Thursday, November 4th, 1993
Melissa walked down the stairs in a sluggish daze. There weren't any prefects she was close to this time of the week, and ended up among her Hufflepuff classmates mostly by accident. She hadn't been paying attention to them or what was being said. As a result, she ended up sitting beside them at lunch without notice or care.
Maybe if she wasn't splayed face-down on the table she'd have picked up on it.
When Harry walked into the great hall for lunch, he was immediately waved over by Cedric. The rest of the quidditch team was there, so he knew it was something important. "What's going on?"
"Bad bit of luck on our end," Cedric started. "Slytherin's been excused from playing this Saturday, so Hooch scheduled for us to take their place."
One of the chasers, Juliet McCormack, gasped, "But that's in two days!"
"Not to mention the weather's awful," MacFusty added. "Bet you Slytherin's doing it on purpose. Making some dumb excuse to avoid playing in the rain."
Harry snapped without thinking, "Draco had to leave for his dad's funeral! That's not an excuse!"
"Whoa, easy there, Potter," MacFusty put a placating hand up. Harry did stop, but took satisfaction when the rest of the team went ashen and justifiably shamed with their reactions.
"Regardless," Cedric picked up again, "we're playing this Saturday, so we have to squeeze in another practice tomorrow as well as figure out strategies today. That'll get us used to playing in the rain as well. Potter, Gryffindor has a new seeker this year, so she's a bit of a wild card. Think you'll be alright?"
Harry nodded. Ron's sister was the new seeker, he knew. Considering how she normally acts shy around him, that'll probably be an advantage in his favour.
"He will," a quiet voice answered. The group looked down at the lunch table beside them, where Harry only just realized Melly was sitting there today. Well, sitting wasn't the right word. She had her head in her arms, as if taking a nap. Those sitting around her simply shrugged their shoulders when he gave them questioning glances. "Won't be any dementors there to mess things up. He'll be fine."
Disturbed and confused, an observation that easily fit either the Seer or the Puffs who heard that odd remark. Luckily people this week were still too fearful to inquire into it. The team broke apart shortly after that. Harry opted to stick around, taking the spot MacFusty vacated to sit far from the eerie drama.
"How are you feeling, Melody?"
Melly took a beat before answering. "Is it too late to disappear into the muggle world?"
Beside him, Merton gave a pitying smile. "Might want to get your O.W.L.s first, Giggles. Otherwise you'll lose your wand again."
Her answer was only a loud groan. Regardless, Harry felt prompt to ask, "What happened?"
"I just spent the entire morning dealing with Trelawney's smug speeches," Melly muttered angrily. "Apparently Pettigrew's jailbreak is both a punishment for not taking divination seriously and a great showcase about the 'wonders of the art', because that's all I needed to hear today."
"It was pretty bad," Merton agreed. "She gave Mel an extra dream journal and basically ordered her to write down every prediction she ever makes. Even if it's just practice for class work."
"Speaking of which," Sierra mused, "you should write in what you just said about the match."
Another groan from Melly proved just how keen she was on all that. Honestly, Harry understood her feelings. That was her big fear, after all. People judging her every word as if it was prophecy. That's what she told him, way back before his first year; and now look at what's happened.
"Anything I can do to help?"
A loud groan was all he got in response.
It took until the next day to realize that more than one part of his family was hurting.
I don't know what to do about it, Sirius wrote. Every instinct is telling me to go out and find the rat bastard. Only trouble is that who knows when or where he made it to shore, or even if he did. Maybe we're lucky and he drowned.
Sorry. Probably shouldn't have written that. But after everything he did, betraying James and Lily, landing me in Azkaban, he doesn't deserve to get away just like that. I don't know what kind of dark magic he pulled off to do it, or why he waited all this time to do it. What I do know is that he's more dangerous than I expected. So you need to be careful, pup. I don't know if he's planning to hide again, but in case he doesn't, just make sure you're safe, alright?
The next letter, one from Tonks, talked a bit about the investigation. There hasn't been much luck. Apparently they only knew Pettigrew escaped because a tracking spell showed he got into the water right beside where the boats always land; and the boat that had already returned to Britain had rat droppings inside it. So, unfortunately, Sirius' hopes were dashed on that account. That aside, Tonks' letter had stranger news.
Had the unlucky chance to meet my other aunt. She was at ground zero when the explosion happened, so only us witches were able to do any interrogating. Tried to take a bite out of me when she found out who I was! She's a madwoman, that one. Good thing she's behind bars. Mind you, she got beat around from the rubble, not to mention inhaling poison isn't good for anyone, witch or wizard. Cuz of that, the old man is trying to force the Ministry to have her put in St Mungos. Can't imagine anything good coming out of that. Luckily she's a Lestrange and not a Black anymore, so he doesn't have much say in that. He's being persistent about it, but I'm sure the Ministry will keep her locked up.
In short, this is a mess.
Pettigrew just murdered a bunch of people, escaped prison, and is out loose in the country. His uncle is dead (not that anyone else seemed to notice or care. …He probably shouldn't care, all things considered.) His closest slytherin friends are going through hell as a result. And he has a quidditch match tomorrow!
Okay, maybe that shouldn't be up on the list. But still, it's a mess.
