Secrets of the Musidora

Shooting Stars

The bad news didn't stop flowing after Uncle Archie's death. Rhonda's family went in to a strange sort of seclusion for a while and more Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban, not to mention the usual march of Death Eater attacks throughout England. Amidst all of this, Narcissa became strangely reclusive. Every attempt to get her out of her room and involved in anything was immediately blocked by Kreacher, who guarded her door closer than a Gringotts vault. Even Draco was rarely allowed passage to visit his mother by the zealous house-elf.

"I'm about to hex that stupid house-elf back to the thirteenth century," Draco grumbled, sitting down in front of the living room fireplace one afternoon in mid-December.

Melanie sighed. "He's just looking after your mother."

"But I would like to be able to see my own mother once in a while," Draco continued to complain. "He's acting like I'm the enemy." He shook his head. "Where did he get the idea to keep her in seclusion?"

"I don't know. Harry left him here to protect me. How that translates into keeping your mother apart from everyone, I don't know."

Draco glared upstairs. "That house-elf has a few screws loose, I tell you. I have half a mind to march upstairs and drag him out by his ears."

"Well, when you get a full mind to do that, please let me know. I think it will be very amusing."

"Ha ha," Draco shot back at her. He looked upstairs again and sighed. "I do have something important to talk to her about-and I'm tired of having that vigilante elf refusing to leave us alone."

"So, like I said, when you finally get fed up enough to throw him out by his ears, please let me know."

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but he was distracted when the fireplace began to glow green. Melanie's mother climbed out of the fireplace, carrying several large bags.

A smile crossed her face as she looked at both of them. "Hello, you two. Where's your father, Melanie?"

"At work, of course," Melanie replied, standing up to take a few of the bags out of her mother's hands.

Violetta rolled her eyes. "He knew we were coming today." The fire glowed again and Simon walked into the room carrying a bunch of suitcases.

"Let me help you, Simon," Draco said. He pulled out his wand and soon the suitcases were hovering over the floor.

"Thanks, Drake," Simon returned gratefully, sighing and looking around the room. Draco grimaced at the name as he led the large suitcases out of the room. Violetta followed him carrying her large bags.

"That's an awful lot of luggage for two people," Melanie said, raising a suspicious eyebrow.

Just then, the fireplace glowed green once again and a lovely young woman with gentle curving features and curly brown hair walked into the living room. Simon quickly dropped the bit of luggage he was carrying to help her in.

"Thanks, Simon," she said with a smile.

"Of course," he returned, turning to look at Melanie. "Melanie, this is Rebecca. Rebecca, this is my sister, Melanie."

"Hello," Rebecca greeted, her delicate curls bouncing as she smiled.

"Hello," Melanie returned, throwing Simon a suspicious look. Simon avoided her glance and kept his attention focused on Rebecca.

"Simon's told me so much about you," she continued. "I was excited when he and your mother invited me to come along for Christmas."

Melanie threw her brother another look as Violetta returned.

"Ah, Rebecca! Follow me, I think Trinket prepared a room for you upstairs."

"Thanks, Mrs. Brienwald," Rebecca returned, smiling at Simon as she followed Violetta out of the room.

"Who is that?" Melanie asked as soon as they had left.

"One of the Americans we've been working with," Simon answered. "She's been tutoring me on my magic."

"And why did you decide to bring her along to Christmas?" Melanie teased.

"Actually, it was Mom who insisted she come," Simon returned.

Melanie eyed him suspiciously. "Oh, really," she told him disbelievingly.

"Really," Simon repeated, shooting her a smile as he picked up the suitcases again and carried them out of the room.

Melanie made a face at him as he left. "Mom insisted she come, indeed."

~*~*~*~

A few hours later, they were all gathered around the table filled with food that Trinket had prepared. The conversation, of course, focused on Rebecca.

"Where are you from, Rebecca?" Octavian asked.

"Boston, originally," Rebecca answered. "I went to school in Canada, though, like most witches and wizards in the northern states. Amarice Academy. It's not quite Hogwarts," she glanced at Melanie, "but it is the best wizarding school in the Americas. I graduated last year and I've been working with the Salem Institute ever since."

"There are absolutely no wizarding schools in the US?" Melanie asked.

