After their return to the castle, the three friend were seated in the Great Hall, telling Harry all about their little trip. Melanie tried to make it seem boring so as not to broaden his disappointment in not being able to go.
Hermione is seated next to Melanie, Harry and Ron across from them. "And the post office! It's about two hundred owls, all sitting on color-coded shelves, depending on how fast you want your letter to go." Hermione explains, Melanie smiling at her passionate posture. She loved it when her friends were so lively.
"And Honeyduke's is brilliant! Sugar Quills, Flaming Whizbees, and blood-flavored lollipops for Halloween!" Ron continues. Harry nods quietly, picking through the spray of magnificently-colored sweets on the table. Melanie notices his sour mood.
"But after a while, it gets kind of boring, really. Don't you guys think?" She asked, attempting to hint at them, but Hermione's thoughts immediately clicked.
"You'd know, wouldn't you?" She questioned mischievously, Melanie's eyes going wide. There really was nothing going on between her and Malfoy, but for her friend to imply it is a bit embarrassing.
"What do you mean?" Harry asks curiously.
"Nothing!" Melanie answers a bit too quickly.
"Girl talk, they said." Ron whispers to him, Harry nods knowingly, Melanie nods quickly, but Hermione sighs and shakes her head, both at Ron's stupidity and her friend's now secret.
"Oh! I almost forgot." Ron notes. "I got you something wicked at Dirvesh and Banges. It's a pocket Sneakoscope." He brings it out and hands it to Harry. He explains that its meant to detect the untrustworthy if near, implying Sirius. Harry thanks him.
After eating some more sweets, Harry popping a Pepper Imp, causing smoke to curl out of his ears and nose, making them all laugh, it was time for the students to retire to their dorms. Once on the stairs, they discover the absence of the Fat Lady. Dumbledore appears and one blood-curling scream later, they find her, safe, in a portrait not of her own, accusing Sirius Black.
The events led to the students spending the rest of their night in the Great Hall, stationed in sleeping bags, girls and boys separated.
The next morning, the students are allowed to return to their dorms. The Fat Lady had been replaced with a portrait of a dramatic Sir Cadogan. Later in the day, they were to head to Defense Against the Dark Arts. Melanie and Hermione were later than usual, Hermione had said she needed to use the washroom and insisted that Melanie goes on without her.
Melanie enters Lupin's class. All the students are already there. Ron was seated by Bem and Harry by Parvati. The only other empty desk was by Seamus, at the very end of the classroom. Lupin, being Melanie's current favorite teacher, she preferred sitting at the very front, but there wasn't space for her anywhere, except…by Malfoy.
Melanie builds up her courage, planning to answer her friends' predicted questions later. She walks up to his desk, rounds it, and slides into it. He looks at her like she was insane, most of the class already mumbling about it. She didn't care, she never did.
"What do you think you're doing, Redwing?" He asked.
"Gaining myself a front-row seat." She replies simply, bending to pull out her book. Draco stares after her with wide eyes, Pansy shooting daggers at her from the back of the class, Harry and Ron eyeing her suspiciously.
"And did I say you could have this one?" He questions, baffled at the unfolding event.
"No offense, Draco, but it's not your property to offer." She smiles.
Before he could further protest, professor Snape barges into the door, shutting it, and the windows with the wave of a wand. He pulls a screen over the board, then turns to the students. "Turn to page three hundred, ninety-four." He demands coldly. The students, warily, obey, Melanie immediately hoping she'd taken the back seat, as far as possible from Snape's shiver-impeding gaze.
Melanie, wanting to ask, but knew it would re-attract attention to her peculiar seating decisions, but thanks Harry mentally when he speaks her mind. "Excuse me, sir, but…where's professor Lupin?" He asked. Snape gives him a look that could kill if looks did.
"That's not really your concern, is it, Potter? Suffice it to say, your professor find himself incapable of teaching at the present time. Page three hundred, ninety-four." He repeats, waving away a flying moth, which is originally a parchment with Malfoy-made scribbles meant for Harry.
Snape, standing behind the projector, flicks his wand at Ron's book, forcing it to the demanded page. "Werewolves!" Ron exclaims.
"But, sir." Hermione starts, simultaneously appearing next to Seamus. Melanie could see Ron leaning over to Harry on the adjacent desk, probably complaining about Hermione. It was starting to annoy Melanie as well. "We've only just begun learning about Red Caps and Hinkypunks. We're not meant to start Nocturnal Beasts for weeks"-
"Quiet!" Snape commands. Hermione seals her lips, an annoyed, and embarrassed, look comes across her. Unlike Lupin, Snape was Melanie's least favorite professor in all of Hogwarts. Draco looks over at Hermione and chuckles in mockery. Melanie, seated beside him, rolls her eyes, knowing nothing could stop him.
Snape asks for the difference between a Werewolf and an Animagus. The class is quiet, Hermione at the edge of her seat, waiting for someone to reply, worried of speaking up too soon. "No one? How…Disappointing." He states, Melanie wishing she knew the answer herself. Being called a disappoint, even by Snape, stung, but it hit Hermione hardest and she felt the need to prove him wrong.
