Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter and all characters affiliated and otherwise. Duh.
"I must not tell lies."
Harry felt the searing pain in his hand for the first time. The sharp black quill given to him by Professor Umbridge had written 'I must not tell lies.' on the parchment in an oozing red ink. He pressed his finger very lightly on the crimson writing, and then studied his hand where it appeared to have been engraved. "Blood," he thought, "my own blood." He wordlessly returned to what he realized was virtually etching the words into his own hand. Harry hopefully tried to focus his mind on something else: his homework, Sirius, or his new friend. However, nothing seemed to draw away from the burning sensation in his hand that repeated each time the razor-sharp quill grazed the parchment. He peered hatefully at Professor Umbridge, who had her back turned to him and was absorbed in a puce-colored book.
Harry continued scrawling the sentence onto the paper. He felt an unexpected tap on his shoulder, and whipped around to see a girl stepping out of thin air. "Tawny?" Harry whispered, almost inaudible. Tawny held her finger to her lips and evanesced into the invisible void again. Harry stared, puzzled, and then felt soft breathing next to his ear.
"What the hell?" a disembodied voice asked, obviously shocked.
"Are you crazy, woman? What are you doing here? Wait, where are you?" Harry asked, eyes darting around the room.
"Over here," came a whisper from his left, "Your hand! It's bleeding!"
"I know, I know... look, just go on, all right?"
"She's making you cut your hand?!"
"Yes... just... it's all right... go on, you'll get into trouble."
"Harry, give me the quill. Come on, your hand is already starting to look like the Grand Canyon."
Harry hesitated for a very long time, but finally relinquished the quill. He watched as fresh blood appeared on the girl's hand after each word was jotted down. Something inside him twisted, and he sat frozen, watching the cuts on Tawny's hand become deeper every time she copied the sentence. Harry heard a faint whimper and immediately felt as though he had committed murder. He couldn't believe he was letting someone get hurt for him, much less his good friend, Tawny.
"Tawny, you don't need to do this," Harry said desperately, "I can live through detention."
"You seem to be missing the point. This is a friend/friend thing. I help you. It's in the contract."
Harry fell silent for a moment. "Fine, but I'm taking you to see Madam Pomfrey after this, and you are not coming back here tomorrow."
"Fair enough." said Tawny, forcing a smile.
The girl resumed stiffly replicating the sentence. A short while later, Professor Umbridge's chair slid across the creaky floor. "Go. Now. I'll meet you in the hallway." Harry said breathily. A minute later, Harry joined Tawny in the corridor.
"Hey, thanks. I can't believe you did that, though," said Harry. He noticed that Tawny was beginning to go scarlet, so he quickly changed the subject.
"Is that my Invisibility Cloak?" Harry asked.
Tawny nodded and said, "Sorry, but I had to. I knew if Snape caught me, he'd think you were up to something. I had this feeling that you were in trouble, so..."
The last words silenced Harry. Someone else was playing the hero, he thought. The feeling was an alien mix of uncertainty and relief. The words came without thinking...
"Will you go to the Sock Hop with me?"
Tawny, slightly ahead of him, stopped abruptly, causing Harry to collide with her. He tumbled backward, with Tawny following shortly behind. Tawny found herself with her shoulders pressed into Harry's stomach.
"Uh... I'd love to..." she smiled, tilting her head back to look at the boy.