CHAPTER THREE: I MUST NOT TELL LIES
I wasn't entirely sure why I had thought for even a second that Fred and George blood-traitor Weasley were funny at all. They weren't. They were wretched gits whom would surely feel my wrath as soon as I was out of this contraption.
"The bloody hell do you mean we have to kiss?!" Potter snarled at them before I had the chance.
"Well…" George started and both of the twins looked up toward the ceiling.
I followed their gaze, my whole body tense with fury and I swear I could've broken my hand again by punching them right about now and I would've been pleased by the pain it brought.
Broken knuckles would've been much less a pain than having to hear that I had to snog Potty to get out of here!
What the twins were looking at above us seemed to be some sort of plant. A plant that looked a lot like holly leaves and red berries.
"It's sort of a mistletoe that we've jinxed so that unsuspecting victims-,"
"Such as yourselves-,"
"Are forced to snog and be eternally embarrassed-,"
"For the rest of their lives-,"
"Or at least just during the Holidays, especially Christmas-,"
"Yeah, that's the idea; some would never let people live it down."
The twins were going to die very soon; my hands were itching for their murder.
"You are going to suffer very slow deaths; I swear it on Salazar," I let as much venom and hostility seep into my tone as I could muster.
I wanted to make it clear just how much they had pissed me off.
"Alright, easy now-," Potter began, glaring at me. He paused for a moment and I saw him take a slow breath. "What if we just close our eyes and get it over with?" He suggested.
I only stared at him in horror for a moment before the both of us gagged at the idea. I could not even imagine myself snogging Potter for the life of me without getting sick at the thought.
He was certainly not the boy I planned on giving my first kiss to; oh no, no. Most certainly not.
"What exactly did you jinx the mistletoe with?" I glared at the two redheads.
If anyone was going to get us out of this it was me, and I needed to know exactly how they had jinxed the damned plant before I began any cursing on this silly force field.
"Really simple magic, it's just a binding charm combined with a force field charm-,"
"And the solution spell is that the two victims have to snog, so that took a lip binding charm too."
Ugh, perfect. Devious morons.
I reached for my wand in my robe pockets and quickly muttered three different unlocking charms right in a row; putting all of the force of my magic behind it just so that it would hopefully work. I begged my magic to maybe perhaps bend the rules and work just a bit.
The first two spells didn't seem to work but with enough frustration put into the last one I angrily spat it out.
"Finite Incantatem!"
No sound was heard and nothing seemed to have changed so I looked over at Potter expectantly. He noticeably swallowed, clearly nervous that it hadn't worked and I crossed my fingers as he reached his hand over toward where the force field was. He looked at me hesitantly one last time before attempting to push his hand through.
I swear to Merlin, if this doesn't work and I'm left having to snog Potty Golden Boy I will end my life right here and now!
His hand went straight through.
Thank, Salazar!
"Yes!" I cheered and quickly removed myself from the hallway that we'd been stuck in.
"Nice work, Malfoy."
I looked at Potter and paused my elation for a moment to give him a curious look. Yes, I had saved us both from humiliation but that didn't mean he had to be nice to me now. That's not how it worked with the whole nemesis thing.
"Uh, thanks?" I said, trying hard not to make it sound too suspicious.
Apparently I had failed because he simply rolled his eyes at me; annoyed with me for not being able to take a compliment perhaps. I couldn't help it; he was being complicated and I didn't need any more complications. I chose to look away from him and turn my attention to the reason-or rather reasons-behind our mishap.
I looked straight at the twins and a slow murderous grin made its way to my face. Rightfully so they both looked a bit terrified. In truth the twins and I had never been on the best of terms nor had we been on the worst however, this event was going to show them just how nasty my jinxes could be. Crabbe and Goyle could vouch for that.
The twins' freckled faces paled as they realized that I was now free to do with them as I pleased and I planned to do monstrous things. Humiliating things.
A joyous notion on my behalf.
"You have three seconds to start running before I hex you both."
And run they did. Not that I didn't plan on hexing them-I was going to do that whether they ran or not-but it was fun watching them think they could get away so easily.
"You really are not the nicest person in the world, Malfoy." Potter's voice rang over to me and I looked at him with a confused expression.
His tone was harsh this time. I raised an eyebrow at him.
First you're nice to me and now you're going to be nasty again? Make up your mind, Potty! At least I'm consistent with my hatred of you!
"Since when is this a surprise to you?"
"It's not, I suppose. I don't know why I bothered saying it," He muttered, looking angrily at me and also at himself. Why he would be upset with himself was a concept I didn't want to dwell on.
I scowled at him again and felt further irritation with him. Now that we were both out of that trap I could properly hate on him. He stood there with his lanky-no that wasn't the right word…boney figure-most likely thanks to his lack of diet during the summer- a scowl on his face as he looked at me and even if he did have pretty eyes-which I would never admit to anyone but my own subconscious-I simply couldn't picture it. I couldn't believe we had come so close to having to snog one another. It was such a ridiculous idea!
"Do me a favor Potter, and I'll do the same kindness?"
"Oh? We're doing kindnesses for one another now?" He sounded disbelieving and almost mocking. "What sort of favor could I possibly do for you?" He sneered.
