MMM: So, SO sorry, you guys! I know I promised the new chapter weeks ago, but I completely blanked on it. Words cannot express how sorry I am. But i'm posting it now... finally.

OK, so this year, things are really going to be crazy. But then again, we all knew that. Umbridge is there, after all. But it's different then what you think. If you've seen my youtube video, 'Bring me to Life', then you'll know that something big is going to happen. What? ... I'm really not sure of that myself. All I know that it's seriously going to test certain relationships.

AC: What is that suppose to mean? *glares at author*

MMM: Pretty much what I just said.

Anyway, I do not own Harry Potter. Unfrotunately. If I did, I would have written it a little differently (like the way I'm writing it now)


Ch. 54 Upchuck Umbridge

Anya was pissed off, no question about it. And the day had started off so well. She had a good night's sleep, her usually untameable hair had been manageable enough to put it into a stylish hairdo, and her wonderful and caring boyfriend sent her a simple 'have a good day' note in her owl post at breakfast. Even the morning classes had been alright since the teachers had opened the classroom windows, allowing the decent warm breeze and sunlight in. It had gone wonderfully.

That is, until after lunch… in Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Everyone was pretty much doing their own thing as they waited for the class to start. A couple of the Slytherins and Gryffindors were off in the back having a paper ball war, occasionally switching their targets to the students sitting in the back row. Others were doodling on spare parchment or just chatting with their friends about their summer or some other carefree thing. Anya watched from her seat on top of a desk as one of the Pavarti twins tapped their wand on an origami phoenix in their palm, spelling it to take flight. Slipping her wand out from her sleeve, Anya flicked her wand at it as it flew overhead so that its plain white coloring took on the classic fiery reds and yellows of a real phoenix's feathers.

"Nicely done," Ron complimented. Anya made a show of bowing. "Wicked cool."

Suddenly, the paper phoenix burst into flames, its charred remains gently fluttering to the ground. "I didn't do that," Anya stated.

"Good morning, children." Every pair of eyes turned to see Professor Umbridge standing at the doorway, her wand pointed at the destroyed origami on the ground.

"Ah, my eyes!" Anya whispered to Hermione as everyone scurried to their seats, discreetly pointing to the crazy amount of pink the woman was wearing: a fluorescent pink dress suit made of tweed with a pair of high heeled mary janes with ugly pink bows attached to the buckles. "Where does this woman shop? Pukes-R-Us?" She faintly heard the brunette chuckle over the annoying click-clack that came with every step the teacher took.

"Ordinary… Wizarding… Level… examinations," Umbridge began in an overly-cheerful voice while she spelled a piece of chalk to write the first three words down on the board in a row. "O-W-Ls. More commonly referred to as 'OWLs'. Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences will be… severe."

"How about you tell us something we didn't already know," Anya mumbled to herself as she began doodling on the cover of her notebook. A minute into the class and she was already bored out of her mind. How on earth would she be able to stay awake in this class with Ms. Boring?

But that bored feeling quickly disappeared. Everyone watched as Umbridge flicked her wand at a couple piles of books on her desk that began to float through the aisles between desks, dropping a book in front of each student as it passed by. Anya looked down at the cover and felt her confusion go up a few notches. "'Dark Arts Defense Basics for Beginners'? Why are we getting these?" She flipped through the pages, not even bothering to pretend to listen to whatever Umbridge was saying. "Where are the spells?"

"Yes Ms. Collins? Is everything alright dear?"

Anya hadn't even realized that she had talked out loud. Looking up, she came face to face with the big blue eyes of the plump teacher. "Oh, sorry ma'am," she apologized, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable under the woman's gaze. "It's just that… there aren't any kinds of defense spells in this. How are we supposed to know what spells to use?"

"Using spells? And why ever would you need to use spells in my class?" Umbridge asked, her sugar-sweet attitude slowly beginning to grate on Anya's nerves.

"We're not going to use magic?" Ron asked, clearly as confused as everyone else in the class.

"You will be learning about magic in a secure, risk free environment," the woman elaborated, going on and on about things like 'theoretical studies' and 'what school is all about'.

And that's when things went bad. Every time Harry tried to voice his thoughts, like how could theory prepare them for the real world and that it wasn't as 'safe' out there as she was making it sound like, Umbridge would suddenly act as cross as if she was being faced with some juvenile delinquent that was trying to sell drugs to little kids or something. Eventually, the old broad got so fired up that she gave Harry detention for a week.

