Disclaimer: I still do not own Harry Potter or any of the related titles. As mentioned many times before, the only character I own is Madeleine Black.

A/N: So I'm sorry this wasn't posted the other night like I promised. I got really busy. I was attending Soulfest for a day and really needed to pack. It's a concert thing, for any of you who have never heard of it. It was really cool. I had a good time. But, anywho, I have had to type this chapter over and over and over, because I didn't have access to my book, and messed up the order of things a lot. So this one should be pretty accurate. I'm excited. I need to pull the book back out again, just to be careful. These last couple years are going to be tricky. Anyway, please enjoy you guys. It's a bit longer than usual.

Chapter 37: The Abominable Umbridge

Not a single Gryffindor found themselves excited for the first Defense Against the Dark Arts class with Umbridge. They huddled outside the classroom, each muttering their own opinions on the strange new professor. Maddy approached the growing crowd, a bit concerned she hadn't seen Harry all morning. Neville turned immediately, nodding in her direction. She looked like she'd been awake all night.

"Are you okay?" he asked, peering into her worn face. She had bags under her eyes, nearly the color of eggplant. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine…" she murmured, leaning against the wall next to him. She closed her eyes, her cheeks puffing out as she exhaled. "Have you seen Harry?"

Neville shook his head. "No," he said. "I haven't seen him all morning. He didn't say much after the fight last night, and was gone when I left for breakfast this morning."

Maddy ran a pale hand over her heated forehead. She didn't feel good. She didn't want to go to class. She wanted to find out where Harry was. And she thought about going to see Madame Pomfrey. Something wasn't right inside her. She didn't feel right.

"You heard about the fight, didn't you?" Neville asked, his voice growing quiet. He glanced hesitantly over his shoulder at the others behind him. "About Seamus?"

Maddy nodded, still not opening her eyes. She wanted to pretend as much as possible she was back in her bed, fast asleep.

"Yeah…" Maddy responded, pulling herself away from the wall. She ran a hand through her whitening hair. "Yeah, I heard about it. Crazy. Everyone's just going absolutely crazy right now…"

Neville nodded in agreement. He looked up quickly to see the boy in question walking toward them, his red-haired friend at his side. Hermione was close in tow behind them, holding her books tight to her chest. They stopped short in front of Neville and Maddy. Maddy felt a wave of relief crash over her when Harry came into view. For a moment, she thought about grabbing him by the arm and taking him as far away from there as possible. She didn't need to talk to him. She just wanted to be alone. She wanted it to be okay to hug him again.

"Where have you been?" she blurted, finding nothing else to say.

Harry looked up quickly. He too looked like he'd suffered another sleepless night. "What do you mean?" he asked calmly.

"You weren't at breakfast," she pointed out. "I-I was wondering where you were."

Harry turned his gaze away from her, trying not to look bothered by her concern. He cleared his throat loudly, brushing the side of his nose. "I had some stuff I had to deal with. I'm sorry. You must have missed all of us."

Maddy nodded. She knew something was bothering him, but they couldn't talk about it there. Before she could say anything else, the door to the classroom opened, and the crowd started to make their way inside. Maddy jumped as Harry's hand landed gently on her lower back, guiding her way in. The others didn't seem to notice.

Inside, Harry and Ron took seats next to each other, while Maddy and Hermione took the seats in front of them. Umbridge entered from the back of the classroom, making her way toward the desk at the very front. Like she had been the night before, she was clad nearly entirely in pink, glowing brightly in the sunlight coming from her high windows.

"Good morning class…" she said pleasantly, her sickly sweet smile back for another visit. She stared at them from her place at the front of the class for a good few minutes before finishing her sentence.

Maddy found it difficult to listen to this woman. She truly was much more terrible than she ever expected her to be. It took all the strength Maddy had not to drive a screwdriver right into her head. Hermione glanced sideways at her, sighing. She felt the same way.

Umbridge stood at the front of her class, a long roll of parchment in her hands. She smiled around at them, the smile appearing much more forced than Maddy could have ever imagined.

"I suppose it's best I take attendance," she said as pleasantly as she could muster, overdoing it just the tiniest bit. "Since I do not yet know all of your names."

She pulled a long sheet of parchment from her desk. Maddy glanced back at Harry who stared down at the book in front of him, the tips of his ears turning a bright shade of red. It was not from embarrassment, she was sure, but instead frustration. He didn't care much for this Umbridge woman. Not after what she'd said and done at his hearing. It was going to make for an interesting year.

"Black, Madeleine," Umbridge announced loudly, after listing off the very few names that came before hers.

