PRINCESS ➳ harry potter , draco malfoy (OLD VERSION)

66 || I Must Not Tell Lies

"She did, didn't she?" Katie shouted. "Harry, you told me she was just giving you lines!"

"It's nothing." Harry repeated. He pulled his sleeve down over his cut hand and stared out into the sunset, avidly avoiding Katie's eyes, who was shaking with fury.

"It's not nothing! You have to report her! Go to McGonagall, I'll go with you—"

"No, I don't know how much power McGonagall has over her."

"Then go to Dumbledore—"

"No," Harry said once more and he got to his feet. "No, he already has enough to be worrying about."

"Harry, the woman's torturing you, all because you told the truth."

As well as her body, Katie's voice was also trembling. She took Harry's hand, much gentler this time, and carefully ran her finger across the jagged cut. Both she and Harry stiffened and took sharp intakes of breath as she done so.

"It's fine, really. It's over now, anyway. I've finished the detentions with her."

Despite his collected tone, Katie could tell that what Umbridge had done was bothering him. She ran her thumb across the cut once more and this time, Harry didn't stiffen. On the contrary, he seemed to relax.

"Harry," Katie said softly, "that's going to scar..."

"Wonder what it's like to have a prominent scar." Harry said sardonically with a roll of his eyes.

"Will you please stop jumping down my throat? I'm on your side, here." Katie snapped.

Harry went quiet and looked down shamefully.

"Sorry..." he mumbled after a few tense seconds.

"That's quite all right," Katie said. "I get it, you're stressed, you're overwhelmed, you're angry, but you can't keep things like this from me. Do Ron and Hermione know?"

Harry stiffened again. "Ron knows. He saw it the other day." Harry admitted.

"And what did he say?"

"The exact same as you — told me to report it."

Without warning, Katie pulled Harry into a protective hug, which he gratefully accepted. He buried his head into the crook of her neck and something told Katie that he was forcing back tears.

"You're never doing a detention with her again," Katie stated firmly. "Next time she gives you one, I'm taking Polyjuice Potion and—"

"I think the hell not." Harry cut her off sharply, though both of them let out small laughs.

The sun had almost set now. All that was left was a blink of it's rounded tip peeking out over the tops of the swaying trees of the Forbidden Forest. The feeble sunlight sent glimmering spots dancing across the inky surface of the Lake, and streaks of pink and purple were splayed against the ever-dimming blue tones of the cloudless sky.

Katie and Harry sat themselves back down on the cold ledge, Katie resting her head on Harry's shoulder and continuously soothing the raw cut on his hand with her thumb. For many passing minutes, they sat in pleasant silence watching the last sliver of the sun disappear behind the mass of green leaves, and only when the sky had faded to darkness and the first star had appeared did Katie speak.

"Have you heard anything from Sirius?" Katie asked.

"Actually, now that you mention it, yeah." Harry responded.

Katie sat bolt upright. She had expected the answer to be a no, so she was surprised and intrigued when she got a yes. She stared at Harry with the utmost eagerness.