[A/N: It's looking likely that my little bundle of joy will be making an early arrival, so I'll probably be taking an extended hiatus at this time. Have a happy new year! I will be back soon! i have plenty backlogged so when I have time again, I should be posting more regularly than I have been lately.]

Harry didn't know what to expect when he and Rory got to Umbridge's office after dinner. They knocked on the door and waited.

"It's very pink," Rory whispered. "And lots of cats. Just… Be ready for that."

Harry had no idea what Rory meant until Umbridge opened the door and he got a look at her office. He had no words. Nothing could have prepared him for this. He'd seen the office in the hands of three other teachers, but it was wholly unfamiliar now.

"Please, sit," Umbridge said motioning for them to come inside. There were two desks set up in her office now, and they sat down at each of them. She sat parchment in front of them and then handed them a quill. "You'll be writing lines tonight."

Excellent, Harry thought.

"Mister Potter, you'll be writing 'I must not tell lies,'" Umbridge said.

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "How many times?"

"For however long it takes for the message to sink in," she said. Then she turned to Rory. "And you, Miss Lupin, you'll be writing 'Half-breeds don't belong.'"

Rory leered at her. She looked as though she was ready to smack her, but instead, she picked up the quill.

"We haven't any ink," Harry said.

"You won't need any," Umbridge said, sitting at her desk. "Get started."

Rory and Harry both exchanged a look before they both started writing. His hand itched as he wrote his first line of "I must not tell lies" across the paper. The letters were in a crimson red. The back of his hand began to burn painfully and he looked down to see the words in his own handwriting carved into his skin.

Slowly the words healed and disappeared, but as Harry wrote the next line they appeared again. And again. And again.

Harry looked up at Umbridge who seemed beyond pleased with herself. Then he looked over to Rory. She was staring down at her hand as well, and a tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away quickly and went back to writing.

For hours, Harry and Rory sat there, silently writing, their skin breaking and healing and breaking and healing.

Then at some point, Umbridge walked over and grabbed Harry's hand. He could just see the faint outline of the words on his hands.

"Pity, it's not nearly deep enough," she said. "We'll try again tomorrow. You can go."

Rory didn't wait for Harry as she grabbed her things and left through the door. He caught up to her in the corridor where she'd sat down on a bench and stared at her hand.

He sat beside her. She didn't look at him, didn't even acknowledge he was there.

"We… We have to go if we're going to make it back before curfew," he said.

Rory stared at her hand a second longer. And then her face seemed to break and she began to cry. Harry pulled her to him and she buried her face in his chest. He could feel the tears seep through his shirt, but he didn't care. He would let her cry as much as she needed.

Harry hated, genuinely felt hatred in his heart for Dolores Umbridge. It was one thing to go after Harry. But she was being genuinely cruel to Rory. Punishing her for nothing more than having a dad who was a werewolf.

He did eventually manage to get Rory up and walk her back to the common room. It was deserted tonight. Rory didn't make it to the stairs and instead sat down on the couch.

Harry sat beside her.

"It's going to leave a scar. If I have to write it every day for a week, let alone two weeks it's going to leave a scar," she said.

"I know," Harry said.

"My dad's going to see it," she said, tears in her eyes again.

"It's not your fault," Harry said. "She's the one who made you write it. He knows it's not true."

Rory frowned and wiped tears from her eyes. "That's not the point at all, Harry."

Harry was confused. What was the point then? If Lupin knew his own daughter didn't mean it, then what did it matter?

"I don't understand," he said.

She shook her head. "It's okay." She wiped more tears from her eyes. "It's the one thing I don't expect you to understand, and I won't try to make you understand it." Harry didn't know how to take that, but he didn't have time to question her. She laid her head down in his lap and pulled her legs up onto the couch. "This is all much, much worse than I thought it was going to be."

"I know," he agreed. Rory reached back and grabbed hold of his hand, pulling it in front of her, and hugged him to her chest.

"I have you," she said.

"And I've got you," he replied. He did not know how he was going to do this without her.


After three days of detention, Rory was at her breaking point. The skin on her hand was painful and irritated. The words didn't heal as quickly as she wrote them more and more and more. Even worse, they were so prominent on her skin now. And she had days more of this.

Harry thought that they should just keep it to themselves. He didn't want Umbridge thinking she was getting the better of them, but Rory was distressed. Harry would only have "I must not tell lies" engraved on his skin. A story to tell once this was all over about how he stood up for himself.

But Rory's words were different. "Half breeds don't belong" meant something different entirely. Of course, she knew her dad would know she didn't mean those words that were etched into her skin. But she knew he would think of every time someone told him this, he would think of every opportunity he was denied and in turn, had to deny her. He would have to see a reminder of how much everyone hated him etched into his daughter's own skin.

It made Rory feel sick. She didn't know how to explain it to Harry. Besides, he was too wrapped up in his troubles to worry about this. It seemed like every day, he was complaining of his scar hurting.

