Time for the next chapter :)
Chapter Quote:
"We've all got both light and dark inside us."
~Sirius Black
Chapter 10
Ziva
She left early in the morning, before either Jade or Elliot was up. They would try to stop her from going to see Umbridge. Any of the people in Gryffindor would if they knew what she was doing, but Ziva wouldn't allow them to. She walked quietly out of the Gryffindor common room and headed to the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. It was still early in the morning on Tuesday, so no one was awake; it was also another O.W.L testing day. Most students, except for fifth years, had the day off. Ziva knocked softly on Umbridge's office door. The annoyingly high voice said, "Come in!"
Ziva opened the door, stunned to find Draco there as well. She almost blurted out "What are you doing here?" but she caught herself just in time.
"Miss Herondale, what may I do for you?" Umbridge inquired.
"I've come to turn myself in," Ziva replied emotionlessly.
Umbridge's eyes gleamed with excitement. "For what?"
"Being a part of the D.A."
"Sit down, dear, and I'll get you some paper and a pen," Umbridge said. Ziva obeyed and sat down, studiously avoiding Draco. She knew he'd sent her the note to protect her, but Ziva would never be able to push past the guilt of allowing others to be punished while she played a part just as big as they did.
Umbridge placed the paper in front of her along with the pen. "Write 'I must not tell lies.'"
"For how long?" Ziva inquired, knowing fully well what the pen did.
"Oh, until Draco says to stop. Meanwhile, I must go confer with Professor Snape about the Veritaserum and then I have to go administer the O.W.L.S." Umbridge left the room, leaving Draco and Ziva alone. She tried to calm her pulse but it didn't work well. How long would he make her do this? He was still a Slytherin. She doubted he'd give her leniency for doing what she did.
Just as her pen was about to write the first letter, Draco interrupted. "You weren't supposed to turn yourself in."
Ziva looked up at him. "I was supposed to be there when they got caught. I'm just as guilty as the rest. The guilt would've eaten me up had I not turned myself in."
"I sent that note to protect you Ziva! How can I protect you if you don't listen?" Draco demanded exasperatedly.
"Why are you trying to protect me? I don't need protection!" she wrangled.
"Let me see the pen," he ordered, holding out his hand.
"Why?" Ziva looked at him suspiciously.
"So I can switch it out with one that won't hurt you. I'm not letting you get hurt. I can't protect the others, but I can damn well protect you. Now hand it over."
She shook her hand and started writing. The words painfully etched themselves in her left hand. Ziva cringed but refused to stop writing.
"Ziva, please stop!" Draco begged her softly.
"I can't stop. I'll go to the end of the paper. I'll hurry so I make sure I don't lose my temper and zap the toad to Azkaban where she belongs," she muttered.
"Hurry then, so I can steal some Dittany from her drawer and put it on your hand, okay? Or let me write a few lines for you."
"Draco, if you write the lines, people will wonder why you have it on your hand."
His jaw ticked. "I'll use a regular pen then. But I don't like seeing you in pain."
"I'll hurry, and I'll write lightly. Lessens the pain."
And that's what she did. Ziva finished the paper in ten minutes. Draco took it from her and placed it carelessly on the professor's desk while he opened one of her drawers. Inside was a big bottle of Dittany. Why Umbridge had it, Ziva couldn't quite rationalize but she wasn't complaining. Draco poured some on her hand and the relief was very welcome. Her hand stopped throbbing within minutes and the words already started to fade away.
"Thank you," Ziva said softly, rubbing her hand ruefully.
"You're welcome. Next time, will you please do as I say?"
"No, probably not," she replied bluntly, but with a smile.
Draco rolled his eyes but returned her smirk. "One day you will."
"Don't count on it. Don't you have an O.W.L to go to right now?"
"Bloody hell… yeah, I do. I got to go," Draco muttered.
"I'll come with you. By now, everyone should already be in the testing room." The two students fled out of Umbridge's office and down to the Great Hall. Before entering, Draco hugged Ziva goodbye, apologizing for her hand.
"Don't worry about me! I'm fine! Go before someone sees us!" she gave him a light shove and he listened. Ziva headed back up to the Gryffindor Common Room. When she entered, Jade and Elliot were sitting on the couch listening to Fred and George.
"Ziva!" Elliot exclaimed when she saw her best friend. "Where HAVE. YOU. BEEN?"
"Sounded like our mother just then," Fred joked. Elliot glared at them then turned her attention to Ziva. Her gaze went down to her best friend's hand but before Elliot could say anything, Ziva queried, "What's going on?"
