Vengeance Is Sweet

Disclaimer: I don't own HP.

'Well, good evening, Ms. Potter, why don't you sit down?'

Kitty sat down, with her elbows on the lacy tablecloth before her. 'You're going to be doing some lines for me,' said Umbridge, smiling widely. 'You will write "I must not be rude" on this parchment. Here is a quill.' She gave her a quill, with an unusually sharp point and put some parchment before her.

'I had the pleasure of meeting your brother, today. He will be joining us for detention at eight thirty. You will be dismissed when he comes.'

Kitty nodded stiffly, and picked up the quill. Then she put it down again and said, 'There's no ink, Professor.'

'This quill finds ink for itself. All you need to do is write. Don't delay any more,' said Umbridge, with a nasty gleam in her bulging eyes.

Kitty picked up the quill again and began writing, 'I must not be rude. ' The words appeared on the parchment in shining red ink. At the same time, Kitty let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared at the back of her right hand, cut into her skin, as though by a scalpel. Almost immediately, the cut healed, leaving the place it had been slightly redder, but quite smooth.

Professor Umbridge looked up, the corners of her mouth twitching. She raised her eyebrows. Kitty blinked back tears and said, 'Nothing.' Professor Umbridge nodded and continued with her work.

Kitty looked back at the parchment, placed the quill on it once more, wrote I must not be rude, and felt the searing pain on the back of her hand for a second time; once again, the words had been cut into her skin; once again, they healed over seconds later.

And on it went. Again and again Kitty wrote the words on the parchment in what she soon came to realise was not ink, but her own blood. And, again and again, the words were cut into the back of her hand, healed, and reappeared the next time she set the quill to parchment.

Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window. Kitty did not ask when she would be allowed to stop. She did not even check her watch. She knew Umbridge was watching her for signs of weakness and she was not going to show any, not even if she had to sit there all night, cutting open her own hand with this quill...

After three and a half hours, there was a knock at the door. Professor Umbridge stood up briskly and said, 'Well you may leave, Ms. Potter... Come in.'

Kitty got to her feet and looked at her hand which was bleeding openly. Harry entered, greeted Umbridge, and gaped openmouthedly at her bleeding hand. Kitty did not meet his eyes, but left the office. Behind her, she heard Harry say, 'What did you do to her?'

Kitty ran down the length of the empty corridor, sobbing. She turned right and bumped into someone. It was Malfoy.

'Well, I heard you got detention with Umbidge, Potter, what did you—'he broke off, staring at her bleeding hand and tears on her face. Kitty turned to leave.

Malfoy caught her arm, and started dragging her towards the end of the corridor. 'Let me go, you son of a bitch!' she said fiercely. He said nothing but continued dragging her amidst her struggling, and stopped when he reached the front of Snape's office.

He rapped on the door smartly with his knuckles. Professor Snape opened the door. 'Mr. Malfoy and…' said Snape catching sight of Kitty's tear stained face.

He rounded on Malfoy. 'What did you do?' Snape demanded.

Malfoy pointed to Kitty's bleeding hand and said, 'Umbridge gave her detention. A Blood Quill,' he said. Then he turned on his heel and marched away, towards the Slytherin common room.

Snape beckoned Kitty into the office. 'What did you get detention for?' he asked, while mixing potions into a large stone basin. Kitty told him.

'Put your hand in that, it's three parts Murtlap Essence and one part Dittany. And drink this,' he said handing her a goblet. She took it and drank the honey coloured liquid.

A wonderful calming sensation filled her, as she said to Snape, 'Professor, please don't go fighting with Professor Umbridge. I'll make sure that I don't get detention again.' Snape nodded and then smiled.

'And, one more thing. Um, Remus told me to…well he told me to come to you and ask you for a…a dreamless sleep potion?'

Snape looked into her green eyes for a long time, and then said, 'Kitty, I thought you said that you weren't having nightmares.'

Kitty shrugged and looked at her feet. 'Well,' said Snape, rummaging on his shelves, and picking up a small square bottle, 'take this for now, drink three drops every night, if it doesn't work, come back and I'll give you a stronger one. And…and come to me if you need anything else.'

