I reached the doors to her office and raised my hand to the knob, twisting it open with all the courage I could muster. She was sitting at her desk with a cup of tea in her chubby, ring covered hands. She looked up from her desk when I walked in and set down her cup. She stood from her desk and beckoned me into the room. I walked into the pink room and strode up to the desk she indicated, sitting down on it with as much dignity as I could muster.

She laid someparchment in front of me, along with the illegal quill and stood behind me as I picked up the torture device.

"What shall I write?" I asked, forcing my voice to remain calm.

"I must not speak out of turn," she said. I tightened my grip on the quill as I brought it down to the paper. I started to write the words as neatly as I could-if I was going to be forced to carve the words into my skin I might as well make sure they were legible. As soon as I wrote the first letter a sharp pain stung my hand, growing worse and worse until the skin finally split apart to form the words I was writing.

I must not speak out of turn. My hand was throbbing now, blood starting to trickle down my wrist. Over and over, again and again I wrote those words. My hand was hurting so much that my eyes were growing cloudy with unshed tears. I refused to make a sound though. I wouldn't give her the satisfaction of knowing she was hurting me. As I wrote line after line I let my mind drift away in an attempt to stop focusing on the throbbing pain of my hand. I thought about the conversation Ron and I had had with Harry nearly two weeks ago. Pondering on whether or not he would do what I was getting ready to ask. I thought about my studies and about the upcoming OWL's. I mostly thought aboutGeorge though. I could see George's grin in my mind, hear his echoing laughter as he and Fred teased Ron. The way his hair fell in his eyes when he was really concentrating. The way his eyes got dark when we'd been snogging and the moans he made when I broke the kisses off. Thinking about him helped keep the pain from seeming too much. It helped me stay focused.

After a half hour of constant writing she finally stood up from her desk. She grabbed my hand in hers and inspected it, prodding the injuries with her fat fingers. I bit back the cry of pain she was trying to elicit and just glared at her instead.

"I think you've gotten the message." I nodded my head, standing up from the desk and grabbing my bag. I left her office without another word. As I walked down the empty halls I couldn't help but stare at my hand in silent shock. She'd just made me permanently scar myself, and I had let her do it. Scarring myself wasn't going to help the others in any way-it wasn't going to make her stop.

"Billywig!" I gasped to the fat lady as I finally reached the portrait. I had wrapped my hand in my scarf in an attempt to ebb my blood flow. My head was pounding and my hand was throbbing so painfully that it hurt to even move it. The common room was empty, or so I thought. I was secretly happy at that fact. I had asked Harry and Ron not to stay up. They'd been up late far too often recently and really needed their sleep. I'd actually threatened to hex them if I saw their faces, and apparently that had been enough to convince them to stay away. I walked forward, stumbling as I stepped over the portrait hole. My bag slipped from my shoulder and banged into my injured hand causing it to flare in pain even more. I moaned quietly and sunk to my knees, trying not to cry in pain as I caught my breath.

"Hermione?" a voice called from the couch. I lifted my head in surprise and looked over to see George rising from the couch. I wiped the tears off my face as I stood up. I really did not want to look weak, especially not in front of him. He hadn't been crying over his wounds, and he hadn't even done anything to deserve them.

"Hi," I said sheepishly. He walked up to me, a sympathetic look in his eyes. He led me to the couch quietly. I sat down on it and he joined me, laying a bowl of murtlap essence in his lap. He gently held my hand, unwrapping the scarf I had so carelessly tied around it, and plunged it into the liquid. I felt a momentary flash of pain, but almost instantly it was replaced by a blissful coolness.

"Oh that is so much better," I breathed out. George smirked and nodded his head. He ran his fingers along the back of my hand gently, causing a tingling sensation that had nothing to do with the cuts.

"Why'd you do it?" he finally asked. I was surprised to hear a slight bit of anger in his voice.

"Hmm?" I asked, having not really listened to him.

He tilted his head and some of his hair fell into his eyes. He shook it out and spoke again. "Why did you, Hermione Jean Granger, talk back to a teacher knowing she would do this?"

