It's My Life

Harry went through the rest of his school day rather silently given that Defense Against The Dark Arts was the last class of today. Harry was pretty quiet at dinner and had spent all the time from class until dinner just working in the common room and getting a good majority of his work done. Hermione had tried to silently ask Draco with her eyes if Harry was alright during dinner, but Draco gave a look right back that he didn't know. It was now 8:00 pm as Harry reached Umbridge's office and walked through the door.

"You are a minute late." Dolores informed. "That will be another night of detention, Mr. Potter."

"Whatever." Harry remarked.

"Such an attitude. We'll be fixing that," Dolores stated.

"So ungrateful to the person who saved your life just a few hours ago." Harry retorted. "I'll set a mental reminder to just walk away next time. Save myself and everyone else the headache you are. You don't scare me, Professor. I've faced worse than you in my lifetime."

"We shall see." Dolores sipped her tea. "Have a seat. You'll be doing lines this evening." She motioned to the setup desk with parchment and a quill already placed.

Harry sat down. "What am I writing?"

"Let's do something easy like…I must not tell lies." Dolores smiled.

"How many times?" Harry inquired.

"As many as it takes for the message to sink in should do it." Dolores told him.

"You haven't given me any ink." Harry remarked calmly.

"You won't need any with that quill, it's special." Dolores enlightened.

Harry picked up the quill as he spotted his rings turn black. Harry focused on his work, setting the quill tip to the parchment and writing the first line. Harry felt something burn on his left hand as he silently winced and looked over to find the line that he had just written on paper appeared on his hand in his own handwriting. Harry understood why his rings warned him of danger; this was a blood quill and it was considered a dark magic object.

"Something the matter dear?" Dolores asked.

Harry stared at her. "Not at all, Professor Umbridge. A special quill indeed, to write without ink." Harry replied calmly.

"You obviously understand that you need to be punished, as you're being so cooperative. Deep down, you must understand why I chose the sentence I did?" Dolores said lightly.

"I understand that perhaps you should be joining me in these lines. Though I never lied…You did. Go on, take it and write one yourself. We can share the punishment." Harry replied.

"If only you had the power to punish me. Alas, you're just a student and I'm the teacher. Carry on now." Dolores informed.

Harry silently cast a pain-free charm on his hand and kept writing. With the charm in place; he couldn't feel anything more than a slight prick at his hand.

. . .

Hours went by that Harry wrote lines, repeating the same sentence of I must not tell lies. Harry must have written it two-hundred times so far and he knew Dolores was annoyed that he wasn't showing pain from the quill digging into his hand. The wound showed and was bleeding, it had started that by the tenth line Harry wrote. Now, it was midnight as Dolores finally stood from her desk.

"Has the message sunk in, Mr. Potter?" Dolores asked.

"Cut in, sure. But no, I've not yet accepted that I must not tell lies when I haven't." Harry replied.

"I see. That's a shame, we'll have to keep at this tomorrow night too. You're dismissed for the evening, with detention tomorrow and the night after that. After all, you're out of bed after hours." Dolores smiled.

Harry didn't say anything as he grabbed his things and left the room. Once past the door to Dolores's office, Harry leaned against the wall and held his bleeding hand. The charm had worn off eventually and Harry just kept quiet; his hand was shaking now, stinging. Harry took a few deep breaths and pushed off the wall to get down to the dungeons and into his common room. Harry went up to the dorm and changed his clothes before using the bathroom and getting into bed.

"Harry?" Blaise's voice was heard.

"It's only me, Blaise…Go back to bed." Harry told him calmly.

"Did you…Just get back from detention?" Blaise asked. "We all went to bed at 11 pm and you weren't back yet."

"Yes…" Harry sighed.

"Are you alright? We're kind'a worried about you." Blaise whispered.

"I'm fine, Blaise. I'm just tired. Good night." Harry rolled over in bed and set his glasses on the nightstand. Harry fell right to sleep as Blaise eventually knocked out too.

. . .

Umbridge gave Harry detention every night, including the weekends, for two weeks. It was now the 22nd of September. A Friday, and Harry's friends were worried about him. They knew he was getting detention with Umbridge because Harry would tell them that she was cashing in on that day she got shown up by Harry. Draco knew Harry hadn't gone to Severus yet, but something was wrong with Harry; he could feel it. When Harry went off again at 7:30 pm for the detention; Draco refused to stay quiet anymore.

