A/N: I can feel the OOH IT'S A NEW FIC phase ending, so I don't know how fast I'm gonna update now. It's probably not less than every week or so. Cause like I said, I got EVERYTHING figured out. But then again, I had everything figured out for my other fics too, I just didn't wanna write em (: Anyway, this chapter introduces a new OC because I figured that Vanessa needs a girl friend... not that she's gay. I mean, like a friend who's a girl, you know? Aye, whatever.
Disclaimer: RIGHT, well practically NOTHING belongs to me because I have absolutely no imagination whatsoever. The plot is pretty damn close to the plot in Order of the Phoenix, except with little twists, and stuff. But like I said, I have a new OC but UNFORTUNATELY she doesn't belong to me either =__= yeah, I just got a call from my "best friend" reminding me to tell you guys that "Ashley Turner absolutely DOES NOT belong to you; Ashley Turner belongs to your best friend Ashley, who came up with the personality, look, and the oh-so-clever name." You can tell she really loves me. =__=
Chapter 3—Ashley and Umbridge
The four long House tables in the Great Hall were filling up under the starless ceiling, which was just like the sky they could glimpse through the high windows. Candles floated in midair along the tables, illuminating the silvery ghosts who were dotted about the Hall and the faces of the students talking eagerly to one another, exchanging summer news, shouting greetings at friends from other Houses, eyeing one another's new haircuts and robes.
I slid into the seat beside Draco, my hand still clasped firmly in his, and directed my attention to the other end of the Hall at the Gryffindor table. Harry was standing up in his seat, looking around frantically. When his eyes met mine, relief washed over his features, then confusion as his eyes darted over to Draco, who was deep in conversation with Zambini, and his face settled into a scowl.
Stupid overprotective brothers.
"Hey V, check it out," said Draco, nodding towards the staff table.
I followed his gaze, and scanned the table.
"What? I don't see anything."
"Yeah, exactly. You don't see anything. No giant, lumbering oaf around is there, V?"
"No, I don't," I admitted, and then smirked. "But I do see a squat toad-like woman with a ridiculous bow and a fluffy pink cardigan."
Zambini snickered, but Draco frowned.
"I've seen Father talking to her," he said slowly. "She must work for the Minister."
"Fudge? Then, what's she doing here?"
"Making things better, I hope," said Zambini.
"Like getting rid of all the mudblood filth." Draco agreed.
I opened my mouth to tell him off, when the entrance hall opened again, and a long line of scared looking first years filed in, led my Professor McGonagall. All of them were either white, or trembling, or looking extremely apprehensive; all except a strangely tall girl near the back, who was talking animatedly to no one in particular. She wasn't exactly tall, but looked about my height; but surrounded by the first years, she seemed to tower over them.
McGonagall set the patched and fraying Sorting Hat on the stool, and the buzz of conversation faded away. Everyone was staring with rapt attention at the old hat, then suddenly, the hat's brim opened wide and the Sorting Hat burst into song:
In times of old when I was new
and Hogwarts barely started
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted:
United by a common goal,
They had the same selfsame yearning,
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach!"
The four good friends decided
and never did they dream that they
Might someday be divided
for were there such friends anywhere
As Slytherin and Gryffindor?
Unless it was the second pair
Of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw?
SO how could it have gone so wrong?
How could such friendships fail?
Why, I was there and so can tell
the whole sad, sorry tale.
Said Slytherin, "We'll teach just those
whose ancestry is purest."
Said Ravenclaw, "We'll teach those who's
Intelligence is surest."
Said Gryffindor, "We'll teach all those
with brave deeds to their name,"
Said Hufflepuff, "I'll teach the lot,
and treat them just the same."
These differences caused a little strife
When first they came to light,
For each of the four founders had
A House in which they might
Take only those they wanted, so,
For instance, Slytherin
Took only pure-blood wizards
Of great cunning, just like him,
And only those of sharpest mind
Were taught by Ravenclaw
While the bravest and the boldest
Went to daring Gryffindor.
Good Hufflepuff, she took the rest,
and taught them all she knew,
Thus the Houses and their founders
Retained friendships firm and true.
So Hogwarts worked in harmony
For several happy years,
But then discord crept among us
Feeding on our faults and fears
The Houses that, like pillars four,
Had once held up our school,
Now turned upon each other, and
Divided, sought to rule.
And for a while it seemed the school
Must meet an early end,
What with dueling and with fighting
And the clash of friend on friend
And at last there came a morning
When old Slytherin departed
And though the fighting then died out
He left us quite downhearted.
And never since the founders four
were whittled down to three
Have the Houses been united
As they once were meant to be
And now the Sorting Hat is here
And you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
Because that is what I'm for
But this year I'll go further,
Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong
Though I must fulfill my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear
Oh, I know the perils, read the signs
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within.
