Soon enough, November passed by and December came upon us. Umbridge has become an absolute terror. She has taken up her spot as the "High Inquisitor" and has created an Inquisitorial Squad to do her bidding. Draco isn't that fond of her, but she works with his father and Malfoy Senior wrote a, rather rude if I must say, letter to Draco about joining. Mr. Malfoy said something along the lines of, "this is a high honor" and "it would disappointing to your family if you did not join." So, basically, it was complete bullshit. He joined anyways, but I abstained from joining. I tutor kids in Charms, and I can't have them scared of me because I'm on the Squad.
Defense has become absolute hell. I hate being around Umbridge, but I know I have to stay in her good graces. We have a class with her after lunch today and I'm not excited. We have it with Ravenclaw today, so there will be no interruptions from Potter, thankfully. We all walked in hesitantly and took our seats - Slytherin on one side and Ravenclaw on the other. Draco and I sat at our desks while Umbitch started the lesson.
"Good morning, students!" she said excitedly.
"Good morning, Professor Umbridge," we all droned.
"Today, we will be reading chapter ten on negotiations. You will answer the questions posited at the end of the chapter. You have the rest of class, and your homework will be a foot long essay on how to properly negotiate in the situation of a standoff. I will be observing you as you complete this task," she said in her sickly sweet voice. We all groaned to ourselves and began the process of reading the long, long chapter. It just so happened to be the longest class period of my whole life. Towards the end, Umbridge spoke up from her position at the head of the class. "Miss Elsword, may I see you at the end of class?" she asked. My head shot up and I nodded at her, offering a small smile.
The bell rang and I walked up to her cautiously, "Yes, Professor?"
"Miss Elsword, you have proven yourself to be an exceptional student in my class. Will you join the Inquisitorial Squad?" Oh god, please no, I groaned to myself.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. It would be a great honor, but I tutor other students and it takes up a majority of my time. I fear that I would be unable to fulfill all of my duties if I was on the Squad," I tried to convince her.
"I understand that. 50 points to Slytherin for your time taken to better the future. If you ever change your mind, I will always accept you. Onto my next order of business, what is your mother's name?" She questioned.
"Um, Mayra Elsword. Her maiden name was Gillespie," I said, confused.
"Ah, good. You remind me of her. She was a good friend of mine throughout school here. That Kane she married was bad news, though," she said.
"What do you mean, ma'am? He left us when I was very young."
"Of course, he did," she scowled. "Kane was very outspoken and did not fit with your mother. Anyways, I was just curious. Off you pop to your next class. Let them know you were talking to me!"
"Thank you, professor," I said walking out of her room. I made my way to charms and sat next to Draco.
"Umbridge had to speak to me. It was about the Squad and my parents," I said.
"Ah," he said understandingly and we turned our heads towards Flitwick to learn the charm of the day.
December trudged on and, finally, it was the last week before we went home for the holidays. Our professors were piling on essay after essay and reading assignment after reading assignment. There were many long nights spent in the common room and the library doing said assignments. In class, we were tested over all the material we had covered, and it was absolute hell. The week was emotionally draining in so many ways. Other than the first half of the term coming to a close, Mum sent me an owl saying that Braxton's health was not improving. It's been stuck at a plateau for the past year. Thankfully, he's not getting worse, but it's not any better.
Currently, I am in the library writing an essay on the wolfsbane potion. It's already a footlong, and I'm struggling to get the second foot required. I felt a presence from behind me and suddenly a pair of hands were covering my eyes. I sighed and grabbed at the hands, looking up to find a shock of blonde hair. "Yes, Draco?" I sighed.
"I thought you would be more excited to see me," he said, smirking. "Anyways, every year my family holds a Christmas gathering for the elite pureblood families. You and your mother have been invited this year. It's fairly formal and its usually dreadfully boring, so please come so I don't have to be surrounded by the buffoons called Crabbe and Goyle all night."
"I don't know, Draco. Pureblood gatherings aren't really my thing. They are always so pretentious and I'm always so uncomfortable at them," I said.
"I am, too, but, if I have to suffer, so do you," he said looking down at me.
"Fine, I will go, but only for you." I sighed. He smiled, leaned down, and kissed my forehead.
"Thank you, Thea. You won't regret it." He grinned and walked away. I laughed to myself and continued with my work.
Not long after, all exams were over and I was on the train home. I sat in a compartment with Draco, Crabbe, Goyle, Willa, and Maeva. We all were nibbling on treats from the trolley lady and laughing at Crabbe and Goyle who were eating like pigs. I squeezed in the spot between the wall and Draco and laid my head on his shoulder. My eyes were fluttering shut and I eventually passed out on his shoulder.
I woke up to a mostly empty compartment, and Draco nudging my head with his shoulder. I stretched out my arms and yawned in an attempt to get blood rushing in my body again. I linked my elbow with his and we walked off the train. I found my mum and ran to hug her. "Hi, Mum." I smiled.
"Anthea, how are you?" She grinned holding me at arm's length.
"I'm wonderful, Mum. How are you?"
"I'm great. I have some more friends for you to meet. Thank you for wearing appropriate clothing this time," she said, looking down at my outfit.
"Of course." She grabbed my shoulder and led me over to a group of women, including Mrs. Malfoy.
"Hello, Mrs. Malfoy," I said approaching her.
She gave me a warm smile and responded, "Hello Anthea, how was your term?"
"It went well. Thank you for asking." I smiled back.
"Anthea, meet Gianna Parkinson, Catherine Crabbe, Freya Goyle, and Isla Mercado," she said. Each women she named smiled and nodded at me as mum pointed them out.
"Hello," I said. It was easy to tell who was who just based upon their last names and their children were standing right next to them. Pansy glared at me and crossed her arms. The boys just looked indifferent.
"Okay, Anthea, let's go home," my mum said. I nodded at the flock of women and walked off with my mum.
We found an open fireplace and flooed home from King's Cross Station. We arrived at home in a flash of green fire, and I was greeted by the cold, emptiness of our manor. Our house was very large and empty, save for mum, myself and our team of two house elves.
"Mum, I need to ask you something," I said, looking at her.
"Of course, honey," she said taking a seat near our fireplace.
"Ever since the dance, Draco Malfoy and I have become very close friends. We study a lot and spend our free time together," I said, sitting near her. "The Malfoy family holds a Christmas formal for the pureblood families on Christmas Eve, and we have been invited this year." Mum started grinning with mirth and grasped my hands.
"Oh, that's wonderful," she exclaimed. "Please write to the Malfoys and relay that we will be in attendance. We can go to Diagon Alley to purchase new dress robes. Yeah?"
I smiled back at her and said, "Yeah." I rose out of my seat, pulled Nerida out of her kitten carrier, and grabbed my trunk. "I'm going to go to my room, okay?" I asked. Mum nodded at me and pulled out one of her books. I made my way to the west wing of the house where my room was located. My trunk was rolling behind me and Nerida was prancing with it, chasing the tags. I walked into my oversized room and placed my trunk next to my dresser before jumping on my bed. Nerida jumped onto her kitten perch in the corner with her tiny munchkin legs and slept soundly. I wrote a quick note to Draco before heading off to bed.
Dear Draco,
My mum agreed to attending so I guess this is our RSVP. I plan on wearing black and red, if you would like to match.