[A/N: Again, updates will probably be less than monthly once I've started school on Tuesday-but I've been sick all weekend, which has left me with plenty of time to write. I may be able to post another chappie or two before I get bogged down with homework. Please leave a review and let me know what you think!]
The next day, Melody and Remus headed to Care of Magical Creatures straight after breakfast, while James and Sirius had a free period. Sirius had seemed to get over the whole hall duel with Severus rather quickly, and had been excited for the prospects of a couple of hours to do absolutely nothing or get into mischief—but he had underestimated the amount of homework they'd be assigned by their Potions, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts professors. Groaning, he and James lugged their books to the library, bidding the other two a mournful farewell.
The air was clear, with a gentle autumn breeze, and Melody had a slight spring in her step as she and Remus walked down the grounds towards the edge of the Forbidden Forest.
"You're very excited for this class, aren't you?" Remus asked, a smile tugging at the edges of his mouth.
"Well, yes," Melody said, unabashed. "I've got half of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them memorized. Why are you taking the subject? Do you need it for whatever you plan to do after Hogwarts?"
Remus nodded as they came to a pause amid a gaggle of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, and a couple of Slytherins, all waiting for Professor Kettleburn. "I've always had a passion for Defense Against the Dark Arts, and that includes learning all about dark creatures and how to handle them. And, I find myself fascinated by all manner of creatures."
"Defense Against the Dark Arts... Are you considering becoming an Auror, then?" Melody asked.
Remus smiled wistfully, shaking his head. "I don't think I'd really ever have the qualifications to become an Auror. I was thinking more along the lines of teaching, myself."
Melody looked at him thoughtfully, wondering what had happened to him that had resulted in so many scars marking his worn, though handsome, face. "I think you could do anything you want to, Remus."
Remus looked slightly surprised to hear her say that, but he smiled gratefully. "That's very kind of you to say."
Professor Kettleburn emerged from the trees within the Forbidden Forest, and addressed the class in a chipper, though slightly frail, voice.
"Welcome, welcome all," he said, with an extra nod towards Melody. "For the first half of the semester in this N.E.W.T.-level class, we will be studying all manner of winged equine creatures, the likes of which are classified by the Ministry to be too dangerous for students to study before they have taken their O.W.L. exams."
Melody let out the tiniest of excited squeals, which was still loud enough for Remus to raise his eyebrows at her. She grinned helplessly—winged horses were quite possibly her favorite type of magical creatures.
"You will learn how to properly identify, approach, and care for these creatures. Following this unit, we will go over a number of dark creatures; I will alert you to the nature of each during the class before, so that you may properly prepare for confronting them."
Remus smiled and imitated Melody's excited squeal so well that she almost laughed aloud, deciding instead to smack him lightly on the arm. Her boldness in touching him, even in this small way, startled her enough that she gasped. The sound was, thankfully, very quiet; and therefore went unnoticed by even Remus, who was nearest to her.
"If you'll follow me, please." Professor Kettleburn led them a little ways into the forest, and the class of about ten people trooped in after him. They emerged in a clearing that contained a couple of piles of raw meat, clearly placed to attract whatever creature they would be studying for the day. Melody had a feeling she knew what was coming, and her suspicions were confirmed when a skeletal, winged black horse emerged from the trees, picking its way delicately towards the chunks of meat. It bent its head down and tore a mouthful away, languidly regarding the students as it chewed bloody chunks of flesh.
Two more thestrals threaded their way through the trees, and Melody could see from the other students' reactions that one of the Hufflepuff girls and both of the Slytherin students could see the thestrals, too. The others were looking in all the wrong directions, until a short Ravenclaw girl gasped and pointed at the meat that, to her, was floating in midair and disappearing with bite marks torn into it.
"Yes, can anyone tell me what we are looking at? Some of us, that is," Professor Kettleburn chuckled.
"Thestrals, sir," Melody blurted out, almost forgetting to raise her hand. "They pull the school's carriages."
"Correct!" Professor Kettleburn moved nearer to a thestral, allowing it to sniff his hand. "And why is it that only some of you can see them?"
Remus raised his hand, and the professor nodded at him. "Only those who have seen and understand death are able to see thestrals."
"Right! Take ten points combined, to Gryffindor, you two," Professor Kettleburn said, patting the thestral gently. "And, would someone describe these creatures to those who cannot see them? You should also be able to find a description within your textbook, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them."
Students opened their bags to get out their copies of the book, and the Hufflepuff girl described what the thestrals looked like; her eyes large as she watched the horse-like creatures.
