Power of the Musea

Here is the last chapter of this fic. I hope everyone's enjoyed it, and I really appreciate everyone's comments and support. Now, if you're sad that this is the end and you want to hear more of Melanie and museas...I will be posting a sequel shortly (very, very shortly) titled "Secrets of the Musidora" and it starts right where this one leaves off. Anyway, enjoy the last chapter and I hope most of you decide to keep reading!!

Chapter 22: Tomorrow

Rhonda was so focused on running for help that she didn't see the person in front of her until she ran into them.

"Watch where you're going!" a voice sneered.

Rhonda peered through the dark to see blonde hair and a pointy nose. "Draco! Come with me!" She grabbed his hand and tried to pull him back towards the battle.

"Let go!" he yelled, wrenching his arm from her grasp.

"It's Melanie!" she shouted, gasping for breath. "She's dying...we don't know how to stop it!"

Draco looked back at the hallway, then nodded and followed her back. By the time they reached Melanie's side again, the dome barely covered Hermione's crouching figure. Rhonda and Draco squeezed into the bubble. Draco pushed back Hermione and grabbed Melanie's hand.

"Melanie!" he called, grabbing his wand. "Ennervate."

"I've already tried that," Hermione said, trying to block the curses of the one Death Eater still attacking the dome.

"Where'd the others go?" Rhonda asked.

"Downstairs. Protego!"

"Melanie, come on, wake up!" Draco pleaded, shaking her hand.

"You need to come up with something better than that!" Hermione told him.

"Shut up, Granger!" Draco returned. He pointed his wand at her and started to whisper different incantations.

"Not working!" Hermione shouted desperately.

"I know!" He continued the string of incantations, finishing with one that was slightly song-like.

"It just got bigger!" Rhonda said as the dome retreated from her face a few inches.

"That's it!" Hermione shouted. "Draco, you have to sing to her!"

"What!?"

"That's her power-music. You two share an emotional bond, maybe if you sing to her, it'll restore her strength."

Draco glared at her as the dome returned to its previous size, almost scraping the end of Rhonda's nose. He sighed and bent his mouth down to her ear. He sang a melody to her that was so soft that neither Hermione nor Rhonda could hear it.

"There we go, keep it up!" Rhonda shouted encouragingly as the dome began to expand. It grew slowly at first, and then began to expand more quickly until it burst, showering blue light over the hallway.

Melanie opened her eyes and looked at Draco. "Draco?" she asked.

Draco let out his breath in relief. "C'mon, let's get you to the hospital wing," he said, grabbing her and pulling her to her feet.

"We'll take care of him!" Hermione shouted, blocking a curse from the Death Eater that had been attacking the dome.

Draco half-carried Melanie down the hall towards the hospital wing.

"Draco," she moaned weakly. "Where did you come from?"

"Rhonda found me. She brought me to help you."

"There are Death Eaters, attacking," she gasped.

"Don't worry, they won't get you," he assured her.

"Don't be too sure, Mr. Malfoy," a voice sneered. Draco spun, wand in hand, to face a cloaked Death Eater that had appeared out of the darkness. "This is the last thing I'd expect, to see you helping one of them."

The figure slowly walked towards them, holding their wand in front of them. "And I thought the Dark Lord was disappointed in your father, imagine what he will think of the Malfoys now, now that you have failed to complete your task."

Draco did not answer; he only tried to keep himself between Melanie and the Death Eater while still holding her up.

"You know, Draco, what the price of failure is," the Death Eater teased, a smile forming in the darkness. "You should have known that if your mission did not kill you, that we would! Avada Kedavra!"

A flash of green light lit up the hallway, but it turned into a mist of green smoke as it approached Draco and Melanie.

"Impossible!" the Death Eater said, their voice quivering. Draco looked, eyes wide, around him in confusion. He locked his eyes on the Death Eater, standing, just as confused, in front of them.

"Stupefy!" Draco shouted, and the Death Eater collapsed on the floor. Draco quickly pulled Melanie towards the hospital wing before the Death Eater could recover.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Draco whispered as they approached the hospital wing. "Somehow, at Christmas. I suspected, but..." He looked down and saw that Melanie could barely open her eyes. He continued to pull her along, but she suddenly resisted his help.

"I have to go back," she said, her eyes opening wide. "Something's happened."

"What? I have to get you to the hospital wing."

"Something's wrong, someone's...there's someone gone..." she trailed off weakly. Draco looked at her worriedly.

"Hang in there, Melanie," he whispered as he pulled her through the doors to the hospital wing.

"What in the name of Merlin!" Madame Pomfrey shouted as she hurried towards him. "What happened?"

"There are Death Eaters in the castle. When I saw her, she was surrounded by a blue dome, but it burst when..." Draco trailed off as they laid her in a bed.

"Death Eaters, in Hogwarts!" she cried. "Impossible!" She walked to the edge of the room and grabbed a bottle of potion.

"It's true, they're all fighting. I just managed to get her out," Draco explained, sitting next to Melanie's bed.

"No, it's impossible," Madame Pomfrey said as she returned with the bottle of potion, "not in Hogwarts. Here, drink this, dear."

She helped Melanie drink the potion. Melanie started to breathe more calmly, and her eyes stayed open a bit easier. Draco still kept his eyes on her and her pale and weak figure. Melanie turned her eyes towards Madame Pomfrey. "It's true, they're by the astronomy tower."

This time, Madame Pomfrey did not give an immediate rebuttal to their claims. Instead, she looked worriedly at the door.

As though on cue, Lupin and Tonks burst through the door with a bloody Bill Weasley. They didn't even notice Melanie and Draco as Madame Pomfrey led them to a bed further down.

"Red hair..." Melanie said.

"Must be one of Weasel's brothers," Draco commented, watching them walk past.

"Draco, are you, were you..."

"Don't worry about anything now, just try to rest and get your strength back," he told her, grabbing her hand with both of his.

Melanie nodded, and neither of them spoke while everyone started to gradually appear in the hospital wing. The small figure of Professor Flitwick was brought in, but, after a quick inspection by Madame Pomfrey, was allowed to move about. Neville was placed in a bed near Melanie, where he fell asleep, but was proclaimed fine by Madame Pomfrey. Melanie was relieved when she saw Rhonda, Hermione, Ron, Luna, and Neville trickle in on their own. Most of them did not notice Melanie and Draco by the door and went immediately to Bill's bedside.

Melanie just laid there, trying to listen to their conversations to find out what happened. Most of the night was a blur to her, and she was trying to fit pieces together.

The answers started coming when Harry and Ginny walked into the room. Both of them immediately walked to Bill's bedside, where Lupin gave them an overview of Bill's condition. Melanie mentally tried to count everyone in her head-Neville was safe in the bed across from her, Ron, Hermione, Luna, and Rhonda were standing around Bill's bed, and Harry and Ginny had just walked in. Everyone seemed to be quite safe, yet she had a gnawing feeling in the back of her mind.

A simple statement from Ginny explained everything.

"Ron, Dumbledore's dead," she said softly. Melanie felt her heart fall into her stomach. She couldn't think of anything, and couldn't even listen to pay attention to Harry's explanation of the event. She looked up at Draco, who was even paler than she was.

