Terrible Truths II 

Characters

Melody Lestrange (violet)	Dora Malfoy (silver)
Liam Everwood (cornflower blue)	Naomi Kavan (green)

(After Melody got dirty from literally stumbling into a conversation between Naomi, Perrin, and Liam, and she and Dora left to give them privacy)

Dora went further down to where the tree was that she usually sat down under to draw.. The same one that she and Liam had talked near the other day..

She let Melody go and then hugged herself lightly as she let her eyes look over the rippling waters of the lake..

"I'm sorry.."

Sorry? ~*She asked with clear and trusting confusion on her violet eyes, one side of her head now freed of the debris as she would tilt her head, looking almost birdlike, the other way now both in query and so she could start combing that side, the waves being straightened to a smooth and shining black mane in the processes. Like the raven locks of her mother, though she of course didn’t think on that.*~ You haven’t done anything Dora. ~*Even offering her a tiny smile.*~ What are you sorry for.. ~*Suddenly guessing as she’d glance back towards where they’d just met her housemate*~ You mean Crowe? Oh don’t worry about him he like Gryffindors anyways.. and already hates your cousin so I don’t think he’d tattle on me.

Dora nodded slightly but Melody could tell there was still something that was deeply troubling her..Something that she was afraid to tell her but she hadn't had the time to untill now due to all the other million things going on like classes and such..

"I need to tell you something.... I had a talk with Liam the other day.."

Liam? ~*She blinked, looking utterly puzzled as to what he could have to do with any guilt Dora might feel. She only continued to look at her so trustingly, only further adding to that child’s air she sometime had as she’d guess wrong again and talk so lightly and innocently of things the experienced often had too much tact to say.*~ Oh! Did he kiss you? ~*Face actually taking on a look of delight at her idea.*~ I hope he did. I want the two of you two be together. You’re both so nice. You deserve eachother. ~*As she deserved neither. Maintaining that encouraging smile as she at last finished with her hair and returned the comb to the compact, and then the compact to her robe.*~

Her face turned crimson as she thought about kissing Liam but she wasn't sure if that would ever happen.. She was fond of him but they didn't know eachother very well yet.. And she wasn't sure how encouraging Melody would be of their pairing after what she was about to say to her..

"No.. Liam and I haven't kissed.. And I think you deserve someone nice too.. But that isn't what this is about and please understand.. There were reasons this was kept from you.. That Liam explained to me.. But.." She looked down at her feet and then up at Melody's face..

"Isis..... Is alive.."

~*It seemed for the longest time.. like she wouldn’t react at all. Hand still inside her robe where she had tucked the round mirror and comb, gaze still holding innocent curiosity to hear what the other would say. Their heartbeats practically the loudest sound. She was silent as her expression and pose remained fixed at that moment of impact, delicate and still as a snowflake held midair by a levitation charm. Then slowly her frozen expression began to melt, as comprehension dawned on her, desolation, hurt, anger and betrayal welling far brighter than the tears in her eyes. Her shuddering exhale as she finally remembered to breath fogged the air before her, and she’d swallow hard, staring with a soft shake of a disbelieving head. She picked three word to repeat, not the last. But those that were even more the blade of the knife which had pierced her.*~ Kept.. from me?

Dora took one look at Melody's face after the shocked look had left it and she felt her own self crumble inside and she looked as if she might cry.. She had felt the way Melody was feeling right now before..

"It wasn't just you it was kept from, Melody.. And only a very few people know now.... I was just told very recently.. Liam didn't want her in the middle of things.. Some pawn to be used to get to someone else.. So Liam thought it best that most people thought she was dead.."

That’s no excuse!!! ~*She shrieked back, probably loud enough for it to carry to the others for they weren’t that far. Her pain began to leak out of her thick-lashed eyes in small sparkling droplets, continuing to rant with the agony of betrayal loud and raw in her voice.*~ He let me think I had let her die!! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT DID TO ME??? ~*Tears now pouring down her face as her whole body shook with the force of her sobs.*~ I took care of that owl! ~*Her mood past hysterical, for she had never truly expressed this to anyone even at the time it had been most heavily on her.*~ I was her protector!! She was good and- and- ~*her crying starting to interfere with her ability to go on raving*~ innocent and- and he let me think I’d become my parents!!! I felt worthless! Like e-e-every person who’d ever said I should just go to to- Azkaban and be done with it was right! AND HE LET ME!!!!

Dora stood there with tears rolling down her own cheeks as she listened to Melody.. The pain and anger in her voice.. There was only one thing she could think of to do and she doubted that Melody would let her do it..

