Thursday, September 12th, 1991
Time passed in a surreal sense for Melissa. It seemed like things were both happening and not happening from canon in a sort of disharmony. For example, Neville Longbottom still managed to break his wrist from the first years' first flying lesson. However, as that was both on Tuesday and with the Ravenclaws, nothing else of note happened that day. That said, Draco still snatched Neville's remembrall, but that was only when the latter boy got the package this morning, and McGonagall managed to settle that issue before it could even become an issue.
Draco himself was an enigma Melissa couldn't quite figure out. He's certainly a smarmy and boastful little boy. In fact, she's overheard a few of the older Slytherins threaten to cast silencing spells on the annoying blond. Though their politically wiser friends would hush that notion with reminders that Lucius Malfoy is on the school board of governors. All that considered, when outside of their living areas, Draco Malfoy would suddenly become more… not quiet, per se. She wasn't sure if introspective was the right word, either. His physical demeanour remained snobbish, but he spoke pointedly, sometimes even courteously, in a way that surprised Melissa and even some other students who had expected different behaviour from the pureblood.
"His family is finally training him." Garrick had explained yesterday when they were alone together at the library. "Honestly, a boy of his breeding should have learned restraint at eight, but I suppose the Malfoys tend to put money and luxury over political shrewdness these days."
Melissa supposed that the explanation made sense. Lucius Malfoy screwed himself over politically this past summer when it came to Harry's adoption. This slow change in Draco must have been the result of one summer's worth of etiquette and political lessons.
If only the boy got those lessons sooner, we'd hear less of him. She snickered at the thought.
"What's got you laughing?" Amy asked, her eyes currently focused on the scratching of runes in front of her.
"I was just thinking about the first years' flying lesson today. Do you think any of them will end up like Longbottom?"
"Who knows." The brunette shrugged. "Though I suppose you'll let us know."
"What do you mean?"
Amy looked up from the text and fixed the girl with a 'Do you think I'm stupid' look. "You're the only person here that doesn't have class after this, and both the Slytherins and your 'brother' are in that class. Obviously you're going to watch."
Melissa had the decency to be bashful about the points. "You make a point."
"Points." The other girl smirked. She then turned back to her notes with a nonchalant note of "Have fun."
"Thanks."
"Let me know if any of them have potential for the team next year." Adrian whispered from behind them.
Melissa couldn't help but snicker at the Chaser's insistence. "Sure thing, Pucey."
Realistically she shouldn't be here right now. She should be out searching for the Room of Requirement while everyone else is away with lessons. That said, Melissa couldn't fight the urge to check in on this flying lesson. She didn't go on the grounds to watch, risking the ire of Madam Hooch. Instead, she went out on a walkway a few storeys above and propped herself on a crenel with a good vantage point. From there, she was able to observe as the students learned to call up their brooms (one in particular shot up for a dark-haired boy, causing her to smile with pride and knowing). After they mounted and adjusted their holds under the yellow-eyed Madam's watch, the students all kicked off the ground. Each of them hovered a good five or six feet off the ground. Scratch that, most did, while a few puffs and snakes wobbled awkwardly enough to be seen from afar. The flying coach distracted herself in helping the stragglers while the rest of the students went back down. From there the students practiced moving forward a few feet at a time, each time stopping for more instruction.
Okay, this is a lot more boring than I expected. The witch confessed to herself. With all of the book anticipation about this lesson, the reality of a purely non-canon first flying lesson had left her expectations falling short. After a few more minutes of watching the flying lesson, Melissa found herself bored enough to hop off the crenel and walk back inside.
With fourth period almost over, she knew she wouldn't be able to search all of the second floor today. Still, it wouldn't hurt to look around while she had time. She started from one corner of the school to another. Walking back and forth in triplicate through the corridors. The bell sounded off after some time, but Melissa pressed on while midway through an unused corridor. Sensing she was losing time, she opted to check one last corridor before heading back downstairs. Once, twice, three times she walked through the corridor, and came with nothing in return once again.
