A/C: It's important to note that this chapter, like many these past two years, is told in Harry's point of view.

February 8th, 1993

"We have a problem."

Eloise overlooked the assembled committee with emotions that fluctuated from sombre to irritation. "Yesterday Professor Lockhart was making inquiries into this year's Valentine's Day plans; and someone decided to not only show him our good-mood rings but also let him try a hand at making them better."

A good two-thirds of the group immediately groaned at the implication. At the same time, Parvati shrunk into her seat. Seeing this, Dean gaped at her. "Tell me you didn't!"

"I'm sorry!" She burst into tears. "He was so kind, and he's done so many incredible things, I didn't think he would break them!"

The others raised their eyes to the ceiling.

People still think he's brilliant?

Kids!

Girls!

Though no matter their thoughts on Parvati, the situation itself garnered only one line of emotion: We're fucked!

"Well he did break them, and now we have to replace them all before Sunday." Eloise took in an irritated breath, focusing her mind into action. Settling into a plan, she looked over each person with calculating eyes. "Mining the stones is going to take the longest. Stephanie, Kenneth, Patil, you stay up here with me. We salvage what bands we can and transfigure which ones we can't. The rest of you head down to the caves and start looking for stones. Don't be picky. We're on a deadline. Melissa, Domonkos, once the group fills some pouches, come back here to help with the rune stabilizers and cheering charms. If we're efficient on our end, one or both of you can head back down to get the other bags. If things are going well at the caves you can bring a spare hand back up here. Davis, stay at the caves. You're our rep if a Prefect or upper-year bothers the group. Got it?"

The mining group raced through the caves in a mad scramble. They searched rushed and awkwardly through the crystal part of the caves, moreso as the upper years had to transfigure socks into temporary pouches for everyone to make their collections.

"Do we even know how many we'll need?" Dean asked.

"Best not to think about it." Stephen answered. "Just grab what you can, and everyone upstairs will tell us when to stop."

So on they went. Casting diffindo, transfiguring tools, doing whatever they could to grab enough decent looking crystals and stones for the big event. Twenty minutes into the search, Melly accio'ed everyone's pouches and poured them into hers and Soros'. Declaring that they have three bags full (Yessir! Yessir!) the senior Slytherin's sped out of the caves to the meeting room.

As for the rest of them, the search continued. Yet barely a half hour passed by when Soros returned. "New instructions, everyone!" He beckoned the group closer with an apologetic grimace and a collection of stones in hand. "We must be a bit picky, after all. A lot of ours are too small, or get smaller after polishing. These few here are a good size. Keep them on you to compare with others you look at."

The group groaned at the news. Especially since that invalidated most of the stones currently in their pouches. Alas, they had to empty out the smaller stones and start over again.

More time passed. Another count was made. Fortunately this time went better than the last. "We have four bags. Who can come with me?"

Harry, seeing himself closer than most, volunteered for the run. So he and Soros raced out of the caves and turned into the dungeon corridor. They approached the next bend that leads to the stairwell, only to stutter into a stop as the junction turned to ice.

There came a sudden yelp from around the bend. In a flash of robes and hair Melly slid past them. Arms waving, lungs bellowing, bare feet slipped and turned skyward, causing her head to slam into the ice below with a sharp crack.

"We got the mudblood!"

"Get her!"

Everything happened so fast that Harry's wand came out and fired a jinx before he could even process the group that emerged from the bend. Some of them turned their wands on him, putting him immediately on the defensive. Then spells came shooting from his side, with Soros joining in on the attack.

Five, six, seven.

Seven on two. Even with Salvatore's training they were impossible odds. Most of the people fighting them were older, too. Much older than either of the boys. Soros was flung back. Something sharp hit Harry's hip. Still, Harry kept on fighting. We can't get the others. Melly's right there! If we go they'll be after her again. What's even going on?!

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?"

Like bellowing bells of mercy, Snape's voice brought the barrage of spells to a ceasefire.

He's never been so grateful for the potions master's presence in his life!

One of the boys in the large group sputtered dumbly. "They, uh, were attacking us!"

"Right!" Another boy added.

