Chapter 18

AN: Sorry for not updating in FOREVER! Between moving and classes, I haven't had a lot of chances to write. I hope this extra long chapter can make up for the wait. Thank you all for being patient with me (and sending me plot suggestions to help with writer's block), I really appreciate it.

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

Mel thought the castle had looked like a small Christmas village in past years, but the staff had really outdone themselves this year. The suits of armor had been polished and charmed to sing Christmas carols—though they did this rather poorly and the staff was often chasing Peeves out them. The paintings had been cleaned and straightened and there was garland on all the banisters. Even the food was better and richer than normal.

As the ball drew nearer, the rumors grew wilder. They ranged from the type of entertainment that may have been booked to how extravagant the food and decorations were going to believe. While Mel would have loved to have used her powers to find out which rumors were true, she forcing herself to study the books and scrolls Sirius had given her, which was proving difficult to do with all the class work the professors were giving. So, Mel found herself in her corner of the library on another Friday night.

It had been weird at first, to read the book that was the reason for her existence. It had been even weirder to read the actual incantation. Sometimes just holding the book gave her chills. Besides the incantation, she had not read much of anything that would help her. Currently, she was trudging through some text about things she could only describe (and loosely translate) as 'The Powers that Be': destiny, evil, good, love, hate, and even sight.

"This is so weird," she muttered.

"What's weird?" a voice behind her asked, causing her to jump. She turned to see a laughing Cedric pulling out a chair and sitting next to her.

"That I'm still dating you," she said seriously. She glared at him and then went back to deciphering the tome in front of her.

"That's not very nice," Cedric pouted.

"Neither was scaring me," she said.

"You get testy when you spend too much time in here," he sighed. "Learned anything yet?"

"Yeah, but it might warp your sense of the world if I tell you."

"Try me."

"Ok," she sighed, sitting back in her chair and stretching her sore neck. "So, basically I'm apart of this group of glow-y lights that can affect the human realm. My 'counterpart' is destiny. I think it has some sort of control over what I'm allowed to see."

"You're right. That warps my sense of what's what," Cedric said, shifting in his chair.

"Messes with your mind," Mel mumbled, stretching her arms above her head. "Think of what it does to me!"

"Hey, I have an idea," Cedric said, spinning her around to face him. "Take a break from all this."

"I will…over Christmas break."

"Oh, come on!" Cedric said exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry. Did you suffer some kind of memory loss and forget why I'm doing all this?"

"To save Harry and me," he said tonelessly, unable to stop the slight eye roll.

"Just to save you actually," she mumbled.

"What?" Cedric asked taken aback.

"Harry's not going to die," Mel said, closing the book and turning to face Cedric. "I was able to keep the vision in my head and not lose anything. I wasn't able to expand on it, but I was able to manipulate the situation. But no matter what I did, you always died and Voldemort always came back. I've accepted that I can't stop Voldemort from coming back. It's clearly what's supposed to happen, but I refuse to accept that you're supposed to die."

"Oh," Cedric said, looking pale.

"I shouldn't have told you that, should I?"

"It's ok," he said, giving a small smile. "It's weird, but good to know these things. I appreciate everything that you're doing."

"You should," she said, forcing a smile as well.

"But now we both need a break. Get your things, and let's get out of here," he said, standing up. "You can work on all this tomorrow, ok?"

"All right," she caved under his grey stare. She put the book and scrolls into her bag. "So, what are we doing?"

"We're going to go to the kitchen and eat a lot of desserts and then who knows," he shrugged.

"You're going to lose that wonderful quidditch physique if we keep sneaking desserts," she teased.

"I take offense to that," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist as they walked. "I work out everyday."

XXX

It was finally the last day of classes, and two days before the ball. Mel had snuck out of her dormitory early the day after classes let out to do some more research. If she could get far enough, she would be to enjoy the holidays without too much guilt. Thankfully, she did not have too much schoolwork to do. She read through the scrolls that morning. While the information was interesting, she had to find anything that was useful. She was just about to give up and go meet her friends for lunch, when she stumbled across something while packing up.

She read the rest of the scroll hastily. Excited, she rolled it up and made a mark on it and the next scroll so she could find them later. She then threw her things into her bag and quickly left the library, nearly knocking down a few students as she did. She reached the entrance to the Great Hall just as Cedric and Ryan came up form the Hufflepuff common room. Not caring that there were a bunch of people around, she practically bounded over to them, threw her arms around Cedric's neck, and kissed him full on the mouth.

