Secrets of the Musidora

Chapter 6: The Prophecy

"Kathryn, I've been wanting to ask you something these past few days," Melanie admitted, looking across the barn at the red head.

"Really? What?"

Melanie took a deep breath and looked at her uncertainly. "Did anything...unusual happen when you were captured?"

Kathryn looked at her in surprise. "What?"

"Did anything, well, unusual happen that night?"

Kathryn just looked at her blankly.

Melanie sighed and continued. "I know it must seem crazy, but did something happen?"

Kathryn's eyes opened wide. "How did you guess?"

"Because it was me," Melanie explained, shifting her weight. "You heard music in your head, right?"

Kathryn nodded. "And their spells didn't hit me."

"Yes, because I somehow protected you."

"What?"

"I have a special ability," Melanie explained uneasily. "I'm, well, music protects me, and sometimes I can use it to protect someone else."

"But why me?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out these past few days!" Melanie yelled in frustration. "For my powers to pass on to someone else, I have to establish a connection, and there has to be an emotional bond. I've tried every explanation possible, and I can't come up with something that connects us."

Kathryn suddenly blushed and looked down at the ground.

"Kathryn?" Melanie asked. "Is there something?"

"Well..." She sighed. "It's just that...you're not t'only one with special abilities."

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kathryn bit her lip. "I noticed it when I was very young, but when I told my parents they were frightened. They talked about havin' me treated, that there might be something wrong with me. So I tried to ignore it, and never told anyone about it again."

"What is it?" Melanie asked.

"I see things," Kathryn said.

"Like a seer?"

"No, not the future-the past. I see things as they once were."

"So you're an anti-seer?" Melanie suggested, giving her a confused look. "Instead of the future, you see the past?"

"Pretty much, except..." she trailed off, biting her lip. "There's more to it." She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "When I, er, see things, I don't just see 'em. They actually transform into what they used to be."

Melanie's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Like...see that ladder over there?" Kathryn asked, looking across the barn at a decrepit ladder precariously leaning against the loft.

"Yeah," Melanie said, turning her head to look at it as well.

Kathryn focused on it, and soon the ladder grew more stable until it looked as though it was new. Time continued to go past as the ladder collapsed, dismantling itself until it lay on the floor in nicely piled planks of uncut wood.

Melanie's eyes widened. "That's incredible."

"But it doesn't last," Kathryn said, breaking her concentration. The planks of wood soon reformed themselves into the decrepit ladder. "Once I stop concentrating on it, it goes back to the way it was."

"But still," Melanie told her, still looking at the ladder in wonder. "Does it work with anything?"

"Everything I've tried," Kathryn said. "I used to practice when nobody was looking."

An idea popped into Melanie's head and she looked down at her shackles. "Could you imagine these shackles when they were unlocked?"

"Of course, but why?" Kathryn asked.

"To escape, of course!" Melanie hissed back at her, starting to look around suspiciously as though a Death Eater was going to barge in from the mere thought of escape.

"But, even if we could get out of the shackles, how are we going to get away from who knows how many Death Eaters?"

"We just have to get further enough away from the clearing so we can apparate back to London," Melanie told her.

"We won't get two feet out o' the door before they bring us down."

"Only if they can catch us," Melanie told her.

"They don't have to catch us if they use magic!" Kathryn protested.

"Yes they do! Remember, I'm with you. My power protects us from all of their spells. They'd have to physically catch us, and if we wait until dark to make a run for it, they might not."

Kathryn looked at her for a minute. "That might actually work, as crazy as it seems."

Melanie nodded excitedly. "It's settled, then. When it's dark, we'll get out of these shackles, and then get out through one of those windows. It shouldn't be far until we can apparate."

Kathryn nodded, looking towards the window anxiously, even though plenty of daylight was still streaming through it.

Melanie had not yet experienced such a long day. It seemed forever until the light finally faded from the window, and even longer until they felt it was late enough that they would not be seen.

"Ready?" Melanie whispered.

"Go," Kathryn returned, and Melanie felt the shackle slide a bit on her foot. She reached down and pulled her ankle free.

"That's amazing," Melanie said as she pulled herself to her feet and walked towards the middle of the barn. Her feet were a little unstable after not walking for so many days.

"Well, running might take a bit of practice," she commented to herself as she heard Kathryn shuffle up beside her.

"You're telling me," Kathryn returned, grabbing onto Melanie's shoulder to stabilize herself.

Melanie felt a surge of energy go through her as Kathryn touched her. Melanie shuddered, pushing the thought to the back of her mind as she turned her concern to Kathryn's wobbly legs.

"I bet you're ten times worse than I am," Melanie told her. "Here, let's walk around a bit to wake your legs up a bit more."

Carefully, Melanie helped Kathryn walk quietly around the barn. "Is it getting any better?"