But Dora stepped forward anyway and attempted to take the younger girl in her arms and hold her as she wept and grieved..

~*But indeed Melody would not be comforted, and she threw the other’s attempted touch off, whole demeanor changing then as she was forced out of her self pity at last and into thought again. Sniffing, she used the hand not still in her robe after replacing the mirror to wipe her eyes.*~ He was right. ~*Shaking her head, expression clear as day showing that she was in wonder at her own stupidity. Talking of Trevor of course*~ You can’t trust anyone but your own. ~*Looking at Dora and seeming to view her in a whole new light. As if once again the shade of her house patch had fallen over her. Except now to Melody’s eyes all but the green and silver blurred together.. all that weren’t chosen to her line clearly wanted only to hurt her.*~ Auror spawn. ~*She hissed, head whipping in the direction they’d left Liam for her eyes to burn that way with a hate she’d never known could fill them, her teeth remaining clenched in that growl of hate. This is what came of the sin of valuing anyone but her family. Wretched creatures who knew nothing of loyalty. If this is what they wanted her to be.. she was tired of fighting their expectations when it was so much easier to give in. From every side, the suspicious “light” and the coaxing “dark.” Her hand withdrew from her robe now, holding no longer the compact but her wand, clenched in a pale fist whose knuckles were whiter still from the grip.*~ He’s going to pay. ~* It was her pain talking, Durmstrangs student or not, despite Jinx’s attempts to teach her more deadly spells, she was still a child. But she was set on doing what damage she could. And she took the first stalking step down the shore, towards the Ravenclaws. *~

Melody's words impacted Dora like sharp and stinging slaps.. And the tears became more prominent as if there were two streams working their way down her pale cheeks.. She felt shattered but she knew that she couldn't let this act of revenge to take place.. She too withdrew the wand from her robes and ran toward Melody and then stood in front of her with her wand pointed at her.. A sudden look of comman coming over her face.. It was frighteningly like her Uncle's..

"Stop!"

Her voice roared..

~*Perhaps surprisingly, Melody did stop, looking rather puzzled at both the wand and the girl. As if she couldn’t fathom why Dora would be against her in this.*~ Well.. ~*She said with a coldness of gaze and voice that was terribly wrong for her normally light and above all expressive self*~ it’s nice to know where unequivocally where your loyalties lie Dora. ~*An arch of her eyebrow before the method of her as yet unformed revenge would become clear. And she didn’t even need to move to take care of it.*~ Stupefacio! ~*She cried, the bolt of the spell as it arced not towards Dora, but the owl which had just flown past them on its way back to the castle, would surely not go unnoticed by those who remained outside.*~

But Dora was ready for it.. She didn't know she would act so soon but she was still waiting for something and once she uttered the first syllable of the word Dora made her move to take the brunt of the spell.. Diving if need be.. Anything to keep it from hitting Isis..

*He turned sharply with a darknening frown in the direction of what sounded like raised voices, starting to stride in the direction they were coming from curiously*

~*Now the curse Melody uttered was not of the magical kind, gasping as the girl before her would fall stupefied to the ground.*~ Petrificus Totalus! ~*She cried, taking aim again at the bird now that Dora was too stunned to interfere, but missing by a wide margin, as Dora’s action had bought it time to get out of range and the bright bolt of magic streaked up into the night sky like a beacon.*~

*Thoughtfull as she was, and given her directional sense, she followed Everwood's lead automatically, blinking only when she registered the change in pace. She blinked again when she realized that the current direction was leading directly to the spot that the glare of a spell seemed to have originated from. A frown crossed her face as she quickened her step as well.*

As the bolt hit her her whole body seemed to go numb and she could feel a darkness closing in.. Hoping that in fact she bought the bird enough time to get away without being injured though she wouldn't know until she was conscious once more..

Her body crumpled to the ground soundlessly..

