"This place is a circus, you just see the surface
You can see they're fakin'
So sip the gossip, drink 'til you choke
You're not iconic, you are just like them all
Don't act like you don't know
Don't think at all, that's the advice
So c'mon, let's try, it's just a taste"
-Gossip, Maneskin
***
"Thank you for letting me go," Harper stirred her tea, a smile on her face as she looked over at her aunt. "Although dad found me....seems he rejoined the Order."
Sybill chuckled slightly, "ah, he wrote to me about that."
"Mum doesn't know," she scrunched her face to the side, "that's why he didn't flip."
"Mmm."
"Were things quiet here?" Harper asked, Sybill made a face but said nothing as she walked over to the small window by her desk. The snow had fallen pretty heavily and the grounds looked like something out of a novel Harper would've enjoyed an undisturbed evening. It was Harper's favorite time of year.
"Whispers here or there, but....quiet." Sybill took off her coke bottle glasses and cleaned the lenses with one of her scarves, shaking her head. Harper pursed her lips, knowing there was more than Sybill was revealing.
A loud bang could be heard at the trap door that made Harper spill her tea on the floor, hissing slightly as the slightly hot liquid spilled over her thumb. The thumping continued until Umbridge popped her head through the floor, a bright smile on her face. Harper scowled at the woman, no longer hiding her disdain while using her wand to clean up the fallen tea.
"Ah, Miss Nonemacker, I was told to find you here. A word please!" She said brightly.
"See you," Harper muttered to her aunt, placing the teacup on a nearby desk and hurrying out the door. She quietly waited for the Ministry official to begin her typical bullshit. Her face a neutral mask, reminding herself it was important to be Head Girl for the sake of the DA.
"I do hope you had a lovely time wherever you were unauthorized to be," she said with a quirk of her eyebrow.
"I had permission from McGonagall, Professor," Harper said with a tight smile.
"And when was this permission granted? Do you not realize that my not knowing the whereabouts of the Head Girl—"
"—are not of your concern," Harper frowned, her brow furrowing. "I had permission from my Head of House, actually, permission from the deputy Headmaster."
"As it's the first day back, I'll let you off with 50 points from your house. Next time it'll be detention for your tongue," Umbridge hissed, wagging a finger at her. Harper could feel her eyes begging to roll in response but she nodded, trying to keep her civil demeanor. "As Head Girl, I expect more decorum."
"I'm surprised you aren't removing my badge then, Professor," Harper folded her arms across her chest, tilting her head to the side.
Umbridge's eyes flashed to the crimson badge on her lapel, nodding very slowly, "not yet." she gave a toothy grin.
Umbridge turned on her heel and walked off, Harper scoffing as she went back to enjoy her tea with Sybill. When she entered the tower, Harper fixed her cardigan and huffed, looking at her badge she had pinned to her lapel.
"Sometimes I think I'd be fine without being Head Girl...." She mused more to herself.
*****
Pushing through the throng of students, Harper's heart dropped as she took in the scene:
Sybill Trelawney stood in the main entrance hall, brandishing her wand with an empty bottle of sherry in her other hand. The yelling Harper had heard from the entry way door had been her aunt, tears falling down the woman's face as she kept pointing her wand at Umbridge who stood gloating at the bottom of the grand staircase. The pink a bright eyesore against the many black robes that were slowly surrounding the scene as students from the Great Hall slowly came to see the disturbance.
Harper harshly shoved everyone as she got between her aunt and the toad, shielding her aunt from the Ministry official.
"Surely with your pitiful performances during my inspections and the lack of improvement Sybill, you could've deduced at some point you would be sacked?" Umbridge spoke callously. "Incapable of predicting even tomorrow's events, I'm certain you could've seen this coming."
"How dare you!" Harper shouted, getting her own wand out and pointing it at Umbridge who only raised her eyebrows in surprise. The throng of students was becoming thicker around them.
"You can't sack me, I've been here sixteen years!" Sybill took a deep breath, "Hogwarts is my home!"
