A/N: Ah, I love Amaranta from Harry's P.O.V. It makes her looks so awkward. Anywho, enjoy this one! It might be my favorite chapter so far.
Rebelling With Amaranta
A lifelong ban from Quidditch? How was Harry going to live now? Quidditch and the D.A. meetings were the only thing helping him keep his sanity this year, and the D.A. meetings might end if they were caught. How was he supposed to live now? Harry moped in a desk by the window, pretending to be writing his essay for Proffesor Flitwick. Fred and George occaisionally threw snowballs at the window, laughing every time Ron shouted at them, only to receive a face full of snow.
Hermoine returned to the common room, her robes damp from her trudge from Hagrid's. She had gone there to try and convince him to only teach harmless animals, or else Proffesor Umbridge would give him the sack.
"So. . .?" Ron inquired when he noticed her.
"No good," Hermoine sighed, slumping into a chair. "He wasn't even there. I was knocking for at least a half an hour before he came out of the forest-"
Harry knew that nothing good could come of this. "What's he keeping in there? Did he say?"
"No. He wants it to be a surprise. I tried to explain to him about Umbridge, but he just won't listen. He kept saying it was more interesting to study a chimaera than knarls-Oh, I don't think he's got anything like a chimaera," Hermoine added when she saw Harry and Ron's appalled faces, "I told him it was better to follow Grubbly-Plank's plan. I honestly think he didn't listen to a word I said."
Hagrid was welcomed enthusiastically by many students, especially Fred and George, when he appeared at the staff table at breakfast the next day. Others like Parvati and Lavender only sighed gloomily. They much rather preffered Proffesor Grubbly-Plank's safer lessons.
That's why he felt so relieved when he saw that the High Inquisitor was not present, but he knew it was only a matter of time. . .
He noticed Amaranta arriving a few minutes later than he did, with none other than Malfoy. Not that he'd expect anything else. This time however, she waved, and something of a smile tugged at her lips. He waved back, feeling his stomach jump. She needed to stop smiling at him like that. It was creeping him out. Though, this time, it reminded him of the feeling he got everytime he saw Cho Chang. Maybe it was just him, but she looked paler than usual.
Hagrid was waiting for them, standing beside the Forbidden Forest with a dead cow slung over his shoulder. His pussing cuts and bruises didn't help to pacify the frightened students, either. "We're goin' in here, today," he announced to the students, pointing to the dark and foreboding trees behind him. "Bit more sheltered, ya know? They prefer the dark, anyway."
"What prefers the dark?" If Malfoy had been trying to conceal his fear, he was failing terribly. He shook a bit, and his eyes were wide. He didn't dare look at Amaranta next to him. Even though her face looked clamy, Harry had the feeling its wasn't from fear.
Unfortunately, Hagrid looked as giddy as if he were showing them a special secret. Harry knew from past experiences that this was not good. "I've bin savin' a trip inter de forest fer yer fifth year. We're gonna get ter see some pretty rare creatures. I'm probably de on'y person in Britain who's trained 'em-"
"And you're sure they're trained?" Draco clenched and unclenched his fists. "It wouldn't be the first time you brought rabid animals to class, would it?"
A murmur of agreement arose from more than just the Slytherins.
"'Course they're trained!" Hagrid shouted defensively. "I wouldn't show 'em ter ya otherwise."
"Then what happened to your face?" Malfoy inquired.
"Mind yer own business!" Hagrid said. "Now follow me!"
He turned angrily on his heel and strode into the forest. Harry looked at Hermoine and shrugged, as they led the group of kids after Hagrid. After ten minutes of walking, the class found themselves in a dense area of trees to the point it looked like night. Hagrid dumped the dead cow on the ground and stepped back.
"Gather roun'," he ordered. "They'll be attracted by the smell, but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, so they'll know it's me. . ."
Moving his shaggy head around he gave a loud, high-pitched bird cry that echoed through the trees. After a minute or so, he did it again, and the class peered around nervously, expecting to be jumped any second.
Harry soon noticed a pair of glowing white eyes from the gloom, that slowly grew larger as they came closer. Soon, they were followed by a dragonish head and a knoby skeletal body that resembled a winged horse. To sum it up, a zombie pegasus from hell. The small creature slowly made its way to the cow, and began to tear at its flesh.
Harry sighed, glad he hadn't imagined these creatures form the night he saw them pulling the carriages the beginning of the year. However, when he looked around, everyone was still searching. After another zombie horse came by and unfolded its leathery wings, Hagrid said, "Now, who can see 'em? Raise yer hands."
