Chapter 11
Troublesome Friends
At first, no one seemed to fancy the idea of two Hogwarts champions, even Ron. No, especially Ron. The two got into a fight later that night and now, a few days later they still were not speaking. I tried to stay out of it, but I did not believe Harry put his name in. He already had enough drama in the spotlight by being 'The Boy Who Lived.' Also, I knew how hard it was to actually get past the age line.
I walked with Harry and Hermione to Potions, not looking forward to the class. Then again, I never did.
"Do you have any idea who might have put your name in the goblet, Harry?" Hermione asked him.
Harry shook his head. "No. I can't imagine."
"Well, whoever it was can't have had good intentions," she went on, promptly. "After all, the tournament is very dangerous, especially for underage wizards. There's a reason there's an age limit. People have died..."
I saw Harry gulp and commented, "Hermione, I don't think you're making him feel any better."
"Where were you that night anyway? I meant to ask you before," Hermione continued, "but I saw you weren't there when the names were drawn."
I shrugged. "I was just running behind. I had detention... you know."
"Hmm," she mused. "I also noticed Morgan Brody was not among his fellow Durmstrang students..."
"Um..." I did not know what to say. Fortunately for me, we heard some commotion down by the dungeon where Snape taught so the three of us picked up our pace. We found Draco Malfoy, with his friends behind him. I squinted my eyes and made out a green badge on his chest. The words transformed from 'Support Cedric Diggory, the Real Hogwarts Champion' to 'Potter Stinks.' I rolled my eyes and brushed past them to my usual desk. A majority of the Hufflepuff students along with most Slytherins wore the same badge.
Pansy shoved a badge right in Lenora's face.
"You need to put this on!" Pansy insisted. "You're in Slytherin. We need to show house unity."
"I said, no. I'd rather have my limbs yanked off then wear the same thing as you," Lenora declared, sitting stiffly at her desk. "Now go away, will you?"
Pansy slammed the badge on the desk right in front of her. "I should have known you would be difficult, as always. You are unworthy of being in Slytherin!"
Lenora turned her head and shot back, "And you are unworthy of life in general, you brainless oaf!"
"How dare you..."
I saw Pansy start to pull out her wand. That was when I intervened.
"You can't force people to wear something they don't want," I gritted, holding my own wand.
Lenora stood up and rolled her eyes. "Really, Melanie? I don't need you to fight my battles."
"I'm not fighting for you," I stated, flatly, and turned to Pansy, "These badges are not you supporting Cedric Diggory. You're only wearing them in spite of Harry."
Pansy smirked, not denying it, and waved her arm. "Look around, Melanie. It seems like quite a lot of people support this case."
"Really? Because what I see here is you trying to bully people into wearing the badge," I pointed out. "That tells me..."
"Oh my god, enough," Lenora interjected, snatching the badge out of Pansy's hand.
For a moment, I thought she might put it on just to shut both of us up. But instead, Lenora pulled out her wand, and uttered a spell causing the badge to burst to flames. She held her hand out and blew the ashes directly at Pansy's face, causing her to shriek.
Snape strutted over from his desk.
"Professor!" Pansy shrilled in deep huffs, furiously flinging her finger at Lenora. "DID... YOU... SEE..."
Our Potions professor, however, brushed past them, straight to where Harry, Ron, Draco, and Hermione were. Apparently a curse hit both Hermione and Goyle. I started over to see what happened but Snape immediately ordered us to sit down, after giving Harry and Ron detention.
"Professor!" Pansy tried again.
"Not now, Miss Parkinson," Snape barked, moving past her to his desk.
Infuriated she was not the center of attention, Pansy sunk down to her desk, letting out one final high-pitched huff.
I sat down at the nearest desk, hoping Hermione was okay.
"Does that kind of thing happen here a lot?" Brody whispered, sitting next to me, nodding at Lenora and Pansy.
I sighed. "All the time. I've been living their drama since First Year."
"Yeah, they really don't seem to like each other," he remarked.
I nodded in agreement but whispered as Snape stood back up from his desk, "We have to be quiet. I get in trouble a lot in this class."
He grinned, but nodded.
The moment class ended, Lenora briskly strolled over to our desk.
"Hi, Morgan," she said in a sweet voice I don't think I've ever heard her use. "Sorry you had to see that. That Pansy, she always brings out the ugly in me... probably because she's so ugly herself."
He chuckled, standing up. "It's ok. Nice to see you don't let people push you around."
She immediately grabbed his arm, "Anyway, there's something I want to show you. Come with me."
As Lenora pulled him, he started to turn and ask, "What about..."
"Oh, don't worry about her," Lenora whisked off. "She's already seen it."
Before I knew it, they were gone. Without Harry and Hermione here, I thought about approaching Ron. After all, I never got into a fight with him personally. I just hung around Harry more since less people seemed to talk to him. Hermione said Ron was having a hard time dealing with Harry, once again, getting all the fame. After all, he was a middle child, and likely did not get a lot of attention at home. I tried to imagine what it would be like having older and younger siblings, as I received way too much attention from both my parents and aunt and uncle. I think I would have enjoyed having other siblings. It would have made it a lot easier to get away with mischief growing up.
