After the announcement, the students were sent to their dorms for the rest of the night. Melanie still wanted to thank Draco for what he'd done, but the opportunity still hadn't presented itself.
On the morning of the next day, Melanie and her friends made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, taught by Alastor Moody, or Mad-Eye Moody as Ron put it. Upon entering, Melanie spots a seat by Draco and doesn't hesitate in taking it. Her friends eye her, but aren't that surprised nor bothered.
Draco, overwhelmed with the scent of peaches, looks to his side. "Redwing?" He questioned, wondering why he found himself by her. Zabini caught up on the situation from the front, by Pansy.
"Hello, Draco." Melanie greets, smiling warmly, making him temporarily forget what he was doing.
"Why on earth is she sitting next to him?!" Pansy questions furiously. It was well known amongst Draco's group that Pansy liked him, a bit obsessively too.
"Do I look like I know?" Blaise asks irritably. He seriously despised Parkinson, she was beyond annoying in his opinion. Since they couldn't hear what the two were saying, they faced forward, but not before Pansy shot a lethal glare at Melanie that she didn't notice.
"What are you doing here?" Draco asks Melanie as the class starts.
"I wanted to thank you." She whispered. "You know, for saving me back at the World Cup." He'd nearly forgotten about that. He scoffs.
"I wouldn't have had to, if you'd have been more focused than you usually are." He replied tiredly.
"True." She answered calmly. Did she just agree with him? "But, with the way things were going, it was hard to concentrate, so thanks for showing up when you did." He wasn't quite sure what to say to that, barely even remembered the last time he was thanked for something. And why did she have to be so nice?
"Whatever." Was all he managed to say, and she was satisfied with it.
The professor's voice tunes in. "…Which of you can tell me how many Unforgivable Curses there are?" He asks. Melanie furrows her eyebrows, she did not like the sound of that. She'd only heard pits and pieces about the subject, but all boded unwell. "Three, sir." Hermione replies, as always.
"And they are so named?" He questions.
"Because they are unforgivable." She replies grimly. "Use of any one of them will…"
"Will earn you a one-way ticket to Azkaban." He finishes for her, writing on the chalk-board. "Correct. Now the ministry says you're too young to see what these curses do. I say different!" Melanie's taken aback. She had a bad feeling about this class. "You need to know what you're up against, you need to be prepared, you need to find somewhere else to put your chewing gum other than the underside of your desk Mr. Finnigan!" He yells, still facing the board.
"No way," Seamus whispers. "the old codger can see out the back of his head."
In a split second, Moody snaps at Seamus, hustling a white chalk at his head. Finnigan's baffled, as is most of the class. Mad indeed. Alastor's mood shifts in a second. He turns his attention to the class. "So, which curse shall we see first?" He asks. Melanie couldn't believe he was being serious. "Weasley!" He yells, scaring Ron half-to-death.
"Yes…" He replies worriedly.
"Give us a curse." Moody demands.
"Well, my dad did tell me about one…the Imperious curse." He answers hesitantly.
"Ah yes, your father would know all about that. Gave the ministry quite the bit of grief a few years ago. Perhaps this will show you why."
Mad-Eye walks towards a jar containing a small spider, which he uses a spell on to increase its size, then, he uses the Imperious curse. The spider levitates in the air at the wand's command. Using the wand, Alastor sends the spider flying onto Neville and Dean Thomas's desk at the front, then on Crabbe's head, the class gasps, he then throws it on Parvati's hand, then Ron's hair. "Don't worry. Completely harmless." Moody assures. "But if she bites…" Melanie widens her eyes. "She's lethal!" Surely he was joking.
Draco starts laughing at Ron's expression from her side. The Professor turns to him. "What are you laughing at?" He sends the spider on his head and Draco freaks out. Melanie would have helped him take it off, if she wasn't laughing so hard, the rest of the class doing the same…but then, the true meaning of the Imperious spell was revealed.
As the professor pretends to laugh along. "Talented, isn't she?" He asks. "What shall I have her do next? Jump out the window?" He questions darkly, throwing the creature over, hitting it in a glass. The class goes quiet. "Drown herself?" He continues, hovering the spider over a bucket of water as it struggled to keep above. Melanie winced at the sight. Alastor floats the spider onto his palm. "Scores of witches and wizards have claimed that they only do did you-know-whose bidding under the influence of the Imperious curse. But here's the rub, how do we sort out the liars?" He questions, most of the class barely heard the question, too focused on the sudden, dark revelation.
"Another…another…Come on, come on." Another?! That was the last thing Melanie wanted to hear. "Longbottom is it? Up." He commands. Neville fearfully stands. "Professor Sprout tells me you have an aptitude for Herbology." He encourages. Neville nods shyly, quickly answering in an attempt to change the subject.