Rebecca shook her head. "Any families that are serious about their magic send their children to Amarice, or to Las Santas in Mexico. Most other magical families choose to ignore their abilities and just live like muggles. The Institute works to help establish a wizarding community in the US, but it's been a long, uphill battle."

"The Institute has been a great help in stirring support for the Order in the US," Violetta explained. "And we've been working together to organize what American wizarding communities exist against You-Know-Who."

"We've been making great strides, actually," Rebecca said. "The older members are always commenting to me on how much progress we've been making these last few months compared to years past. We might actually be close to chartering the first complete American wizarding government instead of these random groups spotted throughout the country."

"There are other groups?" Melanie asked.

"Oh, of course! The Salem Institute is just in the New England area. There's also the Bayou Brethren in the South, the Mississippi Marauders in the Midwest, and the Pacifica Society in the west. The Salem Institute is by far the largest and most organized, though. We have a floo network station in each of the major cities in our area and we offer tutoring services to educate families who want to teach their children magic but don't want to take them out of the muggle school system."

"That's what you do, then?" Octavian asked.

"Yes, they hired me right out of school to be a tutor." She laughed. "I wasn't really expecting one of my students to end up being my own age, though." She looked at Simon with a smile and the two of them laughed.

"How is Simon doing with his studies?" Octavian asked.

"He's coming along," Rebecca said with a smile. "I'd say he's almost at a Hogwarts third or fourth year level. At the end of the year he might be able to pass his O.W.L.S."

"Then maybe you'll finally be able to halfway stand up to me in a duel," Melanie teased.

"Well, you have an unfair advantage," Simon shot back.

"My so-called 'advantage' extends to you, too, remember?" she reminded him.

"It doesn't matter, because there will be no dueling in this house," Violetta announced firmly.

"Aww, Mom, what's wrong with a little friendly competition?" Simon complained.

"You heard me," she repeated.

"Well, there's always a friendly game of quidditch, if you're up to it, Simon," Draco suggested.

Simon's eyes flashed. "You're on. Dad, are you in?"

Octavian chuckled, pushing away his empty plate and standing up. "Why not? Rebecca, do you play quidditch?"

"She attempts to," Simon muttered.

"I play quite well, thank you very much!" Rebecca exclaimed, jumping to her feet.

"Great, then, there are four. Melanie?" Draco asked as he stood up, looking at her.

"Oh, no," Melanie answered, shaking her head. "You have even teams right now, and I'd rather not."

"Are you sure?" Draco asked, walking behind her chair.

Melanie nodded. "Go and have fun playing. I'll stay in here and talk to my mom."

Draco nodded. "See if you can finally manage to get my mom out of her room. It worries me how she just keeps locking herself in her room like that."

"She's had a lot to deal with, Draco," Violetta reminded him.

"But not so much that she should just keep herself locked in her room for a whole month."

Violetta shrugged her shoulders. "I'll see what I can do, Draco. You just go and enjoy yourself."

~*~*~*~

The guests were a welcome relief for Melanie. The Hall was buzzing, both with preparations for Christmas as well as with the increased number of people there. Octavian, Simon, and Draco spent an entire day setting up a giant Christmas tree in the entrance hall, which the girls then attacked with decorations. Closer to Christmas, Rhonda managed to slip away from her house to visit every so often, and the two girls spent quite a bit of time talking with Rebecca, who was surprised when she heard of Melanie's adventures from the year before.

Christmas eve was one of the happiest nights Melanie had had in a long while. Everyone gathered around the dining room and attacked the delicious feast that Trinket had prepared. They even managed to get Narcissa out of her room, even though she hardly said a word the entire evening and returned to her room the second the meal was over. Everyone else stayed in the living room laughing, thoroughly hydrated by Trinket's steady stream of butterbeer, until the late hours of the night.

The next morning, everyone awoke to find a large pile of presents underneath the Christmas tree. Everyone huddled around the tree, eating the pastries that Trinket brought out and laughing as they littered the floor with wrapping paper. The pile of presents gradually decreased, spreading out amongst everyone. Melanie herself found herself preoccupied by a large book of Greek mythology that Rebecca had gotten her-complete with a page about Euterpe contained in a large section on the Greek muses.

"Melanie," Draco whispered as she flipped through the pages of the book.

"What?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the book. He didn't answer, and instead kissed her on the cheek. "What?" she asked again.

"Thank you for your gift," he replied, with a grin, holding the box in his hand. "Now, as for yours..." He pulled out an envelope and handed it to her.

