I don't own any of the characters apart from Melanie Malfoy. All of the characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
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'Meet me now, I need to tell you something, it's important, Mel x'
I sent the owl on its way, hoping Draco would give me a quick reply. I haven't seen him since potions earlier, so I thought that he might still be mad at me. It also meant that I hadn't been able to explain the situation with the 'mead' yet.
The rest of the girls in our dorm were asleep which is why I took this as the perfect opportunity to get in touch with him. Soon enough, I saw the ebony black owl coming back towards me. With a quick sigh of relief, I pushed the dorm window open to allow it to fly back in.
I checked the room again before the owl entered, so that it wouldn't bring up any questions. With shaking hands, I untied the letter and let the owl carefully back out again before checking my reply.
'Courtyard'
I checked the rest of the parchment (even the back) to find the rest of the message, to no avail before throwing it down onto my bed. I quickly grabbed my cloak before running through the deserted corridors of the castle.
At four in the morning towards the end of February, it's safe to say that I was freezing. I wrapped my cloak tighter around myself, trying to keep as much of my body heat. I was really wishing I'd had the sense to change out of my pyjamas right now.
A black shadow towards the other end of the courtyard drew my attention back to the reason I'd actually come out. My hands started shaking again, but I couldn't be sure of the exact reasoning behind it.
"Drake?" my voice was just slightly above a whisper. I don't know if I was scared that somebody would hear me, or because it might not be Draco, but I was definitely certain I wasn't shaking because of the cold now.
"Yeah, it's me."
For the second time that night, a sigh of relief escaped from my lips. I ran forward and clung onto him like he was my only lifeline (at this point, he actually could be). "What's so important?"
I pulled back and looked into his eyes. I was hoping I would be wrong, but the look in his eyes told me he knew something had happened as well, he just wasn't sure. That is also the point I saw the curiosity spark in his eyes.
"We have a problem." I stated simply. I would spark his interest even more and it would put off me having to tell him the bad news for a while longer. A cold gust of wind caught my cloak, causing it to whip around me. Which drew my attention to another matter at hand. "Why'd you pick the courtyard?"
"First place that popped into my head," he shrugged his shoulders. I looked around again, trying to justify his decision but nothing was coming to me.
"Seriously, not the Room of Requirement?" I asked in surprise. "Considering how much time we've spent in the-"
"Mel! We have a problem?" he cut me off, even putting his hand over my mouth to stop me rambling. Its four in the morning, don't judge me...
"Slughorn hasn't delivered the 'mead' to Dumbledore. When he called me back after the lesson I saw it on the desk in his office." I expected him to look worried or slightly concerned, but instead a smile broke out on his face.
"Mel, I think we both know that wasn't the same 'mead' that I gave to Slughorn. I planted it in his quarters, not in his office," he laughed. Apparently, this was the only justification that he needed on the subject because he actually started to walk away.
"What? You don't think he's capable of moving something? How do we know that he didn't pick it up, meaning to give it to Dumbledore and then ended up doing something else and forgetting about it?" I shouted at him, finally losing my patience with him. If he wanted to believe that, then fine.
"No. I think he's got some actual mead and that's what you saw in the office. When was the last time you saw Dumbledore? We both know that we've finally done it!" my head just couldn't accept the fact he was being this stupid.
"You just don't get it do you?!" I yelled at him. It was the middle of the night and me and Draco were stood in the middle of the courtyard. Before you ask, I don't know why we're here either.
"Get what Mel?!" Draco shouted back. I couldn't reply due to the anger coursing its way through my body. A groan of frustration made its way out of my mouth and I stormed back through the castle.
**
My head felt like it had two trolls inside, hitting the inside of my skull with their clubs. The pain inside it just couldn't be described any other way, that's how painful it was. I could hear voices from my side, but realised I didn't have the energy to try and get their attention.
My left leg was beginning to feel numb at this point and I realised I would have to roll over to stop more pain taking over my body. That just wasn't possible though. A groan of pain left my lips and that's when everyone's panic level went into overload.
"She's awake! Madam Pomfrey, she's awake!" I heard Cho shout out. I tried to turn my head towards the noise again, but a sharp shooting pain went through my neck at the small piece of movement. Another groan of pain escaped me and I tried with all I had not to burst out crying right now.
"Mel? Mel! Can you hear me?" Draco was whispering in my ear. I wanted to nod, but remembering the pain from earlier, I quickly stopped myself. Wondering if it was possible to move my mouth, I let out a big breath I'd been holding in.