Harry raised his hand, relieved to finally know about these mysterious creatures.
"Yeah, I knew you'd be able ter see 'em, Harry," He said. "An' you too, Neville, eh? And. . .I don't remember you. . ."
Everyone turned to look at Amaranta. "I transferred here before you're return, Proffesor," Amaranta spoke seriously. "My name is Amaranta."
"No need ter call me Proffesor, Amaranta," he blushed with embarassment. Harry wondered if he actually was a qualified teacher. "Just call me Hagrid."
"So, who else can see 'em?"
"Excuse me," Malfoy interjected. "But what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"
Hagrid simply pointed to the carcass on the ground. There was a few moments of silence before everyone gasped and squeals rang through the class. Harry could sympathize with their reaction. Bits of flesh tearing themselves away from the skeleton and vanishing into thin air must look interesting.
"What's doing it?" Pavarti hid behind a tree.
"Thestrals," Hagrid announced proudly. "Hogwart's got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who-"
"But they're really unlucky!" Parvati shouted. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune!"
"No, no, no," said Hagrid, shaking his head with a smile. "Tha's jus' superstition! They aren' unlucky; they're useful an' dead clever. 'Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, jus' pullin' de school carriages, an' fer when Dumbledore wants ter travel widout Apparatin'-
"I think one touched me!" A girl screamed.
"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," Hagrid tried to sooth the girl. "Now who can tell me why some o' you can see 'em an' some can't?"
Hermoine eagerly raised her hand, anxious to answer.
"Yes, Hermoine."
"Only those who have seen death can see thestrals."
"That's exactly right!" Hagrid beamed at her. "Ten points ter Gryffindor! Now, thestrals-"
"Hem, Hem."
Harry could feel a sickening feeling in his stomach. He had been too hopeful to expect Umbridge to spare Hagrid on his first day back. She was wearing a purple and pink hat, with a cloak, her clipboard in her arms. This was going to get dirty.
"Oh, 'ello!" Hagrid smiled down at her.
"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" she spoke loud and slow, as if speaking with a foreigner.
"Oh, yeah!" Hagrid spoke lightly. "Glad yeh found de place all righ'! Well, as you can see-or maybe not-we're doin' thestrals today-"
"I'm sorry," said Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand over her ear. "What did you say?"
"Thestrals!" He spoke loudly. "Big-er-winged horses, yeh know." He flapped his gigantic arms, trying to resemble wings.
Proffesor Umbridge gave him a surprised look and muttered as she wrote on her clipboard, "Has. . .to. . .resort. . .to. . .crude. . .sign. . .language. . ."
"Well, er, anyway," Hagrid turned back to the class, scratching the back of his neck, flustered. "What was I sayin'?"
"Appears. . .to. . .have. . .poor. . .short. . .term. . .memory. . ." Umbridge muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, scribbling on her clipboard.
Malfoy grinned broadly. He seemed happy enough to wet his pants, Hermoine, however, was turning a dangerous shade of scarlet.
"Oh yeah," Hagrid glanced uneasily at Umbridge's clipboard, but continue on bravely. "I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. We started off with a male an' five females-"
"Are you aware," Umbridge interrupted rudely, "that the Ministy of Magic has labeled thestrals as 'dangerous'?"
"Thestrals aren' dangerous!" Hagrid replied with a chuckle. "All righ', they may take a bit outta yeh if yeh really annoy 'em-"
"Shows. . .signs. . .of. . .pleasure. . .at. . .idea. . .of. . .violence. . ." Umbridge was barely muttering anymore, her voice was so loud.
"No-come on!" Hagris wa beginnin to look anxious now. "A dog will bite yeh if ya bait it, righ'? Thestrals have jus' got a bad reputation because o' the death thing. People used ter think they were bad omens, but they didn' understand!"
Umbridge ignored him, finishing the last bit of her notes on the clipboard. When she had finished, she walked up to Hagrid and said very loudly and slowly. "Please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk" -she mimed walking with her fingers- "among the students" -she pointed at some of the class- "and ask them questions." She pointed to her mouth to indicate talking.
Hagrid was staring at her, at a complete loss as why she was treating him as if he didn't understand any English. Hermoine had tears of fury in her eyes.
"That evil, evil hag!" she rasped, as Umbridge walked to Pansy Parkinson. "I know what you're doing, you evil, twisted, awful, vcious-"
Hermoine stopped her ranting when she noticed Amaranta had her hand up. "Proffesor Umbridge!" She called out.
