The muggle war had started and Tom was quite afraid to come back to The Wool's Orphanage. He knew that he wouldn't be harmed, it wasn't that hard to kill a wizard. But he was worried about Melanie. He had been hoping that she was safe.
She was. But he didn't recognize her at first.
She still had her glasses but her hair wasn't braided. It was curled and held in place with a cute hairband. She wasn't wearing knee socks anymore, but a dress with stockings. Her whole face has changed, it got more mature. Her lips were plumper so her front teeth stopped looking that big and odd. She also wasn't skinny anymore. Tom noticed how tight her dress was on her chest and how visible her waistline had became.
She was a fourteen years old girl after all and nine months can do a lot to a fourteen years old girl.
They can do a lot to an almost fourteen year old boy, too. She didn't recognize him at first as well.
Tom got taller and his face looked more adult, especially because of his hollow cheeks. He had changed his hairstyle, too. His black, wavy hair was falling on his forehead in a nonchalant way and he looked like a very handsome young gentleman.
"Tom?", Melanie approached him and smiled awkwardly.
"Hi, Mel. I'm glad to see you're alright", he told her.
"Th-thank you"
"I wouldn't recognize you, if you weren't wearing glasses", he admitted.
She blushed and he noticed that she felt a little bit hurt.
"Is everyhing fine?", he lowered his voice, "I mean, apart from the whole muggle war going on"
"No, Tom... Nothing serious..."
"You can tell me, Melanie"
"No, really. Better tell me how was your school year"
Tom took her to his room, but she noticed how he had left the door opened and how he sat on the chair while she was sitting on his bed.
It was like he was distancing himself from her.
"I have the best grades and teachers adore me. I think I'm going to become a prefect on year five", he finished his story proudly.
"That's amazing, Tom...", Melanie was playing with the hem of her dress.
"I can see that something is wrong, Mel", he tried to ask her about the sensitive topic once again, but she shook her head, "How's your school?"
"I have quite good grades. Not the best, but you know...", she sighed and still refused to look at him.
"What?", he finally approached her and brushed her face with his finger.
They both felt uncomfortable with that and they both felt some weird kind of electricity going through their bodies.
It shouldn't be that way. They used to be very close friends since they were six years old. They used to hug a lot. And now a simple touch was making them both feel so odd.
"You're a pretty girl, Melanie", he confessed and she made wide eyes at him, "I bet you have a lot of friends and you don't ever think of me anymore"
"Quite opposite", she snorted and blushed even more.
"Is someone mean to you?", he asked concerned and furrowed his eyebrows.
"T-Tom... It doesn't matter... There's a war going on... My personal problems are silly in comparision to..."
"Tell me", he insisted, leaning even closer.
"There are few people in my class", she admitted although it was hard for her, "They laugh at me and say mean things"
"Why? Why would they say mean things about somebody like you?", he couldn't understand.
"Because I am hideous, Tom! I'm wearing stupid, ugly glasses and I know more about them and I'm active in class so they call me a braggart and Miss-Know-It-All! I stopped getting the best grades and they still are rude!", she snapped and then stood up and faced the wall so he wouldn't see her tears, "What do you care, though?"
"I care", he assured her and clenched his fists. He felt pure rage, "Show me them"
"What?", she sniffed and turned around to look at him, "Are you serious? What do you want to do to them?"
"You know what", he drawled out.
"Tom..."
"I can't use magic outside school. Not with a wand. So it won't be anything serious. Show me them", he ordered.
"I'm not worth it, Tom", she smiled sadly.
"I'm going to find out who they are anyway, Mel", he warned her.
She eventually gave up and took him with her to the park in the evening the other day. Most of her classmates were hanging out there. When they saw her with Tom, they started to whisper between each other. Melanie sat on the bench and blushed.
"Hey!", Tom yelled at them and they turned around.
It was three boys and two girls. The worst kind of filthy muggles. He hated them already just for that.
"Whaddya want, fop?", one of the boys smiled ironically and approached them, "Found yourself some gallant, eh, Benningfield?"
"Shut up, Trevor", she mumbled.
"Don't ya ever tell me to shut up, four-eyes", he drawled out.
Tom stood up and gave Trevor a deadly glare. The boy laughed at him, though, and his friends quickly stood by his side.
"I'm the best fighter, mate", Trevor smirked, "And such a rag like her is not worth damaging your pretty face"
Tom's eyes widened and his jaw clenched. Trevor's face became pale as he started to desperately grasping for air. His hands tried to release himself from the invisible ropes around his throat, but there were none.
"Trevor!", one of the girls squealed and was about to attack Tom, but he looked at her as well and she took a step back.
"What are you doing, bloke?! Leave him alone! He's going to choke!", another boy shouted.
Tom raised his right hand in his direction and the boy started to grasp for air as well.
Melanie was impressed. But she was also terrified.
"Tom, that's enough", she pulled his jacket and stood up, "Tom, enough!"
He turned his head to face her and his expression softened but for a brief moment he had looked monstrous and that was something she wouldn't forget easily.
They came back to the orphanage in silence.
"Thank you, Tom", she murmured, "But don't you ever do that again", she added before joining her mother and going back home with her.
For the rest of the summer, they were spending time together but not as often as usual. And even when they were sitting somewhere together, they were usually quiet, like there was nothing to say to each other. He was reading some book about magic and she was reading Shakespeare.
Both of them knew that it was a much deeper problem than Tom's behaviour in the park. They were too different.
He was a wizard. She was a muggle.