The other five facepalmed at the stupidity of the answer. Snape, likewise, sneered at the first boy. "A fourteen year old and a twelve year old were so bold as to attack you? All of you?"

The group paused, looking to each other for either assurances or for who should answer the question. Seeing the pause, Soros stepped forward. "Sir, they were attacking Bennett."
His head nodded to the edge of the ice. All three of them now noticing that she's not only knocked out cold, but is bleeding from her head. "She needs to be taken to the hospital wing!"

"...So it would seem." He turned to the other seven, studying their faces. "We will speak later of this, and I will deliver your punishments as necessary."

"But she's-!"

"You know what rule you broke!" He threatened darkly. "Do not speak. Do not moan. Return to your dormitory this instant! Leave us!"

The group stepped backwards, some slipping on ice as they did so. As they made their exit, Snape approached Melly's body. His head curled to the side, muttering a soft spell towards her head. Then, with another spell, her body levitated to waist-level. Keeping her a fair distance from his person, he used his wand to float her down the corridor. After watching all of this unfold, Harry and Soros gathered their things and followed after him. Approaching the steps, Harry spotted a pair of shoes a stride's distance from each other. Must be hers. He went to pick them up, only to find them stuck to the floor. With a grimace, he used finite and got them loose.

He quickened his pace to catch up with the others, limping as he did due to the cut on his hip. Once at Soros' side he muttered quietly to the boy. "You know what rule you broke. He wasn't talking about just fighting, was he?"

Soros shook his head. "No. …Second rule of Slytherin House: any problems between Slytherins stays between Slytherins." He gave a bitter scoff. "It appears having you there was a problem." His fist clenched, white-knuckled. "I told her to stay upstairs! She can't be alone down here! What was she thinking?"

The growl gave Harry a start. "This has happened before?!"

"Of course." He scoffed. "She is muggleborn and Slytherin. What did you expect?"

"But I thought…" His voice quieted, looking over at Melly's floating body. "She never told me."

"Hmph! Why would she?"

Harry whipped a glare at Soros. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Snape cleaved into the conversation. "If you two would stop your incessant bickering, I have need to concentrate."

The remark immediately shut the boy's up, forcing them to remain quiet all the way up to the infirmary. Once there, Snape -rather unceremoniously- dropped Melly onto one of the beds and called Madam Pomfrey over to attend to her. After that exchange of hands, Snape then turned on him and Soros, demanding they explain their side of the story. On hearing their lack of information, Snape sneered with displeasure. Though he became downright furious once he realized what VATIC was up to.

"You left a group of children, unsupervised, in a tunnel connected to the dungeons?!"

Soros argued against him. "Davis is there, and Merton is with them-"

"A first year student is hardly a deterrent, Mister Soros! And Graves has all the firepower of a wet matchstick. Every one of those children is now at risk due to your irresponsibility! And- for god's sake, Potter- is that blood?"

Both boys flinched to a start, each looking down to Harry's body. The cut, which Harry had barely put a thought to, had worsened enough that blood was leaking down his trousers. Harry's cheeks burned red. "Uh- yes, Professor."

Snape's eyes pinched closed. He grumbled quietly under his breath, "Merlin, save me from the idiocy of children!" then opened his eyes, glaring daggers at Harry. "Then get into a bed you imbecilic boy!"

To his embarrassment, Harry practically leapt from the spot into the bed beside Melly's. The sudden pressure of the act wrought an involuntary hiss of pain. Guess the cut was worse than he thought?

Soros, meanwhile, wasn't spared from the wrath of his Head of House. Despite his protests, the boy was dragged away by Snape in order to retrieve the rest of the miners and escort them back to the meeting room. A part of Harry felt bad for the other boy. That said, he also felt relief once they left the room. His body relaxed into the bed, and the past hour flitted into his consciousness as his mind finally had time to slow down from the adrenaline of it all.

Just… What was all that about? Sure, he's heard some older students use the M-word before, but they've never actively attacked like that. Right? It must have happened in her first year. He considered. It's the only logical explanation. Though, if that's true, why attack now? The diary attack? The articles about Voldemort and the Chamber? That must be it. They must have been biding their time until now.