"Fred and I have decided that our future lies beyond the world of academics. If you three want a show, go into the Great Hall and just wait." George winked at the girls before heading to the boys' dormitory with Fred right behind him. The girls looked at after the Weasley twins, looked at each other, shrugged, and then ran downstairs to the Great Hall. They sat on steps leading to the Grand Staircase, waiting patiently and talking quietly.
"How's your hand?" Jade questioned.
"The pain's practically disappeared. I hardly feel a thing now," Ziva replied truthfully. She avoided telling them Draco had been there with her… all alone. They would've automatically assumed he forced her to write for ages; they never would've believed her if she told them that he had tried to stop her. All Slytherins were bad in Elliot and Jade's eyes. Draco wasn't perfect. He had a lot of issues. He had done horrible things, said horrible things. She didn't see eye to eye with him on many things but for some reason, in this case, it didn't seem to matter. With most Slytherins, she would've shot them down for believing what they did. With Malfoy, the reasons he believed something seemed to be because he was forced to. It seemed as if he didn't have a choice in what to believe, or at least a choice to voice what he truly thought. Maybe that was why Ziva kept sneaking out to see him; maybe he kept his views hidden from everyone and she just had to gain his trust to hear what he actually believed, not what he was indoctrinated to believe.
A little floating spark hovered in front of Ziva's nose, capturing her attention. She smiled, knowing it meant no harm. Turning around, she saw Fred and George, sitting on their broomsticks with their wands out. Both of them were grinning mischievously.
"Might want to hide so Umbridge doesn't blame you three," Fred whispered. The three girls scrambled to the opposite side of the room and hid behind the tall golden statue. They peered at the Great Hall doors. George waved his wand. Creaking sounds emanated all around them. Even from outside the Great Hall, the girls could hear the staccato taps from Umbridge's heels on the floor. The pink toad opened the doors, looking irked. The orange spark floated in front of her nose. It flew around her and started splitting into multiple ones in the Great Hall, completely disrupting the O.W.L tests. The little sparks briefly erupted into fireworks.
Then silence.
Umbridge, who had watched the few fireworks, turned back to face forward. She hesitantly walked over to the Grand Staircase and looked for any signs of trouble. A whooshing sound started far off in the distance, rapidly getting closer. Ziva was trying not to laugh. Elliot and Jade were having issues too.
Suddenly, Fred and George zoomed over Umbridge's head, hollering and whooping. The twins waved their wands, making all of the students' papers go into disarray in the air, not that the students were complaining. Many of them, in fact, were cheering the twins on. The Weasley twins added to the confusion and celebration by making fireworks sprout from their wands all over the place. Umbridge stood horrified in the entrance while Ziva, Jade, and Elliot cheered the twins on, clapping with all the others. They ran into the Great Hall to get a better view. Fred winked at them as he flew over their heads. The girls weaved their way next to Harry, Hermione, and Ron.
"This is brilliant!" Elliot shouted over the cacophony.
"How did you three get in here?!" Ron yelled back, laughing.
"Your brothers told us that if we wanted a show, we needed to come down!" Jade replied as Umbridge made her way down the aisle in a stupor that her 'perfect school' was now in complete disorder.
Ziva saw one spark fly down in front of Goyle's nose. He swatted it towards Crabbe who started running away. It zapped him in the butt which made Ziva crack up. Another spark dove straight at Malfoy's face who was up against the wall. He ducked out of the way right before it hit him. The spark crashed into the wall, with an image of Malfoy's scared face appearing in its embers.
"Ready when you are!" one of the twins hollered cheerfully from above the girls. The twin tossed another firecracker up as they flew out of the way. The firecracker exploded, taking shape into a terrifying, pissed off dragon. The dragon snorted out smoke as it started to chase Umbridge. She ran down the hallway in the prissiest way imaginable. Right when she left the Great Hall, the dragon chomped down. Dozens of mini fireworks flew spewed out of its mouth, destroying all of Umbridge's decrees on the wall. A few seconds later, the frames for the decrees, now empty, plummeted to the ground, ending with a loud crash.
The twins then proceeded to fly out of the school itself, continuing to set off as many fireworks as they could. The students charged outside, heeding no orders from any of the teachers attempting to regain order. Actually, Ziva saw Professor Flitwick secretly pump his fist low so no one would see him cheering the Weasley's on but then he hastily regained a serious expression.
The fireworks formed a massive 'W' in the sky. George and Fred's shouts and hollers could still be heard even though they were halfway across the Black Lake.
Someone linked their pointer finger with Ziva's. She glanced down and caught a flash of green. She didn't even turn fully around. She knew exactly who it was. Ziva squeezed Draco's finger to let him know she knew he was there. Jade gave him a dirty look but thankfully didn't look down to see that technically, he was holding hands (more like fingers) with Ziva.
