Melanie:"How am I late already? I left at the same time that I always do, the same way that I always go...." *Melanie complained out loud after she checked her watch to see how much time she had left to get to her next class. Of course, since it was already a horrible day for her so far, she was late.*"No, this isn't going to happen now." *she decided as she gripped her books tighter and started running down the hallway. If someone stopped her, she would just keep running and deal with a detention later.

Just when she decided that was when the staircase popped up. Anyone who was paying attention would've noticed it, but being that she was distracted...she tripped and fell. She let out a short squeal when she first felt the falling sensation. She finally landed at the very bottom of the staircase. In the end, she was lying stomach down on the cold marble floor. Her hair was all over the place and her skirt....Well, in typical bad day and Mel like fashion, it had flown up, letting the whole world see her pink plaid undies. This, of course, she was completely unaware of. She looked up, not even bothering to fix her hair, a very grumpy expression on her face. She was just going to let it hurt for a while and use this as an excuse for being late, really playing up how hurt she was. At least it was an excuse....*



~Mel

AJ had a free session in his schedule and decided to head back upstairs to the common room to study a bit. This, of course, was a typical day for him. As he made his way from his Potions class he heard, clunk, clunk, clunk. He looked around to see where the noise was coming from and saw a student tumbling down the stairs.

His first thought was somebody had pushed her, but when he got closer he saw it was Melanie Hunter. He had talked to her before through their years at Hogwarts but was definatly not a friend. She was a nice girl, but they barely saw each other

"Are you okay?" he asked as she fixed her hair. "What happened?"

He then noticed her skirt was up and showing something he shouldn't be seeing. "Uh, your skirt too." He said pointing awkwardly.

*Melanie panicked as soon as she realized that someone was there. Her eyes widened and she shook her hair out of her face. She opened her mouth to respond to the first two questions and then the word skirt came up. Freezing where she was, all she could think of was what horror had happened to her now. She slowly turned her head around, afraid to see what had happened. Seeing that her panties were quite clearly showing, she closed her eyes and sighed. Of course that would happen to me.... she thought. She used one of her arms to lift herself off of the ground slightly so she could reach back with the other and fix her skirt. She sat up and made sure that AJ wouldn't see anymore that she didn't want him to.*

Melanie:"I am fine." *she assured him as she was sitting up.*"I just...fell. It's not bad, really." *she explained nonchalantly.*'And...I'm sorry about that.'

*Great, another relationship that's been turned completely awkward. she thought. She had always liked AJ a lot- as a friend of course. Even though they didn't get to talk as much as Mel would've liked, he was great in her opinion. That, of course, made the whole situation even more awkward.*


~Mel

AJ had laughed when she scurried to cover her panties. "No big deal. Honest." he said helping to pick up her books "It's happened a lot." It really hadn't but a sly joke would ease the mood.

After handing her the books he scratched his head. "Do you have a free period now? Or were you hurrying to class?" He wondered out loud. It would be nice to hang out with her for once, but she seemed like she was late for a class.

He knew a class was in session, nobody was in the hallway right now, except a few sixth and seventh years who had a few open sessions.

Melanie:"I..." *she started to answer him, saying that she did have a class, but then she realized that she was already at least 15 minutes late and sore. Plus, she thought it was healthy to ditch class every now and then.*'Am not going to class anymore. I'll guilt trip my professor later, she's a softy anyway, and if I just make it sound like my health really was in danger I should be fine." *she decided aloud.*"So I guess I'll just....Well, what are you doing?"



~Mel

AJ noticed she was going to say something before changing her mind. When she said she wasn't going to class he was pretty excited. "Well I was going to study, but I already had done all of my homework."

They were standing in the hallway awkwardly. Melanie and AJ had met in their second year and had few conversations through the years.

"Do you want to go somewhere to talk? I'm sure the Great Hall is empty. Or somewhere else. Where ever." He adjusted his bookbag strap around his shoulder and looked around. It was midday which meant lunch was still to be had, so sneaking food from the kitchens was out of the question.

Melanie:"The Great Hall sounds good to me.' *she agreed while she picked up her book from next to her and stood.*"We can just sit and talk. Wow...that actually sounds relaxing...especially in comparison to everything else I've been doing lately." *she added to lighten the mood and ease the awkward tension that she could feel building.*



~Mel

Walking to the Great Hall was silent, but nothing awkward. "So, things have been good? I haven't seen you in a long time. Ready to get out of this place?"

The Great Hall was scattered with students studying and talking. Some were playing Wizard Chess and others were just reading for leirsure. The sun shined through making the hall shimmer. It was an unusual time of the day. It was quiet and everyone spoke in whispers as if being watched. At one point someone had dropped a book from the table, causing everyone to look up.

