So no reviews yet, guys. I've gotta say I'm disappointed. I already have the next chapter written, but I'm not uploading anymore of this story unless I get a review. Remember, this is my first story and first introduction to writing on Fanfiction so reviews are invited and wanted. I want feedback to make sure I'm actually going in a direction people want for this story!
Draco POV
The next few weeks seem to fly by and soon, we're in the middle of the school year with Umbridge trying her hardest to get rid of Dumbledore. Her effort to figure out where Dumbledore's Army is hiding has tripled and she is running me absolutely mad with how annoying she is about finding them, but she has taken a special liking to me so I don't have to worry about her finding out I'm just here to help Briar. The worst part, however, is that she has started to use Veritaserum on students to ask answers. So far, none of the DA students have been dragged into questioning.
"Ms. Chang, please take a set." I turn my head as I sit on a chair with Goyle and Crabbe sitting on the couch across from me in Umbridge's office. Cho Chang is being escorted into the office by Umbridge herself and is asked to sit. I mentally kick myself for jinxing myself because I know for a fact she's in DA with Briar and Potter. Umbridge walks over to her desk and pulls out a flask of the serum before dropping a few drops into Cho's tea while she's looking around the horridly pink office. Quickly placing the serum back into her desk, she clears her throat in a way that makes my ears bleed from the frequency. I look to Crabbe and Goyle and roll my eyes causing them to chuckle.
"Now, Ms. Chang. May I call you Cho?" Umbridge pauses for a moment before barreling onto her next question as Cho opens her mouth to respond. "Great, here. Have some tea." Umbridge stands there with her hands crossed in from of her waist clasped together while she smiles at Cho. Cho picks up the tea and takes a tiny sip.
Umbridge stares at her while she sips and then clears her throat when Cho starts to lower the cup. Cho freezes and stares at Umbridge who gestures with her right hand to take another sip. Taking a larger sip, Cho looks at Umbridge for confirmation she had enough tea before placing it on the table once she sees Umbridge is genuinely smiling now.
Fuck…
"Now, onto business. What is your name?" Cho looks at her slightly confused.
"Cho Lillian Chang," she says without hesitation.
"What year are you?"
"Fifth year?" She asks and I can tell her confusion is escalating.
"Do you know why you're here?" Umbridge continues with her questions.
"I'm here because you asked me to join you for tea while I was walking down the hall," Chang said quickly and I can tell she's starting to figure out something wasn't quite right with that tea. Umbridge asks a few more questions about her classes and her family while pacing back and forth slowly before she asks a question that makes me freeze.
"Do you participate in any clubs here at school?"
"No," she says quickly.
From the corner of my eye, I see Crabbe turn to Goyle annoyed that the questioning is taking so long. Goyle stares intently at Cho with a smirk. His reaction makes me a little uneasy as I anxiously watch the questioning.
"No? You don't? Quidditch doesn't count as a club?" Umbridge asks in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"Quidditch is a team. It's not technically a club since we don't have a Professor as a supervisor, but rather team captains." Umbridge nods her head and looks Cho dead in the eyes.
"I see. My apologizes. I understand now that I'm not being as direct as I should be so let me try to be quite plain," she says before pausing from her pacing. "Do you know of any students starting an army and practicing magic?"
"Yes," Cho says and she covers her mouth with her hands. Umbridge smiles knowing she will be able to get information from her.
"How many students are in this army?"
"28."
"Where do these students practice and when?"
"The Room of Requirement and when we are summoned."
"Are they practicing right now?"
"Yes," Cho says as tears run down her face now. She was betraying the people that were helping her learn how to defend herself and she couldn't stop it because of the Veritaserum.
"Mr. Malfoy! Grab Ms. Chang. She will guide us to the Room of Requirement." With a smirk and her head held high, Umbridge left her office to gather the Inquisitorial Squad and Filch. Grabbing onto Cho's arm, I drag her into the hallway with Goyle and Crabbe following Umbridge closely in front of us. Marching down the hallway, Cho tells us how to get to the Room of Requirement as Umbridge marches proudly in the front of the group. Her heels let out a loud clacking sound against the stones on the floor. Looking to make sure everyone in the group is too busy, I lean forward and whisper to Cho.
"Is Briar still there?" She looks at me and hesitates for a moment before answering as if she is trying to fight the serum.
"She was when I left. Merlin, I hope everyone is gone," she says sniffling. She sees the look on my face and whispers to me in shock. "I never thought I'd see the day…" I look down at her in confusion.
"What are you blabbering about?"
"I never thought I'd see the day Draco Malfoy actually showed anything other than anger and maliciousness, let alone showing he cares about someone other than himself." I scoff and push her forward a little causing her to glare at me. I chuckle quietly and keep walking forward while I answer her.
"Yeah, well. She snuck up on me," I say and it clicks in her mind what I'm saying. She stares at me in shock and smiles softly before turning her head to look at Umbridge. She's only a few steps away from the wall that let me in to see Briar in her Animagus form at the beginning of the school year. Months ago, this wall held so much happiness and relief for me. Right now, I just hope it doesn't hold the person that gives me that happiness and relief.
"Ms. Chang. Is this where it is?" Cho nods her head and looks down at the ground. "Right," she says and points her wand at the wall to use wordless magic. A huge crack takes a chunk out of the wall as a gust of wind blows at us. Peaking to the side, I try to look into the room to see if there's anyone in there. I see Potter and a smaller kid that must be in third or fourth year.
"I'll make short work of this. Bombarda maxima," she says and I see the entire wall blast into the room as Potter dives to get to kid away from the explosion. After the dust settles, I pull Cho towards the hole in the wall as everyone else moves forward to assess who's in there.