His thoughts were interrupted as Madam Pomfrey came to his bed. His injury wasn't much of a fuss to heal. A quick chain of spells healed and cleaned the wound. Although it healed quick enough, the Matron instructed that he rest for a while before leaving the infirmary. That was fine by him. With everyone already on their way back upstairs Harry was certain he had time to wait before helping them with the new good-mood rings.

After a short while a groan came from the other bed, followed by a quiet. "Ah, goddamn it."

Harry pushed off the bed and came to his friend's side. Her eyes were closed, with one hand pressed against the bandage on her head. "Hey, Melly. Are you alright?"

"Huh?" One eye peaked open. Seeing him, she gave a pained smile. "Oh, hey Harry." She waved gently with her other hand. "Don't mind me. Just had a prank backfire on me, is all."

His body went cold. "A prank?"

"Yeah." She shrugged lightly. "Was setting a trap in the transfiguration classroom where the Weasleys usually sit first-thing. They must have hidden something there already since there was a bit of a boom! But it's no big deal. I'll be out of here by dinner, I'm sure of it."

The longer she talked, the colder he got. With it, his arms shuddered and forced his fists to close tightly, nails digging into his palms. Then, with effort, he responded to the tale with clenched teeth. "You know, pranks seem to backfire on you a lot, don't they?"

His friend shrugged lightly. "Eh, you win some, you lose some." She tried to laugh, but winced from the pain in her skull. "Well, some harder than others. It's all in good fun, though."

"That's… hard to believe." He clicked his tongue. "...Especially since the transfiguration classroom is nowhere near the route from VATIC to the caves."

"Why would I need a route from VATIC to…" She trailed off. A small gasp came in as her face stilled. With eyes no longer closed, she turned over to Harry; eyes questioning, and somewhat fearful. "Oh. That. …I- I thought we had time, so I- took a detour, and-"

"Melly, I was there! I saw what they did!"

The girl flinched back in horror. "Harry, I can explain-"

"Explain?! Or just lie to me again!" His fists slammed on the edge of the bed. "How many times, Melly? How many times have you lied to me about this?!"

"It's- it's not that bad."

"Not that bad?! Every time you've been in here it's been painful! You were here twice a month last year! And those are just the times I know about!"

"And I'm here less now. It's getting better!"

"So you're saying it was worse before?"

She bit her lips closed. Hesitantly she answered. "...I never said that."

"But it's the truth, isn't it?"

The girl had the audacity to be annoyed by the question. "NEWT students graduate, I get older, it gets better. What's wrong with that?"

"What's wrong is that it shouldn't be happening in the first place!" Harry felt tempted to bring in an "ask an adult" example, only to dismiss it immediately as futile. He needs something that will make sense for her, of all people. "Besides, aren't you all for revenge pranks?"

"Well, yeah. I do a few silly ones to get back at them. It doesn't stop anything, though."

"Then go harder with them." He rallied coldly. "They're hurting you! Those seven could have killed you! You should hit them back harder so that they never think of hurting you again!"

"I'm not going to attack them, Harry!"

"Why not?!"

"They're children!"

"And you aren't?"

"Of course not! I'm-!" Her mouth snapped closed. Her face and eyes closed off into something hard and unreadable.

"...Melly?"

She didn't answer. Instead, her body leaned down and turned slowly in the opposite direction. Her head flinched with the action. Even then, she continued until her back was completely turned to him.

"Melly, come on, don't be like that." He walked around the bed, finding her eyes firmly shut and her face screwed with anger and pain. "You're putting pressure on your wound. Either way, you can't avoid facing me."

That barb was enough to make her move off of the bandage. Now she turned her back onto the bed, eyes open only just a little, simmering with anger and focused skyward in defiance.

"Melly, what did you mean by-"

"Don't." She growled.

Harry sighed, finding himself at a loss. Slowly he sank onto the edge of the bed. With pleading, he spoke quietly. "I just… I don't understand. None of this makes sense! You've been hiding so much and- I want to understand. Melody, help me understand. Please. I want to help you."

For a quiet moment, they remained at a stalemate. Harry watched, patiently, as her breath became more laboured. Eyes pinched closed; and, with it, came a trail of tears. Last, her hands grasped closed around the sheet as she answered softly. "I- I can't."

