The Next Generation and the Followers of Darkness

After a few of Professor Wordsworth's nightly defense lessons in Gryffindor Tower, the younger students were walking about the school with a new air of confidence. This meant, of course, that they weren't standing about in huddled groups, expecting someone to hex them every time they rounded a corner. Now they scuttled down the corridors in twos and threes with a couple elder Gryffindors following not too far behind.

But the House rivalries seemed to be put aside as quickly as they had started. With the masquerade ball now less than a month away, people were beginning to look for partners, and that meant asking people from any of the four Houses.

Melody first noticed when the usual crowd of girls started hanging around Edward again. Among these girls, however, was a new face — Amelia. The Head Girl seemed to think she had the right to go with any boy she wanted to the ball. Every time Edward entered the Great Hall or walked out onto the lawn, he was instantly surrounded by a group of blushing fifth, sixth, and seventh years, lead by Amelia in the race to go to the ball with him.

One evening, James and Oliver had found him hiding out in the common room, having avoided dinner all together by getting some food from the kitchens. Although he could not avoid the girls in his own House, the Gryffindor girls weren't as obsessed with him as those from Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and even Slytherin.

Aside from Edward's girl problems, there was a lot of gossip in the tower about Victoire and who she would go with. So far, she had told every single one of the dozen or so boys who had asked her thus far that she would think about it. And by now, the Weasley and Potter cousins — as well as Melody — were getting frustrated.

"I don't know why you haven't decided who you're going with yet," hissed Molly across the table at dinner. It was the first Thursday of October, and the number of students without dates of shrinking considerably as the days passed. "It's not as if you're going behind Teddy's back."

"But I will be if I go with anyone who's asked me," Victoire snapped, stabbing at her roast beef with her fork. "They're all romantically interested in me. If I'm gonna go, I'm going with just a friend."

But no one who was "just a friend" had asked yet. Rather, it became more obvious on Friday morning that the boys asking were looking for a relationship with the blonde seventh year. A Ravenclaw set up a fireworks display in the courtyard spelling out the words: "WILL YOU GO WITH ME TO THE MASQUERADE, VICTOIRE WEASLEY?" After this effort, however, his plea was met with another "I'll think about it."

Melody was glad at this point that she was going to the feast and had no reason to worry about the ball. After seeing all the drama between the elder students, she and Rose would walk about the castle without a care in the world — although they were still being failed by a few older students at all times in case any prior hostilities flared up again.

Of course, hostilities were not only among the Houses. They were inevitable between the Gryffindors when Rainsford finally posted up the results of the Quidditch tryouts on Friday morning after a long week of deliberation.

~
KEEPER - James Potter
CHASERS - Roxanne Weasley, Daniel Akerley, Robert Semmens
BEATERS - Michael Rainsford, Edward Pendleton
SEEKER - Sydney Brooker
RESERVES
— Keeper - Joshua Nolan
— Chaser - Anabelle Callender
— Beater - Oliver Smith
— Seeker - Danny Jackson

Practices will be for an hour and a half every Tuesday and Thursday at 5:00 in the evening, and every Saturday from 7:00 to 10:00 in the morning. If you have any comments or questions, please see Captain Michael Rainsford during break.
~