"Yeah." I heard a sigh of relief from my brother, which was followed by a lot of shuffling. Slowly, I opened my eyes, testing to see if anymore pain would course through my body. When it didn't, I glanced around to take in my surroundings.
It wasn't until I saw the nurse bending over me that I realised I was in the hospital wing. I closed my eyes again, trying to remember how I got here. The second my eyes were fully closed, I heard a lot of shouting and panicking again. Someone even started shaking me. Now can I say, I was in agony right now, so the second that happened, I felt like someone had killed me.
"Please, please, please don't do that," I breathed, again, trying the hardest I could not to burst out crying. I let my eyes open again and saw Madam Pomfrey taking Draco's hands off me and walking him over to am armchair in the corner.
"She's in a very unstable condition right now. I know you want to keep her awake, but that isn't the way to do it. I'm sorry to say that could just make it worse," I heard her quietly talking to Draco. I suddenly felt a surge of panic fly through my body.
"What do you mean 'unstable condition'?" I asked, the panic becoming clear in my voice. Everyone in the small space around my bed turned to look at me with curious expressions on their faces.
"You got into quite a big accident. If it hadn't been for your cousin here, then you might not have made it out alive. The accident could have some lasting damage on you though, so you'll have to be careful. The only reason I said 'unstable' was because you've just woken up from a 6 day coma, so you shouldn't be moving around too much," she explained, looking over at me with a now confused expression on her face.
I was feeling very self-conscious right now, but being unable to move any of my body parts,vi couldn't check to see if anything was on my face. After a few more minutes, the weird looks had continued so I looked over to Cho to see if she'd give me an answer.
"Why has your hair turned a greyish-black colour?" she asked, obviously trying not to let her voice portray her confusion. When I didn't reply straight away, Draco walked across and pulled a small strand of my hair in front of my eyes so I could see what had happened.
"She's a metamorphmagus. Whenever she's feeling a deep emotion, her appearance changes to show it. It means she hasn't got full control over it yet. When she's angry, her hair turns red and her eyes turn green," he told the room. They nodded in understanding, but carried on looking at me strangely. "Your eyes have gone a really pale shade of blue as well."
"I'm guessing you're appearance is to show your pain?" Madam Pomfrey asked. I slowly nodded, feeling unable to say anything. A small shooting pain ran through my neck, but that was the extent of it. I could feel my eyelids getting heavy, but I tried to fight against it, knowing everyone would worry if I closed my eyes again.
Just a few seconds won't hurt...
The last thing I heard before drifting off was the sound of two people being ushered out of my room and away from me.
**
One week later and I was nearly back to normal. I could move a lot more easily without feeling any pain. It was only my right arm that was causing some trouble because that had been crushed against the side of the cabinet.
The one thing that had been scaring me would be whether or not my Dark Mark would be seen. I hate that thing, but knowing somebody else apart from Draco had seen it threw me into a panic. Although as it turned out, me being a metamorphmagus turned out to be quite handy. I could hide my Dark Mark by just thinking about having clear skin on my left arm (amazing, right?)
Something good had come out of being stuck in this tiny room for a week though. A couple of days after I woke up, a huge commotion happened on the other side of the hospital wing that drew my attention to it.
-
I could hear voices shouting out to get Madam Pomfrey's attention. I edged myself around the separator to try and get a view of the people who had just come in. From my angle, I could just make out Slughorn, Potter and the top of Weasley's head.
"What is all the commotion professor? I expected better, especially from you," Pomfrey scolded like she was talking to one of the first years. Slughorn just looked around, almost in a dazed fashion before returning to a panic again.
"It's Ron, Madam Pomfrey. We were in Professor Slughorn's office when Ron had a sip of the drink he was handed and I think it had poison in it," Potter explained, trying to push Weasley onto the bed closest to him.
After Weasley was put into the bed and Potter had recited the story over again so Madam Pomfrey knew all the details, Slughorn was sent to go and get the Heads of Houses and Dumbledore. At the mention of his name alone, the sickening feeling I had the day of the accident came back to me. It was clear from the story I'd just heard that Weasley had been poisoned by the 'mead' Draco placed in Slughorn's office. What if Dumbledore somehow just knew?
