A/N: Hello everyone! I have for you Chapter 6! Some drama ensues yes, but keep in mind that I'm still playing with this story, so we'll see what happens from the events that occur here! It'll be a while until Chapter 7 is up, because I do need to work on my other stuff like Forever Young and some stand-alones, but enjoy this in the meantime!


Chapter 6

To Melanie's relief, the first week of classes went by quickly and smoothly. She met the head of Gryffindor House, and her Transfiguration teacher, Professor Veronica Scroll. If she had not been so casual and easy-going, Melanie would have definitely pegged her as an ex-Miss Priss. She was very young, pretty, and so comfortable with the students, that some, like the cocky boy Noah, had taken to calling her Veronica, to which she laughingly asked to be called Professor Scroll. Melanie liked her much better as a teacher than Professor McGonagall, who was actually rather frightening.

Lately, Melanie had also started trying to become more acquainted with the Wizarding world. She spent the week hunting down old newspapers and magazines to catch up on recent important history. After about fifty articles, Melanie learned a few names, like the Potters and Lord Voldemort and Albus Dumbledore. She read about the wars, and the persecution of people with Muggle blood. It definitely made her feel closer to her schoolmates. It also made her feel frightened for her life.

In her dorm there were five other girls besides her. Melanie shared a bunk with Rose, who had her own bed before. Alex, to her relief, slept on the other side of the large room, in a bunk with a girl called Fatima. Melanie hadn't spoken to her much, but she knew Rose liked her. The other two girls were frequently out of the dormitory, so Melanie hadn't even gotten a chance to meet them. She had met the other Gryffindor fifth years, however, and discovered that they were the most interesting group of people she had ever known. She especially liked Al, who seemed much too calm to a part of the royal group; all the boys from the group looked much rowdier and more obnoxious. They were also all very kind, she noticed. Often in the halls, Melanie saw the older boys like Fred Weasley and Alexander Longbottom help out a first year being hazed. When a loud, shrill sobbing woke all the girls up at three in the morning, Roxanne Weasley, a sixth year, sat with the broken-hearted girl on the floor until the sun rose.

Although Al and Rose had taken a liking to her and were spending plenty of time with her, Melanie knew she hadn't been invited into the royal group, and she knew that she may never be. The most she looked forward to was the Welcome Back Party, which had been officially titled "Killer."

"Why did they name it that?" Melanie asked as she drew a brush through her unrelentingly heavy hair.

"No idea," grunted Rose, trying to shove her foot into a bright orange stiletto heel. "I guess it's something about how the party's going to be 'a killer?' Noah and the Neo-Marauders are all about outdoing themselves every time they do something."

"Neo-Marauders?" repeated Melanie.

"Oh yeah, they hate to be called that. They say it's lame."

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"Well," Rose explained, finally securing the shoe in with her wand, "back in the day there were a group of four boys who were the absolute, most legendary pranksters Hogwarts had ever seen. They called themselves the Marauders, and some students after their time thought their legacy should be upheld or something."

"Are they in the history books?"

Rose laughed. "They might be, but not for their Marauding. I don't know if you've heard of them in your newspaper hunts, but they were James Potter the first, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Peter Pettigrew."

Melanie did a double-take. "Are you serious? The ones from the First War you mean?"

"Yup, that's them."

"Bloody…wow. Does this outfit work?"

Rose gave her a once-over, and nodded. "That shade of orange is a good color for you, and the shorts make it just the right amount of casual. You'll look perfect next to me." She clicked her heels with a smile and held up the corners of her purple dress.

Melanie raised her eyebrows. "You're putting bright, bright orange with bright, bright purple. And yet, it works."

"Damn right, it does. They're all going to go insane." She looked at Melanie and sighed. "I wish I had your hair. It's so pretty."

"What? You have the most beautiful hair in the whole bloody world. Why the hell would you want mine?"

Turning to the mirror, Rose shrugged. "Everyone's got red hair in the family." She looked at Melanie through the mirror. "I've got to warn you, Noah's a player, big time. And he likes brunettes and he's gonna love someone new. Normally he won't go for a fourth year, but if he's checked you out he'll know you're fifteen, not fourteen. Watch it with him."

Melanie let out a laugh. "Why should I watch it? Maybe I'll have a little fun," she teased.

With a half-smile, Rose replied, "Just be careful. He makes girls feel like they really matter but then dumps them the next morning and acts like they should've known. They still all swoon over him, though."