"Please tell me what I did so I can be greeted like that everyday," Cedric said when she had pulled away. She smiled, loosened her arms, and whispered, "I think I found away to change things."

She let go and stared at his expression of shock and excitement. He mouthed wordlessly for a few seconds before recovering. He knew he could not say anything since Ryan—who was looking very confused—was there.

"All right then," he said slowly. "Lunch?"

"Yes, that would be nice," she said, linking arms with him and leading them into the hall.

"What just happened?" Ryan asked. "She's not pregnant, is she?"

Mel turned to glare at him and Cedric hit him on the back of his head.

"Hey!" he said, rubbing the back of his head. "It was just a question!"

Mel rolled her eyes as she sat down; Cedric was still glaring at Ryan.

"The dance—" Angela started excitedly.

"And Christmas," Lindsey interjected.

"—is in two days! Who's excited?" Angela squealed.

"Oddly, I actually am," Mel said, feeling lighter and more like herself than she had in months.

"Finally!" Angela sighed. "I was starting to really worry about you."

For once, Mel actually listened to what Angela said and participated in the conversation. Though she was dying to tell Cedric what she had learned, she knew she act like nothing was going on. However, she must not have been doing a good job because Ryan lost it when they started talking about how they were going to wear their hair.

"That's it!" he exclaimed, causing some of their housemates to shoot him funny looks. "Mel does not talk about girly stuff! Something is up and I demand to know what it is!"

Angela, Mel, and Lindsey all sat in silence and stared at him. Cedric rolled his eyes his, pushed his food away, and got up, tugging Ryan up with him.

"I'll talk to him," Cedric said, leading Ryan out of the hall.

"Thank you," Angela said, looking very confused. "What's his problem?"

"No idea," Mel said, trying not to laugh. "Anyways, I don't really want something that elaborate…"

XXX

"What the hell is going on?" Ryan asked as Cedric led him outside the hall and to a side corridor.

"Calm down," Cedric said, releasing him. "It's just something private between me and Mel. There's no reason for you to freak like this. Why did you think she was pregnant?"

"I don't know," Ryan said, looking uncomfortable. "She was acting weird; weird for Mel that is. And, well, you guys have been together for almost a year and sneak off all the time…I don't know it seemed possible."

Cedric felt his face warm, as he understood what Ryan was trying to say. "Well, er, she's not. It's nothing like that," Cedric said not meeting Ryan's gaze. "No reason to be concerned."

"Good, good," he said. "Wait. None? No reason at all?"

"I don't understand how you come to that conclusion, but barely pass your classes," Cedric sighed, trying to change the subject.

"Oh Merlin, you're waiting till she's ready," Ryan said, horror written all over his face. "The rest of us have no hope if she ever tells someone that. Shit! Can you do nothing wrong?"

"Are you done?" Cedric asked, his face bright red.

"Yeah," he said, calm again. He walked over and pat Cedric on the back. "I guess your life isn't as perfect as everyone thinks it is."

"You have no idea," Cedric muttered, remembering that Mel had had a break through and needed to talk to him.

XXX

"So," Cedric said, sitting down next to Mel in the common room. "What did you find out?"

"It's iffy, but there's a potion that will expand my powers," she whispered, looking around to make sure no one was listening.

"And that helps how?" Cedric asked, not following.

"In theory, I'll be able to fake your death, thus keeping you from getting hurt or killed," she explained. When he still looked confused, she continued. "You know how I can tap into people's minds? And they go into a trance? The potion will allow me to do that without any problems. The person won't even have to be near me! I'll just put you in a trance, and then you'll survive. I already tested it in my head. We can change things, Cedric."

"All right. 'Sounds good to me," Cedric said, swallowing nervously.

"I know there's still a lot to work out—to make sure it'll work. I really do think the potion is the best option, and I'll work all that out as I brew it. It takes a month to brew, so I need to start soon. But you think it'll work?" she asked hopefully.

"Of course," he said, tucking loose hair strands behind her ear. "I trust you."

She smiled and pushed herself on her knees to kiss him.

"Can you make these discoveries more often? Because I seem to get a lot of attention when you do," he teased.

"You're horrible," she said, pulling away and grabbing her bag. "See you later. I have to go check my potion ingredients."

XXX

Mel woke up late on Christmas Day, though she was still up before Lindsey and Angela. Happily, in Mel's opinion, Tara and Julie were already gone.

