*Melanie closed her eyes and let out a deep, relaxing breath. It was like an instant mini-sedative. Not fully relaxing, but it sure helped a h*ll of a lot.

Everything was overwhelming her again. N.E.W.T.s were approaching like a deadly disease, and at the same time, she was growing more and more worried that her own deadly disease would try to take her soon. She was trying even harder than before to stay healthy.

At the same time, she was feeling even more abandoned than ever. Liam had officially graduated Hogwarts and she only got to seem him once a week. Despite the fact that everything was still awkward between the two, life was a whole lot better when she could look at him and reminisce. To try and keep herself from having a breakdown, she had started wearing the heart shaped locket that he had given her again. Inside it was a picture of the two of them with Mark.

Only, now, Liam wasn't the only person she had a crush on. The worst part was that it was obvious that none of the boys returned the affection. It made her feel better, in a twisted sort of way. It gave her a happiness that she hadn't found in a long time. The sheer, childlike joy of it all. The random grins, giggles, and blushes.

Everything was so stressful, though. Dealing with the fact that no one seemed to love her back. She felt like her time was up, like she'd had her turn at love and it was over now. At the same time, she knew that she had to keep trying. She wasn't going to die alone. She....

She shuddered and tried to forget that thought. That's why she had come to the Room of Requirement anyway. She needed to relax and get away from everything, and since Mark was with Liam....

The floor was covered in a light pine wood flooring and the smell of sea air filled the room, but was not overpowering as to make someone who did not enjoy it nauseous. The lighting was dim and a large selection of large, fluffy, leather recliners were placed throughout the room, but not in a disorganized manner. A bar filled with food and drinks, all of which were non-alcoholic aside from the butterbeer. It might have been a room of requirement, but it was still part of a school. It seemed to know better.

Melanie was sitting in a coffee brown recliner wrapped up in a knitted blanket. Her legs were currently pulled up to her chest and she was sipping on a large much of coffee with French vanilla cream.

For the moment, she was beginning to relax. Although, she had forgotten to tell the room not to let anyone come in to bother her.



~Mel

Calum was thinking of all sorts of things at once when he saw the door, of which a usual tapestry stood. He observed it interestedly, and turned the door knob, but didn't open it immediately, for fear this room was not supposed to be opened, but curiousity got the better of him and he pushed it open. Calum slipped inside and looked around. It was a nice room, with a strange waft of sea air. He looked around and stopped his gaze on a girl, sitting on a coffee brown recliner with her feet pulled up to her chest. She looked miserable.
He sighed. It was becoming a habit of his to meet girls, instead of boys. The last time he came near a boy was a few weeks ago.
He approached her.
"Hey." he said, sitting on a couch beside the recliner.

*Melanie looked up with an exasperated expression on her face when the door opened. She had wanted to be alone! Whenever she noticed that it was an adorable boy, probably about the age of her brothers, she guessed. Already, she had become biased and knew that she would never be able to think of him as anything but a kid, after all, she would never be able to admit to herself that her brothers were growing up either. As much as she wished for solitude, he brought a smile to her face.*
Melanie:"Well hello there." *she half-smiled when she looked over at him, obviously treating him a bit differently because of the clear age difference.*
"What are you doing here?" *she asked, a bit curious about how he had found out about the Room of Requirement. I guess it's not that much of a secret anymore. she thought to herself.*



~Mel

He looked at the girl. She seemed a lot older than he was and very disturbed that he was there. Greeting him almost like a someone would greet a ten-year-old.
"Curiousity." he replied simply. "Did I disturb you?"
He got up from his slack position on the couch and prepared to stand up. After all, being treated like a kid was not his favourite of pastimes.

*Of course, Melanie was completely unaware of how her unfair treatment to the boy was making him feel. She laughed a little bit whenever he replied. So far, he seemed to have a sort of...elegant way of speaking that surprised her.*

Melanie:"To be completely honest, a little bit, yes. That's alright, though. i suppose a little company is good as long as you promise me that you won't be too much of a fuss." *she joked*



~Mel

He smiled awkwardly.
"I guess." he said. "But, then it wouldn't be any fun, would it?"
He grinned.
"Calum Ferguson, third year Ravenclaw." he introduced himself. "You are?"