Kitty nodded and took he hand out of the basin. It felt numb, but the cuts had healed and it was not bleeding any more.

'Do you have a handkerchief?' asked Snape.

Kitty nodded and gave him her hanky. He dipped it into the basin, wrung it once, and then bound it around her right hand.

'Off you go,' he said, once it was done.

'Goodnight, Professor, and um, thanks,' said Kitty and went out of Snape's office.

Kitty was going towards her dormitory, when she changed her mind halfway, and went towards the Great Hall. Spotting Vandyll at the Slytherin table, she walked up to him and asked him to come sit at the Ravenclaw table with Luna and her. She passed Malfoy who was staring hard at her, and tried very much not to look at him.

'Don't mention it,' he whispered as she passed by, his breath grazing her ears and making her shiver. Kitty looked in the other direction and ignored Malfoy. Zabini looked suspiciously at Malfoy.

'So, what did Umbridge have you do?' asked Vandyll once they had sat down. Dennis joined them.

'Just lines,' said Kitty casually, pulling a plate of chicken wings towards her.

'What's wrong with your hand, why have you bound it up?' asked Luna.

'It got caught in the door of the girl's toilet,' said Kitty, having thought of the answer earlier.

'So is Harry still up there?' asked Dennis.

With a sudden jolt, Kitty remembered that Harry must be undergoing the same detention Umbridge had given her. She nodded.

The next day, as she was coming down for breakfast, she met Harry whose hand was still sore from the previous night's detention. Kitty recommended Murtlap Essence.

At DADA, Kitty was exceptionally polite and read the whole chapter Umbridge had told them to read. After doing so, she raised her hand in the air. Umbridge pretended not to notice at first. After about five minutes when the entire class was staring at Kitty, Umbridge felt that she could no longer pretend to be blind.

She finally asked in a threateningly sweet voice, 'Yes, Ms. Potter?'

'Professor, I don't quite understand. The author has not made any clear distinction between verdimillious uno and verdimillious duo. It says here that verdimillious is a spell that causes green energy to harm a foe or a red flare to reveal objects hidden by Dark Arts in the surrounding area. If one casts it quickly, then it causes green light to harm a foe and if cast slowly, it reveals hidden objects. But what is the difference between the two? Professor, could you please explain?' said Kitty in one breath.

Professor Umbridge opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish for a few seconds. Then, she looked at the book and said, 'Well, my dear, I'm sure if you read the book carefully, you'll understand.'

'Well, I read it. I even researched in the library. I couldn't quite understand it.'

'Well, then,' said Umbridge, her face slightly panicky, 'I shall ask you all to write me an essay on this topic. After that, we may discuss in class.'

'But how shall I write an essay on it, if I don't understand the topic?'

The entire class was sniggering now. 'Very well, Ms. Potter, you are exempt from writing the essay. You shall write it later, after we have discussed it.'

Vandyll raised his hand and said, 'But I don't understand this either.'

'Yes, this is not clearly mentioned here…' began Luna, catching on.

Umbridge sighed. 'Very well, how many of you don't understand this topic?' she asked.

Vandyll and all the Ravenclaws raised their hands. 'Alright then, the Slytherins, with the exception of Mr. Zinpike here will write the essay, which we will then discuss. The rest of you will hand in your essays a week later.' The Slytherins scowled.

Kitty sniggered. 'Ten points from Ravenclaw for laughing,' said Umbridge. But Kitty didn't care. She knew she would earn back those points in Potions.

When the bell rang, and they had left the classroom, Vandyll said to her, 'You are a genius, Kitty. The Slytherins have got homework and we haven't!'

'And, the best part is that she can't punish any of us for not understanding the topic,' said Kitty happily.

'Yeah, and did you see Umbridge's face when you asked her that question,' said Luna.

'Yeah, this confirms that she doesn't know a thing about the Dark Arts. If she did, she would've known that the difference lies only in the colour of the sparks that the two spells produce,' said Kitty grinning.

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