Umbridge, learning her lesson, simply pretended not to notice. However, once Amaranta stood up and shouted "PRO-FFES-OR UM-BRIDGE!" she had no choice but to acknowledge her prescence.
"Yes, dear?" She spoke sweetly, but the corners of her lips wee twitching.
"I"-Amaranta stuck her finger in her chest- "just want you" -she pointed at Umbridge- "to know" she pointed towards her head- "that you" -she pointed to Umbridge again- "are being an ass." She pointed to her rump.
Proffesor Umbridge was at a loss for words. She stared dumbly at Amaranta as a few giggles rose from the class. Frowning, Amaranta sighed loudly, "It seems you don't understand. How about I" -she gestured towards herself- "draw it for you." She motioned drawing on an invisible pad.
Still to shocked to move, Umbridge only watched as Amaranta took her clipoard and began to scribble on her notes. From the angle Harry was at, he could clearly see what was written on the clipboard. Amaranta had taken her quill and drawn a large picture resembling the back end of a horse, and on the top in big, bold letters, she wrote Dolores Umbridge is an ass. She handed back the clipboard to Proffesor Umbridge, who quickly turned a deep shade of crimson that would shame Uncle Vernon.
"You-I-This-DETENTION!" She screamed, her curled hair becoming ruffled. "DETENTION! DETENTION! DETENTION!"
"Oh, what are you gonna do?" Amaranta shrugged nonchalantly. "Make me do more lines?"
Before anyone could understand what was happening, Umbridge had slapped Amaranta so hard across the side of the face, her lip had busted. Amaranta, put her fingers to her lip, and pulled back to see crimson blood. Her eyes wide, soon shrinked into venomous slits, which turned the icy glare on Umbridge.
"I mutter a curse upon your dark soul!" She spoke in a wispy tongue, that made all the appalled kids shrink in fear.
No one so vehemently openly opposed Umbridge. Well, no one openly opposed her, but even if they had, it wouldn't have been like this. Amaranta did everything that opposed all of her decrees. She would wear casual clothes, and quite gaudy ones at that. She wore short black miniskirts, followed by long, stripped hose, and cloggers, and a red tube top. No one knew how, but she managed to tattoo a very comical Umbridge, eating a fly, as green as frog. She would chew gum, and if ever in sight, spit it at Umbridge. She would openly curse, and start clinging herself to the nearest guy each time Umbridge as within range. She jinxed all her ornamental cat plates to make them fart instead of mew, and would mischeviously hex the proffesor often.
Dungbombs, Sniveling Snackboxes, enchanted fireworks, Flatulating Firns, all managed to find their way into Umbridge's office. In the Great Hall, she would walk about as she pleased, stuffing her face in a very unlady-like manner. She died her bangs a bright red. Defense Against The Dark Arts now became a show to entertain the class. Every chance she got, she would do something to oppose Umbridge. However, she didn't skip her detentions. Oh, no, not her. She went to each one, and each time, she'd repeat the words of her curse, glaring at Umbridge all the while.
Because of her outright refusal of Umbridge, Amaranta had been dubbed the hero of all of Hogwarts, excluding the Slytherins. Umbridge was their savior, although most of them were too afraid to oppose Amaranta. She had beaten Pansy Parkinson and a few other girls to a pulp when she had called her into the bathroom for a little "chat" about her recent behavior.
But, Harry noted with a smile, she was laughing, and smiling now. Even if most of it had an evil presence about most of it, Amaranta was smiling at everyone. "It feels great," she told him one day, arms wrapped around Harry's and Ron's necks. "I've never felt so free! So alive! All my life, I've been bullied, pushed down and treated like shit! Now, I can finally stick it to the man! Or frog, in this case."
"Whoever knew you were such a rebel," Ron snorted. "Is it that time of month?"
Amaranta released Harry, to wrap Ron in a headlock, driving her knuckles into his head.
"But look at the price you've paid for it!" Hermoine protested. For some reason, it was always Harry and Ron who got her "tough love." Hermoine always remained untouched. "You've got all these scars all over your body! It's obvious to anyone they're from Umbridge's detentions! This is out-right child abuse!"
"It's fine," Amaranta sighed, smiling fondly at Hermoine. "I'm used to pain. I get to the point where I can't go with weeks without pain. Most of these scars are self-inflicted."
