The girls crept down the hall making sure they weren't followed. It was hard to sneak around these days, considering Umbridge had taken over. Violet thought back to Christmas break when Snape had seen her note. He hadn't had any emotional reaction. He had just shooed the girls away and that was the end of Christmas.
They stood in the hallway waiting for the others to arrive. When they did, they crept inside a room, and the door disappeared behind them.
"Coming to the Room of Requirement was quite a clever idea," said Luna looking around. "No one would ever suspect it."
Evangeline saw Harry glance at Cho out of the corner of his eye. He cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.
"Well, what I'm going to show you guys today is called a Patronus. It's kind of like a positive force, something a wizard can conjure up. It sort of works like a shield, great against Dementors. In order for it to work, you need to think of a memory. Not just any memory, a very happy and powerful memory. Allow it to fill you up, lose yourself in it. Then speak the incantation, Expecto Patronum. He did a demonstration, and a glowing stag erupted from his wand.
Everyone bubbled in excitement and tried to repeat what Harry had done, but it wasn't easy. Violet thought of all the pranks she had pulled, and all her sarcastic comments, but none of them were good enough. Evangeline thought of her good dreams, but that didn't conjure up anything. She twirled her wand in wonder and watched as a rabbit hopped out of Luna's wand.
"Yes," she said happily. "I would have never suspected a rabbit."
"How did you do that?" Evangeline asked in awe.
"I thought of my father and I going Crumple-Horned Snorkak hunting in Sweden," she said happily. "I might I may have found some proof of their existence!" Evangeline laughed.
Violet thought about how she had been hopeless. She and Evangeline had walked the streets barefoot, scared of being confronted by those masked men who had killed their parents and chased after them. She remembered how she thought she was going to die when the Dementors held her, threatening to end her life. But then Severus had burst through, sending them away and caring for them. He had been her glitter of hope.
"Expecto Patronum," she whispered. Something large erupted from her wand. She held the wand tight as she felt a burst of power threaten to knock her wand out of her hands. What came to view was a large dragon. It flew through the air and fire erupted from its mouth chasing Ginny's horse back into her wand.
"Hey!" she cried, but Violet ignored her.
"How did you do that?" Evangeline cried. Violet grinned.
"Just think of a happy memory!"
Evangeline twirled the wand in her hand and thought. She thought of how she had walked through the forest and found the bird lying on the ground, hurt. She had picked it up in the palms of her hands and healed it. She smiled and said the incantation and a baby fox wriggled out from her wand and scampered across the ceiling. She smiled.
There was a sudden pounding on the door. Everybody spun and saw it open. In stepped Umbridge with Marietta at her side.
"I'm sorry Harry!" she cried.
"Oh, shut up," said Umbridge, a wide smile on her face. "Harry darling, would you please come with me? And Weasley do come along, and you too Miss. Granger. I'm afraid you all have quite some explaining to do."
The three stepped forward reluctantly.
Hermione shot a death glare at Marietta who whimpered.
"Everyone please do come out of this room," said Umbridge in her sweetest voice. "It's quite a damper to stand in here."
The group slowly trudged out and the room closed behind them.
"Splendid!" Umbridge cried. "Now, go back to your common rooms before I turn you all in!"
Everyone scattered.
"What do you think is going to happen to them?" Evangeline cried as they raced towards the Slytherin common room.
"I'm not sure," Violet said. "But I've got a feeling it's not going to be good."
The girls sat down for breakfast at the Gryffindor table by the trio.
"What happened last night?" Evangeline asked piling her plate with food.
"Dumbledore took full responsibility for the DA," Hermione said quietly. "He resigned, and then fled. Umbridge has been named Head Mistress."
"WHAT?" Violet cried spitting food all over the table. Hermione cleaned it up with her wand in disgust.
"This whole school is going to go down in flames, and it's my entire fault!" Harry groaned. "As if I don't already have enough to worry about."
"Lighten up, Harry," said Ron.
"Yeah!" Violet grinned. Everyone looked at her weirdly, but Evangeline caught on.
"Of course!" she cried.
"What?" Harry, Ron, and Hermione chorused. Violet cleared her throat.
"Ladies and gentlemen, let the pranking begin!"
Everyone shuffled into the classroom quietly. Some of the kids in the class had been in the DA, so they tried to keep a low profile. Evangeline and Violet took their usual seats in the front.
"Welcome!" Umbridge grinned. "I don't think I need to remind you of how soon O.W.L.S are approaching!" Evangeline shot her hand into the air.