"Hurts more often than not," he'd said that morning.

They'd both been waking up early to do homework since they were getting back to the common room so late. It was a miracle Rory was able to keep her eyes open. Harry, on the other hand, was struggling. Staying awake in class had never been his strong suit before.

So, Rory did the only thing she could think to do. She wrote to her dad. Harry had insisted that they keep the detentions to themselves. He didn't think they needed to bother her dad or Sirius or anyone with what was happening. But she had to give her dad some idea of what was going on. Just hinting that things were amiss without actually telling him would be fine, wouldn't it?

Dad,

I've been hesitant to write to you because I didn't want to worry you, but I can't keep quiet about it any longer. Dolores Umbridge is a psychopath. And I know how that sounds coming from me with my negative opinion of her to begin with, but it's true. Her detentions are wicked. She's absolutely cruel.

I didn't think I would ever be able to hate someone more than Snape, but she wins. Easily. Hands down. I have hated being here every second since I got off the train. I don't know what to do. I don't feel safe with her here.

I love you and I miss you so much. I already can't wait for the Christmas holidays.

Your daughter,

Aurora

"Why are you having me post this instead of doing it yourself?" Neville asked.

"Aside from not having a free moment to go to the owlery since I live in detention now?" she asked.

"Yes, aside from that," Neville replied. "Don't want Harry to know you're talking to your dad?"

"He's just been a bit irritable since this all started," Rory replied. Irritable was not really the word for it. Rory was irritable. Harry was just plain angry, all of the time. He'd been snapping at Ron and Hermione and anyone else who got in the way all summer, and that hadn't changed since they'd gotten back to school. He was worse even.

The only person who'd been able to steer clear of his temper was Rory. But she knew he wouldn't like that she was kind of clueing her dad in about detention.

"I think Harry's been being a bit of an ass if you ask me," Neville said.

"He's been going through a lot. You know that," Rory replied.

"Yeah, I know," he agreed as they reached the Great Hall, "but if you're keeping secrets from your boyfriend because you're afraid he'll be angry with you, that's not great."

"Can you just send the letter and not lecture me, please? I know how to handle Harry Potter," Rory said.

"Of course, I will," Neville said. "And for the record, I'm not scared of Harry Potter if he gives you trouble."

"I know," Rory said. "Thanks."

They joined their friends at breakfast, already mid-conversation.

"I told them if they post it again, I'll write to their mum," Hermione said.

She was currently upset because the twins were advertising to get test subjects for their Skiving Snack Boxes, one of the creations for the joke shop they were wanting to open. Harry had personally financed the venture with his TriWizard tournament winnings and had since been turning a blind eye to all of the illicit things they were also getting into.

"As much as I would love to see Molly Weasley absolutely wallop Fred and George, perhaps you're overreacting a smidge," Matilda said.

"They can't just test their products on students," Hermione said.

"What if they sign a waiver?" Matilda asked.

Hermione narrowed her eyes on Matilda. "You got back together with Fred, didn't you?"

Matilda gasped, looking offended. "I absolutely did not thank you very much." She looked over to Rory who did not meet her eye because Rory had also suspected she was back with Fred. "I mean… We hooked up a few times, but we are not back together."

"I knew it," Rory replied.

"Oh, you know everything, I bet," Matilda said reaching past Harry to muss Rory's hair. "It's not a big deal."

"Didn't you dump him because he was blackmailing someone?" Ron asked.

"I did. But he's not my boyfriend. He's just a guy that I… Occasionally fool around with," Matilda said.

"I cannot begin to explain how much this is a bad idea," Neville said. "You're going to get hurt."

Matilda scoffed. "Fred wouldn't hurt me unless I asked him."

"Wow. I'm leaving," Ron said standing up from the table. Hermione yanked him back down into his seat.

"I meant your feelings, Matilda," Neville said.

Matilda sighed. "Oh, Neville. Always looking out for me. What would I do without you aside from let my ex-boyfriend get to third base without you giving a me lecture on it?"

"Definitely out now," Ron said. He yanked his robes away as Hermione tried to make him sit again, but he walked off from the table.

"Friends with benefits never ends well," Neville said.

"I will be fine," Matilda said. "All you do is worry, worry, worry Neville. Don't you ever get tired of it?"

"Yes, and yet I can't stop myself," Neville said.

Matilda rolled her eyes but flashed Neville a smile.


On Friday, Harry kept staring out of the window during detention to see if he could glimpse Quidditch try-outs. Angelina was cross with him for getting detention and not showing up. Not to mention Ron was trying out for Keeper.

He glanced over to Rory who was still writing. It was hard to watch. There were always tears in her eyes, and she was always staring at her hand. He knew it was painful, it was painful to him as the words dug into his skin over and over again. He hated to see her in pain. But he knew her tears weren't because of the pain. It was because of her dad. And he hated it.