Mel knew their dislike of each other was silly and childish, but, in her defense, they had started it. It all began with their dislike of her because she was not (or so they assumed as she was an orphan and could not prove otherwise) a pureblood. In their early years at Hogwarts, the two girls had taunted her about either her blood or lack of parents. After she began (openly) dating Cedric, their dislike had grown into hate. The taunting had ended and now they pretended she did not even exist. Occasionally they would drop a few insults when Mel and Cedric fought they would—mainly that he would realize she was filth and not good enough for him. Mel always ignored them, as she had done since first year. They were not worth her time.

Quietly, Mel crawled out of bed and walked over to Lindsey's bed. She pulled back the curtains on Lindsey's bed and shook her awake. Lindsey was groggy and gave her an annoyed look. Mel ignored her, gestured for her to be quiet, and pointed to Angela's bed. Understanding dawned on Lindsey's face and she too got out of bed. The two girls tiptoed across the floor and stood on either side of Angela's bed, each slowly and quietly drawing back the curtains. They were still a moment, then jumped on the bed, causing Angela to scream.

"You both are horrible!" she shouted as she hit and kicked at them. Mel and Lindsey laughed and pushed themselves to the end of the bed, each grinning proudly.

"Happy Christmas!" Mel smiled.

Angela glared at her. "I should take back your present."

"Oh, come on Angie," Mel said, putting on a pouty face. "We were just having a little fun."

"Well, if I hadn't been the victim, I'm sure I would have found it funny too," Angela sighed.

Mel got up and hugged her, then walked over to her bed. "Hurry up and open your presents. I'm hungry."

Her friends rolled their eyes, but eagerly began going through the pile of presents at the feet of their beds. Mel's pile was small. As usual, Angela, Lindsey, and Cedric had gotten her something, but she noticed that Victoria had sent her something as well. Angela had given her something that went in her hair and a shawl to go with her dress for the Yule Ball. Lindsey had given her a yellow sundress and matching shoes. She loved both gifts, but Victoria and Cedric's were her favorites.

Victoria had made her a quilt: it looked like stained glass. There were blocks of deep reds, purples, blues, greens, oranges, and yellows. On closer inspection, she saw each block was made of six other small blocks. Each big block, the edges, and back of the quilt were in a black fabric with a faint floral design on it. Mel knew it must have taken Victoria forever to make it, and was so appreciative that she had given it to her. Cedric's gift was simple, but she knew it must have taken him forever to find it. It was an old Divination book—it looked like it was close in age to the stuff Sirius had given her. It too was written in runes, but there was a summary of its contents written in English on the inside of the front cover.

Smiling, she set the book and quilt down on her bed. She then got up and rummaged for a comfy pair of jeans and a clean sweater. Lindsey and Angela were still opening their presents, so she decided to go to lunch without them. She had to carefully navigate the crowded common room to get to the door as there were so many people showing off their presents to one another. The openness of the corridor was a relief after she had tripped over so many people as she left the common room.

Mel was surprised to find the Great Hall rather empty. Though she was not surprised to find Cedric, Ryan, and Drew shuffling down mouthfuls of food. They must have been up playing quidditch already, she thought.

"Happy Christmas," she said, sitting down at the table.

"'Ame 'o 'ou," Ryan said through a mouthful of food. Mel made a disgusted face and rolled her eyes at the boy.

"Sorry about him," Cedric said, cutting into his chicken. He leaned over and gave her a small peck. "Manners just aren't his strong suit."

"How about a rematch, Mel?" Ryan asked, his mouth now void of food.

"We've had a rematch, several actually. Remember?" Mel asked as she made a sandwich. "Drew and I won."

"Well, I want another one," he shrugged.

"Maybe another day," she sighed. "Angela's demanded that I keep myself clean today and not make her job too difficult. She said she has enough to work with as it is."

"Sounds harsh, just like Angela," Drew muttered.

"I can only imagine the abuse you put up with," Mel said sympathetically.

"You sure you can't play one game," Cedric asked, a playful glint in his eye. "I did teach you all those new quidditch moves. It'd be a shame to let them go to waste, and it'd be great to see you kick Ryan's arse using them."

"Well, I guess one game wouldn't hurt too much," she caved.

"Great!" Ryan said enthusiastically. "Eat quickly and go get your things. We'll distract Angela so you can get out of the castle without her seeing."

"Only one game," Mel emphasized.

"Promise," Ryan said solemnly.

XXX

"I can't believe you did this!" Angela complained as she looked at Mel. Mel was sweaty; her face covered in mud, and her hair was in knots.

"Drew and I won," she said meekly.

