Weird was a word Draco was usually using to describe Luna Lovegood, but clearly, now, these holidays were competiting with her place for this definition.
He knew that two weeks were bound to go fast. Sometimes, he thought that it would go slow because of the people around him. But in the end, it didn't matter. He had a good time and time flew. Hermione and Lupin were the reason of his constant good mood, making him be even nicer with Harry and Ron. At least, they hadn't fought once during the time he had spent in the house.
And yes, Molly Weasley had made him help around in the house with the others, but at least he had learnt some things and the more they were to help, the fastest they were done. And even if it was killing him to admit it, Fred and George Weasley were a joy to be around. They were funny and talented. He had been uncomfortable in the beginning, it had been like they were making him feel this way on purpose, but they were nice.
Draco hadn't really visited the house, he didn't really have the time and even if he wanted to, he didn't dare. Yes, a part of his family had lived there but still, he didn't feel like it was a right thing to do. He felt this way even more the first time the portrait of Sirius' mother had screamed in the hallway.
Besides, Sirius had been in a really bad mood. Harry, Hermione and Ron suspected that it was because in a way, he had wished that Harry would have been expelled so he could have stayed with him. Hermione had talked to his friendship with Harry's father to Draco. She was sure that Molly Weasley was right and that sometimes, Sirius was confusing Harry and his father. When the trio talked about it during one of their breaks, Draco hadn't joined in the conversation, he had simply listened, it wasn't his business and he didn't want to be told off anyway.
Snape had come by another time to discuss with the Order and he had given Draco a book about the Wolfsbane potion, saying that he could begin by reading it to know more about it, since he was eventually going to teach Draco how to make it.
But in the end, he still wanted to go back to Hogwarts. 12 Grimmauld Place wasn't a really nice place to live in. When it wasn't for Kreacher, who obviously knew who Draco was while Draco had no clue who he was at first, or for Sirius' mother, he was tired of having to clean. Ron was right when he was saying that he was feeling like a house-elf. Draco had never had to do something like that at the Manor, he hated it, in the end.
He even felt kind of relieved when Snape came to get him out of there. But it lasted only for a minute. Because it meant that he was leaving Lupin for another year. And that he was about to spent the night in the cellar. But at least, he was going to see his parents and to see Hermione a few days later.
Fred and George even forced him pose for a picture of him and Lupin. They had found an old camera a few days before and had repaired it. A bit reluctantly, Draco had finally accepted to let them take a picture as Snape arrived. He was glad to have this picture of Lupin, even if they were both looking very sick. But he had been uncomfortable once again.
Then, he had taken Pavo from Ginny's arms and said goodbye to everyone before leaving to go back to his own place, glancing one last time at Lupin. The man had told him goodbye that morning already, so they had been able to have one last conversation by themselves, without too much fuss.
.
"Hi, Draco!" A boy said as he was approaching the Hogwarts Express. Draco, who had been discussing with his parents, waiting to go in the train, turned his head to look at Malcolm. He recognized the boy and slightly smiled at him.
"Had a nice summer, Malcolm?" He asked conversationally. The boy grinned and waved at him as he walked fast with his friend go in the train.
Despite Draco's new reputation, Malcolm hadn't forgotten Draco's behavior during his very first feast at Hogwarts. Since then, they had talked a few times. Not a lot, of course. They weren't the same age, they didn't have the same company and they were only having small talks sometimes in the common room. Even after his relation with Hermione was revealed, Malcolm had showed him that he wasn't judging him with this kind of gestures. He was one of those few Slytherins that were doing that and it made Draco feel good that day.
As he watched the boy going in the train, his eyes stopped on another group of people. Harry, Ron, Hermione, Tonks, Moody, Mr. and Mrs Weasley and finally, Lupin, were all there. As well as Sirius in his dog form. He didn't miss Lupin's sideway glance in his direction.
As he stared at them for a moment, he felt a presence behind him and his father leaned close to him, muttering something in his ear. Draco couldn't help but quickly turn his head to look at his father who simply nodded. Draco swallowed as he turned to face his parents again and told Pavo goodbye before letting his mother embrace him. His father put his hand on his shoulder, softly pressing it and offering one of his rare smile.
"Don't forget to write," Narcissa said and Draco couldn't help but give her an amused smile.
"You know I won't," he said with a smile before finally leaving them, joining Pansy who was waiting near the train, and they both went inside.