"Please, sir." She starts. "An Animagus is a wizard who elects to turn into an animal. A Werewolf has no choice in the matter. Furthermore, the Werewolf actively hunts humans and responds only to the call of its own kind"- Draco lets out a low howl.
"Quite, Malfoy!" The professor yells in his direction. Melanie can't help but chuckle, earning a glare from her companion, which she responded to with a look of feigned innocence. He rolls his eyes. At least her presence didn't bother him as much as the others did, including his friends and especially Pansy.
After eyeing the strange combination of the pair seating together, checking to confirm there was no other place for the peculiar Gryffindor girl to sit, curious as to why she was stationed by a Slytherin, Snape turns back to Hermione. "Though one must admit to feeling your pain. That is the second time you've spoken out of turn, miss Granger. Tell me. Are you incapable of restraining yourself? Or do you take pride in being an insufferable know-it-all?" Hermione's face falls and reddens. Snape was like the Malfoy Melanie couldn't deal with. She'd made a mental note to check on her friend when the class ended. "Five points from Gryffindor!" Snape declared, making most Gryffindors in the room groan in misery, many shooting dirty looks at Hermione.
Melanie sighs. Some people you just can't talk to. Snape turns to the rest of the class. "As an antidote to your ignorance, I prescribe two rolls of parchment on the Werewolf by Monday morning, with particular emphasis placed on recognizing it." He demands, the class erupting in a fit of angry murmurs and before Snape could silence them, Harry, unwittingly, speaks up.
"Sir, its Quidditch tomorrow." He states desperately. Snape leans dangerously close to Harry, placing his hands on his desk.
"Then I suggest you take extra care, mister Potter." He threatens, Harry gulps. "Loss of limps will not excuse." He says. "Page three hundred, ninety-four."
The class passes by slower than usual, the students miserable, even Malfoy found it tortures, and he liked Snape the most. Over at last, the students fan out of the class one by one, Melanie bending over the side of the desk to place her book inside, feeling the need to say something before she left. "See you around, Malfoy." She says, half-way off the desk.
"I bloody hope not." Draco replies bitterly, not really meaning it either, but she didn't know that. She sits back, a mischievous smile forming as she thought of the perfect comeback. She turns to him; he could see her eyes meant trouble.
"You know," She starts. "If I'd have sat by Seamus, you'd have had to spend the rest of the class bound by the presence of Hermione Granger." His eyes widen at the horrific thought. Melanie reaches for her bag, getting up and sliding it over her shoulder. She heads for the door, victorious, Draco staring after her. He shakes his head, and lets out a short, dry laugh. She truly was something else, but it still bothered him.
….
"What are you guys talking about?" Melanie asks with a smile, catching up with her friends after exiting Snape's class. She walks up beside Ron and before they could reply, she snatches the parchment with the cruel caricature of Harry being struck by lightning and looks at it bitterly. "What is this?" She asks.
"Malfoy's way of encouraging Harry for the match tomorrow." Ron explains. She sighs. "Speaking of the git. How is it you managed to live through the entire class seating beside him?!" He asks in shock, and before she could reply, Hermione jumps in.
"I think the better question is 'why'." She states, Melanie rolling her eyes, having had enough of it.
"For the last time." She starts, looking to make sure no one was listening. "There's nothing between me and Malfoy." She whisper-yells, confusing the two oblivious boys.
"Then why were you sitting next to him? There was plenty of space to sit by Seamus!" Hermione exclaims before either of the males got a chance to ask, both surprised by Hermione's sudden outburst.
"Because, unlike you, I don't care how much of dimwit he can be." She replies with a chuckle. "I saw a seat at the front row to Lupin's class and I took. It was too late to change it when I found out it was Snape though." She says the last bit disappointedly, mostly to herself.
Hermione takes a moment to think, the two boys already accepting her answer.
"Fair enough, but what about"-
"Hermione!" Melanie suddenly yells, not too angry though, just tired, catching the attention of all three. "I already told you that was nothing." She insists before her friend could bring up the subject, again.
"What was nothing?" Ron asks suspiciously.
"Nothing!" Both girls yell. Melanie turns back to the other girl.
"Now please. As your friend, I'd have thought you'd have more trust in me." She says, quite upset, immediately striking Hermione with guilt. "I've answered all your questions truthfully and would appreciate if your accusations ended here and now." She demanded as nicely as possible. Hermione nods.
"Very well. I'm sorry I doubted you, Mel." She replies genuinely. Melanie sends her a bright smile.
"Apology accepted."
After a few moments of silently walking towards their dorms, the tension almost completely evaporating, Harry simply content that the strange problem between his two friends was solved, but Ron on the other hand. "So it wasn't just girl talk!" He exclaims suddenly as if he'd discovered the sun. The three others look at him, then burst into laughter. Some things never change.
...