"Never speak of this to anyone…" I said, eyes narrowed and body tense.
I didn't even want to think about what would happen to my reputation as a Slytherin if word got out that I had almost had to lock lips with Slytherin's Most Hated. I'd be disowned; mocked for the rest of my life. Probably stripped of my Malfoy title. I wasn't quite sure if my fellow Slytherin's could even do that but I'm sure they'd find a way. And I especially feared to think about what my brother would do.
His fury would most likely match that of father's when I tried to ride one of his beloved peacocks when I was just a little girl. He had nearly lost his perfectly blonde head and I distinctly remember mother being furious with him for threatening to take away my meals for a week.
Draco, at least I hoped, would at least see some reason. He'd be furious and probably do something stupid-most likely commit his first murder; whether it be Potter or I, I couldn't be too sure-but he'd see that it wasn't on purpose…wouldn't he?
"Oh, ha-!" He laughed once, bitterly. "That was a done deal before you even suggested it!"
At this, I found myself smiling, nodding my head in agreement. He seemed pleased that we were on the same page. I especially, was very happy that we both despised the idea of ever putting our mouths together. It just made sense that we would both hate the idea.
"Like I'd ever want to have to explain how I had to snog Potty boy, ugh, disgusting!" I exclaimed.
"I could only imagine big brother Draco coming to the rescue and attempting to murder me for that one," He laughed again and I joined in, nodded.
I couldn't even imagine how red my poor brother's face would get if he'd ever heard of such a thing. He'd probably die. His little sister and his nemesis, snogging?! Despicable!
"That would be a right sight, for sure," I said and sighed. "Oh shoot!"
"What?" Potter asked, almost concernedly.
I snarled at him instantly. We were not friends in fact, we were the opposite of friends and he had no need to be concerned about anything I said. His back and forth with him being nice versus him being himself was going to give me whiplash.
"Snape's gonna kill us!" I said and shot off running down the hall. I didn't bother waiting for Potter.
It was probably better that I didn't walk in late with Potter just to make sure no suspicion was drawn or anything. Severus would be more forgiving for me if I walked in alone anyway. No more civility from me; Potter was on his own.
"The bloody hell took you so long, Cessy?!"
"Oh yes, my hand is perfectly fine, brother, thank you for asking."
I glared at my twin, whom had softened his expression slightly at the mention of my previously broken hand.
It was fixed now; no thanks to him.
After I had listened in on the remainder of Potions Draco and Theodore had bombarded me about what Umbridge had said but I took a moment to myself before answering.
It turned out I had been right; Snape was a lot more forgiving towards me than he was to Potty when we had both finally come into the class and I had silently cheered to myself as I had gotten off punishment free whereas Potty was not so fortunate. He hadn't quite given Potter detention for a month like he'd predicted but he still gave him quite a bit of extra work to do which he had taken to blaming me for and for the whole of the class I could feel him glaring at me because of it.
Apparently he'd thought me abandoning him in the hall had something to do with Snape's extra work he was giving him. He was probably right.
"What happened with Umbridge? You didn't say anything stupid did you?" My brother had barely given me time to breathe before he started asking questions.
Theodore, next to me, looked at me sympathetically and nudged my brother in the ribs. Draco just glared at him.
We walked out of the Potions room with me in between the two. Theodore's arm kept brushing mine as we walked and Draco snatched my hand up to examine it. Apparently some guilt had slipped in his head between the obsession of me keeping my mouth shut and him keeping secrets from me. Go figure.
"I have detention with her tomorrow night and for the whole week," I said, forcefully taking my hand away from him.
If he was so keen on keeping secrets and keeping me out of the loop, then he didn't get to play protective big brother on top of that.
"What?!"
This voice was one I hadn't yet heard this year and it almost made me cringe. Draco and Theodore tensed next to me and Greengrass who had been trailing behind us with Puginson and Blaise, tensed as well at the voice. At this reaction from her I raised an eyebrow.
Graham Montague had made himself known quite loudly as he strolled down the hall. His very being screamed for attention as he walked proudly, and ferociously, towards our little group. Daphne noticeably swallowed hard and darted her eyes every which way, not looking at him. I narrowed my eyes at Montague; only assuming why Greengrass would have this reaction.
We had just barely made it to the common room portrait when he had shouted his exclamation.
As far as I knew I was the only one that had spoken and so I could only assume he was upset about something I'd said.
"Montague." I greeted with a nod of my head but a threat in my voice.
"I'm sorry, did I hear you wrong, Malfoy?" He asked, his eyes licking up and down my body quickly before continuing. "Did I hear you say you had detention with Umbridge starting tomorrow night?"
I glared at him. So what if I had detention with the toad tomorrow night, what was it to him? Just as I was about to speak in my very angry tone that I saved especially for Montague, Draco cut in.
"What business is it of yours, Montague?" He addressed the older boy with so much disdain in his voice that it was a wonder they hadn't started fist fighting immediately upon sight.
My brother hated Montague with every fiber of his being. Not only was he a right git to everyone in the house, he was also the biggest pervert in all of Hogwarts. A pervert, it seemed, that had taken a liking to me in our Third Year, and his Fourth. He had said countless nasty remarks to me about taking my virtue and how he couldn't wait until I grew into myself because I'd always been such a "beauty" and how he simply couldn't wait to get a "taste."