"What's this?" Melanie asked, flipping the envelope and looking at it.

"Open it and see," Draco told her with an excited smile.

Melanie looked around the room, and saw her parents smiling broadly at her. "What?" she asked.

"Oh, nothing. Go on, open it," her father told her.

Melanie shook her head and quickly opened the envelope. A puff of white smoke curled out of it and formed into a beautiful butterfly, which flapped its wings in Melanie's face. Shimmering words began to appear across the wings: "Tea Room, Nine O'clock."

" 'Tea room, nine o'clock?'" Melanie repeated as the butterfly faded. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it says," he replied, kissing her on the top of her head as he left the room.

"Did you know about this?" she asked her parents, burrowing her eyebrows.

"Know about what?" her father teased as he escorted Violetta out.

Melanie just rolled her eyes as she looked at Simon and Rebecca.

"Don't look at me, Sis. I have no idea of what's going on, either," Simon told her as he, too stood up. "Come on, let's play quidditch or something until lunch." He grinned, holding his brand new broom.

"You just want a chance to show off that new broom," Rebecca laughed.

"Like I need much showing off when playing quidditch against the two of you," Simon laughed.

"Are you insinuating that you're better than we are?" Rebecca asked.

"No, of course not," Simon said sincerely. "I'm saying it outright."

Melanie's eyes glimmered. "Oh, it's on now!" She and Rebecca followed Simon outside.

The three of them (Draco had disappeared to work on whatever he was planning for that evening) played quidditch until Trinket had lunch ready. The rest of the day passed just as lazily, although Melanie started to grow excited as dinner ended wondering what exactly Draco had planned.

~*~*~*~

At nine o'clock, Melanie stood in the tea room, waiting anxiously for Draco. After a few minutes, there was a knock on the door. Melanie turned quickly and saw her mother's head peek into the room. "I think maybe you should go change. Why not into those pretty purple dress robes you wore to Bill and Fleur's wedding?"

She eyed her mother suspiciously.

"Don't worry," her mother told her with a smile. "Draco will wait."

Melanie looked at her curiously for a second before shaking her head and walking up to her room. She quickly changed into the dress robe and returned to the tea room.

Draco was waiting for her there, dressed in his own dress robes. Melanie took a startled step back. "Draco."

He smiled and walked up to her. "My turn to surprise you, eh? You look lovely." He kissed her on the cheek.

"All right, what is all of this about?" she asked.

Draco just smiled and offered her his arm. "Care to take a walk in the garden?"

Melanie looked at him curiously as she slipped her arm into his. "Sure." Together, they walked out the door and outside.

The garden was peaceful and quiet in the dark. They did not say much and only walked around in the cool nighttime breeze. Melanie suddenly stopped when Draco started to walk down the path towards the barn.

"Draco, I don't think I want..."

"Don't worry," he assured her, pulling her onto the path. "We're going somewhere else."

Sure enough, halfway down the path to the barn, Draco pulled her aside down a smaller path that she had never noticed before. The path was a little overgrown, but the trees along either side had been cleared enough that their journey was easy.

"Where are we going, Draco?" she asked.

"It's a surprise. Don't worry, I know where I'm going."

Melanie nodded, but still looked around her. "But is it safe? I'm not supposed to go outside the grounds..."

"Don't worry," Draco assured her, pulling her closer to him. "Do you really think that I would put you in danger? Everything's planned and taken care of. You're in no danger. See, we're almost there." No sooner had he said that than they had passed through the final line of trees into a great open field.

The ground, covered in soft grass, gently flowed up into a nice hill. As they started to climb the gently sloping hill, Melanie looked around her. The trees encircled the hill, forming a border before the endless sky all around her. And it was the sky that first took her breath away. Around her, a million glittering stars shone in the dark blue sky, winking at her across millions of miles.

"It's gorgeous," she whispered, her head leaning back to look straight up.

"I figured you would appreciate the view after being stuck in that house all these months. You haven't stepped a foot outside since the attack."

Melanie sighed as she continued to look up at the stars. "I didn't want to face what had happened. It was easier..."

"...to lock yourself up in your potions lab?" Draco finished.

Melanie chuckled to herself. "Yeah." She kept looking up. "They're beautiful."

"Yes, the stars are beautiful," he agreed.