Melanie:"Not really, no. Too much responsibility...too much to worry about. I don't know what I'm going to do because...once I leave school, there's so much...so much that I need to do. So I have all of these horrible ideas in the back of my mind of what might happen if I mess up. I'm not ready to face the real world like that yet."


~Mel

She seemed extremely stressed out. "Ah well, maybe knowing what I want to do makes it easier." The truth was he was already doing what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Secretly of course.

"See, I want to be an auror," he confessed. "Hunting Dark Wizards is...would be the best thing. I hate them. And what the NDE stand for, hunting them would be a treat as well."

AJ knew NDE's politcal views, but he was more worried about darkies, who were just like criminals in the muggle world. NDE was more like a radical group, just a slice of the dark magic users.

*Melanie smiled, already being able to picture AJ doing that. It was definitely something he was capable of...and would be great at.8
Melanie:"I don't think you know how lucky you are...to have a good chance at what you're doing- not worrying about right away success because your parents will probably give you money if you really need it. I'm not going to have any of those sort of...privileges, I guess you could call them. AJ...I'm not ready for this at all. I'm never going to be able to do this."



~Mel

AJ thought about how lucky he was. "My parents have already given me my grandparents old house when I turned 17. They moved to Poland again leaving me here." He had been using the house for secret meetings since earlier in the year and had been sneaking off of Hogwarts grounds as an animagus.

"I suppose I am lucky. Especially knowing what I want to do with my life. If an auror doesnt work out, I think I might live in the muggle world again." He knew no wizard or witch would understand why he would want to do this.

Melanie:"I know what I want to do...I've known for years...but now that I'm actually close to being there...I don't think it's really...possible for me. I'm going to be that failure that everyone looks down on, aren't I?"

*Melanie had developed a habit for making perfectly fine conversations turn into pity parties without even realizing that she was doing it..*




~Mel

AJ shrugged. He didn't know why she seemed so insecure. He brushed it off.

"I dunno," though they had barely talked to each other throughout the years, she seemed like she was a smart enough person to do whatever she set her mind to. "I'm sure everything will turn out just fine."

AJ was feeling uncomfortable and let out a weak smile.

Melanie:"I wish I could think like that. I hate being so...awfully pessimistic about life but...it seems logical to me." *she shrugged and sighed*"I'm this human raincloud anymore. Always ruining moods and days....It's no wonder people don't talk to me that much anymore."



~Mel

AJ listened. Nodding occasionally. "Well I don't see too many people either."

This was, in fact, a lie. He had been seeing a lot of people lately, just not at Hogwarts. But that peice of information wouldn't be divulged in this conversation.

"You're in Gryffindor right? Do you know Cerae?"

AJ was now dating Cerae and couldn;t stop talking about her. His fellow Ravenclaws would often ignore him because of this.

*Melanie was surprised enough by the random subject change that she was no longer going to continue her day ruining. Unless AJ said the wrong thing, then she'd fall apart again.*

Melanie:"I...yeah, I guess, I mean...we're in the same dorm and everything. We don't really talk that much, though. I think she thinks I'm bonkers." *This entire response was said in confusion, not really understanding what her house mate had to do with anything.*



~Mel

"Ah yeah," he said, thinking about Cerae. "Well I'm sure she thinks you are a sweet girl." He was in a happy mood now.

He smiled, "So, you like being in Gryffindor? I haven't met many Gryffindors, loads of Slytherins. You'd think they wouldn't be as friendly as you guys or Hufflepuffs."

It was a weird topic to start, but AJ's mind wasn't clear.

Melanie:"Of course I like it- it's where my family and friends are. Well, most of them. About the being friendly, though....I don't believe in the House standards. I think anyone from any house can be as friendly or unfriendly as everyone. The same goes for other traits. It's silly that people really judge others based on what house they're in."



~Mel

AJ hated most Slytherin's he found most supported the NDE and their values. "I suppose," he said looking off into the magical sky of the Great Hall.

"As long as nobody supports all of this pureblood nonsense I'm okay with them."

AJ looked at Mel, "Anyways...don't mean to bring up such a serious topic." His eyes focused past her, just beyond the doors of the Great Hall.

Melanie:"No, it's alright. Sometimes serious discussions are good; they really get you thinking. I learned my lesson with The Family." *she added. Melanie rarely brought this up, especially since the topic was taboo in the first place.*'I don't care what the NDE says that they can do for me, I could never support them. Not after what my dad did. Or...my uncle."

*The word uncle was strange for her to say. It was the general agreement in the family that they weren't going to talk about him. Even though they thought he was dead, the thought of him still held fear and hurt from what he had done...and had been trying to do.

Melanie had no idea that he was still alive and working for the NDE. More so, she had no idea that he was still trying to track her down to kill her.*



~Mel

AJ listened, grateful she hated NDE. "My goal in life is to take out as many dark wizards as possible." He said with a serious smile. "I know I'll die from it, but as long as I get at least two, my life was meaningful."