Sighing, Melanie dropped her hair and decided she'd just let it hang loose and heavy, and said, "Don't worry. He'll play by my rules."

Rose laughed at her confidence. "Good luck."


The party was definitely a killer. In her Muggle high school, Melanie had been to one party, and it was nowhere near as fun as this one. Rose had dragged her past every part of the castle until they reached a very camouflaged door on the fourth floor.

"Whoa, I didn't even see that there," said Melanie, surprised.

"I know, they must have concealed it," said Rose excitedly. "I just knew what to look for." With that, she gently pushed on the door, and it swung open, revealing a large, dimly lit room full of people.

Instantly her attention was snatched by the middle of the room where there was a huge dance floor. Strobe lights flashed and sparkled, literally sparkled across the floor, following nearly fifty people as they danced. Tables of food lined the walls; Melanie watched some very attractive girls approach the table and the food floated up toward them.

"Isn't the music kind of quiet?" she asked Rose. "I mean, it's loud enough, but all the dances and parties I ever went to, the music was blasting, like, no one could hear each other."

Rose shrugged. "I don't know. This is the first Hogwarts party I've been to. I couldn't sneak into them last year like the other third years because the family always threw them and they know me, so…"

Laughing, Melanie replied, "That sucks. Oh well, the party is great. Just curious about the music."

"You think it's not loud enough?" a voice behind her asked. She whirled around to see Noah, the good-looking boy Rose had warned her about. Like the other boys at the party, he was dressed like a Muggle, with dark jeans and an un-tucked, button-down black shirt. She scoffed internally at his popped collar.

"I think it's loud enough," she replied with a smile, "but that's about it. It's not too loud, the way music should be at parties."

He smirked. "You used to be a Muggle."

Cocking one eyebrow, Melanie responded, "Yeah. I can totally see how that's related to music. You are quite the conversationalist."

He laughed deeply and ran his fingers through his thick hair. Melanie saw Rose fidget out of the corner of her eye. "Come dance with me and I'll show you what I meant." Noah extended his hand. She glanced over at Rose, whose brow was furrowed and whose gaze was directed across the room, turned back to Noah, and took his hand with a smile.

"See you later, Rose," Melanie said, as she followed him out to the floor. The moment her foot crossed over to the dance floor, the music's volume exploded like fireworks. "Whoa!" she shrieked.

"I told you," said Noah, grinning widely as he grabbed her hips and pulled her to him. She didn't touch him, but rather raised her hands up in the air and swayed to the beat. It was like high school again, and she felt completely at home for the first time.

After they danced, Noah accompanied her to the dessert table.

"I've gotta tell you, Noah," she said, laughing, "that magic with the music is excellent. Totally brilliant. I wish we could've had that sort of thing at the parties and dances back home. Then you'd be able to actually have conversations, not just make out in the corners."

"That doesn't sound so bad," he retorted with a teasing smile. "So where are you from?"

"London," she replied. "I never really lived anywhere else."

"Mmm," he murmured. "So you have a boyfriend back home?"

"I did," she said, shrugging. "We broke up right after I found out I was a witch. Obviously I couldn't tell him about it, and I'd have to move really far, and anyway he was no good."

"No good?" Noah repeated.

"Yeah. Like he was boring and a bad kisser. I mean, he was nice, but we'd only been together about a month before I broke up with him. I felt bad about it, 'cause he was nice, but I don't think he liked me very much either."

"What?" he cried, looking exaggeratedly shocked. "How could he not like you?"

"Shut up," she laughed, rolling her eyes. "We just didn't work, I guess. Anyway, what about you? Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Melanie, if I had a girlfriend, don't you think I'd be dancing and eating cherry pies with her and not you?"

"No," she scoffed.

"No?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"No," she repeated. "I absolutely don't think you're the type of guy to spend every second with his girlfriend and not flirt with other girls."

"You think I'm flirting with you?" he asked, raising his eyebrows.

"You bloody danced with me and you're eating cherry pies with me!"

"I concede."

Melanie let out a laugh. "But yes, I think you're the kind of guy who flirts with anyone he likes, even with a girlfriend."

Noah chuckled. "All right, all right. No, I don't have a girlfriend."

"Really?" inquired Melanie. "'Cause that girl's been giving you the eye all night." She nodded across the room at a very attractive dirty blonde in a black sparkly dress that barely covered her bottom.