"Theo said he would find us a compartment for when we come back," she said as she smiled. Draco smiled back and climbed in the train with her. Once the door was closed, they walked in the aisle until they reached the prefect compartment.
They were only able to be released after an hour and they found Theo's compartment after a while.
Draco surprised Theo, he seemed to be in a really good mood despite clearly being tired, and he had greeted him with a grin.
"How was your summer?" He asked Draco as Pansy and him sat down next to each other. Draco glanced at the landscape.
"You guys tell me about yours first," Draco said, looking at Theo again before glancing at Pansy. "Mine's... A lot happened, I'll tell you afterwards," he said as he waved his hand to say that it wasn't a big deal.
So, Theo started talking about the different things he had done during the summer, as well as Pansy, and they laughed together, also remembering the night they had all spent together at some point, at Pansy's place. Then, Draco talked about his own summer. How everything had gone as usual, he talked a bit about Pavo and the kind of behavior he had. Pansy teased him, saying that he was more in love with his dog than he was with Hermione, and finally, he talked about Snape.
"But I didn't go to his place," he then said. Theo had been able to catch up, after their argument in the train on their way back home, a couple of months before. He knew about Snape being his godfather and helping him with the potion, he knew more about his situation and felt already more like he was a part of the group. Now, Draco was feeling like he could talk to them about what was going on. He knew they were not going to go around telling everyone about this.
So, he explained that Snape had actually brought Draco to a old house that was belonging to a part of his family. He didn't give much details about it, they didn't need to know more. But he told them that Lupin was there, as well as the Gryffindor Trio and the whole Weasley gang, except for the oldest brother they knew, Percy. Draco had heard Ron talk about him, saying that he was spending all his time at the Ministry and that he wasn't often in a good mood when he was spending time with his family.
He told them a bit about the situation with Voldemort. After all, after what had happened at the end of the year, they knew a lot already, and they knew Draco had been staying a lot with the Gryffindor trio because of that.
"So, they're like an army?" Pansy asked, crossing her arms as she leaned on her seat. Draco shrugged.
"Kind of. They're not actually fighting, right now. But they were already working together during the first war. And they're just trying to find out more about what's going on," Draco said.
"Is that why Snape decided to bring you there?" Theo asked, quick on the uptake. Draco glanced at him before he nodded, looking down.
"Do they want you to join them? But they know about your father," Pansy said more quietly.
"That's the thing," Draco said as he looked at her again. "That's why I could be useful. They'd like for me to give them information."
"That's incredibly dangerous," Theo said, quite calmly, as he crossed his arms too. "If everything they're saying is true, if You-Know-Who really is coming back, do they realize what he could do to you?" Draco nodded again.
"I know. That's why I didn't give any answer. I didn't agree, but I didn't refuse either," he said. "Lupin talked to me about it. He told me he didn't want me to do that, that he tried to talk Dumbledore out of it," he then explained, glancing at the window. The weather was dreadful. "But he doesn't have the right to choose for me," he added.
"So you're free to refuse, right?" Pansy asked, concerned.
"I guess. But... I feel like I'd disappoint people, if I were to say no." Pansy frowned.
"You're not bound to do things you don't want to do to please people if it's hurting you," she said. Draco gave her a sad smile, understanding her worries. "Is it because of Granger and Lupin? Are they the ones you don't want to disappoint?" Draco frowned a little.
"Nah, not really," Draco muttered. It was more a general thing. He would let the entire Order down by refusing. But if he was accepting and bringing trouble to his family, his parents would be disappointed in him. He sighed and shrugged again. "They didn't talk to me about it again. Potter is... The opposite. He wants to join them, he wants to fight with them. Weasley's mother didn't want that and they say he's too young, that he shouldn't even know about all of this. So I just wonder why it's ok for me to do that," he said.
"Because you're living with the bad guys, it's different," Theo said with a little smile. Draco slightly narrowed his eyes. It was still hard for him to analyze Theo's personnality. "They don't value you like they value Potter, I guess." Draco gave him a strained smile.
"Thanks, Nott," he said and Theo chuckled quietly.
"You know I'm telling the truth."
"I know, yeah, that's the thing," Draco said as he lost his smile.
"Promise me you won't do anything stupid," Pansy asked as she put hand on his thigh. Draco glanced at her and after a second, he smiled at her and shook his head.