"It was your home. Until the Minister cosigned the paperwork for your dismissal this morning," Umbridge was gloating, revealing the document.
"You don't have any right removing professors. You're a professor!" Harper scoffed incredulously, unable to fathom what lengths this woman wouldn't stop at to enact the Ministry overreach of the school.
"I'm a Ministry official first, and undermining my duties to the Minister of Magic makes you disobedient to the Ministry, Miss Nonemacker," she clasped her hands in front of her. "The very Ministry that kindly allows you to exist among these students, especially after last year's editorial."
Harper's adrenaline crashed then and there, the oxygen in her lungs felt like lead, her breathing became haphazard. Umbridge seemed to notice the change, savoring the dismay Harper was experiencing with a satisfied sigh, she snapped her fingers for Filch to appear and begin removing Sybill from the hall. Harper was vaguely aware of Sybill taking her hand in hers, gripping it tightly as she continued to stand by her luggage.
"Poppy, that's enough."
"Now kindly remove yourself, you're embarrassing us," Umbridge's tone was one of disgust, her nose turning up as Harper lifted her wand higher.
"How dare you stand there and do this to her! My aunt is an impeccable seer, just because you demanded a prophecy or something right on the spot during inspections does not give you any damn right to stand there and banish her from the grounds!" Harper seethed, her eyes widening, the corners of her vision turning red. "Just because you don't understand how our burdens work! Because you don't care enough to know that second sight isn't constantly on, the fates don't just make house calls on the spot! If they don't have a damn word for us then they don't have a damn word!"
"Poppy, that's enough," Sybill's tired voice called her, pulling on her robes to fall back.
"Miss Nonemacker, if you would like to continue to be the Head Girl, I suggest you watch your next words," Umbridge sneered, her eyes flashing as she spoke the threat.
Harper laughed, "Poppy. Don't," Sybill whispered in her ear. "It's fine. Everything is fine."
"What is the meaning of this?!" McGonagall appeared beside Harper taking in the throng of students and Umbridge's standoff before them, Victor Ryder was at her shoulder, the two hurrying to shield the small family.
Victor patted Harper's shoulder giving her a nod, "I need you to keep your cool, Nonemacker. We need you to keep your cool."
Harper pursed her lips as McGonagall turned to Umbridge.
"Something to say, Minerva?" Umbridge gloated, her toothy grin making Harper's knuckles turn white.
"There are many things I'd love to say, Dolores-"
"This woman is a fraud of an instructor, a fraud of a seer-"
"Just because you don't understand divination!" Harper shouted, stepping forward, Victor instantly wrapped an arm around her torso and pulled her back.
"Watch yourself, Miss Nonemacker!" Umbridge said, wagging a finger at the raven haired girl, "if you speak out of turn one more time I'll be forced to remove you as Head Girl."
"Ya know what?! I very humbly offer you to go fu—"
The rest of her sentence was cut off by Victor, his hand covering her mouth and muffling her words as he lifted her up and stepped away from the professors again. "No. I need you to stop," Victor whispered in her ear, "you'll compromise everything."
Harper's breathing was haggard as she stared down Umbridge, the woman looked as if she were waiting for her prey to fall into a spider's web, eagerly awaiting the moment she could revoke Harper's Head Girl status. Harper gave a slight nod, he removed his hand from her mouth and let her go as Dumbledore appeared and took control of the scene.
"Go to your aunt, I'll handle the crowd," Victor muttered in her ear. She nodded and stepped closer to her aunt, taking the woman's hands in hers with a nod.
Harper continued glaring at the pink nightmare as she stood behind McGonagall's shoulder listening to Dumbledore explain that Sybill would remain on the premises. As she stood there beside her aunt, thinking of the desire to hex the Ministry official, her surroundings swayed, the ground wanting to come up to meet her in a harsh embrace.
Her vision ebbed, and suddenly she was seeing a dimly lit room, several doors stood in front of her, she reached out for one and the room flooded with a blue light. There were shouts and screams coming from the room, she took a step forward, a force of wind pushed her from behind and she was standing in the doorway of the room, a mysterious tank that she couldn't make out the contents of, sat in front of her against the wall.
