Morning comes. The four friends are in a much better mood, especially Harry, thanks to Melanie, and despite the previous day's events. They head towards professor Lupin's class, all but Hermione, who had excused herself to the washroom, again.

Pushing the door open, they enter the classroom, spotting most of the third years already inside, including Draco, who's standing between his group, but as soon as Melanie enters, his attention is diverted to her.

He had, indeed, thought about her words, not really ending up with much other than thinking she was out of this world, someone he truly didn't know how to deal with, but that wasn't new.

Melanie catches him looking, no one else notices, she flashes him a quick, warm smile which makes his heart skip a beat, even though she was only attempting to push the odds of ending the rivalry, before she, Ron and Harry were greeted by the professor, whom they had previously met on the train.

And to Draco's great distaste, her attempts were successful. He no longer felt the burning need to break her, his biggest challenge; instead, the feeling was replaced with something he couldn't explain: curiosity perhaps.

"Intriguing, yes?" The professor asked, starting the lesson. Draco snapped his nick in the direction of his mind-spoken question, calming down once he realized the professor was asking the students as a whole.

They were stood before a narrow, but long, dark wardrobe that continued to shake violently in place. Many were curious, most were frightened. "Would anyone like to venture a guess as to what's inside?" He asks.
"Is it a Boggart, sir?" Seamus questions.
"Very good, Mr. Finnigan. Can anyone tell us what a Boggart looks like?"
"No one knows." Hermione says, appearing out of nowhere, making Ron jump. He leans in, whispering to Harry and Melanie.
"When'd she get here?" He asks, utterly bewildered, making Harry smile and Melanie chuckle, which Draco catches on to, drawn by her voice. He looks forward again, slapping himself mentally.

"Boggarts are shapeshifters." Hermione continues. "They take the shape of whatever a particular person fears most. That's what makes it so"-
"Terrifying, yes." The professors resumes for her, seeing her now worried state. "Luckily, a very simple charm exists to repel a Boggart. Let's practice it now, shall we?" Several students pull out their wands, including Melanie, Harry and Hermione, Ron just waiting for something to happen. "Without wands please." Lupin says, so they put them back. "Riddikulus!" He yells, waiting for them to repeat, they do.

"This class is ridiculous." Melanie, and several others, hear Draco mumbling under his breath. Melanie rolls her eyes at his comment, a few others agreeing with him.

The professor explains a bit more about dealing with Boggarts, he then calls for Neville first, who steps forward queasily, swallowing the lump in his throat. "What would you say is the thing that frightens you most?" Lupin asks him.
"Profeter…Stnafe." Neville mutters quietly.
"Didn't catch that, Neville, sorry." Neville gives up, he would be ridiculed anyways should that wardrobe open. He sighs.
"Professor Snape." He answers louder. The entire class bursts in laughter, even Melanie, but only because of how seriously embarrassed Neville was about it, since, when it came down to it, they were all afraid of Snape. The professor chuckles lightly.
"Yes, Neville. He scares us all." He said, putting a hand on Neville's shoulder. Melanie liked him already.

The rest of the class goes on hilariously. With Neville's grandma-clothed Snape, to Ron's skating spider, to Parvati's clown snake, but the laughter, and the class, ends with Harry's Dementor, which eventually turned into Lupin's moon balloon.

….

Two weeks of the year had passed. It was officially time for the Hogsmeade visit. Harry, having run away from his aunt, had no legal guardians to sign his permission slip, but he hoped professor McGonagall would be willing to sign it instead. When that didn't work and Harry had to stay back, Melanie was unwilling to go. She insisted on keeping put with Harry several times, but he continued to refuse her staying, he even went as far as threating to be upset with her if she stayed, so she had no choice. The visit wouldn't be the same without him.

"So it really is haunted?" Ron asks his mischievous twin brothers, who had offered to be their guides for their first time at Hogsmeade Village.
"Aye, it is." Fred answers, nodding in the direction of the Shrieking Shack.
"They say at night; you'd hear the ear-piercing screams of its previous owner." George continues, widening his eyes dramatically for effect. Melanie would like to say she didn't believe in ghosts, but with Nearly Headless Nick and the others roaming the halls of Hogwarts, it's hard to say.
"Brilliant!" Ron exclaims. Hermione rolls her eyes and Melanie smiles at his ever-bright enthusiasm.
"Right. Well, since we're done with the tour, I'd like to go somewhere productive. I'll be at Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop if you need me." Hermione says. "Want to come, Melanie?" She asks.
"I'll pass, Hermione." She smiles, desperately hoping she hadn't upset her friend, but she really didn't want to go somewhere full of books and quills, Hogwarts was enough. Hermione nods understandingly and turns away.
"You sure you know your way back?" Ron yells after her, but she's gone.
"She'll be fine." Fred assures.
"Yeah, mate. It's hard to get lost here." George grins.
"Wanna come hang at Zonko's?" Fred asks enthusiastically.
"Do I?!" Ron exclaims happily.
"Yeah!" The twins yell together.
"Mel?" Ron asks. She would say yes, but she had already been there, and as fascinating as it was, she didn't see a point in going again. She looks at Ron's face and chuckles, then shakes her head.
"You guys go. I'll look around a bit." She replies.
"Your loss." George states jokingly. Ron waves a goodbye and they're off as well, disappearing in the crowd.

Melanie roams the streets with a content smile, hands relaxed in her pockets. She wasn't headed for anywhere in particular, just walking, hoping she'd find somewhere a bit quieter.

