[A/N: Okay, I'm dedicating myself to writing at least a little bit on the weekends. I'm going to gradually post the chapters I've already written, and then updates will slow down when I start working on full new chapters for upload. Thanks for your reviews! Let me know what you think of this chapter! Re: Guest, I'm from the U.S., currently going to school in Chicago! It's pretty rad ^_^]
Still filled with anxiety after her sleepless night, Melody headed down to breakfast earlier than usual. In the Entrance Hall, she ran into one of the Hogwarts ghosts—a middle-aged man who wore a ruffled collar that looked as though it dated to several centuries back.
"I'm Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington," he said cordially. "I'm sure you've seen me floating about the castle, but I haven't yet formally introduced myself. I'm the resident ghost of Gryffindor, and I'd like to welcome you to Hogwarts. It might interest you to know that your distant ancestor, Bowman Wright, was born on the very day I died!"
"Really?" Melody raised her eyebrows, impressed. "What day was that?"
"October 31st, 1492," Sir Nicholas said solemnly. "A very good year—well, except for this, of course," he said, gesturing to his neck. "Glad to have you on the Quidditch team—I certainly hope Gryffindor will be able to win the Cup this year. We had a nice streak going until last year. Good luck to you!"
"Thank you, Sir Nicholas," said Melody, watching in awe as he glided away; a pearly-white and transparent sheen lingering slightly wherever he went. There had not been any ghosts at Ilvermorny, and so she was still adjusting to seeing them everywhere she went around the Hogwarts castle. Constantly running into Peeves, the resident poltergeist, had taken some time to adjust to as well; but he didn't mess with her too often because he seemed to be on good terms with James and Sirius, and even Remus, though the third boy was not so much of a troublemaker as the other two.
Her stomach twisted guiltily. Why was she off being fascinated by the ghosts when Remus was in agony, alone in the Hospital Wing?
Melody got to the breakfast table and, since James and Sirius were not there, ate alone; barely able to stomach a small portion of eggs and bacon.
About halfway through breakfast, the boys joined her at the Gryffindor table, sliding into the empty spots on either side of her. They looked tired, but seemed to be in good spirits.
"How is he?" Melody asked as soon as they had sat down.
Sirius and James glanced at each other, and then Sirius looked at her apologetically. "Remus still isn't feeling well," he said. "He's been restricted to—to the Hospital Wing, as usual; and Madam Pomfrey has said he's not allowed any visitors. He's got, er..."
"A condition," James finished for him lightly. "He gets ill really easily. Just about once a month, it seems. He should be fine in a couple of days. I wouldn't worry too much."
"Oh. Okay," Melody said uncertainly, thinking of the many scars that marred his otherwise handsome face. Before he'd gotten sick, she had really been hoping Remus would be well enough to be there for her first Quidditch match; so that she could finally feel confident in front of him, the way she always felt when she was flying on a broom—or in the air, in general. Now, she just wanted him to get better; and was sick to her stomach with worry, despite James and Sirius's reassurances. "Will you—will you tell him I hope he feels better soon, if you see him before I do?"
"Of course," Sirius said sincerely. He squeezed her hand in a friendly manner. "I'm commentating the match. I'll be cheering so loudly, he'll probably be able to hear me from his sickbed."
Melody felt slightly better. "All right." She smiled and managed a few more bites of food, while James and Sirius wolfed their plates down as though they had not eaten in days. When they were done, Melody followed James out to the changing rooms, where they would prepare for the match before the spectators arrived to fill the stands.
Cheers erupted from the audience as the Gryffindor team zipped out onto the pitch, adorned in scarlet and gold. Across from them, the Slytherin team looked imposing in green and silver. Most of them were sneering at their opposition, but Regulus merely raised an eyebrow at Melody, who cracked a small smile.