"Five points for Hufflepuff, good," Professor Kettleburn said. "Go on closer if you like, they won't hurt you. I'll give you a little history about thestrals, and how we came to have a herd of them working at this school."
With the professor's go-ahead, Melody stepped quietly towards the nearest thestral; marveling at how its head looked so much more like a dragon's than a horse's, and how leathery its great wings were. It looked calmly up at her as she approached, and then, before she had even reached towards it, the thestral stretched its neck towards her, nuzzling at her shoulder.
"Are you sure you've never handled a thestral before?" Remus asked, smiling, as he stroked its withers. Professor Kettleburn was providing facts about thestrals in the background.
"Quite sure," Melody assured him, pressing her forehead against the creature's with a sigh. "I've just always loved horses and horse-like creatures; they seem to take a liking to me—and I love anything with wings, too. If I could live in the sky, I would."
"In the sky... Away from all the troubles down here, untouched by earthly worries. Unfettered, with nothing to hold you back... Yes, that would be nice," Remus agreed quietly.
Melody glanced over at him. He was looking at the thestral with a slightly sorrowful expression. "Are... Are you all right?" she asked uncertainly.
It took him a second to answer her, but when he did, he smiled as lightly as usual. "Yes, of course."
They headed back to the castle together for Transfiguration, where they met up again with James and Sirius, who were still complaining about how much homework they'd been set. Melody was still so enraptured by the thestrals that her animated description of them quite distracted the boys from their woes, and led to Sirius reiterating once again how adorable he found her.
Their last class of the day was Herbology, where they were introduced to a number of surprisingly dangerous plants. On their way back to the castle from the greenhouses for dinner, James was still cursing colorfully after having been seized from behind by a particularly vicious Venomous Tentacula plant.
When they got to the common room, there was a bit of a holdup near the entrance; and Sirius had to elbow a few third years out of the way to get inside.
"Ah, that's why," he said, pausing at the notice board and nodding sagely. "Oi, you lot, move over."
A few little second year girls blushed and scurried out of his way, making room for James, Remus, and Melody to see what all the fuss was about.
"Quidditch tryouts, this Saturday! At last," James exclaimed. He rounded on Melody. "You're going to—"
"Well, of course I am," Melody interrupted him with a grin. "Why are Gryffindor's tryouts coming up so soon?"
"I expect it's because the first match of the season will be Gryffindor versus Slytherin, and they'll want to get training in for the new players before then. The game is scheduled for the end of the month," Remus said, a line of worry etched into his brow. "The twenty-eighth, to be exact."
This date seemed to have some sort of significance to the boys, as Sirius and James glanced at each other for a moment. However, the moment of solemnity passed so quickly that Melody wasn't even sure it had happened.
"We'll work it out, mate," James said cheerfully. Melody wanted to ask if it was someone's birthday or something, but she got distracted by another couple of students jostling to get past her. She pulled out a sheet of spare parchment, to write down the time the tryouts were being held.
Melody clutched her broom, only slightly nervous as she waited her turn. The Hogwarts Quidditch Pitch was slightly more impressive than the one at Ilvermorny, and many of the students who had gone before her were fairly good flyers. There were only two other people trying for the position of Seeker, as most of the others had been going for Chaser or Keeper.
James had made it back onto the team without issue; out-flying all of his competition and scoring nine of the ten goals he'd attempted against the current Gryffindor Captain, who played Beater. For the Seeker tryouts, the Captain was releasing a Golden Snitch, giving it a ten-second start, and then having each would-be Seeker chase after it, one at a time. After each person had gone once, he would have the faster two go at the same time, to see who could catch it first.
The person before her, a stocky fourth year boy, touched down after catching the Snitch. He had done it in good time, but Melody knew she could do better. The Captain nodded to her, and she mounted her broom, itching to kick off. The Snitch was released, and ten seconds ticked by in what seemed like an eternity. Finally, Melody was given the signal, and she sped towards the Snitch.
It was zig-zagging in front of her, but Melody instinctively had a feeling that it was going to dart left, and it did—but she was ready for it. She had dipped down and to the left, speeding upwards to snatch it out of the air right as it began veering in her direction.
Melody returned the Snitch to the Captain, and the boy who'd gone right before her was dismissed. She positioned herself beside the other Seeker, the first boy to try out, and took a breath, steeling herself. If there was anything in her life that Melody was completely confident about, it was Quidditch.
