A whole month passes, and with every passing day, Melanie heals a little more, and she didn't think she ever could have felt better the first week, but with the help of her friends, and Draco, it was slowly working.

Still, after the incident, things at Hogwarts were duller than ever. It seemed as if Umbridge was feeding off their misery to grow her power. It was affecting two people the most, the Weasley twins. It wasn't making them sad, it was making them angry, and they sought revenge.

As for the four friends, they were back to discussing what to do now that Dumbledore could not be found, and their supposed army against the Dark Lord was dismantled. They usually left Melanie out of most of their conversations on that topic, knowing how she was feeling, how she was hurt, they didn't think she needed to concern herself with such things, but the Redwing didn't see it that way. To her, it was a way to momentarily forget about the lies of her past.

She's written to her grandmother, who, without Melanie's knowledge, cried her eyes out the night she received the letter. She never wanted to lie to her, but how could you explain to a child that their mother died giving them life, and that…and that, had it not been a miracle the night Madeline was there when Melanie's father had almost…had almost killed her, killed his own, baby daughter, because every time he looked into her eyes, it reminded him of his wife, Carla, his one and only, but he was foolish, and the path he chose, was the end of him.

Of course, Madeline never told her that specific part, and she never will, but she did explain why she did it, that Melanie was too young to hear the details, and that even as a young lady, hearing them would hurt, and it did.

….

On one day, Harry, Hermione, and Ron were discussing the army on the bridge when they were interrupted by Hagrid, who led them to the Forbidden Forest so they could meet his, of all things, giant-brother, Grawp. He told them to look after him should he ever get the sack.

Melanie was with Draco that day, and the friends were, for the first time, grateful he was around, grateful that he cared, and grateful that whatever he was doing was working, Melanie was getting better.

At night, they, of course, told her about the inexplicable situation of meeting Grawp, it made her laugh after the shock of knowing that Hagrid had a giant for a brother, an actual giant.

Exams were finally arriving, and the Weasleys' plans were coming to focus. The fifth years were in a large classroom, watched over by Umbridge herself as they solved a test of twelve pages before her.

Unexpectedly, they were ambushed by non-other than the infamous, prankster twins, Fred and George. Using their own creations, they flooded the room with magical fireworks and all sorts of shambles. One of the lights went as far as taking the mock form of a dragon, which in retaliation, chased down the Pink witch.

The students followed the play to the quart yard and watched the fireworks go off. The best thing that school had were those two boys.

In the midst of the commotion, it happened. Harry fell to the ground, visions flooding his image as he saw things he couldn't, nor did he want to, explain.

His friends were by his side in an instant, but then it hit him. Sirius.

Following him inside the school, Harry explained that in this vision, he saw Sirius, his last remaining family member, killed before his eyes. It made Meanie's heart ache. Life was cruel.

Of course, Harry had to do something. He knew where it was going to happen, and he needed to get there fast. A plan forming in his mind, Harry suggested using the Flow Network to get to the ministry, but there was only one more functioning at Hogwarts, and it was inside Umbridge's office.

Having no choice, the friends follow Harry as he breaks into the rosy room with walls smothered in cat portraits, and Victorian furniture. Harry told them to warn the others while he 'took care of it'. Having had enough of it, Hermione insisted that he would get the fact that they were in this together in his head.

In that very moment, Umbridge herself appeared in the room, wrathful. She sent word for her group of Inquisitorials, which included a much concerned Draco as he saw that one of the present in the room was his Redwing.

Knowing full and well what mad old Umbridge was capable of, he decided to act cautiously. Draco glared at a fellow Slytherin when the boy neared his Melanie in an attempt to restrain her. The Slytherin immediately turned the other way to help the rest of the Inquisitorials who came in with Ginny, Luna, and Neville.

Draco hurried over to Melanie. "What the hell are you doing now, Redwing?" He whispered in her ear, softly gripping her arm as he stationed himself behind her protectively, pretending to aim his wand at her like the others were doing to the captives.

She shivered at his touch and chuckled lightly. "It's a long story." She whispered back. She couldn't see, but he shook his head in disbelieve. The things this girl got herself into.

Umbridge had Harry seated on one of her chairs, attempting to interrogate him. She thought they were going to use the network to get to Dumbledore, which was far from the truth, and when Harry said so, she slapped him across the face, making all those present wince as her wrinkly hand left a red, three-fingered mark on his pained cheek.

Severus entered the room a moment later. "You sent for me, Headmistress?" He questioned, eyeing the situation warily. She sharply turned to him.
"Snape. Yes. The time has come for answers, whether they want to give them to me or not." She explained grimly, striking fear into the hearts of the students.

"Draco." Melanie whispered in concern.
"Don't worry. It's nothing." He assured, hating the fact that she was feeling pressured, but the truth was, there was no way out of this. Fortunately, it was a painless process, he knew that much.

"Have you brought the Veritaserum?" She asked. Snape eyed her in disgust. He never approved of what she was doing, and he despised her as a human being to begin with.
"I'm afraid you've used our stores interrogating students." He spat. "The last of it was used on miss Chang."

At that last sentence, the group of friends were hit with the truth of the fact that Cho was innocent of betrayal this whole time, striking most of them, except Melanie, who remained kind to Cho even after her supposed betrayal, with guilt, especially Harry.

Snape then left and, as Umbridge thought, she was left with no choice but to use one godforsaken spell, the Cruciatus curse. Before any of them got a chance to react to that, as even Draco thought, extreme decision, Hermione intervened.

She told Umbridge that Dumbledore had a secret weapon, and she ordered them to take her to it, so they did, with her oblivious to what it was.

The minute Umbridge was out of the room, the students inside eased up. The Inquisitorials wondered whether or not to let the others go, and Draco convinced them to do just that.

Wanting a moment alone, knowing where she was going, she told Ron, Luna, Ginny, and Neville to hurry towards the bridge, and that she would catch up with them.

Melanie turned to Draco. "Thank you for that." She smiled, taking his breath away like she always did.
"I'd be a lot happier if you stopped getting into trouble, Redwing." He noted, making her heart warm at his tone, that caring side she'd been seeing so much of lately.

Ironically, trouble was exactly what she was headed for the minute she'd leave that room, but she had no choice. Harry, and Sirius, needed help, and she'd offer whatever she could provide.

"I don't think I can promise that." She chuckled, making him smirk unknowingly.

She didn't know what would go down when she left. She felt like she needed something to help her move, to encourage her, give her strength, and melt her fears. There seemed to be only one person that could do that to her, and he was standing right in front of her.

She strolled towards him. "You're trouble on your own, Redwing." He commented haughtily, making her grin.

She put her arms around his neck, pulling him closely, shocking him slightly, but it was nothing to complain about, he loved it, he loved her.

She pressed her lips against his softly. He took hold of her thin, delicate waist, pushing until the space between them disappeared. He kissed her back with equal force, as needful as she was to his touch. A moment passed with their lips swaying together from side to side, Melanie then pulled away before things got too hot, their foreheads still touching.

"I have to go. Ron and the others are waiting. I just…really needed that." She whispered, her breath tickling his cheeks and tempting his lips. He couldn't explain how he felt knowing that, in her life, she actually needed him.
"Happy to oblige, love." He replied, making her grin at the nickname she adored hearing. "Do be careful, will you?" He requested, once again, oblivious to the dangers she was headed towards.

She now felt guilty for keeping it from him, but if he knew, he'd never let her go, and she had to go.