Below them, Sirius, at the commentator's stand, had just finished announcing the names of the players as they sped into the air. "We're looking forward to an exciting game, with a new Chaser, Beater, and Seeker for Gryffindor, and two new Beaters for Slytherin! Of course, we all know Gryffindor is the best, so I'm sure none of you lot will be surprised when the famed James Potter scores every goal, and our lovely new player, Melody Wright, catches the Snitch—"
"Mister Black," Professor McGonagall said primly, her nostrils flaring. Sirius grinned apologetically.
"And Madam Hooch has released the Snitch and the Bludgers—the Quaffle is in the air—the match has begun! James Potter, with the flawless, windswept hair, has immediately taken possession of the Quaffle, as we all knew he would. He passes to Murphy, who passes to Palmer—bugger it all, Palmer lets it slip through his fingers, Slytherin player Troy has it now, speeding towards the goal hoops—hit by a Bludger from Gryffindor Captain Barnes right as he shoots; that's gotta hurt! It's an easy save for Gryffindor Keeper, Atkinson, and they're off again."
The match proceeded in this frenzied manner; each team gaining the upper hand only briefly before losing it again. Melody, however, was only half-listening as she flew in slow circles high above the other players, searching the skies for a glint of gold. Regulus was mirroring her, keeping one eye on her movements, and the other on the match.
"Blast it, Slytherin scores again, and—that can't be legal, you bloody troll-faced cheating tossers!" Sirius roared. After one of the Slytherin Chasers had scored, another had been waiting below, to catch the Quaffle as it flew through the hoop. She threw it easily to the third Chaser, who dunked it through the far right goal while Atkinson was still guarding the left.
"Mister Black," Professor McGonagall spluttered. "Language, please!"
But Madam Hooch did not award a penalty to Gryffindor—the move had been a dirty one, but it was not illegal. The score was now 60-80 in Slytherin's favor.
Regulus had now taken his attention completely away from the match, and instead flew in a zig-zagging pattern, occasionally putting on a slight burst of speed with the intention of baiting Melody into thinking he had seen the Snitch. This was a tactic Melody had faced before, and so she was not fooled; although she made sure to keep watching Regulus out of the corner of her eye, in case he really did see it.
There was a slight fluttering to her distant right, and Melody zoomed towards it, knowing instinctively that it was the Snitch. Regulus spotted it a fraction of a second later than her, and soon they were both speeding towards it. Melody had a slight lead, but Regulus was a good flier with a better broom, and was gaining quickly on her.
"The Snitch has been spotted!" Sirius yelled excitedly. "Wright and, er, Black are heading straight for it, with no sign of stopping, even though it appears to be hovering mere inches away from the crowd!"
The golden ball was flitting back and forth next to the stands, where spectators were cheering or hissing and watching in suspense as the two Seekers streaked through the sky; two indistinct blurs of reddish-gold and silvery-green. A Bludger came hurtling towards them—who it had been aimed at was not clear, but both Seekers dodged it expertly, without breaking their stride.
Melody and Regulus were now neck and neck, and Regulus was veering towards her, trying to cut her off as he sped towards the Snitch. Melody would not be deterred, and she stayed her course, which led to the pair of them leaning against each other, shoulder to shoulder, as they struggled to be the first to arrive. Each stretched out a hand, and it seemed as though Regulus's fingers were about to brush against the Snitch's wings—but at the last second, Melody leapt into the air, grabbing the Snitch and landing back astride her broom, which had continued moving forward when she was not on it.
The crowd went wild as Regulus pulled up sharply to avoid crashing into the stands, and Melody pulled a backwards loop-de-loop to do the same, holding the Snitch out in her hand as she soared over the pitch.
"Melody Wright has caught the Snitch! Gryffindor wins 210-80!" Sirius shouted, his voice slightly raspy from all the yelling he'd done.
After the match, Sirius ran out to congratulate James and Melody. Most of the spectating students had already trickled out, after clapping Melody on the back, or casting her sour looks, if they supported Slytherin.
"I'm going to change really quick, and then we can head back to the common room," Melody said with a flush to her cheeks, still feeling the adrenaline from flying so well. "Care for a game of Exploding Snap?"
