ENDLESS NIGHT


With Rita Skeeter under his thumb to deal with Umbridge, Harry attacked life with a new enthusiasm.

Sure. He was paying Skeeter almost half of the money he'd won from the Tournament last year, but admittedly he was also sending her into the snake's pit without any anti-venom. Umbridge was dangerous. She wasn't hesitating to torture him and other students, and she had happily ruined Skeeter's life when the reporter had refused to write trash about him.

She needed to go, and the fact that Hermione seemed to agree with him made Harry feel a lot better about imagining the horrid woman's death. And yes, he knew that Hermione wasn't thinking about killing Umbridge like he did occasionally, but it wasn't that he wanted to kill her as much as it was that he just wanted her to not be alive anymore. Still, his friend was mostly on his side, and that was enough to put a spring in his step and a smile on his face.

Umbridge hated it when he smiled, it was wonderful.

Anyway, Luna had shown up randomly to assure him and Hermione that the interview Skeeter had sent her way would be published either that week or the following one, depending on whether or not Luna's father closed the 'scoop' on the Crumple-Horned Snorkack article he was currently writing. So hopefully he wouldn't have to wait much longer before seeing how the rest of the school reacted to his story – separating the non-believers from the sheep that'll flock back to him the moment he proves he's innocent.

Like they always do.

Of course, now that he was himself again, he was going to do what he'd wanted to do since first year. He was going to say 'No thanks' and turn his back on them like they did to him, laughing all the while. Strangely enough, Hermione seemed to think that he was holding onto some residual anger from Dumbledore's betrayal, and that he was 'unfairly' taking it out on everyone else. Harry however believed that his treatment of everyone else was more than fair, and that anger was preferable to wanting to kill everyone involved. Which he didn't want, by the way, while he often entertained daydreams of hurling Dumbledore from the Astronomy Tower with his mind he would never actually do it.

"Harry stop. You need to let go of this anger, it isn't helping as much as you think it is".

"Not you to," he groaned out as he opened his eyes to glare.

"Hermione is a clever girl, even for a witch," Colton countered simply, eyes still closed as he sat cross-legged on the rug. "You cannot channel your rage through your powers, it's a lesson we all must learn," he continued, "Anger will suffice in regards for your telekinesis, but to tap into the night you must be like the night, calm and still".

"You've never spent the night in my dormitory," Harry muttered under his breath as he shifted uncomfortably. "I have to pee," he added bluntly over the sound of running water coming from the other Solani's stereo.

"Oh my god," Colton exhaled, finally opening his eyes to scowl at Harry. "Do you even want to learn how to use your powers? Do you think you can survive without your offensive powers? Other demons will wipe the floor with you! What happens if you get attacked? Do you think you'll beat them? How? Will you use your telekinesis on a full-blooded demon? You couldn't take on a darklighter with your telekinesis let alone a real demon! Conjuration? Yes, let's conjure rocks to throw at them! Your only option is to smoke away and hope that they cannot track you!"

"I have my magic".

"Oh yes!" Colton shouted angrily, the black haired man pushing himself to his feet and beginning to pace. "Because that's going to work!"

"Keir says it does," Harry corrected coldly.

Colton glared, "Then he's probably right," he confessed unhappily, "But that doesn't change the facts. What if you come up against a demon resistant to wizardry?"

"Then I'll use my telekinesis instead".

Colton just sighed, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling with a groan. "I have neither the time nor the crayons to explain this to you," he deadpanned as he stalked out of the room, leaving Harry alone in the older Solani's living room with nothing but his own thoughts and the water noises coming from the stereo.

"So… can I go now?" Harry called out, frustrated both at Colton's mood and at his inability to control his own mood. "No?" he asked himself when he heard nothing in response, sighing as he sagged down on the fluffy carpet that coated the floor of Colton's place. Unfortunately he couldn't just leave, not when he'd promised Keir that he would put as much effort into his training as he could, and the best way for him to do that wasn't for him to walk out of his second meditation lesson because it was 'too hard'.

He was just contemplating lying down on the really soft carpet when Colton stormed back into the room and threw something at him, Harry's seeker reflexes kicking in fast enough for him to catch the book before it hit him in the chest. "It's Keir's," Colton snapped angrily, "He wrote it after some Solani a couple of decades ago had anger issues. He lent it to me to help me try get my own temper under control and now I guess it's your turn," he explained as he ran his fingers through his hair and glanced at the clock. "Now go, go practice in your dorm or something because I've got plans that do not include having to babysit".