And that was only some of the stuff he'd said. Other things he'd said to me, when Draco wasn't around were far more inappropriate and not to be repeated in civilized conversation.
"I don't know Malfoy, maybe it's the fact that she's supposed to be trying out for the quidditch team tomorrow night?" He sneered at my brother.
Draco was not intimidated, however.
Over the summer he'd grown another three inches and now towered over my five foot seven. He was at least a couple inches over six feet now. Montague was on the shorter side and had to look up to my brother as they stood in front of each other. And Draco might not have been intimidated by Montague; I wasn't intimidated by Montague; but I was certainly upset but what he'd just said.
Because Montague was right; I was supposed to try out for the team tomorrow night. How could I have forgotten? Umbridge would never let me go early just so I could try out for a game she probably loathed.
"So? You're the captain, reschedule it, you dimwit." My brother's tone did not lighten and I noticed he had moved himself in front of me, keeping me out of Montague's line of sight. Theodore had put his arm around me as well.
I rolled my eyes.
I did not need protecting! Montague may be a pervert but I was perfectly capable of dealing with him on my own. Besides he seemed more focused on quidditch talk than anything at the moment. These two buffoons had nothing to worry about. After all, they had left me on my own to defend myself against Umbridge and I was much more terrified of what she could do to me rather than Montague.
"What, and inconvenience the rest of the house that can actually make it to try outs? Your sister's fit, mate, but not that fit."
"I'd watch your mouth Montague, or I might knock those perfectly paid for teeth out of your head," Draco's calm tone was much more effective than Montague's sneering one. And worst of all?
They were talking about me like I wasn't even there. The nerve.
"Um excuse me? Could I maybe suggest something?" I made sure my tone was condescending enough and both my brother and Montague gave me a look, almost as if they'd forgotten I was there and that I had a mouth and brain of my own. Again, the bloody nerve.
"Cessy." Draco said my name as if warning me to not speak.
I ignored him.
"Why don't you and I have a private session then? If it's not too big an inconvenience for you? I can tryout on my own and you can judge whether I'm worthy of the team or not."
I spoke directly to Montague ignoring the sharp glares I got from both my brother and Theodore next to me.
Montague had a sickeningly pleased smile on his face as he thought more and more about this idea; he looked too pleased at the idea of him and I being alone.
"No." This, came from my brother.
The ferocity of his tone shook me a bit and I looked at him with eyes wide, a frown making its way to my face. Would my brother really deny me trying out for the team just because Montague and I would be by ourselves? Montague was a git and a pervert but I could handle him; I had told Draco this many times.
Still, the fact that my brother looked as though he was going to have a conniption at the idea of Montague and I being alone left ideas running through my head that made me believe that maybe I shouldn't have suggested a private session with him.
Why else would Draco react so harshly?
"And who are you to decide, Malfoy? If she wants to tryout, then that's how we're going to do it." Montague gave me a wicked grin and I snarled at him. "We'll have it after your detentions with Umbridge end, at the start of next week."
He wasn't asking; it sounded more like a demand to be honest and I hated being bossed around but I knew that I been talking about trying out for the quidditch team for nearly the whole summer and I couldn't just give it up because a boy was trying to act like he knew better than I. So I held my tongue of all the cruel things I could've said to him and instead said:
"Yes, Montague. Sounds like a plan."
"Fine. And no extra company allowed. You want this to be a private session then that's exactly what it will be," He said this with his dark eyes trained on my brother.
I could feel my brother's tension rolling off of him and he was giving Montague his nastiest of glares. I nearly shuttered at the sight.
Do I look that scary when I glare at people?
I desperately hoped so.
I sighed in annoyance at Montague but nodded; there was no point in arguing, it was exactly what he wanted. He smirked at me and the winked which I rolled my eyes at. Draco snarled at him as he walked away from the group of us, down the hall. I shook Theodore's arm off as he walked out of sight and I was the first to enter the common room. I threw my bag down and slumped onto the cold leather couch.
The eerie green color that always lingered in Slytherin house thanks to the location being under the Black Lake, seemed extra chilling as we settled and I wondered what my private practice with him was going to consist of. Most likely crude remarks and gross insinuations.
"He's such a creep!" Daphne hissed as she sat on the chair opposite of me. "I don't know how you're going to be alone with him and stay sane, Cecily."
"I'll put him in his place if need be," I said, not too bothered.
Draco seemed furious. He had sat next to me and leaned his elbows on his knees and his fists held together in front of his face, closer toward the fire. He didn't look at me as he spoke.
"You shouldn't ever be alone with him, Cessy. You especially."
"Oh c'mon, he's a git but I've handled worse," I said, hoping Draco caught on.
Father's punishments were a lot worse than some snooty boy wanting to crawl up my skirts. My mind vaguely flashed back to me begging my father to stop, pleading with him to make the voices that tormented me stop.
Voices of my grandparents; voices of my classmates, voices of the dead. All the voices telling me they were coming for me; that I was a failure; that I needed to die. It had been a curse he'd put on me on a particular bad day for him. I hadn't help his mood by sneaking into his office when he'd already been upset, either.