I have told you, I have warned you...
Let the Sorting now begin.
The Sorting Hat grew silent, and I started to applaud. Only when I heard a snicker did I realize that Draco, along with Crabbe and Goyle, hadn't been listening to the song at all. They were whispering and muttering and shooting smirks over at the Gryffindor table. I didn't have to be psychic to know what they were talking about. As a flash of annoyance went through me, I resisted the urge to reach over and bang their heads together.
They weren't the only ones who were whispering, although they, along with everyone else quieted when they saw McGonagall's expression. When silence fell in the Hall, she cleared her throat and called out,
"Abercrombie, Euan."
A frightened looking boy stumbled over and put the hat on his head. The hand considered for a moment, then the rip near the brim opened again and shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"
"That's a shame," Blaise said, shaking his head sadly as the boy staggered over to the Gryffindor table.
"Ah, it was no loss, Blaise. We don't need runts like that in Slytherin." Draco said smoothly, casting a disgusted look in the direction of the Gryffindor.
"Yeah, because we really need more big, scary monsters like Crabbe and Goyle." I said sarcastically.
"And let's not forget Montague," said Blaise. "He's like a troll."
"Better trolls than runts," Draco said darkly.
"Speaking of trolls," Blaise nodded towards the front of the Hall, where a pudgy boy was approaching the stool.
"No, he's more of a pig," I said, squinting and turning my head to the side. "See, if you do this, he looks like my cousin Dudley, only not blond."
"Any bets on which House he's gonna be in?"
"Slytherin," Draco and I said immediately, just as the Sorting Hat called out "SLYTHERIN!"
"That'll be three Galleons, Blaise," Draco said, extending his hand.
"Pay up," I added cheerfully.
Scowling darkly, Blaise dug into his pockets and pulled out three gold coins, pressing two into Draco's and one into my outstretched hand.
"Very funny," said Draco, smirking. "Three Galleons each, Blaise."
My pockets were eleven Galleons, seventeen Sickles, and twenty one Knuts heavier due to Blaise's poor guessing skills by the time the abnormally tall girl was called.
"Turner, Ashley!"
"So, what do you guys think?"
"Ravenclaw," Blaise said promptly. "She just has the air of a Ravenclaw, you know?"
"Well," I said, studying her as the Hat was put onto her head, "Gryffindor, maybe?"
"Well, I say Slytherin," said Draco confidently.
"Oh please, there's no way she would be a—"
"SLYTHERIN!"
Blaise swore, and dug out six Galleons, three Sickles, and seven Knuts.
"You too, V," said Draco, smirking. "Come on, don't cheat."
"Six Galleons? But that's half of my earnings," I whined. "Come on, I thought you love me."
Blaise made a choking sound that sounded oddly like someone trying unsuccessfully to hold back laughter. Draco shot him a dirty look, before saying, "But that doesn't mean you get special treatment, V. You lost. Fork it over."
Reluctantly, I pulled my winning out of my pockets and counted out six Galleons, three Sickles, and seven Knuts.
"Making bets on the new girl? Wow, you guys really know how to make someone feel welcome, don't you?"
I whirled around and saw the girl that lost me half my winnings. Her dark hair was the mahogany shade between red and brown and her grey blue eyes were untroubled, relaxed, and utterly unconcerned.
And that really bothered me.
"You!" I hissed. "Do you realize that you've lost me twenty minutes of hard earned Galleons? Why in the world did you have to be in Slytherin? What's wrong with Gryffindor? I lost six Galleons, three Sickles, and seven Knuts to him," I jabbed my thumb in the direction of Draco's smirking face, "because you didn't get put into Gryffindor. And that really, really sucks."
She shrugged. "And I honestly don't care about that. But look, if it means so much to you, the Sorting Hat did consider putting me in Gryffindor, but—"
My expression cleared instantly. "Hear that, Draco? The Sorting Hat considered Gryffindor, so can I have maybe half of that back?"
He snorted. "Not a chance, V. The Sorting Hat has to consider all the Houses—"
"Which means that it also considered Ravenclaw," Blaise interrupted. "Give me my half."
"And mine!"
"Do I get a share?" Ashley asked hopefully.
"Absolutely not, you bunch of cheaters."
"But I thought you loved me!" I whined again.
Draco shot me an exasperated look. "And I am seriously regretting ever saying that."
He then gave Blaise, who looked as if he were about to explode from holding in silent laughter, the dirtiest look he could muster.
"To our newcomers," said Dumbledore in a ringing voice, his arms stretched wide and a beaming smile on his lips, "welcome! To our old hands—welcome back! There is a time for speech making, but this is not it. Tuck in!"
Blaise shook his head as the Hall filled with laughter. "Dumbledore's mad."
