A Dementor's Kiss - Phan

Life in Pink

“Oh, can we not go all out and use this to get rid of her entirely?” Carrie said wistfully.

“Tempting as that idea is, Miss Fletcher,” McGonagall said wryly. “I don’t think it will be as easy as that. Rest assured, Hogwarts is resilient. It has come under attack many times through the years, but always manages to rid itself of evil in the end, by any manner of means.”

Carrie’s lips twitched into a small smile. “Ok. So, what do you want us to do?”

“That is up to you to decide,” Dumbledore said, eyes twinkling, “But I rather like the direction your plan is taking at the moment. Professor McGonagall and I were just wondering if there was anything we could do to help.”

~

It was the Friday before the first Quidditch match of the season. The first of the winter snow lined the grounds an inch thick, and icicles hung like teardrops from the tree branches. While common rooms and classrooms were lit by hearty fires, the corridors were very cold. Carrie shivered, pulling her scarf tight around her neck. She and Dan had spent most of the week knitting an array of scarves, hats and gloves; all deliciously soft, all fabulously pink. She sported heavy purple shadows around her eyes to show for this however, and she seemed jumpy.

“It’s starting,” she said to Dan as he joined her at the window.

“It looks so cool.” Dan smiled as he gazed out of the window.

It was only subtle, at least for now, but the snow that fell from the sky in soft spirals and silent twirls was ever so slightly tinted pink.

“Je vois la vie en rose.” Carrie said, turning to Dan, her eyes alight.

I see life in pink.

~

The Great Hall was packed for dinner, and Dan’s grin only grew wider as he took in the sea of pink. It had been steadily building over the past weeks, a pair of socks here and jumper there, but now, with school finished for the week and most uniform abandoned, the pink rose had bloomed.

“Do you think she’s noticed the snow?” Dan asked Carrie under his breath as they went to join PJ and Sophie on the Ravenclaw table.

Just at that moment, Umbridge was to be seen taking off her coat and angrily shaking the pink snow off onto the floor, combing it out of her hair so angrily that it puffed up frizzy around her face and she had to stop and try force it back into the hairpins.

“She noticed.” Carrie said decidedly.

“I don’t think much of her new wardrobe. If she’d stuck with the pink, then the snow wouldn’t have mattered.” PJ smiled up at them in greeting as they slid down onto the bench.

At the beginning of the week, as the pink clothing really began to spread, Umbridge had traded in her usual pink robes for a set in soft lavender and had, seemingly, not changed since.

Just as they were all laughing Umbridge looked up, scanning the hall and locking on the group. Her eyes narrowed and PJ looked down quickly into his plate.

“Bugger,” he muttered.

“She can’t do anything.” Carrie said soothingly, pulling a pink scarf from her bag and wrapping it around PJ’s neck.

“Carrie,” PJ said wearily. “It’s boiling in here. Don’t you think my pink shirt, trousers, socks and shoes are enough?”

“Dan and I were up for hours knitting those. It was meant to be a present.” Her brown eyes were wide and hurt, but PJ wasn’t falling for it.