A/n: You asked for a new chapter. Here is one. I'm sorry about these late updates. Please don't hate me. But writing is...not so hard, but it's hard especially when I have all these ideas in my head. Here you go.
Chapter 21: New Headmaster
Josh and Draco entered the seventh floor hallways. Josh breathed in heavily and nodded towards Draco who nodded back. With the strength he had left, Josh began to run with Draco at his side. He had to distract the people who were coming up so the others could make it back to somewhere safe without getting into trouble. He ran through the corridors, and was stunned when a spell whizzed by his head, causing him and Draco to stop, turn and look at who sent a spell at them. It was Nott, Goyle, and Parkinson.
"Professor!" Nott shouted with a smirk. "I've got Black and Malfoy!"
Umbridge came bustling round the far corner, breathless but wearing a delighted smile.
"It's him!" she said jubilantly at the sight of Harry and Draco. "Excellent, Theodore, excellent, oh, very good - fifty points to Slytherin! Another fifty to grab them for me!"
"My pleasure," Nott said, and thrusted out his wand, releasing another spell.
"Protego!" Draco shouted, creating a shield, block Nott's spell.
"You're gonna regret that Malfoy!" Nott growled out.
"Not likely," Draco replied.
"Catch us if you can!" Josh yelled, throwing at his wand arm, where smoke blow out the tip of his wand creating a smokescreen. "Run!" He shouted at Draco and the two boys turned and began to run as fast as they could.
"Don't let them get away!" Umbridge screeched.
"What's the plan, Black!?" Draco said to Josh as they ran through a corridor.
"Lead them away as far as possible," Josh wheezed out, wincing in pain and limping as fast as he could. "Though we might not get that far. Maybe you should just go."
"And leave you behind?" Draco replied with a shake of his head. "I don't think so, mate. You're not getting all the glory."
A minute later, the duo was running down the steps. "Get back here, Black!" shouted the voice of Nott and soon, there were spells and curses whizzing by and nearly missing Draco and Josh. "I'm gonna break your legs!" Nott growled.
Suddenly, a curse struck Draco in the arm, causing a loud cracking sound. Draco shouted out in pain, nearly tripping but Josh held him up, and the two continued on. "He broke my arm," Draco said, nursing his arm as they continued to run.
"He's not kidding," Josh breathed out as the two turned into the next corridor. "I have an idea!" he said and stopped at the end up the corridor. He pointed his wand at the stone floor. "Glaissier!" Icy mist sprung out the tip of Josh's wand, spraying the stone floor which was soon covered in a thin layer of slippery ice.
"Good idea," Draco praised. Josh nodded and the two boys hid in the next corridor.
"Black!" Nott screamed as he, Parkinson, and Goyle entered that same corridor. "This way! Ah!" he screamed along with his two cronies as they slipped and fell on the ice, sliding on the ground.
Josh and Draco snickered. "Idiots," Draco commented, and turned, a shocked look appearing on his face as he suddenly siezed up and plopped down onto the ground.
"Draco!" Josh sceeched, and turned around to see Umbridge smirking with her wand pointed out, surrounded by a few other Slytherins.
"Very clever, Mr. Black," Umbridge spoke. "Drop your wand, now!" Josh glared at the toad of a woman and tossed his wand onto the ground where it rolled over to the side. "Grab them!" she ordered the Slytherins who grabbed him and pulled Draco to his feet once the curse was released on him. "Come with me! We are going to see the Headmaster's office!"
They were at the stone gargoyle within minutes. Josh wondered if everyone was able to get back to their dorms safe and sound.
"Fizzing Whizzbee," sang Umbridge; the stone gargoyle jumped aside, the wall behind split open, and only Umbridge, Draco, and Josh ascended the moving stone staircase. They reached the polished door with the griffin knocker, but Umbridge did not bother to knock, she strode straight inside, holding tight to Josh.