*His long strides didn't falter as he rounded a curve, right into Melody's path... he looked over with confusion and wariness, glancing over at Dora*

~The tears hadn’t even dried yet on her face, cold there in the winter night as she began running towards the school, trying to trail the bird she hadn’t a hope of catching before it made it to the safety of the Ravenclaw tower she couldn’t enter. That never had time to become an issue though because her path crossed with that of the approaching Naomi and Liam before she made it a fraction of the way. In fact she wasn’t even so far away from Dora that the incriminating shine of platinum hair on the ground might not be seen distantly behind her, which she followed Liam’s gaze back to. In fact, she made no move to explain herself or apologize at all. Who only knew what they might think she had done to the fallen girl, guilty wand still in hand.*~ She bought your pet a little time Everwood. ~*She hissed spitefully at him though her eyes were still red from the crying.*~ You want me to think her dead? Fine. Well I’ll insure it! ~*Glaring hatefully at both of them, whole body heaving with each emotional breath.*~

*She halted even as Everwood did, taking in the scene before her with widening eyes. She blankly stared at Melody, not seeing anything of the girl she just barely knew in this new person. It took a moment for the words to compute, but when the did, she looked hurriedly at Dora, then back at the girl. Even knowing that Isis was alright couldn't break her pure shock and...the beginnings of horror*

Melody...*The words emerged as a whisper, she couldn't force anything else out around her shock.* What have you done?

You never asked, Melody. *He said slowly, paling.* And you never gave me a chance, did you? *His eyes turned towards Dora again and he stepped forward... passing Melody and headed for the fallen young woman* And Isis still loves you. Direct your hate at me, the one who's really guilty. *He turned suddenly as if changing his mind, eyes hard and firm as he stepped back towards Melody, grabbing her hand and forcing his other throwing knife into it, then pressed the point right at his chest.* Or shall we finish this now?

Unknowing of all that was going on Dora lay there on the ground with the dark handle of her wand still held in her hand.. The grip not as tight as it had been when she had whipped it out of her robes.. The light wind in the night air rustled her robes softly and lifted light strands of her platinum blonde hair and made some of them caress the pale skin of her cheek in a light tickling manner.. She was quiet and patient.. Just as her demeanor when she was conscious.. It was sad how not much had changed..

~*Her first reaction at Naomi’s stunned question was to tell her not to be stupid and that it was a simple stunning curse, but then she thought better of it. Let her worry, let them all think those terrible things they did of her anyway. She actually welcomed it in that instant, for it made her hatred easier.*~ She got in my way. ~*Melody smirked back coldly, proudly even. Doing exactly what Liam had to her.. misleading. A subject which she would snap at him for dancing around.*~ Oh don’t be stupid Everwood! ~*Her voice as spiteful as any Slytherin’s had ever been.*~ You knew what you were saying.. what you were doing.. ~*the hurt creeping in momentarily to her voice as it wavered with the determination in her eyes*~ you should have thought more about what that was doing to me. ~*Letting them tend to the fallen Gryffindor, walking away as they would, until suddenly she found herself knife in hand and blade to the hated chest. So close.. so very close to his eyes which darkly mirrored hers.*~ I’ll finish it how and when I’m ready.. ~*She responded far more softly, much of the venom leeched from her by surprise. She attempted to pull her hand away, keeping the knife in it.*~

*He released her hand as suddenly as he had taken it.* Mother is dead, Melody. And Isis... now that I have warning, Isis will not be here at Hogwarts by morning if I can help it. *His eyes pierced into her sharply.* You'd better hurry then, I don't think you'll have many more chances at me. *He turned and strode over to Dora, turning her over gently and smoothing the long, white-blond hair from her face before picking her up to carry back.*

*She had been intending to go to Dora when she stopped and turned to the other two. Her mouth fell open and she stood there, poised to run and not moving. Only one thought seemed to be running on constant loop.

How the hell am I supposed to be a bodygaurd for someone who offers to let people kill him?

She started laughing at the thought, quietly at first, then gaining in volume. By the end, she was doubled over laughing, tears streaming out of her eyes. Her laughter reached the edge of hysterical and tumbled right over. The sound became shrill, uncontrolled, insane, but she couldn't stop. This was all so...stupid. So insanely stupid. After a while, she couldn't tell if she was laughing or crying anymore. TheIt was like all the emotion she had pushed back that night...that week, finally decided to come out, right there, leaving her crouched in a ball, laughing and crying at the same time*

~*She shouldn’t have let it bother her, the death of a woman she’d never met. An auror, people she hated. But as always the people around her influenced her, and his somber nature crept in on her. But she refused to let the hate die. She would nurse it if he had to, he hadn’t even apologized for mental torture he had put her through.*~ Wise of you, because I will kill her if I can. ~*Not sure if she meant it, but somehow that seemed the best thing possible. She could make him give up one of the few things he had left to care about without ever having to bloody her hands. Really it spared her the difficult choice of how far she was willing to descend. She only blinked at the odd reaction of Naomi to all this. Well at least she wasn’t getting in the way. “Everyone always said those two were crazy anyway.”*~ Just remember that whatever I do from this point forward, Liam Everwood.. you drove me to it. ~*Before with the blade still clutched in hand she would sweep from them without ever looking back, so that their last view would be of her thick, shining dark hair.*~

*He closed his eyes as Melody left, true pain twisting his mouth as if he had been ripped open by the blade leaving with her. It only lasted a bare moment before he slid back into his calm mask, glancing over at the rather hysterical partner quizzically* Are you done?