"They did it, then," he whispered softly.

Before she could ask what he meant, a melody floated into the room. It was beautiful, yet full of more tragedy and mourning than Melanie could imagine. She felt her breathing become labored, and felt a strange feeling of weakness.

"Melanie?" Draco asked, squeezing her hand.

"Melanie?" Rhonda asked, turning to notice them. "There you are!" She ran to her side. "What's wrong with her?"

"Malfoy?" Harry asked in surprise, looking at him in shock. "What are you doing here, why aren't you with your Death Eater friends?"

"Ssshh, Harry. He saved Melanie's life," Hermione told him. She looked at Melanie's figure, then out a window. "It must be the Phoenix song, it's weakening her."

"Why would the Phoenix song matter?" Tonks asked, confused.

"She's a musea, so music runs throughout her body. The sadness of the Phoenix's lament must have an adverse effect," Hermione explained.

"But, still, what are you doing here?" Ron asked. "You're the one who let the Death Eaters in."

"The one who helped kill Dumbledore," Harry added, glaring at him.

"Harry, he wasn't there," Melanie argued. Her breathing had steadied even though she still looked rather pale. "He was with me. Now, I know you don't like him, but you don't have to jump to conclusions and accuse him of things."

"He still owes us an explanation!"

"He doesn't have anything to explain!"

"Now, calm down, boys," Lupin said, getting in between Harry and Ron and Draco. "We don't want a fight in the middle of the hospital wing."

"I quite agree," Madame Pomfrey said, coming between them as well. "Now, there are patients here who need to recover, so if you can't control yourselves, you must leave."

"Of course," Lupin said. "Hermione, Harry, do you want to step out here and explain what happened? Ron, Ginny, you can come, too. Luna and Tonks, will you stay out here with Bill?"

"No," Draco said. Everyone looked at him in surprise. "I think Potter's right, I am obliged to give an explanation for my own actions this year."

"Draco?" Melanie asked.

"I would not be so quick to defend me, Melanie," he added, standing up, "for you might hate me just as much as everyone else by the time I finish."

Melanie looked at him blankly as he faced the crowd. "Before term began, the Dark Lord gave Nott and me a mission-to somehow get Death Eaters into Hogwarts and kill Dumbledore."

Tonks gasped and Lupin looked at him curiously. "He gave this assignment to two students?"

Draco nodded. "Who else would be better to use inside the school? Besides, he was going to use it as a test to see if we were indeed worthy of service as Death Eaters."

Melanie looked at him in shock, not knowing what to think.

"My mother became convinced that the Dark Lord had chosen Nott and me because of the debacle at the Ministry last year, as though this would be a sort of revenge against our fathers. So, she went to Professor Snape and he promised to protect me and Nott with the unbreakable vow."

"Yeah, I heard Professor Snape talking to you about it before Christmas," Harry said.

"Lord, Potter, do you have ears in the walls?!" Draco asked.

"Only around Death Eaters," Harry shot back.

"Boys," Lupin warned. "Draco, please continue."

"At least the werewolf has some form of manners," Draco commented. "Anyway, I came up with the idea almost right away. I knew that the vanishing cabinets were a passageway from Borgin's to the castle and that we only had to fix them both to allow the Death Eaters to come in.

"I got Nott to work on the cabinet while I continued normally at school, since we agreed that more attention would be drawn to us if we both skipped things than if only one of us did."

"Sounds like you, Malfoy, to get someone else to do your dirty work while you take the credit."

"And why wouldn't I? If you could get all the glory and barely raise a finger, wouldn't you?" He paused. "But not working on the cabinet every spare moment had its effects."

"Like what?" Ron asked unbelievingly.

"Believe it or not, Weasel, I started to loose interest. Nott started to become fanatical about his 'glorious duties,' while I took to regarding them with a bit of disdain. I was happy to forget about the task and immerse myself in other thoughts..." he trailed off.

"Like what?"

"Well, Miss Brienwald for one. I was amazed when Professor Snape first told me she was pureblood, and that she was the daughter of my mother's closest childhood friend. I started to pay more attention to her, and soon became intrigued by her." He turned and looked at Melanie. "She was smart, pretty, and could wittily counter any remark I threw at her. Of course, the fact that she was becoming close friends with you three forced me to keep my distance."

He continued, not acknowledging that he was receiving half a dozen dirty glares. "By the time Christmas break rolled around, Nott was starting to get worried. His work on the cabinet wasn't progressing, and he was starting to be scared that we would fail. His frantic attempt to kill Dumbledore with that cursed necklace had fallen through, and he was starting to reach the end of his rope, I thought. However, when he was questioned on the progress of the plan, he was quick to blame the lack of progress on me. I then received a visit from a few Death Eaters who came to educate me on the price of failure.

"The first of a few strange occurrences then took place during this visit a few days before Christmas. When one of the Death Eaters threw a Cruciatus curse at me, I felt no pain. Instead I heard a beautiful melody play in my head. My attackers were confused, and I had the presence of mind to fake pain the second time they hit me with the curse, even though I experience no pain-only the beautiful melody ringing in my ears. They believed my performance and left, promising worse if I did not finish the project.

"Once classes began again, I more actively helped Nott on the cabinet. But, still, we could not get anywhere. We focused all of our energies on it, though. In March, I found out that Nott had attempted to poison Dumbledore, but that the poisoned wine had instead found its way to Weasel, here, who was saved by his pal Potter.

"I started to panic as May approached. At this point, Potter ran into me in the bathroom and managed to attack me with a rather nasty curse of his own."

Harry blushed. "I didn't know what it did," he mumbled.

"Yes, well, despite loosing a bit of blood and having to endure a few scars, the event proved helpful. Not only did it give me a needed respite from working on that cursed cabinet every second, but it caused yet another strange occurrence. The first time that Potter tried that curse on me, it reflected off of me and I heard nothing but the same, sweet melody that I had heard during break. The second time I was less fortunate and was actually hit with the curse." He glared at Harry. "However, I then found Miss Brienwald here in the hospital wing with me. She told me that she had tripped on the stairs and knocked herself out at about the same time as my accident. I found this curious, since something had obviously changed from the first time Harry cast the curse to the second time-and I highly doubted that he himself had done anything different.

"So, my attention was drawn to Miss Brienwald again. I was also slightly pleased when, even though Gryffindor managed to win the House Cup, I heard that Potter had started dating the Weasel's sister. That meant that either Miss Brienwald had denied Potter, or she was not his primary choice. Either way, it pleased me, although I hoped that the first choice was true."

"All right, Malfoy, get to tonight," Lupin told him.

"Of course. Earlier tonight, Nott came into the common room telling me that he had done it and the connection worked. When we received word from Rosmerta..."

"Rosmerta?" Tonks asked.

"She was under the imperius curse," Harry explained. "She was how Katie got the necklace, and how the Slughorn got the poison."

"Very good, Potter, I am almost impressed. Anyway, Rosmerta send a message that Dumbledore had left the castle, and Nott quickly summoned the Death Eaters here via the vanishing cabinet."

