And so he told her, about the night it all happened, when his mother and him had received the news, on the Daily Prophet of all things, that Luscious Malfoy had been arrested, about how his mother had broken into hysteric yelling and crying, shouting she told him so, she told him so. About how he himself was frozen from shock.

Then came the trial and bad turned to worst in a manner of seconds. Seeing Luscious locked up in a cage like some animal, witnessing true horror in his father's eyes, it broke something inside him.

Draco had never truly comprehended the risks a job such as his father's held, especially with family. And what made it so hard for him, was the fact that he knew, there was nothing he could do to help. Never had Draco felt so useless.

But the Malfoy family's true fall hadn't taken place until Narcissa's deranged sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, decided to make an unannounced, unwanted appearance in their home, and declared her stay there for as long as she pleased. Being second hand to the Dark Lord, they couldn't exactly say 'no'.

Draco was surprised by how easy it was to talk to Melanie, but was grateful nevertheless, and she listened intently to every word, observing his facial expressions and body posture very carefully, it was the best way to witness someone's true feelings, the ones he tried so hard to hide from her and himself. For if he shared, if he completely opened up, he would fall apart, and that was the last thing he needed to do. He had to pull together, for his mother's sake, and his.

Melanie knew he was holding back, but she also knew why, and she respected it. She felt her heart jump restlessly in her chest, longing to say something her mind couldn't yet comprehend. She eyed the boy before her with such admiration, he'd truly grown in her eyes.

Their time was cut short and it was time for a very reluctant Melanie to leave, even though they'd passed the hour and a half that Madeline, who got stuck in traffic, had allowed.

Melanie knew that Draco still needed her, she couldn't just leave him, but he insisted that it was okay and assured her that her coming to see him had already worked wonders on him, which wasn't a lie, even though they both knew that discussing reality wouldn't change it.

They shared a passionate kiss and Melanie was on her way, leaving a stronger, more hopeful…more in love, Draco behind.

….

And though Draco's life was in shambles, the Wizarding world itself was in chaos. The Death Eaters were on a rampage, people were going missing at every corner, fear was king, and everyone knew, the Dark Ages…were back.

And so, this led to a situation where parents refused to send their children back to Hogwarts, which was exactly what the friends had experienced, all but Harry, who no longer had anyone to worry about him…

Melanie was currently at the Weasley's, along with Hermione, who had arrived a few days before herself, and Harry, who had shown up that very day. The friends reunited there for the last few days before Hogwarts was to start again, stationed in Ron's room.

"So when did you get here?" Harry asked both girls.
"Hermione got here a few days before myself." Melanie replied, smiling at her friend.
"Though, for a while I wasn't sure I was coming." Hermione noted grimly. Harry furrowed his eyebrows.
"Mum sort of lost it last week." Ron shared. "Said Ginny and I had no business going back to Hogwarts, that it's too dangerous." He continued, Harry widened his eyes.
"Oh, come on!" He exclaimed irritably. Melanie wasn't surprised by his reaction, but apparently, the others were.
"He's not alone!" Hermione defended. "Even my parents, and they're muggles, know something bad is happening." She informed.
"Anyways." Ron cut. "Dad stepped in, told her she was being barmy. Took a few days, but, she came around." He explained. Harry seemed reluctant.
"But…this is Hogwarts we're talking about. It's Dumbledore. What could be safer?" He criticized.
"It's not a matter of safety, Harry." Melanie told. "There's just been a lot of talk recently that, Dumbledore's gotten a bit..." She searched for the word. "old." She finished.
"Rubbish!" He exclaimed. "What he's only…What is he?" He asked, truly curious.

Ron looked around awkwardly. "A hundred and fifty? Give or take a few years…" He replied, an answer non were expecting, making them burst into laughter.

And with the mention of laughter, the friends discussed their journey of the next day to the Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, the one shared dream of the infamous graduated twins come true.

Of course, the four were beyond excited, but Melanie had recalled that her cousin, Darcy, and her parents were visiting from China, on their way to Boston. She hadn't seen her for nearly four years, and they were only staying for a day, so her grandmother and herself were to leave before noon of the next day, back to Madeline's potions shop.

….

"Oh, no!" Hermione sorrowfully said, entering Olivander's scorched wand shop along with Ron and Harry. Melanie had already taken her leave, with Madeline, after their visit to the Weasleys' shop.

Like most of Hogsmead village, the wand shop was nothing but a stranded temple of ashes, the Death Eaters' doings.

"Everyone got their wands from Olivander's." She continued, down memory lane, her eyes only seeing images of what once was.

Her attention, and Harry's, was diverted from the sad truth to Ron, who had spoken up. "Harry." He called. The two turned to see what he was so carefully observing, outside the shop's glassless window. "Is it just me? Or do Draco and mummy look like two people who don't wanna be followed?" He asked.

Harry's eyes went dark. The one person no one noticed had changed so, so much, was him. In truth, losing Sirius wasn't something harry ever planned on getting over. No. Harry had grown to hate. Which was no small thing. He had a growing despise pointed towards the Death Eaters, Voldemort, and all those even remotely related to him…and that included Draco.

"Think we should follow 'em?" Ron suggested, and Harry liked the idea, but Hermione didn't.
"No! Absolutely not!" She whisper-yelled so as not to be heard by the two subjects of their talk, who were still very nearby.

Neither of the boys expected her reaction, after all, she was the one most against Draco and the idea of him and Melanie being together, she thought he was undeserving of their precious friend, untrustworthy, and dangerous, but the boys knew so little of what went on with their two girls and the things Melanie shared with Hermione.

The Granger didn't know much, but what she was aware of was enough to understand that Draco was at a very vulnerable and sensitive state right now, she pitied him. She was also more than certain that Melanie was head over heels for him, and that he felt the same. He would never hurt her, that she was sure of. However, that wasn't all.

Recently, Hermione's feeling towards Ronald Weasley were increasing at a high rate. Many times she'd caught herself staring at him, noticing things she'd never seemed to see before, even though they were always there, like his mad bravery, his mood-lightening jokes, his carefree attitude, his heart-warming smile, and his gorgeous mint-green eyes. All those sudden thoughts were, against her will, altering her behavior around him. Butterflies in her stomach, blushing, giggling, those were emotions so foreign to Hermione.

She could finally relate to Melanie and the idea of uncontrollable love, even though it bothered her. Still, she felt beyond guilty for not being there for Melanie when she was fighting those same emotions, and has been trying to redeem herself by standing up for her best friend.

"Why not?" Harry asked irritably.
"Because Mel would get furious!" She stated as a matter of fact.
"Why? We're not doing anything wrong." Ron assured calmly.
"They're getting away!" Harry said impatiently, storming out of the shop, Ron hurrying after him.

Hermione huffed irritably. She had no choice but to follow them and make sure they stayed out of trouble and did nothing stupid.

….