Melanie Rosen: Year 4 (A Harry Potter Fanfic)

Chapter 21 Changes

Chapter 21

Changes

My eyes slowly lifted open while my entire body felt numb. For a moment, all I could see was a bright light. Did I die? I remembered seeing Andre...

"Melanie?"

As my vision focused, I spotted Morgan sitting on a chair beside my bed. Without lifting my head, I shifted my eyes and saw I had been brought to the hospital wing.

"What happened..." my voice trailed off. In the blink of an eye, all the memories of the graveyard came flashing back. I was still hoping that was a dream. I started to lift my right hand and saw that it had been completely wrapped.

"I don't think there's a way to grow that back," Morgan said quietly.

I started to sit up. Morgan helped position the pillows so I could still lean back.

"Thank you," I muttered, setting my right hand on top of my left. "How long was I out?"

"All night," he replied, looking directly at me. "Madame Pomfrey had you re-grow one of your ribs. She warned me it would be very painful for you."

I did remember pain. It was an odd sense of pain as I was trying to sleep, like one of those dreams that felt real. Well, in this case, everything was very much real.

"Lenora stopped by earlier," Morgan said abruptly.

"Really," I muttered, "Didn't expect she'd still care."

He let out a soft chuckle. "She claimed she came to see if I was okay but she knows very well I didn't go through near what you..."

His voiced trailed off. Both of us remained quiet, as neither he nor I seemed to know just what to say.

Finally, Morgan uttered, "What was it like... seeing him, I mean?"

I took in a breath, glancing down at my hands. "It's hard to explain, really. There was a coldness being around him, kind of like the dementors but different. It was almost like I would imagine meeting Death itself... that seems to be he's bringing now."

"Nah, people will fight," Morgan assured me, "just like last time and win. There's no way You-Know-Who is the end."

I smiled and looked him. "I hope you're right."

XXX

It came as no surprise to me when Aunt Becky came and pulled me out a week early from school. I did not waste my breath debating on this small matter. It was likely after losing a finger and a rib, Mum would strive to keep me away from Hogwarts for good. I will need Aunt Becky on my side so I figured best to cooperate with her now. At least since I was able to re-grow my rib, Mum did not need to know about that. My finger on the other hand would be a bit harder to conceal. Uncle Richard was able to create a bronze finger as replacement, charming it to move as I would move any other finger.

I sat with Aunt Becky in the living room, while we waited for my uncle to return home from work.

She sighed deeply. "I don't know what I'm going to tell your mother this time."

"I suppose there's no way to hide it from her," I muttered fumbling my finger. "Magically, I mean."

Aunt Becky shook her head. "No, she's your mother. She has a right to know the truth."

"You know she will probably try to keep me home in that case," I pointed out in a huff. "Hell, I might never be allowed out of her sight again."

"I'll think of some way to convince her," she assured me. "I still firmly believe Hogwarts is the safest place."

I shrugged and muttered, "I guess technically none of it happened at Hogwarts."

We were both silent for a moment before she asked me, "Melanie, at the Graveyard, Harry mentioned You-Know-Who's wand spurred out his most recent murders... Did..."

"I did see Andre," I confirmed, quietly.

My aunt was quiet for a moment before asking, "Did he... um, say anything to you... I understand if you're not ready to talk about it."

I looked over to her, seeing the mix of sadness and hope in her expression. I knew Andre was important to her.

"He told me to always be brave," I said to her. "And I can choose who I want to be."

Aunt Becky smiled. "That does sound like something he would say to his daughter."

I did not reply. It still felt strange to me to think of Andre Riddle as my father after growing up with another.

"You know, Melanie, if you ever want to talk about him..." my aunt began but was cut off by the sound of Uncle Richard coming home from work.

Aunt Becky went up to kiss him after I gave him a hug. We all sat down together while Tinker brought my uncle a cup of tea.

"Well?" Aunt Becky asked, looking at my uncle intently. "Anything?"

Uncle Richard shook his head, looking irritated. "No. Still nothing on You-Know-Who's return."

Her eyes widened as she shook her head. "How can they ignore that? For Heaven's sake, a boy was murdered!"

He let out a huff and responded, "Fudge is telling everyone that it was an accident from the tournament."

"What?" I turned to him, picking up on what they were talking about. "You mean there's not doing anything about Voldemort returning."

"Melanie..." Aunt Becky sighed, seemingly knowing there was no point in telling me not to say his name.

"They are denying his return," Uncle Richard answered. "Fudge dismissed it as a mere rumor."

"Why?" Aunt Becky demanded. "That's insane. How long does he think this can go on?"

He merely sighed and shook his head. "I don't know but their approach could easily put all our lives in danger."

"But Dumbledore announced Vol..." I shot a side-glance at my aunt, "You-Know-Who's return at Hogwarts."

He looked at me intently and said, "For all our sake's, lets hope that's enough. I just have a feeling things are going to be different at school for you next year, Melanie."

I slumped back on the couch. "That is if Mum even let's me go back. Aunt Becky insists we tell her everything."

My uncle nodded towards her. "She's right. Livia is your mother and she has the right to know."

I huffed, knowing there was no point in arguing.

"Don't worry," Aunt Becky put her hand on my arm as she assured me, "No matter what happens, you will return to Hogwarts next year."

I smiled at her. "Thanks Aunt Becky."

I tried to imagine what next year would be like. Going to daily lessons just like normal, while out there, Voldemort plotted his deadly plan. I knew my uncle was right. This will be quite a different year.

End of Year 4

A/N: Stay tuned for Year 5. I have a good potion of it written so updates should be more consistent than usual. Thanks for reading! :)