"Melanie, come on!" Hermione yells, determined not to leave her side until her friend was right beside her this time.
"I'm coming!" Melanie yells tiredly, getting up from tying her shoelaces. The boys had already gone out the train and were waiting.
As the two girls make their exit, they catch up on the conversation that had been going on outside between their two other friends and, you guessed it, Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle on either sides of him. Just because he was nice to Melanie, didn't mean the rules applied on the rest of her friends. "…I expect there's a cell in Azkaban with your name on it." Draco finishes, Harry looking like a wild dog about to attack.
"Hey!" Melanie yells to get his attention. Draco immediately smirks at the sight of her. The Redwing strode towards him with confidence, making him oblivious to all that was around him for a mere second.
She stops a foot before him, just then noticing how much taller he'd gotten, towering over her, yet she felt anything but small underneath his gaze. She eyes his other two friends momentarily. "Hi." She greets softly.
"Hi." They call back a bit hesitantly. They too, being as mindless as they were, found it hard not to be nice to her. They weren't used to her kindness and when she'd surprise them with it, they'd glitch, but Draco didn't bother stopping them. He admired the power she had over people.
She turns back to meet his wondering eyes. "Do you jump at the chance to torment my friends in my absence?" She questioned with a hint of both irritation and amusement.
"If it bothers you so much, why don't you stop me?" He dared eagerly. Melanie grinned mischievously, she had the perfect comeback, but knew he would have less than appreciated it if she were to say it aloud.
Standing on her toes, she places a balancing hand on his shoulder, his skin warming underneath her touch, and leans towards his ear.
Her friends eye her suspiciously. Harry was furiously confused, seeing as he was still fuming from Malfoy's earlier comment. His friend had very odd, and sometimes annoying, ways of dealing with him.
"Don't make me tell Mrs. Malfoy." She whispered. He let out a heartily laugh. With her pretending his mother and herself were besties, it was more than funny, it was something he looked forward to.
She pulled back, grinning, him smiling. "Alright, Redwing. I'll let it go this time." He told, walking backwards. She mouthed him a thank you.
Knowing how furious Harry was, Melanie made sure her expression was one of sympathy rather than the playful grin she had plastered on. She turned and smiled at Harry apologetically. She could tell, whatever Malfoy said got to him, even though she heard it and didn't think it was worth all the rage she saw in his eyes. "You okay?" She asked. He nodded tiredly, eyeing the floor. He then turned to walk and the other three glanced at one another worriedly. Harry was in pain and they didn't even know why.
….
The four friends walk towards the carriages, Harry at the very front, stood still, observing Cho, the girl he'd been crushing on for a whole year. His friends stop by him, and Melanie smiles at his daze. It seemed that romance was in the air this year. Neville comes up beside them, cradling a moving cactus, greeting them. They greet him back. Harry then turns and suddenly stumbles back, his friends eye him warily. "What is that?!" He asks in shock. They look and see nothing.
"What's what?" Ron questions.
"That! Pulling the carriage!" He exclaims.
"Nothing is pulling the carriage, Harry…" Hermione replies warily, glancing at Melanie and Ron. "It's pulling itself, like always." She continues. Melanie is more than worried now.
Harry rounds up the carriage. "You're not going mad." A girl with pastel white hair and a funny attitude says, Luna Lovegood. She's seated at the carriage already, magazine in hand, upside down. "I can see them too. You're just as sane as I am." It wasn't the first time Melanie had seen Luna and, though she was weird, Melanie admired her optimism. Her friends didn't share her opinion though. Weird was weird for them.
Being the only carriage left, they were forced to ride with her. The ride was awkward for all but Melanie and Luna, who talked away excitedly, sharing their summer events to one another. Granted, Melanie couldn't understand what Luna was on about most of the time, she still enjoyed being around her every now and then.
The three girls were seated by each other, and the boys on the opposite of them. Hermione leaned in to Melanie when her conversation with Luna ended. "What did you say to Draco that got him to leave?" She whispered in her friend's ear, the curiosity eating at her. Melanie's stomach churned at the mention of his name, she then smiled at remembering, but debated telling Hermione.
