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XXIV. I WILL WAIT
Winnifred Black, Harry Potter, and Primrose Tonks walked into a disgustingly pink room adorned with plates of meowing cats. Prim rolled her eyes.
"You will be writing lines for me today." Umbridge said, tightening her pink sweater. That seemed tame for her.
"Then we need to get our quills..." Winnie told her.
"Oh, no! You'll be using some of my...special quills today." Winnie and Prim exchanged a confused glance, but sat down.
"Miss Tonks, I would you like to write 'I will not speak out in class.' Go on, take a seat."
"As for you, Mr. Potter, you will be writing 'I must not tell lies.'" Winnie had never hated someone more.
"Winnifred Black. Let's see...I think: 'My father is a murderer' will suffice."
"I'm not writing that!" Winnie exclaimed. She didn't understand how someone could have so much hatred in their heart.
"You most definitely will, Miss Black, or you will find yourself in detention for the rest of the year, and stripped of your prefect abilities." Umbridge said, with a sickening smile. Winnie angrily took a seat.
"There's no ink." Harry noted.
"Oh, you won't be needing ink with these quills." She said, taking a sip of her tea. Winnie really wished Fred and George had slipped something nasty in it.
"How many times do we need to write it?" Prim asked.
"As long as it takes to sink in."
The three began writing, each with different sentences. It didn't take long for the three to realize that these quills were carving the sentences into their hands. Harry's hand had started to bleed. Winnie thought of Sirius, and what he would think if he saw her scarred hand.
Professor Umbridge had let Prim go first, who had tears in her eyes. Winnie knew she was hurting, and she glared at the professor in front of her.
"Problem, Miss Black?"
"No, we wouldn't want one of those, would we?" Winnie plastered a fake smile on her face.
"I'm glad you have come to see reason."
***
Winnifred checked on Prim after she was released from detention. She had stopped crying, and now had a bandage around her hand. Sabrina was outraged at what Umbridge had done. She'd gone on a long rant about her abusing the students and not teaching them anything. After that, Winnie knew who she needed to talk to — Hermione. She made her way towards the Gryffindor tower, and luckily found her before she entered the portrait. "Hermione!"
The curly haired witch turned around, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion. "What's wrong, Winnie?"
"Nothing," She said, out of breath. "I've just had an idea. One that I think you have the ability to pull off." Hermione ushered to a bench near the portrait, and the two sat down.
"It is crucial that we learn Defense Against the Dark Arts this year. Umbridge obviously isn't going to do a thing. The Ministry believes everything's perfectly fine. We need someone to teach us. We need-"
"Harry." Hermione finished Winnie's sentence for her. Winnie nodded. "I've been thinking about that, too. We'd need to do a lot of planning, however. Would you like to meet in the library to discuss it later?" Hermione asked.
"I'll be there."
The portrait swung open, and Fred Weasley smiled.
"Can't get enough of me, can you?" Hermione rolled her eyes, walking into the common room.
"You're completely right. I ran all the way up here because I just can't stand the distance between us." Winnie joked.
Winnie had thought about Fred over and over again. She thought he was cute, funny, caring...But Winnie was scared to love.
"Wins, my darling, would you like to take an evening stroll?" Fred asked, putting his hand out for her to grab. "Okay, but it's only noon." She laughed, taking his hand.
***
The two walked for about an hour before they sat down. They'd talked about many things; The Order, Umbridge, and finally, about Cedric.
"I don't want to say this so soon after his death; it makes me feel like a proper git, but I can't deny that I fancy you. Mum told me that I should go for it, and that she thinks you're great...I just really enjoy being around you, and you can stop me at any moment..." Fred rambled.
"Fred, I fancy you, too, but I'm scared." She admitted. He moved closer to her.
"What are you afraid of?"
"A couple things. A part of me feels like I'm betraying Cedric, but I know he would want me to be happy. It's just...the last person who fancied me, died. I don't think I could handle going through that again." Winnie explained.
"I'm not going anywhere. Unfortunately, you're stuck with me." Fred told her, but took her seriously.
"Winnie, you only get one chance at life. If something happened to either of us, shouldn't we be able to say that we went for it? Not wonder what could have been?" Winnie smiled.
"Will you wait for me? I want to be with you, I really do, but I think I still need a little time."
"Winnie, I would wait forever for you." Fred said, looking into her eyes. She pulled him into a tight hug, and he gladly returned it.
"Thank you, Fred."
***
Winnie met with Hermione that night in the library, and talked in hushed voices about what they could do. Madame Pince always yelled at students for talking.
"Will Harry be on board? He doesn't exactly like being the center of attention." Winnie asked. Hermione nodded.
"I suppose we'll have to find out. Do you think we'd be able to convince people to join us?" Winnie thought of the people who she knew would join. Prim, Sabrina, Luna, Fred, George, Ginny, Ron, and Neville came to mind.
"I don't know how many people I'll be able to convince with what's happened; people avoid me like the plague. I do think they would listen to you, though. I know they would listen to Harry." Hermione nodded.
"Would be able to talk to the people who believe You-Know-Who is back? Even if it's just a few Ravenclaws."
"Sure. I could try to get Prim to gather a few Hufflepuffs."
"Brilliant. It looks like we're really doing this." Hermione said, looking both nervous and excited.
hi! question. i've been debating on whether or not i want sirius to live or not. i mean, obviously, i do, but do you think his death is crucial to the story because it fuels harry? i don't want to take away from the plot. let me know what you think!