"Look at that collection to the right over there," she said, pointing up to the sky. "There are nine of them. You know, they say that sometimes the stars can reveal secrets. I wonder..."

"You wonder if the stars could say something about the future?" Draco asked.

Melanie turned from the sky and looked at him. "Yes, actually. I wonder if there's a clue or something up there."

"Oh, I think there might be something up there," Draco said mysteriously.

"What?"

"Just close your eyes," he told her, reaching into his robe to pull out his wand.

"What are you up to? I didn't know I'd need my wand. I left it in my room..."

He smiled. "It doesn't matter. Just close your eyes."

Melanie sighed and obliged. She heard something rush past, but nothing else until she heard Draco's voice telling her to open her eyes. Something, Melanie didn't know what, told her to look up, where she saw the stars blinking down at her once again. But her breath caught in her chest as the stars started to move and rearrange themselves into more definitive shapes. Her heart beat faster as she read what now lined the evening sky: "Will you marry me?"

"What!?" Melanie asked, quickly turning around to face Draco. She gasped when she saw him beside her, down on one knee. "You can't be serious!"

"I'm being perfectly serious," he told her calmly, taking her hands in his. "Melanie Brienwald, will you do me the honor of marrying me?"

A thousand thoughts rushed through Melanie's mind. This had been the last thing she expected. "I don't know what to say..." she stammered.

"How about a yes," he suggested, pulling out a delicate box and opening it to reveal a glimmering ring. "Or yeah, sure, or any other word to the affirmative."

Melanie still couldn't speak, and looked down at the ring. "It's beautiful," she whispered.

"It's an old family heirloom," Draco told her, rising back up to his feet. "The finest and oldest in wizarding jewelry."

Entranced, Melanie reached out and picked up the ring. No sooner had her fingers touched the silver surface than the woods disappeared around her and she felt herself pulled into a dark oblivion.

A few seconds later, she felt herself fall to the ground and the ring bounced from her fingers. She groaned as she pulled herself to her feet, staring into the darkness.

"Draco?" she asked. "Are you there?"

Her voice vanished into the darkness. She searched around her. In the darkness, she thought she saw movement.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she demanded, worry rising in her voice. "I'm not laughing!"

"Of course you are not," a dark voice answered from a source unseen.

Melanie's breath caught in her chest. "W-who's there?"

A shadow in the darkness drew closer. "We've been expecting you, Miss Brienwald," the voice continued as a hooded figure finally became visible. "I have looked forward to the day that I would meet you. After all, I have heard so much about you."

The figure continued to approach, and Melanie moved back whenever he took a slow step towards her. She kept her eyes on the stranger, moving backwards until she bumped into the wall of a building.

"Who are you?" she asked, looking from the barn that blocked her escape to the figure.

"Oh, yes, where are my manners? I am afraid that I hold you at a disadvantage." The figure chuckled. He pushed back his hood to reveal a pale face. "Lord Voldemort, at your service," he told her with a low bow.

Melanie gasped, her eyes wide. She started to run to one side, but a line of hooded figures appeared to block her way. When she turned to the other side, another group appeared.

"Now, now, Miss Brienwald. You do not desire to leave my company so soon, do you?" he asked, taking another step towards her.

Melanie stood there, her back against the wall. "What do you want?"

"What do I want? I want many things, Miss Brienwald, but I do not see what you have done to merit that knowledge." He slowly pulled out his wand and Melanie gasped.

"Accio ring," he said slyly, directing his wand behind him. The silver engagement ring flew into his hands. Smiling at Melanie, he moved to the side and held it in front of one of the hooded figures. "I believe this belongs to you, Lucius. I thank your family for the use of it."

"Thank you, Master," a voice very much like Draco's returned. Melanie looked at the hooded figure of Draco's father and breathed forcefully.

"Now," Voldemort continued, turning his attention and his wand back to Melanie, "on to matters at hand.

"I want but one answer from you, Miss Brienwald," he continued, a smile crossing his face. "Luckily, I don't have to ask you the question to get the answer. Crucio!"

As usual, music blared through Melanie's head and the spell did nothing to her. Voldemort lowered his wand and turned to the group of Death Eaters. "Behold the newest vessel of Euterpe."

Melanie looked nervously around her, and for a nerve-wrecking moment nobody moved. She searched for a way to escape before she almost hit herself from her stupidity. Why hadn't she thought to apparate before?