One of the worst memories I had of my father. One of the worst memories I'd had ever.
I shook my head of my morbid thoughts and looked over at Theodore who had been quiet during this whole debacle. He looked almost distraught at the idea of a private practice.
"What do you mean, me especially…?" I asked, looking at all three boys in our group.
Blaise, Theodore and Draco all looked guiltily at me.
"I should've told you sooner, Cessy, I'm sorry, but-,"
"You should've told me a lot of things sooner, Draco." I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him; he picked up on the insinuation of his lies about Umbridge quite clearly.
There seemed to be a lot of secrets being kept between sibling's things year and I think I was about to have to start keeping some of my own. I didn't have to be an expert at reading people to know when Draco was hiding things from me but we had never really kept things from each other anyway; we were closer than that. But lately I was beginning to wonder about my skill; he had a lot of skeletons he'd been hiding and I hadn't had an inkling of anything at all.
"There's a rumor going 'round the school saying that Montague plans to use a love potion on you to get you to like him."
Neither my brother nor Theodore had admitted this information to me; Blaise was looking almost bored as he spoke though.
"He's going to try to drug me?!" I seethed.
Everyone in our little group, Theodore, Daphne, Blaise, even Puginson and Tracey, flinched back at my tone. Draco, being the only one that was used to my voice reaching such an octave, did not.
"He's not going to get anywhere near you, Cessy, I won't-,"
"Except next week when we're alone for a whole quidditch tryout, you git! Draco, why didn't you tell me!? Ugh, you've been a shitty twin lately, do you realize that!" I snapped at him, cutting him off in the process, and shot up from my seat.
The fury I was feeling rolled off my body and settled onto the group before me and I could tell all of them were nervous to speak.
I glared at Draco as he tried to get up and follow me but I shook my head and snarled at him which kept him in his seat. I stormed towards my dorm and alarmed Jojo as I entered when I tossed my book bag onto my bed, jostling her a bit. I earned an angry hiss from her.
"Sorry, hunny," I mumbled and scooped her up into my arms, nuzzling my face into her soft fur.
She purred at my presence and my blatant need to cuddle and she gently nuzzled me back; as part kneazle she could sense that I was upset and wanted to ease my emotions. I let her cuddle into me as I laid on my bed, thinking about everything that had happened in one short day.
I had made a new enemy in Umbridge; that much was clear. I had said the exact type of thing she was looking to punish students, and even full grown wizards, for. She was now on my case and probably would be all year and I would have to start watching my back; and perhaps start watching what I said too.
I knew, deep down, I would have an extremely difficult time with this but since I wasn't looking to get expelled from Hogwarts any time soon then I knew I'd have to start watching my sporadic mouth. I couldn't risk leaving Draco by himself with no one to fall back on. He'd have his friends yes, but who would he run to when the darker and more dangerous times starting making its head known? Who would he confide in when he started having dark thoughts? Thoughts of our family legacy? Thoughts of becoming one of…
Stop…he can't become one of them!
He'd need me. I needed to stay in Hogwarts; I couldn't afford to get expelled for the sake of my brother, no matter how much of a git he was being. He couldn't leave me; he couldn't become what my father was. I wouldn't let it happen. It was my job to protect him as his sister; his family.
And the other disturbing part of this day was this; I had learned that Montague wanted to drug me.
"What am I going to do about that, Jojo?" I looked at her and her big green eyes, an oddly similar color to that of a sour apple jelly bean, looked worried for me.
She nuzzled her head into my hand and mewed at me; almost telling me not to worry, that I would be okay.
But I didn't know if I would be. Montague could try and drug me any time, any day, with anything I had. He could poison my food, even jinx some of my possessions; perhaps he would even go to the length of jinxing me.
I wouldn't put it past him.
I was sort of worried now; I had never been threatened like this before. I had been under some sticky situations with boys but never to the extent where they wanted to drug me. It seemed even more cruel than just trying to force a snog on me. Because I knew that Montague's intention was to make me believe I wanted him first; that I wanted to snog and shag and love him. If I didn't want him first it would shatter his twisted illusion of us belonging together and he simply couldn't have that.
It was terrifying.
I would certainly have to watch what I ate and drank and possibly keep my things under a locking charm.
I couldn't risk falling under the horrific possession of a love potion.
And the third and possibly the worst thing about this day: I had almost had to snog Potter.
Disgusting!
It almost seemed like a dream; or nightmare rather. I had been stuck in that stupid force field for only about twenty minutes but it had seemed like forever. I could only imagine what would've happened if my spell hadn't worked.
I would've had to put my perfectly glossed and kiss free lips onto Potter's and who knows where his have been?! I could only guess that as Hogwarts' Golden Boy he'd had plenty for girls to snog. He drank in his fame and I could only imagine what he would tell the hopeless witches of the other houses to get them to crawl back to his slimy lair with him.
"Yeah, I'm Harry Potter, I'm rich and famous; my parents died from You-Know-Who. Want to hook up?"
What a great pick up line.
And the sickening part was that most of the poor girls probably fell for it because it was Potter. If he was anyone else in this stupid school I'm sure they'd say no.
