In their Defense Against the Dark Arts class Bridget tried to hide how uncomfortable she was as Umbridge scanned the room as she spoke. She felt like when the woman's eyes passed over her she had a hint of disgust on her face. Hermione scanned the books that had been placed on their desks and raised her hand, "There's nothing in here about using defensive spells?"

"Use spells?" The short woman laughed, "I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."

"We're not gunna use magic?" Ron asked.

"You will be learning about defensive spells in a secure risk free way." She tried to explain.

"Well what use is that? If we are going to be attacked it won't be risk free." Harry stated.

Bridget wasn't going to let Harry take this one alone, "And I can assure you it won't be secure in any way."

"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class." Umbridge snapped at them before turning around. Harry looked at her trying to signal for her to stay under the radar but she shook her head at him. She wasn't going to risk not being prepared when Voldemort did eventually come for them.

They listened as the woman said that the Ministry felt that a theoretical knowledge would be suffice in passing their O.W.L.s and Harry asked how theory was supposed to protect them from what's out there. Umbridge laughed him off asking who he imagined wanted to attack children like them. He defended, "Oh I don't know Lord Voldemort."

Bridget heard the murmurs from around the room but this she stood with Harry on, she had seen him come back, the threat was real and they needed to be trained to fight him. The professor calmly tried to explain that Voldemorts return was a lie. Bridget turned and looked at her, "Then explain that to the huge scar on my side that he put there before summer! Or is that all in my imagination?"

"Who knows how something like you got that scar." Umbridge looked her in the eye.

"Something like me? What do you mean by that?" She felt her anger boiling as Hermione placed a hand on her shoulder. Call me it, she willed the woman, call me a half-breed. The fire inside of her ready to explode if the woman dared call her those words.

"Someone who would lie so blatantly to her friends just for the attention!" The woman almost yelled, not wanting to give into the girls wishes.

"It's not a lie!" Harry piped in, "We saw him! We fought him!"

"Detention! Both of you!" The professor yelled.

"So according to you Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?" Harry couldn't stop himself, he knew Bridget wouldn't bring him up since his loss still tore at her but it was something that had to be addressed.

Umbridge tried to play his death off as an accident, something Bridget just wouldn't have, "It wasn't an accident it was murder! You have to know that!"

"Enough!" The woman finally yelled then calmed her voice, "See me later Mr. Potter, Ms. Faltey. My office."


As they left detention Harry took her hand, "How is it?"

"It's not so bad. I've gotten a really high tolerance for pain after the holiday." She stated as he let her hand go, "I'm more happy to finally be out of that pink prison."

"God those cats were annoying." He rubbed the back of his neck.

"I know!" She laughed, "I just hope she has a fun time trying to clean up the blood."

"Yeah you bled a lot." He sounded worried.

"I did it on purpose." She smiled, "I wanted to stain her carpet so she thought twice about doing that again."

"You know were going back tomorrow right?" The approached the Gryffindor portrait.

"Yeah, it'll let me know if I need to bleed more or not. And give us a chance to work on our penmanship if this is going to be on us for a while." She grinned at him and he couldn't help but smile slightly at her. He wondered how she was taking this so well, she seemed like none of it was bothering her that people doubted them and that they were being punished for telling the truth. He hoped she wasn't just pushing it all down and trying to remain strong for his sake. Before they walked in she looked at him, "Harry I know I said I wanted to fight only when it was necessary for us too, but that doesn't mean you have to protect me. You don't have to take the brunt of this alone. We both saw what happened, Voldemorts after both of us. We may have different ways of going about it but we're in this together, and I know that."

He nodded at her before going past the Fat Lady, "Yeah, okay."


It took a few days but Hermione eventually noticed both of their hands while in the common room. She and Harry agreed that they didn't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction of running to Dumbledore or McGonagall. Ron looked between them, "Bloody hell the womans torturing you both. If your parents knew about this-"

"Well we haven't got any of those now do we?" Harry said bluntly.