The Snitch was released once more, and, after a ten-second spell, she darted into the air, followed closely by her competition. It zipped in and out of the stands, buzzing around the ears of the onlookers who'd come to watch the Gryffindor team tryouts. Melody noticed vaguely that Regulus was among them, sitting with a couple of other Slytherins; but the information didn't really register—her mind was completely in the game.
Melody arced over the other boy, diving diagonally to spin him out of the way and gain an advantage on the Snitch. With an extra burst of speed, she had it enclosed within her fingers once more.
A cheer rose up from the Gryffindor section, where Sirius was stamping his feet against the stands, and Remus was applauding beside him. James gave a big whoop, and ran over to her, clapping her on the back as the Captain welcomed her to the team.
"Knew you'd do it!" James exclaimed as they headed back to the castle with Sirius and Remus.
"You looked like a little scarlet bird, flitting about up there," Sirius raved, spreading his arms to imitate wings. "I'd say you flew as good as Prongs, if not better!"
James scowled at him before grinning and addressing Melody. "First practice is Thursday night. We want to get in at least two sessions before the first match, since we've got three new players. But all the new blood did really well out there today, so I'm feeling good about our chances of winning."
"We'll be there to watch you practice," Sirius assured them, slinging an arm around Remus's shoulders. "Unless Remus here decides he'd rather do homework than see our pretty bird in the sky. And James, of course."
Remus's mouth twitched into a smile. "I suppose I can bring my homework along with me."
"Excellent!" Sirius barked. "I'm starved."
"You're starved?" Melody said bemusedly, thinking of how hard she and James had worked since dinner. "I don't know if I'll last until breakfast."
"Well, we're gonna nick some food from the kitchens, of course," James said as though this was an obvious fact.
"Really?" Melody was impressed, but tried not to show it. "And how do you suppose you're going to do that?"
"We will be doing what we always do," Sirius said, emphasizing the word on purpose. "If you want a bedtime nibble, little one, you've got to come along. We're not gonna do your dirty work for you just 'cause you're pretty."
"Well..." Melody's stomach growled loudly, and she gave in, laughing lightly. "Then I guess I'm coming along."
"What about you, Moony? You game?" James asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Yes, I don't see why not," Remus said with a smile.
They made it back to the common room, where Melody and James hurried up to their dorms for quick showers. When they were ready, the foursome clambered back out of the portrait hole, looking unassuming as they went down a few floors.
"Where exactly are the kitchens, anyway?" Melody wondered as they kept going down flights of stairs.
"You must be patient and unafraid of toil if you want to reap the rewards, little one," Sirius said mysteriously. They paused at the end of a corridor to make sure that no one else was around, and then continued forwards.
"Hmmm..." Melody remembered that patience had been listed as one of the values of Hufflepuff House. "Are we going to the Hufflepuff common room?"
James nodded approvingly. "Quick, this one," he said, jerking a thumb towards her. "Close, but no cigar. You'll see very soon."
They rounded on a large portrait of a fruit bowl, and, after glancing around once more to be sure they were alone, Sirius reached forward and tickled the pear. To Melody's surprise, it squirmed, giggled, and transformed into a green doorknob, which Sirius turned to reveal that the portrait was, in fact, concealing a door.
They went inside, emerging in a large room with five tables placed identically to the ones in the Great Hall, which Melody realized was probably directly above the kitchens, several floors up. Everywhere, little house-elves went about preparing food for the next morning, sweeping the ashes by the grand fireplace, or folding linens for the common rooms.
Some of them exclaimed happily when they saw the young students, and one hurried forward, beaming. "It is good to see you again, sirs! We was wondering when Master Potter, Master Black, and Master Lupin would be returning to the kitchens this year, and we see that they have brought a new friend, as well!"
"Melody Wright," James said, introducing her with a grin. "It's good to see you, too, Oddy!"
"How may we serve the young sirs and miss tonight?" the elf called Oddy squeaked excitedly.
"Well, Melody here was feeling a bit peckish after Quidditch tryouts, and I've got to say, I could use a bite myself," Sirius explained cheerfully. He had barely finished talking before several elves were running up to the four of them, bearing trays laden with sandwiches, leftover treacle tarts, fresh fruit, and piles of thickly-cut fries, although Melody remembered that they were called chips in Britain.
"You're all too kind," Remus said, smiling at the nearest elf, who squeaked and bowed so low that the tip of his nose touched the ground.
"It is an honor to serve kind students such as yourselves!" the elf exclaimed. A number of elves packed the food up neatly, and Melody was going to ask how they'd get it all back to Gryffindor Tower without people asking questions, when James pulled a glittering, beautiful bundle of fabric from within his robes and spread it over the parcels of food, tying it up neatly. Almost instantly, the fabric disappeared, rendering it and everything underneath it completely invisible.