"Shower. Now." Angela demanded. Mel did as instructed, gathering her towel and bathrobe she headed toward the girls' showers. "And use my shampoo and conditioner!" Angela yelled after her.

Mel stripped out of her snow and sweat soaked clothes and hopped into the shower. The hot water felt great on her skin, which was now bright red. She used as little of Angela's soaps as she could: The smell of lavender was pretty, but too strong for her. Mel showered quickly, throwing on her bathrobe and running a comb through her hair when she got out. She exited the bathroom and saw her dress and shoes laid out on her bed.

Angela was already dressed on her hair and make up were done. She was wearing a light blue, strapless, ball-gown dress. The top of the dress was a corset design, tied in the back with matching blue ribbon. The hem and top of the torso had a glittery silver trim. Her hair was pulled up in an intricate bun.

"I'm almost done with Lindsey," Angela said, as she magically waved Lindsey's pin-straight red hair. "Just sit on your bed and don't touch anything."

Mel did as instructed. She watched as Angela finished Lindsey's hair, which ended up with some front strands being held back by a hairclip with a fluttering butterfly.

"Where's the hairclip I got you?" Angela asked, walking over to her.

"On the nightstand."

Angela accioed it to her and went to work. She had Mel hold very still while she applied the make-up. Mel thought it felt weird and heavy on her skin, but did not say anything to Angela, who was only trying to help her. She finished the make up quickly and went to work on Mel's hair. Like she did with Lindsey, Angela used her wand to style Mel's hair. Out of the corners of her eyes, Mel watched as her hair was magically dried and done into tight curls. Angela put her wand done and Mel could feel Angela pull her back clip it up. She finished it all in about fifteen minutes.

"Put your dress on, then I'll let you see what you look like," Angela ordered. Mel grabbed her dress and underclothes and went back into the bathroom. Her dress was a deep purple. The fabric was light on her skin and flowed with her movements. It was a one-shouldered, Greek-inspired dress. There was a slit on right side that went up to her knee. The dress stopped right above her ankles. She took a deep breath and looked in the mirror.

For a minute she did not recognize herself. She had never looked so put together before her. The tight curls were pulled back into a loose bun, which was adorned (and probably held up) with the light green flower clips Angela had given her. Angela had done the barely there look with her make-up. The eyeliner was a deep plum and the eye shadow had a faint purple tint to it, but was mostly glitter. Her lips were a soft pink.

"I have to say," she said, walking back into the room. "You did a really good job."

"I know," Angela said, appraising her work. "Now let's go meet our dates."

Mel slipped on her shoes, which Angela had mercifully allowed to be low heels, and followed her friends down the stairs. The common room was packed full of people talking and meeting their dates.

"Cedric's meeting me outside the Great Hall," Mel said.

"Ok. Let us find Drew and Anthony, and we'll walk with you," Angela said, spotting Drew and walking over to him. Mel stayed close to Angela and Drew as they walked to the Hall. Lindsey and Anthony hung back a bit, having a private conversation that was making Lindsey blush. Mel spotted Cedric and fell behind the other two so he could not see her. Mel walked through the crowd and behind Cedric. He was talking to Ryan when she approached him.

"Hi there," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist. He turned around and looked at her, briefly wearing a confused expression.

"Mel? Wow, you look…you're beautiful," he stuttered.

"You have Angela to thank," she said, looping her arm around his.

"Are you sure that's Mel?" Ryan asked. "The girl we played quidditch with earlier?"

"Go find your date," Mel said, glaring. The boys laughed, and Ryan left. "Who did he con into going with him?"

"Cho," Cedric said, suddenly interested in the ceiling.

"You're kidding me," she deadpanned. "Why did he do that?"

"Maybe he likes her," Cedric tried to suggest, but sighed at Mel disbelieving look. "Or he noticed she didn't have a date yet and thought him being friends with me would help in that department. Plus, he knows how she annoys you."

"She does not!" Mel glared.

"Really? Your reaction would suggest differently," he smirked.

"Fine," she whined. "It annoys me that she flirts with you all the time."

"Well, maybe she'll fall for Ryan," Cedric said. "Though, this is probably the closest you'll ever be to jealous."

"Oh, shut up," she muttered. He laughed and steered to the line McGonagall was motioning them to join.

"Remind to try and talk to Harry tonight, there's something I need to tell him about the egg," he said.

"What about the egg?" she asked.

"How to open it and get the clue," he whispered back. He kissed her cheek, "You do look very beautiful."

"Thank you," she blushed. "You don't look too bad yourself…. And I'm glad you've worked out the egg."