"I don't know. I don't think it's going to get any better than this, though. If we're going to go, we better go now."

Melanie nodded. "Well, we can try to be quiet most of the way. I'd rather not be chased by a bunch of Death Eaters tonight, anyway."

Kathryn gave a small chuckle as they both made their way over to a window at the far side of the barn. Melanie started to nudge it open, but it creaked horribly.

"Can you remember this window opened? It had to have been opened at some point, right?"

"No problem," Kathryn replied. "Okay, go."

Melanie climbed through the window, a smile crossing her face as she felt the fresh, open air rush into her lungs. Her reverie ended soon as she turned to help Kathryn through the window. Soon, both women were outside of their barn prison.

"Let's go, I think the shortest way out will be over here," Melanie said, leading Kathryn to their left.

They walked as quietly as they could. After they had walked for a few minutes, Melanie tried to apparate, but could not.

"How much further?" Kathryn asked. "My legs feel like they're going to fall off."

"It can't be that much further," Melanie assured her. Some lights appeared at the edge of their vision, and Melanie steered away from them. "Should we have gone the other way?"

Every slight sound of walking along the ground made both of them nervous. Several times, noises made them both stopped until they cautiously started to walk again when they were sure that nobody had heard.

Suddenly, a shot of red light flew through the air towards them, and the music started to play in Melanie's head.

"Run!" Melanie shouted, pulling Kathryn along as they ran as quickly as possible. There were more flashes of light and the Death Eaters started to come closer. Finally, Melanie was sure that they had passed the boundary. "Hold on to me," she told Kathryn. She concentrated as hurried footsteps approached.

The next thing she knew, she was looking at the familiar setting of Rhonda's living room.

"Melanie!!" a voice squealed, and Melanie was nearly pushed to the floor by Rhonda's embrace. "I didn't know if I would ever see you again!"

"I'm fine," Melanie told her, pushing her friend off as gently as possible. "They just kept me prisoner, they never tried to do anything to me."

"But still, Death Eaters! We were so worried!" Rhonda gasped. "Your parents! The Order! They'll want to know that you are here!" She grabbed a handful of powder and threw it into the fireplace across the room before sticking her head inside of the flames.

As Rhonda talked in the fireplace, Melanie looked over at Kathryn, who had gratefully collapsed onto the couch. She laughed, relieved, as Rhonda pulled her head out of the fire.

"Your family will be here soon, and they're going to notify the Order." She shook her head. "I can barely believe it. Is it real? Are you here?" She threw her arms around Melanie again.

Melanie laughed. "Unless this is some strange dream."

Rhonda shook her head and laughed, letting Melanie go. "It's not a nightmare, I'll tell you that!"

Just then, the fireplace glowed green yet again and Violetta came running up to Melanie and Rhonda.

"Melanie! Melanie!" she shouted as she pulled Melanie away from Rhonda and wrapped her arms around her. "Darling, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Mom," Melanie said, her voice muffled by her mother's blouse.

Violetta hadn't seemed to have heard her, and just kept holding her close.

The fire glowed green again as Melanie's father and then Simon appeared in the room. Both went to hug her, and Melanie just basked happily in the presence of her family.

"Melanie," a soft voice said beside her, and a familiar hand reached out to grab hers. Melanie turned and saw a very pale Draco standing there, a few tears forming in his eyes.

Melanie's eyes widened and she pushed herself further into her family. "Get away from me."

"Melanie?" Draco repeated, taking a step towards her, his hands outstretched.

"Get away from me!" Melanie screamed, pushing through her parents and running to the other side of the room. "Don't come near me!"

"What?" Draco asked, walking away from the crowd to see her. "Melanie, what's wrong? What happened?"

"Like you don't know!" she yelled back. "What was the price for handing me over, Draco? What was your reward? Did You-Know-Who forgive your family? I see your father's out of Azkaban, was that the down payment?"

"Melanie, what are you saying?" he asked, taking a step towards her. "I didn't have anything to do with this, I swear..."

"Oh really?! And the engagement ring you gave me just happened to be a portkey?!?!?!?!"

"Engagement ring?" Rhonda asked, looking at them in surprise as she stood around the fireplace with the rest of Melanie's family.

"I didn't know. I never would have given it to you if I had..." Draco continued to explain.

"How could you not know!?" Melanie interrupted him.

"I swear, Melanie, I had no idea," Draco told her, but she just shook her head.

"I don't believe you."

"I'm telling the truth!"

"I don't believe you."

"Melanie..."

But she just kept shaking her head. Finally, she just stared at him with a horrible, serious glare. "Leave. Now. I never want to see you again."

What little color was left in Draco's face drained completely. "Melanie..."

Melanie's father walked up to him and put his hand on Draco's shoulder. "Maybe you should leave for now. Come back when she's settled down a bit," he whispered in Draco's ear.