"It's pathetic, really," I told Jojo, whom had climbed on top of me as I laid on my back, and started kneading a spot on my stomach to lay down on. She looked at me like she agreed with me. "Wait, Jojo, what have you gotten in your fur?"
I narrowed my eyes at my cat and saw that just as last year this silly cat had white feathers stuck in her fur.
"Jojo!" I exclaimed.
She looked annoyed that I had moved her from my stomach but happy that I was playing with her fur; I'm sure to her this almost felt like a massage rather than me angrily picking white feathers out of her fur. They were a very clean white color with occasional spots of grey or black and they were exceptionally soft. Heracles' feathers were never that soft.
"What is it with you and white feathers? Do you have a white feathered friend that I don't know about? Hmm?" I questioned her and she meowed, rolling onto her back to reveal more feathers. I rolled my eyes at her.
She could be such a brat sometimes.
"You know talking to animals can be a sign of insanity."
I jumped at the voice that spoke and looked at the door to my dorm and frowned slightly when I saw Theodore.
He looked hesitant to come in and so he stood at the threshold; his hands in his pockets, his heels rocking back and forth as he waited for an invitation to come in. I was upset with him more due to the fact that he had not said a word to me about the Montague thing; which he had known about as it was clear as day when I'd seen his face not twenty minutes before in the common room.
I had expected him to tell me things like that with him being my friend; hell him fancying me should've pushed him to tell me for it was threatening my honor, which I'm sure he secretly hoped I would give to him one day and not to Montague. I had expected more loyalty.
"Nott," I said, warily, eyeing him.
He seemed offended that I had called him by his surname rather than "Theodore" which was the name I'd stuck with since First Year.
"May I come in?" His voice was soft; nonthreatening. It never was when he spoke to me.
"I guess you could; though you could just drug me and then I wouldn't care," I said.
His whole demeanor changed when I said those words. His face grew fierce and he rushed over towards my bed, sitting on it without my permission and taking my hands in his. Jojo was not happy about this. His eyes, such a deep blue, bore into mine intensely.
"I would never let anyone hurt you, Cecily. Or drug you, or talk badly about you, or anything. Especially that tosspot, Montague. He won't lay a finger on you, I promise."
He spoke as if he were giving me his dying breath.
I was taken aback at his ferocity and I felt my breath catch in my throat; the sensation reminded me of the silencing charm my father used on me. It almost hurt to breathe. I hated the idea that people thought I needed protecting and the fact that Theodore and Draco were always on my case about being protected made me all the more angry but I couldn't find it in me to be upset with him about protecting me from this; from the threat of Montague. He was still looking into my eyes when a thought occurred to me and I asked him quietly:
"What about our practice?"
"We have your practice covered, don't you worry," He said and a small devious smirk that could only belong to a Slytherin made its way across his face.
It made him seem older than he was.
"Who is "we"?" I asked sharply.
Of course I already knew the answer though; my brother would never just leave me to protect myself and of course Nott would want to help.
Stupid boys.
I wasn't going to lie to myself and say the idea of being alone with Montague knowing that he wanted to poison me with a love potion wasn't a scary thought but I wasn't eleven years old anymore and these boys were only half as good as I was at wand work and spells. I was offended they had so little faith in me.
"Just don't worry about your tryout, Cessy. You'll do great, I'm positive you'll make the team." Theodore smiled at me, a regular smile that I was used to; one that lit up his boyish face and had his eyes crinkling near his temples.
"You and my brother are foolish, I hope you know that," I said, rolling my eyes at him.
I took my hands back from him and continued taking the stupid feathers from my cat's fur.
She seemed much happier with my hands on her rather than in Theodore's.
"We are; but you're worth it."
At this, to my utter surprise, I felt a blush creep its way to my pale cheeks. I knew the rosy color would surprise and possibly intrigue Theodore so I hid my face behind my hair, pretending his comment hadn't affected me.
"Will you come down to dinner with me?" He asked, getting off of my bed.
"In a bit…" I said, not looking at him still. "I just want some time with Jojo." I lied.
"Okay, see you down there then," He said and started to exit. "Oh, and Cessy?"
"Hmm?" I continued to look at Jojo.
"Your brother is just trying to protect you; try not to be so mean, will you? You should apologize to him."
I didn't have time to answer him as he left, but it left me with a shot of guilt that ripped up my spine as I thought of how harshly I'd spoken to my brother. I rolled my eyes.
I simply hated when Theodore was right.
"I'm so pleased you could both make it."
Like we had any other choice you toad!
I swear I heard Potter snort but it was covered by Umbridge's slight cough. The two of us, after having shared a few nasty words, were stood in the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom with her and she was smiling brightly at us.
"If you would follow me, please," She said, her voice tinkling like wind chimes.
I snarled at her as she turned around to walk up the stairs to her office and looked at the Golden Boy. He had a similar expression on his face and we shared a look that said only one thing:
Kill us now.
Potter gestured for me to follow her up the stairs first and I did so, hoping that some magical force would trip her and possibly have her break her neck or impale her slightly.
No such feat happened though as we entered her office. When we entered I swore I was going to have a conniption.
Everything was pink. And there were…so many cats.