Harry moved his hand forward, taking hold of her hand in his and squeezing it gently. "You can, Melody. It's alright. I'm here."

Melly's hand squeezed back. A shuddering breath and more tears passed. "Houdini… we're alone?"

At the prompt, Harry looked around the room, finding it empty. "We are."

She took in another breath. "It's… hard to explain." Harry said nothing in answer. It's something that Marshhaven's done to him, sometimes. Keeping quiet just enough to bring an explanation forward.

"...The way I experience things is… different from other people." Harry nodded, knowing well what she meant by that. "It's fine, usually. I just, I think about it, and then it passes; and that's alright. But… sometimes things… overlap." She chewed on her lip, eyes looking distant. "It's like… When you look in a mirror, you see yourself, right? Once in a while something changes, but that's small. It just means you're growing up, right?

"With me, though… sometimes I look in the mirror and things are just- wrong. The wrong shape, the wrong colour, the wrong- the wrong everything! And it's like I forget what I'm supposed to be. A kid, a toddler, an adult, -oh, fuck, I'm fourteen!" Her face scrunched tight with (what looked to Harry as) embarrassment. Luckily she continued on, this time with more exasperation. "So I can't just- 'oh, just hurt them back. They're your schoolmates.' It doesn't always work that way. Most times, sure, they're older than me. Other times, they're just kids. I can't just turn into a child abuser! What would that make me?"

She took a break from the rant to look over at Harry. Her eyes narrowed. "Let me guess, you're thinking 'That's crazy talk. Obviously you're a teenager.' Right?"

Harry flinched back. "No, I-"

"I know how it sounds." She cut through angrily. "It's weird and stupid and downright insane; and, honestly, I don't care. I don't want it. I don't want to think about it. I just want to live my life. And if that means having to lie about pranks and dating and bigots, I will tell any lie I damn well please so long as those thoughts get pushed back to the dark where they belong!" Her arms flopped away from him and slapped against the bed. "There! Now you understand. Happy?"

He couldn't answer her. That explanation was… weird and insane, like she said. That said, with the way she talked about it, Harry could tell that Melly was serious about it. Honest about it. Honest and angry and… and afraid. The thought struck his mind, triggering a memory in him near-forgotten but loathed to recall.

"It's only a faint touch of death. Such a charming feature for one of the living to have, isn't it?"

With all that's happened this year he had almost forgotten the Fat Friar's comment about her. Is that related? Has Melly gotten so lost along the timeline that she's not only seen her death, but gotten stuck in it long enough for it to leave a trace? The thought disturbed him. Considering that, her explanation seemed less weird or insane, and more just… pitiable.

He has to say something. Not a platitude. Something useful! How does it all weigh in on what they were talking about before? He took a breath, trying to bury down the feelings as he spoke. "Okay. An adult shouldn't hurt a child, so we have to work around that."

"...That's all you have to say? After all that?" She asked, reasonably confused and somewhat suspicious of the topic return.

Harry shook his head. "I have a lot I want to ask about it; but it's pretty obvious that you don't want to talk about it anymore, so we can drop it for now."

"Or always."

Harry flickered into a sad smile. He'll make no promises on that. "So how do we make sure they don't hurt you again?"

"Same way as usual." Melly dismissed, "Buddy system to avoid the older students, VATIC and the Pledge to curb the rest."

"Those are hardly solutions, Melody."

"They're making progress." She argued.

Harry rolled his eyes. "People finishing their NEWTs isn't a solution, it's graduation. Besides, it's not really progress when you're here so often that Pomfrey is used to seeing you."

"Well what's your plan then, Oh Wise Houdini?"

"Well… if the issue is about adults hurting children, would you oppose someone who's always a child retaliating on your behalf?"

On hearing that, Melly fixed him with a dubious expression. "...Are you about to go Honey Badger on me?"

Harry blinked. "What's a honey badger?"

In a positive -and mildly concerning- change, Melly's face brightened into a shark-like grin. "As long as you don't tell me what you're planning on doing to them, I will happily explain to you what a honey badger is!"