Neve Longbottom || Draco Malfoy

27 - The Gryffindor

The very next morning, I woke up to the discovery that Dumbledore had done a runner and Umbridge was ruling the school.

Everyone was furious.

Everyone, that was, except for the Slytherins.

"She's a dangerous woman to get on the wrong side of!" Draco implored to me when I asked why he was so keen to please her the following Sunday. "She's powerful, Neve, and it's in our best interests to support her."

"She's making out that Harry is a liar!" I cried, pacing the classroom floor in front of him, studying far from our minds.

"Forget bloody Potter! Please, Neve, we need to keep safe," Draco begged. "You don't understand the danger we're all in."

"That woman has only got power if you give it to her!" I said accusingly, looking pointedly at his shiny silver badge on the front of his robes.

He grabbed my hands, his face looking desperate. "Let me protect you, Neve! Please! All Potter is going to do is lead you to trouble."

Much to Draco's relief, I relented, seeing as we no longer had the DA anyway. And he spent the next few weeks helping me study for our OWLs, with talk of underground Defence classes and anything Harry Potter ceasing.

But I missed the meetings in the Room of Requirement. The confidence I was gaining from learning advanced defensive spells had changed me; made me stronger and more accepting of the war we were about to face.

I wanted to fight; I didn't want to hide behind some cowardly squad hired by the Ministry.

So, when I came across three Slytherins attacking Ginny Weasley in the corridor late one afternoon in June, I brandished my wand and unsuccessfully tried to fight them.

"You stupid bitch!" Crabbe spat, ripping my wand out of my hand and putting me straight in a stranglehold so that I could barely breathe.

The next thing I know, I was being dragged into Umbridge's office along with Ron, Ginny and Luna, where, to my disgusted surprise, Draco was sat languidly on the windowsill, smugly tossing a wand up in the air in front of a bounded Harry and Hermione.

The smirk soon fell from his face the second he saw me though, and I didn't miss the sickly green shade his cheeks took at the sight of Crabbe almost strangling me.

"Got 'em all," Warrington said, shoving Ron roughly forwards into the room. "That one," he added, poking a thick finger at me, "tried to stop me taking her," he pointed at Ginny who was struggling against the hold of a large Slytherin girl, "so I brought her along too."

"Good, good," Umbridge said, watching our struggles with glee. "Potter's army at my mercy at last."

The room was spinning before me as I weakly struggled against Crabbe. I couldn't breathe and I felt sure I was going to pass out.

It was at that point that Umbridge ordered Draco to fetch Snape. As he passed by me, he yanked Crabbe's arm which was gripped tightly around my windpipe and loosened it, making me gasp out for much needed breath.

"Don't think it'll be a good look if we kill one of them," he snarled at Crabbe before disappearing out the door, glancing only briefly at me.

When he returned moments later, with Snape in tow, I noticed Draco was looking anywhere but at me.

The small hope that I had that Snape would save us was diminished when he billowed back out after Harry spouted some gobbledegook to him.

And then, to my horror, Umbridge decided to threaten the Cruciatus Curse on Harry.

"No!" Hermione shrieked. "Professor Umbridge - it's illegal!"

I kept trying to catch Draco's eye, but he refused to look anywhere near me; instead keen to obey Umbridge's every command, watching her almost hungrily as she sized up Harry with her wand.

"I am sure the Minister will understand that I had no choice." Umbridge said, with a nasty, eager, excited expression on her face.

Hermione managed to stop her by confessing to a secret weapon that was hidden in the Forest and, leaving Draco in charge, she marched out with Harry and Hermione.

"Draco!" I gasped, fighting against Crabbe's tight hold. "Please!"

Draco eyes shifted guiltily towards me at last.

"Let go of her," he said fiercely to Crabbe, "she's not a threat."

But I was.

Because as soon as Crabbe relented his hold, I grabbed his wand out of his hand and threw the Stunning spell at Warrington at the exact same time as Ginny reacted and did the same - knocking out Crabbe behind me.

Before I knew it, hexes were being shot at in all directions until every Slytherin, including Draco, were unconscious on the floor.

Panting heavily, I crouched down to his frozen body, brandishing my wand, ready to unfreeze him.

"Leave him!" Ron bellowed at once. "He'll be fine!"

"Perhaps we should go and help the others?" Luna said serenely looking out of the window towards the Forbidden Forest. "I'm fairly certain I just saw a giant ripping up trees."

I looked down at Draco and sighed. I felt bad about leaving him frozen like this, but at the same time, his devotion to Umbridge made me feel uneasy.

"I'm sorry," I whispered regretfully, giving his fingers a gentle squeeze.

"What've you done with Umbridge?" Ron asked as we found Harry and Hermione deep in the Forest, alone.

"She got carried away by a herd of centaurs," Harry shrugged nonchalantly as if this sort of thing happened all the time.

It turned out they had been trying to get to the Ministry where Voldemort was supposedly holding Harry's murderous godfather.

"But why would you want to save him?" I asked, baffled. "Isn't he trying to kill Harry?"

"We'll explain on the way," Ron muttered after we all insisted on coming along, much to Harry's annoyance.

"I don't need you three slowing me down!" he roared indignantly, eyeing Ginny, Luna and I with disdain. "You're all too young!"

"I'm one day older than you!" I cried, completely insulted.

"Whatever," Harry sniffed moodily as he climbed up onto the nearest Thestral. "Just pick one and get on, then."

Excitement swirled in my stomach; we finally had the chance to do something real.

I was finally feeling my inner Gryffindor and I was determined to make my gran proud.

*****