"So you were involved with everything?" Lupin asked.

Draco nodded. "Yes. I was there when the Death Eaters arrived, even though, by that point, I was desperately trying to think of a way out of it." He sighed. "Since I knew Potter would not be pursuing Miss Brienwald, my chances were considerably improved. However, I also knew that she had no liking of Death Eaters. Having been attacked by one, I can hardly blame her." He looked down at Melanie, then faced the group again.

"It was easy to slip away in the dark hallway. I stood there for a while, trying to figure out what to do. Then the hall started to clear, and Mittenborn here quite literally ran into me. I followed her into the fighting, where I saw Melanie lying down, surrounded by this weird blue dome." He let out a breath. "I think my actions since then have been observed by everyone."

The group was quiet and looked at him.

"Well, Tonks, you are the auror here," Lupin said after a moment. "What should be done?"

"I don't know...it's quite an interesting circumstance..."

"Does anything have to be done?" Harry asked quietly.

"What?"

"I mean, he himself hasn't actually caused any harm. Does anything have to happen?"

Draco gave him a confused look. "Are you defending me, Potter? I thought you'd be first in line for a life sentence to Azkaban. I was in on the plot to kill your beloved Dumbledore."

"But you backed out," Harry sighed. "I was there, when Nott was facing Dumbledore. He was wandless against him, yet Dumbledore was offering him mercy, telling him that he didn't have to. Nott said something that he had to-otherwise his family was going to be killed." Harry looked up at Draco, who gave a small nod.

"I think he's done enough by breaking away and risking himself. Does anything else have to happen?"

Lupin gave Harry a surprised look, then turned to Tonks.

"I don't know what everyone is looking at me for," she said nonchalantly, "I haven't heard anything of interest over here." She turned and walked back towards Bill's bedside. Everyone else followed except for Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Once everyone else was gone, Harry took a step towards Draco.

"All right, Malfoy, I'm willing to forget that you ever had anything to do with this because of what you did, especially with helping Melanie. That doesn't mean that I'm going to stop watching you or even start liking you."

"Fair enough," Draco agreed.

"And that also means that you've got to start being civil. No more names, no more taunts," Harry added.

Draco let out a tense breath and looked down at Melanie, who gave him a supporting smile.

"Fine, Potter, Weasely...Granger."

"Malfoy," Harry returned. They looked at each other for a few moments before Harry turned to Ron and Hermione. "All right, let's go see how Bill is doing." The three of them left, leaving Draco, Melanie, and Rhonda alone.

Draco looked at Melanie. "Do you want me to go?"

"Why would I want that?" she asked.

"I thought you might not want to speak to me again," he admitted.

"You saved my life, I can't get rid of you that easily," Melanie told him with a smile. "Now, sit down."

~*~*~*~

The door to the hospital wing opened, and two heads of red hair rushed past. Draco looked curiously at the blonde who walked by with them

"Isn't that..." he trailed off.

"Ron's parents," Melanie said as the rest of the group came in from outside.

"No, the girl that was with them."

"Yeah, she looks like that one girl, from the TriWizard tournament," Rhonda agreed. "What was her name?"

Draco shrugged. "I don't remember."

They were quiet again, and Melanie looked over at the crowd surrounding Bill's bedside. She sighed, wondering if her parents even knew what had happened.

The large figure of Hagrid then walked by and joined the ever-expanding group at the end of the wing.

"I've...I've done it, Professor," he announced, his voice cracking. "M-moved him, Professor Sprout's got the kids back in bed, Professor Flitwick's lyin' down, but he says he'll be all righ' in a jiffy, an' Professor Slughorn says the Ministry's bin informed."

Melanie saw McGonagall nod. The group talked a bit, and then Harry followed McGonagall towards the door. McGonagall paused for a second when she passed Melanie.

"Miss Brienwald, Miss Mittenborn," she did a double-take, "Mr. Malfoy?"

"Professor McGonagall," Draco replied as though his presence there was perfectly expected.

McGonagall quickly covered her surprise and looked at Melanie.

"You parents have been contacted, Miss Brienwald."

"Are they coming?"

She sighed. "That I do not know. Now, if you will excuse me."

Draco and Rhonda gave her sympathetic looks. "Well, it's not like I expected them to come. They've already said that they don't want to have anything to do with the wizarding world."

"But with your condition!" Rhonda objected.

"I'm fine, aren't I? I'm living and breathing."

Before Rhonda could say anything else, Madame Pomfrey started to shoo people away, starting with the large crowd by Bill's bed.

"How is he supposed to rest with all of you around!"

"But I cannot leave 'im!" the blonde shouted.

"Parents and fiancés can stay. Everyone else needs to leave for the night!" Madame Pomfrey followed the group towards the door. "That goes for you two, too."

"But her parents aren't here!" Rhonda objected.

Madame Pomfrey looked from one of them to the other. "Fine. But if her parents arrive you must go."

"Well, you probably won't have any problem, then," Melanie told them.

"Do you really think that your parents won't come?" Rhonda asked,

Melanie shrugged her shoulders and she tried to get comfortable. As she did so, the doors to the hospital wing opened and her father walked through the door.

"Melanie!" he shouted, rushing to her side despite Madame Pomfrey's attempts to quiet him.

"Dad!" Melanie greeted him with confusion.

"Are you all right? I came as soon as I could."

"I'm fine. What about Mom and Simon?"

"Oh, they're fine. Your mother's waiting until Simon gets back from practice until she comes. She didn't want to have him come home to an empty house. But what about you? The message just said that there had been an attack and you were in the hospital wing."

"I'm fine now," Melanie told him. "Everything else is a long story."

Her father nodded. "You should get some sleep, then."

Melanie sighed and closed her eyes. Soon, she was breathing deeply.

"You two should probably go back to your rooms," he suggested, turning to Rhonda and Draco.

Draco shook his head. "I don't want to go back, not yet," he said as the door opened again and a worried Violetta Brienwald walked in.

"Melanie!" she whispered, walking to the bedside. She looked at Rhonda and Draco in surprise. "You're Narcissa's son, aren't you?"

Draco nodded. "Draco Malfoy, Mrs. Brienwald."

Melanie's father looked at Rhonda. "I would assume that you are Miss Mittenborn, then?"

Rhonda nodded.

"You two should go back to bed. You can see her tomorrow," Violetta suggested.

Rhonda nodded and walked towards the door. Melanie's father turned to Draco. "I think that applies to you as well, young man."

Draco nodded and reluctantly stood up. He threw one last look at Melanie. His eyes widened as she suddenly sat up.

"Simon," she whispered.

"What?"

"Simon, he's in trouble," Melanie said, her eyes staring fearfully into space. "I can hear it."

Melanie's parents exchanged looks. "I'll go see," her father said, standing up. "You stay here with her."

Violetta watched him as he disappeared out the door. When she returned her gaze to Melanie, she saw that Draco had returned to his seat.

"I'm sure that everything will be fine, you should go back to your room," she told him, sitting down in the chair that her husband had left.

"She's right, Draco. You need your sleep."

"I want to stay here and look after you," he replied.

"You're going to make yourself sick worrying about me."