Ron quickly pushed past them; he was followed by Neville, Luna, and Ginny, just a few steps behind him. Ziva turned around to watch them. Umbridge followed after them, motioning for a few people to trail her. Draco unhooked his finger from Ziva's and obeyed.
Jade and Elliot started to go after them but Ziva held her back, whispering, "Let's get back inside, put on the Disillusionment charm on, and then follow them."
Jade and Elliot nodded. The three pushed their way back in and administered the charm quickly. Ziva had done a rather shabby job this time but she was in a rush and she figured Umbridge was too focused on Harry and the others to worry about being followed. Jade, Elliot, and Ziva, grabbed each other's hands so they wouldn't lose each other and ran after the professor, although staying a far enough distance so no one might hear their footsteps. The girls went all the way up to the Defense Against the Dark Arts room. Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny were all being escorted gruffly up to Umbridge's office by some Inquisitorial Squad members, Draco being one of them. The ones that held the Gryffindors went inside Umbridge's office where Ziva happened to catch a glimpse Hermione and Harry in there as well, with the toad staring angrily down at them. The door slammed shut, leaving four Inquisitorial Squad members on lookout. Pansy stood pompously at the door. Ziva pushed down a growl. She hated that Slytherin more than any of them. She didn't know why, she just did.
"Bastards, all of them," Jade hissed. "Let's get them!"
"No!" Ziva ordered, restraining her friend. "We're the only backup Harry has. Let's wait and see what happens. There's a reason he was in her office without her being in there."
Jade harrumphed which Ziva rolled her eyes at her friend's impatience. The three waited for hardly two minutes before Professor Snape swept into the room and up to Umbridge's office. Ziva couldn't make out what was being said but he left a few moments later and the door shut again. A couple minutes later, the door swung back open. Harry and Hermione were leading the way with Umbridge behind them, looking ticked off and excited at the same time. Ziva stuck her tongue out at the professor.
Once the three were gone, Ziva whispered, "Now let's attack these four with as little trouble as we can. Then let's go save Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny, and then go get Harry and Hermione."
Ziva took off her Disillusionment charm and sent the Body-Binding Cures at Pansy. The Slytherin never saw it coming and froze up rim-rod straight. She fell forward against the stone railing, right on her chest. Ziva cringed, knowing that had to hurt. The remaining three Slytherins were in complete disarray. Jade sent the Conjunctivitis charm at a dark-haired Slytherin while Elliot immobilized a short brunette Slytherin with the Freezing charm. Ziva finally sent the Bat-Bogey hex after the last Slytherin who went running from the room with his flying bogey's chasing him. The girls high-fived each other quietly.
"Now let's go get the rest of the group," Ziva said. They ran up to Umbridge's office, brandishing their wands, ready for another fight. But they found the Inquisitorial Squad members on the floor puking. Ron, Luna, Neville, and Ginny, expecting more Slytherins, simultaneously shouted 'Stupefy' at Ziva, Jade, and Elliot. The three barely ducked down.
"Easy guys, we were here to save you but looks like you don't need it. Come on. Let's go find Harry and Hermione," Ziva urged. No one needed further encouragement and the seven students ran as fast as their feet would take them down to the Clock Tower Courtyard. They had just gotten onto the Covered Bridge when Hermione and Harry rushed up to them.
"How did you get away?" Hermione asked breathlessly.
"Puking Pastilles. It wasn't pretty," Ginny explained.
"Told them I was hungry and wanted some sweets. Of course, they told me to bugger off and ate the lot themselves," Ron explained drolly as he handed Harry and Hermione their wands back.
"That was clever Ron!" Hermione praised.
"It's been known to happen," he remarked modestly.
"And if it weren't for Ziva, Jade, and Elliot, we would've been ambushed outside Umbridge's office. They completely beat those Slytherins," Neville added in happily, realizing the girls hadn't been mentioned. The three girls just shrugged their shoulders like it was no big deal.
"It was thanks to Harry's training that we knew half the spells we did," Elliot said.
"So how are we going to get to London?" Neville queried.
Harry looked stunned for a moment but then answered, "Look it's not that I don't appreciate everything you've done, all of you but- but I've got you into enough trouble as it is."
He started walking past everyone but Ziva, Jade, and Elliot blocked his path while Neville declared, "Dumbledore's Army's supposed to be about doing something real." Harry turned around to face his fellow Gryffindor. "Or was that all just words to you?"
Ron added, "Maybe you don't have to do this all by yourself, mate."
Harry stood in silence, contemplating what to do. He obviously figured it out quickly that no matter what he did or said, his friends would not be talked out of this. He questioned, instead, "So how are we going to get to London?"
Luna had the answer. "We fly of course."
Oh boy, the girls are going to have so many interesting stories to tell their kids when they're older won't they? Please review!