Angel Of Mercy

Angel of Mercy

Chapter 13

That night, Melody skipped dinner, opting to instead stay in the empty Gryffindor common room. She did not want to deal with her housemates at the moment, but she knew she couldn't hide form them forever.

She looked up sharply when the slight creak of the portrait's hinges alerted her of the arrival of someone. Getting ready to bolt up to her dormitory, Melody waited to see who it was. She relaxed visibly when she saw that it was someone who didn't hate her.

"Jesus tap-dancing Christ, mum! You almost gave me a frickin' heart attack!" Melody exclaimed, breathing hard. "What are you doing up here, anyway? Don't you have to patrol or something?"

"Nice to see you, too," Julia said with slight sarcasm. "Can't a mother come and visit her daughter?" Melody looked at her mother with suspicion.

"That's not the only reason," she said. "You wanted to make sure I was okay after my accident and my break up with Ron."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say Legilimency was hereditary," Julia muttered. "You sounded so much like your father there, it scared me. Yes, I did come to see if you were all right. Are you all right?"

"Spiffing," Melody replied darkly. "After all, almost dying, breaking up with my boyfriend and losing the majority of my friends in the span of a week and a half is probably the best thing to ever happen to me."

"I don't like your sarcasm, young lady," Julia warned. "I knew sending you to Hogwarts was a bad idea. I should have made you stay in Salem with a foster family. It would have kept you away from everything...from him."

"Kept me away from who, mum?" asked Melody, curious. Julia knew she had said too much and tried to fix it.

"No one, pumpkin," she replied, using a long-forgotten nickname. "Are you sure you're all right?"

"Of course I'm not all right!" exclaimed Melody. "I'm under a lot of stress right now! We're fighting a war--albeit a cold one at the moment--school is hell with bad lighting, my house has shunned me and my own mother is keeping secrets from me. Now, I demand some answers. Who are you trying to hide me from?"

"Your father," Julia replied. Melody's eyes widened to the size of saucers.

"You know who my father is?" she asked.

"Of course I know who your father is! I knew as soon as I found out I was pregnant, and it was cemented when I saw your eyes. He's the only other person who had eyes like that," Julia replied, suddenly weary. She sighed. "I never told you who your father was because of what he is, or rather, what he used to be. I never thought I'd have to deal with it again, but then it all came back to me when I saw him in the Three Broomsticks. Everything just came flooding back, and I debated with myself whether or not to tell him he had a kid. Finally, I decided to, and Halloween presented the perfect opportunity."

"Please don't be who I think it is," said Melody. "I'm already an outcast enough, and if it became common knowledge that I'm the Bat of the Dungeon's daughter, I'll be disowned for sure!"

"You don't have to tell anyone," Julia said. Melody gaped at her.

"Do you know how fast things travel in this school? I swear, the walls have ears. The talking portraits don't help, either," said Melody. As if on cue, the subjects in the portraits around the room turned away; the majority had been listening with rapt attention. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Yes, Severus--er, I mean, Professor Snape--is your father," Julia replied. Melody shuddered, and Julia laughed at her daughter's reaction. "We met during the first war, when he was on a mission in the States. I was assigned to keep an eye on him, to make sure he didn't do anything stupid or illegal. I'd like to say that we fell in love despite our opposing personalities. However, the truth is that we got extremely drunk one night and things got a little...wild, I guess. By the time I knew I was pregnant, Severus had returned to the UK and I had no means of contacting him. He had no idea he had a daughter."

Melody was suddenly aware of the conspicuous absence of her housemates despite the fact that dinner had been over for almost half an hour. Where was everyone?

"Ugh, I guess I can add 'finding out my dad is a total bastard' on the list of crappy stuff that's happened to me this week," Melody remarked. She didn't have much of a chance to think about it because at that moment the remainder of the Gryffindors began to filter in through the portrait hole. Most were so surprised to see Julia that they forgot to glare at Melody. The former got up, smiled at her daughter and left without another word. As soon as the portrait clicked shut, Melody got up and silently made her way to her dormitory, avoiding eye contact with anyone and everyone.

---

The next morning Melody groaned as the cold dawn sunlight shone in her face. Knowing that she wouldn't be able to get back to sleep, and wanting to avoid the rush at breakfast, she slowly dragged herself out of bed. After digging through her trunk, finding her uniform and putting it on, Melody grabbed her bag and went down to breakfast.

The Great Hall was almost empty; only a few people from each house were at each table, and there were only a handful of teachers at the head table. Much to her annoyance, both the Malfoy brat and Snape were there. Melody sat as far away from people and as close to the door as possible, to make for a quick getaway. She kept her eyes focused on her food, which was probably why she didn't see anyone come over until they sat across from her. The expensive cologne was enough identification alone. Melody's head snapped up, and she glared at her new breakfast companion.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she hissed. Malfoy just smirked in amusement. "I'm already in deep shit with my house; if they see you, I'll be disowned!"

"And that would be a bad thing why...?" Malfoy asked. "I hate to break it to you Snape, but Gryffindors aren't exactly known for their open arms if you betray one of them. Of course, that goes for all houses...except for the Hufflepuffs. They like everyone."