But some invisible force kept her there. Voldemort started to chuckle.

"Did you really think that I would make escape that easy? Nobody can apparate in or out of this clearing without my permission." He looked at Melanie for a minute. "And I would like you to stay in my company for a little while longer. Lucius, if you would make sure that your almost-daughter-in-law is properly secured in the barn."

"Of course, Master," Lucius Malfoy answered, as the hooded figure stepped out of the line. He walked up to Melanie and grabbed her firmly by the arm.

"Crabbe, McNair, go with him. This girl gave Nott quite a hard time. I would hate to see a 17 year-old escape from you two," Voldemort added with a snarl. Two more Death Eaters walked out of the line and walked on either side of Lucius as he pulled Melanie firmly around the building to the one door.

Once they were in the barn, Crabbe and McNair stayed outside while Lucius clamped a shackle around her foot.

"So you are Letta's daughter," he commented as he secured the other end to an iron hoop coming out of the wall, flashing his wand over it to cast some kind of anti-escape spell. "And the girl that Draco..."

He cleared his throat as he inspected Melanie. "That should be secure enough," he said sharply, turning and leaving.

Melanie watched as he walked out of the barn and then closed the door with a flick of his wand. With the door closed, the barn was surrounded in total darkness. She sighed and arranged herself so that she could sit down. Unable to do much else, all she could do was sit there and think.

It had always been a vague suspicion in the back of her mind: why hadn't the Death Eaters tried harder to find Draco-surely they would have wanted his treason punished as soon as possible? Why hadn't they tried harder to get to her? Nott's attack had been sort of...laughable.

The answer was clear now: everything had been patiently planned to wait until now. Nott's attack, the burning of Malfoy Manor-they must have just been diversions to keep everyone's eyes away from the slowing approaching plan.

And it had worked. Everything had worked perfectly, and Melanie hadn't seen it coming. Slowly, the darkness seemed to close in on her. She felt around with her hands and pulled up a pile of hay to her side. Closing her eyes to fight off the darkness outside, she laid down and rested her head on the hay. Tears began to slide down her cheeks as she vainly tried to go to sleep.

~*~*~*~

Melanie had no way of telling what time it was when she awoke. All she knew was that light was shining in through the cracks between the walls and through the few dirty windows in the barn. She had hoped that it was all a nightmare, but here she was. So she sat there, just taking in her surroundings.

The barn looked as though it had been abandoned for many years. Dirty, half-rotted planks of wood formed the floor, walls, and ceiling. Cobwebs and rust covered random piles of farming equipment. There was a hayloft on the right-hand side, but the ladder perched against it looked anything but safe. Nothing else stood out in Melanie's mind as she let her eyes scan over the rest of the barn. She did a double take when her eyes distinguished a figure sitting across from her, leaning motionless against the wall.

Melanie blinked when she saw the figure. "Hello?"

"Oh, 'ello!" the figure answered back in a thick Irish accent. The head lifted to reveal a freckly, though rather dirty, face framed in bright red hair. "I've been so used to being alone tha' I di'n't realize there was someone else 'ere!"

"How long have you been here?" Melanie asked, looking at her somewhat scruffy appearance.

"Oh, I don't know. I lost count ages ago. Seems like it's been years, but most likely only a month or so."

"A month! Why are you here?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I wish I knew. All they said to me was 'get comfortable' before they left me in 'ere. They come and bring me food an' water every once in a while, but, other than that, I'm in 'ere all alone all day."

Melanie sighed. "Sounds like we'll be here a while."

"Yes, but it's much better now that there's someone else 'ere."

"I understand that," Melanie told her. "When were you captured?"

"Halloween."

"What!?" Melanie yelled in shock. "That's almost been three months!"

"Really?" A mildly surprised look crossed the woman's face. "I guess that would make it near January, then..."

Melanie thought for a moment as the woman chattered to herself. "Wait a minute-did you say Halloween?"

The woman looked at her and nodded. "Aye, Halloween."

Melanie looked at her in shock. "Then it was you..."

She gave Melanie a confused look. "What do you mean, it was me?"

"Are you Kathryn O'Brien?"

The woman nodded, her eyes wide in surprise. "That'd be me."

"I read about the attack in the Daily Prophet," Melanie told her, her voice becoming sad. "I'm sorry about your family."