Draco nodded, giving Melanie one more sad look before leaving.

Once he had left the room, Melanie's father turned to her. "I think you're being a bit hard on him. You should have seen him after you disappeared. He came running in to the house in such a state it took us almost fifteen minutes just to calm him down enough to figure out what had happened. He's been pacing in his room nonstop the entire time you were missing."

"What a fine act I'm sure it was," Melanie told them, walking past them to sit down in one of the chairs by the fireplace.

"It wasn't an act, darling," her mother chimed in, walking up beside her.

"The engagement ring was a portkey! Who else could be responsible?"

"It wasn't Draco, Melanie," her father told her.

"I was there! I know what happened! It was all planned-I saw it! You-Know-Who took the ring and gave it back to Draco's father and then thanked him for the use of it!! It was planned by the Malfoys!!"

"You've got the wrong Malfoy," her father told her.

"He's right, Melanie, it wasn't Draco," Simon added, walking up next to her. He sighed. "We think it was his mother."

"Mrs. Malfoy?" Melanie asked, confused.

Violetta sighed. "She's gone missing as well-again. The last person to see her was Draco when he got the engagement ring from her."

"We think she might have been working under the imperius curse," her father added. "The Death Eaters must have gotten ahold of her that time she was missing and sent her back to get you."

"The imperius?" Melanie muttered.

"It would explain why she was acting so strange after she came back," Violetta said quietly.

Melanie groaned. "Draco...I can't believe I yelled at him like that. Where'd he go? I need to apologize."

"Knowing Draco, he already apparated back to the house," Octavian said. "Don't worry, darling. I'm sure he realizes that you've had a trying day. You can talk to him tomorrow."

Melanie gave him a sad look and nodded. He smiled at her and kissed her on the forehead. "Come on, it's about time we get you home for a good night's sleep. Some members of the Order are going to come over tomorrow and talk to you about what happened, so you'll need your rest." He put his arm around her shoulders and started to lead her towards the fireplace.

"What about Kathryn?" Melanie asked, suddenly remembering her companion.

"Kathryn?" Violetta asked, and everyone in the room suddenly noticed the figure on the couch. Kathryn blushed.

"Evenin'," she greeted quietly.

Violetta looked at Melanie, then nodded. "I'll have Trinket prepare a room," she said, disappearing into the fire.

"I'd much rather just have a nice, hot shower," Kathryn admitted, struggling to her feet. Octavian hurried over to help her.

"I'm sure that can be arranged, as well," Melanie's father told her, helping her into the fire.

"I'll see you tomorrow, then?" Rhonda asked as Simon followed Octavian into the fire.

Melanie nodded. "Tomorrow," she answered, giving her friend one more hug before she walked into the fire, emerging in the comfort of her living room.

Melanie decided to copy Kathryn's idea and treated herself to a long, warm bath. As she washed away four day's worth of grime, she breathed the first real sigh of relief since the evening has begun. She sat for at least an hour in the warm water, just sorting through what had just happened. When she finally climbed out and pulled on her nightgown, she was thankful to be able to climb into her bed.

As she lay there trying to drift off to sleep, though, the darkness seemed to close in around her. She tried to close her eyes, but shadows would walk across her mind, and opening her eyes to the darkness of her room only made things worse. Her breath quickened, and she finally got up out of her bed and walked out into the semi-lighted hallway.

She was surprised to see Draco sitting outside of her door.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"What are you doing still up?" he returned.

She sighed. "I couldn't sleep," she told him, sitting down across from him.

"Why not? You must be exhausted."

"Every time I close my eyes, all I can see is his face, looking down at me with that evil smile of his," Melanie stammered, covering her eyes and shaking her head.

Draco moved next to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Does that help?"

Melanie nodded and leaned her head against his chest. "I'm sorry I yelled at you like that. I never should have thought..."

"It's all right," he told her, stroking her hair. "You'd been locked up for four days and were liable to believe anything."

Melanie sat up. "But still, to think that you had handed me over like that! I never should have doubted how you felt."

"It's all right," Draco insisted. "It's been forgiven, now forget about it and move on."

Melanie nodded.

"Now get some sleep," he continued. "You must be tired, and you'll have a full day of explaining to go through tomorrow."

"No," Melanie told him, shaking her head. "I can't. It scares me."

"There's nothing to be frightened of, you're safe at home."

"But I can't see that when I close my eyes," she whimpered.

"I'll stay right here. I promise nothing will happen to you."

Melanie shook her head again. "No." She leaned back into Draco's arms. "Can I just sleep here?" She closed her eyes.

"You need to sleep in your own bed."

"But the faces go away when you're here."

A quick smile spread across Draco's face before he sighed and gently pushed her away. "Come on, you need to go to sleep." He helped her stand up and led her into her room. He helped her into her bed and gently pulled the covers up around her. He squeezed her hand goodnight before turning to walk out of the room, but Melanie wouldn't let go of his hand.

