanie could feel a pinch in her chest that she didn't know the cause of. Apparently, him and his gang had been talking about his arm, but Pansy's voice was the highest, with an annoying pitch to it.
"It comes and goes. Still…I consider myself lucky. According to madam Pomfrey, another minute or two…and I could've lost the arm." He replies rather theatrically. Three out of four of the watching Gryffindors glare at him, all but Melanie, who was overly-used to his attitude. It was no surprise Draco liked to show off, but to Melanie's dis-understanding, it still bothered the other three.
"The little git. He's really laying it on thick, isn't he?" Ron comments bitterly.
"At least Hagrid didn't get sacked." Harry says from beside her. Reminding her that Draco had probably already told his father about this. She now slightly regrets her worries for him, but still hopes he'd listen to her words.
"Yes. But I hear Draco's father is furious. I don't think we've heard the end of this." Hermione explains. Melanie's concern for Hagrid strengthen. Ron notices her unusual silence, and, being him, straight out stats it.
"You're being awfully quiet." He said to the usually hyper, constantly smiling girl, but there was too little for Melanie to smile about at the moment, even though it always helped her looking at the brighter side of everything, but when it came to the confusion between her friends and Draco Malfoy, it was hard to cope, she'd have to think long and hard about that when she got the chance.
As if the day hadn't been long enough, Seamus rushes in with a copy of the Daily Prophet. "He's been sighted!" He exclaims, slapping the sheet on a nearby table, Gryffindors already huddling over it as Melanie and her friends hurry there themselves.
"Who?" Ron asks once they're there, but the photograph on the Prophet's front page provided a chilling answer: Sirius Black.
"Achintee?" Hermione reads worriedly. "That's not far from here." She explains horrifically, eyeing Harry especially. Melanie puts hand on his shoulder. He flashes her a grateful half-smile before turning back to the now speaking Neville.
"You don't think he'd come to Hogwarts, do you?" He asks just as concerned.
"Not with the Dementors at every entrance." Melanie strongly assures, but her attempts were rammed over by Lavender's next words.
"Dementors?" She asked. "He's already slipped by them once, hasn't he? Who's to say he can't do it again?" Fear begins to consume Harry and Melanie squeezes his shoulder. It was becoming harder and harder to comfort him with the way things were going.
Bem, the Nigerian transfer student, makes it even harder. "That's right." He says. "Black could be anywhere. It's like trying to catch smoke, with your bare hands."
….
In the dorms, most students are asleep, only the four friends are left, sitting together by the fire in the Common Room, whispering quietly. "It'll be alright, Harry." Melanie says from beside him on the floor, legs crossed.
"How will it be alright, Melanie? Sirius could be anywhere and his number one goal is killing me!" He exclaims. Melanie's heart aches at the word, to even imagine such a thing would keep her awake for months.
"No one's killing anyone, Harry." Hermione insists. Melanie mentally thanks her.
"Yeah, mate. We won't even give him the chance." Ron assures bravely.
"See that's the problem!" He says getting up and standing in front of them. "I don't want anyone to get hurt because of me!"
"Harry. It's not just you. If Sirius were attempting to murder one of our classmates, which, unfortunately, he is, we'd all be trying to stop him anyways." Melanie explains, knowing all too well, the guilt he was feeling.
Putting it that way, Harry calms down, seating himself in front of the three. "I just…I don't know what to do." He explains desperately. Melanie eyes him sympathetically, hating that she was just as helpless in helping him as he was himself.
"What can you do, Harry?" Ron asks as a matter of fact.
"Ron's right. There's nothing you can do. Let's just focus on our classes, we'll deal with what happens when, and if, it happens, like we always do." Hermione says. "And speaking of classes," She gets up. "I'm off to bed. You coming?" She asks them. Ron yawns dramatically.
"I am." He says, getting up as well.
"You guys go. I'll stay for a while." Harry says.
"So will I." Melanie agrees. They nod, knowing Harry wasn't fully convinced and that she was the best of all people to do just that.
Once they both leave Melanie starts her routine, that eventually got her to where she wanted. "Are you alright?" She asks. He stays quiet, staring out into space, enough to answer her question. "Look, Harry. I know how you're feeling. Guilt. Anger…Fear. That's just how he wants you to be. It makes it easier for him, but do you know what doesn't?" She asks, earning his attention, as he was desperate for the answer. She smiles, her eyes glimmering. "Faith." She says. He looks away again, this time in thought. "Faith in yourself, faith in your friends, faith that anything is possible. And it is. You're anything but weak, Harry, but more importantly, you're not alone. Don't ever forget that." She last says, putting an emphasizing hand on his shoulder. He looks to her bright expression, truly believing her, she could see it, it had worked.
Melanie gets up. "C'mon. We should rest well before professor Lupin's class tomorrow." She says, offering her hand. He graciously takes it.
"Thanks, Melanie. Really." He says. She smiles again and engulfs him in a hug he really needed. She was like the sister he never had, his closest thing to family, to a home he didn't have.
….