Sweet Juliet: Part 2
Chapter 14: A Meeting at the Hog's Head
(A/N: Enjoy chapter 14! I'll try to get a few more out tomorrow. Drop a review down at the bottom of the page if you can :D)
When the next day came, Juliet found it immensely difficult to maintain concentration on her lessons. She tried exceptionally hard, especially in her father's class, but all her ability to remain focused seemed determined to elude her. Part of her wished she would have turned around and tried to reason with Draco, but she knew her pride wouldn't have allowed him. Besides, the hurt look in his eyes didn't change the fact that he was a difficult, bigoted git who didn't like her friends.
Still, she couldn't shake the feeling that he wasn't entirely to blame.
Finally, when the bell rang, dismissing the exhausted Slytherins and Gryffindors from their final class of the day, Juliet gathered her things and made to trudge out of the Potions classroom after Harry, Ron, and Hermione, but the quiet noise of Severus clearing his throat gave her pause. She turned, brow furrowed in confusion, and gave him a questioning look.
"Juliet," he asked, his tone soft enough that none of the remaining students would hear his use of her first name, "would you mind staying behind a moment? I need to speak with you about something."
"Of course," she responded immediately. Turning to her friends, she assured them that she'd meet them at dinner as soon as she was done. Reluctantly, they left the classroom, Severus and Juliet were silent until the sounds of the students climbing the stone steps had entirely dissipated.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" Juliet asked curiously, feeling herself relax slightly with the knowledge that only she and Severus remained in the room. He eyed her for a moment, his expression becoming that of a stern father rather than a professor, and she returned his gaze suspiciously. Something was clearly bothering him, and he was deciding whether or not he wanted to tell her. Juliet didn't like when he kept secrets from her—it made her feel like she was still a child.
Severus broke the silence after another moment of mutual observation. "Have you been in my office at all, Juliet?" His question was blunt, so different from the way he usually approached an inquiry, and Juliet had to fight to keep her expression neutral. She allowed a bit of confusion to drift across her features, praying that she wasn't overdoing it.
"Of course not, Dad." Then, silently, and suppressing a wry smile: And if I had been, I certainly wouldn't have taken a key, or anything like that.
Severus continued to look down at his daughter for a moment, his dark eyes clouded with suspicion. Juliet swallowed, trying to ignore the way her palms were beginning to sweat. She attemped to surreptitiously wipe them on her robes, and it seemed to escape Severus' notice (though she couldn't be sure).
"Very well," he said at last, abruptly changing the subject. "Now, before you leave, I'd like to discuss your Defense Against the Dark professor." There was a thinly veiled disgust in Severus' tone as he spoke of his most recently appointed colleague, and Juliet did not fail to pick up on it.
"Dad," she said cautiously, "Harry says that woman works for the Ministry. You don't want to make her angry."
"That is precisely my point, Juliet," Severus said, a bit more harshly than he had meant. "Dolores Umbridge is the Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic, and she is not someone we want as an enemy. For perhaps the first time, I am inclined to agree with Mr. Potter. Umbridge's presence here at Hogwarts has made our situation all the more dangerous."
"So what are you saying?" asked Juliet, not bothering to mask her trepidation. Her father would have seen right through it anyway.
"I'm saying that it's not good to have a Ministry official right under our noses. We'll need to be very careful around her. I need you to promise that you won't do anything to upset her or give her reason to suspect that you are anything other than a student with a father who works at your school. Do you understand, Juliet?"
Juliet didn't respond immediately. Instead, her mind drifted to her outright hatred for the woman, and all that she stood for. Pretending to suck up to her sounded about as appealing as replacing her morning pumpkin juice with Polyjuice Potion. Juliet sighed, knowing the answer her father expected from her.
"I promise, Dad."
"I am only trying to keep you safe, Juliet."
"I know. May I go to dinner now?"
Severus continued to stare at his daughter for a moment, his eyes narrowed. "Of course. Go enjoy your meal."