"Hey! I'm fifteen," Harry defended, wanting to try argue the topic of his anger issues but knowing he didn't really have a ground to stand on. "I don't need to be babysat, I've been looking after myself for years".

"And what a wonderful jobs you've been doing so Ilona!" Colton exclaimed, a change of character flashing across his face so quickly it left Harry dizzy, as the scowling dark-haired man practically started glowing as a sheepish looking Asian girl declared her presence with a knock on the doorframe. "You're early!" he blurted as he shot Harry a wide-eyed look.

"Class let out early," 'Ilona' confessed awkwardly, "Is this a bad time? I can come back later?"

"No!" Colton denied quickly, "This is Harry, he's my cousin. Aunt Lily sent him round so I could try help his temper, we both have issues with that you see, and I'm going to shut up now".

Ilona just giggled, "I can wait?" she offered slowly, an understanding look on her face. "Meet you at the restaurant?"

"Harry was just leaving," Colton corrected bluntly, still not having looked away from Ilona, "He's got to get back to school before his free period is over anyway. Just… just read the book," he instructed, finally looking to Harry. "And get out".

Hiding the grin that was fighting to form on his face at the self-claimed 'suave' man turned into a bumbling idiot at the sight of a pretty girl, Harry just stood and tucked the book under his arm, unable to hide his snort of amusement as Colton sent him a telepathic threat of castration. "I'm gone, I'm gone," he said quickly as the black-haired man turned to glare at him, backing away quickly and rushing past Ilona towards the door even as he reached out to meet Colton's mind and say "Colton and Ilona sitting in a tree" in a sing-song voice.

"What are you? Five?"

"Fifteen," Harry countered innocently, as he headed into the garage to smoke away, "But close enough".

Shadows wisping around him as he reappeared behind a tapestry leading towards a dead-end out of the school, Harry snatched up his schoolbag from where he'd left it hidden behind some rubble, shoving the meditation book into it as he threw it over his shoulder and slipped out into the corridor.

With a glance to his watch, he set off for the Great Hall, promising himself that he would force himself to eat something. He may be half-demon, but that didn't mean he wasn't allowed to be nervous about the backlash his interview would create, he already knew that he would be given detention by Umbridge – although Hermione had promised to see what she could do about that. He'd barely been able to eat anything that morning, and Colton had threatened to force-feed him if he refused to eat on his own. Apparently he needed to eat more naturally to help fuel both his magic and his demonic powers, he didn't know, he hadn't been listening to Colton much at the time.

"Why is everyone staring at me this time?" Harry asked in greeting as he sat opposite Hermione, the bushy-haired girl blinking at him dumbly as he helped himself to the bacon on the plate between them and set about making a sandwich. "Did the Ministry publish another article?"

"It's not their article that's making everyone stare," Neville corrected from where he was sitting beside Hermione, the boy looking pale and fidgety as he stared at Harry as well.

Taking a moment to process the boy's statement, Harry felt himself both perking up and hunching over in the same movement. "The Quibbler published it then?" he asked simply, making both of his friends nod, "And?"

"Rita kept her promise," Hermione admitted slowly, "She wrote exactly what we agreed on. And Umbridge banned all copies of the Quibbler from the castle when she found out, she's furious, threatened to expel us both if we didn't tell her where you were".

"Not that it helped, of course," Neville piped up, "Couldn't tell her what we didn't know".

"So now what?" Harry asked, looking between the two slowly. "This was all Hermione's plan; I don't know what to do now that she banned the Quibbler. I'm just following orders". It had been a good plan while it lasted too, at least he knew that other people out in the Wizarding World would be reading it, even if he had to put a hold on his plan to shoot down the apologies of his fellow students for now.

"Don't you see Harry?" Hermione hissed out, glancing around before leaning in to whisper. "This is perfect! It's exactly what I wanted for her to do!"

Harry blinked. "I don't follow".

Rolling her eyes, Hermione leaned in further. "She banned the Quibbler, now everyone wants to read it to find out why," she explained excitedly. "The entire school now knows what you saw. And… and I think you've got them convinced, I think they finally believe you!"

Sagging down in his seat Harry nodded slowly. "Now what?" he asked aloud. He'd only been following Hermione's lead in this, while he knew what the consequences of it would be, he didn't know what the next step was. He knew he would need to practice his acting abilities, he would be the centre of everyone's attention again, and he didn't know if his act would hold up under that much scrutiny. Hermione and Neville had both seen that he was no longer the boy he'd once been, although Hermione thought it was because of the Betrayal while Neville attributed it to Voldemort's return.