Two: one in exchange for his life, and the other to be one up on the dark wizards. AJ didn't plan on dying. Not with the White Rose at his side. He smiled thinking about the major people in the group: Florent, Cassidy and Torree. The others were important, but not as important as them.

*Melanie was so shocked by what AJ had just said that all she could do for several seconds was to stare at him with wide eyes. A hundred thoughts flew through her mind at once- 'He shouldn't be giving up his life so willingly, Two? Only two? No, he needs to set his standards higher than that if he's willing to die for it., That t*ot! How can he even be thinking about giving up his life! There's too many people out there who would kill for what he was....That was a bad choice of words. She did her best to summarize all of them into one complete thought.*

Melanie"No." *was the best think that she could say at first.*'No, no, no, no, No!" *she got more worked up as she went*"I don't mean to sound rude, but you can't just give up after two. More importantly, you can't just accept your doom like that when you have a perfectly good chance of surviving!"

*Melanie was being overly sensitive as usual, but when someone who was perfectly healthy and had a promising future ahead of them was accepting the fact that they would die young....It hit a nerve. It was a choice that she didn't have. She had no choice to make like he did, a choice on whether or not to believe the fact. Her fate, in comparison to his, was inevitable. She was going to die before she hit 30, and there was very little for her to do about it.*



~Mel

"Well, of course I'd take out more than that." he smirked. "It's just a philosophy of...never mind." He almost mentioned the group. "I know eventually I'll be killed by a Dark Wizard at one point in my life. The date is uncertain though. A seer told me. But I doubt I can believe him. Met him while in Germany once. Crackpot if you ask me."

AJ didn't believe the seer one bit. In fact he went looking for Dark Wizards that day, against the seer's wishes.

"I won't go without a fight. I've already captured one. Got away though. Left him under a spell at the Ministry, they thought it was a cruel joke without checking who he was, let him go."

AJ had since formed a group of former students with his French confidant. He was trying to recruit seventh years, but it was proving difficult.

*Melanie sighed, calming down a bit now*

Melanie:"The ministry is full of nutters. I've only ever known one sane person who's worked there. It kind of makes me wish that I could help, too. I mean, it's ridiculous that I of all people would even think of going against the NDE after what I've gone through...what some of them have done to me....I think part of it's revenge...the other part...I don't want anyone else to go through what I have." *she shrugged*"I couldn't ever really do it, though. I have to stay safe...for my family."



~Mel

"How bad was your family hurt?" asking in a serious tone. He was out for revenge. Not because of a loved one, but because of that the represented was everything AJ was against. He wanted to revenge the deaths of innocent people. He wanted them to pay...

"I think the ministry is in need of extra help. They need to start excepting seventh years that are qualified, and let them leave Hogwarts early." AJ knew this would never happen.

Well qualified and already hunting Dark Wizards. He was a shoe in to become and Auror. He thought about being an animagus and how mucht that helped.

*Melanie looked down at the ground as she thought of every way that her family had been hurt because of Death Eaters and Neo Death Eaters. It was a lot to remember, and a lot that she tried her best to forget.*

Melanie:"It started with my uncle Dominic. No one's really sure why, but...after my grandma died it started getting bad. He full out attacked my mum at one point and got thrown out of the house. When he was done with school, he joined the death eaters, and....The first to go was my grandpup, since Dom hated him so much. Next were my great grandparents...my great aunts and uncles, my cousins- all of them and he never even got caught for doing it. We're not sure what's happened to him, but we're thinking he's dead, otherwise my brothers and I wouldn't be around. My dad joined them later, too, though. He killed my mum, helped kill my sister, and tried to kill my brothers and I. He trapped us in a room with K-" *she was about to say 'Kiley' and expose that her best friend was a werewolf, but she stopped herself*"With a werewolf and let it go at us. Alex, Ian, and I managed to get out of it alive some how, but...Becky was so little....She couldn't do anything about it. " *she only now realized that she was rambling and AJ most likely didn't even care. She tried to speed the rest up*"I'm not even going to go into how many time's I've been tortured by Harshing or any of his followers. They've done much more horrible things than torture, too." *she added, alluding to rape, but not wanting to say it out loud.* '"He's even tortured Mark."

*she stopped. She was waiting for AJ to say something about what a freak of nature she was. It wouldn't have surprised her if he just walked away, not wanting to be associated with a screw up like her. That wasn't even the whole of it. She could go on about what a twisted, bizarre life she lead for hours.

He had asked, though....*


~Mel

AJ felt bad. "That's horrible. I feel terrible that nobody did anything." He glared past her, wanting to help avenge her family. "Do you know any of the NDE that attacked your family or you?"

He would get Florent or any of the group to help with this. AJ wondered about the last statement.

