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wildest dreams
VOLUME II

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I let out a long sigh when I sat down at dinner.

"I'd forgotten how exhausting school is," I muttered. "First day and I already have two rolls of parchment to do for…"

"9 hours, 37 minutes!" suddenly interrupted Fred.

I glared at him. George let out an annoyed grunt next to me.

"Excuse me?"

Fred was pointing at his watch, smiling brightly.

"Hand it over," he said, ignoring my glare.

George sighed, searched his pockets and handed him a Galleon. I instantly understood.

"Did you two make a bet?"

George only stared back at me, as if he was thinking about the right thing to say, but Fred quickly answered me, looking very proud of himself.

"How many hours before you started complaining about schoolwork. I bet less than 12 hours. George had more faith in you, said 48."

"You are insufferable."

"Well it's not like we bet a Knut," said George. "We did bet a Galleon, I mean, that's –"

I gave the latter a hard nudge in the ribs.

"Oi! Why am I the one getting hit, he's the only that thought you wouldn't last 12 hours!"

"Because you deserve it! You can't just make a bet like that and think you'll get away with it! And besides, I can complain about schoolwork all I want. Right, George?"

There was a short silence as George stared at me, then at his brother, then at me again.

"Of course, gorgeous."

"What!" cried out Fred.

Smiling triumphantly, I threw my arms around George and kissed him quickly on the cheek.

"Well now I lost my appetite," muttered Fred.

I chuckled and waved to Lee and Alicia who had just arrived from Care of Magical Creatures and were sitting down. Lee was smiling broadly – well, more than usual.

"Did you hear about Harry and that Umbridge woman?" he said excitedly.

"No, what happened?" I frowned.

"Big fuss. Apparently she said something about You-Know-Who not really being back, and he started arguing, and soon enough they were yelling at each other."

"You're joking," said George.

"No. He was sent to McGo's and all."

I really wanted to hear more about it, but I saw Angelina entering the Great Hall.

"Have to go," I quickly said, standing up.

"Aren't you going to eat?" frowned George.

"Not that hungry," I shrugged, gathering my things.

"Sorry, what?"

"I'll see you later!"

"But Adds, the testing –"

"I'll be there! Later!"

I quickly left the table to meet Angelina before she got to it. She glanced at me oddly.

"Are you all right?"

"Spectacular. Why don't we take a walk?"

"But I was going to -"

"Never mind that. Let's go."

"But Addy –"

"Just follow me."

I must have been smiling in a way that intrigued her enough, because she let me grab her hand and lead her away from the Great Hall.

"What are you planning?" she asked, as we walked in the empty corridors.

"I told you, just follow me."

But Angelina was smart, and she soon figured out where we were heading. As soon as the famous fruit bowl painting came into view, she started shaking her head.

"Why are we going to the kitchens?"

"Will you ever stop asking questions?" I chuckled.

I tickled the pear and the portrait moved to let us in. Immediately, a few House Elves came into view, smiling brightly at us. Leading them was Eddy, an House Elf I had known for basically all my time at Hogwarts – the one who had baked me a strawberry shortcake during OWLs.

"Miss Harlowe, you're here! Everything is ready, as you asked."

"Thank you, Eddy."

I glanced at Angelina; she looked a little overwhelmed, and very intrigued, but she was smiling, and that was already a victory for me. Eddy led us to the small room adjoining the kitchens. I had been there a couple of times with the twins; they had organized a few of my birthday parties there. We came in to find a large table, filled with food, and there was even music playing.

"Surprise!" I said, turning to see Angelina's face.

"Bloody hell!"

Angelina never swore, so I couldn't help but giggle.

"Did you do all this? That's all my favorite food!" she said, glancing at the plates.

"Oh, I didn't. The Elves cooked it all. But I gave them the idea."

"That's so nice of you…"

"I thought you could use a little cheering up."

She shook her head, as if she could not believe it, and then jumped into my arms. I hugged her back tightly.

"Thank you, Adds."

"I'm here for you, Angie."

When we separated, I could see that her eyes were glistening with tears. But I didn't want this moment to be about tears; so I quickly asked her to sit down and start eating. We spent most of the evening there, eating and laughing, talking about Quidditch and music and about our last year at Hogwarts; everything but boys. When we finally left the kitchens, after thanking profusely the Elves, I felt lighthearted – and very, very full.

"I think you might have to roll me up all the way to the Common Room," I said.

"You and me both," chuckled Angelina.

When we got to the Common Room, everything was very quiet. I felt my heart skip a beat as I glanced at my watch. Bugger! It was much later than I thought it was; I hadn't watched the time while I was with Angelina. I had probably missed all of Fred and George's testing. I searched for them in the room, and finally found a familiar face – but only George was there. Fred was nowhere to be seen.