She knows she shouldn't, but she does. Melanie goes off road where she sees the trees grow thick, unknowingly followed by curious eyes. She doesn't venture long to reach the small, lush forest by the village, and a few footsteps in, she comes across a small pond with lily pads floating and butterflies hovering. She takes a deep breath, she loved every bit of this, feeling like it was where she was meant to be, like home. That comes to no surprise, considering her and her grandmother live in a similar, remote place, surrounded by nature.

He was watching, just watching, subconsciously taking a step forward, accidentally snapping a fallen tree branch. He quickly hides back, but she's heard it, behind her, too loud for a small animal, she was being watched. She slowly, carefully approaches the tree she thought accusable. Her heart beat rising, the thought of Sirius Black flashing in her mind, scaring her half to death. A few inches away now…"BOO!" Malfoy shouts, jumping out.

Melanie, naturally, screams, jumping up as well. He starts laughing out loud. She, still standing there, breathing heavily, becomes furious. "Draco, you blockhead!" She punches him in the arm. "I thought you were Sirius freaking Black!"
"Ow!" He yelps. She smiles in victory. "I can't believe that actually hurt, Redwing. You're tougher than you look." He admires, then mentally slaps himself, again.

In the past weeks, things between them had gradually changed. They weren't friends, per say, but they weren't enemies either. Draco would still taunt Harry and the others, but when she'd intervene, things would go down a notch. A step in the right direction in Melanie's opinion. Her friends noticed it too, and were starting to get suspicious. She knew it wouldn't be long before they'd ask her about it, and she'd already planned the answer.

"And if you're so bloody scared of Black, then what are you doing all the way out here?" He asks as if implying she were dumb.
"I was getting some air. Hogsmeade can be quite…suffocating." She replied, he scoffed.
"It's a bloody dump if you ask me." He says, walking past her to the pond.
"Well I didn't ask you, did I?" He stays silent, looking down at the pond with disgust. Unlike Melanie, the nature of his home wasn't as bright and…smelly. "What are you doing here, Draco?" She asked, coming up beside him. His eyes went a bit wider. He was following her, but obviously wouldn't admit it.
"Does it matter?" He asked instead.
"Dodging questions with questions." She says, shaking her head with a smirk of her own. He observes her expression and fights the urge to smile. She then looks him in the eye, as if reading him. Her eyebrows furrow. "You were following me, weren't you?" His eyes widen again, and he looks away.
"Why would I do that?" He refuses. She laughs knowingly and his heart jumped.

It's been happening quite frequently, every time he'd hear her laugh, and he didn't even know why. It annoyed him less every day. "It's alright." She says. "I thought I looked suspicious too." She smirks, forcing a smile on his face, he looks away again, attempting to hide it.
"You're bloody mental, Redwing." He states.
"So I've been told." She chuckles, forcing a miniscule laugh to escape his lips, knowing he was the only one to call her that.

Melanie looks behind them, realizing they'd been standing there for quite some time. "We should probably go back now. They might be looking for us." She said. He nods.
"This place stinks anyways. I don't know how you stand it." He comments gruesomely. She laughs again, it rings in his ears.
"It takes time to admire the beauty in nature." She explains.

….

Barely out of the trees, they run into Hermione. "There you are!" She says to Melanie. Just then, she notices the presence of non-other than Draco Malfoy. She glares up at him. "Malfoy." She half-heartedly greets, making it sound more like a question.
"Granger." He replies just as coldly.
"Hey Draco!" Crabbe yells from afar. They turn to him, then Draco turns to Melanie.
"Keep out of the woods, Redwing." He advices, more demands. She could have sworn he was concerned for her. She smiled.
"Will do." She last said before he walked away.

Hermione glares after him, then turns to her still smiling friend, snapping a finger in front of her dazed face. "Melanie!" She yelled, making her jump.
"Would you stop doing that!" Melanie exclaims, Hermione's eyes widen and she takes a step back. "Sorry. Just sick of surprises." She explained, Hermione didn't understand, but wasn't looking to hear anything but a good reason for Draco's presence by her friend.
"You want to explain what you and Malfoy were doing in the forest?" She asked, Melanie expecting the question.
"I was getting some air, and he was passing by." She tried, not her best excuse, but when one was put under the intense glare of Hermione Granger, they were bound to squirm. Melanie started walking, attempting to fan the tension.

Hermione raises a sarcastic eyebrow. "Passing by?" She asked disbelievingly.
"Yes."
"Mel, come on."
"What?" She asked innocently.
"You don't think I've noticed."
"Noticed what?"
"Really?"
"Really." Melanie repeated. Hermione sighed. She blocked Melanie's path.
"Answer me truthfully. Is there something going on between you and Malfoy?" She asked in a discouraging tone. At least Melanie had a solid answer for that.
"No."
"No?"
"Absolutely nothing."
"Then why…" Hermione drifts off, forehead creasing in deep thought.
"Okay." Melanie decided. Hermione looked hopeful. "Look, remember when I told you the best way to deal with Draco, is through kindness."
"You do well at reminding us of that, all the time." Hermione sighed. Melanie nods in confirmation.
"Well, it's working." Melanie explains with a smile. "He's not as mean as he was before, Hermione. Surely you've seen it."
"I have actually, only when you're around." Hermione says smirking, allowing Melanie to walk with her by her side. Melanie furrows her eyebrows.
"Hermione." She warned. "What are you trying to say?" Before she could answer, Ron bumps in on the conversation.
"There you guys are." He says, running towards them. "Where the bloody hell have you been?!" He asks, breathing heavily.
"What is it, Ron?" Hermione asks tiredly.
"We're supposed to leave now." He states, then feels the tension. "Did I walk in on something?" He asks suspiciously.
"Girl talk, Ron." Hermione covers, Melanie flashing her a grateful smile, she smiled back.
"Gross!" He exclaimed, making both girls laugh.

….