The office was full of people. Dumbledore was sitting behind his desk, his expression serene, the tips of his long fingers together. Professor McGonagall stood rigidly beside him, her face extremely tense. Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, was rocking backwards and forwards on his toes beside the fire, apparently immensely pleased with the situation; Kingsley Shacklebolt and a tough-looking wizard with very short wiry hair whom Josh did not recognize, were positioned on either side of the door like guards, and the freckled, bespectacled form of Percy Weasley hovered excitedly beside the wall, a quill and a heavy scroll of parchment in his hands, apparently poised to take notes.
The portraits of old headmasters and headmistresses were not shamming sleep tonight. All of them were alert and serious, watching what was happening below them.
Josh pulled himself free of Umbridge's grasp as the door swung shut behind them. Draco and Josh were put into the center of the room. Cornelius Fudge was glaring at him with a kind of vicious satisfaction on his face.
"Well," he said. "Well, well, well…"
Josh replied with the dirtiest look he could muster even with all the pain flowing through his body. His heart drummed madly inside him, but his brain was oddly cool and clear.
"Merlin!" McGonagall gasped. "What did you do to the boy!?"
"I can assure you, I did absolutely nothing to Mr. Black," Umbridge began with excitement in her voice, "I caught him like this. It seemed he was heading somewhere away from his little secret hideout. Nonetheless, I was able to catch him red-handed along with young Mr. Malfoy."
Fudge moved and turned to the boys. "Well, Black… I expect you know why you are here?"
Josh opened his mouth, intended to say 'yes', but instead he smirked a little. "Actually, no, I don't," he replied.
"I beg your pardon?" said Fudge.
"I believe I said no," said Josh, firmly.
"You don't know why you are here?"
"I'm sorry, do you have some kind of hearing problem?" Josh said, turning to Draco who shrugged, nursing his arm. "I'd guess so since you're getting a bit old and your hearing seems to be dwindling. Like I said, no. I don't know why I'm here."
Fudge looked incredulously from Josh to Professor Umbridge. Josh took advantage of his momentary inattention to steal a quick look at Dumbledore, who gave the carpet the tiniest of nods and the shadow of a wink.
"So you have no idea," said Fudge, in a voice positively sagging with sarcasm, "why Professor Umbridge has brought you to this office? You are not aware that you have broken any school rules?"
"I'm sorry, school rules?" Josh said with a shrug and a shake of his head. "No."
"Or Ministry Decrees?" amended Fudge angrily.
"Not that I'm aware of," Josh said blandly. His heart was strangely calm as he had the tiniest of smirks towards the Minister. It was worth telling these lies to watch Fudges blood pressure rising, but he could not see how on earth he would get away with them; if somebody had tipped off Umbridge about the D.A. then he, the leader, might as well be packing his trunk right now, but he didn't care at the moment.
"So, it's news to you, is it," said Fudge, his voice now thick with anger, "that an illegal student organization has been discovered within this school?"
"I'm sorry, what!?" Harry said, feigning his innoncent look up surprise on his face. "An illegal student organization? How appalling. Who would do such a thing!?" Draco snorted from behind him.
"I think, Minister," said Umbridge silkily from beside him, "we might make better progress if I fetch our informant."
"Yes, yes, do," said Fudge, nodding, and he glanced maliciously at Dumbledore as Umbridge left the room. "There's nothing like a good witness, is there, Dumbledore?"
"Nothing at all, Cornelius," said Dumbledore gravely, inclining his head.
There was a wait of several minutes, in which nobody looked at each other, then Josh heard the door open behind him. Umbridge moved past him into the room, gripping by the shoulder Cho's curly-haired friend, Marietta, who was hiding her face in her hands.
"Don't be scared, dear, don't be frightened," said Professor Umbridge softly, patting her on the back, "it's quite all right, now. You have done the right thing. The Minister is very pleased with you. He'll be telling your mother what a good girl you've been.
