Someday, I will own something of great value. This will not be Harry Potter, as J K Rowling already owns it.

More Detention

Ryua sighed and set down her fork after her third piece of rhubarb pie. She was procrastinating, as she really, really didn't want to go to detention. It only made it worse that she knew very well that it was her own fault, but that didn't really change anything. She still had to go.

Umbridge was up in her office, looking faintly out of breath. Hah. She must have had to run to get up here before me. Ryua was going to take every bit of enjoyment she could get out of this evening, and so she walked up to the doily-covered desk and said very sweetly, "Oh, Professor Umbridge, you must be getting fit. You're barely out of breath after the long, grueling walk up here." Of course, the teachers all had a direct-access tunnel to their offices from the head table, so she had walked maybe 100 metres total.

Umbridge knew Ryua knew this, but since it was so nicely veiled as a compliment, her pudgy little brain couldn't come up with a comeback. Instead, she said, "Miss Malfoy, it's good to see you on time."

"Of course, Professor. Wouldn't miss it for the world."

"You know what you're here for?"

"Actually, no. I answered your question in class, to the best of my ability… and if you want to drag my previous… lessons… into this, I've been acting exactly as befits my station." Ryua said, dropping to a low, slightly dangerous voice at the end. Sometimes, having a slimy, no good Death Eater for a father is a good thing…

Umbridge swallowed slightly, but regained her façade of calm sweetness quickly. "Well then, I think we'll just have to change the line for this round. To something it is impossible to misunderstand."

"Alright. I wasn't aware you had problems with words like 'befits', or 'station'."

Her face turned ugly, and she didn't bother to hide it this time. "You will write, 'I will be good'. Apparently you were not disciplined enough as a child, so I will go back to the most basic lessons."

No discipline as a child? I wish I could give her a taste… Ryua couldn't keep the anger out of her voice as she grated, "I'm sure you'll want to set the quill to my left palm then, as it's the last one left clean."

That wasn't entirely true, as the scars across the backs of her hands looked to be fading now, but she wasn't about to tell Umbridge that. She had enough scars as it was, and words on her palms would be bad enough. Umbridge, being the lazy bitch she was, just told her to write with her left hand. Apparently, those beady little eyes didn't miss much that she deemed useful, and she'd seen Ryua using both hands before Christmas.

Well, at least it's good practice… that's really kind of morbid. Automatically assuming I'm going to be incapacitated in the future…I can't believe I'm going to bear this scar for the rest of my life. How humiliating; I will be good. Honestly. Ryua's mind tended to natter away while she did something like this. It was mindless, so simple that her hand and arm just took over and she didn't even have to think about it anymore. Her palm burned as she wrote; negligible pain, considering her wide range of experience. Mostly, she was bored. And itching to do homework too, the teachers didn't stop assigning it just because one student got detention.

I will be good, I will be good… you'd better believe I'll be good. I'll be the best. I don't care what I do, I'll be the best at it. I'll be good, indeed… just not how you might like… Death Eater, Auror, schoolteacher, freelance assassin, Quidditch player… a whole lot of jobs chased their way through her head that night, a surprising number of them illegal…

And the next day was the Job Fair. She'd completely forgotten about it until after lunch when everyone wandered aimlessly, released from classes for the rest of the day. Luckily, she had Snape as her career advisor, so it was a fairly open visit. "Well, I've got one huge career opportunity kind of… looming… maybe you could even say lying in ambush…"

"You don't have to join the Dark Lord, Dumbledore would give you asylum."

"Yeah, I know. He's really pretty great. So, if Harry and Dumbledore win the fight, or if I defect to their side… what do you think is a good career choice?"

"I would highly recommend defecting, by the way. You do not deserve the life of a Death Eater. Once you do… you have the skills to give a shot at just about anything. You might have difficulties getting into Auror training without your Charms, but you've proven you can work around them quite sufficiently. The way our school appears to be going, you could probably apply for Defense teacher…"

"Neville Longbottom could teach that course better than half the teachers we've had…"

"True." Snape grimaced, thinking about how low the standards had fallen. "I'd also say you should try for Quidditch, for as long as you are physically fit for the job. You could probably get into the national league by the time you graduate, especially if you keep your energy diverted into it like you have been."