What must have been minutes later, although it felt like hours, the other professors walked into the hospital wing, with a very nervous looking Slughorn in tow. Potter started retelling the story again to e professors, but this time I just couldn't focus on that. My eyes were trained on our head teacher, almost willing him to turn around and see me.
I don't know why I was wishing this, I wasn't meant to get caught. The guilt was eating me alive right now though. I was sat metres away from a victim of the result of one our plans (I've lost count on which one it was, we've had so many), someone who was framed as part of it and the person who was meant to be the victim of it.
Eventually, everyone left the hospital wing, leaving Weasley alone with Potter and Granger. I could easily see Weasley was asleep, but I could hear the lowered voices of the other two, trying to figure out the bigger picture of what had happened to their friend.
I could feel my eyelids becoming heavy again and was willing them to let me try and listen in to the conversation for just a minute longer. The last thing that I could fully process was the sound of Potter saying Draco's name.
-
It wasn't good news what I'd heard that day, but it allowed me to find out two things: Dumbledore is back in the castle and our plans are becoming a bigger danger than we thought they'd be. After Weasley had been admitted to the hospital wing, I told Draco it would probably be best if he didn't come to visit me anymore. I hadn't mentioned that Potter suspected him, but he agreed because he knew how Potter would react if he saw Draco walk in.
I only had one more day left before I could leave and go back to my classes again, but even though I'd been complaining about being in here too long, I'm glad I got to stay.
It was currently the middle of the night, and I could hear a lot of shuffling from the side of the hospital wing where Weasley and Potter were staying (he'd been brought in after being hit across the head with a beaters bat by his own keeper...)
All of a sudden, the sound of fighting could be heard. I sat bolt upright, ready to reach across for my wand if anyone came across to me. It was unlikely, I don't think the two of them even knew I was here. After listening carefully for a few more seconds, I realised it sounded like house elves, so I settled down, ready to fall back to sleep.
"...I want you to tail Draco Malfoy," I heard Potter instruct the elves. At the sound of my twins name, I slowly got up and edged closer to the separator so I could hear him more clearly. "I want to know where he's going, who he's meeting and what he's doing. I want you to follow him around the clock."
The first emotion I felt was surprise, which quickly faded into anger. It took me a few seconds to calm down and realise it probably wouldn't be the best idea to go out there and hex him. I at least needed to hear what else he had to say first.
I heard Dobby agree straight away, quite to my annoyance, before hearing him call out his punishment, which was quickly beat down by Potter. It was only when I heard the second house elf speak that a plan started to form in my mind.
"Master wants me to spy upon the pure-blood great-nephew of my old mistress?" It was clear this house elf knew my family very well. If only I knew his name-
"And you're forbidden to tip him off, Kreacher, or to show him what you're up to, or to talk to him at all, or to write him messages, or... or to contact him in anyway."
Yep, definitely got my plan sorted out.
I could hear some mumbling from Kreacher, so I leant even closer to make out his words, but only managed to catch the last bit. The words that made my heart jump with excitement as it would make my plan so much easier: "even though Kreacher would much rather be the servant of the Malfoy boy..."
I heard Potter give them their final instructions and a crack which let me know they'd gone. I knew I'd have to wait to follow through with my plan, at least until Potter and Weasley had fallen back to sleep, but I'd have to be careful.
I waited nearly an hour, checking around me every so often to make sure no one was looking out for me or was awake. So, I was a little paranoid...
"Muffliato." I whispered, pointing my wands at the separators around me. I couldn't risk being overheard, the future of the plan was resting in my hands at the minute, even if no one else knew it.
I took a deep breath before calling out into the darkness. "Dobby?"
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Hey guys, I'm back! And I was quicker than last time (yes, you should all be proud...) I don't think this is the best chapter, but it is only a filler to help me get to the next part.
So, what do you think? There are a couple of flashbacks in this one, including the reason why Mel and Draco were fighting in the last chapter. What do you think is gonna happen next? What's Mel's plan? And how does Dobby fit in?
At the side of the chapter is a video of someone I'm just in love with at the minute. If you haven't heard of him, he's called Max Schneider. Even if you have heard of him, watch the video because he's just amazing. I only found him yesterday and I've had him on repeat :)
Finally, if you have twitter, follow me: @Chloe_Bells! Whenever I update TMS, I send out a tweet letting people know, so that way you'll know faster. If you do follow me, drop me a DM to let me know, I'd like to know who my readers are.
I guess all that's left to say is vote, comment, follow (if you already don't...) and until next time :)
C x