Melanie:"I knew it!" *she exclaimed, almost spilling her coffee in her excitement. Sure, she had only guessed that he was AROUND her brothers' ages, but exactly was pretty awesome.*'You're in the same year as my little brothers!" *she explained to him..and then realized that Alex would most likely by horribly embarrassed by her at this point in time, so she decided that revealing her last name was not a good idea for the time being. Clearly, her life at this time revolved around those two...and Mark.*

"Well, I'm Melanie and I'm a Gryffindor...6th- I mean, 7th year." *she corrected herself.*"Sorry, I'm still not used to this being my last year here...."



~Mel

Calum almost jumped out of his seat when Melanie exclaimed.
"That's very nice to know." he said, breathing slightly faster than usual. "But, I don't think that's no reason to cause one to fall dead with a heart-attack. By the way, what house are your brothers? I don't think I've met them."
He got up.
"Is that a bar?" he asked, absently thinking of hot chocolate and approaching it.

I wonder what the Room of Requirement's gonna look like today. Tristan Calant thought as he approached the bare wall where the entrance to the secret room was. He hummed as he walked past it three times. Quietly he pulled open the door that appeared there. But this time he didn't notice the appearance of the room, the first thing he saw were the two people who were in the room.

One was Melanie, one of his friends who was a year ahead of him but in the same House. She was a little more of a friend or at least that's how he felt. She normally went into the Room of Requirement to get some time alone but she wasn't this time. A relatively small looking blond boy was sitting at the bar in the center of the room.

"Yo people! Nice to see you Melanie, haven't in a while." He said nodding to her as he grinned. "Been busy?" He asked without waiting for a responce Tristan turned to the second person, "Hello, my name is Tristan Calant, who are you?" He asked brightly, blue eyes sparkling slightly.

*Melanie paused whenever Calum asked what house they were in. She figured that it wouldn't disclose too much information...even though...well, they did, when put together, equal about half of their house for their year, and...there definitely were a lot of family resemblances. She would just hope that he didn't know them or something.*

Melanie:"Gryffindor." *she answered."Don't get any ideas with that bar- I don't want to be responsible for a 3rd year's getting drunk. Although...I actually don't know if it would...oh well, never mind."

*At that moment, Tristan happened to walk in.*

Melanie:"Tristan!" *she squealed loudly, grinning widely.*"I know, it's not fair !' *she answered in reply to his statement about how little they had seen of each other. When Tristan introduced himself to Calum, she took advantage of the moment and took a sip of her coffee. A small smile crossed her face as she realized that this could turn out well after all.*



~Mel

"Well, haha." he said, going back to his seat.
Another person came in, smiling.
"Who are you, is a sort of rude question to ask, isn't it?" he asked the newcomer.
Why do everyone I meet say that obviously rude question?.. he thought.
"Calum Ferguson." he said, returning his smile with a flash of his own. "It's very nice to meet you."

He chuckled as Melanie squealed, used to this greeting when the two didn't get to see each other in a while. "Don't worry about it, I've been busy myself, lots of stuff going on at home and gotta study for the exams, even though I don't think that'll help too much." Tristan added grinning sheepishly. "Anna's shown signs of being a witch. I wish I could have been there so I can't wait for summer." He explained, struggling to surpress a chuckle at the thought of his little sister.

"Didn't mean it to be rude, mate. My greetings and questions are normally very blunt and to the point but I never mean to offend." He said quickly, his smile faltering a little. "Ask Melanie, she'll tell you that." He added gesturing to her.

"Nice to meet you though." Tristan said chuckling nervously. I'm not very good at meeting new people He thought. "So Melanie whatcha doin'?" He asked changing the subject.

"I've been meeting those kind of people a lot lately. Anyway, I've been in a sarcastic kind of mood today." he said, grinning. "Nice to meet you too."
Relising after this, he was no longer welcome into the conversation, he sank more into the couch, closing his eyes and pretending to be asleep.

OOC: Feel very free to ignore me :lol:

*Melanie opened her mouth to answer Tristan's question when she noticed that Calum seemed to be asleep now. When she realized this, a puzzled expression swept across her features for a moment. Within seconds she had turned back to Tristan and made a quiet 'shh' noise with a small gesture in Calum's direction after.*

Melanie:"I was going to relax, try to pretend like I wasn't as stressed out as I am for a little bit. I don't really know if that's going to happen now, though...." *she finally replied in a hushed tone. Melanie took another sip of her coffee while waiting for Tristan's response.*



~Mel