Ron met up with Seamus and a few other boys. I sighed and just picked up my bag to walk alone. However, my solitude only lasted moments.
"Oh Melanie," Lavender called, as her and Parvati gathered on either side of me.
"Er... hi," I said, rather awkwardly, briefly brushing my messy curls. These two usually did not talk to me very much.
"So... we noticed you've been spending quite some time around Morgan Brody," Lavender remarked.
"You like him, don't you?" Parvati added in a hushed tone.
I instinctively started to shake my head. "I don't..."
"I think he does like you," Lavender acknowledged to me.
"Really?"
Lavender rolled her eyes while Parvati giggled. "Oh my gawd, Melanie, you've more oblivious than most boys."
I felt my head start to spin. What were people saying? Sure, we had our moment next to the forest where we could have possibly kissed, but no one knew about that. Other than that, all Brody and I have done was talk every so often.
"Anyway, let us help you," she went on.
"Help me?" I repeated, befuddled.
"Yes," Lavender insisted, more sternly. "With the way you're acting now, he's just going to start to think of you as one of his 'guy' friends... pretty much like all your other friends do. He needs to see you as something different, otherwise he might end up with a girl like Pansy Parkinson or Lenora Lane."
I frowned as that last sentence sounded odd to me. It did not seem Lenora and Pansy should be in the same category as 'types of girls.'
"Look..." I said, slowly, realizing why I never had a lot of 'girlfriends' growing up. "I appreciate your advice, but I think I can handle this. And even if we are just friends... that's totally fine."
"Well ok..." Parvati said with a shrug.
"Let us know if you change your mind!" Lavender called out, while I walked ahead more briskly.
xXx
The First Task drew nearer. I could tell Harry dreaded it. The fact that him and Ron still were not on speaking terms did not help matters.
When I dressed and went downstairs this morning, I found Ron standing by himself on the balcony. I took in a breath and decided to join him. At the sound of my footsteps, he barely turned his head to glance, but at least he did not tell me to go away.
"Hey," I said, quietly, stepping besides him.
He muttered a 'hey' in response. I glanced down by his feet and noticed a crumpled up article by Rita Skeeter and wanted to snort in disgust. This rat of a woman slandered Harry's words and twisted them into her own dreadful portrayal of him. She even depicted Hermione as a scandalous girl who toyed with Harry and Krum's emotions. All rubbish.
"Do you ever wonder what it would be like?" Ron asked me, gazing up at the sky, "if your name had popped up, and everyone was cheering you on?"
I thought about it for a moment. Honestly when I tried to put my name in I was more interested in the adventure of the task. I never really considered what my classmates would think.
Instead of answering, I pointed out, "From what I heard, it didn't sound like people were exactly cheering when Harry's name sprung out."
Ron did not respond.
I picked up the magazine and asked him, "Do you really think this is what Harry wants. Articles full of lies about him reported by the people he hates?"
He merely glanced at it and muttered, "I guess fame isn't always that great." He paused before adding, "You know, you're actually mentioned in that one."
"Really?" I took in a sharp breath and mumbled, "That can't be good..."
After skimming through, I found the line. It read, 'Harry Potter lives in despair and continues to associate with troublesome friends such as Melanie Rosen...'
"Quoted by Pansy Parkinson," I remarked aloud, rolling my eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"
I dropped the paper back on the ground feeling slightly relieved, and said, "Well, that actually could have been a lot worse. Believe me, sometimes its not so bad to be on the sidelines."
"I guess," Ron said, turning his gaze back to the trees.
"You know, Lenora and I actually tried to put our own names in. We found it to be pretty difficult and never managed it."
He looked at me and raised his eyebrow. "Would you have told me if you did happen to find a way?"
"Of course," I said quickly, but added, "My point is, I didn't even think of what would follow if my name had been drawn. I mean, can you imagine if this Skeeter bitch started digging up dirt on my family? There's already plenty of articles on my real father. All she'd have to do is research the name, 'Riddle,' and she can probably find out everything she needs..."
"That would be pretty bad," Ron agreed, as my own eyes fell down to gaze at the lake.
He seemed to detect how just the thought of this distressed me. "You know, it doesn't matter if Harry and I are fighting, I'd never tell anyone your secret."
I looked at him and smiled. "I appreciate that."
Ron grinned and added, "Well yeah, I'd have to be bonkers mad to piss of the granddaughter of... you know..."
I laughed and playfully smacked his arm. "Shut up, you."
"Oh my gawd, Melanie, don't freak out..." Lavender said, standing by the door, "There's a bug on your shoulder!"
I glanced down at my left shoulder and spotted a little beetle lingering about. Without alarm, I brushed it away. "Thanks Lavender."
She held both hands up and started to turn back inside. "Ew... I'm definitely not coming out here anymore."
Ron and I both laughed when she was out of range. After several moments passed, I asked him, "So will you cheer Harry on during the first task?"
He was silent at first and looked at me, sharply. However, he sighed and uttered, "Of course I'll root for Harry."
I smiled. I may be terrible at mending my own friendship with Lenora, but at least maybe I can help my own friends come back together.