"Anyway, enough of that," he simply said. "I'm not planning anything for now, I just want to relax," he added. "I need to go see Granger for a minute, I need to tell her something, but I'll come back right after." He stood up and walked past Theo and Pansy, opening the compartment.
"You need to tell her you love her?" Pansy asked with a mocking smile. She loved to tease Draco with his relationship. Draco stepped out and looked at her.
"Shut up," he said with an amused smile and he closed the door of the compartment as she gave him the finger.
.
It took him some time to find the one Hermione was in. It was full of people when he opened the door and everyone looked at him. He saw Harry with a toad in his hands, Ron eating chocolate frogs, Neville with a weird plant in his hands, Ginny, Luna who was hiding behind a magazine she was holding upside down and finally, Hermione who seemed to be quite embarassed about something.
He couldn't talk freely about what he had to say. He could have if Neville and Luna hadn't been there. So, instead, he looked at Hermione and gave her a slight smile. It was the first time he would actually talk to her that day, they hadn't had the chance in the prefect compartment, and Harry and Ron knew he would come at some point.
He nodded in direction of the aisle as he stood in the doorway and Hermione got up at once. Draco glanced at Luna, who seemed to be determined not to look at anything else than the magaizne she was holding in front of her face, and he let Hermione walk out of the compartment. With a last glance at Potter, Draco closed the door and walked away to not stand right in front of the glass.
After having greeted each other properly, Draco leaned against the wall as he held Hermione's hands.
"I need to talk to you about something," he said quietly, glancing around. No one was out of their compartments. Hermione looked directly concerned.
"Did something happen?" She asked in a whisper. Draco finally looked at her again and shook his head. He was alright, really. But he took a deep breath.
"I saw everyone at the station," he said. "I was with my parents, you were already in the train but... There really was everyone," he said. Hermione frowned a little. It was something quite annoying, sometimes, Draco wasn't often saying things directly and sometimes, he sounded alarming. She never knew if she had to really worry about what he had to say or not. He sounded quite serious but she still didn't know what it was about.
"Yeah, Harry has to travel with a guard. Well, he doesn't have to but, you know, Mad-Eye's paranoid all the time," Hermione said as she rolled her eyes.
"Right," Draco said quickly as he nodded. "But Sirius was there too. I thought he couldn't come, but he was there."
"Draco, what is it?" Hermione asked impatiently. Draco bit his lower lip from the inside of his mouth.
"My father knows about him," he said as he carefully avoided Hermione's eyes.
"What?" She directly said, getting a glance from Draco.
"I didn't tell him," he said quickly. Hermione sighed. She knew he probably hadn't, but still. "He saw him and he told me about him. I'm not supposed to know, obviously, so I didn't say anything. But I thought maybe you guys should know about it. I don't know if he's in any danger but... With You-Know-Who being back, it's..." Draco pursed his lips and shook his head. "I don't know, it's a bit alarming for him," he said. Hermione nodded.
"It's a good thing you told me," she said quietly. Draco gave her a strained smile. He didn't want her to think that because he was doing that, he was indeed working as a spy. He was only doing what he thought was right. Even if he had been in a bad mood most of the time, he had talked a bit with Sirius during the two weeks spent at 12 Grimmauld Place. The guy was more pleasant than he had been the first time they had met. Draco didn't feel like hiding the Death Eaters had this knowledge was a good thing.
.
When they all got out of the train, Draco, Pansy and Theo were finally able to go towards the carriages, having waited for some students to get out of the way. As he noticed Ron's redhead in front of them, a few feets away, he heard Harry talking a bit loud, claiming that something was pulling the carriages. Oh, Draco knew what he was talking about, of course. The Thestrals had always pulled the carriages, Harry simply didn't know it. But now...
Of course, he had witnessed Cedric's death. Pansy exchanged a glance with Draco.
"Are there..." She asked, glancing at the carriages before looking at Draco again. He simply nodded, as Theo glanced at him, not saying anything. Pansy had never known, like Harry, all these years, she had thought the carriages were moving by themselves. The fact that Ron was thinking Harry was crazy was quite funny, though. As they approached, Draco passed his right arm around Pansy's shoulders and Pansy did the same around his waist.
"Don't tell me you're going crazy on us, Potter?" Draco asked before he chuckled, capturing Ron, Harry and Luna's attention. He glanced at Harry as he smirked. "Now's really not the time," he added, slowly holding out his left arm. He then glanced at Luna as he walked in front of the trio. "Had a good summer, Luna?" He asked. Luna gave him a smile but did not answer and Draco looked in front of him again, the tip of his fingers brushing one of the Thestral's flank. Harry blinked.