Juliet looked down at her shoes guiltily. She realized that she must have sounded impatient and ungrateful, despite her father's efforts to protect her.
"Aren't you coming?" she asked, trying to portray her desire to make amends through her tone. "We could walk down to the Great Hall together. I haven't gotten to spend much time with you this term." The corners of Severus' lips twitched, a sure sign that he was suppressing a grin. It served to comfort Juliet, but only slightly.
"I'm afraid I'm going to be taking dinner in my office tonight," he said, his tone neutral as always. "Thanks to my N.E.W.T students, I already have an obscene amount of papers to correct." Juliet relaxed slightly, recognizing one of her father's dry, flat attempts at humor.
"All right, then," she conceded, retrieving her bag and books. "Have it your way, Dad. I'll try to stop by before curfew tonight and make sure you haven't starved yourself."
Once she was safely out in the corridor, slowly climbing the steps that would lead her out of the dungeons, Juliet allowed a frown to drift across her lips. She'd been foolish to take the key and think her father would not notice. It had been just sitting there, in one of the drawers of his desk, and if she had been thinking clearly she would have recognized that it meant that he had been looking at it shortly beforehand.
He knew the key was missing, that much was for certain, but he wasn't sure whether Juliet or someone else had taken it. Juliet shuddered to think what would happen if he found out the truth.
When she arrived in the Great Hall, she scanned the crowd, quickly spotting Ron's shock of orange hair and Harry's tangled black mop. Walking briskly over to them, Juliet sat down in the empty space between the two boys, forehead wrinkling when she realized who was missing.
"Where's Hermione?"
"In the library," Harry said, and added, "Where else?"
"She said something about finishing a History of Magic essay," Ron added, his tone making it clear that he hadn't even begun the aforementioned assignment.
"Damn," said Juliet, realization hitting her. "I have to finish that, too. I only have the conclusion left, and I've been meaning to ask Hermione for help with it...I suppose I should go and meet her." Sighing, she rose from her chair, glancing longingly at the food that was piled high on silver platters in front of her. She considered sneaking some to the library, but the hawk-eyed Madame Pince would surely murder her if she were to be found out.
Bidding Harry and Ron goodbye, Juliet heaved her heavy bag back over her shoulder and slumped out of the Great Hall. She would have loved nothing better than to eat a nice meal and go up to her dormitory, where she could promptly collapse on her bed, but she'd been procrastinating on the end of her essay for days. If she didn't work up the motivation to do it then, it would never get done.
At long last, Juliet reached the library, her feet immediately carrying her to a table in the far corner, where Hermione always sought refuge when she wanted a quiet place to study.
"Juliet!" Hermione whispered in surprise when the other girl sank into the seat across from her. "Why aren't you at dinner?"
"Ron and Harry told me you were in here finishing the History of Magic essay, and I came to ask if you'd help me with the conclusion on mine. It's all I have left of it."
Hermione sighed in seeming exasperation, but she smiled nonetheless. "Oh, I suppose it wouldn't be too much trouble. At any rate, at least when you ask me for help, it's just help, not asking me to do the whole assignment like Harry and Ron." Juliet laughed, but quieted herself quickly in case Madame Pince was lurking around a corner, waiting to kick any disruptive students from her precious library.
The girls worked in hushed tones, Juliet telling Hermione what she was thinking of writing, while the latter gave advice on things she thought were missing, or things she suggested could be revised. Before very long, Juliet was rolling up her parchment, thanking her friend profusely for the help. Hermione waved a hand dismissively, insisting it was no trouble.
They talked for a while longer, mostly discussing Hermione's disdain for Harry and Ron's study habits—or rather, lack thereof. Juliet laughed right along with her friend, the seemingly perpetual nervousness she'd felt since the welcoming feast retreating for a few glorious moment. It felt like the first time she had been truly happy all term.
"So," Hermione said, her voice taking on a nervous edge, "I need to ask you something." Juliet eyed the other girl suspiciously, having some idea what her friend was wondering about.
