Harry and the twins were banned from playing quidditch. Forever. Angelina almost fainted, and I'm fairly certain she wanted to cry when she heard the news. What made matters worse, with Umbridge's new powers, she could alter punishments already given, which meant Malfoy was relieved from any detentions and given the twenty points back for his trouble. That smug little weasel, I wanted nothing more than to simply go over there and slap him. Harry was exceedingly depressed at losing his broom, so after a couple of days, I walked up to him with two brooms in my hands, finding him staring longingly at the pitch from the grounds. "Oh, hi Mia." He said absently, so I then thrust a broom at him.

"Let's go flying." Startled, he quickly looked down to see my Firebolt being pushed against his chest.

"I…what?"

"Fly. Let's go flying. I could do with some fresh air and getting away for a bit, and I think you could too." I informed him, making him take my broom as I mounted the one I'd borrowed off Angelina. It wasn't the same as my broom, but it would keep up to some extent, and I couldn't exactly go up to Umbridge's office, break in and steal the broomsticks back. Believe me. I'd tried, almost got caught too. "Come on, trust me. You have a lifelong ban on quidditch, it doesn't mean you can't fly a broom for leisure. I'll help you get your own back somehow, but for now, use mine. I think you could do with the speed." Looking rather relieved and a little happier, Harry mounted up and together, we kicked off the ground.

We circled the towers of the castle, looping around them a few times at a leisurely speed to enjoy the feeling of the wind in our hair. I'd cast a charm on us to keep us both warm, so neither of us felt the cold as we then zoomed towards the grounds in order to glide over the lake. We crossed and weaved together, giving little whoops as we performed tricks and generally just enjoyed the experience. We were having fun, but then tentacles suddenly shot up from under the water and we both yelled, having to artfully dodge and swerve as the Giant Squid tried to catch us playfully, and once we were free the both of us laughed.

I was right. This was exactly what Harry needed. Time away from the castle, from Umbridge, from everything really. He was stressed and I felt bad that there was little I could do about it, but at the very least, I could do this much. In any case, he and I were in the same boat as Umbridge was now clamping down on me as well. She popped up almost everywhere. At the dinner table, the library, in class, it was like she was just searching for a reason to pin me but I gave her nothing. If anything, I was behaving like a model student. Only once or twice did I come close to hexing her, but each time, I'd just pack up and run away before I could lose my temper. I couldn't wait to get away for Christmas, and I was eager to see what it would be like to spend it with dad. We'd be together, and I'm pretty sure Molly was planning to host Christmas there too, which meant all of the Weasleys and Harry as well, so it was going to be exceedingly festive.

Putting on a burst of speed, Harry and I raced each other over the treetops of the Forbidden Forest, weaving through them like an obstacle course before I realised we'd been out here for over an hour so I called to Harry and signalled that we should land soon. We returned to the castle, which somehow didn't seem as inviting and wondrous as it had done in the past. Whether that was due to the fact that Umbridge was polluting the hallways with her presence or the fact that I'd been here seven years already, I didn't know. "That was brilliant! Thanks Mia, I needed that."

"No problem. If you want to borrow my broom again just let me know. I find a refreshing flight always clears the mind, especially…"

"Hem-hem." Aw shoot. It's her. "Dear me Potter, breaking rules are we? I seem to recall that I banned you from flying ever again."

"You banned him from quidditch, not flying." I corrected her sharply, taking a step forwards to naturally cover Harry as I glared at her. "And it's not against the school rules to fly around the grounds so long as you have permission, I checked, and I asked Professor McGonagall. I have her permission slip right here." Promptly retrieving the slip from my pocket, I handed it over whilst holding it as far away from me as I could with the tips of my fingers, not wanting to touch her in any way.

"Hm, I see. Well, I suppose I shall have to let it slide this time, however I shall have to see about further restrictions. We can't have students flying around everywhere now, can we?" She noted in that sickly sweet voice of hers as she then smiled at the two of us. "You had best go back to your common rooms now. Potter, is that your broomstick in your hand? How on earth did you…? Hand it over now, and twenty points from…"

"It's my broom, professor. I lent it to him." Before she could recover, I quickly grabbed Harry's shoulder. "Let's go Harry, I said I'd help you with your potions homework, didn't I? Best get started, otherwise you'll never finish it on time!" Raising my voice to talk loudly as we rushed past, I didn't allow Umbridge any room to interrupt although she tried, staring with a flummoxed expression after us. That was a close one. "Ugh! She's everywhere! That miserable toad! Why does she have to ruin everything, just because you or I do it? She's foul, evil, completely demented, why I'd like nothing better than to…" I went off into a tangent as Harry listened, hearing me come up with some rather horrific ways in which I wanted to deal with Umbridge but never once disagreed. In fact, he offered to help.

So we returned to the common room where I started to help him and Ron with his homework as Hermione was taking a break, knitting her little elf hats quite happily, sitting near the fire where Crookshanks jumped into my lap since Hermione's was full of wool, curled up promptly fell asleep, purring all the way.