Had he seen correctly? Was Draco seeing them too? Maybe it had just been his imagination, Maybe Draco hadn't even touched them. Ron stared at them as they walked away with Theo and he looked at Harry, asking if he was alright.
It's only when Ron was inside the carriage that Luna talked to him.
"It's all right," she said dreamily, making Harry turn. "You're not going mad or anything, I can see them too."
"Can you?" Harry asked, quite surprised. He turned his head to look at Draco who was getting in the carriage just behind theirs.
"Oh yes," Luna said. "I've been able to see them ever since my first day here. They've always pulled the carriages. Don't worry. You're just as sane as I am."
Hermione noticed Harry's not so reassured expression when he climbed in the carriage after Luna. She was about to ask if he was feeling good when Ron turned to her.
"Doesn't Pansy and Draco bother you?" He asked, not minding that they were not just with Harry. Hermione frowned a little, looking at her friend.
"What do you mean?"
"Being so close," he said. "Doesn't it ever bother you? It'd bother me."
Hermione shrugged, looking in front of her again and not saying another word as she thought about it.
.
Draco went to sit with Theo and Pansy at the Slytherin table. He was glad to see that the other students were not really paying attention to him. Instead, they were mainly discussing Potter and all they had heard since the night of the third task. They were all thinking he was totally nuts, of course. Draco exchanged a glance with Pansy and Theo. They knew he wasn't telling stories and that what he had told everyone was the truth. Voldemort was back and there was no way they could stop him for now.
Although Draco didn't pay any attention to Hagrid's absence, not even noticing it, he did notice that someone new was at the staff table. He frowned a little, not sure he had seen correctly. He craned his neck a little, students sill taking place around him, and he tried to see who was the woman talking with Dumbledore.
"What is it?" Theo asked, seeing that he was trying to see something. He looked over at the staff table as Pansy looked at Draco.
"That woman, there. She's new," he said. Dressed in pink, she seemed tiny at this big table and around the other teachers. And still, she seemed extremely confident. Draco wrinkled his nose as she turned, taking a sip from her drink. She was reminding him of someone, but he couldn't tell who it was. He shrugged and looked at his friends. "I thought I had seen her somewhere, it's probably my imagination," he said. Pansy and Theo glanced one last time at the woman before starting to talk about who she could be. After all, Moody wasn't there this year to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. But was she really replacing him? She didn't seem like she knew anything about fighting the Dark Arts.
At the Gryffindor table, Harry, Ron and Hermione had also noticed the woman.
"It's that Umbridge woman!" Harry said suddenly, recognizing her from his hearing.
"What?" Hermione asked, looking at the woman again. That name... Her body was tense and she directly glanced over at Draco's table. He seemed to be talking with his friends and she saw him laugh. He probably didn't know yet. She shook his head as Harry said that she was working with Fudge and that she had been at his hearing.
"No, surely not..." Hermione muttered, capturing her friends attention. But they didn't have time to talk more about her. The big doors of the Great Hall opened again to let McGonagall and the first year students enter the room. The Sorting Ceremony was about to begin. They would probably be introduced to her shortly after anyway.
Everyone stopped talking and watched the students walking between the tables instead. Almost all of them seemed to be stressed, some even scared. Draco felt like his sorting had happened so long ago. But he hadn't been stressed at all. He knew what was coming, and despite his condition, he hadn't had any doubt that he would indeed end up in Slytherin.
And finally, the Sorting Hat starting to sing its new song before everybody applauded. But the atmosphere was a bit weird as the hat had given them a warning in the song.
Hermione was kind of relieved to hear Dumbledore was allowing them to eat before having to talk about more serious things. She was sure that if he was introducing Umbridge before the feast, Draco wouldn't eat anything. Here, he seemed to be in a good mood, talking with his friends and having a good time.
But inevitably, the time of the speech had to come at some point. He got up again and everyone went silent, tummy full of the food they had just eaten, some students being already sleepy. Draco would have actually loved to be in his bed, he was quite tired.
