Secrets of the Musidora

Scarlett

Melanie and Draco found Jillian in the library, and Melanie explained what she had discovered in the lab.

Jillian laughed. "You can't be serious? As though this assignment isn't enough of a joke as it is, now you want to go on a treasure hunt?" He shook his head. "Fine, go and do whatever you want." He turned back to the book he was reading as Melanie and Draco walked out of the room, Draco fuming at what had just happened.

"He could at least have shown some concern! He really doesn't believe a word of this!"

"But, he said I could go, so there's nothing you can do to stop me now," Melanie told him, speeding up to head back to the lab.

"Why would I stop you?" Melanie looked at Draco in surprise as he walked up next to her. "You're going-if not just for the reason of proving him wrong." He grabbed her arm and led her away. "But at least I will make sure you're safe."

Fifteen minutes later, Melanie, Kathryn, and Draco stood in the living room, finishing the last of their disguises.

"I think I look like an idiot," Draco said, looking down at his jeans and t-shirt.

"You don't," Melanie assured him. Her disguise was also muggle clothing, as was Kathryn's.

Draco ignored her and continued to gripe. "I definitely don't like having my hair like this. Why did I have to transfigure it, again?"

Melanie smiled at him. "It makes you less recognizable. I mean, who would expect to see Draco Malfoy dressed in muggle clothes with long, black hair?"

"Nobody, because it makes me look like an idiot."

"Well, I think you look nice with dark hair," Melanie told him, laughing. "And the sooner we find the next musea, the sooner you can change back."

"With pleasure," Draco agreed. "Now, where exactly is this musea?"

"Well," Melanie said, pulling out her compass, "the compass is pointing to the south, so my best guess would be somewhere in London. If all else fails, we just play an extensive game of 'hot and cold.'"

"Start in Diagon Alley, then?" Draco asked.

Melanie nodded, grabbing a fistful of floo powder. She threw it into the fire and yelled "The Leaky Cauldron!"

A few minutes later, the three of them were standing in the extremely empty lobby of the old inn.

"All right, where do we go from here?" Draco asked anxiously, watching all of the entrances into the room with a suspicious eye.

"Well, the compass seems to be pointing to the muggle parts of London," Melanie said, raising an eyebrow.

"You've got to be kidding," Draco complained.

"Good thing we're dressed for the part," Melanie said with a smile, walking out into the street before anyone could stop her.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Draco hissed in her ear as they walked down the London street.

"Why wouldn't it be?" she returned as she followed the direction of the compass.

"That compass could lead us anywhere in London! We could walk all day and still not reach where we're going!"

"What do you propose we do?" Melanie asked. "We haven't even walked for five minutes yet! Why don't you give this a chance?"

"Because I can't see it working, that's why," Draco said as they crossed the street and headed down a darker one. "And I don't like where this compass is leading us."

"Oh, stop being so paranoid," Melanie told him. "We can beat anything that comes at us."

"You seem very confident, especially for someone who was attacked in a London alley."

Melanie shot him a look as she quickened her pace.

"For your information, I have a good feeling about this. I think we're close," she said as their surroundings became more and more questionable.

"I don't want to get much closer if it means going through the worst parts of London," Draco said as Melanie suddenly stopped.

"What is it?" Kathryn asked.

Melanie turned. "The arrow just changed directions. I think we passed it." She took a few steps back and then stopped to look at the building they were standing in front of.

"You've got to be kidding me," Draco said as he looked at the faded sign: "Kitty Kat Klub."

"It's a strip club!" Kathryn gasped.

"So is the person we're looking for a performer or someone in the audience?" Draco asked as Melanie took a step forward to look at one of the posters hanging in the front.

A picture of a girl no older than Melanie took up most of the space of the poster, her long dark hair framing a black and gold corset, and large letters proclaiming: "Scarlett Daely-tonight at 7:00."

"I think that's who we're looking for," Melanie said, pointing to Scarlett.

"Are you sure?" Draco asked. "You've got to be joking. How could you possibly know?"

"I feel it, too," Kathryn said quietly. "I really think that's her."

"Well, how exactly are we supposed to get her, then?"