I diverted my eyes from his, feeling uncomfortable suddenly. "I couldn't take it anymore, you know? It just became too much. I feel so trapped here. I love Hogwarts, I love learning, but I hate it here now. I just want to prove to everyone that she can't get away with it, but I can't figure out how. We're fighting back with the DA but it's not enough sometimes. I think the stress of everything also just got to me too." Tears began to fall from my eyes.

He nodded his head softly. "I know what you mean. Fred and I have some ideas, but we're still working out the kinks." I looked at him worriedly for a second and he laughed when he saw my nervous expression.

"Don't worry Hermione, it's nothing bad for the students. These pranks will only affect Umbridge." He paused, studying my face for a moment before he continued. "That's why we do it you know," he said quietly. "Why we prank. It's our way of standing out, of speaking up. Of rebelling."

I nodded my head, staring at him with new eyes.

"I get that now. I never really used to. I understand now."

"Careful Hermione, pretty soon you'll be pranking along with us," he said with a grin. His smile came so easily that I smiled with him. It was weird how easily he made me do that.

He was staring at me, a soft smile on his lips, and I was leaning forward to kiss him. He rubbed his fingers along my hand gently, and I let out a small hiss of pain unintentionally. He lowered his eyes to my hand and his grin faded as his eyes hardened.

"George?" I questioned after he was silent for a moment. He turned his eyes back to me, still looking tense and angry.

"I'm sorry," he said after a moment, breathing heavily.

"Why?" I questioned, feeling confused.

"I got mad for a minute there, I…" he trailed off looking like he was trying to reel his anger in.

"Mad at what?" I asked, still feeling confused.

He turned to me and a slight smile threatened to claim his lips. "You are so silly," he said staring at me. "You come in here with your hand all cut up and you wonder why I would be mad. I hate Umbridge. If I wasn't dating a prefect I'd be her worst nightmare," he said simply, raising his hand to my hair. He gently grabbed one of my curls and twirled it in his finger, smiling at the sight of it.

"Maybe you shouldn't let that stop you," I said softly, my eyes on his.

He froze, slowly moving his eyes to mine. "Did you just give me permission to prank Umbridge?" he asked, disbelief evident on his face.

I smiled before nodding my head. He grinned widely before raising his hand to my forehead. "Are you feeling alright Hermione?" he asked.

I laughed at that and nodded my head again. "I'm just feeling like making some trouble."

"Then I'm your man," he said, leaning down and stealing my lips in a kiss. I returned it eagerly, deepening it and losing myself in the feel of his lips.

He scooted closer to me, wrapping his hand around my waist and burying the other one in my hair. I moved my hand to his hair, and my other to his waist. We both sat up and he pulled me even closer, so that I was nearly sitting on his lap.

CRASH

The bowl fell to the floor and shattered to a ton of small pieces.

"Oops," I said, smiling as I fought back a giggle. He laughed before waving his wand and making it disappear. He turned back to me with a soft smile, looking me up and down.

"You probably need to go to bed. There are no classes tomorrow and I intend on making you relax."

I took a step forward and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I look forward to it, Mr. Weasley."

I woke up late the next morning. I hadn't meant to sleep in, but the bed just felt so nice that I let myself sleep in. I got dressed in a hurry and rushed downstairs before heading to the great hall for breakfast.

I arrived just in time for the morning delivery, smiling as a brown owl flew down to me. Harry and Ron came in just as I was pulling the letter off of her. George was nowhere to be seen.

I opened the letter and quickly read its contents, feeling a smile lift my lips as I read it.

"It's about time! If it hadn't come today…"

Harry sat down across from me as I finished the letter.

"Harry?" I asked quickly, I didn't have much time. "This is really important, do you think you could meet me in the Three Broomsticks around midday?"

He looked at me uncertainly, a faint amount of fear in his eyes. "Well…I dunno, Cho might be expecting to spend the whole day with me. We never said what we were going to do."

Cho, Merlin's Beard, I had forgotten about George!

"Well, bring her along if you must, I'll be bringing George." I hadn't decided it until I said it. George would understand, this was really important. "Will you come?"

He sighed, looking like he wasn't sure. "Well…all right, but why?" he asked. I shook my head before answering.

"I haven't got time to tell you now, I've got to go." I grabbed my bag and a piece of toast before turning my head to Ron. "Tell George he'll find me in my dorm."

Thanks to Ninja Goldfish for beating this chapter, you're the best!