"More than torture?" he wondered what that meant. "Like..." he wasnt sure if he wanted to know.

*Melanie looked up at AJ curiously to see if his expression would show if he really wanted to know...and he did. She felt her heart plummet into her stomach. This was the part that she hated admitting more than anything, but she had done it before, so she could do it again. She looked back at the floor to make it easier for her, so she wouldn't have to see his reaction. Then she realized...maybe it would be better for her to see this time. Never before had she looked...maybe it wouldn't be as bad as she imagined. Maybe she would feel stronger....She looked back up, looking straight into AJs eyes.*

Melanie:"I've been raped." *she forced the word out, hating to say it. The worst was over now.*'Several times."

*She would save his other question for later. There really was no way to go so immediately switch off of this topic.*


~Mel

Whoa, was all AJ could think. This is serious stuff. "What?!" He was outraged. "By NDE?" He was furious. He swore loudly. He didnt want to intrude in her personal life, but didnt know what to say.

Mel was raped. A girl he ignored all through Hogwarts needed help. Maybe she didnt; maybe she wanted it to be bottled up.

"Erm..." he didnt know what to say at all...

*Melanie looked away again.*

Melanie:"You think I'm a freak now, don't you?" *she asked*"It's okay if you do, I'm used to it. That crazy orphan girl with a kid whose incapable of going two weeks without crying in public.'

*she sighed and gave a half hearted little smile...when all of a sudden something dawned on her. How hadn't she realized it before?

Everything she did, she did because she needed someone to love her and help her. Not because she was crazy, technically, but because, well...maybe it was a 'dead mommy complex'.*

"Oh my god I am crazy! I am completely crazy and there's nothing that I can do about it!" *she sounded scared, almost on the verge of hysteria. She blushed a deep shade of pink as she realized she was doing it even right now.*"No, no, not now!" *She ran a hand through her hair and tried to think of anything that she could do....*"I'm a disaster! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, you probably think I'm the most mentally unstable person on the planet right now!' *she said this all very quickly, but still at an understandable speed*"I..need...help. I can't do this anymore, I need help!"



~Mel

He felt horrible. "No, no, no," he said. "It's okay. Don't worry. I need to talk about things like this sometimes too."

He felt bad that this happened to her. AJ understood she would act like this after everything happened to him. He felt like he should confide in her, but knew he couldnt.

"Dont worry." his hand rubbed against hers. Comforting her. He smiled. "I'm here to listen." he said with a smile.

Melanie:"You shouldn't do that!" *she exclaimed as he started rubbing her hand, pulling it away.*'I'll get attached to you. I'll get very attached to you and I'll be in more of a mess than I already am! I'll love you! You can't be nice to me, you can't listen to me!" *she took a deep breath and tried to calm down and let out a particularly bad curse.* "But if you don't listen to me, if you don't show you care about me, I'll just keep doing this do other people. I'll get worse, and I'll mess up more people's lives. There's nothing I can do. I don't have any control over anything anymore!"


~Mel

His hand jolted away. "Sorry. You know what, forget about it. Let's..." he had no suggestions. He felt confused. Not by her, maybe she was part of it. Maybe it was the fact that the NDE were more dangerous than he thought.

"Let's just not talk about anything."

He sat in silence, hands to hmself. Thinking about killing. He daydreamed a flash of green light leaving his wand, the person hit with it falling to the ground, motionless.

Melanie;"Not talk...okay. That...that sounds good." *she sighed again and attempted to calm down. It didn't really work, all she could do was glance nervously around the room and wonder how long she'd be doing this to herself. The answer she came with? The day Becky died. That's when everything fell to pieces. She had been manipulating her way into love for 2 and a half years....She fought back tears as she wrapped her arms around herself to try and calm down yet again.*



~Mel

AJ sat in silence; thinking about Cerae, about how all he wanted to do was protect her. About how he was falling for her. How amazing she was. He smiled at the thought of being with her.

Then fear struck. Perhaps dark wizards would use her to get to me. His fists tightened, anger came over him. He bit his lip, trying to stop from yelling.

Maybe he should end things before he falls in love with her. Before it would hurt too much.

Ah! he yelled in his mind. His eyes almost started to tear.

*Melanie noticed AJ tense up next to her. Now it was her turn to be concerned for him.*

Melanie:"What's wrong? Are you okay?" *she asked him, going into mommy mode now. She mentally smacked herself for even asking, but he had been kind enough to listen to her, so she owed him this.*



~Mel

"Yeah, everything is okay. No need to worry."

He loosened up. Slouching over the table they were sitting at.

AJ didnt want to think anymore, just wanted to slouch and clear his mind. He was hungry, He was tired. He was confused.

AJ was worried for Cerae's life. And for the first time, put somebody else as more important than himself.