"We go inside and find her," Melanie announced, reaching out to open the door.

"Oh, no!" Draco shouted, pulling her back. "I will not stand for you to go wandering into a muggle strip club looking for some exotic dancer!"

"It just so happens that this exotic dancer is the woman we're looking for!" Melanie shouted back. "Don't you want to keep You-Know-Who from finding her?"

Draco turned to Kathryn. "Apparate back to the house." He grabbed Melanie's arm, and soon all three of them were back in Brienwald Hall's living room.

"I can't believe you!" Melanie shouted, pulling her arm out of his and storming out into the hall. "We were right there, but you had to come back here because it wasn't proper!"

"Well, at least I have my limits," Draco replied, walking up to her. "And I think that girl is quite safe where she is, because I don't think You-Know-Who's going to be attending any muggle strip clubs in the near future!"

"That doesn't mean that he can't track her down another way!" Melanie screamed back as Octavian walked into the hall.

"What's going on here?" he asked, looking around in surprise. Melanie opened her mouth to reply as Hermione walked in behind him.

"Granger?" Draco asked, looking at her in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Checking on Melanie, actually," Hermione said matter-of-factly, glaring at him. "Harry and Ron are on their way, too."

"Why do you need to check on me?"

"To make sure you were all right after being captured. We would have come earlier, but we were hot on the trail."

"How is that going?" Melanie asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It's the slowest kind of treasure hunt imaginable. Just when you think you've found the final clue, there's a dozen more still waiting for you until you reach your goal."

"But there's only one more," Melanie suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, but that's when we actually have to..." Hermione trailed off. Melanie nodded sadly as Harry and Ron walked in.

"Melanie!" Harry shouted, running up to Melanie and hugging her. "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Harry. What about you?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Same old same old. But it was you we were worried about. We wanted to come the moment we heard, but..."

"I know, Hermione told me." Melanie shook her head. "You shouldn't worry about me, what you three are doing is much more dangerous."

"Yeah, Harry, what about the danger we're facing?" Ron echoed.

Harry just shook his head. "How have things been holding up here?" Harry asked.

"Safe as can possibly be. It almost seems like You-Know-Who's forgotten about Melanie and Kathryn." Octavian answered as he started to walk towards the library.

"Kathryn?" Ron asked.

Octavian looked at them curiously. "The other musea. Did you not hear about that?"

Hermione's eyes widened. "I was right?"

Ron scoffed. "Of course you were right, Hermione. Since when are you not?"

"It was just such a random guess, and I couldn't actually believe..." she stammered.

"Hermione, I'd be more willing to follow one of your random guesses than what's written in a hundred books," Harry countered, laughing.

Hermione blushed and Octavian turned towards them.

"Oh, Harry. If you have a few minutes, I would like to talk to you about your recent adventures."

"Oh, okay. Hermione, Ron?"

"Right behind you," Ron said, walking up next to Harry.

"Actually, Harry," Hermione said. "I'd rather stay and catch up with Melanie if you don't mind. I think you can explain things as well as I could."

Harry nodded. "Fine," he said as he and Ron followed Octavian into the library.

When they had gone, Draco cleared his throat loudly. "Well, I guess I shall leave you two ladies alone to gossip about what you will," he announced as he walked up the stairs. Melanie just rolled her eyes as he left.

"Is something going on between you two?" Hermione whispered when he had disappeared out of sight. "He seems a bit, well, more Draco-y than the last time I saw him."

Melanie sighed and led Hermione into the living room. "We've just had a bit of a disagreement today."

"Over what?" she asked as the two girls sat down.

"I figured out a way to track down the other musea."

Hermione's eyes widened. "What? How?"

"That potion I've been working on to try and transfer my powers, well, it doesn't work, but it is sensitive to when a musea is near. So, I applied it to a compass and now the compass..."

"...points to the nearest musea," Hermione finished. "Of course, the Riathan tracking spell. It's brilliant! I never would have thought of it!"

Melanie smiled broadly. "Hermione, that's the best compliment I've ever received in my life."

Hermione laughed. "Oh, come on, we both know you're better at potions than I am."