"Tell you about it later," Cedric said as they walked through the Great Hall in front of their peers and to the head table. Mel suddenly felt very nervous and tightened her grip on Cedric's arm.

The hall looked like it had been encased in ice. The house tables were gone; replaced by smaller, circular tables. The twelve Christmas trees lining the hall were glowing with fairy lights. Above them, streamers and lanterns were hung underneath the starry sky. Mel thought it looked like something out of the muggle fairytales Victoria used to read them.

When they reached the head table, they sat down on the other side of Victor Krum and his date, which Mel recognized as one of Harry's friends. Menus were lying on the table before them. Mel picked hers up and looked at it. She then looked around and saw everyone else was as confused as her. She watched as Dumbledore picked up his menu, read, said "pork chops," and the meal appeared on his plate. Everyone quickly followed his example.

"I wonder how they do did this," Mel said, watching as her chicken appeared on her plate.

"Don't know. It's magic," Cedric teased. Mel rolled her eyes and looked at the head table. Farthest away from her was Harry and his date. He looked nervous and bored. Then again, he was talking to Percy Weasley, who had a knack for putting everyone to sleep. The Ravenclaw quidditch captain, Roger Davies, had accompanied Fleur. He was so captivated by her that his food kept missing his mouth. Mel worked to suppress a giggle, but nudged Cedric and nodded her head in the couple's direction. He looked at them and shook his head.

"It's not really fair to laugh at him. She is part veela after all," Cedric whispered.

"Still, I've never seen anyone look that fascinated by another person."

"I don't know," Cedric whispered in her ear. "Krum seems very fascinated by Granger."

Mel chanced a glance at the couple next to her. Krum and Granger were in deep conversation indeed, with Krum asking most of the questions. Mel doubted he had ever talked so much before. He definitely had the strong and silent thing going for him.

When they had finished eating, Dumbledore stood up and pushed the tables against the walls with a wave of his wand to create a dance floor. With another wave, he raised a stage were the band would perform. The champions and their dates made their way to the floor as the band got situated. The opening song was slow, making Mel more than happy that Cedric could dance: She had never done any kind of formal dancing before, but Cedric had as he had attended many family weddings. He was wearing a very serious and concentrated look, one she only ever saw when he was studying or working on a new quidditch strategy. She laughed.

"What?" he asked, twirling her around.

"Nothing," she said. "You just make me smile."

The song ended and everyone clapped politely. The next few songs were much faster, and their friends quickly joined them. Mel was not sure how long they had been dancing, but she had been dancing so much, her hair was starting to fall down. Angela demanded they go to the bathroom so she could fix it. Reluctantly, Mel and Lindsey followed her out of the hall. Anthony, Cedric, and Drew said they would go get a table and drinks. Mel briefly wondered where Drew and Cho were, but then decided she was probably enjoying the ball more without them around.

The bathroom was crowded with giggling girls talking excitedly about their dates while they touched up their make up and fix their hair. The girls had to shove their way inside. Angela fixed up Mel's hair and make up first. As soon as she was done, Mel made her way outside, saying she would wait for the girls in the corridor. Once in the corridor, she leaned against the cool stonewall, closed her eyes, and began fanning herself. Between the dancing and crowded bathroom, she was dying of heat.

She had barely been there a minute before she found herself being pulled outside by a vice grip on her upper arm.

"Let go of me, Sean!" she demanded, trying to twist her arm out of his grip. He ignored her, and took them to the courtyard. Mel would have admired the fairy lights and rose bushes (and how it did not feel cold) more if had not fallen into a pile of snow when Sean let her go. She pushed herself up, and shook the snow off herself as she backed away from him. She cursed herself for leaving her wand in her dormitory.

"What do you want?" she asked, looking around for any other person, but finding no one.

"Oh, thoughts of things," he smirked, his raking over her body. Instinctively, she folded her arms in front of her. "But first I want to know how you did it."

"For the last time," she said, anger overcoming fear, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Think real hard," he said, pulling out his wand and walking toward her. She backed away, but found herself trapped against the base of a statue. "That day, you burned me without a wand or spell. Those burns took weeks to heal even with the aid of magic! I want to know how you did it!"

"Sometimes when a young witch or wizard is frightened or angry their magic will act of their own accord. That's probably all it was!" Feeling brave, she pushed herself off the statue and walked toward him, stopping halfway.

"You're wrong," he said quietly, walking toward her. His eyes were quite manic, making Mel wish she had her wand. "I've seen those accidents, they're nothing compared to that. You're different, special. I could always sense that about you…" He stopped right in front of her, only a few inches away.