"I just told him I'd tell his mom." She whispered back. Someone other than Hermione wouldn't have understood why that would have worked. She smiled mischievously. Melanie eyed her suspiciously. "What?"
"Nothing." Hermione replied innocently.
Melanie knew fair and well what her friend was thinking of, but was too nervous to wonder on the subject herself.
There at last, the friends dismount the carriages, which Harry was eyeing with concern the whole trip over and Melanie hoped for the life of her, he was fine. Luna separates from the group with a goodbye to join her Ravenclaw housemates.
Within the Great Hall, Melanie catches Draco's eyes and immediately heats up. He can't keep his eyes off her, and hers off his. They break contact when the crowd becomes an obstacle.
Melanie is seated by Ron at her house table, Harry and Hermione opposite them. Dumbledore gives the school his usual greetings, and attempts to introduce the new staff members. Two things stood out. One: Hagrid was apparently on 'extended leave' according to Dumbledore, but the four friends knew he was on Order business. Two: Their new DADA teacher, professor Umbridge.
The woman looked like walking cotton-candy, the type that was rotting on the inside. She even had the guts to interrupt Dumbledore to 'address the school'. Melanie could tell, everything about Umbridge was fake. The smile, the kindness, the sincerity, the devotion even. The only thing that woman was devoted to was self-interest. Melanie felt that interrupting Dumbledore's speech was just the beginning of a troubling chain of events caused by that very woman.
….
Within the dorms, at night, the four friends are inside. Melanie is chatting away with Ginny at the corner of the room. Hermione and Ron were in the bedrooms. Harry had entered later than the others and halfway in, he takes notice to the looks he was getting, rendering him confused.
He stops warily when spotting Dean and Seamus, his supposed friends as well, and thought it would be polite for him to ask how their holidays had been. "Alright." Dean answers in disappointment, perplexing him further. "Better than Seamus's." He continues, Seamus jerking up to his feet furiously.
"My mom didn't want me to come back this year." He told bitterly. Melanie, overhearing, didn't like where this was going. She excuses herself from Ginny and heads towards Harry.
"Why?" Harry asked in concern.
"Let me see, uh, because of you." He spat. "The Daily Prophet's been saying a lot of things about you, Harry. And Dumbledore as well." He told.
"And your mom believes them, Seamus?" Melanie shot as nicely as possible, coming over to Harry's side. Seamus turned to her sharply.
"Well, nobody was there the night Cedric died." He told irritably, making Melanie tense at the mention of the late Cedric. He was crossing a line.
Before Melanie could reply, Harry had lost it again. "Oh, well I guess you should read the Prophet then, like your stupid mother, and it'll tell you everything you need to know." He tells. Melanie widens her eyes in shock.
"Harry!" She exclaims. She couldn't believe her ears.
"Don't you dare talk about my mother like that!" Seamus lashes.
"I'll have a go at anyone who calls me a liar!" Harry yells back, taking a step forward as if he was about to use his fists as well.
"Harry, stop it! Now!" She warned, placing a forceful hand on his chest, which he barely acknowledged, too overcome with rage he was unfamiliar with.
Upon hearing the struggle, Ron and Hermione appear from the rooms. Ron approaches them bravely and takes Harry's side. "What's going on?" He demands.
"He's mad! That's what's going on!"
"Seamus"- He cuts her off.
"Can you believe the rubbish he's been saying about you-know-who?!"
"Yeah, I do." Ron replies firmly. Everyone goes quiet and Melanie mentally thanks Ron for the intrusion. He eyes the crowd, a bit nervous now, but insisted on proving a point. "Does anyone else got a problem with Harry?" He questions, more warns.
No one replies and the quarrel ends. Harry storms up to the bedroom and Ron follows. Hermione walks up beside Melanie, who was still in shock. "What happened?" She questioned in concern. Melanie shakes her head in her own confusion.
"Harry's on a thin edge, Hermione. We have to do something about it, before it gets out of hand."