They gaped at her, even Ron, although he was choking from Amaranta's death grip. They had never noticed, because of all the long sleeves from the robes and winter clothing. Amaranta was some sort of masochist?
Amaranta laughed, and released Ron, seeing as how he was beginning to turn blue. In the action, however, she tripped over her own feet, but managed to catch herself before falling flat on her face.
"Amaranta! Are you alright?" They all called out in alarm.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," she waved off their concern with one hand, the other clutching the side of her head. "Just a bit tired is all. I think I'll go take a nap."
"Yeah, do that," Hermoine patted her back. "Can you make it alone?"
"I'm tired, not sick, Hermoine. I can walk. Bye." She left without another word.
Harry looked at his watch, frowning. It was only 7 o'clock.
A knot had grown in Harry's stomach. Everytime he looked at Amaranta, the knot tightened. She looked paler by the day, and sometimes she'd sweat, despite it being colder than the Arctics outside. Harry wasn't sure if it was the revealing clothing, or if she was physically exhausted. Harry's suspicions were confirmed when Amaranta began to huff at his side as they walked up the staircases that led to their next class.
Her face was as white as the snow outside, sweat dripping down her face, ruining her makeup, and she was leaning on the hand rails, her bag looking like it weighed ten tons. Her knees wobbled dangerously, making Harry worry that she might collapse any second.
"Hey, Amaranta, are you okay?" He asked her, stopping to turn around. "You lok tired. You wanna rest in the infirmary?"
"Are you silly?" she replied with a weak smile. "We've got Arithmetic next. There's no way I can afford to miss a single class. I'm fine."
Despite Harry's doubts, Amaranta managed to make it up the stairs, although she was swaying a bit now. His heart sank when he heard a familiar voice sneer at him from the left.
"Potter!" Malfoy growled. "What are you doing with Amaranta?"
"Going to our next class, obviously," he replied coolly.
"There's no reason for you to go together!" Malfoy shouted. "Just because Amarnta's shown a bit of pity upon your filthy soul, doesn't mean she's befriending you. Stop dragging her everywhere! She looks to tired, poor thing! Come on, Amaranta,you're coming with me to the infirmary."
He grabbed her arm, pulling her along. "What. . .about. . .class?" she huffed.
"Hey!" Harry called out as he was beginning to pull her away.
"Just skip class!" Malfoy replied, pulling her a bit more firmly.
"Wait. . .Draco. . .no. . ." Her words were slurred, and the world tilted around her, as she collapsed onto the ground. (Shocked, Malfoy had let go of her).
"Amaranta!" the two boys called out, but they got no response.
"It's ok," Madam Pomfrey told the two boys patiently, as she tucked the covers over Amaranta's unconcious body. "She's just passed out. She'll live."
"Ok? OK?" Draco snapped at her. "How can she be ok? Look at her! She won't wake up! She's gone into a coma!"
"It's really not that serious," Madam Pomfrey attempted to stay the child. "She just collapsed from exhaustion. Her body needs rest. However, she does look rather thin. And her blood pressure is very low, too. I suspect she might be anemic. Has she been eating well and getting enough sleep? I'm sure all these scars on her body had some contribution to it. With such thin blood, it's not good for her to get cut up like this, not that it's good for anybody. She's losing valueable blood that her body needs. She can't afford to waste a single drop." Madam Pomfrey nodded her head and walked off.
Harry swallowed a dry lump in his throat. Now that he thought about it, Amaranta must be extremely busy. She was behind in all her classes, so she did extra studying on top of the monsterous amount of homework fifth years were forced to do. She went to D.A. meetings and put ruining Umbridge's life at the top of her list. Come to think of it, she was always doing homework during mealtime, if not breaking one of Umbridge's rules. Should he forbid her from coming to the D.A. meetings? But she was doing so well, and that was one of the few times he could see her without Draco searing through his back.
"She's truly fragile, no matter how much she pretends," Harry wondered aloud.
Malfoy shot him a nasty glare. "It's because she hangs around you guys too much that she is so tired all the time. Leave her alone and let her do what she wants."
"If you hadn't noticed, genius, she is doing what she wants," Harry snorted. "Not my fault if she likes to strain herself. Though I think you aren't exactly helping, either."
"What do you mean?" Draco stood up from the chair he had been sitting in beside Amaranta's sick bed. "I can have Fredrick Fonsley do her homework for her! He's the smartest Slytherin around!"