"I'm already in the hospital wing, how can I get sicker?" Draco teased. "Don't worry about me; you need to go to sleep. How's your brother."

"The music's stopped. Whatever danger he's in must have passed."

"See, it'll all be fine, go to sleep," her mother told her. Melanie nodded, laid down, and fell asleep. When she was satisfied with her daughter's condition, Violetta turned to Draco.

"You should go to sleep yourself."

"I would rather stay here, Mrs. Brienwald."

"It's late, and you've been sitting up with her. I'm sure she'd appreciate you being rested tomorrow when she's awake more than you being here tonight and being tired tomorrow."

"Yes, but I'm not in a hurry to return to the common room. I will have several people angry at me for my actions tonight."

Violetta looked at him curiously. "Then, perhaps Madame Pomfrey will allow you to sleep up here. There are plenty of extra beds."

Draco nodded and climbed into a nearby bed. He kept his eyes on Melanie's peaceful figure until he himself drifted off to sleep.

~*~*~*~

The next morning, Melanie woke up to see Draco sleeping in the bed to her left, Simon in the bed to her right, her father sleeping the chair to her left, and her mother absorbed in a copy of the Daily Prophet.

"Good morning, darling," her mother greeted her.

"Is Simon?" she asked.

"He's fine. His attacker disappeared when your father arrived."

"Who was it?"

"We don't know. Apparently, things have been happening very quickly around here. It'll take a few days to finally sort everything out, but it'll happen eventually, don't worry."

Melanie looked at her curiously. "All right," she agreed.

"Melanie, umph, you're awake," her father said, stirring in his chair as he opened his eyes.

"Are you all right, Dad?" she asked.

"Perfectly."

"What happened? With Simon."

"When I got home, I found someone there, shooting off a few curses at Simon. Simon was handling himself quite well actually," he added with amusement. "He had your mother's old wand and was putting up a fairly good defense. When I showed up, though, he quickly disapparated. I guess he didn't want to fight two at once."

"Do you know who it was?"

Her father shook his head. "We suspect that it might have been a Death Eater, but we're not sure yet. The Order has too much on their plate without worrying about this at the moment."

"The Order? They know?" Melanie asked.

"Of course. There are several members here, and I told them when I arrived," her father explained. "But we need to keep this quiet, all right?"

Melanie nodded as they heard Draco stir.

"Good morning," Melanie greeted.

Draco nodded as he sat up. "How are you feeling?" he asked, climbing out of the bed.

"Fine. I honestly don't see why I can't just leave."

"You will leave when I say you're fit to leave," Madame Pomfrey said, walking up to her bedside. She quickly looked Melanie over, nodding and mumbling to herself. "Well, you're doing much better. You'll need to rest here this morning, though, still. You will be able to go down to the Great Hall for lunch. The rest of you can stay here as long as you don't distress her."

"Thank you, Madame Pomfrey," Octavian said as Madame Pomfrey nodded and walked off. "Well," he sighed, looking at everyone, "I think it's about time that you answered our questions about what happened. The only explanation I could get was that the castle was invaded by several Death Eaters and there was a fight."

Melanie exchanged glances with Draco, who had turned a bit pale.

"Well, that's all I really know. I mean, we were watching this hallway, and then everything turned black. We heard figures walk past. Then we ran into some others-I didn't know them, but the others seemed to."

"The members of the Order?" her father asked.

"I guess so. The next thing I know, we ran into the group of Death Eaters and a fight broke out. I started to hear music, got disoriented. The next thing I knew, Draco was helping me walk up to the hospital wing."

"Do you not have any clue about what actually happened to you?" her mother asked.

Melanie shook her head.

"Too much strain was put on her powers," Hermione's voice answered from behind them. She walked towards the bed. "I talked to the Phantom this morning, and she explained almost everything. You were attached to too many people and were being hit with too many spells through them. First you were disoriented, then you finally collapsed from the strain. A blue dome formed around you that was the final bit of your powers, and every time a curse hit it, it shrank. If that dome had completely shrunk, the Phantom said that you would have died."

There was an eerie silence before Hermione continued. "Luckily, Rhonda ran into Draco, who was able to help her. The bubble disappeared, and he was able to bring her up here to the hospital wing."

Violetta looked at Draco. "Thank you, Draco."

Draco was speechless, and he simply nodded.

"Now, we need to discuss what to do from here," Melanie's mother continued.

"I suppose you want me to come back home again," Melanie said offhandedly.

"No, actually," her father said, "we were thinking of coming back to England."

Melanie looked at them in shock. "What?"

Her mother took a deep breath. "Well, after what happened to Simon, it's silly to think that our refuge in America will work anymore. If the Death Eaters have found us there, they can find us anywhere."

"Not to mention the fact that I'm tiring of my job and am itching to return here anyway," her father added. Violetta threw him a look.

"So, what's going to happen?" Melanie asked.

"Have you received a letter from a Theodora Gifford?" her father asked.

Melanie shook her head. "No. I just received letters from Mrs. Malfoy and Professor Slughorn."

"That's odd. I was sure that Theodora would respond," her father said to himself.

"Who is she?"

"Theodora is my second cousin-a squib. When your mother and I left England, we left our estate in her hands, since there were no other Brienwalds to inherit it," her father explained. "We technically still own it, so we sent her a letter to make sure that you got there. It is odd that she wouldn't respond."

"You have an estate?"

"Of course. Most pureblood families do-an estate that is passed on throughout the years."

"Well, then, what about Simon?"

"Well, I think I'd much rather stay where I'm at," Simon's voice answered from his bed.

"Simon, you're awake?"

"Have been for quite a while. But I didn't feel like getting up when I could hear everything from where I was lying," he answered, sitting up.

"Well, what do you want to do?" his father asked.

Simon thought for a minute. "Actually, I think I'd rather stay at home. I mean, I want to finish the rest of this year and graduate with all of my friends. Plus, I'm older than you are, Melanie; I don't think that I'd be able to fit in as well as you here."

"If there is a here next year," Hermione said quietly. "Harry said that they're thinking of closing Hogwarts."

"What?!" Melanie exclaimed. "They can't close Hogwarts! What are they going to do, how are we going to get our N.E.W.T.S?"

Hermione shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. They might not close it at all. Either way, all classes and exams are cancelled. Almost half the school is gone already, including most of Slytherin, Draco, so you shouldn't have to worry about facing anyone in your common room. Most of the Slytherins left are from middle-of-the-road families who wouldn't be suspicious that you're still here."

"Thanks, Granger," Draco said politely.

Hermione was taken back for a second, then turned her attention back to the Brienwalds. "The rest of the school is staying for the funeral in a few days. The Hogwarts Express will go back to London right afterwards."

"We assume you'll want to stay, Melanie?" her father asked.

"Of course I do. Aren't you going to? Wasn't Dumbledore the Headmaster when you were here?"

"Yes," her mother said, blushing, "but we didn't come here prepared for this. We don't have anything proper to wear, and we don't want to show up at Dumbledore's funeral in muggle clothing."

"He wouldn't have cared," Melanie retorted.

"I know, but, I, we, would just feel uncomfortable showing up...after all this time..." her mother stammered.