"You two have to report this, It's perfectly simple-" Hermione started but Bridget interrupted her.

"Hermione, it's not though is it? This is one of the more complicated situations we've found ourselves in." She sighed.

"You don't understand." Harry said closing his book and walking away.

"Then explain it to us. Help us to understand!" Hermione called after him. Bridget sighed and leaned against the table she was sitting next to. Hermione and Ron looked at her, "Bridget will you try and explain it to us?"

"He feels alone. I would too if I spent a summer alone being disconnected from the world after I watched someone die and the person who killed my parents come back to life." Bridget looked between the two of them before laughing at herself, "I made it worse though, didn't I? I should have agreed with him about wanting to fight. That just made him feel even worse. Other than you guys nobody believes us. We're being mocked and called liars at every turn right now. How can we be credible if the first time someone actually pushes back on us we go running to an administrator?"

She got up heading for the stairs as well and George saw her and left Fred with their products and customers to cut her off with a smile, "Bridge, everything's going great, everybody loves the products!"

"That's great!" She smiled at him, pulling her sleeves down past her hands so he wouldn't see.

"Are you alright?" He asked her realizing her smile was somewhat forced.

"Yeah, I'm just tired from detention." She placed her hand on his chest.

"Do you need-" He began to ask but she shook her head.

"Just some rest." She laughed moving past him towards the stairs, "You go back to your customers."

"All right you little troublemaker, you better not be tired tomorrow after detention!" He watched her go up the stairs backwards.

She winked at him as she went around the column, "No promises."

George laughed at her but then was distracted by Hermione calling him. He walked over, "What's up?"

"George, do you know what's going on in Bridget and Harry's detentions?" Hermione asked.

"She said they've been doing lines. Why?" He had no idea why the girl and his brother looked so troubled.

"Mate, the quills their using are writing the lines into their own hands." Ron replied, "You can see the marks on the back of their hands."

"What?" Georges face fell, "I'm going to kill that woman."

George began to move away from them but Hermione grabbed his arm, "George no! You can't do anything! Bridget and Harry don't want Dumbledore to find out but we need to do something."

He thought for a moment then realized that McGonagall had somewhat of a relationship with Bridget, "I'll tell McGonagall."

"What?" Ron asked.

"She'll know what to do, Bridget trusts her, I'll take the fall for it if Bridg gets mad." George responded.


Bridget and Hermione were coming down the stairs on their way to breakfast when McGonagall stopped them in in the common room, "Ms. Faltey, may I see your hands?"

Bridget looked around and noticed that only the three of them, Fred, George, and Ron in the room. She slowly held her hands up, somewhat ashamed to show her aunt what had been happening. Minerva grabbed her left hand looking at the scarring on it in the form of words. She looked back up to her niece, "Why did you not tell me about this? Is it the same with Mr. Potter?"

"Yes, we didn't want to bother you with it Professor." Bridget pulled her hand back, "Yesterday was our last day of detention anyways."

"This is not a proper disciplinary practice and it must be addressed." McGonagall explained, "Off to breakfast now, all of you, I'll handle this."

The group nodded and they left to go to the Great Hall. Bridget looked around at them, knowing that they had decided to tell McGonagall together, "You should be glad it was me she approached and not Harry, he would be a lot angrier."

"So you are mad." Hermione asked.

"We were done. It was over." Bridget sighed.

"She was hurting you Bridg." George moved next to her as the staircase turned.

Fred finished, "We couldn't just let that slide and Hermione wouldn't let us slip the toad a puking pastel."

"Good, that would have earned the both of you detention as well." Bridget went on down the stairs, "Nothing we can do about it now but wait."

They arrived and sat down at their table all grabbing food. When Harry arrived he asked if he could sit with them and they heard Umbridge from outside the hall. They all got up to see her and Professor McGonagall speaking on the stairs just outside. When Bridget heard the word 'Disloyalty' come from Umbridges mouth she thought her Aunt had deflated but when Minerva repeated the word Bridget heard attitude in her voice, she knew that her Aunt was indeed insulted but she was also angry at the little woman. As the conversation ended Minerva quickly walked away and Bridget didn't even look back to her friends before following her Aunt, "Professor?"

