It seemed to happen overnight that a thousand notices went up proclaiming Umbridge as headmistress. The story of Dumbledore's escape was surprisingly accurate except for a few. Everyone seemed to know that I had been there, but I quite honestly couldn't remember much. Harry went back to avoiding eye-contact with me and I fell back into despair.
On the way back from Herbology that day, Ernie Macmillan was exclaiming that Dumbledore would be back before long. "They couldn't keep him away in our second year and they won't be able to this time. The Fat Friar told me…" his voice dropped so that the four of us had to get closer to hear, "…that Umbridge tried to get back into his office last night after they searched the castle and grounds for him Couldn't get past the gargoyle. The Head's office has sealed itself against her." Ernie smirked. "Apparently she had a right little tantrum…."
"Oh, I expect she really fancied herself sitting up there in the Head's office," said Hermione viciously, as they walked up the stone steps into the entrance hall. "Lording it over all the other teachers, the stupid puffed-up, power-crazy old-."
"Now, do you really want to finish that sentence, Granger?"
Draco Malfoy. How fun. He and his two cronies followed closely behind him.
"Afraid I'm going to have to dock a few points from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff."
"That's great." I said.
"It's only teachers that can dock points from Houses, Malfoy." Said Ernie at once.
"Yeah, we're prefects too, remember?" Snarled Ron.
"I know prefects can't dock points, Weasel King." Sneered Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle sniggered. "But members of the Inquisitorial Squad-."
"The what?"
"So Umbridge's made a squad for herself then? All Slytherins I expect?" I spat.
"That's right." Malfoy pointed to a badge beneath his prefect's badge. "Anyway, members of the Inquisitorial Squad do have the power to dock points… so, Granger, I'll have five from you for being rude about our new headmistress… Macmillan, five for contradicting me… five because I don't like you, Potter… Weasley, your shirt's not tucked, so I'll have another five for that… Oh yeah, I forgot, you're a Mudblood, Granger, so ten for that…. And Favian, how could I forget you? I award five points to you for having a nice ass and I'm going to dock ten for being a slut."
Ron pulled out his wand, but I pushed it away.
"Malfoy, dock as much as you want. I guarantee that by the end of the year, Slytherin will have all the House points while the rest of us have zilch. But guess what? I don't give a flying fuck about House points."
Malfoy looked a bit taken aback. So did my friends.
"Oh Favian Fynn, I see it's going to take a bit more to wipe the frosting off of your cupcake."
"Do what you will, you ass tampon." I swore.
"I think twenty more, because you need to learn some respect." Malfoy narrowed his eyes at me.
"Haha, whatever."
Malfoy and his comrades walked off, muttering.
My friends gaped at me.
"Do you honestly care that much about House points that you'd suck up to them? There is no way that the House Cup will be anyone's but the Slytherins as long as the she-bitch is in control."
"He was probably bluffing anyway." Ernie said. We went to check. The hourglasses for the Houses were so obviously changed except for the nice, full, Slytherin.
"Noticed, have you?" Said Fred. He and George had just come down the marble staircase.
"Montague just tried to dock us." George said.
"What do you mean, 'tried'?" Asked Ron quickly.
"He never managed to get all the words out," said Fred, "due to the fact that we forced him headfirst into that Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor."
While Hermione cried out that they would be slaughtered, I hugged them so hard that they gasped. I told them how much I loved them and backed away. They were grinning sheepishly.
"We won't get into trouble until Montague reappears, anyway. But that doesn't matter. We don't care about getting into trouble anymore."
"Have you ever?" Asked Hermione.
"Of course. Never been expelled, have we?"
"We've always known where to draw the line," said Fred.
"We might have put a toe across it occasionally," said George.
"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem."
"But now?" Ron asked tentatively.
"Well, now-." Said George.
"-what with Dumbledore gone-."
"-we reckon a bit of mayhem-."
"-is exactly what our dear new Head deserves." Fred finished.
"You mustn't!" Hermione whispered. "You really mustn't! She's love a reason to expel you!"
"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?" Fred smiled at her. "We don't care about staying anymore. We'd walk out right now if we weren't determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first. So anyway," he checked his watch, "phase one is about to begin. I'd get in the Great Hall for lunch, if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can't have had anything to do with it."
"Anything to do with what?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"You'll see. Run along now." George demanded.
"How about a good luck kiss?" Fred asked me.
"If you ever deserved one, it'd be now." I nodded. And I kissed them both on the cheeks. Hermione clucked her tongue as the twins winked at me and we left.