Melanie sighed. "Whatever. But I can stay, can't I?"

"Of course, darling. We'll probably leave this afternoon, and then we'll pick you up off of the Hogwarts Express at King's Cross."

Melanie nodded. "And what about after that?"

Her parents exchanged looks. "Well, if your brother wants to stay in the States, your mother will probably stay there with him, and I'll stay here in England with you. Maybe I can get my old job back at the Ministry," her father said. "Maybe your mother will find spare time to tutor Simon so he knows some magic; we'll have to pick some things up in Diagon Alley, since I'm sure your mother would like her wand back."

Simon blushed as Madame Pomfrey came back. She looked Melanie up and down and then nodded. "All right, you can go now. You should have just enough time to get to lunch if you go straight down."

Melanie nodded and climbed out of bed.

"Good. I guess we'll be on our way, then," her father said, giving her a hug. "I'll see you in a few days."

"Bye, Dad, bye, Mom," Melanie said, moving on to give her mother a hug.

"We'll see you soon," she said. "Come on, Simon."

"Thanks, sis," Simon said. He pointed his finger at Draco. "You saved my sister's life, so you're okay with me. But put one toe out of line, and I'll have you."

"Understood," Draco agreed, nodding his head.

Simon returned the nod and then followed his parents out of the room.

"Well, should we go down to the Great Hall, then?" Hermione suggested.

"You go on ahead, Granger. I want to talk to Melanie for a second," Draco told her.

Hermione made a face, still not used to hearing her name without an insult afterwards, but she nodded and walked out the door.

"What is it?" Melanie asked Draco once she had left.

"I just wanted to make certain of something before we ran into any additional people."

"Make certain of what? Last night? You heard Harry, nothing happened. As far as anyone knows, you weren't involved."

"No, that's not what I'm talking about." Draco shook his head. "Here, we can talk as we walk down. Granger should be far enough ahead by now that she won't hear us. Besides, I'm sure you're about starving."

Melanie nodded as they both started to walk out of the hospital wing and down the stairs.

"Now," Draco continued, "I wanted to make sure that everything is perfectly clear, between us."

Melanie gave him a curious look. "What do you mean, 'between us'?"

"Well, you were wrong, you know, that day in the Entrance Hall."

"What?"

"When you told me that I'm a spoiled brat that couldn't care about anyone. I mean," he stared down at the ground, "when Rhonda ran into me and told me you were dying, I could barely breathe. Well, that was partially because she had been clumsy enough to actually run into me..."

"Hey," Melanie warned him.

"But, I wanted to be sure that we were, well, sharing the same feelings. I would hate for you to be embarrassed if we were both giving different descriptions of the circumstances."

"In other words, YOU don't want to be embarrassed," Melanie translated. "You don't have to worry, Draco. The reason my power can protect you as well is because we share an emotional bond."

"Yeah, I remember Granger saying something about that last night during her mile-a-minute rant on what was wrong with you."

"But that emotional bond has to be secured both ways, meaning that both of us must share the bond equally, and both of us must feel the same way."

Draco nodded. "Then maybe we should just make this official," he said, and quickly pulled her into a kiss.

"Hey, go somewhere else if you're going to do that," a portrait of an old woman complained.

"Go to a different portrait if you don't like it," Draco shot back.

"Come on, let's go eat," Melanie laughed, pulling his arm down the stairs.

When they reached the Great Hall, Melanie was slightly taken aback by how empty the tables were.

"I might have a few people to explain things to when I show my face in there," Draco told her, squeezing her hand, "so, I plan on being busy this afternoon. I'll see you at dinner, though." Melanie nodded and he took off towards the nearly-empty Slytherin table.

"Melanie!" Rhonda shouted, getting up and running to hug her. "Are you feeling better?"

"Loads," Melanie agreed, walking past several empty seats. "So, how empty has our room been?"

"Padma and Mandy were gone before I came back from the hospital wing," Rhonda said as they sat down. "Lisa went home yesterday, so it was just me and Chloe there last night."

Melanie nodded. She looked over at the Gryffindor table. Neville was sitting with them, now, but there was no happy chattering. They all sat quietly, eating their lunch.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?" a dreamy voice asked.

"Of course, Luna," Rhonda said as she sat down next to them.

"Are your parents staying for the funeral?" Rhonda asked.

Melanie shook her head. "My mom thinks it'll be too uncomfortable for her. They left just before I came down here."

"So, what are you doing this summer? Are they making you go back to the States?"

"No, my dad's going to move back to England and we're going to live in an old family estate that we apparently own."

"What?"

"Yeah, it turns out that, when my parents left England, they didn't sell the estate. They just left it in the hands of one of dad's second cousins who's a squib."

"Really? Do you think that it's old and large and luxurious?"

"I don't know, Rhonda. It might not even still be there. My dad said that he sent his cousin a letter telling her to make sure that I stayed there over the summer, but she never responded. He doesn't know what happened."

"I hope..."

"Look, I'm sure it's nothing. The owl probably got lost or something."

"But Melanie..."

"Listen, I've had enough bad news lately! For once, I just want something to turn out to be nothing!"

Rhonda looked down at her plate. "Of course, I, I'm sorry."

"You know, owls are being kidnapped by the snorlace monster throughout England," Luna added.

"See, it's just the snorlace monster, just like Luna said. Nothing wrong at all," Rhonda agreed, finishing her food. Melanie nodded.

"Right. Now, is there any way that we can forget all of our problems and just enjoy these last few days together? I don't know how often we'll be able to see each other this summer."

"Or if we'll even be back here next year," Rhonda added gloomily. "Face it, Melanie. Being happy just feels wrong right now." They both continued to pick at their food. As the food gradually disappeared from their plates, Hermione walked up behind them.

"How are you feeling?" she asked, looking at Melanie.

"Fine. It's nice to be out of the hospital wing."

"I bet. How's Bill doing?"

Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "I assume all right. I haven't been paying attention much. I spent a lot of time talking with my parents."

"Oh, of course you did. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and me are going to go visit him after lunch. You can come along, if you want. We can introduce you to Ron and Ginny's parents properly."

Melanie looked at Rhonda. "That's fine with me. It's not like we have anything else to do."

"Okay, we'll go, then," Melanie told Hermione. "Just let us finish eating real quick."

"Fine. We'll meet you in the Entrance Hall," Hermione said as she walked back to the Gryffindor table. Melanie nodded as she walked away, quickly eating the last bit of food on her plate.

"Want to go now?" Melanie asked, watching as Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all left the Gryffindor table.

"Sure," Rhonda agreed, and they stood up and followed the Gryffindors out. Before she walked out the Great Hall, Melanie looked back at the Slytherin table, where Draco was talking forcefully with a few other students at the table. She sighed and followed Rhonda out of the Great Hall.

Melanie and Rhonda stayed at the back of the crowd as they reached the hospital wing and gathered around Bill's bedside.

"How is he doing, Mr. Weasley?" Harry asked.

"Good. The cuts have healed, but there are going to be scars."

"We're so glad that you keep visiting. I'm sure that Bill appreciates it," Mrs. Weasley added.