"Marietta's mother, Minister," she added, looking up at Fudge, "is Madam Edgecombe from the Department of Magical Transportation, Floo Network office - she's been helping us police the Hogwarts fires, you know."
"Jolly good, jolly good!" said Fudge heartily. "Like mother, like daughter, eh? Well, come on, now, dear, look up, don't be shy, let's hear what you've got to - galloping gargoyles!"
As Marietta raised her head, Fudge leapt backwards in shock, nearly landing himself in the fire. He cursed, and stamped on the hem of his cloak which had started to smoke. Marietta gave a wail and pulled the neck of her robes right up to her eyes, but not before everyone had seen that her face was horribly disfigured by a series of close-set purple pustules that had spread across her nose and cheeks to form the word SNEAK.
Josh and Draco both snorted, and it who Josh who gave out a laugh, no matter how much it hurt to laugh.
"Silence! Never mind the spots now, dear," said Umbridge impatiently, "just take your robes away from your mouth and tell the Minister -"
But Marietta gave another muffled wail and shook her head frantically.
"Oh, very well, you silly girl, I'll tell him," snapped Umbridge. She hitched her sickly smile back on to her face and said, "Well, Minister, Miss Edgecombe here came to my office shortly after dinner this evening and told me she had something she wanted to tell me. She said that if I proceeded to a secret room on the seventh floor, sometimes known as the Room of Requirement, I would find out something to my advantage. I questioned her a little further and she admitted that there was to be some kind of meeting there. Unfortunately, at that point this hex," she waved impatiently at Marietta's concealed face, "came into operation and upon catching sight of her face in my mirror the girl became too distressed to tell me any more."
"Well, now," said Fudge, fixing Marietta with what he evidently imagined was a kind and fatherly look, "it is very brave of you, my dear, coming to tell Professor Umbridge. You did exactly the right thing. Now, will you tell me what happened at this meeting? What was its purpose? Who was there?"
But Marietta would not speak; she merely shook her head again, her eyes wide and fearful. Josh and Draco glanced at one another, Josh slightly nodding.
"Haven't we got a counter-jinx for this?" Fudge asked Umbridge impatiently, gesturing at Marietta's face. "So she can speak freely?"
"I have not yet managed to find one," Umbridge admitted grudgingly, and Josh felt a surge of pride in Hermione's jinxing ability. "But it doesn't matter if she won't speak, I can take up the story from here."
"You will remember, Minister, that I sent you a report back in October that Black and Potter had met a number of fellow students in the Hog's Head in Hogsmeade -"
"And what is your evidence for that?" cut in Professor McGonagall.
"I have testimony from Willy Widdershins, Minerva, who happened to be in the bar at the time. He was heavily bandaged, it is true, but his hearing was quite unimpaired," said Umbridge smugly. "He heard every word Black said and hastened straight to the school to report to me -"
"Oh, so that's why he wasn't prosecuted for setting up all those regurgitating toilets!" said Professor McGonagall, raising her eyebrows. "What an interesting insight into our justice system!"
"Blatant corruption!" roared the portrait of the corpulent, red-nosed wizard on the wall behind Dumbledore's desk. "The Ministry did not cut deals with petty criminals in my day, no sir, they did not!"
"Thank you, Fortescue, that will do," said Dumbledore softly.
"The purpose of Black's meeting with these students," continued Professor Umbridge, "was to persuade them to join an illegal society, whose aim was to learn spells and curses the Ministry has decided are inappropriate for school-age -"
"Now, let's wait here a minute!" Josh began to speak, "You're wrong," he said to Umbridge.
"Oh really?" said Fudge, bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet again. "Yes, do let's hear the latest cock-and-bull story designed to pull yourself out of trouble! Go on, then, go on - Willy Widdershins was lying, was he? Or was it your identical twin in the Hog's Head that day? Or is there the usual simple explanation involving a reversal of time, a dead man coming back to life and a couple of invisible Dementors?"
Percy Weasley let out a hearty laugh. "Oh, very good, Minister, very good!"