"I am not," Melanie said, shaking her head.

"Yes you are," Hermione insisted. "You were getting really good at the end of last year, even better than I was. It's just that nobody noticed it because of Harry." Hermione sighed. "But, if you've figured out how to track the musea, have you found any yet?"

"That's what we fought about. We went to London with Kathryn and found where one is, but Draco refused to let us go inside and get her."

"What!? Why on Earth would he do that?"

"Because she's a performer at a muggle strip club."

Hermione coughed, looking at Melanie with wide eyes. "Are you serious?"

"Perfectly."

Hermione burst into uncontrollable laughter. "I can't believe it! That's the strangest thing I've ever heard of in my life." She giggled some more. "So why wouldn't Draco let you go?"

"Because he thinks it's unseemly for me to go into a strip club looking for someone," Melanie complained, rolling her eyes.

"That's crazy! We need to get to her before the Death Eaters do!"

"Well, that will take quite a bit of convincing on Draco's part."

Hermione's eyes flashed mischievously. "Who says we need his permission? I think we're more than capable of getting her on our own. All we need is a plan...and the proper wardrobe."

A few hours later, Melanie knocked on the door to the Kitty Kat Klub performer's entrance, Hermione and Kathryn behind her.

"Who's there?" a gruff voice answered, opening the door. The man took one look at Melanie, dressed in a tight halter top and leather miniskirt, and narrowed his eyes. "Who are you?"

"We're here to perform," Melanie replied, flashing him a seductive smile.

"I don't recognize you," he returned, starting to close the door. He suddenly shook and then swung the door open for them. "Please, come in, ladies."

With a smile, the three girls walked in, Hermione hiding her wand once again in her knee-high boots. Nobody gave them a second glance as everyone hurried around them, scantily clad-women coming off stage and girls with strange costumes heading towards the stage.

Hermione grabbed one of the passing women. "Where can we find Scarlett Daely?"

"Like Miss Diva would be anywhere except her dressing room," she huffed, pulling her arm away with a look of disgust as the hurried away.

"Where are the dressing rooms, then?" Kathryn asked, trying to pull her top down to cover more of her exposed midriff.

"I guess this way," Hermione said, pointing down a hall to their right that was lined with doors. Sure enough, just a few doors down the hall was a sign that read "Scarlett Daely." Melanie knocked on the door and opened it before she could get an answer.

"No autographs until after the performance," a head of dark black hair proclaimed as the three girls walked inside.

"We're not here for autographs," Hermione told her, pulling out her wand and locking the door behind them.

"What?" Scarlett asked, turning around in her chair to face them. She blinked her long, fake eyelashes as she looked them up and down. "Oh, do you want tips?"

"We need you to come with us," Melanie told her, walking across the room to where she was sitting.

Scarlett laughed daintily. "I'm performing in fifteen minutes. I don't think so." She turned back to the mirror to add yet another layer of makeup to her already dark face.

"You don't understand," Hermione said as she and Kathryn also walked across the room. "You need to come with us."

"And what are you going to do about it?" Scarlett asked, looking over her shoulder at them. "Poke my eye out with that stick of yours?" She rolled her eyes and returned to her mirror.

Hermione gave her a startled look. "Do you not recognize a wand when you see one?"

"I've seen plenty of wands, honey, it's my business," Scarlett told her, applying liberal amounts of lipstick.

Hermione looked at her indignantly before she huffed and waved her wand. The lipstick flew out of Scarlett's hand and all of her makeup flew back into her makeup kit, which closed with a clatter. Scarlett gasped and leaned away from the table. She looked over at Hermione in shock. "How did you do that?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Magic, of course. Don't act all surprised about it, you're a witch, too."

"Oh," Scarlett said softly, throwing an innocent grin at Melanie as she regained her composure. "That's what all of those letters for that school was about. Oh, what was the name of it? Pig's Pimple..."

"Hogwarts," Hermione said forcefully.

"Oh, yes, that was it!" Scarlett said playfully. "I knew it had something to do with swine."

Hermione looked wordlessly over at Melanie, a look of complete shock on her face.