"I'm going to bed, Adds. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, okay. See you tomorrow."

"Thanks again. For everything."

I smiled at her, and quickly hugged her before she went up. I then bit my lip; George was probably really disappointed at me. I approached him, sitting down beside him on the couch.

"Hey."

He didn't even glance at me.

"I'm sorry I missed everything. I didn't see the time –"

"Where were you?"

"I was with Angelina. I had prepared something to cheer her up – I really thought it would only last until after dinner, but I… I lost track of time. I'm really sorry."

He didn't answer anything as his eyes kept staring at the fire. I really did feel bad – I knew how important all of this was to him. But so was Angelina to me. I already felt like this would become complicated if Angelina and Fred didn't make up soon – or at least explain themselves to each other. But telling George that now was probably a bad idea.

"How did it go?" I asked quietly.

"Brilliantly. The Fancies all worked perfectly on everyone."

"That's gre –"

"Until Hermione got fed up and told us to stop. She said if we didn't, she'd write to Mom."

"What?!"

"Yeah."

That was why he looked so appalled; I grabbed his hand and squeezed it.

"She's not gonna do it."

"How d'you know?"

"Because… I'll talk to her. Change her mind. She might listen to me."

George glanced at our joined hands.

"That might be worth a shot."

"I'll talk to her tomorrow."

There was a short silence.

"Sorry I'm in such a bad mood."

"Don't apologize. It's my fault, I promised I'd be there, and –"

"It's okay. It's not like you missed it on purpose. Or like you were out gallivanting with another bloke – you weren't doing that, were you?"

I couldn't help but chuckle at his narrowed eyes.

"You know what we should do?" I said.

"What?"

"Find you another place where you can do the testing. The Common Room is too public. You should do it somewhere more quiet, more private. That way it won't be right under her nose."

"You're right. But where?"

"I don't know," I shrugged. "The Room of Requirement?"

"I thought that was a myth."

"Yeah, you're right. Look, I don't know where. But we'll find a place, don't worry."

He smiled – that smile again. And I couldn't help but kiss him.

The next day, everyone arrived at the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom unusually early. It was to be our first lesson with Umbridge, or the pink woman as Lee called her. It was true that she had made quite an impression at the Feast, and from what we had heard, her lessons were quite something as well.

We had the class with the Slytherins; but everyone seemed to be spread around the classroom, sharing theories and rumors – true or not – about the newcomer. Someone had started spreading the rumor that there were more than a dozen kittens living in her office – we were debating whether that was true when she finally appeared. Without any surprise, she was dressed all in pink – but sported a dress and a cardigan rather than a jacket and a skirt. She smiled at us from the balcony. The class quickly quieted down.

"Everyone in their seats, please."

As she went down the stairs, we all obliged quietly. I glanced at George, beside me, but he seemed bewildered by her.

"Good morning, children" she said as she got the front desk.

I arched an eyebrow. Children? The room remained silent.

"Well, well. Seems like many of you are still sleepy. Let's try that again – 'Good morning, Professor Umbridge'."

It took a few seconds for all of us to process what she was asking. Eventually, we all mumbled a good morning – nobody said it at the same time and not in a very convincing way, but it seemed to please her.

"Well, we shall work on that, won't we?"

"How old does she think we are?" I heard Alicia whisper behind me.

"Now, please put away your wands, and take out your quills, ink and books."

As we all did that, she turned to the small blackboard and tapped it gently. A few words appeared on it : "Defense Against the Dark Arts : A Return to Basic Principles". We all exchanged glances. That didn't look good – that didn't look good at all.

"From what I have heard from Professor Dumbledore, your teaching in this subject has been rather weak. Of course, you are not to blame. Many of your previous teachers did not follow the Ministry-approved curriculum, and some did not follow any curriculum at all."

Something that sounded like a squeak escaped her mouth – it took me a few seconds to realize it was a giggle.

"Now, it bewilders me how you were able to pass the O.W.L. exams with such success having in your pocket such faltering teaching, but…"

I frowned – had she insulted us?

"… I can assure you that you do not have to worry for your N.E.W.T. examinations this year. You will be following a solid, Ministry-approved curriculum that will ensure that you will posess all the right tools to successfully pass the examinations at the end of this year. Now, if you will all take our your quills, I would like you to copy this down."

She tapped the blackboard again. The previous words faded and new ones appeared – 'Course aims'. I read them and couldn't believe what I was reading. They didn't make any sense! I started writing them down, when a voice broke the heavy silence.

"Excuse me, Professor?"

We all turned to the source of the voice – it was Angelina.

"Yes, miss…?"

"Johnson. From what I understand, this course will be theory-based, won't it?"

"You are quite right, miss Johnson. The ministry believes that a theory-based program is the best way to prepare you for your final year examinations."