"All right, then," she responded slowly, each syllable carefully drawn out in a warning of sorts. "Go ahead."
"Well, I wanted to ask about your fight with Malfoy. You seem to be taking it better than you usually do."
Juliet wanted to snap back at Hermione, but she took a moment to remind herself that her friend was only trying to help, and bit back her annoyance at the comment. The fact that she had a "usual" reaction to fighting with Draco was more than irksome, but Juliet tried her best to shrug it off. She was probably reading too much into Hermione's words.
"I don't want to talk about this, Hermione," she said finally, struggling to keep calm and not let any emotion into her tone.
"Juliet, you'll have to at some point—"
"Not necessarily," interrupted Juliet. "If everyone stops asking me about it, I won't ever have to talk about it." Hermione looked slightly taken aback, and more than a little stung, but Juliet didn't allow herself to be broken by the small stab of guilt.
"Thanks for the help, Hermione," she said, standing and retrieving her bag. "I've got to get back to the common room. I'll see you later."
Without another word, Juliet turned on her heel and walked briskly from the library, leaving a stunned Hermione behind her. She tried to ignore the regret gnawing at her and, pushing down the urge to apologize, she pressed onward, not slowing until she had reached the entrance to Gryffindor Tower.
It was late, just a bit before curfew, and most of the students had drifted off to bed. Harry was alone in a corner of the common room, as far from the other students as he could be. He appeared, strangely, to be staring down at his hand. Juliet went over and made to sink down next to him, trying to forget about her conversation with Hermione. It would do her no good to dwell on such things.
Before she could take a seat, though, she noticed something odd on the back of the hand Harry had been staring at. When he had seen her approaching, he had tried to jerk the appendage out of sight, but it was too late. Juliet's mouth fell open in horror.
"Harry, what the bloody hell happened." Frantically, he shushed her, looking wildly about to see if any of the other students, scattered sparsely through the common room, had overheard her. He pulled Juliet down next to him none-too-gently. She paid his roughness no mind, grabbing his hand and holding it a few inches away from her face.
I will not tell lies.
She stared up at him incredulously, trying to suppress her horror at the guilty look in his green eyes. He looked somewhat like a child that had been caught writing on the walls.
"Harry, what is this? Did you do this to yourself?"
Harry's eyes widened in disgust, and he was quick to retort, "No, of course not!" He hesitated for a moment, tearing his gaze from Juliet's. "Well, I suppose technically, but it certainly wasn't of my own volition."
"Then what's it from?" asked Juliet, trying and feeling to put the pieces together in her mind. Harry had never seemed like the kind of person who would resort to self-mutilation, but she wasn't sure what else to think. It was only logical.
Harry didn't respond for a long time, and Juliet began to fear that her explanation was, in fact, correct. What he uttered next, however, made her jaw drop open and her dark eyes cloud over with rage.
"It's from my detention with Umbridge." He sounded almost ashamed, though Juliet could not fathom why.
"You said that she made you do lines," Juliet spat, her voice low and dangerous. Harry shrank back from her enraged, menacing gaze, perhaps mistakenly believing that it was meant for him.
"She did, but she made me use some sort of enchanted quill."
It all made sense, and Juliet wanted simultaneously to retch and to march down to Umbridge's office so that she could hex the horrible woman into oblivion. Her hatred for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor—if she could even be called so—burned within her, seeming to increase tenfold by the second, and coursing through her veins like poison.
"We have to go to Dumbledore," Juliet said, releasing Harry's hand suddenly and rocketing to her feet. It fell limply back into his lap. She began to pace back and forth, lips placed and mind whirring so quickly it was almost audible. "He needs to know about this."
Harry rose up to meet her, grabbing her by the shoulders. He looked her squarely in the eye, green into black, and Juliet immediately knew what he was going to say.
"No, Juliet, we are not going to tell anyone about this. I am not going to give Umbridge the satisfaction of running to Dumbledore. I can handle her on my own."