"You've been getting letters from Hogwarts?" Melanie asked.

"Of course! I've gotten one every year since I was a little girl. They keep wanting me to go to school there. Complete rubbish."

"Rubbish!?" Hermione exclaimed.

"Of course it's rubbish," Scarlett replied. "I make more money in one night here than a doctor makes in a month. I don't need any special school."

"Is she really worth all this?" Hermione hissed into Melanie's ear. "Can we just leave her to the Death Eaters?"

"You see, I'm extremely talented at what I do," Scarlett continued, looking confidently over at the girls. "I get up on stage and start dancing and the men in the audience do whatever I want them to. It takes nothing for me to get them to shower me with their money."

Melanie shook her head. "That's not why!" she exclaimed. "Don't you see, you have special powers, special abilities?"

Scarlett laughed. "I've always known I was special, doll."

"No, you don't understand! There's an evil wizard out to get you because of them! If you don't come with us right now he'll get you!"

Scarlett eyed her suspiciously. "I think you've been watching too many movies."

There was a loud blast as the locked door was pushed to the ground. Melanie heard music flash through her head as a Death Eater walked through the doorway and shot a spell at the shocked Scarlett.

Hermione acted quickly and sent a stunning spell towards the Death Eater as Melanie reached forward and pulled Scarlett to her feet.

"What the..." Scarlett trailed off as the now-familiar surge of energy hit Melanie as they touched.

"Back to the Hall!" Melanie shouted, holding onto Scarlett firmly as they apparated back to Brienwald Hall.

Melanie breathed a sigh of relief as she looked around the familiar living room and Hermione and Kathryn soon appeared at her side. All three girls were breathing heavily, but Scarlett just looked around her in wonder.

"Wow, that was just like something out of Star Trek," she said offhandedly.

Hermione just rolled her eyes as Draco charged in. "What did you think you were doing!" he yelled at Melanie. His eyes widened as he saw what she was wearing. "And what do you call that outfit?"

"I call it my disguise," Melanie threw back, glaring at him. "And I knew exactly what I was doing. And it's a good thing I did it, too! Two more minutes and the Death Eaters would have gotten to her before we did!"

"Do you know how much danger you put yourself in!?"

"I was fine! We had it all planned it out and Hermione and Kathryn were with me!"

Draco just shook his head angrily as Harry and Ron walked into the room. Ron's jaw hit the floor when he saw Hermione.

"Hermione!" he said, his eyes nearly bulging out of their sockets.

"Oh, stop it, Ron," Hermione told him as Octavian walked in.

"What's going on? I heard yelling,"

"It's nothing, Draco's just upset because I actually did something for a change instead of just sitting around and playing it safe," Melanie explained, glaring at Draco. "Now, excuse me, but I need to change." She tried to push past the crowd to get out of the room, but she was stopped when the fire glowed green and Tonks climbed into the room.

"Everyone needs to leave, now," she announced, breathing deeply.

"What?" Hermione asked.

"Death Eaters were spotted just a few minutes ago, heading this way," she explained hurriedly. "We think they're after you, Melanie, and you need to get to safety."

"What?" Melanie asked.

"Well, apparently three musea under one roof is enough to make the Death Eaters attack," Draco said dryly.

Melanie ignored him. "I can't just leave! What about the Hall, what about my things, my potions?"

"We'll protect everything as well as we can, Melanie," Harry told her, "we won't just leave it to the Death Eaters. But you're the one they want. You, Kathryn, and...and..."

"Scarlett," Scarlett finished.

"...and Scarlett need to get to safety," Harry finished.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Kathryn asked, a look of terror on her face.

"Hogwarts," Tonks said, grabbing the pot of floo powder and handing it to Melanie.

"But Hogwarts is closed," Melanie protested.

Tonks shook her head. "I don't have time to explain, but you will be safe there. Go!"

Melanie just nodded and grabbed a handful of powder. The next thing she knew, she was in the familiar surroundings of what used to be Professor McGonagall's office.

"Ugh!" Scarlett cried as she emerged from the fire. "I think I prefer that beaming stuff."

