September 1995
Don't worry, you arseholes. I won't send you a Howler. You deserve worse.
"Shit, Charlie's gonna murder us for Christmas." Fred sighed.
"Maybe if you can convince Hermione to go back out with you, Charlie will just leave you with permanent damage." George huffed.
"You could get Hermione to convince Charlie she likes everything where it is, then he'll just injure you," Lee suggested.
"There's one problem here," Fred announced. "Hermione. She has to want me back for this plan to work."
"Oh yeah." Lee and George intoned together.
Fred joined Harry in the common room so they could head down to their daily detention with Umbridge. They trudged down the stairs to the Defense classroom, angry that they were missing supper for this.
"Good, good. You, boys, are right on time. You're getting better at this." Umbridge said in her sickly sweet voice. "As usual, you'll be writing lines. At this point, I believe it's obvious just what you're going to be writing."
Fred and Harry both rolled their eyes and sat down at their desks. They both picked up their blood quills and started writing.
I must not tell lies. I must not tell lies. I must not tell lies.
I must not question authority. I must not question authority. I must not question authority.
Ginny leaned in the chair, sitting by the fire. It was almost midnight, but that didn't change that it was her turn to lead the fourth-year study group.
Fred walked past them, his head down while saying goodnight to the two of them.
"Hi stranger," Ginny said looking up from her notes with a smile.
Harry took a deep breath. He wanted to remain numb, to be pissed off at the world, but for some reason, seeing her smile made him want to forget about his sour mood.
"What happened?" She said standing up and walking to him.
"It isn't a big deal," Harry said jerking away from her.
"Like hell, it isn't!" Ginny said yanking his hand into hers.
Harry pulled her closer to him. "I don't want to talk, not about this." He said pulling his hand from hers.
"Then what?" Ginny said looking up from his hand to his green eyes.
"How about what happened on the train."
"Oh," Ginny said, looking away blushing. "That."
"That," Harry sighed. "I see it was a fleeting thing."
"No," Ginny said sitting back up. "It wasn't fleeting. It was good."
"Good. Just good." Harry said, his lips grazing hers.
"Maybe better than good," Ginny said, kissing him back.
"Ginny, I've got a question for you. How hard is it to be a Chaser?" Hermione asked during supper. Fred was in detention, so she snuck down late for a meal.
"No," Ginny replied, taking a huge bite of shepherd's pie.
"No what?" Hermione asked, confused.
"No, you wouldn't make a good Chaser. Or a Seeker. Or a Beater. You'd do best at Keeper, but, hey, that's Ron's world now." Ginny answered through her mouthful of food.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked.
"Uh, yeah. Been playing since I could walk. You have no desire to play, trust me." Ginny swallowed her food and went for another mouthful.
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, quirking her eyebrow.
"Positive. What's this about, Hermione?" Ginny asked, taking a good look at her friend.
"Nothing," Hermione replied, looking down at her plate of food.
"You've got to stop this no eating thing you do. I promise the world won't end if you have to take a nap after lunch." Ginny said with a roll of her eyes.
"Can't nap after lunch. My schedule doesn't allow for it." Hermione mumbled.
"Fine, whatever. If you pass out in Ancient Runes because you don't eat enough, you will wake up to me saying 'I told you so.' That's the only warning you get." Ginny said, waving her finger about sassily.
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to eating. The two girls were quiet for several minutes before Ginny broached the subject she really wanted answers on.
"So…" Ginny started. "You and Fred."
"I'm still upset with him," Hermione said automatically.
"No, no, I get it. You have every right to be upset with him." Ginny started again.
"I do have every right." Hermione glared, cutting Ginny off. "I don't know why everyone seems to think I should apologize to him."
"Um… no one thinks that? Do they?" Ginny asked. When Hermione's glare turned to a look of pity, Ginny added, "Oh these stupid, insipid teenagers! No, Fred was disrespectful to you! You get to be mad! He has to grovel to you!"
"You are in a small minority if you think that." Hermione's voice wobbled with unshed tears. "I'm the girl, Ginny. It's my job to beg for his forgiveness, remember."
"Gah! I hate teenagers!" Ginny continued her rant. "When I get ahold of those boys! Why do they keep letting people talk like this?!"