Josh limped forward. "Cornelius," he began, ignoring the glare from the Minister for the use of his name. "I'm not going to deny that I was in the Hog's head that particular day, nor am I going to deny that I was trying to recruit some fellow students to a Defense Against the Dark Arts group. But! I am merely pointing at the young Delores here is quite wrong to suggest the such a group, was at the time, illegal. If we all remember correctly, the Ministry Decree banning all student societies was not put into effect until two days after my Hogsmeade meeting, so technically, I was not breaking any rules at all in the Hog's Head."
"I believe Mr. Black has a point," Dumbledore pointed out.
Percy looked as though he had been struck in the face by something very heavy. Fudge remained motionless in mid-bounce, his mouth hanging open.
Umbridge recovered first. "That's all very fine," she said, smiling sweetly, "but we are now nearly six months on from the introduction of Educational Decree Number Twenty-four. If the first meeting was not illegal, all those that have happened since most certainly are."
"Well," said Dumbledore, surveying her with polite interest over the top of his interlocked fingers, "they certainly would be, if they had continued after the Decree came into effect. Do you have any evidence that any such meetings continued?"
As Dumbledore spoke, Harry heard a rustle behind him and rather thought Kingsley whispered something. He could have sworn, too, that he felt something brush against his side, a gentle something like a draught or bird wings, but looking down he saw nothing there.
"Evidence?" repeated Umbridge, with that horrible wide toad-like smile. "Have you not been listening, Dumbledore? Why do you think Miss Edgecombe is here?"
"Oh, can she tell us about six months' worth of meetings?" said Dumbledore, raising his eyebrows. "I was under the impression that she was merely reporting a meeting tonight."
"Miss Edgecombe," said Umbridge at once, "tell us how long these meetings have been going on, dear. You can simply nod or shake your head, I'm sure that won't make the spots worse. Have they been happening regularly over the last six months?"
Josh silently glared at the girl.
"Just nod or shake your head, dear," Umbridge said coaxingly to Marietta, "come on, now, that won't re-activate the jinx."
Everyone in the room was gazing at the top of Marietta's face. Only her eyes were visible between the pulled-up robes and her curly fringe. Perhaps it was a trick of the firelight, but her eyes looked oddly blank. And then - to Josh's utter amazement - Marietta shook her head.
Umbridge looked quickly at Fudge, then back at Marietta.
"I don't think you understood the question, did you, dear? I'm asking whether you've been going to these meetings for the past six months? You have, haven't you?"
Again, Marietta shook her head.
"What do you mean by shaking your head, dear?" said Umbridge in a testy voice.
"I would have thought her meaning was quite clear," said Professor McGonagall harshly, "there have been no secret meetings for the past six months. Is that correct, Miss Edgecombe?"
Marietta nodded. Josh and Draco slightly smirked at one another.
"But there was a meeting tonight!" said Umbridge furiously. "There was a meeting, Miss Edgecombe, you told me about it, in the Room of Requirement! And Black was the leader, was he not, Black organized it, Black - why are you shaking your head, girl?"
"Excuse me, Professor," Josh began, "But usually when a person shakes their head, they mean 'no'. So unless Edgecombe is using a form of secret sign-language as yet unknown to humans -"
Professor Umbridge seized Marietta, pulled her round to face her and began shaking her very hard. A split second later Dumbledore was on his feet, his wand raised; Kingsley started forwards and Umbridge leapt back from Marietta, waving her hands in the air as though they had been burned.
"I cannot allow you to manhandle my students, Dolores," said Dumbledore and, for the first time, he looked angry.
"You want to calm yourself, Madam Umbridge," said Kingsley, in his deep, slow voice. "You don't want to get yourself into trouble, now."
"No," said Umbridge breathlessly, glancing up at the towering figure of Kingsley. "I mean, yes - you're right, Shacklebolt - I - I forgot myself."