"Don't worry child, she didn't get to me." Minerva smiled down at her, "It'll take more than a witch like her to do that."

"Good. That's why I didn't want you to be involved though." Bridget spoke honestly, "I was afraid that her attacks would go beyond Harry and me."

"Do you think she knows about you?"

"Yes. She insinuated it a few times but she's never out right said it." She answered.

"If she ever does or calls you anything other than Primal, you tell me immediately." Her aunt placed a hand on her shoulder, "Until then stay out of trouble and study for your O.W.L.s. I don't like seeing you or any other Gryffindor in detention."

"Yes professor." She nodded.

"Now back to what you were doing." Minerva gave her a small smile before Bridget went back to the Great Hall where the others were.

By the end of the day Umbridge had been made the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts.


George and Bridget were on their run around campus and as they made their way towards the Black Lake he noticed that she had stopped, "You alright?"

"Yeah." She replied looking at the tree near her. He walked up beside her as she looked up at him, "It's where we would take breaks during our runs, Cedric and I."

"I was so jealous of him before I knew." He looked at the tree as well, "I wanted so badly to know why he was getting so much of your attention."

"I remember, you used to pester me at least once a day about what was going on between us." She laughed, it felt like a lifetime ago.

"I get it now though, even after you told us that the two of you were bondmates I wondered how the two of you got so close so fast. But now I understand it." He watched as she took a step towards the tree.

She placed her and on the bark of it, "It's a connection like no other, we each have a piece of each other, were able to see into each other's minds and souls, even if just for a moment. It's why the bond is typically for fathers or brothers, because it is something so personal."

"You miss him a lot don't you?" George walked up to her.

"I do." She answered back looked from her hand on the tree up to his eyes, "It's not that I'm sad about you being my bondmate, it just…it just that he was my first, he should have been my only. He shouldn't be dead, but he is."

George placed a hand on her shoulder, "I wish he was still here too. When we bonded I could tell how much he meant to you."

"He was like a big brother, not my actual one, but close." She smiled before beginning to walk again. She looked over at the Black Lake where the sun was setting, "The Lake looks pretty today."

"Yeah it does." He said as they reached the dock. He took her hand and walked her out onto it, "Let's watch the sunset."

"Alright." She smiled and they sat down, their legs hanging above the water, he knew how much she loved watching the sunset, how much she loved nature, being there with her during it made him enjoy it more too. He ran his thumb over the back of her hand feeling the scar from her detention on it.

"I wish you had told me that she was doing that to you." His voice was low.

"It's not that I didn't want too, I just didn't want you to do something…well something that you would have done." She couldn't help but laugh, "I didn't want life to be more difficult than necessary for more people than it had to be."

"I understand but you don't have to worry about me and with the toad being high inquisitor now everything will be more difficult."

She put her head on his shoulder as the continued to watch the sun, "Yeah but we'll all have each other, and I have you so everything will be alright no matter what happens."

George smiled down at her as she nuzzled closer to his shoulder. No one was out this late now that it was getting colder so he felt safe enough to put his arm around her as the sun began to dip below the horizon. He placed a kiss to the top of her head, "You'll always have me."


Bridget,

I am very unpleased to hear about how your newest professor handed yours and Harry's detention. You should have told someone so that it did not happen again. Keep studying for your O.W.L.s though despite how difficult that may be with the lack of instruction you are getting but I'm sure you'll be able to do well without proper teaching. Stay safe and stay out of trouble. Please. Keep practicing the things Council Woman MacRose taught you so that you will be ready for your next assessment. Things are proving difficult here but I know they'll get better. I'll see you on your next break.