"They don't care," Hermione responded, feeling it was the most obvious answer.
"Let me tell you a little secret, Hermione Jean Granger. One that not even Fred knows. Fred has been in love with you since you successfully solved Snape's riddle." Ginny said, slapping the table.
"If Fred doesn't know that, how do you?" Hermione asked as plates started disappearing from the table. The girls took this as their cue to leave the Great Hall.
"Men, Hermione, are immensely dense," Ginny said with an air of wisdom, leading Hermione out of the Great Hall. "There are a lot of things they don't know about themselves. But that's not the point."
"What's the point?" Hermione asked as the girls walked arm in arm to the library.
"The point is, even if Fred did come groveling, would you even want him back?" Ginny asked.
"I...I… I haven't thought about it." Hermione admitted.
"You? Hermione 'I've Thought Through Every Scenario and Have Seventeen Back-up Plans' Granger, haven't thought about it? Why? Don't you want to get back together with him?" Ginny asked.
"I-I- yeah, I do. But that's not what matters, Ginny. He has to want it, too. And I doubt he does." Hermione answered.
"I'm going to murder him." Ginny glared. With that, the girls turned their attention to the library and their studies. They didn't have time for too much drama with Defense draining all their resources.
Harry wondered when he had become a side character in his own life. Ever since he'd portkeyed out of that graveyard last spring, it seemed like his whole life was about someone else. Ginny was choosing between him and Draco, and they weren't allowed to be involved. Everyone in school was gossiping about Hermione standing up to the twins. Draco and Luna were sneaking around in broom closets if Ron were to be believed. Even though he and Ginny had a moment in the Common Room the other night, he hadn't seen her.
That was just at school. At home, Adara and Rigel were getting really good at magic, so Hestia and Padfoot had their hands full keeping them in line. Moony was off who knows where fighting werewolves and not checking in. No one had time for Harry anymore.
It was so bad that Fred was the only one, besides the elusive Ginny, who noticed the new scar adoring Harry's body. Not that Harry didn't have his fair share of scars, but none of them were actually words.
I must not tell lies.
The problem was, he didn't lie. He just didn't conform to the Ministry approved messages, so he had to be a liar. It wasn't like there was another option. It wasn't like people had differing opinions on things. No, it was either conform to the Ministry approved messages or keep your mouth shut.
Harry glared at his parchment, not wanting to do his homework. Didn't his professors understand how useless it was? Everyone was going to die. Why bother learning anything? Why did Aunt Minnie expect him to get two rolls of parchment done, knowing he had two rolls in Potions, and three feet due in Astronomy. He kept asking himself these questions as he wandered through the halls.
That's how McGonagall found him after detention that night.
"Harry, what are you doing out of the common room?" She asked, concerned.
"Oh, like you care." Harry huffed, rubbing his hand and continuing his journey.
"Harry James Potter, get over here right now," McGonagall demanded.
"Why? Got another pointless assignment for me to do? When am I going to need Gamp's Laws of Transfiguration out in the real world?" Harry complained.
"Harry, come here now," McGonagall demanded again, this time grabbing the boy by his arm. "I am not asking you as your Head of House. I asking you as your guardian."
"You're not asking at all. You're demanding. You're ordering me around as if I were Adara or Rigel. You're not treating me like someone who bloody won the damn Tri-Wizard Tournament. What, I bring home a dead body with my trophy and suddenly no one I love can look at me?" Harry asked, turning on his beloved aunt.
"Oh, that's enough of your attitude." McGonagall snapped, grabbing the boy by his ear. "You and I are going to have a frank conversation. One that is massively overdue."
"Yeah, about what?" Harry asked, trying to ignore the massive pain in his ear.
"About my husband dying." Minerva turned on the boy. "About my first love dying. About your parents, some of the closest students I had, dying."
Harry took a gulp. Professor McGonagall was gone and Aunt Minnie was here. Here and in technicolor.
"I- I'm sorry. I- I didn't-" Harry started.
"Know? I'm quite aware of that." Minerva said with a stiff glare. "You weren't meant to know until you were older. I supposed that you'll have to learn now. Come on, Harry. We have much to discuss."