He only listened distractedly to the warnings the headmaster gave to the first years students, such as the fact that the forest was strictly forbidden. Draco couldn't help but glance at the Gryffindor trio for a moment. And finally, he announced it. First, Professor Grubbly-Plank would replace Hagrid and Draco couldn't help but smirk a little. But then, he lost his smile as soon as he heard who would be teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. He hadn't even reacted when everyone applauded. He didn't at first, he only kept staring at the headmaster. He felt Pansy elbowing him softly and he automatically clapped, slowly and quietly, not looking at her. He didn't feel Hermione's eyes on him either.
She was already feeling so bad for him. Draco wasn't sure if he wouldn't rather have an empty stomach, at that point, as he felt slightly sick. He breathed deeply as Dumbledore started to talk about the Quidditch tryouts but soon, he closed his eyes for a second. Dumbledore had been interrupted by Umbridge, who had apparently gotten to her feet. From where he was, Draco hadn't been able to tell, she was so small. But the other professors didn't hide their surprise, and he didn't miss the other students exchange glances too.
When she started talking to thank Dumbledore, Draco felt like he liked her even less. He didn't like her voice, he didn't like her attitude. He had never met her, he just knew about some things she had done at the Ministry, and he knew it was her who had created the legislation agains werewolves. He wondered for a moment if she knew about it but his thoughts were interrupted by her high-pitched voice as she talked to them like they were kids.
Happy faces, huh? No one was expressing any happiness. If anything, they all wanted her to sit back down and let Dumbledore speak. Draco didn't miss the grin on Pansy and Theo's faces when she told the students she was looking forwards to know them and that they would become good friends. They weren't the only ones mocking her, from what Draco could tell. He would have been acting like that too if he didn't know what he knew.
The only thing that was making Draco feel a bit better was McGonagall's expression. This was priceless, even if he knew he wouldn't want to be the one she was looking at this way. He slowly glanced at Snape and was somehow surprised to see that he was looking at him too from the corner of his eye. Every other professors were looking at Umbridge as she was making her speech, not impressed at all, but Snape probably knew what Draco was thinking about. He didn't change his expression to reassure his godfather in any way. He kept it blank and his eyes finally drifted to the Gryffindor table. Hermione looking at Umbridge, lips in a thin line.
"There again, progress for progress's sake must be discouraged, for our tried and tested traditions often require no tinkering. A balance, then, between old an new, between permanence and change, between tradition and innovation..."
How boring. Still, Draco hadn't missed the narrowing of Hermione's eyes when Umbridge had talked about progress for progress. He knew she was thinking fast about something. He quickly became very unattentive as he stared at his girlfriend. He would rather get lost thinking about spending time with her than listening to this annoying woman. Besides, no one was paying attention and Umbridge didn't even seem to notice it. Students were talking between them, Pansy and Theo were muttering together, leaning a bit over the table and Theo sniggered after Pansy made a snarky comment about their new teacher. She glanced over at Draco, seeing that he was clearly not listening to anyone at that point.
She had noticed the change in his mood when he hadn't clapped and she wasn't bothering him for now because they weren't alone, but she knew something was off. He glanced at Hermione, knowing he was staring at her, and she frowned. She seemed really absorbed by Umbridge's speech. Well, she was the only one.
Finally, Draco glanced at the teacher again. It's like she would never be able to stop talking.
"... because some changes will be for the better, while others will come, in the fullness of time, to be recognized as errorsof judgment. Meanwhile, some old habits will be retained, and rightly so, whereas others, outmoded and outworn, must be abandoned. Let us move forward, then, into a new era of openness, effectiveness, and accountability, intant on preserving what ought to be preserved, perfecting what needs to be perfected and pruning wherever we find practices that ought to be prohibited."
Again, Draco wondered if she knew about him. Fudge had a deal with his father but would he have revealed such an important information to another important member of the Ministry, knowing that she would be around him? Had Dumbledore made her aware of the situation, since he would be sick every so often? Would his own habits be rightly retained, or would they be abandoned? Was he considered something to be preserved, or prohibited? He looked down at his empty plate for a minute, not clapping when the speech was over. When he looked up again, this time, he saw Hermione looking at him. He didn't even try to smile. He wasn't even having a blank expression on his face, he just looked tired. Crazy how his good mood had been able to be totally drained out of him in a few minutes.
Hermione sighed and slightly shook her head when Draco looked away again. Her lips were still pursed. She was so angry. And from what she had understood, things were even worse than she thought they would be. She quickly talked about it with Harry and Ron, explaining that clearly, the Ministry was interfering at Hogwarts. But she couldn't talk more about it, the students had been dismissed and she had to show the first years were they had to go.