"You bloody well could've hurt him! You knew he was looking into that hole when you blasted that damn spell at him," Briar screams.
Walking into the hole in the wall now, I glance around and see mirrors, a practice dummy, and about a dozen students still here. I glance to where Briar is fuming in front of all of the students being held back by Potter.
He sure likes getting handsy with her, I think angrily. My hands tighten on Cho's arms a little and she looks at me questioningly, but I'm too focused on watching Briar struggle against Potter as Umbridge gets closer to her. Stopping a few steps away from her, I hear Umbridge start to speak as Briar glares daggers at her.
"Well, Ms. Griffin. I would say I'm surprised to find you here, but I'm not at all since you are disloyal," she says with a smirk causing Briar to tug forward as Potter struggles to hold her back. I see her eyes flash in anger and I find myself hoping she can keep her anger at bay. She doesn't need another incident like with Parkinson months ago. Although, hearing Umbridge refer to the time she made her brand herself causes me to lose my indifferent smirk for a moment as I glare at the back of Umbridge's head.
"Although, if you hadn't been here in the first place, then I would have to come to the conclusion that there wouldn't have been a chance of someone getting hurt in the first place. Hm?" She stares at Briar with a smirk causing her to struggle against Potter's hold again.
"Why you little bi…" she starts to say before Potter pulls her closer to him so her back is flush against his chest. He whispers something in her ear and she stops talking immediately and stops struggling. After surveying the area, Umbridge settles her gaze on Briar who is staring at her defiantly.
"I want Potter and Griffin. The rest can go about their day until further questioning is required." Crabbe shoves Potter away from Griffin and starts walking him towards the hole in the wall. I'm briefly relieved and grateful that Potter's hands are no longer on Briar, but then Goyle walks over to her and roughly grabs her arm. She fights him before he smirks and whispers something to her. She swings her free hand up and slaps him hard across the face. His face changes to blind fury and he grabs both of her arms in a very tight grip. I can see the whites of his knuckles from how hard he's holding her and I keep my hold on Cho to keep myself from going over and hexing him from how hard he is squeezing her arms. Cho looks at me reassuringly with a whispered "Don't worry, she can take care of herself," before I follow Crabbe, Goyle, and Umbridge out of the room with our respective captives controlled.
"I've been watching them for weeks and see? Dumbledore's Army. Proof of what I've been telling you right from the beginning, Cornelius. All your fear mongering about You Know Who never fooled us for a minute. We saw your lies for what they were; a smokescreen for your big to seize control of the Ministry," Umbridge says. Percy comes over and grabs Cho from me as well as Potter from Crabbe leaving Goyle to hold on tightly to Briar. I can tell that his grip is going to give her bruises and I have to stand here and pretend like I don't want to throw a Cruciatus curse at him. Crabbe walks over and stands next to me to watch from the door as we were supposed to have left a few moments ago. We stand lurking in the doorway and watch as Dumbledore stares straight into Umbridge's eyes with disinterest.
"Naturally," he says before Potter butts in.
"No, Professor! He had nothing to do with it; it was me," Potter says before looking back at Dumbledore.
"Most noble of you, Harry, but as its been pointed out; the parchment clearly says Dumbledore's Army. Not Potter's. I instructed Harry to ask for Ms. Griffin's help to form this organization and I, and I alone; am responsible for its activity." I can see Briar struggling against Goyle more as she lets out a "No, Dumbledore." Dumbledore gave her a look and I can see her deflate. Her eyes sadden and she seems to give off an air of understanding of what was about to happen.
"Dispatch an owl to the Daily Prophet. If we hurry, we can still make the morning addition. Danish, Shacklebolt; you will escort Dumbledore to Azkaban to await trial for conspiracy and sedition." Shacklebolt, Umbridge, Danish, and the Minister start to advance on Dumbledore when he started to walk backwards while speaking.
"Ah, I thought we might hit this little snag. You seem to be laboring under the delusion that I'm going to, what was the phrase? Come quietly?" He was now standing behind his desk and I could see the Minister getting slightly anxious. Crabbe and I leaned into the room more waiting to see what would happen.
"Well, I can tell you this," Dumbledore continued. "I have no intention of going to Azkaban."
"Enough of this! Take him!" Umbridge says urgently. I look to Dumbledore and see him wink at Harry and smile sadly at Briar before his Phoenix comes swooping into the room out of nowhere. Lifting his arms over his head, he claps them together before bursting into flames. With his exit, a gust of wind throws Umbridge, Kingsley, the Minister, and Danish backwards a few steps.
"Well, you may not like him Minister, but you can't deny. Dumbledore's got style," Kingsley says causing the Minister to stare at him in disbelief. After everyone realizes they were bested by Dumbledore and he wasn't coming back, Umbridge huffs in anger and orders Goyle to release Briar. He shoves her forward roughly and laughs as she trips and starts to tumble to the floor. I tense up waiting for an impact, but see Potter grab onto her before she can.
Always the hero, Potter. I think snidely, but with some relief Briar didn't fall to the floor. I can see her favoring her left ankle and know she probably twisted it. Potter keeps an arm around her and I hear him mention the hospital wing, but she shakes her head. She starts to roll the ankle for a few moments before stepping on it slowly as if to test her weight on it already.
"Are you quite done watching the show, Mr. Malfoy?" Umbridge stands in front of me and glares at how I'm blocking the door. I quickly mumble an apology before letting her by and see Crabbe has already left the room. Goyle struts past me with a smirk and brushes past my shoulder to follow Umbridge. I turn around to follow them and risk a glance back only to stare right into those green eyes. I'm so busy staring into her eyes for the last fleeting moments before I have to leave that I don't notice she's standing on her ankle with her full weight. She had healed herself.