Sure enough, the quidditch match was a messy one. It happened during a howling storm, leaving everyone shivering with cold. He was only fortunate that he was able to outstrip Ginny Weasley in a race for the snitch, thus claiming a victory for Hufflepuff and ensuring they could go back inside for warmth as soon as possible.
Good thing for him, the next day was a VATIC meeting, so he had every excuse to stay indoors.
"Alright, let's get to business!" Dean clapped his hands with a grin, "Last meeting we agreed that our gift theme will be chocolates. So, what kinds of chocolates is everyone thinking, and how can we make them a magical experience for everyone at school?"
Annabel raised her hand. "I've been thinking of charmed chocolates, like chocolate frogs, but with a cuter animal."
"Oh, nice one!" Dean wrote the idea on the blackboard. "What else?"
Parvati went next. "We should do white chocolate mixed with strawberries. That'll make it colourful."
"Oh, or dark chocolate with cherries!" Kenneth added.
"People like different kinds of chocolate," said Stephen. "Instead of one chocolate per person, we could make packages of different flavours?"
"That'd be a lot of work," said Tracey. "I was thinking of a big piece per person, like a heart-shaped chocolate bark."
"I'll write them all down. We'll talk it over once everything's on the board."
"I've been looking into edible flowers," Melly said. "They're a good way to make our chocolates look unique and colourful, plus flowers are another symbol for valentine's day."
Dean stopped writing and looked at her strangely. "...People can eat flowers?"
"Apparently," she shrugged. "I got a list from a classmate about what we can use. Of the four we can harvest in winter, most have a minty flavour. Though sweet violets are, well, sweet instead of minty; and pansies are just a little minty but super colourful."
"Huh. Well, I'll write those two down."
More ideas came around, both flavourful and magical alike. Nearly all were written down (anything mood-altering or worked as a mild love-potion got shot down immediately- From Harry, most vehemently, after his reaction to last year's rings.)
As they discussed logistics for each idea, Astoria eventually asked, "You all realize we don't have to make them ourselves, correct?. We can have the house elves make them for us."
Parvati shook her head. "It's not about the work, it's about the spirit of the holiday."
"Chocolates taste best when they're made with love," Luna added.
Some looked at Luna oddly for that, though Annabel was inspired. "My mum says the same thing! There's nothing better than seeing people enjoy a meal you've made with your own two hands."
Astoria frowned slightly, but gave a nod. "If you insist. Though do any of you know how to make chocolate?"
"No, but we have time to figure that out," Merton said.
Kenneth smiled and added, "That's the benefit of VATIC. We get to try new things and learn creative and fun spells along the way. Like this, iris tinctura." He waved his wand at a piece of white chocolate Parvati had brought for a demonstration. Instantly the pink-and-white bar transformed into a spattering of bright colours.
"WOW!" The younger years gasped. They leaned closer to look at the colourful transformation. "We should do that to them!"
"We used this charm two years ago," Kenneth said. "I can teach you how to do it, but it'll be too much of a repeat to do it again. We need to do something unique from the other years. Any other ideas come to mind?"
More hands shot in the air, and the older students listened on with a smile as a new wave of inspiration took hold.
The session ended in time for dinner. They made their way down, happily chatting about their ideas and how to research and practice them. As they encountered the rest of the student body, topics changed to avoid leaking the big surprise.
"So, Miller," Annabel started, "how's your da fairing since the breakout?"
The breakout? Melissa tilted her head to listen in.
"He's doing well. A little shaken from what happened, but I think he's happy to be working in the field for the time being."
"I don't blame him. That must have been scary."
"I try not to think about it," he said, a touch sullen. "I'm just thankful he had the night off."
"Mmm, I see what you mean."
"Miller…" Melissa said slowly. It wasn't quite a question, something mixed with a question, a call, and a realization. She turned her head to two first years. "Your dad is Eaton Miller."
Byron nodded. "He is."
A collection of thoughts made whizzing swirls in her mind. Tiny vooms of thought, mostly unimportant. When the swirls died down a touch she gave him a solid nod. "He's a good man. I'm glad he's alright."
Those words brought a pained but grateful smile. "Me, too. Thanks, Bennett."
They walked on, departing to their separate tables once they arrived at the great hall. Her friends knew better than to ask many questions about how the meeting went. That said, Dom and Amy expressed a wistful sadness of missing out on this year's arrangements.
As dinner reached a half-way point, a ding of glassware commanded silence across the room. Dumbledore stood up at the head table. "If I could have your attention please. As you all know, this past week we received grave news from Azkaban prison. In the investigations that came from that event, it has been determined that there is a strong possibility that the escaped convict, Peter Pettigrew, may be making his way towards Hogsmeade or Hogwarts itself. As such, the Minister of Magic has issued an ordinance to have several dementors stationed at Hogsmeade and near the borders of the school starting tomorrow."
NO!
Dumbledore talked on. Whatever was said, though, didn't reach her ears. Her body chilled, a near reflection to the cold her memory knew deep in its bones. Shaking, she curled into herself.
"Mel?"
Wordless emotions shredded through her. Pinpricks of razor-sharp knives cut into her muscles, her mind, her soul. Lacing within them scars of pain that never truly went away. Damned in the knowledge that, even within the walls of Hogwarts, she was once again trapped inside a prison from hell.