"Harry," she pleaded, "let's at least go to my father. He can heal your hand. It looks like it hurts like hell." Juliet knew how ridiculous the idea sounded to Harry, but she didn't care. They had to tell someone, some adult that could fight back more easily than they could. Suddenly, though, a sickening realization hit her.
Perhaps no one could fight back against Umbridge.
It took Juliet a moment to recognize that Harry had begun to speak again, and she turned back to meet his gaze, only vaguely registering his words.
"Juliet, please, promise me that you're not going to tell anyone about this. Not even Ron and Hermione." Juliet's mouth fell open. Harry told Ron and Hermione everything.
"Harry—"
"Please, Juliet." Juliet bit her bottom lip, wondering just what she was getting herself into. When she spoke, her voice was barely above a whisper.
"All right. I—I promise."
…
For the first few days, Juliet found it quite difficult not to stare at Harry's injured hand, which he always kept concealed within his robes, or blurt out exactly what was going on to Ron and Hermione. Harry kept a watchful eye on her, though, stepping in every time she seemed to be getting close to revealing the information. Eventually, though, as the days turned into weeks, and each Defense Against the Dark Arts class passed with relatively little incident, Juliet grudgingly resolved that it wouldn't be as hard as she thought to keep Harry's secret.
It was about four weeks after she had found him in the common room, though, when winter was approaching earnestly, that things took a turn for the worse.
"Have you three seen this garbage in the Daily Prophet?" Hermione, who had long since forgiven Juliet for their spat in the library, slammed a copy of the newspaper down onto the table in front of Harry, Ron, and Juliet. They all read the headline that emblazoned the front page, and Juliet, suddenly wishing she hadn't eaten such a large breakfast, felt her stomach churn at the very sight of the words.
DOLORES UMBRIDGE MADE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
The horrific title was followed by an interview with Fudge, and Juliet could tell just by skimming it that the sorry excuse for a Minister had been the one to grant Umbridge her new title of honour.
"We've got to do something about this," said Hermione, crossing her arms over her chest and sinking sulkily into the seat across from her friends. "I don't know how much more I can take of blindly doing whatever that horrible woman says."
"I know something we could do," piped up, Juliet, inconspicuously pushing her half-finished plate away from her. Ron, seemingly unaffected by the news—at least in a physical capacity—took it upon himself to take over for her. He was, of course, not one to be wasteful.
"What's that, Jules?" he asked interestedly, pointedly ignoring Hermione's disgusted look at his food consumption.
"We could get a bunch of other students together—there's got to be plenty that hate Umbridge—and talk about what we can do to stop her Reign of Terror."
"We could meet up during the upcoming Hogsmeade weekend!" cried Hermione in excitement. "Harry, would you mind speaking to everyone? People need to hear your side of the story, once and for all, and if they're there voluntarily, we can be sure they'll listen." Harry looked as though he was about to protest, but Hermione had already assumed his affirmation and moved on to other points of planning, continuing to ramble about preparations and possible meeting places.
Juliet glanced at Harry, lips pursing in worry. Clearly, he didn't want to blatantly go against Umbridge, as Hermione seemed to be planning. Juliet certainly couldn't blame him, and felt another wave of nausea wash over her as she thought of the words, I will not tell lies, etched into the skin of his hand.
"...Three Broomsticks will be too conspicuous," Ron was saying, and Juliet felt slightly more relieved that they were evidently planning to keep the meeting a secret. "I know a place we could go, but I don't think you'll like it."
"What is it?" asked Hermione impatiently, hurriedly scrawling everything down on a piece of parchment that she had seemingly procured from nowhere.
"It's called the Hog's Head."
…
Hermione was going to kill her.
Juliet had been down in the dungeons eating lunch with her father, and had completely lost track of time. She was late for the meeting, and knew that no matter how fast she ran, she wasn't going to make it to the Hog's Head (of course Ron had to pick a pub that was on the other bloody end of Hogsmeade) on time.
Nonetheless, she was racing up the stairs, clutching her traveling cloak about her to prepare for the blistering cold that awaited her outside. So great was her haste that she didn't see another student in the corridor, directly blocking her path.