"What are you doing?" A familiar voice inquired.
Melissa turned around to find Harry, Kevin, and Justin watching her curiously from the corner of the corridor. "Hello, boys. I'm just looking for a practice room."
"Still?" Harry asked. Melissa nodded passively.
"But you weren't looking in any of the rooms. Just walking back and forth." Justin pointed out.
The observation caused Melissa to grimace. She didn't realize they had been there long enough to notice. "It's not just any room. I heard there's a room that can be anything you want it to be as long as you walk past it with the right intent."
"Really? That's wicked!" Kevin exclaimed.
"Mhmm!" Melissa agreed. She glanced over the corridor, slightly dimmed by the number of doorways. "Trouble is, I have no idea where to find it."
The three boys agreed it was a shame, as well. They brainstormed ways to find the mystery room, but with Melissa hoping for secrecy, they agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea to ask a professor or other students.
Kevin then gained a contemplative look. "What about the ghosts? They've been in the castle for ages, after all. They should know."
"I suppose it couldn't hurt." Melissa considered. "That said, it's hard to know who to ask. Hmm, oh! There's one nearby. I'll ask her." The small brood followed her as she walked down a couple corridors, stopping outside of a room with an Out of Order sign in front of it. "Here we are!"
"Um, Bennett, that's the girl's bathroom." Justin pointed out.
"Obviously." She smirked. "Relax, I won't make you wait." Rather than walk inside, she merely opened up the door wide. "HEY MYRTLE, ARE YOU IN HERE?"
There was a rumble from inside. Then came a bursting as a toilet exploded! The boys all jumped back as a ghost flew towards them screaming. "NO BOYS ALLOWE- Oh! Hello Melissa!" The adolescent-like ghost blinked at the witch and eyed the three boys with disdain. The boys themselves were both frightened and confused by her quick-changed anger. "Most unusual. You shouldn't be bringing boys here, Melissa. What would Headmaster Dippet say?"
"I'm sure Dippet doesn't mind." She replied, not bothering to correct the ghost's timeline. "I'm not bringing them inside. We just wanted to know if you know of any secret rooms in the castle?"
"Secret rooms? Hmm… no, I can't say I do."
"Really?" She flashed a look at all occupants in their circle, weighing some ideas in her head before pointing inside to the sinks. "Not even that one?"
"What one?" She looked to the sink, then to Melissa with an annoyed frown. "Are you trying to trick me!"
"No. No." She tried to assure her. "Sorry, I thought there was one in there. Nevermind, I'll check somewhere else. ...it was nice to see you?"
"Hmph!" Myrtle sniffed. "Yes, well, you as well. I suppose." With that, the ghost went floating off into the bathroom.
Melissa closed the door with a sigh and turned back to the boys. "Sorry about that. She's always been a prickly one."
"I'll say!" Wayne exclaimed. They all turned and walked down the corridor towards the stairway to the third floor. "Is there really a secret room in that bathroom?"
"Not exactly. There's a passageway in there. There are actually a lot of hidden passageways all over the school. There's one down by those tapestries over that hall that can take you up to Gryffindor Tower." She gestured to one hall in particular as they passed. "I don't know many of them, but Lee Jordan and the Weasleys know of a bunch. You can ask them sometime."
"So why not ask them about the room?" Harry asked.
"And let them know where I want to practice? No thanks! I'll be pranked for sure!"
The boys all laughed at that. From what had been said the previous week, it was quite clear that those Gryffindors in particular were a trio to watch out for when it comes to pranks. When they reached the staircase, Harry looked over to her. "We're going to head to the Trophy Room. If you want to come we can ask any ghosts we see about that room?"
Melissa weighed the options in her head. With the free period over, there wasn't much searching she could do now, anyways. "Sure, why not." Hopefully she'll have better luck next week.
Sunday September 22nd, 1991
As Melissa was leaving the great hall for a morning of homework, she found herself intercepted by a pensive-looking little brother.