"I understand, but how? The N.E.W.T.s, like the O.W.L.s, require a practical use of defensive magic, don't they? And this class is supposed to be of an advanced level, so I am quite confused as to why we are 'returning to basic principles'…."

"Miss Johnson. It is the belief of the Ministry that a theoretical understanding of defensive magic will be more than enough to get you through your examinations. If you have more questions about the curriculum of this class, I welcome you to come and see me after the lesson, but let's not waste anyone's time."

I glanced at Angelina – she blushed a little, clearly embarrassed, but I was furious. That wasn't wasting our time!

"Now if all of you could go back to copying. When you are done, I invite you to open your books and read chapter one."

A quiet chatter started in the classroom, and I turned to George to ask him what he thought, but Umbridge quickly spoke again.

"In silence, please."

I glared at her, exchanging a look with George. He looked just as overwhelmed and outraged as I was. We all started reading the first chapter of the book – and I was soon bored out of my mind. Those notions would maybe have been useful – if we were first years. I sighed as I tried to concentrate, but the book seemed to have been written for children by children. And it's not like we could do anything else – Umbridge walked between the desks, checking to make sure we were reading.

As soon as she passed our desk, George took out his quill and drew a little heart in my book. I gave him a nudge in the ribs, shaking my head.

"How old are you?" I whispered.

"Didn't you hear? We're children."

I chuckled – his impression of Umbridge was already perfect.

"For a second, I thought –"

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Harlowe, quiet please."

I immediately stopped talking and shot an alarmed look at the front of the class. Umbridge had sat down at her desk and was staring right at us. How did she know our names? I didn't remember her glancing at a class list – I mean, knowing George's name was easy, but mine? It was just creepy.

I nodded quickly, muttering a 'sorry', before glancing back at my book, and at the little heart on the corner of the page.

I sighed loudly when the bell finally rang. We ran out of the classroom, concerned to get out as quick as possible.

"That was awful! People weren't joking when they said she was boring!" cried out Alicia.

"At some point, I seriously considered popping a Nosebleed Nougat," said Lee. "But then I remembered that there is no antidote, so I would just bleed out."

"Wouldn't death be better than this?" I muttered.

"You're probably right…"

"And how she talked to you, Angie! What a horrible woman!" I added.

"Yeah, you were saying what we all thought, and –"

I stared at Fred as he stopped mid-sentence, realizing that he was talking to Angelina. There was a moment where I could see the panic in his face, and then he shut down completely. As for Angelina, she was as red as a tomato, and stared at the floor like she was seeing it for the first time. I squeezed George's hand – and he quickly cleared his throat.

"Well, we've got a free period, so –"

"Yeah, we have to run to Runes, Ali."

"I'll be at the library" muttered Angelina before turning on her heels and walking away in the opposite direction.

I bit my lip as I watched her walk away – I really wanted to catch up with her, but I didn't want to be late for Ancient Runes.

"That was bloody awkward, mate" said Lee at Fred. "You've got to do something."

"Piss off. I'll see you later."

And without another word, it was Fred's turn to walk away with determination. Lee let out a long sigh.

"That's why I don't date."

Alicia scuffed at him.

"Sure, Lee, keep telling yourself that. Let's go, Addy."

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

I stole George a quick kiss before following Alicia to Ancient Runes, which was on the sixth floor. Fortunately, Runes was one of my favorite classes, and my mind soon drifted away from Fred and Angelina, and from that horrible Umbridge. Babbling gave us two rolls of parchment to write for the next week, but at that point I was too hungry to really care.

In the afternoon, we all had a Transfiguration lesson with McGonagall – she gave us her N.E.W.T. speech, which lasted nearly all period. She had invited people that were interested to talk about their 'future' to go and see her in her office. Fred, of course, acted all smart – 'Oh, bugger, I'm in the wrong class! I thought that was Transfiguration, not Divination!' – but he shut up when McGonagall threatened him with two week's detention with her. Alone.

After dinner, which we took early since we all had a free period, I was sitting with Angelina and Alicia in the Common Room, getting started on my Muggle Studies homework. Angelina was busy reading – but she kept sighing loudly, glancing at the twins and Lee who were trying to find a suitable room for their testing.

"Have we got any homework for Umbridge?" I asked, trying to get her attention.

"Re-read chapter one," replied Alicia.

"You must be joking."

But Alicia only shrugged.

"That's what she said."

"I can't wrap my head around how awful she was. And what she told you, Angie! I totally get why Harry got cross with her yesterday."

"What? What happened?" said Angelina, finally turning to us.

"Apparently, they got into this huge fight about You-Know-Who."

"Rubbish!"

"I'm telling you. Got sent to McGonagall's, got a week's detention."

"Wait, what?"

Angelina's smile had instantly faded.