"Yeah, that would be cool." Ryua stretched back a moment in her chair, imagining a life where she could make her own name, playing Quidditch for a living. "Would definitely be cool, actually."

"Then, I could advise stop getting these ridiculous detentions, as they are going to cripple your hands before long, and moving out as soon as possible. Oh, and keep up your studies, maintain your captaincy, and so on."

Ryua grinned, leaning forward. "I'll get right on that… I'm supposed to be good, don't you know."

"So I see," Snape said dryly, tracing a finger along her palm. "Just make sure you are good in the behavioral sense as well."

"What? Are you saying I behave badly? Okay, okay, maybe I've got a bit of a stubborn, stuck-up, proud pureblood thing going on here…"

"There is absolutely nothing wrong with being proud of who you are. In fact, it is unhealthy to bury your natural strengths. However, flaunting it, pushing your luck, acting against authority…"

"Alright, alright, I get it. You know, I never act up with you, or Dumbledore, or McGonnagall… you people actually deserve respect."

"I know the temptation. But that doesn't mean you can pick and choose, Ryua. You must pay attention to me on this."

"Nnnnnng… the worst part is I know very well that you're right…"

"Of course I'm right. Now go on, I have to try and council Crabbe into a job, may Salazar lend me strength…"

"Ouch. Good luck on that…" Ryua smiled and walked out, sending Crabbe in afterwards. She wandered aimlessly for a while, then saw Harry leaving another classroom and caught a glimpse of a rather satisfied looking McGonnagall behind him. "What's she so happy about?"

"Oh, McGonnagall? She got to badmouth Umbridge. Said something like how I've been good in every DADA class taught by a competent teacher…"

"Yes! Score one for McGonnagall!"

"Yeah. Should've seen her face, it was great. So, what career did you decide on?"

"Well… the one I want to do, or the one I'm probably going to get stuck with?"

"Stuck with? Oh. That. Well, what about what you actually want to do then? Always aim for the best, right?"

"Yeah, I guess." They walked down a corridor, Ryua checking to make sure they weren't seen. Man, I'm getting paranoid… it's second nature now. "I'm going to try for Quidditch, I think. My Charms mark isn't anywhere near good enough to be an Auror, and I do love flying…"

"I know what you mean. My Potions could be a problem… although McGonnagall also swore to do everything in her power to make sure I made it. Umbridge was really not having a good day…"

"Heh, always glad to hear that. Guess I'd better not be a Death Eater then, if you're going to be the one catching us."

Harry's cheeks went just the slightest bit pink, but he said, "Oh, I don't know. I wouldn't want to be stuck in a duel with you. Doubt I'd be the one bringing home the prisoner."

Ryua smiled, looking over at him. "Hopefully we'll never have to find out." She whipped her head around, then relaxed as a couple of Hufflepuff prefects came around the corner. "I love Hufflepuffs. They mind their own business, and they can't be easily made to sell information…"

"Yeah. Unlike Slytherins."

"Or Gryffindors. You're terrible for talking about things."

"Better than selling out."

"Eh. We're not all like that, and I remember one Gryffindor who was as slimy as the worst of us…"

"Right… Wish I'd let them kill that rat when they had the chance."

They didn't get to talk much more, as the next people to come around the corner were Pansy's flock. Ryua naturally slipped into her role of badmouthing Harry, going from what happened the years before they were friends to how he still couldn't tell the difference between Citrine and citrus.

"Convenient topic, that," Harry said quietly when they'd rounded another corner.

"Yeah. Not only does it help keep us secret, but you get your studying done as well!"

"Ugh… sometimes you're way to perky…"

Author's Note: Blaaaah! I don't like this chapter, but I have to finish the year off. And Artemis 64, are you still there? If not, would anyone else like to be my sounding board? Pretty please?

And please review, it helps give me motivation. It's hard to write when only one person reviews a chapter… it feels like no one cares. Maybe you're like me though, and have no internet access, or maybe you just don't like the story, or maybe you don't care… I have no way of knowing unless you tell me, right?

And, I'm still pushing my pictures too... so here's a link (minus the spaces, of course)

http:www .mediaminer . org / fanart / src . php / a / 106872

pretty please, review them too? I promise, I'm a half-decent artist.