"The bloody hell is this place?" I mumbled, though she didn't hear me; Potter caught it and snickered.
I looked horridly at the office before us and wondered how on earth it could've changed so drastically.
Last year it had been a little cluttered and not very clean thanks to the polyjuiced Barty Crouch. Had it really only been a few months since he'd inhabited this office? It was a scary thought. In Third Year, Lupin had kept it clean with lots of books and it had always smelt of cinnamon. He was a personal favorite teacher of mine; much to Snape's dismay. Second Year, Lockhart, the bloody fool, had had one too many portraits of himself in the office. And First Year I had not had the privilege of seeing the office due to Professor Quirrell's timid nature.
But even if I hadn't seen it I would've bet my father's money that it had never smelt like it did now; like tea and ginger and evil. I would bet it hadn't had cats draping the walls and staring at me so intensely I felt chills grow on my arms. And I would bet it certainly wasn't ever painted pink.
She was a nightmare come to life.
"Hmm, they're usually more friendly, sorry dears," Umbridge said but I hadn't the slightest clue of what or who she was talking about.
I glanced at Potter with a raised eyebrow and he looked towards the walls with the cats. I almost let my mouth fall open in disbelief. I believed she was evil, yes, but was it possible she could be an evil cat lady?
Apparently she was because she started cooing at a particularly fluffy white one that was closest to her desk. The rest of the creepy cats' fur all started to puff in a way that I'd seen Jojo's do when she felt threatened or didn't like someone or something. Umbridge must've tipped off her feline's that Potty and I were bad news.
"You're going to be doing some lines for me today-," She turned around to look at the two of us and smiled, her pink cheeks puffing out as she did so. In her hands she held two quills the color of gold with a black feather. "-One hour. The line is simply: I must not tell lies."
I felt my temperature spike with anger as she said this. Of course she would try to brainwash us into believing that we were lying. The Dark Lord was surely murdering and torturing people for information about Potter as we spoke now, but she wants us to do bloody lines.
"Oh, actually I have my own quill, Professor-," I said but she shook her head.
"You'll be using mine today. They're special, you see."
"Special?" Potter asked.
"You'll see," She said and handed one to me and one to him.
As soon as I held it in my hand I had a bad feeling. Of course there was some sort of malicious motive as to why she would want us using a quill given by her specifically; I didn't know what the motive was though and that was what had my pulse racing at the moment.
She was a teacher surely she couldn't actually hurt us, could she? Dumbledore wouldn't let her get away with something like that, right?
She brought us over to two individual desks that she had facing the only wall in the office that did not have plates with cats on them. Instead it was the window that overlooked the back of the Forbidden Forest. We were much higher up though so the thick green trees looked like tiny specs from up here.
I sat down at one of the desks, scowling at the pink parchment she handed the both of us and gave Potter one last glance before I started writing.
I must not tell lies
It seemed like a silly detention. I had expected much worse from someone like her. Her whole demeanor screamed "evil" to me, and I was positive that there was going to be a catch. Any minute now Potter or I would fall dead thanks to a poison, or a spell she'd put on us.
About ten minutes had gone by when I started to feel an ache in my left hand; the one I wasn't writing with. I stretched my knuckles a bit and continued writing but otherwise wasn't too bothered by it. I continued with my lines, wondering just what Umbridge was up to. I glanced back at her for a moment and saw that she was daintily sipping on her tea and glancing at the clock above the entrance to her office. I narrowed my eyes at her; I was still very suspicious.
What is she up to?
It was when I heard Potter's intake of breath, almost like he was in pain, that I started to really feel a sharp jolt in my hand. I looked over at him and, to my horror, saw he had multiple red cuts appearing seemingly from nowhere on his hand. He looked over at me and we both looked down at my own hand. Trying my best to ignore the stinging pain I saw that my own hand had identical cuts. Apparently we had been writing with cursed quills because to my slight fascination and slight outrage I saw that the cuts on my hand were forming letters; one's that spelt: "I must not tell lies".
Potter looked at me with wide acidic green eyes; disbelieving eyes.
He-like me-had figured that this was Umbridge's doing and-also like me-he couldn't quite believe it.
"Something to say, dears?"
Her voice was like nails on a chalk board to my ears and my cheeks flamed from the rage I felt. She spoke nonchalantly as she came over to us and looked at both of her hands. Her delighted smile nearly had me out of my seat on the spot and strangling her with my bare hands.
It was that smile that made my decision for me; I would tear her apart when I got the chance.
I was going to send made Umbridge pay. She was going to die a slow and painful death and I would have the satisfaction of knowing I was the cause of it. If she was so willing to physically abuse her students then surely I would show her the same kindness someday.
My hand-ironically the hand she had healed yesterday-now burned with the bloody phrase "I must not tell lies" on it and I nearly wept it hurt so bad but there was no way I was going to show this toad any type of weakness. That would be exactly what she wanted.
"No-," Potter spoke and I was grateful for it. I wasn't sure my voice would work at the moment. "Nothing, Professor."
His voice was low and dangerous; something I'd heard only a few times when Draco had antagonized him far enough. The look he was giving her matched one I would've given had I not been so shocked. With Potter and I being at odds with Umbridge so early into the year it meant that we would be feeling and dealing with the same things. She clearly was not my favorite person and Potter's expression relayed the same message and I couldn't help but find a slight humor in it. I nearly laughed to myself.