The classes were excellent that day. All of the fireworks that George and Fred had created were so difficult for Umbridge to deal with that she was positively fuming by the end of it. The teachers were so sarcastic that I wanted to hug them. The Weasley twins were a hit in the common room that night. Even Hermione congratulated them, to their utter shock. Hermione didn't even feel like studying.
Once the Easter holidays came round, Hermione was busy drawing up studying schedules for all three of us. Harry still wasn't talking to me, but he wasn't talking to anyone else either. He had had a bad experience with Snape, apparently. Wouldn't say a word.
One night when I felt as though I might explode into tears I snuck out onto the roof with Jaeger for the first time in weeks.
"Hey Jaeger." I collapsed sobbing onto the ground. "It's too much. This stupid Aviata thing! And Harry not talking to me! And Umbridge taking over this school! I feel like I'm going to pop!"
Jaeger opened his arms to me. I rushed forward, glad to hug someone. I cried into his shoulder for a long time and his stony arms embraced me. It felt odd to be hugged by a statue, but when no one else had compassion or arms that would encircle, this was fine. He squeezed me hard enough to rid me of the anger and sadness and desperation I was feeling, or that's what it felt like he was trying to do.
After a few moments I was ready to be released.
"Okay, Jaeger, thanks." I sniffed, resting my chin on his shoulder. But he wasn't letting go. "Jaeger? Are you okay?" I wondered what it was like to be a statue sitting on a roof all day long. Was it stressful?
A stony finger came up to my cheek and I thought it was wiping a tear away. But it was tracing letters.
"Oh, okay, start over. Is that a T? No? Ohh, an I. I A M…. Wait, was that an L? Okay. I am L… Lorb? Oh, Lord. I am Lord V…. No! No you can't be! No!" I struggled to get away, but Jaeger was shaking with laughter. "This is a dream! A vicious nightmare! Let go of me! Please! Oh God no!" He dragged me over the roof; my heels were digging into the stone to no avail. "Help!" I knew none would hear my cries. He dangled me over the side. "Let me go! Please!" My wand! It was back in my room. I couldn't fly without it!
"Favian!" I heard someone calling my name. I relaxed, thinking someone was coming to wake me up, but I slipped from Jaeger… Voldemort's stone arms. I grabbed the side of the roof just in time. There was a jolt to my wrists and I gasped in pain and fear. My sweaty fingers were slipping. I kicked against the wall, trying to keep myself up. "Locomotor mortis!" I heard someone yell.
"Help me! Please! Ah!" My fingernails dug into the only cracks they could find. Strong hands grabbed my wrists and pulled me to the roof. I knelt on the roof shaking something awful and I looked up. "Thank you, Harry." He sat next to me and hugged me. "Thank you." I sobbed. "Oh my God."
He rubbed my back and breathed heavily, as though he had rushed to get there.
"How did you know?" I asked, after a time. "How did you know?"
"Voldemort… was happy and I saw why. I was inside the statue you call Jaeger. I knew how to get here because you had spoken to him about the passage before."
"Harry, you saved my life."
Harry flushed and shrugged. "No need to mention it."
"I didn't think… I thought I was alone."
"I understand what it's like."
"Do you ever just want to be understood?"
"Yes."
I knelt in front of him in my pajamas and took his hand. "Harry, I'm sorry."
He looked up slowly. "For what?"
"For telling you. And him."
"Oh, well, it's not like you put me in danger I wasn't already in."
"But you've felt… weird around me."
"Haven't you felt weird around me?"
I nodded. "I still wanted to talk to you. You're one of the only people who understands what I'm going through. Hermione gets freaked out and wants to tell Dumbledore. Ron just… well, he's Ron, let's face it. Ginny doesn't want to bring that stuff up and who does that leave?"
"My God, Favian. I understand. God I was stupid." Harry took his free hand and ran it through his hair. "I didn't think you wanted to talk to me at all… I mean, why would you? Of course you would. We're going through the same thing."
"It's not just that." I shook my head fervently. "You're fun to talk to. You're one of the first friends I've made in Europe. You're a great person, Harry! I just feel like I've seriously screwed up."
"You didn't screw up. You did what you thought was best at the time. Believe me; I know what that's like." Harry laughed sardonically.
I smiled. "So you forgive me then?"
"Of course." He nodded.
"What do we do about Jaeger? Voldemort?" I pointed my thumb at the statue, which was frozen with arms outstretched.