"He iz asleep now," the blonde hair girl announced from her seat at his side.

"Well, that's good," Mrs. Weasley said, stepping back. "He can use it." She turned and noticed Melanie and Rhonda. "Well, hello, girls."

"Oh, Mom, this is Melanie and Rhonda," Ginny introduced.

"Hello," Melanie greeted with a shy smile.

"Oh, yes, Melanie Brienwald, isn't it?" Mr. Weasley asked. "Yes, I remember you from the meeting with Dumbledore."

Melanie blushed, nodding.

"You remember the Brienwalds, don't you, Molly?"

"Oh, of course!" Mrs. Weasley said. "My great-aunt was a Brienwald, now that I think about it. Good family."

Melanie didn't reply, only nodded.

"And Miss Mittenborn, I work with your uncle at the Ministry," Mr. Weasley said. "Good man, Mr. Mittenborn."

"Thank you sir."

"Of course, you already know that this is our son, Bill. And this is his fiancé, Fleur Delacour."

"Good afternoon," Fleur greeted.

"Bill's doing all right, then?" Ron asked.

"Oh, yes. Madame Pomfrey even says he should be up and about just in time for the...er...funeral," Mrs. Weasley explained sadly.

Melanie looked past Harry's back to the figure sleeping on the bed. It was true, the cuts had healed, but vicious scars crossed his face in their place.

"Well, if he's asleep, we won't disturb him anymore," Hermione said, starting to walk back towards the door.

"We'll be back up later," Ginny added, giving her parents a hug as the group walked out. They walked down the hall quietly.

"It's so hard to think that that's actually Bill, that that's what he's going to look like for the rest of his life," Melanie heard Ginny whisper to Harry. "I can't believe my brother..." she chocked and Harry put his arm around her comfortingly.

Melanie sighed as the group broke off towards Gryffindor tower. "The world has become so surreal. There were Death Eaters in the castle, Dumbledore's dead..."

"And it all happened so fast that nobody's had a chance to digest it all. I mean, I woke up this morning thinking this was all just a bad dream," Rhonda said. "It's hard to go on with your life when you're walking around completely confused by everything that's happened."

Melanie laughed. "That's been me all year-ever since the attack in the alley. This whole year has been one giant, confusing mess." She let out a sigh. "Is it bad that sometimes I sit and wonder what it would have been like if I hadn't been attacked, if life would have gone on as usual, and sometimes I wish I can just be Melanie Harver again."

"But think about what you've gained," Rhonda told her. "You never would have found out who you really are, you never would have learned any magic." Rhonda sighed. "We never would have met, either."

Melanie nodded. "I know. And I wouldn't give up all that for the world. You, Draco, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny...I wouldn't trade you guys for the world. I just wish life didn't have to get so confusing to have met you all." Melanie groaned. "And it doesn't look like life's going to get any less confusing."

"No hint of that on the horizon," Rhonda agreed as Hermione walked back down the hall towards them.

"Hey, I'm going to go down to the library. Do you guys want to come along?" she asked.

"Do you ever stop?" Rhonda asked in disbelief.

"There are some old Prophets there that I want to go through," Hermione explained.

"Fine, we can help," Melanie agreed, and she and Rhonda followed Hermione down to the library.

"Now, we're looking for any references to someone called 'half blood prince.' I'm particularly interested in someone name Eileen Prince," Hermione instructed, digging into a pile of Daily Prophets.

Rhonda and Melanie helped her search rather unenthusiastically. Looking through old Daily Prophets wasn't much more entertaining than sitting around the Ravenclaw common room doing nothing.

Melanie sighed and set down the paper she had been looking at. "I'll be right back, Hermione. I'm going to the bathroom."

Hermione nodded, not even looking up from the Daily Prophet she was inspecting. Rhonda looked from Hermione to the Daily Prophet sitting in front of her.

"Wait a minute, Melanie, I'm going to come with you!" Rhonda called as she quickly stood up and followed Melanie out of the library

"So, did you find anything interesting?" Melanie asked as they walked into the girl's bathroom.

"No, I'd love to help Hermione, but looking through all of those old Daily Prophets is as boring as watching grass grow. Do we have to go back?"

"Do you have anything better to do?" Melanie asked.

"No," Rhonda admitted, scowling as they left the bathroom to return to the library. While they had been gone, Harry, Ginny, and Ron had appeared, looking through several large books.

"So we leave and then everyone else shows up?" Melanie asked as she and Rhonda pulled two more chairs up to the table. Harry looked up at her long enough to give her a smile before absorbing himself in his book.

"I found something!" Hermione shouted excitedly.

"RAB?" Harry asked, looking up from his book hopefully.

"No, the Half Blood Prince," Hermione corrected.

"Are you still going on about that, Hermione?" Ron asked.

"Yes, but look. Eileen Prince married a muggle named Snape! That must be Snape's parents! And Snape must have been proud of being 'half a Prince,' since his father was a muggle."

"Yeah, that fits," Harry said. "He'd play up the pureblood side so he could get in with Lucius Malfoy and the rest of them..."

Melanie stopped listening to their conversation, thinking back to the photo she had of her parents from school, and of her mother and Snape's arguments in Dumbledore's office.

"That makes sense," she said softly to herself.

"What makes sense?" Harry asked.

"Something my mother said on that night she wanted to bring me home. She and Snape had a giant argument because she blamed him for the death of my Uncle Rimian. She said that Snape had betrayed my brother, who was the only reason that any of the Slytherins had accepted him."

"Of course, a nod of approval from a pureblood like your uncle would have given him acceptance," Hermione agreed. "Right, Harry?"

Harry didn't say anything. Instead he continued to look at Melanie strangely. "You had an uncle named Rimian?"

Melanie nodded. "Yeah, his death was what convinced my mom to go into hiding. I thought you knew that."

Ginny looked at Harry. "Are you thinking he might be RAB?"

"He's a better candidate than anyone else I've found."

"Wait!" Rhonda said, turning to Melanie. "But wasn't he you're mom's brother?"

"Right, so he wouldn't be a Brienwald, he would have Melanie's mother's maiden name," Hermione finished.

"Well, that wouldn't matter, though," Melanie said. "My mother's maiden name was Buxley, so his initials wouldn't have been different."

"But what are the chances he has a middle name beginning with an A?" Ron asked disbelievingly.

"One in 26," Ginny shot back.

Melanie blushed. "Actually, his middle name was Albius," she admitted quietly. "He wanted my parents to name my brother that."

Harry looked up at Ron and Hermione. "Well?"

"Well, you're right, Harry. He has more promise than anyone else we've found," Hermione agreed.

"What are you two talking about?" Melanie asked. "And what does my uncle have to do with it?"

Harry looked at Rhonda suspiciously. "I don't think it's safe to discuss it here."

Rhonda looked at everyone around her. "Oh, I see, I'm the one who's not trustworthy. I mean, how could I be, since I'm not a Gryffindor or a musea?" she asked, standing up.

"Rhonda, wait," Melanie pleaded.

"No, Melanie, you need to stay and hear about your uncle. I understand that some things are top secret. Why should I expect the Chosen One to share his secrets with me?" she asked, starting to walk away.