Maddy whipped back around, startled by the sudden mention of her name. She raised her hand tentatively, trying her best to find some kind of a voice. The woman was a bit intimidating to say the least. Certainly she would assume Maddy's heritage and form her own opinions very quickly.

"M-Maddy," she managed to get out, attempting to sound friendly. "You can call me Maddy."

Umbridge raised an eyebrow, looking back down at the paper before her. "Miss Black," she said, emphasizing Maddy's last name. She paused a moment before continuing, giving a little cough. She purposely skipped over Harry's name, not even bothering to give the boy a second look. He didn't take it personally.

What happened next was not something they would all forget very quickly. When they were told they would merely be learning magical theory, rather than performing and practicing spells, the room blew up in an uproar. Umbridge, however, could not be moved on the subject, and when Harry decided to speak up about it, she showed her true intentions - those being very similar to the ones Hermione had believed them to be.

The very first class of the semester and Harry received his first detention. Not since he'd been at Hogwarts, but of the school year. Harry, unfortunately, did not learn his lesson after receiving this detention, however, and continued to argue Umbridge's firm denial of Voldemort's return.

This resulted in Harry's removal from the classroom. Maddy turned quickly, exchanging glances with Ron, who had turned a vibrant shade of white. She could see his Adam's apple move as he swallowed, his eyes falling back onto the bright pink woman, shaking with rage at the front of the classroom. When the door closed, she adjusted her cardigan and coughed a couple times, hoping to regain the attention of the rest of her class.

"Forgive Mr. Potter for his rude behavior," she said calmly, her face still a darker shade than her outfit. "He knows not what he says. I repeat, and cannot emphasize enough to you, that You-Know-Who has not returned. You have nothing to worry about. And you are not in any danger. Cedric Diggory died accidentally. It was tragic, and the situation has been dealt with."

Maddy felt her nails dig into the wood of her desk. This woman was unbelievable. How they could simply brush off the death of a young man like Cedric Diggory without a second thought or feeling of remorse, was beyond her. The Ministry had to be filled with the dumbest wizards and witches the world could find.

"Now," she concluded. She placed the parchment down on the desk beside her, peering out at her class, her hands folded in front of her. She took a deep breath before daring to continue. "Do you have any questions before we get started?"

Not a single person in the class dared to raise their hand. Umbridge turned her attention to Maddy, Ron and Hermione for a brief moment before she rounded her desk, flipping open her very own copy of their work book. With a flick of her wand, chalk lifted from the board and began to write out their assigned pages. They would spend the next hour of class, flipping slowly through the book, retaining little to no information.

"Do you think she's working for you-know-who?" Ron asked, peeking over his shoulder as they headed to dinner that night. He didn't want anyone to overhear him, though the rumor might help their intentions to get rid of the horrible new professor.

Harry had rejoined them. He told them McGonagall had done nothing to punish him when Umbridge kicked him out. He knew she wouldn't. She knew just as well as he did that he was telling the truth and that Fudge and all his little Ministry followers were completely full of it.

He didn't respond to Ron's comment, though, focusing forward. He wasn't hungry, but he wanted something in his mouth, so he'd have an excuse to avoid talking.

"Umbridge?" Maddy almost laughed. "Absolutely not."

"You would know…" Harry said off-handedly.

"What?" Ron turned quickly, having not caught what Harry said. Maddy shot Harry a look and he shrugged, pretending he hadn't said a word.

Hermione clutched her books close to her chest and sighed. "I don't think she's working for you-know-who, but I certainly think she has a lot of gall to think she can treat us like that. Detention on the first day. Not even Snape would do that."

"I beg to differ…" Harry muttered, not at all impressed with his fate. He knew already that he and Umbridge would have issues. He wanted to know more about why she was there, but he would have to get Maddy alone, and he didn't know quite where that would lead.

Maddy glanced at him, noticing his strange expression. "I would tell you not to take it personally, Harry, she's like that to everyone, but it really is rather personal. She just doesn't want you to think you have the upper-hand because you're a big shot around here."

"I'm not a big shot," Harry responded, a look of offense dawning on his face. "I'm -"

"You're Harry freaking Potter, mate," Ron pointed out, laughing a bit. "I don't really think you can say you're not a big shot. Everyone knows who you are -"

"And that does give you a little bit of an ego sometimes," Hermione chimed in.

"It doesn't make us love you any less…" Maddy added, patting his arm gently.

"But it does mean that you can pretty much do whatever you want," Ron continued.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Whenever you want…"

"And Dumbledore isn't about to punish you," Maddy said. "At least not seriously."

"And -" Ron started, holding a finger up, indicating he'd just thought of something else.