"He's got a Jinx on him. We'll be good for awhile. I'd just stay off the roof in the future."
"Good plan, Stan." I winked.
"Favian." Harry smiled, squeezing my hand. "I've really missed you."
I hugged him again. Then as I backed away I looked at his eyes.
"You know," I commented, "I've never noticed how green your eyes are."
"You've never been this close." He agreed.
His hand was still clutched in mine. I felt as though a force were pulling me towards him. Animal magnetism. I resisted against my will because I knew that it could ruin what friendship we had regained. My freehand, never-the-less, trailed to his scar and I traced it. He shivered and his eyes closed. My heart was pounding in my chest louder than a drum. I traced the contour of his jaw with my thumb and slowly leaned forward, not knowing what to expect. Gently, I pressed my lips against his. His free hand shook as he clasped my neck and held me there a moment longer.
We separated slowly, and opened our eyes.
"My heart," I whispered, "it's going that fast." I took his hand and put it on my heart so he could feel it.
"So's mine." He pressed his forehead against mine and I smiled.
We sat on the edge of the roof and looked at the grounds, fingers intertwined.
"What do we do now?" I asked, leaning my head onto his shoulder.
"I don't know." He leaned his cheek into my hair. "But I don't think it really matters as long as we just… do things. If that makes any sense."
It made perfect sense.
"Career Advice." I read aloud. "All fifth years… blah, blah, blah…. We have to talk to our Head of House about career ideas. Soon."
"How exciting." Ron grabbed a bunch of pamphlets and was leafing through them during the last evening of the holidays. "Urgh, look at all these requirements for Healing…an E at N.E.W.T. level in Potions, Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Blimey. That's asking for a bit."
"Well, it's a very responsible job, isn't it?" Hermione said while leaving through a Muggle Relations pamphlet. "You don't seem to need many qualifications to liaise with Muggles… all they want is an O.W.L. in Muggle Studies…. 'Much more important is your enthusiasm, patience, and a good sense of fun!'"
"You'd need more than a good sense of fun to liaise with my uncle." Harry said darkly. "Good sense of when to duck, more like."
"They probably require skill in Quidditch too then." I said blandly, reading a brochure on working at a magical bookstore called Avalon.
"Why's that?"
"Dodging all the Bludgers and morons on broomsticks."
"Hm, sounds good."
"Hey," said a voice quietly. I turned abruptly to see Fred leaning over Harry. "Ginny's had a word with us about you." Fred and George took seats next to Harry. Harry and I were sitting with enough room between us to maybe fit a doll, that way we weren't too obvious but we weren't far apart either. We hadn't told Hermione or Ron about the prior night's events.
"She says you need to talk to Sirius?" George whispered.
"What?" Said Hermione sharply, stopping partway from picking up a leaflet on Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
"Yeah…." Harry said in a wannabe casual voice. "Yeah, I thought I'd like-."
"Don't be so ridiculous," Hermione straightened up and stared incredulously at Harry. "With Umbridge groping around in the fires and frisking all the owls?"
"Well, we think we can find a way around that," said George, stretching and smiling. "It's a simple matter of causing a diversion. Now, you might have noticed that we have been rather quiet on the mayhem front during the Easter holidays?"
I nodded.
"What was the point, we asked ourselves, of disrupting leisure time?" Continued Fred. "No point at all, we answered ourselves. And of course, we'd have messed up people's studying too, which would be the very last thing we'd want to do."
He nodded at Hermione, who looked rather knocked for six by his thoughtfulness.
"But it's business as usual from tomorrow," Fred continued briskly, "And if we're going to be causing a bit of uproar…."
"Why not help Harry talk to Sirius? That's a great idea." I agreed.
"Exactly."
"Yes, but still," Hermione said slowly, "even if you do cause a diversion, how is Harry supposed to talk to him?"
"Umbridge's office." Harry said quietly. "The only fire not watched. She told me herself."
"Are- you- insane?" Hermione hissed.
"I don't think so," said Harry, shrugging. Ron was watching the conversation with his mouth firmly shut and eyes wide.
"And how do you plan to get in there?"
"Sirius's knife."
"Excuse me?"
Harry explained about a knife that Sirius had sent him the Christmas before last that opened any lock. There was a handy carving utensil.
"What do you think about this?" Hermione asked me.
"I'd say go for it. We've already risked about everything else. Why not this?" Harry's pinky brushed mine slightly. I felt a faint flush creep into my face. No one seemed to notice though.