"Draco, come on, we have to lead the first years," Pansy said, pulling his arm. He blinked and finally stood up, not saying anything. He let Pansy call the students and he watched as this group of small people approached. He looked down at them and tried to control the expression on his face before leaving with Pansy, the group following them.
Instead of directly parting ways with Pansy once they were done, he pulled the sleeve of her robe and she got closer as he didn't speak too loud, the first years still walking towards their dorms.
"When you're done, can you come back here?" He asked quietly. Pansy nodded directly, staring at his face for a moment, knowing that something was wrong. She then escorted the girls towards their dormitories and he joined the boys to show them theirs.
After he was done, he quickly went to his own dorm. Crabbe and Goyle were already under their covers, but he couldn't tell if they were asleep. Blaise was still awake, lying on his bed, resting his body on his elbow as he was reading something. He didn't pay attention to Draco as he walked in.
Draco glanced at Theo who was already in his pajamas, sitting on his bed. He nodded in direction of the door and Theo got on his feet at once. Draco only removed his robes and his sweater, staying dressed in the rest of his uniform before he got out of the dorm with his friend.
They walked in the Slytherin common room and discovered that Pansy was waiting for them, curled up on the couch. It was a bit cold, the fire wasn't burning in the fireplace, they were supposed to be in bed. But he really needed to talk to them about Umbridge. Theo sat on one of the armchairs and Draco sat on the same couch as Pansy.
"What d'you think of Umbridge?" He directly asked, glancing at Pansy. She knew it had something to do with her. And Theo too, he had noticed the way Draco had been behaving ever since Dumbledore had spoken about her. But again, Draco had only paid attention to Pansy, less to Theo. They were closer than before, but it was still... different. Theo didn't know what to do anymore about that. He had decided to listen to Pansy and let Draco come to him. He was actually surprised that he had wanted the both of them there. Now that he was there, seeing how serious Draco was looking, he thought that Draco would usually have only talked to Pansy and that their friend would have had to tell him everything afterwards.
"She seems to be a nightmare. I'd reckon her classes will not be as interesting as Lupin's or Moody's. Even if it wasn't Moody," Theo said as he frowned a little, his gaze drifting away. It was still a bit weird to think that a Death Eater had been their teacher for a year, drinking Polyjuice Potion to look like an Auror.
"Yeah..." Draco muttered. Pansy frowned again and stretched her leg, her foot pushing Draco's knee a little. He looked at her.
"Why don't you tell us what it is?" She asked, tilting her head. Draco glanced at her and shrugged before he leaned on the couch.
"Remember why Lupin can't have a job?" He asked. He had talked to her about the legislation, but he had never said who had created it.
"Because there are new rules against you," Theo said before Pansy, getting a glance from the both of them. By "you", of course, he meant "werewolves". Draco slightly nodded.
"Well, guess who created these rules?" He asked. Theo slightly opened his mouth but didn't say anything this time. He seemed too taken aback to let any sound come out of his mouth, and so did Pansy. Draco looked at her again and gave her a strained smile before he crossed his arms, turning his head to look at the dark fireplace. "I reckon this year's gonna be interesting, huh?"
They couldn't speak much longer as they heard the common room being opened. They all frowned, startled, as they looked at the newcomer. Who the hell could be coming at this moment? A late Slytherin hoping the prefects would be asleep already? Sounded unlikely. They soon stopped frowning, raising their eyebrows when they saw Snape.
"Like I thought, you are here," he said coolly as he met Draco's eyes.
"What is it?" Draco asked as he stood up, worried already.
"Come with me," Snape simply said. He then glanced at Draco's friends. "You two should now head to bed," he then said before his eyes went on Draco again. The boy was already approaching him, loosening his tie a bit.
Snape turned around, and Draco followed him out of the common room. They were walking towards Snape's office and again, he couldn't help but ask.
"What's going on?"
Snape didn't look at him, he kept his hands behind his back and only turned a bit his head.
"I am sorry for what is about to happen," he said quietly. Draco frowned a bit and Snape spoke a bit louder. "Do not make it more complicated than it already is, please."
Draco stayed silent, knowing that it probably was about his new teacher. He decided to follow his godfather, to wait and see.
When they walked in his office, they found Dumbledore and Umbridge. The woman was glancing around the room, not looking totally at ease in Snape's environment. Draco only appreciated this. But it lasted only for a second, since he knew what this meeting was about. He was already feeling really bad.