"Rhonda," Melanie said, standing up.

"No, Melanie, you stay here. I'm fine. I was getting a little bored, anyway. I'll see you at dinner." She turned and walked out of the library. Melanie sighed and turned back to face the rest of the table and Harry pulled out a golden locket.

"What's that?" Melanie asked.

"The Horcrux that Dumbledore and I went to try and destroy a few nights ago," Harry answered. "Only someone got to it before we did." He opened up the locket and took out a piece of paper, handing it to Melanie. Her eyes widened as she read it.

"And you think my uncle wrote this?" she asked, handing the paper back to Harry. Her face was as white as snow.

"He's the best candidate we have for RAB. Do you know anything else about your uncle, Melanie?" Hermione asked. She gave Melanie a concerned look. "Melanie, are you all right?"

"So that's what he did?" she muttered to herself.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

Melanie shook her head, fighting back tears. "My mom told me once-that my uncle had done something horrible and that was why the Death Eaters killed him. She didn't know what, only that it was horrible enough for the Death Eaters to murder him and burn Buxley Hall." Melanie swallowed. "I guess that was it."

"That would do it," Harry agreed quietly. "Actually, I'm amazed that he didn't try to have your whole family killed."

"Or maybe he did," Ginny corrected. "That would be a really good reason for her parents to flee to the States."

Melanie shook her head. "He didn't want them killed right away." She chuckled to herself. "He still wanted the Buxleys as allies. He had Narcissa Malfoy try to talk to my mother to convince her to join the Death Eaters."

"What!?" Hermione shrieked.

"He gave her an ultimatum-join or die. My parents took option C-flee."

"So that's what happened in London," Hermione said. "Someone recognized you at some point and told Voldemort, and he ordered the attack."

"So I really am still in a lot of danger, aren't I?" Melanie said to herself.

"Even more now that you're involved with Malfoy. I'm sure Voldemort's out to get him, now, too."

Melanie's face paled even more. "And they've even gone after Simon."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "Luckily, your powers protected him. I bet Voldemort only sent one Death Eater to get him because he didn't expect a teenager with no magical training to be much of a problem."

"So basically Death Eaters are after me and everyone I care about?" Melanie suddenly exclaimed, quickly standing up.

"Melanie..." Hermione trailed off.

She shook her head. "I think I just need to be alone for a little bit."

Harry nodded, trying to smile at her. "Go ahead. We'll see you later."

Melanie nodded and started walking away in a daze. She heard them mumble something about 'Rimian Albius Buxley, that'd be his name' and the rustling of Daily Prophets as she walked out into the hall.

She wandered around aimlessly and silently, and the few people she met in the hallway did nothing to change that.

~*~*~*~

She didn't know how long she had been wandering around when she heard her name being called behind her.

"Melanie!" She turned around and saw Draco running towards her. "You must have been spacing out, I've been yelling your name for at least five minutes."

"Sorry," Melanie said quietly.

"Yes, well. I've spent the afternoon talking to people. I don't think that several of them will ever want to speak to me again, but I have no fear of being murdered in my bed tonight," he said with a laugh. He looked at her. "Melanie, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," Melanie answered, not quite meeting his eye. "Anyway, what were you saying?"

He looked at her some more. "What is it? Something's wrong. Tell me."

Melanie looked at him and tears started to form in her eyes.

"Melanie? What, did someone attack you again?" Draco asked, the fear rising in his voice.

She shook her head and he pulled her out of the hallway into an empty classroom.

"What is it?" he demanded.

"Nothing. I was just talking to Harry and them in the library," she took a deep breath and looked at him, "and we finally figured out why I was attacked."

"Are you talking about when you were in London?" he asked, sitting down in a nearby desk.

Melanie nodded, trying to think of how to phrase her words so as to not reveal any secrets. "You see, it turns out that, that my uncle. Voldemort wants to kill me because of something my uncle did. And I'm so scared that I, that I don't know what to do! And he's mad at you because of what you did, and I'm just scared that one day I'm going to wake up with everyone I love is dead," she rambled out, tears starting to run down her face.

Draco looked at her in surprise, trying to figure out what to do. Awkwardly, he put his arms around her in a hug. She set her head against his chest and he wrapped his arms around her more gently.

"It's all right. It'll all turn out right."

She pulled back her head and looked at him. "What about you? How much danger are you in because of what you did?"

Draco swallowed uncomfortably. "Quite a bit, I would assume. But don't worry about me, it's nothing I can't handle."

"For some reason I don't quite believe you."

"Well, I wasn't a full Death Eater yet, so I could have been in even more trouble had I gotten in any deeper," he said, trying to sound optimistic.

"But Voldemort still can't be happy with you. He's bound to want to kill you, too, isn't he?"

Draco sighed. "I suppose so. But, look, he's been trying to kill Potter for a while, and he's still kicking. I think I can last a bit longer than Potter."

Melanie shook her head. "He's gaining power, Dumbledore's no longer around to defend us, it's only a matter of time before..." She looked up at Draco suddenly. "We could leave."

"What?"

"Run, go into hiding. We could do like my parents did-change our names and vanish."

"Melanie," Draco asked unbelievingly, "can you hear what you're suggesting? Do you really want to do just like your parents did; I thought you didn't approve of what they did?"

"I understand it now," Melanie said. "I understand the fear, I understand the thought that everything you love could be gone in an instant."

Draco stood up and pulled her up with her. "I'm not going into hiding, Melanie. I won't do that. And I don't believe that you really want to, either."

"But what are we going to do? It's so hard to believe that we both might survive this, even less all of our friends and family make it through as well."

"Would you want to be separated from your friends and family by going away? Look at our mothers. I've seen the hurt on my mother's face whenever she thinks about the friend she lost. Melanie, you're scared of loosing people, but, if you hide away, you're still loosing people, just in a different way." He looked at Melanie. "You are strong, Melanie, I know you are. You have powers that can protect you, if you just trust in them."

"But what about everyone else?"

Draco smiled at her. "You're not getting rid of me that easy," he told her.

Melanie managed to laugh despite the tears running down her face.

"We'll be fine, okay?" he asked, wiping a few tears away from her eyes.

Melanie nodded. "But what are we going to do, then?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if Hogwarts closes. What's going to happen?"

"I can't say that I know. I am slightly scared to return home. It's not like the Death Eaters won't know where to find me there. They used to go there to visit my father, they found me there over Christmas."

"You could come with me," Melanie suggested.

"What?"

"Well, my father still is the owner of our family estate. Since the Brienwalds were all Ravenclaws, I doubt that the Death Eaters know exactly where it is. It can give you more protection than your home, I'm sure."

"But it would be slightly inappropriate, wouldn't it?"

Melanie laughed. "Our lives are in danger, and you are scared of being inappropriate?"

"Of course."

Melanie glared at him.

"Well, you seem to be feeling much better. You are now capable of glaring at me."

"And you are capable of sarcasm, excellent. Now, Mister Malfoy, I insist that you and your mother stay at our house this summer and however much longer your safety requires it."

"Well, when you word it like that..." he smiled. "I'll send an owl to my mother tonight."