"Father's been saying it for years," Draco agreed, making a dace as Crabbe and Goyle made identical roars of delight and lunged at the golden plates, which were magically filling with food.
"I say Dumbledore's a genius," I said coldly.
Draco looked up from his steak-and-kidney pie, startled by my tone.
"Sorry, I didn't mean it to come out like that."
"Yeah, me too."
"So you forgive me?"
"Of course."
"As much as I love all this sappy romance shit," said Ashley, "are you guys going to scoot over, or am I just expected to stand here and watch you eat?"
Blaise shifted over to the right, and said, "Turner's right, Draco, you guys are so sickly sweet I get cavities just watching you."
"Ohmygosh," said Ashley, "You two aren't those lovey-dovey-mushy-gushy kind of couples, are you?"
"Of course not," I said indignantly, offended by her assumption
"Oh please," said Blaise, rolling his eyes, "You walk her to class, you kiss her goodnight, you hold her hand, you spend the holidays together, you hardly ever get into fights, like just now, you get over it in about two seconds."
"Oh my gosh, they are the lovey-dovey-mushy-gushy- kind of couples!"
"No, we're not," said Draco, his cheeks turning pink.
"See, you guys agree on everything."
"I—what---but—" I spluttered, rendered incoherent by the unfairness of it all. "But he's a selfish prat who needs to deflate his head!"
"What! No I'm not. Well, she's a cheeky little girl who needs to learn when to keep her mouth shut"
"Hey! I am not!"
I turned away from him and attacked my chicken ferociously. The rest of the meal passed in silence.
When the rest of the students had finished eating and the noise level in the hall was starting to creep upward again, Dumbledore got to his feet once more. Talking ceased immediately as all turned to face the headmaster. I was feeling pleasantly drowsy now, and all I was thinking of was the nice warm bed waiting somewhere above...
"Well, now that we are all digesting another magnificent feast, I bet a few moments of your attention for the usual start-of-term- notices," said Dumbledore. "I am pleased to announced that this year, we have a fifth year transfer student from Durmstrang; Ashley Turner, who has just been Sorted into Slytherin."
"You transferred from Durmstrang?" Draco asked incredulously.
"You're in our year?" Blaise said, gaping.
"Yeah, what's it to you?" Ashley said nonchalantly, still gazing at Dumbledore with the utmost attentiveness.
I'm sensing another Hermione.
"... Two changed in staffing this year. We are very pleased to welcome back Professor Grubby-Plank, who will be taking Care of Magical Creatures lessons; we are also delighted to introduce Professor Umbridge, our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher."
Dumbledore continued, "Tryouts for the House Quidditch teams will take place on the—"
He broke off, looking inquiringly at Professor Umbridge. As she was not much taller standing than sitting, there was a moment when nobody understood why Dumbledore had stopped talking, but then Professor Umbridge said, "Hem, Hem," and it become clear that she had got to her and was intending to make a speech.
Dumbledore only looked taken aback for a moment, and then he sat back down smartly and looked alertly at Professor Umbridge as though he desired nothing better than to listen to her talk. Other members of staff were not as adept at hiding their surprise. Professor Sprout's eyebrows had disappeared into her flyaway hair, and Professor Snape's lip was curling. Many of the students were smirking; this woman obviously did not know how things were done at Hogwarts.
"Thank you, Headmaster," Professor Umbridge simpered, "for those kind words of welcome." She gave another "Hem, hem" and continued: "Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say!" She smiled, revealing very pointed teeth. "And to see such happy little faces looking back at me!"
Ashley made a small noise of disbelief, and Blaise had one eyebrow lifted. I couldn't blame them; I didn't like being addressed as though I were five years old either.
"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all, and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!"
Draco let out a snort of laughter.
Professor Umbridge cleared her throat again ("Hem, hem"), but when she continued, she sounded much more businesslike and now her words had a dull learned-by-heart sound to them.
"The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction. The ancient skills unique to the Wizarding community must be passed down through the generations lest we lost them forever. The treasure trove of magical knowledge amassed by our ancestors must be guarded, replenished, and polished by those who have been called to the noble profession of teaching."
Here, she paused and made a little bow to her fellow staff members, none of whom bowed back. Draco squeezed my hand in an I-told-you-she-worked-for-Fudge sort of way.
"Every headmaster and headmistress of Hogwarts has brought something new to the weighty task of governing this historic school, and that is as it should be, for without progress there will be stagnation and decay. There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance then, between old and new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation."
"Going to give Binns a run for his money, she is." I heard Blaise mutter to Ashley, who was watching Umbridge intently.
My attention was ebbing. The quiet that had filled the Hall when Dumbledore was speaking was breaking up as students put their heads together, whispering and giggling. Over at the Gryffindor table, Hermione was the only who seemed to be paying attention, and (I smirked) Harry was gazing dreamily at the Ravenclaw table where Cho Chang and her friends were chatting animatedly. Draco was absentmindedly tracing patterns onto the back of my hand.