Melanie rolled her eyes as Kathryn joined them. She looked around her in amazement. "Wow, it's been so long since I've been here. School seemed so long ago."

"Oh, is this Pig's Pimple?" Scarlett asked.

Melanie sighed. "Hogwarts," she corrected her.

"Oh, of course," Scarlett agreed with a giggle, walking around. "Rather dreary, isn't it?"

Melanie just shook her head and ignored her. She turned to Kathryn. "I hope everyone's all right."

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Kathryn assured her.

"I just can't help but worried that I caused this. If we hadn't gone to London..."

"You saved Scarlett from being captured by the Death Eaters," Kathryn told her. She looked over at where Scarlett was inspecting some trinkets lying on a table in the corner. "I don't know if she was worth much to save, but..."

Melanie laughed in spite of her worry.

"It will be all right," Kathryn said, giving her a reassuring smile.

"I hope you're right," Melanie said, looking over at the fireplace anxiously.

It was only a few minutes before the fire glowed green once again, but it seemed like several hours to Melanie. First came Tonks, then Harry, Hermione, Ron, Octavian, and Draco all emerged from the fire. Lupin came last, and after he arrived, the fire returned to its normal color.

"Well?" Melanie asked anxiously.

"It was nothing to be alarmed about," Tonks said. "They were sent as messengers, not as attackers."

"Messengers?" Melanie asked.

"You-Know-Who wants to make a deal with you."

"A deal?"

"A deal with you, and with Kathryn and Scarlett," Lupin added.

"What kind of deal?"

Lupin and Tonks exchanged looks. "He wants you three to turn yourselves over."

"What!? Why would we do that?"

Lupin sighed. "He says that, if you three turn yourselves over with no resistance that he promises not to harm any of you."

Melanie laughed. "That's a joke."

"He also says that he will grant you each one reasonable request of him in gratitude."

"What?"

"Sounds good to me!" Scarlett said, looking up from the table of trinkets.

"You don't know what you're talking about," Hermione shot back at her. She turned to Melanie. "It's true. I was with Lupin when the Death Eaters told us."

"He specifically mentioned you, Melanie, and that he would be willing to forgive your family and Draco of all actions against him and ensure their safety."

Melanie's breath caught in her chest and she just looked at the ground. There was a silence in the room.

"The Death Eaters will be watching Brienwald Hall, and to accept their offer all you need do is go back there and turn yourself over," Lupin finished quietly.

"Great, how do I get back there?" Scarlett asked, breaking the uneasy silence.

"Scarlett, you don't know what you're saying," Hermione told her. "You're talking about putting yourself into the hands of the most evil wizard alive."

Scarlett shrugged. "You heard what he said-I'll be safe and get one request. I can handle myself."

"You're not going," Kathryn told her. "And neither is anyone else, right, Melanie?"

Melanie just stood there, looking down at the ground.

"Melanie?" Draco asked, walking up to her. "You're not actually thinking about accepting?"

"You heard, I won't be harmed, and you'd be safe," she said quietly.

Draco shook his head. "No. I won't let you."

"Draco!"

"I won't let you put yourself at risk for me. Not to mention handing yourself over to You-Know-Who when it's of the utmost importance to keep you away from him."

Melanie shook his head. "You can't expect me to believe that if you wouldn't if our positions were reversed."

"I'm not saying that. I would agree to save you without a second thought," he said quietly. He looked up at her. "But you would do the same thing and refuse to allow me."

Melanie looked at him in surprise, then nodded.

"I would never even consider once giving myself in," Kathryn proclaimed, breaking the silence. "You-Know-Who and his Death Eaters killed all that I love." Her voice quivered. "I would rather die than do anything to assist them."

Melanie turned and looked at her along with everyone else in the room. She was standing there proudly, her arm shaking a bit at her side and a few tears starting to form in her eyes. Despite her frazzled red hair and her short stature, she emanated a strength that surprised Melanie. She sighed and nodded. "You're right, Kathryn."

Scarlett, still standing apart from everyone else, looked at Kathryn in complete shock. "So what do we do now?" she asked calmly, all of the flirtatious energy for once gone from her voice.