"Oh, er—we've got a ton of homework to do," James said, spreading his hands in apology. "Been putting it off for too long."
"We'll catch up with you later," Sirius assured her, ruffling her hair. Melody watched the two of them go, deflating slightly. She'd just helped Gryffindor win the first match of the season... didn't they want to at least talk about the high points of the match? Maybe they were growing tired of her. She couldn't blame them—James, Sirius, and Remus had been best friends for nearly six whole years before she'd popped into their lives. Frankly, it would be odd if they didn't ever want a moment on their own, without her.
Trying not to let it get to her head, and back to worrying about Remus now that the match was over, Melody changed out of her Quidditch robes and headed back to Gryffindor Tower alone. If Remus was allowed visitors, she'd be heading straight to the Hospital Wing right now. What sort of terrible illness was it, that Madam Pomfrey would not allow anyone near him?
"Oi, Wright girl," someone called over to her as soon as she got inside the castle. Bertram Aubrey was leaning against a statue in the Entrance Hall, clearly waiting for her. "Thought you'd never come back from the Quidditch Pitch."
"I would have had to come back eventually," Melody said matter-of-factly.
"True." Bertram brushed her comment off and got to the point he seemed to have been preparing to make. "You know, you're an excellent flier. Seems like you really know what you're doing on a broomstick."
"Well, I've been playing Quidditch for years, so I would hope I'd be decent at it by now," Melody said in the same tone she'd used before, although it was obvious what Bertram was playing at. She simply wasn't going to play along.
"The first Hogsmeade weekend is coming up," he went on, not even picking up the fact that she wasn't flirting back. "And I was thinking you'd have a much better time of it if you went with me, over anyone else of a lesser caliber who might have been planning to go with you."
Melody folded her arms, wondering if Bertram realized he was only digging his grave by insulting her friends. "Is that so?"
"Mhmm." Bertram straightened up, no longer using the statue for support, and put on what Melody supposed he thought was a charmingly seductive smirk. "I was thinking we could start off at Madam Puddifoot's; get a hot chocolate and get comfortable. I'll show you around the town, and then at the end of the night, you can have a ride on my broomstick."
Melody resisted the very strong urge to sputter in disbelief or hit him with a lovely Furnunculus curse, and instead started walking away. "I'll pass, thanks."
The look on Bertram's face was priceless—he obviously hadn't expected her to say no. "Wait, what? Why not?" he asked, a whininess creeping into his tone. He hurried to catch up, falling into step beside Melody as she began climbing the stairs. Bertram's voice deepened again, sounding smooth like it had before. "I can, you know... show you a few tricks."
"I'd rather not learn them from you," Melody stated calmly.
"Come on, surely you wouldn't rather spend time with those three misfits."
"Actually, I would."
"What, one man not enough for you?" he said with an edge to his voice, trying a different tactic. "Gotta have three at the same time?" Melody gave him a withering look, but didn't bother responding.
Bertram's eyebrows drew together angrily, and he reached for her arm, only to stumble in place. The Ravenclaw boy had gotten stuck in one of the trick steps.
"Bloody hell," he growled, almost losing his balance. "Aren't you at least going to help me out of this?"
"Don't see why I should," Melody said simply. She continued purposefully up the steps, leaving Bertram stuck on the staircase, to wait for another student—which wasn't likely, at this time of night—or for Filch to find him; the thought of which put a smile on Melody's face for the rest of the night.
Remus walked into the Great Hall after breakfast had already started the next day. Melody was so relieved to see him that she had to resist standing up and running to give him a hug. Instead, she had to wait patiently until he reached the table, taking the empty spot beside her.
He had a few fresh scratches along his face that were in the process of healing, but were clearly newer than any of his other marks and scars. "How are you feeling?" Melody asked anxiously; her inner mother hen taking over as she laid a hand across his brow without even realizing it.