Marietta was standing exactly where Umbridge had released her. She seemed neither perturbed by Umbridge's sudden attack, nor relieved by her release; she was still clutching her robe up to her oddly blank eyes and staring straight ahead of her.
"Dolores," said Fudge, with the air of trying to settle something once and for all, "the meeting tonight - the one we know definitely happened -"
"Yes," said Umbridge, pulling herself together, "yes… well, Miss Edgecombe tipped me off and I proceeded at once to the seventh floor, accompanied by certain trustworthy students, so as to catch those in the meeting red-handed. It appears that they were forewarned of my arrival, however, because when we reached the seventh floor they were running in every direction. It does not matter, however. I have all their names here, Miss Bullstrode ran into the Room of Requirement for me to see if they had left anything behind. We needed evidence and the room provided."
And to Josh's horror, she withdrew from her pocket the list of names that had been pinned upon the Room of Requirement's wall and handed it to Fudge.
"The moment I saw Black's name on the list, I knew what we were dealing with," she said softly.
"Excellent," said Fudge, a smile spreading across his face, "excellent, Dolores. And… by thunder…" He looked up at Dumbledore, who was still standing beside Marietta, his wand held loosely in his hand. "See what they've named themselves?" said Fudge quietly. "Dumbledore's Army."
Dumbledore reached out and took the piece of parchment from Fudge. He gazed at the heading scribbled by Hermione months before and for a moment seemed unable to speak. Then he looked up, smiling. "Well, as they say, the jig is up," he said simply. "Would you like a written confession from me, Cornelius - or will a statement before these witnesses suffice?"
"What?!" Josh exclaimed as he saw McGonagall and Kingsley look at each other. There was fear in both faces. He did not understand what was going on, and nor, apparently, did Fudge.
"Statement?" said Fudge slowly. "What - I don't -?"
"Dumbledore's Army, Cornelius," said Dumbledore, still smiling as he waved the list of names before Fudge's face. "Not Black's Army or Potter's Army. Dumbledore's Army."
"But - but -" Understanding blazed suddenly in Fudges face. He took a horrified step backwards, yelped, and jumped out of the fire again. "You?" he whispered, stamping again on his smouldering cloak.
"That's right," said Dumbledore pleasantly.
"You organized this?"
"I did," said Dumbledore.
"You recruited these students for - for your army?"
"Tonight was supposed to be the first meeting," said Dumbledore, nodding. "Merely to see whether they would be interested in joining me. I see now that it was a mistake to invite Miss Edgecombe, of course."
Marietta nodded. Fudge looked from her to Dumbledore, his chest swelling.
"Then you have been plotting against me!" he yelled.
"That's right," said Dumbledore cheerfully.
"What!? No!" Josh shouted, limping forward, but suddenly falling to his knee with a wince and a groan. Kingsley flashed a look of warning at him, McGonagall widened her eyes threateningly, but it had suddenly dawned on Josh what Dumbledore was about to do, and he could not let it happen. "Professor Dumbledore -!" he groaned.
"Be quiet, Joshua, or I am afraid you will have to leave my office," said Dumbledore calmly.
"Yes, shut up, Black!" barked Fudge, who was still ogling Dumbledore with a kind of horrified delight. "Well, well, well - I came here tonight expecting to expel Black and instead -"
"Instead you get to arrest me," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It's like losing a Knut and finding a Galleon, isn't it?"
"Weasley!" cried Fudge, now positively quivering with delight, "Weasley, have you written it all down, everything he's said, his confession, have you got it?"
"Yes, sir, I think so, sir!" said Percy eagerly, whose nose was splattered with ink from the speed of his note-taking.
"The bit about how he's been trying to build up an army against the Ministry, how he's been working to destabilize me?"
"Yes, sir, I've got it, yes!" said Percy, scanning his notes joyfully.
"Very well, then," said Fudge, now radiant with glee, "duplicate your notes, Weasley, and send a copy to the Daily Prophet at once. If we send a fast owl we should make the morning edition!"
