integrity ━━ george weasley

-21 || I'll Call It Home

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xxi. TWENTY-ONE

I'LL CALL IT HOME

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             MELORA WALKED OUT OF HER FINAL EXAM PROUDLY. Her friends hadn't yet taken it, as she was one of the first students to do so. The practical Defence Against the Dark Arts N.E.W.T. was one that most students were worried about; Umbridge hadn't allowed them to use their wands once throughout the entire year.

     Of course, those who were part of Potter's organisation were at an advantage. Melora wasn't necessarily at an advantage to defend herself against the Dark Arts, but she certainly knew a thing or two about the spells included in the exam.

     The only thing she was unable to perform was the Patronus Charm. Happy memories were merely a dream for someone living a life like Melora. She'd never been able to cast a Patronus, and she doubted that she ever would be able to do so. However, she was able to perform the other required spells at a high ability, and her final exam felt like a good one.

     She'd briefly mentioned how she would be leaving Hogwarts after her final exam to Ilia, but no one else was too aware of her departure. The only other person whom she would have told would have been George, but he'd beaten her to it, apparently.

     Snape had been busy teaching a class of his own, and was therefore unable to escort Melora to Hogsmeade that time. She was, however, an eighteen-year-old, and was more than capable of walking there alone. It was probably safer for someone else to go with her, but they were each in the exam, or only just leaving it.

     The fact that she had to leave Hogwarts before she could say goodbye to any of her friends was what saddened her most. Now, she would have to join in with whatever her mother required her to do, and had no escape from it whatsoever. She hadn't received any training in the Dark Arts at all, so if she was asked to do anything, she would have to rely on her education. Of course, that was what her mother was planning to teach her, but she could only expect that to change.

     Melora entered Hogsmeade, and instantly turned around in hope of seeing a part of the castle she had just left. After all, she highly doubted she would be seeing it again.

     "Are you alright, love?" someone asked her.

     She turned around to see a witch stood before her, smiling as she attempted to comfort the girl. Melora offered a weak grin back, nodding, before turning from her and walking away. When the woman was out of sight, she managed to Apparate back to Malfoy Manor.

     Just as she expected, the manor was empty. The only living thing inside of it was the house-elf Knoiseate, but even she was quiet. Melora had sort of been expecting someome to be home, based on the fact that Narcissa had told her that her mother would also spend most of her time at Malfoy Manor. Knoiseate came out of the drawing room to greet whoever had arrived, and looked a little more relaxed upon seeing Melora.

     "Hello, Miss Lestrange," he said as the girl before him headed towards the stairs.

     Melora looked at the elf, and did want to greet him with a smile, but she decided not to be too friendly towards him, just in case. Instead, she just replied with, "Hi, Knoiseate."

     "Would Miss Lestrange like anything from Knoiseate?" the elf continued, looking slightly disappointed when the girl shook her head. She could see why; the elf was always at home with rather aggressive owners, and finally having someone relatively calm there meant he stood a chance of decent company.

     Melora hurried upstairs to her room, where she immediately noticed her locket from her aunt and uncle sitting on her bedside table. She smiled and put it on. She hadn't been allowed to wear it whilst at Hogwarts, because it was too valuable to lose.

     As she checked her reflection in the mirror, she smiled. Wearing the locket seemed to be a part of her now, even if she didn't always wear it. It just seemed to feel like when she did, it literally attached itself to her. Whilst this would freak out most people, Melora had gotten used to it, and it - strangely - offered her some sense of comfort.

     She pulled out some parchment from the draw in her cupboard and chose a quill to write with. Her letter was adressed to Ilia, and she began by writing about the Quidditch scores. She was glad that Slytherin had finished playing for the year, and they wouldn't need to find a replacement for her for one final match.

     When she had left, her house had only won one out of three of their matches. That left them in joint second place with Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff, since Gryffindor had won all of their matches so far. Slytherin had played all of its matches, so the best they could do would be to remain in second, although that technically counted as last place too.

          Dear Ilia,

     I think this may be the last time I write to you for a while. I'm home now, with my aunt and uncle, and my mother. And because of her being here, I've got this feeling that I won't be seeing you. After all, you're a Nyxeris, and you're good. You don't need to have met my mother to know how she'd react to you.

     I hope that you and Lee are doing well, even if some other people don't approve. I probably won't get the chance to say this again, now that I'm out of school and have to spend time around my parents, but I honestly do wish the best for you two. I like you with him, actually. And if I ever say anything different in the future, I'm most likely lying about it.

     If Prescott gives you any trouble, duel her again, please. You were good at it last time. Although, maybe try something less extreme - I don't want you to have to write on your hand again.

     Don't write back to me yet, just send back my owl.
Melora x

     After signing the letter, she sealed it, and addressed it to Ilia. Her owl was busy fluffing up her feathers in the corner of the room that she had claimed for herself. She smirked at the sight of the bird she'd owned since her eleventh birthday, before walking over to her to give her the letter. This would be the final journey that her owl would make to Hogwarts.

     "That'll be a long journey for you," Melora said as the bird took her letter, and hopped over the window to fly away, "... but it's one you'll never need to make again."

     And saying the sentence out loud hurt more than she'd expected it to.