-Remus


Days went on and more Educational Decrees were put into place, one banning Fred and Georges products which gave Bridget a sense of pride because that meant they were good products, and teachers were being interviewed. She worried about some of her Professors, specifically Professor Trelawney, one of her favorites. It seemed as if Umbridge saw no point in Divination, which was something Bridget had found interesting since their third year, spending much of her free time in the astronomy tower that year, and had become close with the Professor as she tried to learn all there was about the subject despite having no seer abilities whatsoever. That was a fact that made Trelawney like her even more though. Bridget was there the day that Umbridge asked her to predict something and she knew predictions weren't something that could be conjured up on demand but her heart sank still when her Professor was unable to come up with anything substantial.

A few days after that she was walking with Harry when a students began amassing at the front gates of the school and he asked Cho what was going on. Cho looked at them, "It's Professor Trelawney."

"What?" Bridget rushed ahead of them. She made her way to the front of the crowd and watched as the Professors trunks were sat out in front of her. It broke her heart watching the Professor on the verge of tears as the woman struggled to speak. She could tell the student around her were also upset at what was going on, Harry placing a hand on her back as he knew she liked the subject despite the fact he and Ron often made fun of it and Hermione outright despised it.

Hermione looked at her friend and watched her as the Professor took a step forward almost tripping on some of her luggage. She could see her friend wanting to go to the woman but frozen in shock and gave her the nudge that she needed and soon Bridget was helping support Trelawney. Umbridge was clearly displeased at this but Bridget didn't care as her Professor spoke, "Six-Sixteen years I've lived and taught here. Hogwarts is my home. You can't do this."

"Actually I can." Umbridge held up a paper. Trelawney held back a sob. Bridget tried to help keep the woman standing and soon Minerva was there on the other side of her holding Trelawney as well. Bridget hadn't even known her Aunt was in the crowd but it made her glad that she was there with them since she, like Hermione, had never really thought much of the subject, but knew she had liked the woman. Minerva shot Umbridge a look and the short woman smiled at her, "Something you'd like to say dear?"

"Oh, there are several things I would like to say." Her Aunts Scottish accent growing strong.

Before Umbridge could say anything the front doors opened and Dumbledore came out into the courtyard. The three of them waited, hoping he was overturn whatever Umbridge had done and Bridget relaxed as he spoke, "Professor McGonagall, Ms. Faltey, might I ask you to escort Sybill back inside."

As they helped to walk the woman back inside she thanked Dumbledore for letting her back inside the castle. They helped her back up to her office in the astronomy tower and Bridget made the woman some tea, "Here you go Professor just as you like it."

"Thank you, my dear, you have always been a shining ray of light in my world." Trelawney took the tea and sipped it.

McGonagall looked at her niece, "Bridget I told you to stay out of trouble."

"I wasn't the one who caused it. She has no right to get rid of Professor Trelawney and making a spectacle of it like that…horrific." Bridget muttered handing her Aunt some tea as well sitting down at the table with her own cup.

"Yes, well I can't say that I'm not proud of you." Minerva smiled at the younger girl.

Trelawney finished her tea and looked at the leaves at the bottom, "I will still be leaving, but I have some time yet."

"That's good." Bridget smiled at her professor, "There's going to be a meteor shower soon and I won't be able to watch it if the astronomy tower is shut off without you here."

"Very in tune with nature you are. That is a wondrous thing you rarely see from young witches and wizards nowadays." The woman smiled at her.

Minerva couldn't help but smile as well, Emmele had also enjoyed Divination in her time in school and from what she understood most Primals found the area very interesting. She assumed it had to do with their old heritage and their connection with their animals, which through those two things their connection with a more spiritual plain. She was glad Bridget shared something with like that with her mother despite the fact she had always seen the subject as relative nonsense.

They sat in silence knowing that things at Hogwarts would only get worse as time went on. Trelawney placed a hand over hers, "Do not worry dear, she will not make you leave despite her feelings, no one will allow that."

Both Minerva and Bridget looked up at her, Bridget relieved to hear this from the Divination professor. Minerva sipped her tea, "Yes, she will have to get rid of me first."