Juliet tried to skid to a stop, but she had reacted to late. She barreled directly into the other student, who gave a great oomph of surprise, and the two tumbled to the ground together. They were a tangle of robes and limbs, and it took a moment for Juliet to see who she had landed on.
Suddenly, she found herself staring into the eyes of a very surprised Draco Malfoy. She too was taken aback, and neither of them could speak for a moment. After a moment, though, Draco's face twisted into a glare. Juliet's immediate reaction was to return the gesture, but something stopped her.
The corner's of Draco's mouth were twitching—he was trying not to smile.
"Draco!" she exclaimed, finally reclaiming her voice. "I, uh, I didn't see you there." Fully aware of how lame she sounded, Juliet looked away, blushing and climbed off of her ex-boyfriend.
"Clearly," he answered sarcastically when they were both back on their feet. He brushed the dust off of his robes, a grin gracing his mouth despite his obvious efforts to the contrary.
"Sorry, I was just in a hurry to get to Hogsmeade, and, er—well, yeah." Juliet trailed off pitifully, not altogether certain as to why she was stuttering like an idiot. A small voice at the back of her mind nagged that, perhaps, even after everything, Draco still had that affect on her.
"Well anyway," she finished with an air of something like defeat, "sorry I landed on top of you."
"It wasn't the first time," Draco returned, giving her a coy smirk. Surprised, Juliet allowed a laugh to escape her.
"No, I suppose it wasn't. I—I'll see you around, Draco."
She was several steps away when she heard him speak again.
"I miss you."
His words were softer this time, and rushed, as though they were tumbling from his lips without express permission from his brain. Indeed, when she turned around to face him, he seemed shocked by his own declaration, and she knew it had been nothing more than a slip of the tongue. She smiled, genuinely, her eyes softening.
"I miss you, too." It wasn't a lie.
Suddenly, his whole demeanor changed, as if he was a different person than who he had been mere seconds ago. He held out his hand, and it seemed to Juliet to be one of the most welcoming gestures she had ever seen. It coaxed a wider smile onto her lips, and she realized with horrifying clarity that no matter what he did, she couldn't resist him.
"Forgive me?" His voice was angelic.
Unable to suppress her smile, Juliet walked towards him, all of her recent memories of him seeming to slip away. Suddenly, she couldn't quite remember what she'd been angry at him about.
"Only if you promise that we won't fight anymore."
He didn't hesitate. "I promise." Before she could react, he pulled her to him, and his lips were upon hers. Merlin, how she'd missed kissing him. All coherent thought flew away as her lips molded to his, and she leaned into the embrace, only breaking apart when her lungs began to scream for oxygen.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, she stepped away. "I have to go meet my friends, but you and I can meet up tonight before curfew, if you'd like."
Draco smiled. "I'd like that very much."
She walked away, grin fading as she went, but the content feeling remaining. She began to wonder what exactly was wrong with her. Shaking it off, she allowed a smile to cross her features once more.
…
Clearly, Ron had been right that the Hog's Head would be out of the way. It was placed near the farthest border of Hogsmeade, and it was the type of pub that one went in to, quite literally, drown in their sorrows, rather than drown them.
All of the students were already gathered when she walked through the door. In fact, it seemed as though the meeting was wrapping up. Juliet caught Hermione's eye, expecting the other girl to be annoyed at her tardiness, but instead was greeting with quite the opposite. Hermione looked downright jubilant, and she came over, explaining to Juliet just why that was.
"We're calling it Dumbledore's Army," she said when she'd finished. "The DA for short."
Juliet smiled, and it occurred to her that she'd done so more that day than she had all term. "I love the name, Hermione."
"Come sign the paper, then."
She walked up to the parchment that all of the others had signed, picking up the quill with no hesitation. Catching the eye of Harry and Ron, she took in their pleased expressions and felt as if, for once, everything seemed to be going right.
If only she had known.
Face still adorned with a grin, she signed her name.