Percy dashed from the room, slamming the door behind him, and Fudge turned back to Dumbledore. "You will now be escorted back to the Ministry, where you will be formally charged, then sent to Azkaban to await trial!"
"Ah," said Dumbledore gently, "yes. Yes, I thought we might hit that little snag."
"Snag?" said Fudge, his voice still vibrating with joy. "I see no snag, Dumbledore!"
"Well," said Dumbledore apologetically, "I'm afraid I do." Josh and Draco shared a worried glance.
"Oh, really?"
"Well - it's just that you seem to be laboring under the delusion that I am going to - what is the phrase? - come quietly. I am afraid I am not going to come quietly at all, Cornelius. I have absolutely no intention of being sent to Azkaban. I could break out, of course - but what a waste of time, and frankly, I can think of a whole host of things I would rather be doing."
Umbridge's face was growing steadily redder; she looked as though she was being filled with boiling water. Fudge stared at Dumbledore with a very silly expression on his face, as though he had just been stunned by a sudden blow and could not quite believe it had happened. He made a small choking noise, then looked round at Kingsley and the man with short grey hair, who alone of everyone in the room had remained entirely silent so far. The latter gave Fudge a reassuring nod and moved forwards a little, away from the wall. Josh saw his hand drift, almost casually, towards his pocket.
"Don't be silly, Dawlish," said Dumbledore kindly. "I'm sure you are an excellent Auror - I seem to remember that you achieved 'Outstanding' in all your NEWT s — but if you attempt to — er — bring me in by force, I will have to hurt you."
The man called Dawlish blinked rather foolishly. He looked towards Fudge again, but this time seemed to be hoping for a clue as to what to do next.
"So," sneered Fudge, recovering himself, "you intend to take on Dawlish, Shacklebolt, Dolores and myself single-handed, do you, Dumbledore?"
"Merlin's beard, no," said Dumbledore, smiling, "not unless you are foolish enough to force me to."
"He will not be single-handed!" said Professor McGonagall loudly, plunging her hand inside her robes. Josh nodded towards Draco who gave him a bewlidered look and shook his head. Josh nodded again while Draco nodded and rolled his eyes, discreetly handing his wand to Josh.
"Oh yes he will, Minerva!" said Dumbledore sharply. "Hogwarts needs you!"
"Enough of this rubbish!" said Fudge, pulling out his own wand. "Dawlish! Shacklebolt! Take him!"
A streak of silver light flashed around the room; there was a bang like a gunshot and the floor trembled; with whatever strength he could muster, Josh kneeled down, pointing his wand at who he thought was the right target and fired a spell, Fawkes screeched and a cloud of dust filled the air. Squinting through the dust, Josh saw a dark figure fall to the ground with a crash in front of him; there was a shriek and a thud and somebody cried, "No!"; then there was the sound of breaking glass, frantically scuffling footsteps, a groan… and silence. He hoped he hit the person he wanted and not one of the Professors.
Josh slowly stood to his feet, as some of the dust began to clear. He saw McGonagall crouched somewhere with Draco and Marietta by her side out of harm's way. He could see Dumbledore who was moving towards them.
"Are you all right?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes!" said Professor McGonagall, getting up and dragging Draco and Marietta with her.
The dust was clearing. The wreckage of the office loomed into view: Dumbledore's desk had been overturned, all of the spindly tables had been knocked to the floor, their silver instruments in pieces. Fudge, Umbridge, Kingsley and Dawlish lay motionless on the floor. Fawkes the phoenix soared in wide circles above them, singing softly.
"Unfortunately, I had to hex Kingsley too, or it would have looked very suspicious. However, Joshua, thank you for the help, even though your intended curse was aimed at me," said Dumbledore in a low voice.
"Sorry, professor," Josh replied with a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Anyways, Shacklebolt was remarkably quick on the uptake, modifying Miss Edgecombe's memory like that while everyone was looking the other way - thank him, for me, won't you, Minerva?