Sirius and James, however, noticed this; and they shared a look that only the two of them could understand as Melody, embarrassed, removed her hand very quickly. She almost knocked over a goblet of orange juice in her haste, and resolved to sit with her hands folded tightly in her lap until she regained an ounce of coordination.
"I've been better," said Remus; a wan smile gracing his thin features. "But I'm all right; I promise. I get... ill... rather often, you see."
"They told me as much," Melody said, nodding across the table to the other two.
"I assure you, it's nothing to worry about," Remus told her, exhaustion apparent in his voice. "I hope you weren't up all night because of me. You look as though you've hardly slept—I don't mean that in a bad way, of course. You're still as pretty as ever."
This time, it was Remus who hesitated; embarrassed. James and Sirius looked at each other again, and Melody stared pointedly at her plate.
"Well... I was rather worried. You were in such a state when I helped you to the Hospital Wing."
"Thank you again for that," Remus said quietly. "I wouldn't have made it there on my own."
Melody didn't know what else to say, so she started picking at her toast. James seemed as though he was about to say something, but he instead scowled at Bertram Aubrey, who was leaving the Great Hall with his nose in the air.
"Little git," he muttered.
"What have you got against him?" Melody asked, recalling the moment she'd met him in front of their first Potions class of the year.
"He tried to ask Lily out last year," Sirius said bemusedly. "She turned him down, but James still wouldn't have it."
"He's not good enough for her," James sniffed, taking a swig of pumpkin juice. "And he goes through the girls in our year like a goblin pawing through Galleons; he's probably dated them all by now. He might try the fifth years next. I'm surprised he hasn't asked you out yet," he said, meaning Melody.
"Oh, he has," Melody recalled. James spit his pumpkin juice back into his goblet, and Sirius's jaw tightened.
"He has?" Sirius asked in a strained voice.
Melody flushed slightly, but she shrugged. "Yes, after the match last night. He tried to sell me on getting cozy with a hot chocolate; said I could ride his "broomstick" afterwards, but I'm not st—"
"HE SAID WHAT?!" Sirius roared, loudly enough that students at some of the other tables turned to look at him in shock. "That foul-mouthed, DUNG-BREATHING son of a motherless Hippogriff—I'll HEX HIM INTO NEXT TUESDAY if he so much as comes NEAR you—!"
Spots of color had appeared on Sirius's cheeks, and he'd half-risen out of his seat—but once his outburst was finished, he calmed considerably and sat back down, muttering about how much of a git Bertram was while James patted him on the back consolingly.
Melody's whole face displayed the shock she felt at witnessing Sirius's reaction. Beside her, Remus seemed calm, but his hands had curled into white-knuckled fists under the table when she'd described the way Bertram had asked her out.
James seemed indignant about Bertram as well, but he smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry, Mels; if any creeps ever mess with you, you tell us straight away. Not that you couldn't handle it yourself—we know you're smart and good with a wand—" he added, interrupting Melody's impending protest. "But just know you've got the three of us at your back, okay?"
"Okay," Melody said, trying not to let her voice sound so thick with emotion. What Bertram had said honestly hadn't bothered her that much—but knowing that these amazing boys, whom she'd known for so short a time, wanted to be there for her no matter what—it meant so much to her. Her fears that they had grown bored of her quickly faded away into nothingness.
"I hear you played very well in the match against Slytherin," Remus said mildly, unclenching his fists under the table. "I'm sorry I missed it."
"It's okay," Melody assured him. "I'm just glad you're on your feet again."
"Feeling up for Hogsmeade?" James asked him. Remus nodded, and Melody remembered that today was indeed the date of the first Hogsmeade trip of the year. She'd forgotten about it completely, what with the Slug Club dinner, the Quidditch match, and Remus falling ill so suddenly.
"Zonko's first, as usual," Sirius said decidedly, an excited smile slowly replacing the scowl he'd been displaying for the past ten minutes. "Then we'll have to pop in at The Three Broomsticks. Oh, and Honeydukes!"
Melody looked at each of them; glad that they were all smiling together again, even though Remus was looking as pale as she'd ever seen him.