"Mr. Malfoy," Dumbledore said with a kind smile. Draco glanced at him. "I am glad to see that we are not getting you out of your warm bed," he continued, noting that Draco was still dressed up.
"Hem hem." Snape, Dumbledore and Draco glanced at the little woman dressed in pink. She smiled at Draco. "Mr. Malfoy, it is so nice to meet you," she said. Draco wasn't believing any of her words and he didn't feel like smiling back. His godfather had asked him to not make things more complicated but he couldn't look at this woman and smile at her. He just couldn't, not that night. Probably not ever.
But it wasn't like Umbridge would notice eiher way, would she? Like for her speech, she seemed to focus on herself. Draco could flip her off that she wouldn't see it.
She approached Draco with the same fixed smile on her face.
"I wish we would have met under other circumstances," she then said. "But I cannot ignore the situation, can I?" Draco could tell she was trying hard to sound nice. He forced himself to keep looking at her but he felt stupid. He was staring, arms dangling and tired expression on his face. "Cornelius made me aware of your condition," she said as she looked at Draco from head to toe. Again, he tried to control his expression, not to show that he was already offended. He did glance at Snape, though, whose lips were forming a thin line, now. "I know all about it, my dear, and I would like to discuss a few things."
Even if she was now looking at Draco right in the eye, the boy didn't mind looking away at Dumbledore who seemed eager to hear Umbridge. Surely, he already knew what she was going to say. But he was still smiling kindly, staring at her.
"I understand that your professor here is preparing your potion each and every month for you?" She asked. Draco didn't know if it was a real question, but he looked at the woman again and he slightly nodded as he swallowed his spit. Umbridge's smile became bigger, but even more strained than before. "Well, my dear, I hope you do understand that you should not bother people that are not concerned by your condition." She turned her head to look at Snape. "As I am sure, your professor has more important things to do after a long day of working with so many children," she said. Snape didn't say anything, didn't express anything, he just kept staring at her.
Draco licked his dry lips, noticing that even his throat was dry.
"After a long conversation with Cornelius and your headmaster, it was decided that you would learn how to make your potion yourself," she explained. Draco glanced at Snape again, wondering if that was why he had started to talk about it to Draco in the first place. "Isn't it wonderful?", she added with a bright smile. "Not to be a burden to anyone and be able to take care of yourself, dear?"
Clearly, this time she was waiting for an answer. But again, Draco only nodded. Why wasn't anyone saying anything? Did his father know? Surely, he wouldn't have let that happen if he had known, right? Umbridge approached a bit more, but kept some distance between her and the tall boy in front of her. Her eyes went down on his tie and Draco was certain that it was bothering her. That she had noticed it was loosened and that she didn't like it.
He wouldn't have been surprised to see her take care of it herself but he was also certain she wouldn't touch him.
"I also understand that you have been missing classes because of your situation," she added. "Like myself, the Minister was not very pleased to hear this. The education of young wizards is something really important."
"I am able to catch up every time," Draco heard himself say. He finally got a glance from Snape, who was concerned about him despite not showing his feelings, but Dumbledore kept staring at the new professor.
"I have heard so by your other teachers, yes. I have been made aware of your grades, too. Still." Draco wondered if she was born with this smile on her face. How could her cheeks not hurt? "It has been decided that you would not miss my class."
Draco slightly narrowed his eyes before understanding quickly. She couldn't say anything about the other teachers decisions. If they were alright with him missing their classes right after a cycle, she couldn't say anything, she didn't have the authority. And the Minister probably couldn't force them either, since Dumbledore was still the headmaster. Draco liked to think that he had only been forced to accept these "propositions" from Umbridge.
"If you are in this school, it is indeed because you want to be treated as any other student. It does not matter if you are not like them. But if it is what you want," she said, as she raised one of her hands that she had kept joined in front of her. Draco glanced at her wand as she waved it and he felt his tie moving. "You will so act as such and you will see, everything will be for the best," she said before looking up at Draco again, meeting his eyes as she smiled. "Now, as I am sure you cannot wait anymore to have a good night of sleep, you should go and sleep tight, dear."
God, if he was hearing her calling him dear one more time that night, he would snap. She had to stop adressing him like he was a kid. After a glance at Snape, then at Dumbledore, Draco looked at her one last time before he turned around, walking away without saying another word.