"Don't go," she whispered. "Don't leave me alone."

"Melanie," he protested.

"Please," she pleaded.

He sighed. "All right." He pulled a chair up next to her bed and sat down, her hand still in his.

~*~*~*~*

Draco was the first one to wake the next morning. He chuckled when he looked over at Melanie's peacefully sleeping figure. He gently pulled his hand from hers and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Her eyes fluttered and sleepily opened.

"Good morning," she smiled.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked.

Melanie nodded happily. "And you?"

"Not too bad," he returned with a smile. "Although I'm not too anxious to see your parent's reaction when they find out that I spent all night in your room."

"Nothing happened," Melanie said, getting up out of her bed. "And besides, we are engaged, aren't we?"

"I don't know, since you disappeared before you could give me an answer," he teased.

Melanie laughed. "What did you think I was going to say?"

"I don't know. And I won't know until I ask you again," he said, turning to walk out of the room.

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked, following him out into the hall. Draco stopped and turned to look at her.

"Precisely what I said. I won't know until I ask you again. And I don't want an answer until I ask you properly."

"When will that be?" Melanie asked as they walked down the stairs.

"Don't worry," he said. "You have enough to worry about right now. Let me figure all of that out." He gave her a kiss as they walked into the tea room.

"Good morning, you two," Octavian greeted them, looking up from the Daily Prophet that he was reading.

"Any new news while I was gone?" Melanie asked, grabbing some of the pancakes that Trinket had set out on the table.

"Not really," her father told her. "The same old same old. Different attacks, more suggestions for protection."

"Maybe we should look into more protection," Melanie muttered as she started to eat her food.

"That will be one of the topics covered at today's meeting, no doubt," her father told her.

"Of course. Who's all coming, and when will they be here?"

"Whoever's available, I suppose," her father answered. "They should be here a little after lunch."

Melanie nodded and continued eating her breakfast.

"Happy New Year, everyone!" a chipper voice greeted as Rhonda walked in from the living room. "How are you doing, Melanie?"

"Fine," Melanie answered. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I wanted to check on you," Rhonda explained. "And it's not that early."

"Goodness, Rhonda, you're right," Octavian said, putting down the paper and looking at his watch. "They should be here in a few hours. I should make sure that everything is prepared." He stood up and walked out of the room.

"Where's your Mom at?" Rhonda asked as she sat down at the table.

Melanie shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't seen her yet. She might still be asleep."

"Or she might be with that woman you brought home," Draco added.

"Yeah, what's with her?" Rhonda asked.

"She was another prisoner of the Death Eaters," Melanie answered. "She helped me escape."

"Why did the Death Eaters capture her?"

"I don't really know. We never figured that out."

"What do you know about her?" Draco asked.

"She's the one my powers went out to in October, for one," Melanie said.

"Really?"

"Is she that woman whose husband and sons were killed in the attack?" Rhonda asked.

Melanie nodded. "Her sons were almost our age-and Hufflepuffs-don't even say anything, Draco."

"What?" Draco asked innocently as Melanie flashed him a look. "Look, I might not think much of Hufflepuffs, but I know better than to disgrace the dead."

Melanie nodded. "Thanks." The table was silent for a while.

"Hey, can we maybe talk about something a bit less depressing? We've all been depressed and worried enough these last few days. Let's start off the New Year with some happier talk. Like...what's this with an engagement between the two of you?"

Melanie and Draco exchanged looks. "Draco?" Melanie asked.

"Well that was to be my Christmas present to Melanie, but as you know my proposal went horribly wrong," Draco explained.

"And?" Rhonda prodded.

"I'm waiting for the proper time to try it again," he finished.

Rhonda looked at him, dumbfounded. "Are you serious? You're just going to wait to propose again?"

"Why not? I hardly call Melanie disappearing a proper proposal!"

"But you're just going to make her wait..."

"Do we have to argue about this?" Melanie shouted above them, and both of them calmed down.

"Sorry," Rhonda apologized, and they spent the rest of their time sitting at the table talking about random things until Octavian walked back into the tea room.

"They're here," he announced. "We'll be meeting in the library."

Melanie nodded and stood up as McGonagall appeared behind him.

"Mr. Malfoy and Miss Mittenborn better come, as well. This matter may require their help."

Rhonda and Draco exchanged surprised looks as they, too, stood up.

"What about Kathryn, the other prisoner who escaped with me?" Melanie asked.

"Violetta is bringing her," McGonagall said as she disappeared in the direction of the library.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Rhonda asked. "After all, we don't know much about this woman. She might be a plant to gather information for You-Know-Who."

"I spent four days alone with her," Melanie said. "I know more about her than I need to know that she's not a Death Eater."