"Good. Now, I do believe that it's almost dinnertime?"

Draco nodded. "Just one second." He waved his wand, and Melanie felt a warmness on her cheeks. "Now you don't look like you've been crying."

"Thanks," Melanie said.

"Good, now we can go down to the Great Hall," Draco said, offering her his arm.

"How gentlemanly of you," Melanie laughed as they walked back out into the hall. When they reached the Great Hall, they split towards their respective house tables as dinner began.

Halfway through dinner, Harry walked up and sat down in one of the empty chairs at the Ravenclaw table.

"Harry! You shouldn't sit here!" Melanie told him.

"Look, I need you to tell me everything you know about your uncle."

Melanie shook her head. "I don't know anything. My mother's never talked about him."

"We looked through tons of Daily Prophets trying to find any information on him, but couldn't find anything. Are you sure you don't know anything?"

"I'm positive."

"But what about your mom? Could you ask her?"

"I don't know how she would react, Harry. She's really touchy on that subject."

"Could you try? It's really important."

Melanie sighed. "My parents should be meeting me in London tomorrow when I get off of the Hogwarts Express. I can ask them there."

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

~*~*~*~

Melanie and Rhonda went back to the Ravenclaw common room a few minutes after dinner, just taking enough time for Melanie to say goodnight to Draco and promise to see him the next day at the funeral. From there, they went up to their nearly-empty room and started to pack their things.

"Make sure that you leave your dress robes out to wear tomorrow," Rhonda said as she dropped all of her books into the bottom of the trunk.

"Dress robes? I don't have any dress robes."

"What?"

"I don't have any dress robes. The only wizarding clothes I have are my Hogwarts robes."

Rhonda looked from Melanie down to her half-full trunk. "Well, your school robes should work. They're black, after all, aren't they?"

Melanie nodded, and started to search through her robes to find her nicest one. "What's this?" she asked, pulling out a bundle of black cloth.

"Why are you asking me?" Rhonda asked as she continued to pack her trunk.

Melanie sat down on her bed and let the black cloth unfold, revealing a full-length black dress.

"What are you doing with a muggle dress?" Rhonda asked.

"It's my concert black," Melanie said with a small laugh. "It must have accidentally got mixed in with my school robes."

"Oh," Rhonda said, losing interest as she packed the last of her things away. "Well, I'm all ready to leave tomorrow." She turned and looked at Melanie. "I guess tomorrow's it, isn't it? I mean, since we don't know if we'll be coming back."

"Yeah," Melanie said, taking the floating picture frames from their place on the windowsill. As she put it in her trunk, the picture of her and Rhonda floated to the top before Melanie closed the trunk on it. "But, I mean, it's not like we're going to different ends of the world. We can write letters, visit each other."

Rhonda nodded. "Yeah, just...nothing like this. This year's been great, Melanie. Well, except for the last few days."

"Yeah, a giant battle and almost getting killed can put a downer on your summer break," Melanie joked.

Rhonda laughed. "Life goes on, doesn't it?" she asked.

Melanie nodded. "Yeah. No matter what happens, tomorrow always comes."

Rhonda nodded, walked across the room, and gave Melanie a hug.

"Yeah, and tomorrow's going to come whether or not we get a good night's sleep or not," Rhonda added.

"We should get to sleep," Melanie agreed. "I think everything's packed."

"What about that?" Rhonda asked, pointing at the dress that was still lying on Melanie's bed.

"I think I might wear it tomorrow. I think it's slightly more appropriate than my school robes."

"Whatever. It's your choice, isn't it? Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Melanie replied, climbing into the bed. She sighed and looked around that the dormitory around her, remembering her first night here. She had felt the same uncertainty of the future then, only it had been combined with excitement. Now, she lay there, wishing it could be that night all over again, instead of the eve of Dumbledore's funeral when even her very survival seemed to be unsure. She sighed.

"There's no use in wishing," she whispered to herself, "life is what it is, and there's no going back. There's only tomorrow." She rolled over and went to sleep.

The next morning flew by in a blur-breakfast, following Professor Flitwick and the rest of the Ravenclaws out onto the grounds. She had barely even realized that Draco had turned up next to her until he grabbed her hand.

"Good morning," he greeted, looking her up and down in surprise. Melanie was confused for a moment until she remembered what she was wearing. "Why are you wearing that?"

"It was the only thing I had that was suitable. Plus, I can't help but think that that was how Dumbledore remembered me-as the little American girl that hadn't known she was a witch."

"Of course," Draco agreed uncomfortably. "I assume that you will sit next to me."

"As long as you're not ashamed to be sitting next to a girl in a muggle dress?" she asked. Draco breathed in deeply before offering her his arm.

"As long as you're all right with it." Melanie smiled briefly and slipped her arm in his. They sat down next to Rhonda as Hagrid walked down the center aisle, carrying what they all assumed to be Dumbledore's body.

From then on, Melanie could not concentrate on anything going on around her. Tears streamed down her face as she thought of the first time she had met Dumbledore. He had visited her when she was in St. Mungo's right after the attack. He had been the one to explain what had happened: they had been attacked by dark wizards, Sophie had been killed, but she had survived because she was, of all things, a witch. He had then told her that there was a school where she could learn how to use her powers and join the wizarding world. He introduced her to Hermione, and the two girls had gone, with the large Hagrid, to buy the things Melanie would need. It had been so surreal, yet not as surreal as the scene before her.

"Are you all right?" Draco asked her as he helped her up after the funeral had ended. Melanie nodded.

"It's just hard to believe. I mean, he was the reason I came here. Without him, I would have been sent back to the States two days after the attack. He convinced my mom to let me come here, to learn, to meet you. Now he's dead and," she looked tearily at the white tomb, "I could have saved him. I could have stopped it, I could have protected him with my power."

Draco put his arm around her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself. I mean, I could have stopped it, too. Any day all year I could have destroyed that cabinet. I could have warned him, done something..."

Rhonda looked at them both. "Listen, neither of you two could have stopped this. You-Know-Who wanted Dumbledore dead, and now he's dead. Neither of you killed him, and neither of you could have stopped it from happening eventually. Now, let's just get on our lives and get to the carriages before they leave," Rhonda said, trying to wipe away her own tears.

The group made their way to where the carriages were waiting to make their way to the Hogsmeade station.

"What are those things?" Melanie asked, backing away from the animals in front of the carriages.

"Thestrals," Harry's voice answered behind her. "It's okay, they're safe."

"I forgot that you'd be able to see them," Draco said as he helped Rhonda into a carriage.

"What do you mean? Can you not see them?"

"No, only people who've...who've seen someone die can see them," Draco stuttered.

"Oh," Melanie stammered. She looked at Harry. "Can you see them?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, since the end of fourth year. Anyway, I'll see you on the train, Melanie," he said as he followed Ginny into a nearby carriage.

"See you on the train," Melanie said faintly as Draco helped her into the carriage, following her in. A few minutes later, the carriages started to move and bounced their way towards Hogsmeade.

"Draco, what's going to happen when we get to London?" Melanie asked as they walked onto the train and sat down in a compartment.

"Tomorrow," he replied as the train started to move.