[1] BoAtHouSe » DrAcO mALfoY

twenty-one » staying sane

Slowly, the days started passing even quicker than normal. Melanie couldn't keep track. It felt like yesterday was the start of term, but today was already in March.

The O.W.L.s were closer than ever, and nearly every fifth year was stressed out. Some people were even sent to the Hospital Wing because they were so anxious.

Melanie was growing even more afraid of the exams. She was getting better at Transfiguration, but now she didn't know what to do for Divination. The Occlumency and Legilimency lessons she took from Snape maybe weren't so worth it, now that she was so behind on her Divination coursework.

Especially now that every Divination lesson was monitored by Umbridge – it was curious how Umbridge got to her own classes. Dolores Umbridge was somehow sucking all the happiness from Hogwarts. Dumbledore was rarely ever seen, it now felt like Umbridge was Headmistress. Just the thought of Umbridge becoming Headmistress made Melanie shiver in fear and annoyance.

Sometimes, Melanie wondered how good it would feel if she tried out some of the curses she was learning on Umbridge. Hearing Umbridge scream and cry for mercy would be delightful.

Thinking of screams and cries and death, Melanie found herself remembering the horrible day with Bellatrix. It had been a bad day, Melanie had gone through pain she never thought possible; she had gone through some ghastly things that now caused her nightmares. Melanie's nights were spent slipping in and out of consciousness, hoping the screams she was hearing weren't her own. They never were. They were always a playback of her screams and cries from that horrendous day with Bellatrix.

Melanie knew deep down, deep deep down that Bellatrix truly was trying to strengthen her. To make her stronger. Make her the ultimate Death Eater. One her father would be proud of.

"Miss Avery," said Snape, suddenly right in front of Melanie's desk.

Melanie quickly looked up and remembered where she was. Potions class. Usually one of Melanie's favourite subjects, but not today. Because today hadn't been brewing potions, it had been listening to (well, trying to listen to) Snape going on about the importance of O.W.L.s.

"Yes, Professor?" Melanie said, feeling Amelia nudge her from beside her.

"What daydream is so important that it's preventing you from paying attention to my lesson, Miss Avery?" Snape asked coldly.

Snickers were heard around the room as Melanie turned red. Melanie imagined what people would think if they knew she was thinking about torturing Umbridge.

She knew some people would probably be happy and proud of her for thinking about such horrible things. She also knew some people who would hate her and be disappointed in her. The latter was a more crowded group, mostly consisting of people she actually cared about.

"Uh..." Melanie stuttered. "It won't happen again, sir."

What if Snape was lurking through her mind and he found out she was daydreaming about torturing Umbridge? This thought made Melanie quickly void herself of any emotion, closing her mind to any intruders.

Snape narrowed his eyes at her before returning to his teaching. Melanie tried to listen as well as she could, but listening to someone with a boring voice talk about boring things made it much harder.

So, Melanie sat at her desk, pretending to listen, but all she could think about was her nightmares from the nights before.