"Yes, Miss Willow?"
"What kind of stuff will be on the test? What do we have to prepare for exactly?"
Violet slightly slid the wand from her pocket, but kept it hidden.
"We've been over this!" Umbridge said disappointed. "But I want you all to pass, so I'll explain it to you again!"
She slid open her desk drawer, and a puff of smoke flew up and hit her in the face. Several students sniggered. Umbridge reached for her towel, but it transformed into a bird. It shrieked at her fatty hands, and flew into the window trying to escape. She cleared her throat and let the bird out.
"Well children-" she started, but her cardigan caught flame. The class cackled and she shrieked and tossed the cardigan down on the ground and tried to put it out with her wand, but Violet fought against her and made the fire spread. When the cardigan was close to ashes, she stopped and Umbridge put it out.
"My cardigan!" she shrieked then glared at the class. "Who did this?" she snarled.
The class was silent.
"Well, then I guess the whole class gets detention!" she yelled shrilly. She smiled then plopped down in her chair, which broke. The whole class shrieked with laughter and her desk drawers flew out and hit her, water pouring out from her desk.
She was soaked, and looked like she was about to cry. The class went hysterical and Evangeline and Violet grinned at each other. Their work was done.
The girls were bragging about their work, when Michael came forth. Violet pursed her lips; she hadn't talked to him in a while.
"Violet, could I have a moment?" he asked. She nodded solemnly and let the others walk ahead. "I need to talk to you about something. Will you follow me?" Violet nodded and the two walked silently outside. He climbed up the tree and Violet followed.
"I've always liked this tree." Michael said thoughtfully. Violet raised an eyebrow.
"You're mad at me, aren't you?" he asked.
"I'll answer that later; why did you want to see me?"
Michael cleared his throat.
"I-I just wanted to apologize; for breaking your rose. I probably ruined you and Terry's," he paused. "Date." Violet shrugged.
"Nothing ever built up between us after that," she said. The two were silent.
"Ginny dumped me," he said. Violet looked at him in surprise.
"She dumped YOU? You? She treated you badly, then she dumped you?" she huffed and Michael laughed.
"I thought I really liked her, you know? It's like you just give them chance after chance because you don't want to let them go."
Violet bit her lip.
"I know what you mean."
The two sat in silence.
"Truth is, I really miss talking to you," Violet said.
"Yeah, I've been really screwing up in Divination, I need you back!"
The two shared a laugh.
"Can we pretend none of this happened?" Michael asked. "Start fresh, and be friends again?" Violet nodded and smiled.
Neville and Evangeline sat outside on the school bench, books and papers scattered around them.
"I really think Herbology is the only O.W.L I'm going to pass," he said glumly. Evangeline smiled.
"I'm not the greatest student either, but if we can work really hard we can definitely pass!" Neville smiled and a raindrop fell on Evangeline's nose. She looked up and the sky rumbled.
"It's going to rain," she announced. They gathered their books and papers and hid them under their cloaks and laughed as they ran through the rain.
"Wait," said Neville. They both stopped. "There's something I want to show you," he said and stepped closer. He reached out for Evangeline's hands and held them. She blushed and smiled. He nervously smiled back and leaned closer. Then, they kissed.
"Nothing can defy my good mood!" Evangeline announced sprawled across a couch. Violet chuckled to herself; she had heard the whole story.
"Evangeline Longbottom!" she said then cackled.
"Violet Corner!" Evangeline sang and Violet's face flushed deep red. Evangeline was humming when a few of the Slytherin girls walked inside.
"Eww," said Pansy.
"Stop talking about yourself!" Evangeline said happily. Pansy was puzzled by her good mood.
"Freaks!" another girl whispered and they giggled and walked away, but the girls weren't bothered by it. They were used to much worse.
The girls walked to their first O.W.L., Charms. Hermione was muttering to herself and shaking slightly. Her hair had been brushed to a frizz and forcefully pulled back into a tight ponytail.
"Relax, it's just owls." Violet laughed punching her lightly in the arm.
"Just owls?" Hermione shrieked. "Just? The-the-these O.W.L.s can predict our future! If I don't pass, I'll be nothing! I'll get held back like Fred and George, I'll never be able to accomplish anything in life. I'll-"
"Chill Hermione!" said Evangeline happily. "You are Hermione Jean Granger! You are the smartest girl I know! You are definitely going places!"
But halfway through the first O.W.L., Evangeline was spazzing out too.
"I'm not passing Charms!" she wailed. "I didn't even know half of the questions! I just guessed at what sounded the smartest!"