"And you?" Hermione wheeled around to glare at Ron.
"I dunno," Ron looked frightened to give his opinion. "If Harry wants to do it, it's up to him, isn't it?"
"Spoken like a true friend and Weasley," Fred clapped Ron on the shoulder. "Right, then. We're thinking of doing it tomorrow, just after lessons, because it should cause maximum impact if everybody's in the corridors- Harry, we'll set it off in the east wing somewhere, draw her right away from her own office- I reckon we should be able to guarantee you, what, twenty minutes?"
"Easy." Replied George.
"What sort of diversion?" Ron asked.
"You'll see, little bro." Said Fred, as he and George got up again. "At least, you will if you trot along to Gregory the Smarmy's corridor round about five o'clock tomorrow." After they left I finally spoke.
"That's a good head's up to stay away." I pushed a tendril of hair behind my ear. Hermione was still glaring at Ron, who was now immersed in a leaflet that was upside down. I leaned over and whispered quietly to Harry. "This is the part where she demands he marry her."
"You think?" Harry grinned.
"It's a classic time, when everyone's beet red." I said sagely.
"What is?" Ron asked, turning to us to avoid looking at Hermione.
"Nothing." We said simultaneously.
Hermione rolled her eyes and went back to searching the leaflets for job ideas.
The next day I felt that Harry was definitely preoccupied with his talk with Sirius. He was looking forward to and dreading it beyond all things. Hermione wouldn't let up and both Ron and Harry would no longer talk to her. She didn't let it bother her or anything. She used their silence as a chance to warn them constantly.
I left them during Potions for my meeting with McGonagall about my career options. I carried my books with me down the corridor to Professor McGonagall's office. She was waiting in there with a surprising many papers. They didn't look like parchment either, but computer paper. I frowned as I took a seat in front of her desk. I lowered myself slowly to the chair and looked at the paper more closely, hoping to catch a glimpse at what it was. There were bits of parchment in the middle of it and together they looked odd. It was like mixing my old world with this new one.
"Hello, Ms. Fynn." McGonagall's eyes did not leave the page for more than a split second. "I am just looking over your school records from the States."
"Oh?" I wondered what it had taken to get a hold of them.
She looked up at me and made sharp eye-contact. "Have you given any thought to an occupation you might like?"
"I… I really have no idea what I would like. Or what I could do."
"Understandable." Professor McGonagall nodded. "Given your history, this is going to be the most difficult year of your life."
I nodded my assent.
"As you don't take any of the extra courses this year, I'm not sure what classes you may want to drop." McGonagall put the papers down on the desk. "Are there any you can think of right now?"
"No. Not really. I enjoy the subject matter of all of my classes."
"Really?" McGonagall's mouth turned up in a small smile. "That will leave a lot of fields open to you. I notice from your school records that you were very good in all of your subjects."
I shrugged.
"And I see that you had put in a request to take more than one language?"
"Yeah, I like languages." I nodded. "But I just like learning in general. Things that I can apply are my favorite but history, while applicable for some people, is like a story." I blushed for a second. "Though, Defense Against the Dark Arts is a class I don't enjoy, I like the subject."
"You've spoken to Miss Granger about extra classes?" McGonagall asked, taking notes.
"Yes. There are three classes I would really like to take next year, if that's possible."
"Which?"
"Arithmancy, Care of Magical Creatures, and Study of Ancient Runes."
"I think you could tackle those." McGonagall nodded. "Have you attended any of those classes with Miss Granger?"
"Yes. All of them."
"Good! Those classes will leave a lot open to you."
I smiled. "I remember my dad had to take a lot of courses to become a physician and pathologist. Muggle Healers." I explained quickly.
"Do you think you'd be interested in Healing?"
I thought about it. "No. It's something I like learning about but I don't care to apply myself to."
"That's reasonable. There is a certain pressure on you to narrow down a few jobs you hold interest in just for the sake of knowing how to help you."
"Oh, yes! That's right!" I pulled a piece of parchment out of my bag. "I've written down all of the jobs I thought looked like something I'd enjoy." I passed the paper to McGonagall.
"You have fourteen jobs on this list! That's a good start. You'd need Arithmancy for about four of them, Care of Magical Creatures for two, and Study of Ancient Runes for three. Your knowledge of languages will help you as well for a good many of these. You would consider being a Curse-Breaker, Spell-Modifier, working at the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes, working as an ambassador for the Ministry… the Muggle relations one you could do as a Muggle-born, but they would ask you have an O.W.L. in the studies, which I doubt you would find very interesting."