"This woman is seriously weird," Anya commented as class was let out. She waved her new school book around. "I mean, seriously! What does she expect us to learn from this piece of junk? How to write boring essays on how magic works?"

"Look on the bright side," Ron piped in. "She's got the post for Defense Against the Dark Arts. With any luck, the old bat will be gone before the school year's up."

Anya let out a groan. "That seems like it's so far away," she whined.

What none of the four friends knew though was that this was only the beginning, and it was about to get much worse.

,:~:,

"You know, I still can't believe that you guys both got prefect duty," Anya commented as she, Hermione, and Ron climbed through the portrait hole. After dinner, the three of them had decided to hang out in the Great Hall for some time until Harry was finished with his detention. "I mean, it makes sense that they gave Hermione the job- she's the smartest girl in our year. But… I don't know. I'm trying to understand why they'd give it to you Ron, but other than being really good at wizard chess and eating, you're kind of an average student."

"How am I suppose to know?" the redhead asked, his ears slowly turning pink with embarrassment. "It's not like they tell you why you get the job. All they did was stuff my badge into the same letter they sent for the schoolbooks list."

"I'm not saying that they made a huge mistake or that you're dumb, Ron!" Anya quickly said. "I'm just surprised. That's all. And I'm proud of you."

"Well, I think that it's perfect for him," Hermione announced. "It'll teach you some responsibility, Ronald. With any luck, your grades will improve and you'll develop a strong study strategy and-"

"Ok Hermione. Let's not go making a male version of yourself here," Anya teased as she plopped down on the couch beside Harry. "So? How was detention with the pink toad?" she asked him, ignoring the appalled 'Anya!' that came from Hermione.

"Fine," he replied curtly, not even glancing up from the book in his lap.

Anya looked at him oddly before she figured that he was just tired from the first day back. With a sigh, she looked down at the book to see what was so fascinating that could make her friend ignore them. When she did, she noticed that the cuff of his shirt sleeve, which had been pulled so far down his arm that it nearly reached his fingertips, sported a large spot of blood.

"What is that?" she asked as she started at the spot. Ignoring the boy's protests, Anya grabbed Harry's arm and yanked the sleeve up to expose the back of his hand. Sitting there, blood slowly oozing out of the scabbing wounds, were the words 'I must not tell lies' etched into his very skin. "What… is that?" she asked again, this time with words laced with venom so intense, it could take down a basilisk. "Did she do that to you?"

Hermione looked over the back of the couch to see what Anya was talking about and when she saw the marks, she gasped. "Harry, you have to report her!" she insisted. "Dumbledore has to know about this!"

"No," Harry argued as he pulled his arm out of Anya's grip. "Dumbledore's got more than enough to worry about right now. Besides, I don't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction."

"Bloody hell, mate. The woman's torturing you," Ron stated. "If the parents knew about this-"

"Yeah well, I haven't got any of those, now do I?" Harry bit out. Although her heart ached whenever she thought how difficult it must have been for Harry to grow up without a mother or father, Anya had to restrain herself from smacking him for his sharp reply. Ever since this summer, Harry had been acting a lot like a jerk and it was really getting annoying. With a huff, Harry grabbed his things and marched up the stairs to the boy's dorm room.

"What's gotten into him, you suppose?" Ron asked, visibly flinching as the door slammed shut behind their friend.

"No clue… But I'm going to find out- one way or another," Anya promised.

"Well, Harry may not be willing to go tell a teacher about Umbridge, but I am," Hermione announced. Before either Ron or Anya could stop her, the brunette was already up and out the portrait hole, heading to where Anya guessed was Professor McGonagall's office. The two friends sighed before they decided to have a game of wizard chess. After all, there had never been any stopping Hermione when she put her mind to something, and that would probably never change.

,:~:,

"…And now, this is going on. Honestly, I think there's something seriously messed up with this school," Anya continued talking to Draco. "I mean seriously- think about it. In the past four years, we've had the following for DA teachers: a man who quite literally had two faces- one of them belonging to an evil, sick son of a bitch wizard, a prissy little loser who only cared about his looks, an actual decent teacher who had to quit because parents didn't want a werewolf around their kids, and a Death Eater using polyjuice potion to look like the real wizard who was chosen for the job that he kidnapped. That job really is cursed."

Draco listened to ever word with a sense of dread clenching at his heart. His father, Lucius, had talked about the new professor, practically singing her praises, for thinking the 'right way'. And Draco knew that whatever his father thought was 'right' for the wizarding world normally meant trouble for everyone else, especially for anyone like his girlfriend- muggleborn.

