Chapter 7

Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns Harry Potter and co. I created Melissa.

"Why would they do this to us?" Lindsey moaned. "This is cruel. This is inhumane."

"This is what happens when you blow off studying for a whole year," Mel said, trying not to laugh at how dramatic Lindsey was being.

"Shut up, Mel," Angela snapped without glancing up from her notes.

Lindsey and Mel exchanged a look and quietly went back to studying. Angela and her latest boyfriend, Mark Fredrick, had just had a nasty break-up. It was so bad Angela had sworn off men and thrown herself into studies. For the past two weeks, the three girls had spent almost every minute of free time studying. Lindsey was going crazy from the lack of the social life Angela had once provided. Mel did not mind, completely. She liked having the two to study with and was not worrying about the O.W.L.'s as much because of how much studying she had done already.

However, even she was sick of studying and not seeing anyone else. She missed Drew and Ryan and Cedric. She missed how easy and relaxing things were with them. She hated to think it, but it was becoming a chore to be Angela's friend. If they did not watch what they said, they could send Angela into a fit of rage without even trying. It was ridiculous.

Mel chanced a glance at the clock. Repressing a relieved sigh, she began packing her things.

"Where are you going?" Angela demanded.

"Rounds," she said simply. Lindsey glared daggers at her, which Mel returned with an apologetic look. Swinging her bag over her shoulder, Mel said, "See you guys later."

Mel was so happy to not be studying; she hardly paid any attention to her surroundings. Rounds were such a joke anyways. At most, a few of the younger students might be out after hours. Everyone was so afraid of Sirius Black that they were experiencing the highest cooperation rate from students in Hogwarts' history. Mel, who knew Sirius Black was not the threat everyone thought him to be, tried to do her rounds as quickly as possible so she could get some Angela-free time in before she and Lindsey returned from the library.

"You look way too happy for doing such a mundane task."

She stopped and turned around to see Cedric walking toward her

"Sorry," she smiled. "I'll try to be more serious and scared about them."

"Or you could look bored. That's what normal people look like when they do rounds," he said, lacing his hand with hers and giving her a quick kiss. Noticing her schoolbag, he nodded at it and said, "Studying again?"

"Of course. What else would I be doing?" she asked, sarcastically.

"I don't know," Cedric said, copying her sarcasm. "Going to quidditch matches, eating, spending time with your boyfriend."

"First, I have been to all matches this year," she said indignantly. "Second, I do eat. Just recently, I've had a limited amount of time to do so. And I'm spending time with you now."

"We're on rounds," Cedric said, his tone clearly expressed he was not counting this as her spending time with him.

"Only for a few more minutes, and after we still have some time before it's after hours for us."

Cedric stopped walking, pulling Mel backward when he did. "Please do not be teasing me, Mel. You said this the last two times we were on rounds. Then Angela showed up and you ran off to study. How much studying do you need to do anyway? Exams are two bloody weeks away!"

Mel, biting her lips so she would not laugh, set her bag against the wall and wrapped her arms around Cedric's neck. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize how this affecting you."

He glared at her. "It's not funny."

"Who said it was?"

"You're a horrible actress."

"I'm sorry," she said, letting a little bit of laughter escape her. "But you were being a little funny. However," she said as his glare deepened, "our rounds are done and I promise not to leave you for studying."

Cedric removed her arms, grabbed her bag, and led them to the nearest empty the classroom. She had barely shut the door before Cedric pulled her to him and began kissing her. She gasped at the fierceness of his kiss. He took the opportunity to lift her onto the nearest desk and loosen her tie. Without thinking, Mel wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him back within kissing range. He kissed her more forcefully than before, his lips quickly moving to her neck. Her thoughts became blurry as she held onto him for support. She shivered when she felt his hand on her thigh just below the hem of her skirt. He lightly nipped her neck as he moved his hand under skirt, causing her let out a quiet moan and blush furiously.