"Now we wait," Hermione said with a dismissive shrug. "I mean, I've got ideas, but I can't start planning things now when we still don't know the backlash of this interview. Umbridge is going to come down on us harder than a niffler on Treasure Island".

"What's Treasure Island?" Neville questioned, making Hermione shake her head.

"It doesn't matter. What matters is that we need to be ready to deal with Umbridge when that particular beast rears its ugly head," she said. "Which is why I think the three of us need to stick together for the rest of the day and try to remain in public areas. I have a plan to deal with her but we need to be in public for it to work," Hermione assured them, Neville looking nervous while Harry just nodded in agreement.

"POTTER!"

"This public will work," Hermione added quickly, "Almost the entire school is here now. This is good".

"POTTER! HOW DARE YOU?" Umbridge's high-pitched shriek continued as the pink-clad toa- woman half-ran down the Great Hall towards him.

"I dare to do a lot of things, Professor," Harry replied innocently at a not-so-gentle under-table nudge from Hermione's foot. "Could you be more specific?"

Umbridge looked like she was going to explode, her face a dangerous red as she trembled furiously. "You- You spread this filth!" she shouted before stopping herself and forcibly calming down. "I had thought your lessons had taught you not to tell lies," Umbridge continued, her voice higher and ten-times sweeter than he had ever heard it before.

"My lessons? You mean the detentions where you force me to carve 'I must not tell lies' into my hand?" Harry countered when Hermione looked at him encouragingly. "Why, they're the reason I did this. I thought that everyone out there should know the truth," he bluffed, sending Umbridge a wide smile as her piggy eyes widened.

Mouth opening and closing silently for a moment, the most hated Professor in the world just stood there twitching, a copy of the Quibbler held to her chest. "Well, Mister Potter," she forced out slowly, looking like she was being forced to restrain herself from launching across the table to throttle him, "Obviously the lessons haven't sunk in yet. How does another week's worth of dete-"

"Professor!"

Once again looking utterly flabbergasted, Umbridge just slowly looked over at Hermione, who had shoved her hand into the air expectantly. "Professor, I have an important question for you," the bushy-haired Gryffindor explained quickly, "What advice do you have for me – as a muggleborn – in regards to a career at the Ministry? I'm asking you because I believed you would know, what with how your mother is a muggleborn".

Silence answered Hermione's question as Umbridge's face went from an angry red to a deathly white.

"How?"

"How did I know?" Hermione finished casually, the entire Great Hall utterly quiet as the Golden Trio faced down Umbridge. "A law was passed sixteen years ago in the Wizengamot stating that a list of the names of all the members of the Ministry with muggleborn relatives was to be kept in the Hall of Records where the public could access it," she explained cheerfully, "Because the people deserve to know who they're voting for in the elections". Hermione paused for a moment, tilting her head curiously and putting Harry's own acting skills to shame, "You were the one to write the law, Professor, how could you have forgotten already?"

As whispers erupted throughout the Great Hall, Harry fought to keep his face blank. This was beautiful! Umbridge's stance on muggleborn was very negative and very public, and now everyone in the school knew that she herself was born of one. He didn't doubt that someone would soon tell their Mum or Dad who would happily spread it around to everyone they knew, ruining the muggleborn-hating Umbridge's reputation forever.

The Professor seemed to realise this too, as she stood frozen in horror, her eyes wide and locked sightlessly on Hermione's face. Moving her lips in the shape of a familiar word, Umbridge cleared her throat and squeaked out "Detention".

"For what Professor?" Hermione countered immediately, "You don't have due cause to give either of us detention when we broke no school rules or educational decrees".

"Mister Potter told more of his filthy lies," Umbridge defended softly, all the wind having left her sail and leaving her a weakly whimpering pink mess.

"Like I said. We broke no school rules or educational decrees," Hermione repeated, a smile flashing across her face that was three bits smug and one bit victorious. "Is there a problem Professor? Or can we get back to lunch?"

As Umbridge turned and stumble-ran out of the Great Hall, looking like she'd had a bad run in with dementors, Hermione just turned back to smirk at Harry and Neville. "Rita's next article is on Umbridge's clear anti-muggleborn attitude despite her muggleborn mother," she added innocently, "I believe she's going to imply that Umbridge's mother's mysterious death wasn't that mysterious".

"I can't wait," Harry blurted.

"I hope we don't have to," Hermione confessed, looking a little nervous. "She's going to be distracted for the rest of the day trying to contain that knowledge, but by tomorrow morning she's going to attack us somehow. If the article doesn't come out tomorrow then we're in trouble".


ENDLESS NIGHT