Kathryn closed her eyes and nodded. "Thanks. They were a brave bunch. I reckon those Death Eaters would have been just as 'appy to take me an' leave, but I was with my Will when they attacked, and he wouldn't let them 'ave me without a fight. And then my two boys 'eard the ruckus and came in, as well..."

"I'm so sorry."

"It's 'ow they would 'ave wanted to go..."

Melanie nodded. She desperately wanted to see if Kathryn indeed was who her protection had gone out to. The question was on the tip of her tongue, but something inside told her to wait. She would be having days alone with this woman. Perhaps it would be better to find out how they were connected before Melanie revealed her secret. One possibility instantly flew into Melanie's mind.

"How old were your sons?" Melanie asked.

"Fifteen and thirteen," Kathryn replied.

"That's almost my age," Melanie said to herself. "Did they go to Hogwarts?"

She nodded. "The best lil' Hufflepuffs a mother could ask for."

"Of course," Melanie answered, a bit of disappointment in her voice. She wouldn't have had any contact with two younger Hufflepuffs. She was going to have to think of another way that she and Kathryn were connected.

~*~*~*~

That day was the longest in Melanie's life. She and Kathryn spent most of it talking. They covered nearly every aspect in each other's lives (with a few omissions on Melanie's part), but yet the day stretched on endlessly in front of them. Death Eaters came in a few times to bring them food, but they were silent each time and the girls were always relieved when they left.

"Have they ever spoken to you?" Melanie asked after they had been brought their dinner.

"I 'ear them talkin' to each other sometimes. And sometimes they hint that I won't be alone for much longer."

"Well, obviously they were right, since I'm here now," Melanie added glumly.

"Aye, but from the way they've been talking it sounds like there's still more to come."

"What could they be up to?" Melanie asked herself. "There isn't any obvious similarity between us!"

Kathryn shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know these things. I'm just a simple witch from Ireland." She silently turned to her food, and the two didn't say another word to each other for the rest of the night.

The next morning, the two continued their conversation, but the day dragged on as endlessly as the day before. Melanie thought and thought of different ways they could be connected, but none of them ever seemed to work. After each failed idea, Melanie would just sigh and lean back against the wall.

Kathryn laughed one time after what Melanie had thought to be a particularly brilliant idea had failed. "You know, I am having the weirdest case of deja-vu."

"Oh, really?" Melanie asked, only half listening and more preoccupied with her thoughts.

"Yes. I feel like we must 'ave somehow met before. But that's nearly impossible, isn't it?"

"It seems more and more likely," Melanie answered gruffly.

"You know," Kathryn continued, "I have deja-vu a lot, but 'ardly ever with people. Most of the time it's places-or things. I usually feel like I've done something before-or been somewhere before. Isn't that strange?"

Melanie just shrugged her shoulders as she played with the straw that lay at her feet. Kathryn caught on to Melanie's disinterest in the conversation and occupied herself as Melanie stay absorbed in thought.

Melanie was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when their supper was brought to them, much less when the Death Eater stood in front of her for a moment.

"Melanie," she heard the voice whisper gently as the figure crouched down to her level.

Melanie looked up in surprise. "Professor Snape?"

"Who else were you expecting?" he asked in his usual snarl.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"The Order requested that I check up on you. They are all very worried."

"Obviously. Do you have any clue about what's going on?"

"No. For his own reasons, the Dark Lord has chosen not to include me in these plans."

"Then are you not supposed to be here? Could you get in trouble?"

"I gained permission to be here, but I do not have long. But I shall be able to report to the Order that you are in tolerable circumstances."

"Tolerable?" Melanie asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It will have to do for a while. It may take the Order a while to formulate any form of rescue."

"What do you mean? You're right here!"

"Shush! You know I cannot do anything of the sort, not if I am to remain in my place. You will just have to learn to deal with your present circumstances, Miss Brienwald," he told her, standing up.

"Although," he added as he began to walk out of the barn. "If you were to manage escape on your own terms, your imprisonment would end much sooner."

"Escape on my own with Death Eaters everywhere?" Melanie looked at him in surprise. "You've got to be kidding."

"Potter managed it in his fourth year," Snape snarled as he swept out of the room.

Melanie scoffed and turned to her food, her eyes pausing on the iron shackles around her ankle. "Escape? How?"