"Now, they will all awake very soon and it will be best if they do not know that we had time to communicate - you must act as though no time has passed, as though they were merely knocked to the ground, they will not remember -"
"Where will you go, Dumbledore?" whispered Professor McGonagall. "Grimmauld Place?"
"Oh no," said Dumbledore, with a grim smile, "I am not leaving to go into hiding. Fudge will soon wish he'd never dislodged me from Hogwarts, I promise you."
"Professor Dumbledore…" Josh began, wondering what was about to happen with him gone.
"Everything's going to be alright, Josh," He said urgently. "Please do continue teaching Harry Occlumency. Practice as much you can. Tell him to close his mind. He will understand." Josh nodded weakly, wondering how in the world Dumbledore knew about those particular lessons.
The man called Dawlish was stirring. "One more thing, Joshua," Dumbledore said quickly. "Twenty points from Gryffindor for illegal dueling. Ten from you, and ten from Harry. See to Madam Pomfrey!"
Fawkes circled the office and swooped low over him. Dumbledore raised his hand and grasped the phoenix's long golden tail. There was a flash of fire and the pair of them were gone. Josh was surprised, more so about the Headmaster knowing about him and Harry having an illegal duel.
"Where is he?" yelled Fudge, pushing himself up from the floor. "Where is he?"
"I don't know!" shouted Kingsley, also leaping to his feet.
"Well, he can't have Disapparated!" cried Umbridge as Josh noticed his wand on the floor. "You can't do it from inside this school -"
"The stairs!" cried Dawlish, and he flung himself upon the door, wrenched it open and disappeared, followed closely by Kingsley and Umbridge. Fudge hesitated, then got slowly to his feet, brushing dust from his front. There was a long and painful silence as Josh slowly picked up his wand and handing Draco his.
"Well, Minerva," said Fudge nastily, straightening his torn shirtsleeve, "I'm afraid this is the end of your friend Dumbledore."
"You think so, do you?" said Professor McGonagall scornfully.
Fudge seemed not to hear her. He was looking around at the wrecked office. A few of the portraits hissed at him; one or two even made rude hand gestures.
"You'd better get those three off to bed," said Fudge, looking back at Professor McGonagall with a dismissive nod towards Josh, Draco, and Marietta.
Professor McGonagall said nothing, but marched Josh, Draco, and Marietta to the door and down the steps. "Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Black, I assure you two know where the Hospital wing is?" she said. Draco and Josh nodded. "Good. I will escort Miss Edgecomb back to her common room." The two boys nodded towards their Transfiguration professor and began to leave towards the Hospital Wing.
"Merlin, that was insane," Draco said in excitement, while nursing his broken arm.
Josh nodded, just barely noticing that he was wheezing. "Do you feel light headed or tired?" he asked, his vision blurring.
"No, not particular, Draco answered moving ahead of Josh. "Though my arm is hurting a significant amount. I mean - " Draco stopped and turned, horrified at what he saw. "Josh!" he bellowed, running up to Josh who had fainted to the ground. "You stupid git!" Was the last thing Josh heard when he went completely unconsious.
"I don't care who started it! Both of them are idiots!" he heard a familiar. "I thought Potter was such this big Hero? Look what he did to my boyfriend! Josh isn't some villain?"
"No one is accusing him as a villain!" spoke another familiar voice.
"And if I remember correctly, didn't you two break up?" spoke a third familiar voice. "And didn't he fire the first spell?"
"No, he didn't!" spoke the second voice. "You did, you insensitive troll! You punched him!"
"And you deserved it," the first soothing voice came back into play. He knew exactly who this was. It was Daphne's.
"Look, whatever happened, happened," spoke a fourth voice. "It's over now. Let's get over it. We have bigger thing's to worry about; like how the D.A. is no more, and how Umbridge is now Headmistress!"
Josh's eyes shot open. "What!?"