"This is seventeen days of detention," Theodore stated.

"Well aware," Blaise remarked. "Something isn't right about them."

"Has he said something?" Pansy asked.

"The first night he got back, it was after midnight. I happened to wake up and check the time while he was in the bathroom. He told he'd just gotten back from detention. I asked if he was okay and he said he was fine. But his tone, guys…His tone says otherwise." Blaise informed.

"Has he gotten back that late every night?" Draco questioned.

"I don't know. I've slept all night and didn't hear when he came in. But we all know he's not back when lights go out." Blaise told him.

That was all Draco needed to hear; he was going to Severus. When dinner was over and the Slytherins were entering their common room, Draco looked for Severus and didn't see him. Draco muttered under his breath about there probably being a meeting or something. The hours passed as Draco forced himself to stay up until after midnight when sure enough, Harry staggered in tiredly at 12:30 am. Draco didn't speak as he saw Harry sit down on his bed and sigh. Draco kicked off his blankets and got out of bed, making Harry jump.

"Merlin, Draco…" Harry remarked.

"Don't you Merlin Draco me, Harry." Draco spoke in a loud voice. The others began to wake and sit up in their beds, lighting their wands as Draco obviously interrogated Harry. "Where have you been?!"

"Detention with Umbridge." Harry said.

"Til this hour?" Theodore asked.

"Midnight, but it takes a while to get down here undetected." Harry replied.

"So she keeps you four hours, every single detention?" Draco pushed and Harry nodded silently, rubbing his hand.

"That's not allowed. Detentions only last until curfew; you're supposed to be let out at 9:30, or 9:45 depending how far you have to go to your common room." Blaise commented.

"Yeah, she doesn't care about that…" Harry winced while rubbing his hand.

"What's wrong with your hand?" Vincent asked.

"Nothing, just go to bed. I'm fine…I'm tired." Harry told him. "I got another one with her tomorrow."

"How long does she keep you on the weekends?" Draco demanded.

"Right after breakfast, through lunch, break for dinner and back in her office until midnight." Harry admitted. "It's lines, organizing, or cleaning. Always for the last two weeks." He checked his hands.

Draco glared at Harry as he grabbed his wrist forcefully and pulled back his robe sleeves to see the blood and carved sentences into Harry's flesh. Draco's eyes widened as Harry pulled his hand back and looked away. "Harry…How did those get on your hand?" Harry didn't talk. Draco grabbed his shoulders and made Harry look at him. "Tell me, Harry and don't you dare lie."

"It's the quill she makes me use for lines. Not only does it get written on paper, but it carves into my hand. It's a blood quill." Harry sighed.

"Those are forbidden!" Theodore said quickly.

"Banned from use in all the magical schools and marked as a dark artifact!" Blaise added.

"Harry, has she made you use the quill for every detention in the last seventeen days when you do lines?" Draco inquired firmly. Harry nodded to him. Draco grabbed Harry's wrist and pulled him up to his feet. "Let's go, right now."

"Go where?" Harry looked at him.

"To see Professor Snape. I won't hear any arguments, Harry…This is wrong. This is abuse, torture even." Draco stated gently.

"It's the middle of the night, don't bother him." Harry stated.

"That doesn't matter, Sev won't mind. He urges all of us to come to him with a problem, no matter what time it is. He would want to know now…You shouldn't have hid this, Harry." Draco pulled Harry along. "Now, let's go." Harry didn't fight him and Draco led the way out of the dorm, then out of the common room and down to Severus's quarters. Draco knocked on the door three times and stepped back. It only took a moment, but the door opened to reveal Severus there.

"What's the matter?" Severus asked.

"Can we come inside?" Draco inquired.

Severus moved aside and let Harry in first, then Draco. Severus closed the door and had the lanterns lit while leading both males to the table in the middle of the room. "Now, what brings you here at this hour?"

"Tell him, Harry…" Draco demanded calmly.

Harry didn't speak. "Harry…I can't help if I don't know what the problem is. We agreed you would come to me if something was wrong, so tell me." Severus reminded.