"But can you be sure?" Draco repeated.

"My power went out to her!"

"Back in October, but..."

"And while we were escaping."

Draco blushed. "Oh."

Melanie shook her head. "And then there was..." She sighed. "Our hands touched, and something happened. I felt something, and I can't explain it."

"What?" Rhonda asked as they reached the library door.

"I don't know...but there's something going on here," she said as they walked inside.

There were five members of the Order sitting in there: Professor McGonagall, Tonks, Lupin, Moody, and Arthur Weasley.

"Melanie, Rhonda, Draco," Tonks greeted. "Please, sit down."

They all found chairs and pulled them by where the other five were sitting. As they got settled, Octavian and Violetta walked in, a mildly frightened Kathryn between them.

"Mrs. O'Brien," McGonagall greeted with a reassuring smile, standing up out of her seat.

"Professor McGonagall?" she asked.

"Yes, Kathryn. Please, sit down. We just want to ask you a few questions about what happened. No one is going to harm you."

Kathryn nodded and sat down in the chair that Octavian brought out for her.

"All right, since everyone is here," McGonagall announced. "I guess we should begin with as complete a story as possible starting with the night Melanie disappeared. Melanie?"

Melanie stood up and tried to tell as many details of what she could remember as possible from when she touched the ring until she and Kathryn had apparated safely into Rhonda's living room.

She had expected a reaction when she told them about Kathryn's power and how they escaped, but only her parents and Rhonda and Draco reacted at all. The Order members all acted as though they had half expected it.

"It is what we thought, then," McGonagall said with a sigh.

"What do you mean that you thought?" Violetta asked.

"A new prophecy appeared in the Department of Mysteries a few months ago," Tonks said quietly.

"Sybill Trewlany did it again," McGonagall added under her breath.

"About me?" Melanie asked.

"We didn't know," McGonagall said. "Nobody could figure out what the prophecy meant. We even had Hermione look at it before she went off to help Harry and she couldn't come up with it's meaning."

"She had a few guesses, but nothing that we could know definitively," Tonks added.

"Then why bring it up now?" Rhonda asked.

"Because one of Hermione's guesses might have just been proven," Lupin answered. Everyone just stared at him blankly.

McGonagall sighed. "Do you have a pensieve anywhere, Octavian?"

"In that cabinet," Octavian said, getting up and pulling out a delicate white bowl. He set it in on the table in the middle of the group.

"Maybe all of you will catch on quicker than we did," McGonagall said, pulling a silver strand from her head and laying it in the pensieve.

It took only a second before Sybill Trewlany appeared amidst the liquid and began to speak:

The time is approaching...those that have not been united in over a millennium will soon make their way towards each other...and many shall seek their power, for they are more powerful together than when they stand alone. They shall again be united, those nine sisters of old...

Even as the image faded away, Melanie still held her eyes on it, confused.

"And this has to do with me?" Melanie asked.

"We think it might," McGonagall admitted.

"But she has no sisters," Violetta protested.

"Yes, who are these nine sisters?" Draco asked.

"We looked everywhere we could think of, and we only found one more reference to nine sisters," Lupin explained, pulling a sheet of parchment out of his pocket. "An old poem:

The sacred book will be opened,

Its secrets will be revealed.

Watch when those artful spirits come,

Over sea and over field.

The spirits will soon be summoned,

Shall return to their rightful place.

And these nine long distanced sisters,

Shall once again meet face to face.

"That's completely useless," Draco grumbled. "And what's that book they referenced?"

"Very good questions, Mr. Malfoy. And what we ended up having to do was just take each little clue that we had and try to put the pieces together," Moody said.

"Well, we know there are nine sisters," Melanie began. "And they must be very old, since they have not been together for over a millennium."

"But no wizard has ever lived that long!" Rhonda interrupted.

"So then it must not be a wizard, or something that would have a normal life," Lupin answered with a smile.

Melanie gave him a confused look. "Like with being a musea and the spirit of Euterpe?"

Mr. Weasley smiled. "Exactly. And a bit of extra research revealed that Euterpe was one of nine Greek muses."

Melanie's heart stopped in her chest. "So each muse has a corresponding musea? And you think You-Know-Who's trying to collect all of the muses." She looked cautiously over at Professor McGonagall, who slowly nodded.

"That's what we've decided is most likely to be true. We think that You-Know-Who heard about what happened in the attack last year and did a little research on his own and somehow managed to figure out what was going on."

"Can you blame him? 'They are more powerful together than when they stand alone?' Why wouldn't that attract him?"

"How on Earth can he track down nine musea when we didn't even know that they existed?"

"Well, obviously he's fairly good at it, since he's already tracked down two," Lupin mentioned. "But we now have the advantage."

"Yes. We now have two of the musea that we can protect and keep out of his reach."