"You're crazy!" she spat, taking a step back. Her palms were starting to sweat. There was no way she could run: she was in heels and he had a wand.

He laughed coldly. "Maybe, but I'm right and you know it. That pretty boy you have in there doesn't realize you're true potential, but I do. He'll only hold you back. I could help you reach your true potential."

"You're insane! There is nothing different about me. I am a normal witch like everyone else here," she insisted. Her stomach was twisting in knots though. Was he just crazy or did he know something?

"You don't remember, do you?" he asked, looking surprised.

"Remember what?"

"We come from the same place. We were just summoned by two different sides."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, but her voice shook. How could that be possible? Surely Dumbledore would have known?

"Stop playing games, Melissa. If you just tell me how you figured out how to perform wandless magic in this horrible human form, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the year. I swear."

Mel's head was swimming, but she forced herself to focus on getting away from him.

"You need help. I am a normal human being—"

He laughed mirthlessly over her. "You are just as human as I am, Sight."

Mel could not deny it even if she could not explain it to herself. She continued to back away and circle around him, but decided to keep him talking.

"What are you? Who brought you here?"

"I'm pain," he smirked. "And who else? Some group of Death Eaters, who all long dead. We should have been able to work together, you know. Together, we could have ended this pointless wizard war and gone home. But it's clear to me that you've been infected by you're human side."

"I'd rather be entirely human than like you," she said haughtily. "And just so you know, you and I can never be together in any sense of the word."

This last statement sent him over the edge. He raised his wand and sent a spell at her. She tried to dodge it, but it still ended up hitting her shoulder and knocking her backward. He was looming over her when she pushed herself up. For a moment, she thought he was going to kill her. Then his wand flew out of his hand.

Mel turned to see Snape and Karkaroff half-running toward them. Snape stopped by her to help her up, and bandaged her shoulder with a wave of his wand. Karkaroff was shouting at Sean in a language she assumed was Bulgarian. Sean glared at her, but went back to the ship with Karkaroff without another word.

"You should go see Madam Pomfrey," Snape said.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch. Thank you, Professor."

"Come with me, you should speak with Professor Dumbledore at the least."

She followed him back inside the castle. He left her in the small classroom next to the Hall while he went to get Dumbledore. She took the time to clam herself and try to process what she had learned, but it scared her too much to think about long. What did this mean? Could—would—Sean tell the Death Eaters and Voldemort about her? Would they come after her if he did? Dumbledore had Snape wait outside the classroom while Mel told him what had happened.

"I see," he said after she had finished. "I suppose it was wishful thinking that only our side had found these incantations. I will have Professor Moody keep a closer eye on him if he stays. I believe Karkaroff is threatening to send him back to Durmstrang."

"I can't say I wouldn't feel better if he was that far away," Mel said. "Sir, may I go now? I really need to get back to my friends. I've been gone so long…."

"You're sure you don't need to go to the Hospital Wing?" he asked, gazing at her with his x-ray-like stare.

"I'm fine."

"Alright," he said, motioning for her to leave. She slipped out of the room, past Snape, and into the entryway, where she saw Cedric coming out of the Great Hall.

"Where have you been?" he asked as she walked toward him. She did not answer. Instead, she threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"Hey, what's wrong? What happened to your arm?" he asked, concerned. Mel buried her head into his chest, unable to speak. She took a deep breath and entered his mind. However, instead of looking for information, she gave him everything she had just learned. When she had finished sharing, he just held her tighter.

"I'm sorry," she said, pulling away and wiping her eyes. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"It's all right. Just give me one minute, and I'll take you back to the dormitory, ok?" he asked, wiping stray tears off her face. She nodded and forced a smile to show she was ok. She watched him bound up the stairs and tell Harry something about the egg. He was back by her side in a minute and they walked back to the dormitory in silence, Cedric's arms wrapped around her protectively.

"Are you sure you're ok?" he asked. They were at the foot of the stairs to the girls' room. The common room was fairly empty as most everyone was still at the dance. "You can sleep in my room if you want."

Mel shook her head. "I'm ok. I'm sorry about tonight, I really am."

"Don't worry about it," he said, kissing her. "Good night."

"Good night. I love you."

"I love you too."

Mel smiled and walked upstairs to her room. She slipped out of her dress and into her pajamas, used her wand to take her hair down and make up off, and climbed into bed. Praying she would be asleep before the others got back, and that they would not wake her up.