Umbridge grabbed Rory's hand suddenly and stared down at it. Blood trickled down from the wound on her hand and Umbridge smiled.

"Miss Lupin, I don't think you'll need the second week of detention after all," Umbridge said. "I'd say the message has sunk in, hasn't it? You'll have to remember it constantly now won't you?"

Rory snatched her hand away. Her eyes were red, rimmed with tears.

Umbridge walked over to Harry and he felt a jolt of pain flash through the scar on his forehead.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" she asked.

Harry was too flabbergasted to know what to say. Why was his scar hurting when Umbridge touched him?

"I think you're both done here," Umbridge said. Harry started to scramble to his feet, but Rory moved much slower. He wanted to hoist her up and drag her from the room. "Miss Lupin." Rory looked up at her. "Aren't you going to thank me for shortening your punishment? Unless you'd like to meet next week as well."

Rory glared at her, tears still in her eyes. She clutched her bag tightly to her chest.

"Thank you," Rory choked out.

Umbridge lit up seeing Rory standing there so defeated. He didn't say another word. He simply took Rory by the arm and led her from the room. She was in tears again before they even exited to the corridor.

"I hate her," she sobbed. "I really hate her."

"I know," he said pulling her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him tightly. "I have to ask you something?"

"What?" she sniffled.

"Did you feel anything when Umbridge touched you?" Harry asked.

She looked up at him, still keeping her arms around him. "What?"

"When she touched you, did you see anything?" he asked.

Rory shook her head. "No. But I was distracted. Why?"

"When she grabbed me," Harry started, "it hurt. My scar."

Rory's eyes went wide with concern. "Why is your scar hurting when she's touching you?"

"I dunno," Harry said. "Maybe he's controlling her or something, the same way Crouch did his dad last year. It might explain the dementors too because someone in the ministry would have had to send them."

She let go of Harry and seemed to ponder this for a moment. "I don't like any of this. It's one thing if she's here as Fudge's toady, but it's another can of worms if she's possessed by Voldemort too."

"I know," Harry said.

Rory groaned. "As if you don't have enough to worry about. I'll have to figure this out. If I touch her again then-."

"And when are you planning on doing that? When you get detention again?" Harry asked. "We'll figure out what's going on with her another way."

"But what if I can-."

Harry silenced her with a kiss. If Umbridge was possessed by Voldemort, the last thing he wanted was for Rory to feel anything similar to the pain he felt in his scar these last few months. And he knew she would feel it.

"We'll find another way," he said.

Rory nodded, understanding. "Okay."

Back in the Common Room everyone was in good spirits, especially Ron who'd made keeper.

"Great work! I knew you'd make it," Rory said to him. She gave him a quick hug. "I'd stay to celebrate with you, but I'm dead on my feet."

She kissed Harry on the cheek and then crossed the common room to head upstairs to bed. This had undoubtedly been the worst first week of school either of them had ever endured on top of a mostly crappy summer. He couldn't recall the last time that Rory hadn't been exhausted, and she was even more so this week. They'd both been getting up early to finish their homework since they were usually too exhausted from their late nights with Umbridge.

But at least there was this good news. Ron would be on the Quidditch team with him this year.

"He's not the greatest flier," Angelina whispered to Harry, "but hopefully a bit of training will get him right. I'm optimistic."

"Good," Harry said. That made Harry optimistic as well. He had nothing else to be excited about.

He didn't want to bring down Ron's good mood, but he did eventually corner Hermione to tell her about detention with Umbridge tonight.

"You really think she might be connected to Voldemort?" Hermione asked.

"Who knows," Harry said. "No way to really tell for sure. Not now at least."

"What about Rory?" Hermione asked. "She's pretty good at-."

"I think Rory's seen enough bad stuff because of me the last year. I'd rather she not go around looking for traces of Voldemort in Umbridge," Harry said.

Hermione conceded this. "You should at least tell someone about the detention."

"It's not a big deal," Harry said. Hermione frowned and glanced down at his hand. "What's anyone going to do about it, anyway?"

"I dunno. Something," Hermione said. "At the very least, you should tell Dumbledore about your scar."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course. That's the only part of me Dumbledore cares about."

"I'm sure that's not true," Hermione said.

"Funny way of showing it," Harry replied.

Hermione sighed. "I'm sorry, Harry. I really am. I wish I knew how to help."

"Yeah, me too," Harry grumbled.

They were both silent for a few minutes, observing their classmates mingling with each other in the common room.

"You haven't really been yourself this summer," Hermione said, breaking the silence. "Rory either."

Harry didn't know what to say to that. What was he supposed to be like? Was he supposed to be happy and normal even though people were calling him crazy, his newest teacher was making him carve words into the back of his hand every night, and Dumbledore wouldn't even speak to him about what was going on? How was he supposed to go back to just being normal? It wasn't possible.

"We're just worried about you," Hermione said.

Harry shrugged. "Get in line, I guess."