He was right; we were on the same side.
Not that I was ever going to admit that to him. I did have a reputation to uphold. However maybe, just maybe, when Potter and I had to deal with Umbridge, we could have a temporary truce. It was too tiring being on the defense with two people; if Potter and I teamed up against Umbridge when we were faced with things such as detention with evil quills, then maybe I wouldn't say such nasty things to him anymore.
But only when we were dealing with Umbridge; if I saw the bloke in the halls of course I was going to tease and mock him. What else would I do?
"Yes, good Mister Potter," She said. "Because deep down you know you deserve to be punished."
Neither of us spoke another word. The hour was not up however so we had to continue to write.
"I must not tell lies" It seems I have a new catch phrase…
All I could think about as the letters reappeared darker and thicker on my hand as I continued to write was how badly I wanted to tell Professor Snape. He of all people loved to punish people but he never would've done something like this. If he saw my hand right now I'm sure he would've thrown a fit.
I couldn't possibly tell him though; not if I didn't want to draw more attention to myself from Umbridge.
Because I knew now that I was going to have to be a lot less outspoken with her; it was the only way I would stay in school and help Draco. I couldn't afford to get kicked out with my mouth running about the Dark Lord constantly. I would have to be stealthier about it; quieter about it perhaps.
Maybe I could form an anti-Umbridge club.
I looked over at Potter as both of our hands continued to bleed with our words and he looked back at me at the same time. Our shared look was the same as the one that we exchanged when we first entered the classroom.
Kill us now.
"Hey."
By the look I received after speaking I would've assumed he was upset with me but despite having some tiffs to work out my brother still looked relieved to see me. He had been reading in his room and Theodore had told me he was alone in the dorm so I'd taken the liberty to enter and try and apologize to him.
After my horrid detention with Umbridge Potter and I had gone separate ways without saying anything. I think it went as an unspoken agreement that we would be keeping Umbridge's less than acceptable detention tactics to ourselves but with Potter having probably just as hard a time keeping his mouth shut as I did I could only assume the school would be buzzing about it tomorrow at breakfast. At least the Gryffindor's would be; with their Golden Boy now maimed by the devil they would probably start an uprising.
"Hey, Cessy." My brother spoke softly to me and his eyes, a melted grey color of the clouds before a storm and not showing any disdain, looked worriedly at me.
It seemed we both feared that we were upset with one another.
"You shouldn't have kept things from me, Draco-," I said, "Especially things about Umbridge. I would've-,"
"Would've what? Kept your mouth shut? We both know that's not possible for you, little sister." Draco smirked at me but there was a seriousness behind his voice that I didn't ignore.
"She's dangerous," I said. "The Ministry infiltrating Hogwarts isn't good, brother, no matter what father said to you about special treatment," I spat at him, my anger rising slowly but surely.
I was hopeless; how was I ever going to keep my mouth shut to Umbridge when I couldn't even do it with my brother?
He closed his eyes and set his book down, shaking his head. His blonde hair flopped onto his forehead; I was surprised he'd let it down.
"You have to stop talking like that. That kind of talk is going to get you in trouble. And father said nothing of special treatment only that Slytherin house was going to be favored by one of the new teachers this year."
"Snape already favors us! Why do you need the approval of every adult you meet, Draco? Umbridge is the last person I would want approval from."
I sat on his bed and looked at him concernedly; he needed to stop being so concerned with what people thought of him.
Seeker, Slytherin, Malfoy, brother, son; he was always letting people title him.
My brother, though he would never admit this-mainly because he hasn't admitted it to himself-was too damn sensitive about everything.
"You don't understand, Cessy, it's not that. I'm not seeking approval from anyone; I'm trying to keep us under the radar for Salazar's sake! You make things so difficult though it's like you want to get in trouble; just let me keep us out of the spotlight please," He was practically begging me.
He'd taken my hands in his and his eyes were fierce; a storm raging in them. I looked back at him with what I could feel was the same expression.
"I can take care of myself, Raco-," He glared at me at the use of the name I used to call him when I couldn't pronounce my "D's" when I was very little. I only used it now when I was being very, very serious with him. "How many times do I have to tell you that?"
"And how many times do you end up getting yourself in trouble when you "take care of yourself"? Hmm? Let me do my job as your brother, Cessy-as your family," He said with a glare.
I chuckled slightly and shook my head.
"For twins that aren't that similar we sure do think alike," I mumbled.
We were both just trying to protect one another. That's what it came down to; we both hated being the one that needed protecting though and that was our downfall.
"Did you save any dessert for me from dinner?" I tried changing the subject, seeing as we were both already in sullen moods, and I had expected him to maybe roll his eyes, or perhaps even say yes, he had gotten me dessert-which would've been delightful- but his eyes were trained on my hand. My left hand.
That I had foolishly not disillusioned before coming to see him.
Salazar's shit!
"What is this, Cecily?" Draco spoke in his low dangerous voice. He turned my hand over in his gently and I sighed, not even fighting to hide my hand; there was no point, he'd already seen it.