Melanie looked over at Kathryn. "That's why my protection went out to you. It wasn't because I had a connection with you, but because Euterpe had a close connection to you."

"And that's why when we touched..." Kathryn trailed off, her eyes growing wide. "If that's what happened when only two of us are together, imagine what could happen if all nine of us were there."

"Well, we will keep whatever power that is out of the hands of You-Know-Who," Lupin announced. "We're going to increase the security around here. Have an auror stationed here around the clock and any other precautions we can think of."

"Whatever it takes," Octavian agreed, nodding his head.

"In the meantime, we need to find out as much as we can about the rest of the musea: guesses as to what their powers are, how to track them down, and anything else that might prove useful."

Melanie nodded. "Good, it'll give me something to do while I'm stuck here."

McGonagall nodded. "Good. So, that's settled. If there aren't any more questions, we'd like to meet with you, Violetta and talk about your progress in the States."

Violetta nodded as everyone else stood up to leave.

"We'll be back to check your progress, Melanie," McGonagall told her as she walked out the door. Melanie nodded at her as she followed Rhonda and Draco out into the hallway.

"That's an interesting new development," Draco commented as the door to the library closed again.

"Nine museas?" Rhonda added. "And You-Know-Who's trying to get them all?"

"Which means we have to track them down first," Melanie said.

"Well, we've already got two," Draco said, looking back at the library door where Kathryn was standing uncertainly.

"How are you doing, Kathryn?" Melanie asked, smiling at the uncertain woman.

"I'm a little confused, but otherwise I'm all right."

Melanie nodded and smiled at her. "How about we go into the tea room and I'll try to explain more of what's going on." She looked at Draco and Rhonda. "I'll be back in a little bit."

They nodded as Melanie walked with Kathryn towards the tea room. "Thank you," Kathryn said as they walked away.

"Oh, no problem," Melanie answered as they walked into the room. "I've known about the musea for a year now, and I'm still confused about what was just said. I can't imagine how confused you are." What Draco and Rhonda could hear of their conversation ended as the door to the tea room closed behind Melanie.

Rhonda sighed and looked at Draco. "I guess I'll head back home, then," she said. "Will you tell Melanie I said goodbye and I'll come around sometime tomorrow?"

Draco nodded. "Of course," he told her. Rhonda nodded and disappeared into the living room, and Draco sighed and went off on his own upstairs.

~*~*~*~

Melanie had just finished explaining most of what had happened the year before to Kathryn when her mother walked into the room.

"The Order wants your brother and me to head back home tonight," she announced.

"What?" Melanie asked.

"There've been some new developments in the US that we need to go work on. We'll pack our things and head back after dinner."

Melanie nodded. "Where has Simon and Rebecca been all day, anyway?"

"Rebecca's been wandering around the garden, but your brother's been sleeping all morning." She rolled her eyes and shook her head.

Melanie laughed. "Sounds like Simon."

"Yes, it does." Her mother laughed. "You wouldn't mind going to wake him up for me, would you? I have to go get things ready for when we leave."

"Yeah, no problem," Melanie said, turning to look at Kathryn before she left. "I'll be back in just a minute, I need to go wake up my lazy brother."

"Oh, my boys used to be the same way," Kathryn agreed. She sighed.

Melanie nodded and looked at her sad face. "Are you comfortable here? Is everything all right?"

"Oh, yes," Kathryn agreed enthusiastically. "Everything's wonderful. Far more luxurious than anything back home."

"Good. If there's ever anything you need, all you have to do is ask."

"Thank you," Kathryn told her. "You and your family have both been so kind to me. But I think that now I just need to spend some time moving on from what's happened."

Melanie nodded. "I understand. If you ever need any help..."

Kathryn nodded back. "I know. But I had three months with nothing to do but think and remember."

"Of course. Well, I'll be back in a minute," Melanie told her before she left the room and walked upstairs. The door to Simon's room was closed, so Melanie knocked on it and slowly opened it. "Simon? Mom says to..." her voice trailed off as she looked inside and saw Rebecca and Simon close together, lips locked together. She loudly cleared her throat and the two broke apart, Rebecca turning a scarlet red.

"What subject is she tutoring you in, again?" she asked, looking at them curiously.

"Melanie, did you ever learn to knock?" Simon asked harshly.

"I did," she told him matter-of-factly. "It's not my fault that you didn't hear."

"Melanie...I'm sorry..." Rebecca stammered.

"Oh, don't worry," Melanie assured her. "I'm just glad I didn't walk in on you two doing something else. I don't really care. I'm practically engaged, so I'm not exactly Miss Naïve."

Rebecca's blush diminished somewhat, but she still seemed uncomfortable. "I think I'll go check to make sure that everything is ready for when we go back." She looked uncomfortably from Melanie to Simon as she walked out of the room.

"So, what were you saying about Mom insisting that she come along?" Melanie teased.