"She is on to us," one of the fourth years said before Umbridge entered the room. The Gryffindors and Slytherins looked at one another as they pulled out their finished homework.
"What do you mean?" Ginny said, turning around.
"She gave a pop quiz to the other class and started questioning how we are doing all of this. We're doomed! She is going to throw us all in detention!" She said the room erupted into chatter.
"Stop! Everyone!" Ginny said, slamming her book down. "We aren't doing anything wrong!"
"And what would you be doing that someone would think is wrong?" Umbridge sad, walking into the room.
"Nothing," Ginny said, taking her seat. Umbridge took more steps into the classroom, standing in front of her desk.
"Miss. Weasley, surely your brothers can tell you that you shouldn't lie." Umbridge said tapping her wand on Ginny's desk, pulling up her homework.
"I'm not lying," Ginny said in a calm voice. "No one in fourth year is doing anything wrong. Unless you want to say doing our homework is wrong."
Umbridge stared at her, her toad-like face twitching. "Miss Weasley, cheating is not acceptable."
"Have you found anyone who is cheating? I'm sure you could quiz any of us to know we understand the material." Ginny said with a smile. "After all, we do have excellent teachers."
"We'll see about that," Umbridge said with a twisted smile. "Now, please pull out your quills. You have a quiz."
Hermione paced back and forth. Her cousin Sophie in France had an interesting answer to Hermione's weight dilemma. She was weighing the pros and cons of what she was about to do. When Pansy Parkinson of all people walked out of the fourth-floor girl's lav, Hermione knew what she had to do. She plucked her bag of Puking Pastilles out of her school bag and walked into the bathroom, ready for easy weight loss.
Harry wasn't enjoying fifth year, and he had only been here for two weeks. His talk with Aunt Minnie was weighing on his mind. He hadn't realized that not all adults were as open about their losses as Padfoot and Moony were. He had always just assumed that he knew everything there was to know about everyone around him. That revelation was proving to be a hard pill to swallow, so he figured he'd ignore it for the time being. Harry couldn't even contact Padfoot via his dad's mirror because he'd loaned it to Moony over the summer so he could contact help if needed.
So, Harry's week was going downhill when Dolores Umbridge ascended the stairs to the teacher's table that cold, fall day. She had a sick smile on her face that made most students wince. When she reached Dumbledore's famed podium, she clicked her wand twice before setting off a green sparkler to get the students' attention.
"Hem, hem." She said when all eyes were on her. "I would like to read something in full view of the student body and the teaching staff. This just in from the Ministry of Magic. 'Educational Decree 23: Dolores Umbridge is now the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry.' Thank you."
No one spoke for several long moments, not even the Slytherins. Then, in a sudden burst of noise, everyone erupted into harsh whispers.
"What does it mean, Hermione?" Ron asked, willing to put petty betrayal aside for the sake of the common good.
"It means, Ronald, that we're never going to learn anything ever again," Hermione replied.
"Are you sure you're not being overdramatic?" Ginny asked, leaning into her friend.
"Do you learn anything in the new 'Ministry Approved' Defense Against the Dark Arts?" Hermione asked, quirking her brow. The Gryffindors surrounding her all had to agree that no, they didn't learn anything in the class. "Well, now all the classes are going to have to be Ministry Approved. Meaning, all practicals will be abolished in favor of theories. No more hands on learning, just papers about hands-on learning. It'll be horrid!"
"That sounds ominous." Alicia Spinnet said, quirking her brow at Angelina Johnson.
"This is our NEWT year. How can they redo the entire curriculum and still expect us to pass out tests." Angelina asked.
"Easy. They expect you to fail. Then, they can blame the old system on the new system's failures and screw over students for years to come." Hermione said eyes narrowed in anger.
"What are we going to do?" Someone else asked.
"We're going to fight," Hermione replied. "I don't know how, but we're going to fight and we're going to win. She will not take Hogwarts away from us."
Kat: The plot thickens! Thanks for those who reviewed!
Gabs: Yes, we love reviews! Thanks to all those that favorited/followed this week, too! That number went up!
Kat: Next week we won't be updating. We have a football game! Oh, and finals for me.
Gabs: It feels like they're my finals, too. Remember, we own nothing!
XOXO
Gabs & Kat