"Okay!" Harry said loudly, holding his hands up to silence his friends, who all smiled playfully. He was clearly honestly annoyed, but they knew he'd get over it quickly. He would have to. They were only teasing. "I get it. I get it. I'm a big shot."

"Well, a little more than a big shot…" Maddy said quietly, out of the corner of her mouth. "I mean, you did save the entire Wizarding World when you were like two."

"Okay, shut up, Mad," he replied irritably, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably. It didn't make sense that Umbridge didn't like him just because he survived Voldemort's killing curse as a child. Who, aside from Voldemort and all his followers of course, could possibly hate him for that?

Maddy smiled. For a moment, she'd forgotten completely about their little confrontation back at Number 12 Grimmauld Place over the summer. She almost expected them to duck into the next side corridor, away from the bustling students, Ron and Hermione included, for a quick kiss and a snuggle.

But that wouldn't happen. Her smile faded instantly as it all came crashing back and she focused forward, ignoring the fact the sleeve of Harry's robe was gently brushing against her hand.

She came to a sudden stop when a familiar boy crossed their path, surrounding by a few other boys clad in blue ties. Maddy swallowed hard as only for a brief moment, she looked into the eyes of Terry Boot. She hadn't seen him or spoken to him since the Yule Ball. He showed no signs of recognizing her and passed on quickly. Maddy felt her hand begin to shake as she remembered how frightened she had been, and how angry Harry had gotten when he realized just what had happened to her.

She didn't have that kind of protection anymore. It was strange, honestly. She'd gone nearly every single year of her Hogwarts career with a close male friend who would protect her no matter what. For a girl who believed she could defend herself in even the most dire of situations, and hated being saved, she realized she relied on them far too much, and from here on in, she really would be on her own to defend herself

Harry, of course, would continue attempting to save her, no matter what happened. She wasn't stupid. Hermione was right. He had a 'saving people thing', and no matter what happened to their friendship, even if she became a Death Eater and supported Voldemort to the fullest, Harry would do anything in his power to save her if her life was in jeopardy.

"Mad…Hello! Earth to Madeleine…" Ron's voice penetrated her stupor.

She shook her head quickly, shaking any and all thoughts of her potential path choices from her mind. She would deal with those at a later time. She needn't bother with them now.

"What?" she asked innocently, "I'm sorry. I didn't hear you."

"What are you staring at?" This had not been his original question. Even she knew that.

"Staring?" she blinked slowly. "I wasn't staring at anything." She was lying.

"You're lying." He could still see right through her. Just like Harry. Only Ron dared to vocalize it.

Maddy shook her head. "No, I'm not lying. I was just thinking about something Umbridge said. A-About not practicing spells. Quite foolish don't you think?"

It wasn't the best change of subject in the history of crisis aversions, but it was the best she could come up with on the spot. She was certain Harry would have little to no interest in discussing the fact Terry Boot had not given her a second glance when he walked by, nor would any of them like to know Maddy had secretly been wondering what it would be like if she became a Death Eater.

It wasn't that she was honestly considering it, but curiosity never hurt her before.

They entered the Great Hall, chatter buzzing between students, new and old. Several pairs of eyes followed them to their seats, more whispering erupting as they traveled along the Gryffindor table. They sat rather quickly, and ate, trying their best to ignore all the others. It didn't last long however, Hermione finally insisting they leave.

As they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, the four of them fell silent, the thought of their impending homework looming over their heads. Ron looked more than disgusted to leave his apple pie for a Potions essay. He'd tried to bring it with him, but Hermione made him leave it behind.

They'd nearly made it to the fifth floor when Maddy felt something hit her hand. She looked down quickly to see Harry's hand inconspicuously bumping hers. They made contact a third time, and he took her hand into his own, only for a fleeting moment. Maddy felt her heart leap into her throat, before she felt the tiny slip of paper he'd left behind in her palm. Confused, she gave him a look, her eyebrows furrowing. He ignored her completely, letting go of her hand and pushing ahead of Ron and Hermione.

Maddy fell behind, subtly unfolding the miniscule piece of parchment. Glancing down quickly, she could barely make out Harry's scratchy writing.

"Midnight. Astronomy Tower."

A/N: Oooohhh secret notes. Who knows what's going to happen next? Okay, don't get your hopes up folks. I mean, don't rule anything out yet…like immediately, because I'm missing the Harry/Maddy-ness. And there really hasn't been enough of it in this entire story - so I've got to give you something right?

Wrong. I'm a mean author. You forget this. Hehe. Just teasing. I might give you something. I'm feelin' the romance at the moment. So who knows. We'll see what Harry and Maddy think should happen in the next scene. Tell me what you think.

Much Love!