"It really was all Mom's idea."

"Does she know about this?"

"No. Nobody does," Simon told her. "Well, just you."

Melanie gave him a curious look. "Why not? Are you trying to keep it a secret?"

"We're not trying, it's just...with everything else..." He shook his head. "Did you say something about Mom?"

"Yeah. She told me to wake you up, but it looks like Rebecca beat me to that one."

Simon grumbled a bit before he turned to walk out into the hallway.

"Simon?" Melanie asked, following him out. "Does Mom suspect? Is that why she insisted she come?"

"I don't know if she suspects. But I do know that she wants to play matchmaker." He laughed. "And, for once, I don't mind."

~*~*~*~

The next morning, Melanie was walking out of her room when she noticed the book of Greek mythology that Rebecca had given her sitting on a shelf. After a moment's thought, she grabbed it and sat down with it on her bed.

"Nine muses," Melanie muttered to herself as she turned a page. "I can't believe it." She flipped from page to page, not even reading, just looking at the picture of each muse and thinking about everything.

She stopped at Euterpe's page and stared at the picture that sat in the lower corner. Underneath a head of perfect brown curls, the muse's eyes seemed to jump out from the page and stare at her.

"Good morning!" a voice behind her chirped. Melanie jumped, startled, and turned around to see Kathryn standing there. She blushed. "Sorry, I di'n't mean to startle ye."

"Oh, don't worry," Melanie told her, closing the book and pushing it to the side. "How did you sleep?"

"All right, all thing's considered."

Melanie nodded. "I understand." She sighed. "There's a lot to sort through." She let her eyes wander back to the book.

The two of them sat staring at the book silently until footsteps entered behind them. Melanie turned and saw a very agitated Draco standing in the doorway.

"Well, the auror's here," he proclaimed, sitting down in the chair next to Melanie. "He arrived just as your father was leaving for work."

"Who is it?" Melanie asked.

Draco just shrugged his shoulders. "Jillian something-or-other. Never heard of him before. But I did hear something very interesting from the brief conversation I did have with him."

"What?"

"Our wonderful ministry," he remarked to himself, shaking his head. "The Ministry isn't stationing an auror here around the clock like the Order recommended. They're just providing one during the day while your father's at work."

Melanie stared at him with her mouth open. "Are they insane? Do they think that if the Death Eaters attack that they'll just knock on our door in the middle of the day?"

"Apparently. Great load of rubbish." He shook his head. "But that's what it seems like the Ministry thinks, too. I heard him mutter something about using the Ministry's valuable resources to protect fairy tales."

"Well, can you blame them for thinking that?" Melanie asked with a laugh. "It's all so hard to believe sometimes, and the Ministry has so much to worry about these days."

"Don't go making excuses for their incompetence, Melanie," Draco told her. "You know very well that this isn't something to be taken lightly. Just stationing an auror here during the day-it's absurd! They should have just let your father work from home and let him protect you if this was all that they were going to do."

"Well, it's not like there's much we can do about it," Melanie said, standing up and shaking her head. She turned to Kathryn. "Do you want me to show you around, Kathryn? I mean, since you're going to be staying here..."

Kathryn nodded. "Sounds nice." She stood up and Melanie turned to Draco.

"Are you going to join us, Draco?"

He shook his head. "I'm going to see about some business. I'll join you for lunch." He gave Melanie a kiss on the cheek before leaving the room. Melanie sighed as she watched him leave before she turned back to Kathryn.

"Shall we begin the grand tour?"

Melanie led Kathryn through every part of the house until they ended up back in the dining room.

"I think that's about it," Melanie said with a smile. Kathryn nodded and looked around. Her eyes stopped on the door back to the kitchen hallway.

"What's back there?" she asked.

"Oh, just the kitchen, pantry, Trinket's room, and my lab."

"Your lab?"

Melanie laughed and turned a light red. "My potions lab. I've been experimenting with a few things."

"Really? What kinds?"

Melanie's blush darkened a little bit. "Well, I've been trying to see if I can put my powers into a potion so that I can protect others without establishing a connection." She looked up at Kathryn, half expecting her to laugh at the idea. Instead Kathryn's eyes widened.

"That sounds amazing. Any luck?"

Melanie shook her head and sighed. "Not really. And I haven't worked on it forever with everything else happening."

Kathryn was quiet and seemed to be thinking. "Do you think I could see it?" she asked quietly.

"Sure," Melanie said, starting to walk towards the hallway door. "I don't see why not. I need to start working on it again, actually." She led Kathryn down the hall and into the lab.

"It's not much," Melanie told her, walking up to a bookshelf and tidying up some papers.

"It's wonderful," Kathryn said, walking over to the cauldron that was still brewing on the desk and peering down into it. "I've never seen a potion this color before."

"What do you mean?" Melanie asked, turning from the papers.