"...because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errors of judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intent on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected, and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
She sat down. Dumbledore clapped. The staff followed his lead, though several of them brought their hands together only once or twice before stopping. Blaise jerked upright at the sound of the applause; he seemed to have fallen into a deep stupor. Dumbledore stood up again.
"Thank you very much, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating," he said, bowing to her. "Now—as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."
"Illuminating was definitely the right word for it," Ashley muttered beside me.
"Don't tell me you enjoyed it," I said, surprised. "That was the dullest speech I've ever heard, and I live with an uncle that sells drills."
"I said illuminating, not enjoyable," Ashley sighed. "This is just my luck. The year I finally get to come to Hogwarts and there's a bitch from the Ministry who's trying to interfere."
"I told you so," Draco said smugly, nudging me in the ribs.
"You did not," I argued. "You just told me she worked for Fudge."
"But it was implied."
"Was not—"
There was a great clattering and banging all around them; Dumbledore had obviously just dismissed the school, because everyone was standing up ready to leave the Hall. Many of the first years were looking around, confused.
Draco sighed. "Right, we've got to show the first years where to go."
"Oh yeah," I said excitedly, jumping up. I turned to where most of them had converged. "Hey, first years!" They paid me no attention. "Hey! HEY!"
"OY!" Ashley shouted, causing many of them to jump and glare reproachfully at us.
"Thanks," I said. "Alrighty, you guys follow us, okay?"
"See you two later," Blaise muttered to Draco, who nodded at him.
As Draco and I led the group of muttering first years out of the Great Hall and into the entrance hall, one of the boys disentangled themselves from the group and headed over to us.
"Is it true?" he asked, sneering. "You're Harry Potter's sister, aren't you?"
We started descending the stairs that led to the dungeons.
"Um—"
"What's it to you?" Draco snarled. "Why's it matter who her family is?"
The boy glared at me. "Crazy bitch," I heard him mutter as he rejoined the group.
Draco swiveled around, reached into his robes, and pulled out his wand.
"Draco!" I hissed, yanking on his arm to keep him from cursing the first year. "Not on the stairs! Are you trying to get one of them to trip, fall down four flights of stairs, and knock themselves unconscious?"
"That's a good idea," he said, trying to turn around again.
"You. Are. Such. A. Guy." I whispered, tugging on his arm with every word. He finally turned to me, looking sulky, as we reached the bottom of the stairs.
Draco muttered to himself about what an idiotic wart Harry was the rest of the way. I sighed and twisted my fingers through his. Boys. What can you do?
A/N: I could've had this up earlier... but then Ashley (you know, ASHLEY -_-) came over and had this REALLY REALLY lame idea for valentines' day. ... So I spent the last two afternoons with her making a shirt that says I LOVE JIMMY (: aye . but you guys don't need to know that. What you DO need to know is this : HAPPY VALENTINES' DAY (: and when your first love breaks up with you, never... EVER talk to him again because you are WAAAAY too good for him anyway. PS : don't listen to his bullshit. PPS: LOLOL YOU SUCKER THEY BROKE UP WITH YOU RIGHT BEFORE VALENTINES DAY.
Anyway, I liked this chapter, but you guys are probably wondering why I spent all that time copying down the Sorting Hat's song. Buuuuut, THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS. Okay, fine, it's cause I love this song best out of all of em (:
Anyway, this is for my Ashley and all you other Ashley's out there or anyone else who's had a bad breakup and needs to know someone loves em:
You say you're sorry,
that face of an angel comes out
just when you need it to.
...cause I honestly believed in you.
stupid girl, stupid girl,
I should've known, I should've known
...maybe I was naïve had so many dreams about you and me ...and now you are on your knees ...i'm gonna find someone some day
got lost in your eyes
and never really had a chance
my mistake I didn't know to be in love
you had to fight to have the upper hand.
happy endings...
begging for forgiveness
begging for me,
just like I always wanted
but I'm so sorry
who might actually treat me well
this is a big world
that was a small town.
you're in my rear view mirror disappearing now.
and now its too late for you and your white horse
to catch me now.
Like I said: just forgive and forget. Except.... maybe not so much on the forgiving part... or the forgetting part... okay, you know what? Screw it. You guys have a ton of friends who just want you to get the hell over it and get on with your life. And it's not cause they're heartless, it's cause they can see things that you can't see because you're too damn stupid to look past all the crap and lies. If people tell you he still wants you, don't ever believe them. Hear it from him. Don't let him play with you. I'm fucken serious.
Sorry 'bout the rant =\ Ash came over... AND SHE REALLY REALLY NEEDS TO GET OVER HIM. AND SO DO THE REST OF YOU WHO CANT FUCKEN LET GO.