𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗲 ⇾ 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘰 𝘔𝘢𝘭𝘧𝘰𝘺

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘺-𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯

"Miss Price, Mister Malfoy, so nice of you to finally join us."

Phoenix and Draco walked in Professor Umbridge's office, and saw Harry sitting in a desk. He didn't even acknowledge them.

"Well Professor," Phoenix began, "I would say we're sorry for our tardiness, but I must not tell lies, right?"

Umbridge shot daggers at the girl, as Draco snickered at her comment.

"Just sit down. You both will be writing lines. Miss Price, you'll be writing 'I must be respectful to adults'. And Mister Malfoy, you'll be writing 'I must follow my family'."

Draco glared at the woman, "Who the fuck are you to tell me who to follow? That's an abuse of power, and you know it!"

"I know you're not telling me how to do my job, Mister Malfoy. How do you think your father would react if he knew the way you were behaving? Shall we find out?" Professor Umbridge asked.

"I don't give a damn about what my father thinks-"

"Draco," Phoenix interrupted, "She's not worth it. Remember why we're here."

Draco turned his head to look at her and sighed, knowing she was right. He gave Umbridge a cold glare, and sat in one of the desks in front of her desk.

Phoenix sat in the seat between Draco and Harry, who had stayed quiet since they arrived.

Phoenix looked at the parchment and quill in front of her reluctantly. She knew exactly what was about to happen. She would have the phrase 'I must be respectful to adults' carved into her hand for the rest of her life, and there was nothing she could do about it.

So Harry Potter better tell her what the hell is going on with his attitude. She is going through all this trouble, after all.

"Psst... Harry," Phoenix whispered quietly as she wrote her lines, making sure Umbridge wouldn't catch her.

"What, Price?" Harry hissed.

"What is going on with you?! I helped save you from the Dursley's, and you've been treating me like I'm the dog shit stuck on the bottom of your shoe since! I deserve an explanation, and you know it." Phoenix whispered sharply.

Harry sighed and put down his quill, flexing his fingers as he tried to hide his hand from her.

Little did he know, there was no point in covering it. She already knew basically everything that would happen to him in his life.

"Alright fine," Harry said, "Meet me at the Black Lake after detention and I'll tell you, but only if we're alone," He gestured to Draco, who had finished his lines already, and was drawing doodles on the back of his paper.

Phoenix sighed and nodded, "Okay, deal."

"No talking!" Professor Umbridge shrilled, causing Phoenix and Harry to turn back to their parchment and finish their lines.

☼ | ☽

"No fair! Why can't I be there?" Draco protested, as the two walked in the halls after detention.

"He didn't say, so it must be personal," Phoenix said, "Whatever it is."

"Fine," Draco grumbled, "But if he gives you any trouble, come find me, alright? Not that you can't protect yourself or anything... but I don't mind sending a few hexes his way if he hurts you."

Phoenix grinned, "I'll keep that in mind, buddy."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Price what have I-"

"Oh would you look at the time!" Phoenix exclaimed, looking at her wrist, "I have to go meet Harry!"

"You're not even wearing a watch-"

"Gotta go!" She waved.

As Phoenix turned to leave, Draco grabbed her by the waist and kissed her deeply. He caught her by surprise, but she eventually melted into the kiss, and wrapped her arms around his neck.

Draco broke the kiss after a few moments, but kept his hands on her waist, and Phoenix kept hers around his neck.

"What was that for?" She asked breathlessly.

"Do I need a reason to kiss you, love?" Draco smirked.

"I'll meet you after, okay?" Phoenix smiled.

He nodded his head, and let go of her waist and watched her walk away.

'I adore that girl' Draco found himself thinking.

Phoenix walked to the Black Lake, and saw Harry sitting under a big tree a few feet away from the water.

"Alright, I'm here," Phoenix said as she walked up to him, "Now can you tell me what's going on with you?"

Harry looked up from the lake, "You should probably sit down for this," he moved over, giving her a place to sit next to him, which she accepted.

"Now, I'm sure you remember our little... fling", Harry said.

"Yeah, what about it?" She asked.

"And do you remember how we didn't do anything too drastic because you weren't ready- not that that's a bad thing, I completely understand! But you weren't ready for any sort of relationship, so we stopped altogether and remained friends?" Harry rambled.

"Harry, where are you going with this?" She asked curiously.

"Phoenix, what does he have that I don't?" Harry stood up angrily.

Phoenix looked up at him, "What does who have?"

Harry rolled his eyes, "Oh don't act like you don't know, Price! I see the way you two look at each other. You just told me you weren't ready for a relationship, then you show up at my bedroom window with Malfoy, who suddenly claims he's changed his whole way of life!"

"Harry why are you angry at me? You agreed that us staying friends was the best thing for us to do!" She yelled, standing up.

"Because I know how much he hurt you, Phoenix! I put my feelings for you aside because I didn't want to scare you. I wanted you to heal and learn to love yourself again. I didn't exactly expect you to be all cuddled up with Malfoy all of a sudden," Harry explained with tears threatening to fall. He tried to walk away, but Phoenix grabbed his shoulder preventing him from doing so.

"But Harry, I'm doing so much better since then. Why can't you be happy for me now that I'm actually healing?" Phoenix asked him.

"Merlin, Price are you that thick?!" He asked angrily, pushing her hand off.

"I'm fucking in love with you, Phoenix," Harry said, with tears rolling down his face.

Before Phoenix had a chance to respond, Harry stormed back to the castle, leaving her there dumbfounded.

What the hell just happened?