He had to admit that he felt bad for Potter. Here he was, trying to warn people that You-Know-Who was back, and what do they do? Call him a liar.

Yes, Draco did believe that the darkest wizard of all time was back from the dead. Draco had noticed how often his father had left the manor in the middle of the night over the summer, sometimes not even returning until days later. And although Lucius had tried to hide it, the Malfoy heir had always seen the Death Eater mask his father wore poking from the pocket of his robes.

That was one of the things that worried Draco the most- the fact that his father was a loyal supporter of You-Know-Who. He figured that it would only be a matter of time before his father had him join. The thought of the very idea had Draco awake late at night with worry. At times, Draco had even considered telling Anya the truth about his father and convince her to run as far away as possible with him. He would gladly give up his wealth and power to be with her.

"Draco? Are you alright?" The young wizard snapped out of his thoughts to see his girlfriend staring at him with concern.

"I'm sorry Anya. My mind was elsewhere. What was that?" Draco apologized.

"I said that I know it probably won't ever happen, but do you think you could talk to the other Slytherins?" Anya asked. "Try to get them to lay off a bit with the personal attacks at Harry? He's really got a lot on his plate right now and they aren't helping. Please?" she pouted.

"I'll see what I can do. Just stop pouting," he replied while looking away. He hated seeing her pout- it looked so miserable.

Anya's lips instantly curved into a smile as she leaned over the table and gave him a quick kiss before turning back to her homework. Draco cracked a smile before reaching out to take her free hand in his, gently stroking his thumb along her knuckles as he flipped through a random book.

He did try to get the other Slytherins to lay off. While some of them to agree to do so, just because they wanted to appease the Malfoy heir (Crabbe and Goyle), most of them thought he was nuts and just ignored him.

And of course, Pansy Parkinson had to question him on his actions.

"Why should we? We all know Potter's lying, and so is Dumbledore. It's just some stupid joke they're trying to pull," she insisted. "You just want to look good for you girlfriend." She hissed out the word 'girlfriend'. Draco knew that Pansy was angry at the American witch ever since he told her that he had no intentions of going through with the arranged marriage their parents had made. But even if he had never met Anya, Draco still would have never married her.

"Just keep your snide remarks to yourself," he growled out before heading up to his dorm room.

,:~:,

Anya leaned up against a tree with her arms crossed, waiting for Harry to come out of the edge of the Dark Forest. This whole 'avoiding her and the others' thing was getting really old and she was going to end this once and for all.

Why couldn't he just see that he needed them? They had been friends for years now, sticking by one another through thick and thin. Sure, some spats may have torn them apart for a while, but they always realized just how stupid they had been acting and made up. It was what friends do.

So why was he being so difficult? Was it something about those nightmares he'd been having? Yes, Anya knew about them, even before Ron told her and Hermione- the dark circles under his eyes were enough of a clue. If it was, then why didn't he just tell them? They've been up against mountain trolls and giant snakes, braved through the Forbidden Forest. Hell, they survived Gilderoy Lockhart's class. If they could handle that, they could handle anything.

A twig snapping brought Anya out of her thoughts and she looked up as Harry and Luna Lovegood came walking out of the forest. When the dark haired wizard saw her standing there, he immediately ran up to her and wrapped her up in a hug that could rival hers. "I'm sorry Anya. I've been a complete arse."

"You think?" Anya scoffed but returned the hug with a smile. "Good to have you back," she whispered. When she pulled away, her hand made a sharp 'smack!' against the back of his head. "That's for being such a jerk, Potter. And if you ever do that again to me, I promise I'll do worse than that!" she threatened him.

"Hello Anya," Luna greeted in her dreamy, spaced out voice.

"Oh, hey Luna. How's it going?" Anya greeted back. "I take it that you're the one to thank for this Kodak moment here." She looked down at the blonde's feet to see that they were completely bare. "Umm… why aren't you wearing any shoes?"

"Nargles," was the reply she got. "I think I'll go have some pudding." And with that, the two friends watched as the Ravenclaw student merrily skipped away without a care in the world.

"You know," Anya began as she and Harry slowly made their way back to the castle," I don't think I'll ever truly understand that girl."

"You and me both," Harry agreed.


MMM: So, there you have it! Hope you all liked this chapter. With any luck, I'll get some new ones typed up soon. Wish me luck!

And please, don't forget to read and review! You don't even have to sign up to fanfiction! Guests can post comments too! Please?

Nancy (aka megamatchmaker)