"Oh, no." I shook my head.
"I see you're interested in business? You would like to work at a bookshop? Ah, Avalon's bookstore. Dangerous job, but very good work. They don't have many employees."
"That was one of my favorite options." Not only did they sort books, but they had to track down dangerous books and fight off the creatures lurking in the vast underground bookstore that had come in with cursed books and had been living there already. There was so much to interpret and it excited me to think about.
"You would need all of the three classes you are interested in. Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, History of Magic, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Astrology, and Herbology are all important. N.E.W.T.'s are only required in Transfiguration and Charms. O.W.L.'s are required in all the rest."
I grinned. "That's the job I want."
"Then that's the job you shall strive for."
I returned to class right after Potions and asked Hermione if I could go to Arithmancy with her that day. She said it was no problem, and brightened considerably when I told her what McGonagall had told me.
"That's wonderful news, Favian."
I grinned back at her.
"You definitely have a head start in Arithmancy, though, because you've been in Muggle mathematics for so long. All you have to do is learn formulas for magic and apply them with regular arithmetic."
Hermione had been giving me lessons in Arithmancy anyway, because she enjoyed practicing her Arithmancy by teaching it. The Runes I had studied on my own when I was in America, and a lot of the Muggle meanings were similar or the same as Wizard meaning. Hermione had helped me with that too. I could feel excitement bubbling inside of me as I thought about my future. It was the first time I had felt that feeling for a long time.
Before I knew it, it was time for Defense Against the Dark Arts with "Professor" Umbridge. Hermione went back to berating Harry and begging him to think about what he was planning to do. She had no affect on him. Oh well. Class ended and we all trudged out of the room. Harry was looking nervous and Hermione looked like she wanted to strangle him in exasperation.
Umbridge pelted out of her classroom as she heard the screams on the floor above. And Harry flew away too, in another direction. Hermione called hopelessly after him.
"Hermione, he's got something… very difficult on his mind." I said. "Let him put it to rest. Besides, he's brought his cloak with him. It'll be all right."
Hermione's jaw stiffened but she nodded. Ron clapped me on the shoulder, as if to say thanks.
I sniffed. "D'you smell that?"
"What? Oy! Yeah!" Ron covered his nose as we neared the Entrance Hall.
"Stink sap." Hermione and I chimed.
And indeed, in the Entrance Hall quite a few students had been doused in the foul substance. There, in the middle of the throng of students were Fred and George. Hermione, Ron and I had managed to push our way to the front. The twins stood proud even as Umbridge came at them with a chubby, ringed, accusatory finger.
"So, you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"
"Pretty amusing, yeah." Said Fred, looking at her without the slightest hint of fear.
I saw Filch shoving his way through the crowd next to Umbridge, grinning so broadly I thought he had won a million galleons.
"I've got the form, Headmistress," he said hoarsely, waving a piece of parchment like a prize. "I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting…. Oh, let me do it now…." My heart skipped a beat in fear. They were allowed to whip people? Were Fred and George going to be okay?
"Very good, Argus," she said. "You two," Umbridge went on, glaring at Fred and George, "are about to learn what happens to wrongdoers in my school."
"You know what?" Said Fred. "I don't think we are."
He turned to George, his identical twin in every way.
"George," said Fred, "I think we've outgrown full-time education."
"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself." Said George like it was nothing.
"Time to test our talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" Asked Fred.
"Definitely." Said George.
Together, they raised their wands and cried "Accio Brooms!"
Fred and George's brooms made a loud crashing noise as they arrived still attached to a heavy chain and iron peg. The twins got on their brooms.
"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Professor Umbridge.
"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," said George.
"If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley- Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes," he advertised in a loud voice, "our new premises!"
"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat," added George, pointing to Umbridge.
"STOP THEM!" Shrieked Umbridge. But it didn't matter, because even as the Inquisitorial Squad ran at them, Fred and George kicked off from the floor, shooting fifteen feet into the air, the iron peg swinging dangerously below. Fred looked across the hall at Peeves.
"Give her hell from us, Peeves."
The poltergeist took off his hat and saluted them. The hall broke into tumultuous applause from the students and the twins sped out the open front doors into the magnificent twilight.
"I LOVE YOU TWO!" I screamed out at them amidst the wild cheering. Umbridge was so red that it seemed likely she would explode. I wished that she would.