"So is that why you haven't flunked yet?" Harry replied with a haughty smirk. "Been having Freddy do your homework for you?"
"I don't need to!" Malfoy sneered. "Unlike someone who's barely getting by in Potions class."
"I hardly think that I'm the only one contributing to that grade," Harry was shaking with anger now. "Everyone knows that Snape's got it out for me!"
"Everyone's got it out for you, Potter," Malfoy shot back. "Hopefully, one day, you'll just die, and spare the world."
"You wanna go?" Harry shouted threateningly, grabbing Malfoy by the collar.
"Bring it on, Potter!" Malfoy smiled, his hands clenched into fists.
"Can you guys shut up!?" Amaranta's scratchy voice broke the tense atmosphere. "I'm trying to get some sleep."
"Sorry," they both apologized at once, letting go of each other.
"Oh, and Draco, I'll take you up on that homework offer," she muttered just loud enough for him to hear, as she snuggled into her pillow. "Homework seems pointless to me."
With December came the Christmas spirit, that affected everyone, whether in a good or bad way. Even Amaranta, whom to Harry's surprise, had never even heard of Christmas. She gazed about the decorations, awed, and her torment of questions was relentless. Most of them he didn't even know the answer to, but luckily, Hermoine would step in and answer them all. She seemed proud of Amaranta's pursuit of knowledge, even if it was just for a holiday.
And with the holidays coming close, the last D.A. meeting before the holidays had finally come. Everyone seemed to arrive at once, with Amaranta coming in just second after Angelina. Amaranta looked at him expectantly, but Angelina began to yak on to him about the new Quidditch replacements, so Amaranta just took a cushion to the front and sat quietly.
Since everyone was just about to go away on holiday, Harry thought it best just to review everything they had done these past months. Even if his class was dissappointed in not doing anything new, they obeyed and began to practice every curse, jinx, hex, and charm. Neville Longbottom improved vastly. Amaranta, was third in the class, first being Harry, and second being Hermoine, but only by a bit. Amaranta seemed to have great practice with each of them.
Before he realized it, their time was up, and everyone began to file out of the Room of Requirement. Cho lingered, staring into one of the many mirrors about the room. Amaranta stared at the two of them for a while, before she too, left.When Harry walked up to her, he noticed that she was crying. Just. . .crying.
"Um. . .what's up?" he asked nervously.
"I'm sorry," she wiped her eyes only for more to come. "It's just. . .learning all this stuff. . .makes me wonder if he'd known it at all. . .he'd still be alive. . ."
Harry's heart sank. Of course she had wanted to talk about Cedric. "He did know this stuff," Harry said solemnly. "He was really good at it, or he wouldn't have made it to the middle of the maze. But if Voldermort" -Cho flinched- "really wants to kill you, you don't stand a chance."
"But you survived when you were just a baby," Cho pointed out, still crying.
"Yeah, well," said Harry as he began to make his way towards the door. "No one knows why, so it's nothing to be proud of."
"Oh, please,don't go!" Cho cried out. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean. . .it must be terrible of me to mention Cedric when you saw him die. . ."
Harry didn't say anything. Any response to that would just be heartless.
"Mistletoe," Cho said, pointing to the ceiling above his head.
Harry's heart was racing faster than before and his mouth felt dry. "Yeah, it's probably full of nargles, though."
"What are nargles?"
"No idea," Harry's wasn't sure if it was sweat running down his face or if one of Cho's tears had sprayed on him. "You'd have to ask Loony-I mean, Luna."
Cho chuckled, and moved closer to him, so that he could see her tears cling to her cheeks. She was way too close. "I really like you, Harry."
His mind must have died at that moment. He couldn't think, he couldn' move, he could only watch her lips close over his.
After Cho had left, Harry remained in the room, dazed. He didn't notice Amaranta had entered the room until he heard the loud clank of the door. He jumped and turned around to see her looking very upset. She had a bright flush across her face, and was holding something behind her back. She wouldn't look directly at him, and had a skiddish way of walking to him. There was no doubt. She had just seen him snogging Cho. But why was she looking so hurt, and why did he have this guilty feeling in the pit of his stomach.
"M-Merry Christmas!" She shouted as she thrust something into his chest and ran out.
Harry stared after her before he looked down at the small, flat package before him. He slowly removed the wrapping, and could only give a bittersweet chuckle when he saw what it was. A picture frame decorated with holly enased a priceless photo of Umbridge screeching in terror. This just might be the greatest present he could receive right now.