"Oh, her," he said. "That's Ashley Donovan. She runs that crew of girls who think they're the most popular people in town."

"The Miss Prisses," she replied.

Noah laughed loudly. "That's brilliant, that is. I've got to remember that."

"She's really hot, Noah," Melanie commented.

Noah raised his eyebrows. "Your point?"

"She's obviously really into you. And she's really hot. So why aren't you going for it?"

"Is it too difficult to believe that I might just like you better?"

"Shut up," she laughed. "We've already established what kind of guy you are. I'm not fooling myself into thinking you're interested in my personality so don't you try. Honestly tell me, why not Ashley Donovan?"

He shrugged, looking way. "Dunno."

"Oh," she said, suddenly realizing. "You think you can have her anytime. You're saving her. Wow. You think that just because you run the royal group you get to—"

"The what?" he interrupted.

"The-the…er…what? The royal group?" she answered, slightly baffled.

"Who's that? The royal group? Wait," he stopped, holding his hands up and giving her an odd look. "You named them the Miss Prisses, so you named us the royal group? Are you serious?"

Melanie shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah. Is there anything else I would call a giant group of people who walk like they own the castle and actually do?"

"I guess…we've always just called ourselves the group or the family. Most of us are related anyway. Only a couple of people have gotten in on merit."

"Wow." Melanie rolled her eyes. "On merit. Right. Yes, you are completely and entirely the royalty of Hogwarts."

"Well, thank you," he said, bowing theatrically. Suddenly, a loud ruckus broke out near the entrance. It seemed that a couple of people had crashed the party.

"You can't bloody be here!" yelled a redhead boy in a dark blue shirt, moving to shove the person out the door.

"Who's there?" called Noah, turning away from Melanie. A sullen looking boy donning Hogwarts robes adorned with green Slytherin flourishes stepped forward, crossing his arms over his broad chest. Behind him stood a girl with short, curly blonde hair with red tips, wearing Hufflepuff robes. Noah's face soured and his eyes blazed. "Get the hell out of here, Spook," he hissed.

The music had softened, and almost everyone had stopped what they were doing. Rose and Al hurried over to Melanie. "Oh, Merlin," Rose whispered, looking both frightened and excited beyond excitement. "Noah's really gonna give it to him."

"Noah," murmured Al. "Don't do it."

"You are not welcome here," Noah continued, completely ignoring Al. The redhead boy in the blue shirt and another boy stood behind him now.

"Fred," called a blonde girl in the front of the onlookers. "Just tell him to drop it! Let Spook stay. Let's just have the party."

The redhead boy twitched slightly. "Just go shut the door, Eden. Re-do the bloody spells. Clearly, they don't work." He gave the boy, Spook, a nasty look.

"That's Fred?" whispered Melanie, to which Rose nodded.

"And that's Walter Goyle. He's a fifth call him Spook. None of the older kids like him at all."

"I don't want to stay," said Spook loudly. "I have a bone to pick with your bloody leader."

"And who might that be?" Fred asked challengingly. Spook stared directly at Noah.

"What do you want?" Noah spat. "And make it quick, we were all in the middle of something."

Spook scoffed disgustedly, and said, "It's a private message."

"If you've got something to say to Noah, and you're referring to him as "our leader," then you've got something to say to the rest of us as well," said the other boy behind Noah, in a much calmer tone.

"Who's that?" muttered Melanie. "He seems bloody normal, unlike the rest of them."

"Xander Longbottom. He is," Rose giggled under her breath.

With a piercing glare, Spook finally conceded, "You haven't won. We're coming back. Welcome back to school, Prewett." He turned on his heel and stormed out, taking the blonde girl with him.

There was a brief moment of silence, and then Noah yelled, "All right everyone, get back to the party!" Swiftly, he waved his wand, raised the music up to a deafening boom, and left the room with the other two boys.

"I think we ought to leave, too," said Rose over the music. "You can stay if you want, but Al and I are gonna go. I can already see the big group members leaving, and we're family, so..."

"I'll come, too. It's not like I really, really want to hang out with Alex," Melanie groaned.

Rose smiled. "All right, let's go."


A/N: What do you guys think happens next? Leave reviews and tell me! And what's with Melanie and Noah? Is she going to go for him? Is she just flirting with him? Does she have her eye on someone else? Maybe you'll find out in the next chapter! Thanks so much for reading.

~Maya