"Ugh, he just doesn't want to get in more trouble with the pink nightmare," Draco grumbled. "Umbridge has had Harry in detention every single night since the 6th, Uncle Sev. 8 pm to Midnight on the weekdays, then after breakfast and through lunch, and after dinner on the weekends, also til Midnight." He informed. "She's been making him clean, organize, and write lines with a blood quill for two weeks. Seventeen days."

Severus's eyes widened slightly as he looked at Harry. "Is this true, Harry?" The boy nodded to him. "Can I see your hands?" Harry pulled back his sleeves to show his left hand and arm, riddled with sentences that were carved into his flesh. Some scabbed over, others fresh and still bleeding. "Harry…Why didn't you come to me after the first night of this?"

"I didn't want you to get mad at me for why I got detention in the first place…" Harry looked away.

"Why did you get detention?" Severus pushed.

Harry took a breath, and gave a brief recanting of what happened. "So after all that, she told me I still had detention with her that night at 8:00 pm. I showed up at 8:01 pm and she said I was late and gave me another one for the 7th. Then after she kept me til Midnight, said I would have one the 8th too, for being out after hours. Then it's just been one more added for some reason she comes up with. I feel like she's trying to get me to admit I lied about Voldemort and I refuse to do that…So she insists I have to keep up the lines until the I must not tell lies message sinks in." Harry explained.

"Oh, Harry…" Severus sighed. "I'm not mad at you for what happened," He stated. "I'm just not pleased that you didn't come right to me about this. What she's doing isn't allowed as a disciplinary action, that quill is forbidden too. If she's been making you come to detention at 8:00 pm…How have you eaten dinner?"

"I eat dinner first, then leave for about 7:45 pm…Or I just don't and call Dobby later on to bring me something small. I'm sorry…" Harry looked down.

"It's alright," Severus said as he got up and fetched two potions from his cabinet. "Here…This should heal the injures and this is for pain." He told Harry, who just took both potions without a fuss. "Tomorrow, you will not go to detention with her after breakfast. Understand? I want you to go with Slytherin back to the dorms and remain there. I will deal with Umbridge." He reassured. Harry nodded softly. "Go on to bed now, Harry. You need the rest." Severus said. "Draco, help him back."

"Yes, Uncle Sev," Draco nodded as he helped Harry up and they left the room to get back to the common room.

Severus was fuming after the boys left. What gave that pink pain in the arse the right to abuse Harry?! Severus would definitely deal with Dolores tomorrow morning and she would never hurt Harry again. He had to protect his child, which is basically what Harry was to him. An unofficially adopted child.

. . .

Saturday morning came as Harry woke around 8:15 am and got ready with the others to go down to breakfast. Harry was still quiet as he ate and then while students were filing out of the room, Dolores stopped Harry while he was going towards the dungeons.

"I believe you're going the wrong way, Mr. Potter," Dolores informed.

"My head of house instructed me to go right from breakfast back to the dorm, Professor. I am simply following orders." Harry told her, trying to leave again.

"You will come serve detention, or I will keep assigning more." Dolores remarked.

"No." Harry refused. "You cannot keep giving me detention, keeping me to midnight and then assigning more because I'm out after hours that you have kept me there for." He glared at her.

"How dare you get an attit-," Dolores grabbed his arm and prepared to drag him off.

"Is there a problem here?" Severus walked up. "I believe I told you to go right back to the dorms after breakfast this morning, Potter."

"I was heading there now, sir. She keeps trying to get me to go to detention with her." Harry stated.

"You follow my orders, Potter. I am your head of house, not her." Severus ordered.

"Yes, sir. Happy to." Harry jerked his arm away from Dolores and went on walking back to the Slytherin common room with Draco and the small group of friends who had waited for him.

"In this school, Dolores, you are merely the Defense Against The Dark Arts teacher. Though, from what I heard, you are not doing that correctly." Dolores narrowed her eyes and stiffened. "Regardless, you would do well to remember that Potter is in my house and my orders for him supersede yours. I do not care if you were sent here by the ministry to investigate or interfere at Hogwarts. If you have a problem with the students, it would do you wonders to turn your attention to the headmaster as the one not doing his job. You are new to this place, so allow me to make it clear. A mere teacher does not have authority over the heads of house, and a teacher is not permitted to physically man-handle the students either." Severus mentioned. "Detentions are to begin after dinner hours, and no later than 9:45 pm to allow them back to their dorms by the set curfew and the use of blood quills is forbidden."

