"Valerie," Harry said, rushing toward me the moment I came down to the common room.
"Not now, Harry," I groaned, rubbing my eyes tiredly.
Keeping his voice down, he hissed, "It's about Sirius." I froze, my eyes widening. Instantly, I dragged Harry over to an empty corner of the common room and demanded to know what had happened. "We were talking to him using the flu network and...Umbridge almost dragged him out of the fire."
My jaw was clenched so tightly I thought my teeth might shatter as I simply stared at him, trying to process what he was telling me. Finally, I said, "So...you mean to tell me that my father was put in danger because of you?"
"Val-"
"Harry, he is in enough danger as it is!" I cried, making sure I wasn't loud enough to draw attention. "He is all that I have left. I can't survive if he's taken from me again, Harry. Promise me you won't do anything stupid like that again. PROMISE ME!"
"Okay, fine, I promise," he said quickly.
"Good," I sighed, rubbing my forehead tiredly. Without another word, I left to go down to breakfast.
When I had sat down, Angelina remarked, "You look like hell. Are you okay?"
"I didn't sleep last night," I admitted with a yawn. "I was working on something."
"What?" Fred asked.
"Oh nothing," I said. "Just this." Pulling down the top of my robes slightly, I showed them the small raven tattoo on my collarbone.
"It looks cool," George said.
"Thanks," I replied.
Somehow I got through all my classes, but I was just moments away from falling asleep and had to be prodded awake by either Khadija, who had just come back from touring Europe, or Fred and Angelina. I was so tired that I didn't even feel a prickle of fear or annoyance when Umbridge asked me to stay behind after class.
"Good afternoon," I said, giving her my best attempt of a smile.
"Long day?" she asked, obviously noting the strain.
"Oh I just couldn't sleep last night," I explained, "but all is well, thank you." After a moment's pause, I asked, "Was there something in particular you wished to speak to me about?"
"Ah, yes," she said. "I have decided to allow your team to continue."
"Really?" I exclaimed, my expression lighting up. "Oh my, thank you Professor!"
"Just see to it that your team remains well behaved or I might have to revoke my decision," she warned with a sickly-sweet smile.
"Of course," I promised, grabbing all my things before rushing from the room.
Running into the common room, I ordered, "Team, pitch in fifteen. We're practicing!" A cheer rose up in the room and soon we were all standing on the pitch. It had begun to rain, but we had lost time so I ordered everyone into the air. After pushing everyone for hours, I finally called it quits and, soaked in rain and mud, we all headed in to change. I went into the captain's office after I had changed and, instead of working on stuff for Quidditch like I should've, I sat deep in thought.
Seems like everyone was in danger now, more so than before. I hadn't really thought much about the fact that You-Know-Who wanted to kill me. I didn't know how to feel about it. Should I be scared? Anxious? Worried? I shook my head, turning in my chair to rest my elbows on my knees and place my head in my hands. There was a knock on the door.
"Come in," I said, my voice sounding faint and far away. Looking up, I saw Harry standing in the doorway.
"You okay?" he asked, taking a step in. "You've seemed off all practice."
"I-" I began with a sigh before I stopped, unsure if Harry was supposed to know. Putting on a false smile, I said, "It's nothing. How're you?"
"Decent, I guess," he replied with a shrug. "Listen, I'm sorry about Sirius, okay?"
"No, I'm sorry," I replied. "I was just scared and lashed out at you. It's not your fault."
"So listen, Hermione, Ron, and I kind of formed a secret organization to practice defense against the dark arts since Umbridge isn't letting us actually learn. We already got a bunch of people involved. Do you want to be apart of it?"
"When's the next meeting?"
"We don't know yet," he admitted. "I'll let you know when we do. I would've told you about it sooner but you seemed a little busy."
"No, I get it," I replied. "It's fine, Harry. I'll think about it. Well, I should probably get some work done. We have our first match coming up."
"Right, well, see you around then," he replied. I nodded and he left. With a sigh, I turned back to my paperwork.