"What?"

"Did you say a week's detention?"

"Yeah, why d'you – oh."

The Keeper Tryouts. They were this Friday – so if Harry was in detention, he would miss then. And Angelina had specifically said she wanted to whole team to be there. Angelina looked as if she was going to scream – she slammed her book close and stood up.

"Angie, where're you going? Angie?"

But she was already out of the Common Room – on her way to find Harry, no doubt. The poor lad. I sighed loudly. It was only the second day of the year but it felt like we had came back forever ago. Between all the homework, and the issue of Fred and Angelina, and Umbridge, and all that had happened since we had got off the train – and on the train – I was already in over my head. And I had the feeling it was far from over. It was never quiet in Hogwarts, after all, was it?

On Thursday night, I decided to take a night off homework – the twins had finished the antidote for the Nosebleed Nougats and they wanted to test it. So, after dinner, we grabbed a few snacks and locked ourselves up in the small room we had found for the testings, on the second floor. The twins took out the material and we sat comfortably on the floor – it was supposed to be George's turn to test, but I decided otherwise.

"Let me try it," I said, extending a hand.

George seemed to hesitate.

"You sure?"

"Yeah! You two have been doing enough testing. Besides, I want to try it."

He exchanged a look with his brother – Fred only shrugged.

"If she wants to do it – you won't hear me complain. Those nosebleeds give me headaches."

Fred placed the small candy in my hand. I was excited, but also quite nervous. I completely trusted Fred and George – they wouldn't give me anything that could harm me, but I could still feel my heart beat a little faster.

"All right, Adds," said George, handing me a large towel. "You're going to need this – it can get messy."

"It is going to hurt ?" I asked.

"It shouldn't," he smiled.

I nodded, took the red candy in my hand, and after taking a deep breath, ate the candy. It tasted like raspberries and quickly melted on my tongue. For a second, I couldn't feel anything, and almost wondered if it was working – until a drop of blood fell on my hand. I instinctively lifted it to touch my nose – when I looked at my fingers, they were covered in blood.

"Bloody hell," I exclaimed.

"Indeed it is," grinned Fred.

I wanted to roll my eyes, but instead threw my head back to try and slow it down, holding the towel under my chin. But it was no use – I was bleeding like a broken faucet. Soon, the towel was soaked.

"All right. Now, take this, Adds…"

George handed me the white candy – I quickly swallowed it. The twins stared at me, their eyes fixed on my nose. A few seconds later, the flow stopped – I could feel the blood beginning to dry on my lips, chin and hands. I breathed out, staring at the white towel – it was now a dark shade of red.

"Blimey," I muttered.

"How're you feeling ?" asked Fred, eyes narrowed.

"Perfectly fine, actually," I answered.

It was true – I wasn't dizzy, or feeling, or anything of the sort. I felt as if the whole thing had never happened.

"Well, it works."

"And perfectly well, too. Only takes a few seconds for the nosebleed to stop."

The two of them starting muttering to each other – I couldn't even understand what they were saying.

"Er, boys ?"

"What ?" they said, turning their heads to me.

"What do I do with this ?" I asked, pointing the blood-soaked towel.

"Right. Here, give it."

I handed it to Fred – he muttered a spell, and a second later, the towel was as good as new. Before I could say anything – seriously, how many times had that towel been used? – George stood up and offered me his hand.

"C'mon, let's get you cleaned up."

I took his hand, making sure that it wasn't with the one that was red with blood, and followed him outside the room. On the way to the bathroom, we met Katie, who was with some of her friends. Her eyes widened at my sight.

"Merlin's beard! What happened to you – oh, you know what ? I'm not going to ask any questions," she sighed, looking a little amused.

I exchanged a look with George – we both chuckled as Katie passed us – her friends shot us weird looks, but I couldn't care less. Once we were in the closest bathroom, which was fortunately empty, George took a fresh towel and dampened it in the sink – as he did that, I saw my reflection in the mirror. Half of my face was covered in blood – that was kind of scary.

"I look like I've had a rough day," I said with a smile.

George turned to me, towel in hand, as I gave myself a swing to sit on the counter.

"I think you look tough. And… kind of sexy."

I raised an eyebrow as he started to clean the blood off my face.

"Sexy ? Blood all over my face, that is sexy to you ?"

"Hey, what's wrong with that ?"

I shook my head, laughing.

"You've gone mad."

"I have. And it's your fault."

"Oh, it's my fault ?"

"Yeah. You're making me mad. Mad about you."

I smiled softly, feeling my heart leap in my chest. I pulled him closer, my hands on his back, and kissed him.

"I'm mad about you too," I whispered to him, his lips inches away from mine.

He kissed me again, for the longest time – we were breathless when he pulled away. Yeah, I thought. Barking mad.