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𝐓 𝐇 𝐄 𝐐 𝐔 𝐈 𝐃 𝐃 𝐈 𝐓 𝐂 𝐇 𝐅 𝐈 𝐍 𝐀 𝐋
𝐌𝐄𝐋𝐎𝐃𝐘 returned to her dormitory around two in the morning, escorted by Professor Lupin and her own considerably less terrified spirit. She slept, albeit briefly, and when she woke, sunlight streamed through her curtains, the glory of morning lifting her from dreamlessness.
She made her bed, changed her clothes, braided her hair with a faint hum. When she sashayed into the Great Hall fifteen minutes later, she was accompanied by the rest of the team and greeted by an enormous round of applause. Melody looked around, and to her surprise, the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables were applauding them too.
She took it in, halfway cherishing the admiration and halfway wanting to vomit into the nearest bowl of oatmeal — the magnitude of the day was striking her in ways that she hadn't imagined, not even the prior evening. The Slytherin table hissed loudly as they passed, and Melody noticed that Malfoy looked even paler than usual.
Wood spent the whole of breakfast urging his team to eat, while touching nothing himself. Melody filled in a grand total of two words on her crossword (ocean and clusters) before she was uprooted from her seat by Harry's insistent arms. Wood was hurrying them off to the field before anyone else, so they could get an idea of the conditions.
As they left the Great Hall, everyone applauded again, and when they reached the entrance hall, they caught sight of Professor Lupin near the staircase. He, too, offered a brief few claps.
Melody tugged Harry over.
"Sleep well?" Lupin wondered. His eyes twinkled with mischief, a sensation he'd long forgone. It was welcome and familiar, a faint reminder of its own possibility.
"Not in the slightest," Melody responded, coming to a halt before him. "You?"
"Not in the slightest," repeated Lupin, but his gaze turned grateful. "I enjoyed the therapy, though. Thank you."
Beside them, Harry frowned. "Thera— what?"
Melody quickly interjected, tomfoolery glimmering in her grey eyes as well. "Glad to hear it. We'll see you at the match, right?"
With that, Lupin felt the nostalgia of a dozen prior Quidditch matches flooding his chest; all Cocoa and James and their spirited athleticism. He smiled, and said, "You will."
Melody beamed back, glowing with a strange sensation that could only be attributed to paternal endorsement, then took Harry by the arm and hastened in the direction of their team.
