Ch.29: The Fight
After Umbridge left, Dumbledore had to find a new Defense teacher very quickly.
After much consideration and a lot of badgering on Sirius' part, Remus agreed to take the job back.
Word had gotten around quickly that Maisie got Umbridge sacked, and her "Inquisitorial Squad" was not happy with her.
Malfoy made that perfectly clear to her one day as she was walking down the corridor with Ron and Hermione.
"Potter!", he called. Maisie rolled her eyes and turned around.
"Yes, Malfoy?"
"I heard your precious godfather got Umbridge sacked. Can't fight your own battles, can you?"
"Shove it, Malfoy", Ron shot back, "The toad was torturing Maisie. How could Sirius just sit and watch?"
"Besides", Hermione chimed in, "You're only upset that she's gone because you and the others were getting special treatment. More than usual, anyway."
Pansy Parkinson and Blaise Zabini had joined Malfoy at this point.
"And what is that to you, Mudblood?", Pansy asked.
Ron pulled out his wand but Maisie grabbed his arm. "Don't, Ron. They aren't worth it."
Malfoy laughed. "See this? She calls herself a Gryffindor and she's afraid of a duel!"
"I'm not afraid", she told him, "I'm just not in the mood to get in trouble because of you three."
The Slytherins continued to laugh. Ron had had enough. He pulled out his wand and shot a stunning spell at Zabini.
"Hah! The blood traitor is less afraid than Potter is!", Zabini chuckled as he easily blocked the spell.
Pansy shot a Stinging Jinx at Hermione, which hit her arm.
Maisie tried to disarm her, but while she was distracted, Malfoy shot a hex at her that cut her cheek.
She hissed in pain and held her hand to her face, feeling the blood flowing from it.
Remus hurried over and summoned their wands from them.
"What is going on here?", he asked sharply, eyeing each of the students in turn. He stopped when he saw Maisie.
"Malfoy hexed her and it cut her cheek", Hermione explained, looking at her friend sympathetically.
Remus nodded. "Ron, Hermione, you two go to Professor McGonagall and explain what happened. You three", he turned to the Slytherins, "may go to Professor Snape."
"Maisie, come with me, please."
Once they got to his office, Maisie sat down and Remus gave her a cloth to hold on the cut.
"What happened?", he asked, looking through his cabinets.
"Malfoy happened", she said. She then explained everything to him.
"I really didn't want to fight them", Maisie said as she finished the story. "He shot the hex at me."
"Yes", Remus said, kneeling in front of her and opening a salve. "But you could have very easily walked away from them and gotten a teacher."
"Pull your hair back", he instructed. Maisie pulled her hair into a ponytail, wincing as the salve made contact with the cut.
"Are you going to give me detention?", she asked quietly. Remus shook his head.
"No, but when you get home, I want you to tell Sirius what's happened. Okay?"
Maisie sighed, but nodded anyway.
"Alright", Remus told her when he finished. "Hurry and get to lunch. And Maisie?"
She turned around.
"I don't want to hear your name when I hear about dueling again. Okay?"
Maisie smiled. "Okay. Thank you."
Thanks for reading!