Melody couldn't help smiling when Rainsford was bombarded with "comments or questions" in the common room after lunch. But she and Rose couldn't stick around to listen. They had Transfiguration next.

~~~~~

Melody couldn't find Oliver after her classes. He wasn't in the common room, and when she asked Richard if he was in their dormitory, her brother's friend said he hadn't seen Oliver since lunch.

Conceding to talk to him later, Rose and her left the common room to enjoy the sunshine on the grounds. They walked through the corridors and down the stairs toward the entrance hall, but had barely made it halfway there when Amelia came running up the nearest hallway, a look of sincere worry on her face.

"Thank God I've finally found you," she panted as she neared. Amelia slowed as she reached them. "Melody, we need to find Jeremy and Oliver. I've just got a letter from Mum."

"What's going on?" asked Melody.

"Just come on." The elder girl was taking off down the hallway again.

Melody turned to Rose.

"See you later, I guess."

"I'll meet up with you at dinner."

Melody ran after Amelia, a little apprehensive about what her mother had said that required all her children to know. Amelia had paused at the end of the corridor to make sure her younger sister was following then kept going when Melody had caught up. They took a shortcut down a passage hidden behind a tapestry. It sloped violently, and Melody slid part of the way as she tripped over her robes. But the two of them kept going, and they ended up coming out of from behind a suit of armor that looked at them as they dashed past. Melody stopped, not knowing where they were.

The dimly lit corridor was decorated with paintings of food. The torches shedding light on the two girls were on the verge of going out. It seemed as if they were near the dungeons by the drop in temperature, but instead of the nose-crinkling scent of mold and decay, the smell of cooking filled the hallway.

"Where are we?" asked Melody.

"By the kitchens," said Amelia, "and if my memory serves me right, the Hufflepuff common room should be this way . . ."

She strode off down the corridor, Melody trotting along behind her. The elder girl said nothing more about their location or the route they took to get there, but simply dashed along with her sister in tow.

But they ended up not having to try and enter the Hufflepuff common room as Jeremy appeared at the end of the corridor holding a tottering stack of books. At the very top was a potted plant that was shuddering slightly. Melody had not seen it during her Herbology classes. Another Hufflepuff was walking alongside Jeremy, chattering his ear off. Her rosy cheeks were plump, making her squint as she smiled. But her grin disappeared once she caught sight of Amelia and Melody hurrying down the corridor toward them. Jeremy's head appeared from behind the books in his arms.

"What the hell are you two doing down here?" he snapped, nearly dropping the books and plant at the sight of them.

"We need to talk," stated Amelia.

Jeremy looked to Melody for some explanation, but she Jeremy shrugged her shoulders. She was in the dark as much as he was.

"But I need to help Julie in the library," he said, looking for some excuse to get out of this obvious family discussion.

"Jeremy, it's important," was all that Amelia said. But when he didn't seem convinced, she pulled an envelope made of thick parchment out of her robes. He peered at it curiously, then he bit his lip, handing it back to Amelia.

"Winston!" Jeremy called as another boy, slightly younger than him, came also appeared at the end of the hallway. "I need you to take these up to the library for Julie."

Winston ran forward and took the books cautiously, not questioning the prefect. Once again, the books and plant nearly fell as they were transferred from Jeremy to Winston. Amelia turned to stride down the passage again once she saw her brother agreed to come with, Melody right behind her.

The younger girl looked back, however, as she was walking away to see Jeremy plant a kiss on Julie the Hufflepuff's cheek before jogging to catch up with his sisters.

Amelia didn't say another word as she led them back up to the entrance hall, out the front doors, and onto the grounds. It was impossible to know where they were going now. Melody had been sure that Oliver was somewhere with his friends, playing tricks on students or something, and thought that Amelia was going to leave him out of their coming conversation. But then she realized where they were going.

The Quidditch pitch.

And sure enough, there was Oliver in the distance, swooping about on the family broom, racing James from one end to the other.

~~~~~

The worry on Amelia's face had been cause for Oliver to land on the field as his siblings arrived. She didn't say a word before he had told James he would be back later. No questions were asked as the four of them left the field and headed off in the direction of the Black Lake.

As they walked past, many of their Housemates — who were out on the grounds enjoying the nice weather — stared at sight of Amelia, Jeremy, Oliver, and Melody together. The students were aware of the tension between the Smiths, due not only to the House rivalries but also the age gap. So it was odd to see them all walking down to the lake shore together.

Melody could understand what they were gawking at. She, too, felt weird as her sister and brothers strolled over to an isolated part of the pebbled shore, settling down at the water's edge, just far enough from the lapping waves.

She sat down cross legged beside Oliver, the four of them lined up by the water and looking out across the surface to the other side.

"Mum sent me a letter this morning," Amelia mumbled, pulling the envelope back out. She flipped it open and took out the parchment inside. Then she read:

~
Dear Amelia,
Please share this with Jeremy, Oliver, and Melody, as it will come to affect them, too, in the long run. I would have taken the time to write to all four of you, but your father and I are using up much of the parchment in the House to write letters to the Daily Prophet, Which Broomstick?, and Witch Weekly — and even some Muggle newspapers.
I'm sure that you're wondering why all these letters are being sent out, and, to put it simply, there were cuts at the Ministry last week. I was not needed in the Department of International Magical Cooperation any longer. Thus, your father is now having to work double hours due to the decrease in income, and I am in need of a job.
Since I wrote many letters to foreign witches and wizards at the DIMC, I thought I might try my hand at writing for a newspaper or magazine. So far, we have had no responses, but something humorous did happen on Wednesday.
Apparently, while we were sending owls to the Daily Prophet, Which Broomstick?, and Witch Weekly, some Muggles saw them leaving out of the window. They alerted us to the "problem" and prompted us to call pest control. It was quite funny when the exterminator got here, and we had to motify his memory as he saw the contents of our house! I guess from now on we'll have to be more careful about when we send letters. So, please, if you write to us, be sure to send Fantasia, Orien, Magnus, and Lux at night as to not attract the attention of our neighbors again.
Please, don't worry about me being jobless — I'm bound to be hired soon. We just wanted to make you aware of the situation.
Be good. Don't get bad marks. And keep Oliver and Melody out of trouble! Everything will be back in order soon.
Love you all!
Mum
~

Melody couldn't help wondering why Amelia was so worried. Their mother was an excellent writer, and this was known by many people in the Ministry, who would probably recommend her to the publications she wrote to.

"What're you so worried about, Amelia?" said Jeremy, voicing Melody's thoughts. "Mum'll get a job soon — she's always been fantastic with words."

"But she doesn't have one yet, does she?" Amelia snarled, her attitude turning nasty again. "And personally, I don't think Mum is that great of a writer. Who knows how long it'll be before she convinces them to hire her?"

Without waiting to hear anyone else's opinions, Amelia got to her feet and stomped off in the direction of the castle, once again in a foul mood.

Jeremy, Oliver, and Melody watched her go, their mouths hanging open at her sudden mood swing. For a moment, they were united in their disbelief of how rude their elder sister could be.