"There's the um…the Cruciatus curse." He nearly whispers. Oh no. Melanie's heard of that one before. He wouldn't actually use it though, right?
"Correct! Correct! Come, come. Particularly nasty. The torture curse."
Alastor places the spider on Neville and Dean's desk. "Cruciatus!" He speaks. The spider begins to twist and turn horribly. Melanie started to panic, breathing heavily and fighting tears. She finds herself grasping Malfoy's hand by his side, squeezing hard, attempting to control herself. He, subconsciously, squeezed back, attempting to do the same.
It was a terrifying sight, especially for Neville, who was inches away from the event. "Stop it!" Yelled Hermione. "Can't you see its bothering him?! Stop it!" Moody eyes Hermione, then Neville, and notices she's right. He stops. Alastor carries the spider in his hand and walks towards her, placing it on her book.
"Perhaps you could give us the last unforgivable curse, miss Granger." He states. Hermione shakes her head vigorously.
Alastor aims his wand at the creature on the book, Hermione can barely hold it together. "Avada Kedavra!" And at that, the spider lies still, silent…dead. A single tear slides down Melanie's cheek.
"The killing curse. Only one person is known to have survived it. And he's sitting in this room." Alastor says, approaching Harry. He takes a drink from his flask. "Class dismissed!" He yells.
The students start to, slowly, rise and head for the door.
With their senses coming to focus, Melanie and Draco feel each other's hands and look down at them. They break off awkwardly, avoiding each other's eyes. Melanie wipes her stained cheek. They pull up their bags and part silently, neither wanting to discuss the unforgettable events that had occurred in that very classroom.
….
After the class, Alastor asked Neville to see him for a cup of tea, hopefully to calm him down. The rest of the lessons went by in a breeze, getting everyone's minds off Mad-Eye Moody and the Unforgivable Curses.
Soon enough, it was time for the older students to place their names in the Goblet of Fire. Others were allowed to watch. At the end of the day, Dumbledore announces the champions, and, aside from Cedric Diggory, Victor Krum, and Fleaur Delacour, Harry was somehow chosen as well. Everyone was shocked, including Dumbledore himself. Many accused Harry of being a cheat, but Ron was wrathful. In his mind, Harry had found himself a way to enter and win eternal glory should he prevail. What angers Ron most, was that Harry didn't bother telling him of said way, even though Harry did nothing of the sort.
"Ron, stop it." Melanie plead, Ron pacing the Common Room, which was occupied by several other Gryffindors who spoke quietly in groups, probably about the same thing.
"Why should I? We all know he did on purpose." He retorted furiously, once again, accusing Harry of the same thing the others did, and it was getting on Melanie's nerves.
"No, Ron. We don't." Hermione states, taking Melanie's side.
"Think about it, Ron. Why would Harry even do such a thing? Since when was he into that sort of stuff in the first place." Melanie tried.
"It's not about the bloody stuff, it's about the glory. That's what Harry's after." He answered bitterly. Melanie furrowed her eyebrows, not believing her ears.
"It's like you don't even know him." That got to Ron, but before he could reply, Harry walks into the Common Room.
The room went quiet, everyone was looking at him, in disappointment, in doubt, in pity even. Melanie walked up towards him, Hermione too. "Well, what did they say?" She asked. Harry was hesitant, aware of the looks he was getting, especially from Ron, at the corner of the room.
"I have to compete." He last said. Both girls were now quite concerned, given the reputation of such a dangerous contest, and for their best friend to be involved in it.
Ron heard, gave Harry one last dirty look, then turned away, up the stairs to the bedrooms. Melanie looked to Harry, who seemed direly upset. "He's just confused, that's all." She tried.
"Aren't we all?" Harry questioned tiredly, with a hint of great disappointment.
He walks over to the couch near the fireplace, the girls follow, sitting on either sides of him. "Harry, we have to get you ready for the tests, find out as much as we can about them and"-
"How, Hermione?" He cut off tiredly.
"However we can. We can check the library to see what other Tri-Wizard Tournaments were like, we could ask the teachers." She suggested, not sounding very sure either, and Melanie could tell Harry wasn't convinced.
He was staring at the fire, lost in his own thoughts of who knows what. "Harry, look at me." Melanie requests. He turns reluctantly. "It'll be alright." She assured strongly, quite sure herself. He nodded quietly, hoping she was right, she was hardly wrong anyways.
"I just need some rest." He said, getting up and heading off. "Goodnight, guys."
Once gone, Melanie and Hermione shared a concerned look. "I can't believe this is happening!" Hermione started, freaking out.
"Hermione"- Melanie attempted calming her down as well, but was cut off.
"People have died in these contests Melanie! What if"-
"Hermione!" She yelled before she could finish. "Nothing is going to happen to Harry. I promise you that."