"You'll stay here," Tonks said. "You can't go back to Brienwald Hall, since the Death Eaters are going to be watching it. We'll go and bring you what you need as far as clothes and such."

Melanie looked down and realized that she, Kathryn, and Hermione were still in their outfits from the Klub. She laughed to herself. "So we're just going to stay at Hogwarts all on our own?"

Tonks smiled at her. "Of course you won't be alone. Do you really think that the Order would pass up on all of the protection that's been put into this castle and leave it empty when the school closed?"

"Are there other members of the Order here?" she asked.

Lupin shook his head. "No. The Order's been using Hogwarts as a hideaway for the families of those we know the Death Eaters are after. The empty classrooms have been changed into apartments where refugees can live. The house elves can have rooms ready for all of you in a few minutes."

"Who would all be staying here?" Melanie asked.

"Well, the three of you obviously," Tonks answered. "Octavian and Draco can choose to either stay here or return home. I don't think that the Death Eaters will be a threat as long as you aren't there with them."

"I'll stay here with Melanie," Draco announced.

"I'll return to watch over the Hall, then," Melanie's father added. "I'll come and visit often enough, of course." He smiled at Melanie, who smiled back.

"That's settled, then. I'll go talk to the house elves," Tonks said, "and you can sort out bringing the girls what they need from Brienwald Hall." She disappeared out of the door.

"So, what do you want besides proper clothes?" Draco asked Melanie.

"Are you so sure I want different clothes?" she teased. She started laughing when he shot her a glare. "Don't worry, of course I want different clothes."

"Anything specific that you want out of your room?" her father asked. Melanie shook her head before he disappeared into the fire. Melanie stopped Draco before he left.

"Could you be sure to bring potion stuff?" she asked. "I know you won't mess it up getting it here."

Draco nodded. "No problem." He kissed her quickly before stepping into the fire.

~*~*~*~

The house elves quickly set up a block of rooms for the three girls that all fed into one common room, with a room adjacent to Melanie's where she could continue working on her potion. A room was prepared next door for Draco. The girls had just started to arrange the rooms and move in when Professor McGonagall appeared in their common room.

"Good afternoon, Professor," Melanie greeted, surprised to see her. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I have a word with you, Miss Brienwald?" McGonagall asked curtly.

"Of course. We can talk in my bedroom," Melanie answered, noticing a puzzled look on Kathryn's face as Melanie led McGonagall into her room and closed the door.

Melanie rushed to clear some space by pushing aside the numerous bags that littered the floor, half-filled with random possessions from her room at the Hall.

"Don't worry about that, Melanie," McGonagall told her. "I just want to hear your explanation for today's events."

Melanie stopped her hasty cleaning and looked up at her. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is why you saw the need to leave the security of Brienwald Hall to go gallivanting off to London?"

Melanie blushed at the sternness of McGonagall's face. "I discovered a way to track down the musea. I thought it was worth it to track them down before You-Know-Who had a chance to."

"Worth it?" McGonagall asked. "Worth putting yourself in danger? Do you realize what would have happened if someone had found you?"

"I didn't think that anyone would be expecting me to be wandering around muggle London..."

"But what about when you encountered the Death Eaters in Scarlett's dressing room?" Professor McGonagall interrupted.

Melanie was silent, and McGonagall continued. "What would have happened if you would have lost that fight? The Death Eaters would have had three museas-and Hermione-and we'd be back to square one!"

Melanie's blush deepened and she looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry," she muttered. "I didn't think about that."

"Obviously," McGonagall told her harshly. The Professor's face gradually softened, and she sighed. "But, still, everything turned out all right. As long as you realize the seriousness of this situation and don't go wandering off again..."

"But what about finding the other museas?" Melanie interrupted. "We have to find them before he does!"

"Leave that to the Order, Melanie. You, and Scarlett and Kathryn, need to stay safe here so that we know You-Know-Who doesn't have all of the museas. As long as he doesn't hold all of you captive, we have some hope."

"But what about..." Melanie protested, but McGonagall just shook her head.

"No, Melanie. From this moment on, you are confined to Hogwarts and its grounds."