"So silly of me, Severus, but it sounds like you are questioning my authority in my own classroom." Dolores put on a smile.

"I question many things about you, Dolores. What you seem to be misinterpreting is that I do not care to worry myself with such things. What is my business is how you treat my snakes. So you will do well to stick to the normal means of punishments." Severus told her firmly.

"To question me is to question the ministry, Severus." Dolores informed.

"I will question the ministry. I have no faith in the system, it's failed too many times. I believe you're under the impression that I haven't been told by my Slytherin students of what occurred that day in class where you gave Potter detention for doing as you asked him to." Severus stated.

"I am a tolerant woman, but one thing I cannot stand is disloyalty." Dolores remarked.

"I'm afraid I agree with Mr. Potter's words, that you gave him permission to speak out and told him you wouldn't punish. That does indeed make you the liar and a hypocrite, Dolores. My loyalties reside with the one who has done something, Potter, not the ministry. I swore a vow to protect Harry Potter to his parents, and that means no harm comes to him from anybody. Including you. So I would advise you not to lay your hands on him again or you deal with me. And I might just go to the minister himself and tell him that you're using a dark magic artifact on students, and not sticking to the proper teachings for the position you have. Or maybe I go to the press, because Fudge certainly will throw you to the wolves and claim he didn't know and then you face being arrested." Severus told her as she stiffened. "Be that your warning." He paused.

"You wouldn't." Dolores said.

"You will find that I always keep my word and don't issue idle threats." Severus informed calmly. "Now, as of this moment, Potter's detentions with you will cease and you will leave the boy alone, or so help you Merlin, Dolores…You won't like what happens to you." With that, he turned heel and walked off with an elegant flowing to his robes behind him. Dolores was left standing there, trying to keep her image unaffected after Severus said what he did, she saw everyone looking at her and then she just calmed herself with a smile and walked off.

As Severus reached the dungeons, he found Harry against the wall to his office and waiting for him. "She won't be giving you anymore trouble, Harry. I've ensured it. If she does do anything else, you tell me right away."

"Yes, Professor. I'm sorry I didn't come forward sooner…I just thought she'd continue to single me out if I told on her." Harry admitted.

"I understand your worry, but if she does anything further; I can go to Fudge about her and he'll throw her to the wolves rather than risk his image to protect her." Severus informed. "Now, how is your hand and arm?"

"Aside some scars, the bleeding stopped and it doesn't hurt anymore." Harry replied. "There is one more thing I didn't tell you last night because I was exhausted…"

"Come inside," Severus opened his office door and let Harry inside and then he closed the door. "Tell me."

"When we had our little spat in the classroom and she kept coming closer to me in warning, my rings turned black and I took it as a sign of danger. And my rings reacted again when I first touched the blood quill." Harry informed.

"She's obviously trouble, Harry. I have a hunch she may be in line with Dumbledore to get you obedient, so despite what I've said to her; it would be best to tread carefully in her classes from now on. Speak when spoken to, and try not to get sarcastic. I understand she's infuriating, but if you don't give her grounds to punish you then she can't. If she still does, you come to me and I have more dirt to take to Fudge." Harry nodded to him. "Thank you for telling me about the danger your rings sensed."

"I'm trying to get better at coming to you with a problem, Professor…But you have to understand that I've gone years without having anyone to turn to. It's a hard habit to break." Harry told him.

"I know, Harry. That's why I wasn't upset last night when Draco brought you to me and spoke for you. I understand it'll take time." Severus stated. "Now, is she really not teaching you anything defensive in class?"

"Nothing. It's all text book copying. She claimed to Hermione that we'll never need such defense because the ministry protects us. That's where the whole argument started about fighting Voldemort and she insists he's not back and I lied." Harry revealed. "Ron and Hermione have suggested we start up a club to teach actual defense to those who want to learn it. Like a club, and they want me to teach it because I've fought Voldemort before."

"Really?" Severus asked and Harry nodded. "Tell me more," Harry looked at him with surprise and ended up smiling a bit.