*It took a moment, but seemingly in response to his query, she stood up and briskly wiped her face off with the sleeves of her robe. This done, she walked over to him, or rather, to the girl he carried, and placed one hand on her throat and nodding when it was verified that the girl was simply unconscious. This done, she stepped back and nodded to him. The whole time, her expression remained as neutral as his, even her eyes seemed to be devoid of anything emotional. She moved in dead silence, a simple gesture asking him to lead the way back to the castle, before she fell into step beside him. Eyes fixed straight ahead, she seemed to almost be paying attention to where she was going for once.*

*He carried Dora all the way back inside the castle, then paused while his eyes adjusted.* You know where the Gryffindor area is, right? *He asked hesitantly.*

*She looked over at him for a moment, then shrugged her shoulders. Pulling her wand, she walked over to him and pointed her wand at Dora, whispering the words to the counter-curse, then stepped back, watching both of them*

It took a moment but Dora's eyes fluttered open and then her grey orbs were looking around frantically as memories flooded her mind.. A panic filling her as her eyes met Liam's and then she felt that she was being held in his arms and a curious expression crossed her face..

"Is Isis alright?"

*He watched her carefully to make sure she was alright, knowing that even if the spell didn't have lingering effects, the fall might. Especially if she'd hit her head on anything.* Isis should be fine, if a bit ruffled. I don't think she'll be in a mood to share the bed tonight though. *He admitted.* I'm more worried about yourself at the moment. Are you hurt?

*She nodded her approval of the spell's effects working, then continued to stand there. She would have left, but she was in no mood to get lost tonight, which meant she had to wait for Everwood. Once she had verified that Dora was alright, she proceeded to tune the rest of the conversation out. Instead, she stood in the hall staring, barely even moving, seemingly doing her best impression of a statue*

She nodded slowly.. "I'm fine.. What happened to Melody...?" She had to ask despite everything.. She wanted to know.. Was there a slight bit of concern for the girl in her voice? Maybe..

And the fact that she was resting in his arms seemed to register more deeply and she could feel her cheeks flaming.. Even at a time like this it was disconcerting to find herself in the arms of someone of the opposite sex..

Not too much happened, I just have another person out for my blood. *He answered rather dryly, still carrying her* If you would... which way is the Gryffindor commons?

Her face took on a pained look as she remembered Melody's words before she moved away from Dora to exact her revenge on Liam.. That she should have listened to Trevor.. And only trusted those of her own house.. It cut into Dora's very core.. She didn't have many friends and she thought that she and Melody shared something.. Some kind of bond.. But it looked like that was all over now.. And now it looked as if there would be no way she could help patch things up between Melody and Liam.. It all saddened her and it could be seen on her face.. But she gave him the directions.. Speaking in a quiet manner and stilll feeling strange about being carried..

You shouldn't blame yourself. *He said after a long pause as he walked, a bit slower than normal.* I'm the one who caused all this... mostly. *He wasn't going to take all the blame, though he would accept his part in it all. He didn't know anything about what happened in the Slytherin dorms.*

"I.. I don't know what to say, Liam.. I just know that I can't let her become like... Like them.." Meaning the rest of her family.. Meaning Trevor.. Those people she could see bending Melody to their will.."She's not completely their's.. Not yet.. And no matter what happens we can't let it happen.. I have to have help.."

Dora seemed on the verge of tears as she thought of the other girl becoming like her uncle.. It made her tremble inside and if she could help it it just wasn't going to happen..

*He nodded as they neared the destination* If you could do me one small favor... *he asked hesitantly* Could you try and do that before she does something really bad to me? I don't like getting blood on my clothing. *He was actually, oddly enough, very particular about being clean.*

It didn't take them long and now they were in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady who had just woken up from a doze from the noise they had made walking toward her..

She gazed at the three of them with interest.. Especially the fact that Dora was being carried.. But she said nothing to interupt..

Dora blinked slightly at his last words.."Only if you help me if I can get her to ever talk to me again.."

~*Melody Lestrange*~ | ~Gabriel Archer~ | ~Lucius Malfoy~ | *Kimmy Knightdale* | -Jacob Wrathorne- | #Professor Meridian#