"How could you possibly know?!" Hermione asked frantically.
"Do you trust me?" Melanie asked firmly.
"Of course I do." Hermione replied genuinely.
"Then take my word for it."
….
The next morning, the students were to head to Potions class, with professor Snape, but they were in for quite the surprise. Severus hadn't forgotten how awful the class was the year before. They were talkative, lazy, and as slow as slugs. In his mind, the students were divided into two types: Failures and Acceptables. Even though he'd chose Slytherin over Gryffindor any day, there were too many failures in them as there were in the others. He came up with the perfect solution, a seating arrangement, where students would be far off from their friends and focused enough to work.
"What's going on?" Melanie asked Hermione when she entered.
"Professor's planned a seating arrangement." She replied bitterly. It bothered Melanie too. She loved Potions and dreaded sharing the class time with someone as distracting, and annoying, as Lavender Brown.
"Why?" She asked in confusion, he'd never done it before.
"I don't know."
The students were huddled in one corner of the class. Snape was calling out names and pointing at desks. Melanie was one of the few left, along with Ron, Pike, Zabini, Parvati and Malfoy. Ron was seated with Zabini, Pike with Parvati, and…you guessed it, Melanie with Draco.
"Draco." She greeted, seated on her chair, in an attempt to fan the awkwardness.
"Redwing." He greeted back, not entirely upset about the arrangement either.
"Now that we're all well and down," Started Snape. "open your books to page nineteen." They obeyed, the chatter down to a minimum. After minor explaining, he asked them to make an Antidote to Uncommon Poisons. They worked in two, like they usually did, it was the capacity of each desk, after all.
"I bloody hate this class." Mumbled Draco, even though he hated almost all other classes equally. Melanie spun to him after opening the required page.
"Really? I quite admire it." She told, turning to get the ingredients from the behind cupboard, Malfoy just following.
With her grandma's occupation, and her curious personality, it was natural for her to take a liking to potions and ingredients.
"So, how does it feel, Redwing," He started as she shuffled through the several flasks and jars. "to find out your boyfriend is a low cheat?" She stopped, annoyed, momentarily thinking. It was no surprise he'd bring up Harry, it was what most of the school was talking about anyway and, being Harry's friend, she was bound to be asked about it. She continued to search through the shelves, then shoved a jar into his hands.
"First: he's not my boyfriend. Second: He didn't cheat." She stated firmly. He barely acknowledged what he was holding, too focused on her reply.
"How could you possibly know that? You didn't see him." He said, as a matter of fact, her returning to the desk with several ingredients. She took the jar from him and placed it with the rest of the stuff.
"Because I know Harry, you don't, not as well as I do." She replied.
"Oh, I'm sure no one knows Potter as well as you do." He commented with a smug smirk. She glared at him.
"Would you drop the subject, and help me make the damn antidote." She requested, more demanded.
"Or what?" He teased, leaning in, making her heartbeat quicken. She arched a brow.
"Or I'll tell professor Snape." He scoffed.
"I'm not scared of him."
"Draco." She plead, looking at him intensely with those hazel-green eyes. He sighed, unable to refuse.
"Fine." She smiled gratefully. It was that same smile that encouraged him to change his attitude towards her every day.
She turned to the book. "Okay. You read the order of the ingredients, I'll place them in the cauldron." She started, sliding her book towards him, he eyed the names curiously. "Alright," She held the large spoon in the pot, stirring the warm water. "what's first?" She asked.
"Three Fire Seeds." She placed them in carefully. "One Graphorn Horn and stir for two minutes." She complied, it was getting smelly, and they both cringed in disgust. "Bloody hell, Redwing."
"It's not my fault." She said, stirring. "What's next?" She asked, desperate to finish.
"Billywig Stings." She reached for the jar, attempting several times to open it. Malfoy noticed the delay and sighed.
"Give me that." He popped the lid off in half a second and handed it back.
"Thanks." She smiled again, making his own heart jump.
"Whatever." He replied, though she knew he was fighting his own smile. Oh she knew, well, that she was getting to him, but he was getting to her just as much.
A few more ingredients, and it was ready. "Time's up." The professor yelled. Everyone stopped what they were doing. He walked up to each desk, checking, sniffing, stirring. He stopped before Melanie and Draco, took one look at the cauldron, all seemed to be well and intact, no bubbling, no smoke, no odd colors. He eyed them suspiciously. "Acceptable." Was the only word he uttered before continuing the inspection of the other cauldrons.
Draco and Melanie glanced at each other, smiling, her more than him. "Looks like we make a good team, Malfoy." She stated.
"Seems that way." He smiled back, half smiled, making hers expand, she then placed her book away, him doing the same. They parted ways with small 'goodbyes' and for a moment, everything in life seemed just right.
….