"Mr. Diggory!"

Cedric jumped backward, causing Mel to fall forward off the desk. Thankfully, she landed on her feet and Cedric helped to steady her. She looked up to see a very flabbergasted and red-faced McGonagall standing in the doorway.

"Miss Evans!" She exclaimed, shock evident in her voice. She took a minute to compose herself, during which Mel felt her face redden even more. "Well," she said, her voice slightly shrill, "You two are the last I'd expect to find doing, well, in this situation. You're prefects! You're supposed to set an example for the other students! I'm taking fifty points from Hufflepuff. Go straight to your dormitories and do not make any detours."

Mel grabbed her school and hurried past the angry professor. Cedric followed her, avoiding McGonagall's stern gaze. They both walked through the halls as quickly as possible. Once they were a few floors down, Cedric forced Mel to stop and look at him. Silently, he fixed a few pieces of her hair that were out of place and straightened out her collar and tie.

"There," he said, "you look very put together."

"How red is my face?" she asked, giving a small smile.

"Not that red. There's only a cute faint blush left," he said, kissing her forehead. She smiled and linked their hands together. They continued on their way to their dormitory at a slower pace.

"Wait," she said, stopping outside the common room entrance.

"What?" Cedric asked. Smiling mischievously, she walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him full on the mouth as the entrance opened behind him.

"Good-night," she chirped before skipping past a frozen Ryan and Drew in the entryway.

"What? When?" Ryan stuttered.

"Tell you later," Cedric said with a silly smile and walking past them. "'Night."

XXX

Mel was stretched out on her bed reading one her divination books. She bit her lip in worry. She wanted to be able to summon visions whenever she needed to and explore them better. The theory alone seemed very complicated. The book said the best way to accomplish this was to enter and takeover the subject's mind. Being anchored in their mind would give her a better chance of summoning their future to her. However, the subject would be a sort of trance while she was doing this. She was going to have to increase how often she practiced using her abilities to be able to even attempt this.

"There you are," Angela said as she and Lindsey entered the room.

"You didn't come back to the library," Lindsey accused, walking to her bed and throwing her books on it.

"Yeah, sorry, I decided to take a break from studying," Melissa said, shooting an apologetic look at Lindsey behind Angela's back. Lindsey glared at her in response.

"Why are there ten galleons on my bed?" Angela said, giving her a confused look from across the room.

"You must've left them there," Mel said.

"I would never leave ten galleons just lying on my bed," she said indignantly.

"You must have," Mel said. "Why else would there be ten galleons on your bed?"

Angela frowned in thought. Mel watched as realization slowly dawned on her friend's face. Angela turned to face her, surprise written all over her face.

"No," she said quietly.

"No what?" Lindsey asked, looking between the two in confusion. Mel was struggling to contain her laughter and look innocently confused.

"When? How?" Angela demanded.

"Angela, what are you talking about?" Lindsey asked.

"I bet ten galleons that she and Cedric would get together by the end of this year," Angela stated.

"No," Lindsey gasped. "Tell us everything!"

"When did it happen?" Angela demanded again.

"Christmas," Mel said, breaking into a grin.

"What?" both girls shouted. Mel had to duck when Angela threw a pillow at her.

"How could you keep this from us!" Angela yelled.

Mel laughed, "Because I hate when you're right and I wanted you to suffer."

"How could I suffer when I didn't know you two were together?" Angela asked as she and Lindsey sat next to her on the bed.

"You're suffering now, aren't you?" Mel asked. "Suffering because you don't know anything."

"Well, why don't you end it and tell us everything," Lindsey suggested, giggling. "After all, you, our best friend, has been lying to us for months now."

Mel laughed at how eager her friends were before telling what had happened at Christmas.

Please tell me your thoughts! And sorry for the late update. I was traveling today and forgot to update in the the packing, driving, flying. Thank my friend for giving me her wifi password!