"I'm seventeen! You can't do that!"

"Frankly, I don't care if you're seventeen or twenty-seven. The Order allowed you to remain at home to try to keep you comfortable, but, since that option is now gone, you will stay here. The Order will take care of tracking down the last six museas."

Melanie opened her mouth to protest, but instead sighed. She reached into her pocket and pulled out the compass.

"Here's the compass," she told McGonagall softly. "It points towards the nearest musea-aside from the ones I've added to the potion."

McGonagall nodded and quickly put it into her own pocket. "Don't worry, Melanie. We know what we're doing." She turned and walked out the door, and Melanie slowly followed behind her. By the time Melanie reached the common room, McGonagall was already gone.

"What 'appened?" Kathryn asked, setting down the rag she was using to clean and walking up to Melanie.

"Nothing much. She was just lecturing me on the stupidity of going after Scarlett." Melanie sighed and sat down on the couch in the middle of the room.

"What do ye mean, 'the stupidity?' You saved Scarlett from wasting away in that barn."

"Yes, but Professor McGonagall says that now the biggest priority it to keep us safe, so that You-Know-Who can't get us at least."

"But what about the others?"

"The Order's looking for them. I even gave McGonagall the compass, although I don't think they're really going to use it," Melanie added under her breath.

Kathryn sat down next to her. "Well, I guess we're just going to have to trust them to do their jobs."

"Yeah. And sit around here and do nothing-again."

"Well, maybe not just that. I mean, we're gonna have to explain all this to Scarlett-and that could take months." Kathryn smiled.

Melanie giggled and a smile broke through her face. She was about to reply when there was a knock on the door. "Is Professor McGonagall back for more scolding?" she asked as she stood up and opened the door. Instead of McGonagall, though, Hermione, Ron, and Harry stood in the doorway, bearing large boxes and broad smiles.

"Surprise!" Hermione chirped as they walked inside. "We've brought house-warming gifts!"

"Kathryn, here are some things they recovered from your home after the attack," Harry said, setting down his box next to where Kathryn was sitting on the couch. Kathryn immediately moved to the floor and pulled the box open. She started to delicately remove everything, tears forming in her eyes.

"Oh, thank ye!" she told Harry, giving him a big hug before she picked up the box and moved into her room.

"We also have some things we grabbed from Scarlett's apartment," Hermione said disgustedly, her and Ron setting their boxes on the floor.

"She'll be glad to see that. She's been in her room, complaining about everything," Melanie commented, rolling her eyes.

"Then this lot will help," Ron grumbled. "Great load of rubbish, though, if you ask me."

"Oh, Ron, be nice," Hermione scolded. "She's never known anything of magic before. She has to get used to a whole new world."

"You've become much more accepting, Hermione," Melanie noticed. "You seemed quite annoyed by Scarlett earlier."

Hermione sighed. "I know. She was just so...cocky and indecent...ugh." She shook her head. "But then I realized that it's a lot to take in. I mean, I remember what it was like when I found out I was a witch. It's a whole different world to get used to."

"Not to mention being thrown into it having an evil wizard on your tail," Harry added.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment until a thought passed through Melanie's head.

"Shouldn't we get Scarlett a wand and teach her how to defend herself?"

Harry and Hermione exchanged looks. "She needs something," Harry said.

"Yeah, but a wand isn't exactly something you buy mail-order," Ron added. "And I thought everyone was supposed to stay here."

"But we can't just let her get involved in all of this without some form of protecting herself!" Melanie protested.

Hermione thought for a moment. "I'll talk to some of the Order. Maybe they can arrange for a quick trip to Diagon Alley. I mean, if it's just one of you, and just to get a wand..."

Melanie nodded. "I hope so."

The Order arranged for Scarlett to journey to Diagon Alley a few days later when the girls had finally settled in and started to get accustomed to the new living situation. Melanie and Kathryn spent lots of time teaching Scarlett elementary spells and explaining to her about the museas (and then repeating it all again). Rhonda and Draco joined them every few days and helped with Scarlett's lessons, but when the conversation turned to the museas, Rhonda would head home and Draco would head to his room.