"Wait...how do you know that?!" exclaimed Melody, her voice a high-pitched squeak. "Only me, my mum and Snape are supposed to know that."

"I don't know...it was sort of a moment of clarity," Malfoy replied, examining his fingernails calmly. Melody glared at him as she speared a piece of apple with er fork. "Besides, it's just a theory. Do you really expect me to know the inner workings of the lesser houses?"

"I don't mean that, you dumbass," Melody said. "How did you know that Snape the bat is my father? As far as I know, only my mum, me and Snape know about that."

"Such language will get a little girl into trouble," said Malfoy with a smirk. Melody glared at him again. "I was listening outside Snape's office on Halloween to see if you and Weasel were going to be severely punished. Much to my disappointment, all you got was a fifteen point deduction."

"What can I say? My charming wit and dazzling looks got me off the hook," Melody said with a slight smile. Malfoy raised an eyebrow. "Okay, fine, my mum bailed me out. I'm sure your father has gotten you out of scrapes loads of times. Hey...I thought you were out cold that night?"

"Ah, the joys of being a good actor. So anyway, how is Weasel? I'm surprised he's not down here trying to get in your pants," said Malfoy, his smirk back in full force. "Unless, of course, he's already bedded you. Then I'd say you've let yourself sink to the bottom of wizard kind."

Just then, Harry, Ron and Hermione came into the Great Hall. Ron and Melody's eyes met; his were filled with barely suppressed rage and hers with blatant surprise.

"I don't think my love life is any of your fucking business," Melody said to Malfoy, hastily getting up. She slung her bag over her shoulder and quickly left the Great Hall, avoiding the eyes of the Trio as she passed. Malfoy got up and followed her, ignoring the surprised and angry looks from the rest of the students.

Melody strode quickly, almost running, to the stairs leading to the dungeons. She thought she heard footsteps behind her, but she didn't look back to see who it was. Knowing her luck, it would be either Malfoy or Ron; she couldn't decide which one was worse.

"It seems like I've touched a nerve," she heard Malfoy behind her. Melody could hear the smirk that was most likely on his face. "It seems that Toughest Little Lion has a chink in her armor." Melody turned around slowly, her wand drawn and a look of pure venom on her face.

"You have no idea what the hell you're talking about," she said in a deadly whisper. "Quit poking your twitchy little ferret nose where it doesn't belong before I hex you so hard your future grandchildren will feel it."

"My, my, my, Miss Philips, such threats will get a young Gryffindor such as yourself into trouble," said a silky voice behind Melody. She jumped and turned around only to see the bat of the dungeons, Snape himself. "Not even out of the hospital wing for a full two days and you're already running your mouth. Pity, I thought that even a Gryffindor such as yourself would learn better than that."

"P-Professor, I-I..." stammered Melody while Malfoy was trying very hard, and failing, to suppress his snickers.

"Save it, Miss Phillips," snarled Snape. I do not want to hear your pathetic excuses. You will serve detention with me tonight and twenty points will be deducted fro threatening a student. Good day." Snape turned around and swept down to his dungeons. As soon as he was out of earshot, Melody whirled around and glared at the now fully snickering Malfoy.

"What is so fucking funny?" she asked, her temper beginning to boil.

"You should have seen your face!" he exclaimed, almost doubled over in laughter. "It was priceless, absolutely priceless!" Malfoy was so wrapped up in his own amusement that he didn't see Melody draw her wand and whisper something. Malfoy's laughter gradually got higher and higher until is sounded like he had inhaled helium. He gasped and put one hand on his throat, a look of shock on his face.

"You should have seen your face! It was priceless, absolutely priceless!" she mocked, her cackle sounding eerily like the Wicked Witch's from The Wizard of Oz. "Smell ya later, Malfoy!"

With that, Melody grinned brightly and began skipping down the corridor. She didn't get very far when she saw Ron, who was walking purposefully towards her. Her mood darkened immediately as she tried to breeze by him. However, that wasn't to be.

"Let me go!" Melody exclaimed when Ron grabbed her arm. "What the hell do you want?"

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" exclaimed Ron, his strong fingers digging into her arm. "You're consorting with the enemy! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Oh, so now you're concerned about my welfare!" shouted Melody. "You're such a fucking hypocrite, Ronald Weasley. I can take care of myself, and I don't need you to look out for me."

"Look Mel, I'm sorry. I've seen the error of my ways, and I know that making you fly a broom against your will was prolly the most idiotic thing to do," Ron said, sounding sincere. "Can you ever forgive me?"

"So, who told you to say that? Harry or Hermione?" asked Melody, crossing her arms and raising her pierced eyebrow. "I'm serious Ron; leave me the hell alone. Trust me, you do not want what happened to Malfoy happen to you. Or worse."

"What did you do to Malfoy?!" asked Ron.

"You'll find out when he says something," Melody replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be on time for class for a change."

She turned and left the bewildered redhead in the middle of the corridor. So far, her day was turning out to be absolutely horrid.