It was almost a week later when Melody finally came out of her room. It was easy to see that she hadn't been eating the meals mum, Ginny, and Hermione had been taking to her and red veins spread across her eyes. She sat down at the table for breakfast and everyone watch silently as she picked up a piece of toast.

I saw dad glance at mum, who looked on the verge of running at Melody. Ron carefully passed her the strawberry jam. She gave him a small smile, but it wasn't the same smile we'd all grown used to.

No one said anything while she nibbled on her toast. We all turned back to our own food, glancing at her occasionally. Finally, mum cleared her throat and said, "So, Melody . . . how are you feeling?"

Melody smiled up at her. "Fine," she said her voice hoarse.

"I hope the clothes I got you are okay, darling," mum said.

"They're fine, Mrs. Weasley, thank you."

"We were going to go play Quidditch in the backyard after lunch today," Ron said. "Did you want to come play with us?"

"Sure." The quiet continued after that. Melody finished her toast, thanked mum for breakfast, and went back upstairs. Even after she left, no one said anything. Breakfast was finished in silence, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny went into the family room, mum, dad, and Sirius stayed in the kitchen, and Fred and I headed back upstairs.

I stopped next to Melody's door. Fred nudged me. "Just go talk to her. You know you want to."

I frowned at him and he walked away, laughing slightly. I hesitated before knocking softly. No answer. I grabbed the doorknob and gently pushed it open. "Hey," I said.

Melody jumped, the guitar in her hands clattering to the floor. I rushed forward to pick it up for her. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to – wait, where did you get a guitar from?"

She took it from me, setting it down on her bed. "It – belonged to my mum. She always used to let me borrow it from her before I had to leave for school. Dad would shrink it down and I'd carry it in my pocket. It re-enlarges it self whenever I want to use it. It's the only thing I have left of my mum."

"Do you know how to play it?" I said, trying to change the subject slightly.

She smiled. "Well, yeah, otherwise it wouldn't make sense for me to borrow it, would it?"

I smiled too. "Oh, yeah, I guess not. . . . Can you play something for me?"

She hesitated. "Oh, I . . . I'm not that good."

"I'm sure you're great."

She turned pink slightly before picking up her guitar and sitting back down on her bed. "Okay, I'll play you something but don't tell anyone I did. No one knows I play the guitar."

"I won't tell."

She gave me a skeptical look before running her fingers over the guitar strings. "This is something my mum and I made up. But I'm telling you, I'm not that good."

"Give me what you got."

She sighed and looked away from me, her fingers gently plucking away a delicate little tune. I sat down on Ginny's bed and leaned back slightly, smiling. I couldn't for the life of me believe that she was actually sharing one of her secrets with me. Plus that, she was really good.

But then there was a knock on the door. She tapped the side of the guitar and it shrunk down to pocket-sized. The door opened as soon as she put the guitar back in her pocket.

"Hey, Mel," Hermione said, glancing over at me, "and George. Ron and Fred wanted me to see if you two were still playing Quidditch with them."

"Um, yeah," Mel said. "Tell them two against two, one Keeper, one Chaser, I call George."

"Ok . . . see you downstairs." Hermione said, closing the door.

"So, what did you think?" Melody asked.

"I liked it," I told her. "You're really good, Melody."

"Thanks. . . . So, let's go kick Ron and Fred's butts."

"I didn't even think you liked Quidditch."

"Are you kidding? It's the best sport next to baseball."

"Next to what?"

". . . Never mind, let's go play."

"Okay, but I'm telling you, I'm not that good at being a Keeper or a Chaser."

Melody turned, a cute little smirk on her face. "I'm sure you're great."

I was glad that she turned away from me because I couldn't help the smile and the slightly blush that came to my face. Laughing, I followed her out of the room.

So maybe this summer wouldn't be bad at all. Considering, I mean.