Violet laughed and patted her sister on the shoulder. Usually, it was Evangeline who was the calm one; now it was the other way around.
Violet was sure she had passed them all. They were all simple, maybe a little too simple. She saw Michael glance at her as she walked down the hallway and she flashed him a smile.
Evangeline trudged out of the History of Magic O.W.L half asleep. She couldn't recall the questions, probably because she had been asleep in almost all the classes. Even Hermione didn't make the stories sound fascinating when she was being tutored. Evangeline had always just tuned her out.
Violet didn't know how she did on the exam, nor did she really care. It had nothing to do with that she was thinking about doing with her life. The girls were walking back to their common room chatting about what they wanted to do over the summer.
"You know, this year wasn't half bad," said Evangeline.
"Oh yeah, Mr. J died, we got death threats from Voldemort, we found out we're his experiments, you got your neck burnt by a fire poker, and that woman Umbridge took over. Sarcasm intended."
"Well," Evangeline paused. "We did have some fun this year though. And who knows? We haven't heard from anyone bad recently; maybe things are turning around."
"It's raining," said Violet. "Why are we out here?"
"Just follow me," said Michael.
He took her hand and led her towards the lake, making sure to keep out of sight from the staff. He'd learned quite a few tricks from her over the years. He took her under the large tree by the edge of the water. Violet sat down, soaked to the bone, and Michael sat next to her, creating a blanket they could sit on. They shifted onto it, and Michael placed his hand over hers.
Violet was thoroughly confused. Why was he holding her hand? Why did he bring her out here at midnight? What was going through his mind?
"So, why are we out here, again?" she asked, watching the rain create a ripple effect over the lake's surface.
"You'll see," he said, smiling at her.
Violet raised an eyebrow, not sure what to think.
"There," he said, pointing out at the lake.
Lightning bugs danced over the surface, their tails like little lanterns. Violet grinned, laughing. "Well?" said Michael.
"It's so pretty!" she breathed, amazed she could find something like this beautiful.
Michael stood, and pulled Violet to her feet. He pulled her into his arms, and she wrapped hers around him as well.
"Stay still," he whispered.
"Why?" she asked, suddenly tense.
"Relax," he said. "Close your eyes, and stay still. You know I won't hurt you."
Violet complied, and slowly shut her eyes. Her hand had gone to her wand in her pocket. She still needed to learn to trust. She felt his thumb trace her jaw line, and her grip tightened on the wand. He brushed away her green hair, and she clenched her other hand into a fist.
But then she felt his lips on hers.
His lips were soft and gentle. And it felt one hundred percent perfect. She melted completely, putting her arms around his neck, and kissing him back.
He pulled away after a moment and smiled softly at her.
"Will you be my girlfriend?" he asked.
"You're such an idiot," she said, smiling. "Of course I will!"
He gave her a light peck, and conjured another blanket to wrap around themselves.
The Hogwarts Express stopped, and the girls loaded off.
"Don't forget to write me!" Evangeline called cheerfully and Neville kissed her lightly on the cheek before the twins strode off. Violet ran into Michael and the two kissed and promised to write each other over the summer. They climbed off the train and found Snape waiting for them. They joined hands and Apparated back to his house.
"Home sweet home!" Violet announced and the girls raced inside laughing.
They chattered happily about the boys, and the highlights of the year.
"I have lots of pranks we can pull on Snape this summer," Violet grinned. "That prank on Umbridge really gave me a sort of rush!"
The girls laughed, but went silent when they both saw something lying on their dresser.
Evangeline slowly slid off the bed and picked it up with trembling hands.
"It's from Mr. J." she whispered.
"That's absurd," said Violet nervously. "He's dead."
She took the envelope from her hands, and something jolted inside her.
It rushed through her, and visions rang before her eyes. There was Mr. J, floating around before he reached heaven. He was jotting something down on paper.
The picture jolted forward, plunging into a dark inkblot. There were whimpers, then a scream. There was a view of needles with different colored elixirs scattered across a table, potions, and men in dark masks around something strapped to a chair. The vision become clearer, and Violet gasped when a voice whispered who it was. The doors flung open and in stepped Voldemort twirling his wand between his fingers.
"Stop complaining!" he said sharply. "You're not going to be living much longer anyways. You should be happy your serving your master."
The image zoomed back, shrinking, until it disappeared and Violet was now on the floor gasping for breath.
"What is it?" Evangeline whispered kneeling down at her sister's side. Violet looked up at her with large eyes.
"Our brother is still alive!"