The blood had dried and darkened on my hand and the letters were thick and aching; I wanted to heal it but I wasn't sure if a cursed quill wound would heal so easily with a quick Episky.
I must not tell lies
"I told you Umbridge is dangerous."
"Umbridge did this?!"
He shot up off of his bed and ran a hand over his face, mussing up his hair further. He paced back and forth while he demanded to know what happened.
"When Potter and I went to detention she said she wanted us to do lines; she gave us her own special quills though."
I snarled at the memory and looked to my twin. He was furiously shaking his head and the heat from his anger was spilling off of him. I could feel his tension from where I was across the room.
"And the line ended up on your hand? She made you use a cursed quill?"
"Yes."
"We need to report this to Snape," He said and reached for me as if we were to get up and go tell him immediately.
"Draco there is no we-," I said and pulled against him as he tried to get me off of his bed. "I won't report it and neither will you if you value your life at all!" I threatened and he rolled his eyes; he'd heard that many times before.
"Cessy this is serious; she hurt you! Potter too, though the bloody tosser deserves it. You're both students and she's a teacher; it is very much against school rules for a teacher to abuse a student at all much less with a cursed object." He was trying to reason with me but-as usual-I wasn't having it.
He had stopped tugging on my hand though so maybe he wasn't willing to fight over this as much as I thought he would.
"And what do you think is going to happen if we tell on her? You want to keep us under the radar so bad but this will put us in the spotlight so fast, brother, we won't even be able to blink before the reporter's start showing up! We already had enough of that this summer with father's loyalties being questioned thanks to Potty, do you really want our school year to turn into that hell?!"
He let go of my hand and his face pinched as he took in my words. He knew my argument was better than his but I could tell he was still furious with the idea of a teacher hurting me. Hell, I was still furious. But he knew, just like I did, that if we brought this to Professor Snape's attention things would get blown to hell and the Daily Prophet didn't tread lightly when it came to my family.
Potter was seen as a menace in the face of the paper right now but there were articles circling my family that I couldn't risk getting above the whispers of a rumor; no matter how much I hated it. My father had a secret that needed to be kept and as his children we were sworn to it. I wanted nothing to do with it, I didn't even want to have to think about it; but I had to keep it a secret.
"Don't think I'm going to forget this argument so quickly, little sister."
"I wouldn't dream of it, big brother," I said, glaring at him as he glared at me.
He sighed, defeated for the moment, and came to sit back on his bed. He retrieved his book that had been shoved when he'd gotten up so hastily and groaned that he'd lost his place.
"I'll be going to bed. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Goodnight, Cessy," He said, grabbing my hand once more; with a look of disgust and an agitated shaky breath he let me go.
I walked out of his dorm and ignored Theodore's worried look as I walked by him saying a quiet goodnight. He looked a bit offended I hadn't stopped to speak with him but I wasn't in the mood right now. I wanted to tell Theodore a lot of things but telling him what my brother had found out was not on the list.
When I made it to my bed, Jojo curled up on my pillow, I heard Daphne clear her throat. She was stting on her bed beside mine and looking at me nervously while biting her lip.
I could only imagine what she wanted to speak to me about right before I went to bed. Did she have to have such bad timing?
"Something got your tongue, Greengrass?" I raised an eyebrow at her.
Her cheeks reddened when I addressed her and she made a curtain of her hair fall around her face so that she didn't look so startled.
"I just…" She paused. The other girls in our shared dorm were looking wearily at us. It was pretty well known that Daphne had tried to be my friend purely for the status and that when she spoke to me I wasn't the nicest back. I could tell they were wondering if I was going to bite her head off. I sighed.
"Go on, I'm not going to attack you for talking to me, Greengrass, I do have some manners," I said lightly.
The poor girl was practically shaking.
"I'm worried about you being alone with Montague."
Oh.
I felt my face scowl as I took in her words and thought about why that might be. Everyone was so concerned about me being alone with him but none had sounded as concerned and terrified as Daphne had. She seemed genuinely scared of him.
"I'm flattered by your concern, Greengrass, but I don't exactly need it at the moment," I said with an exasperated sigh.
She bit her lip again and looked pathetically down at her lap; almost embarrassed that she'd spoken. I felt a twinge of guilt but made no move to apologize. Instead I turned over on my bed and turned off my lamp, ready to fall asleep.
Montague was the last thing on my mind at the moment; I was more concerned with the constant sickening ache on my left hand and the reason behind it but it almost made me wonder why exactly Greengrass was so nervous about me and him alone. I could only assume it was because he had tried to make a move on her.
It wasn't worth thinking over at the moment though.
Slowly, with the feeling of Jojo nuzzling my injured hand with her face, I felt sleep take me.
Author's Note: Hey everyone! How are you today? I hope you liked this chapter! It's been kind of slow start to the story but in the next couple of chapters things are going to pick up!
We're going to learn more about those articles that the Daily Prophet has been printing about her family and why Cecily is so keen on keeping her father's secret of being a Death Eater-even though she clearly hates everything about it. Loyalty runs very strong with the Malfoy's and Cecily is no exception; even if her views are quite different from that of her pureblood family.
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed! And have a good day!
~Alyssa~