Melody gasped. "Is that a real Invisibility Cloak?"
"Right as rain," Sirius said happily. He and James lifted it between them and waved farewell to the house-elves, who were still bowing and waving when the door swung shut.
"It may be invisible and all," Melody noted, "but it still looks rather suspicious, the two of you walking like that as though you've got something heavy between you."
"You have much to learn," James admonished. He and Sirius led them to a tapestry at the end of the corridor, and James extracted his wand, tapping the tapestry with a flourish. Sirius pulled it aside to reveal a hidden stairway.
"Leads straight to the seventh floor," Sirius said smugly.
Melody blinked. "If that's true, then why did we walk all that way to get down here instead of using the secret passage?"
"Wanted to keep up the suspense, didn't we?" Sirius said matter-of-factly. "You need to develop a flair for dramatics, little one."
Remus chuckled at the expression on her face, and they went up the stairs, making certain to close the tapestry behind them with a tap of Remus's wand.
In Charms class, they had begun working on turning vinegar into wine. Professor Flitwick explained that, although it seemed to be more of a Transfiguration spell than a Charm, they were in fact reverting a naturally occurring property within the vinegar, rather than changing it from one thing into another. They were attempting the charm using white vinegar, since it was easier to tell a difference between it and the color of wine than it was to differentiate between brown vinegar and lighter-toned red wines.
Melody was seated with Remus, James, and Sirius, a row behind Lily. James had chosen this row on purpose, sneaking glances at Lily instead of listening to what Professor Flitwick was saying.
Almost immediately after the class set to work, Lily's vinegar went from a sour, pale color to a rich deep burgundy; its aromatic scent carrying across the room from within its uncorked glass flask.
"Oh, well done, Miss Evans!" Professor Flitwick squeaked happily. "Of course, I should have expected nothing less from such a consistent student! Five points to Gryffindor!"
Remus was working steadily; his brow furrowed in concentration. On his other side, Sirius kept dipping his finger into the vinegar, checking to see if it had changed, and immediately pulling a disgusted face as he tasted pure vinegar each time.
Melody was having trouble producing anything stronger than a weak tea. By the end of the class, Remus had managed to perform the charm correctly, and Melody had managed to produce grape juice. She was glad, at least, that her vinegar had not turned to ice; like the unlucky Hufflepuff boy whose wand-tip had gotten stuck in the now-frozen vinegar. Professor Flitwick had to thaw it out; and in the final few seconds before the bell rang, James stopped doodling "I heart Evans" on the corner of a piece of parchment and almost lazily pointed his wand at his vinegar, turning it into a perfect cabernet before handing it in for grading.
Sirius hadn't done as well as Remus or James, and he, along with Melody and most of the class, were told to practice the charm before the next lesson.
"I swear mine did change," Sirius insisted, grinning as they trooped along to the Great Hall for dinner. "It's just that it turned into a white wine, so it wasn't as noticeable."
"Right," Remus said wryly. "That must be why you kept wincing every time you tasted it."
"Melody," a voice said from behind them; and Lily fell into step beside her as James goggled at them. "I noticed that you were having trouble with the wine charm. I can help you with it if you'd like," she said kindly. "And I was hoping you'd help me with today's Transfiguration spell; you did it so well in class—those little robins you conjured up were so sweet."
Melody smiled, glad that Lily was reaching out to her. They lived in the same room, of course, but Lily was often with their other two roommates, and Melody was often with the three boys, so they didn't spend much time together—but Melody thought Lily would make a wonderful friend; and it might be nice to have a female to talk to every now and again.
"Of course! I'd be glad to trade off," Melody agreed. Lily smiled and gave her a wave as she continued on, ignoring James's winning smile and neglecting to acknowledge the kiss he blew her. As soon as she was out of earshot, James rounded on Melody, a pleading look on his face.
"You've got to do something," he moaned. "You may be my best bet at scoring a date with Lily Evans."
"I can't make her do anything she doesn't want to," Melody said, shrugging.
"At least tell her I've matured, or something," James said. "That's reasonable, right?"
Melody giggled; the sound of which made Remus's mouth twitch into a small smile. "I haven't known you long enough to be able to judge that, James. But if you come up in conversation, I'll try to highlight your better qualities."
"Thank you!" James exclaimed, patting her on the head. "You're the best."
Melody scowled, but it turned into a smile as she fixed her mussed hair with one hand.