"This odd cream color," Kathryn answered.

"Cream? That potion isn't cream..." Melanie said, trailing off as she looked down at the cauldron. "What the..."

Kathryn quietly backed away. "I didn't do anything, I promise."

Melanie watched in surprise as the cream potion faded back to a blue-ish tint.

"Do that again, Kathryn," Melanie asked quietly, not taking her eyes off of the potion.

"What?"

"Walk back up to the cauldron," Melanie told her slowly, barely able to calm her excitement.

Kathryn took a few tentative steps towards the cauldron, which began to transform itself into the cream color once again.

"It's sensing your presence!" Melanie whispered excitedly. "I can't believe it."

"But how?"

Melanie looked up at her. "This potion was supposed to be a way to transfer my powers to someone else. I thought that by connecting with the potion enough, it could work."

"Did it?"

Melanie shook her head. "Not even close. But...but the connection must somehow enable the potion to sense when another musea is near. That's why it's turning cream when you're nearby."

Kathryn's eyes widened. "So that means that you could use this to track down other musea," she said as Melanie ran to the bookshelf and started flying through old books.

"Exactly. And there's one more thing I want to try," she muttered to herself as she flipped through pages as quick as lightning. "Ah! Here it is!"

"Here what is?" Kathryn asked, looking at the book as Melanie ran to an old desk in the corner of the room and started rummaging through it.

"It's directions to a tracking spell. You can bespell a compass," she pulled a dusty compass from the desk with a sigh of triumph, "like so." She waved her wand at the compass. The needle began to glow red.

"And then by adding this potion," she took a small amount of the potion out of the cauldron and drizzled it on the compass, "it should theoretically point towards the closest musea."

As she spoke, the needle of the compass returned to its normal color, and then made a sharp turn to point at Kathryn. Melanie smiled. "It worked."

"But how will you get it to not point towards me?" Kathryn asked.

"I'll have to connect you to the potion the same way I connected myself."

Kathryn grimaced. "It's not painful, is it?"

Melanie wordlessly reached up and pulled out one of Kathryn's long hairs. "It will hurt that much," she said as she tossed the hair into the cauldron. The potion bubbled as she stirred it until it became a creamy blue.

"That should cancel you out of the compass just as I am," Melanie said as she drizzled some of the new potion on the compass. The compass spinned and finally landed just to Melanie's right. "Ta da!"

"That's amazing," Kathryn said as she took the compass from Melanie. The compass turned in the exchange, but the needle continued to point to Melanie's right. "There's no reason why we can't track down the other musea before You-Know-Who now. This compass will lead us straight to them."

"Then we need to go right away," Melanie said, walking out the door. "Just let me get my coat." She raced out of the room and up to her bedroom.

"Good afternoon, Draco," she greeted as she ran by him.

"Good afternoon," he returned, throwing her a confused look as he turned to follow her. He leaned against the doorway as she grabbed her coat and turned to walk out of the room. "What are you in such a hurry for?"

"My potion worked."

"What?"

"The potion-I can use it to track down other musea," she explained as she walked past him and down the stairs.

"How does that work?" he asked, following her.

"I applied it to a compass, and now the compass points towards the nearest musea. So now all we have to do is follow the compass to the nearest musea."

She walked past him back towards the potion lab. His eyes widened and he followed her more quickly.

"You're not going to go out to look for one now, are you?" he asked.

"Why not?"

"It's not safe, first of all," he told her as they reached the lab.

"What does safe has to do with it?" Melanie asked. "Draco, You-Know-Who is trying to track them down as we speak! We have an advantage, and we need to use it!"

"Remember that You-Know-Who's also trying to track YOU down, and it's just downright silly to go walking around England trying to find..."

"I don't think it's silly," Melanie argued. "Draco, this is really important. Besides, nobody's going to be expecting to see me running around randomly. I can take care of myself. Kathryn, are you ready?"

"Of course," Kathryn answered, walking up to the two of them holding the compass.

"You can't go," Draco insisted.

"What are you going to do to stop me?" Melanie asked, pushing by him.

"I hadn't figured that out quite yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something." "Draco, you're being..."

"No, I'm not!" he interrupted, grabbing her arm. "You're not thinking about this, Melanie. You are being hunted by the most powerful wizard alive, you can't just walk out and do whatever you want!"

"Stop trying to order me around," Melanie told him, trying to pull her arm out of his hands.

"I'm not trying to order you around, Melanie. I'm just trying to protect you because I love you," he told her, pulling her close. "Okay?"

Melanie sighed and looked at him. "I know. But this is important!"

"Fine. Talk to Jillian, and think before you act. I won't say don't go, but I will say plan this out. Planning everything is the only way to keep you safe."

"Fine, then where is he?"

"I think I saw him in the library," Draco said, walking with her towards the room.