"Morning, Harry. Is everything okay?"
"Can we talk?" His frown remained on his face.
"Sure." The girl blinked. "I'm heading for the library, if that's private enough?"
The boy nodded, and walked with her towards the library. "I got a letter from Uncle Sirius." He said in a hushed tone. "A friend of his is visiting him in London. Remus Lupin. He says that he, Uncle Sirius, and my dad were all really close before my parents died."
"Okay?" The confused girl remarked. "That's a good thing, isn't it?"
"I guess." Harry considered. "But, Melly, isn't he the one who's… you know…" His voice ducked into a quieter tone. "A werewolf?"
Wait, did I tell him that? Suddenly a flash of memory popped into her head from three months prior, way back at the Ministry of Magic. "...Oh."
Harry looked at her with disbelief. "You didn't know his name but you knew he was a werewolf?"
"Hey, I never said I knew everything." She argued.
Harry's expression went flat. "Melly, you always say you know everything."
"Oh, that doesn't count!" She dismissed it with a wave. She gave a loud, annoyed sigh and put a hand through her hair. "I mean, he didn't seem so bad. Besides, it's just a sickness, right? And he was friends with your family."
Harry seemed to have an internal battle with himself. "I suppose, but Susan was telling us about how hard it is for aurors to fight werewolves. There was a really bad one during the war named Fenrir Greyback that would kidnap kids and infect them to make a werewolf army."
"Yeesh. Well that's something. …Tell you what, we're already at the library. Why don't we grab some books about werewolves and you can decide for yourself? Hopefully ones that look at all sides of what they're like."
Harry nodded. "That's not a bad idea."
From there they went through the various shelves at the library. Melissa grabbed what she needed for her homework, then helped Harry peruse for werewolf books. While reaching for a book on magical canines, Harry jumped back to find Corin suddenly appear beside him, practically diving for the same book. "Can we read this first? Great! Thanks!" The boy exclaimed in a hurried breath, then ran off with Roberta Hawkworth at his heels.
Befuddled, yet intrigued, Harry and Melissa ended up following them out to the group tables. The two ravenclaws sat themselves at one table where Sierra and Willamina MacFusty were already sitting with a small pile of books.
"Uh, sorry, can we take a look at that one when you're done?" Harry asked.
"Hmm? Oh, sure." Corin replied as he flipped through the book.
From another side of the library, Merton arrived and sat at the table. "I found one on Greek mythology that should help."
"Great!"
"SHH!" Madam Pince chastised loudly.
"What are you looking for?" Melissa asked in a low tone. "Creature homework?"
"Something even better!" Willamina replied eagerly. "The Weasleys found a cerberus in the castle!"
"A what?" Harry asked.
"A three-headed dog." Merton explained. "In legends it guards the entryway to the underworld."
"Or the third floor corridor, in our case." Sierra added.
"You mean those two actually went to the forbidden corridor?" Melissa asked incredulously. Just great. Leave it to those troublemakers…
"Mhmm, we're trying to figure out what it could be guarding. I think it's some sort of treasure." Roberta smiled, as though eager to seek for said treasure head-on.
"If it is, it should be easy to get past it." Merton noted, looking at Melissa. "In our song about Eurydice, Orpheus put Cerberus to sleep with his lyre so-"
"Okay, well, have fun with risking your lives. Harry and I have homework to get to." The witch dismissed, practically dragging Harry away by the arm.
"What was that all about?" Harry asked.
"They're being stupid. Going down there is just asking for trouble."
Harry said nothing for a moment. The two of them walked on until they found a secluded part of the study area.
"Hey, Melly, you wrote that song Graves was talking about, right?"
"Uh, yeah. It was an audition piece, really. Something I cooked up a couple years ago. Why do you ask?"
"No reason." He shrugged casually. "It's nice you have a song on the radio now."
The girl nodded and gave a half-hearted smile. "Yeah. It's pretty cool. Now, let's get cracking on these books."