Angel Of Mercy

Angel 0f Mercy--Chapter 7

"Come on Melody, we're going to be late!" exclaimed Hermione impatiently. It was the night of the Halloween Ball, and the two Gryffindor sixth-years were running late.

"Don't have a cow, Herms. I'm almost done," said Melody calmly. "Just let me get my earrings in."

Once the earrings were in, diamond studs from her mother, Melody followed Hermione down the stairs to the common room. When she got there, the look on Ron's face was priceless.

"Do I have to keep reminding you to close your mouth? You're going to swallow a bug one of these days!" Melody exclaimed with a grin. When Ron didn't respond, Melody rose to her tiptoes and kissed him, effectively closing his mouth. When they came up for air, Ron had wrapped his arms around Melody's waist and was holding her a few inches off the ground. He gently put her down, and took in her appearance.

"Wow," was all he said.

'Wow' could pretty much sum it up. Melody looked gorgeous in dark purple, sparkly robes that accented her figure nicely. Her robes weren't clingy, but they weren't a potato sack, either. Her long black hair was a waterfall down her back, and had purple steaks running through it. Her onyx eyes sparkled with happiness as she looked up at her boyfriend.

"Not too bad yourself, Ronnie," Melody replied with a grin, making Ron's ears turn red at the nickname. Everyone laughed at the endearment, making the rest of Ron's head match his ears. Melody kissed him again, longer and more relaxed, not caring if people yelled at them. When they finally came up for air amongst catcalls and whistles, Ron's face was literally on fire. "Come on, let's get going."

Melody grabbed Ron's hand and they made their way to the Great Hall. When they got there, many people were milling around. The ball was open to all Hogwarts students and any Hogwarts alumni that wanted to attend. Ron's face went from fire red to chalk white when he saw two familiar red heads.

"What's the matter, Ron?" asked Melody when she saw the change in Ron's face. She followed his gaze to see two identical red headed boys coming towards them; both of them had identical, slightly evil grins on their faces.

"Oh, don't look so scared, ickle Ronniekins," said one of the twins.

"We're not going to embarrass you," added the other.

"Much," they said in unison.

"My twin brothers," said Ron. "Mel, these are my brothers, Fred and George. Fred, George, this is my girlfriend, Melody Phillips."

"Girlfriend, eh?" asked one. He shared another slightly evil grin with his twin. "Mum never told us you had a girlfriend."

"Neither did you, mind," agreed the other twin. Melody was getting slightly confused; she couldn't tell one twin from the other.

"I never told mum," replied Ron. "Melody's mum just met me last week, actually."

"Well then, we think it's time for the Weasley family to meet Ron's new girlfriend," said the first twin. "I am George Robert Weasley, the owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes."

"And I am Frederick Jonathan Weasley, better known as Fred, and the other owner of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes," said the other twin. Both of them grabbed one of Melody's hands each and kissed the knuckles lightly.

"Well, I'm happy to meet you too," said Melody, giggling. Both twins grinned at her, but looked at Ron when he cleared his throat.

"As much as I hate to break up this meet-and-greet, Melody and I have to go find our table," said Ron, grabbing Melody's hand and dragging her into the Great Hall.

"Well, they were nice," said Melody as they sat down with Harry and Hermione.

"Those were the brothers that transfigured my teddy bear into a gigantic spider when I was three," said Ron. "That's the reason why I hate spiders so much."

"They looked like they had matured a lot since they were five," said Melody.

"Looks can be deceiving," said Ron. "But I don't want to talk about that. Let's go dance."

Hermione and Harry shared a look; Ron usually didn't willingly get onto a dance floor to 'get his groove on', so to speak. Of course, the last ball the school had had was the Yule Ball during the TriWizard tournament, when Ron and Harry had taken the Patil twins.

A slow song had started up and Ron and Melody began swaying to the music. They looked so comfortable in each other's arms, which earned jealous glares from a few people around, mostly from people who had gone to the ball alone.

"You look absolutely stunning, my dear," Ron whispered in Melody's ear. "Everyone's looking at you." Melody blushed slightly as she stood on tiptoe to kiss him. It was beginning to get a little hot and heavy when someone cleared their throat nearby. The kissing couple turned to see Professor Snape standing no more than three feet away, looking very annoyed.

"In the words of your year-mates, 'get a room'," he said emotionlessly. "Five points each from Gryffindor, and if you wish to continue, please take your activities elsewhere." Abruptly, the Head of Slytherin swept off, leaving Ron and Melody speechless.

"I had such a good comeback for that," remarked Melody when the greasy Professor was out of earshot. "Come on; let's go out to the garden."

The two Gryffindors went outside to the small rosebush maze just outside the entrance hall doors. Almost immediately, Melody saw a familiar figure.

"Mum?" asked Melody. The woman turned around, and it was, in fact, Julia Phillips. Both women's faces broke into a smile as they walked towards each other.

"Why aren't you inside enjoying yourselves?" asked Julia.

"We couldn't be in the same room as that overgrown bat, Snape," Melody replied. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be on an assignment?"

"This is my assignment," replied Julia. "I'm staying here until Christmas break to watch over the school. Every two months a new Auror comes and relieves the one on duty."

"Ah," said Melody, silently cursing. She wouldn't have any privacy if her mother was staying at the school for almost two months.

"And if you're thinking what I think you're thinking, I'll be extremely busy so I probably won't see you," said Julia. "After all, I'm supposed to be keeping a close eye on the school to make sure Voldemort doesn't try anything funny." Ron flinched at the mention of Voldemort's name.

"Well, it was nice to see you again, Ms. Phillips," said Ron, taking Melody's hand and bolting down one of the paths. Julia just shook her head and went off in the opposite direction, not wanting to bother her daughter and her boyfriend.

Melody and Ron went and strolled through the maze. There was absolutely no one there, which they found extremely odd. Of course, it was relatively early in the evening, so there was plenty of time for snogging couples to get outside and find a quiet spot to spend time with their significant others.

Ron surprised Melody by suddenly bending down and brushing his lips against hers. He was about to pull away, but Melody laced her fingers through his hair and pulled his face for another kiss. They got wrapped up in what they were doing that they didn't see a blond haired Slytherin come by.

"Do you two mind? I'd rather not lose my lunch," Malfoy said, gagging a little. The amorous couple ceased their actions and glared at the boy.

"If you don't like it, than don't watch," Melody retorted before she pulled Ron down for another kiss. Malfoy grabbed Melody's arm and wrenched her from Ron's arms. He held his wand to her throat and glared at her with as much hate as he could muster. Melody stood there, unable to move from fright.

"It's not a good idea to talk back to me, Mudblood," Malfoy hissed. Before he could say any incantations, Ron beat him to it.

"Expelliarmus!" Ron exclaimed. Malfoy was knocked away from Melody and he flew before a tree stopped him. He slid down the trunk and was out cold. His wand landed about ten feet away.

"Come on, let's get out of here," said Melody. They turned around and were about to leave, but they were stopped by a black-clad, sadistic professor.

"Come with me," was all he said.

Dejectedly, the two sixth years followed Snape to their approaching doom.

*****