As she approached the center, a flash of green light obscured her surroundings and she suddenly awoke in the hospital wing.
Angelina and Fred stood above her, looking tired as they gave Harper relieved smiles.
"Hey there sleeping beauty," Angelina grinned.
"What—"
"You've been out for two days," Fred elaborated, running a hand through his hair.
Harper groaned, leaning her head back into her pillow, she pinched the bridge of her nose as she exhaled. "Where's George?"
"Sent him to get a shower and nap, the git refused but we said you'd appreciate him clean rather than exhausted and smelly," Angelina chuckled.
"I'll get Joy, she's doing her shadowing tonight," Fred muttered, Angelina patted his arm and took a seat by her friend.
"What did you see?" Angelina whispered, leaning forward, she gave her friend a warm smile.
"I..." she paused, cracking her neck and slowly stretching her body, "a room of doors....shouting...that's all."
Angelina nodded, "well let's get you back to the tower so your favorite redhead can stop causing a ruckus."
Harper chuckled, stretching her hands above her head with a nod. "What happened with Sybill?"
"Umbridge threatened Dumbledore's post after he had McGonagall escort her away, but Sybill is in her tower. Ryder was freaking out, when you dropped in Sybill's arms he was so scared he thought he'd hurt you when he pulled you away from the fray."
"I see...." She nodded, a moment later Joy appeared with Pomfrey, grinning as she fixed her glasses on her nose.
"Time for a check up, lovey!" Joy greeted excitedly, taking her wand and beginning a flurry of diagnostic spells that floated above Harper's body.
"Harpsichord! Are you alright?!" George pulled her away from Joy's side the second the three girls entered the common room sometime later.
"Oi! Be careful you big brute!" Joy reprimanded him as he took her patient away, Harper giving a slight squeak at the tight hold.
George ignored the blonde completely, walking them over to the boys and Alicia who all grinned at Harper. Sitting in her favorite chair and pulling her onto his lap as Lee offered a licorice wand.
"We can visit Sybill later," George offered as Harper was about to open her mouth and ask. He kissed her cheek, happily holding her in a tight embrace.
"Oh Harper! Good to see you! We were on our way to tea with Sybill!" Lavender waved when they appeared from the dormitories.
"Would you like to join?" Pavarti offered excitedly. George's arms around her waist tightened slightly, as if to say he wanted her here, Harper patted his hand slightly as she nodded.
"I'd love that," turning in George's arms to meet his eye, she patted his cheek, kissing him lightly. "An hour, tops. Then I'm all yours again."
"Go on then," he smiled. His eyes looked slightly sad to be losing her so easily but he acquiesced and let her go. She kissed the tip of his nose and followed the younger Gryffindors to the seer's tower.
***
"Can I ask something?" Harper nodded to the blonde Slytherin as they walked the corridors. "Erm....you and Victor? You aren't....you wouldn't cheat on George would you?"
"What?!" Harper's voice squeaked, her eyebrows shooting up behind her fringe as she looked at Celeste who was blushing. "You aren't serious!"
"Well they say the Head Boy and Girl often become a thing when they're together so much...." she shrugged, "Malfoy has seen you two stalking around the seventh and sixth floors a bit too often for it to be a coincidence..."
"No offense but you shouldn't be listening to anything that blonde ferret has to say about my life," Harper growled as they turned to the second floor landing.
"I know! I know! But....I've seen you two and well," she bit her lower lip, "the other day when Umbridge was attempting to sack your aunt? You two seemed very close....I'm sure if lover boy was around he'd have some choice words for Ryder in the moment."
"That's because...." Harper stopped, Victor had been warning her to keep her composure to avoid risking losing her privileges. If she lost them, it would put a strain on the smooth operation of protecting the whereabouts and existence of the DA that they provided. "That's because Umbridge gets under my skin and he knew I was going to go for blood, he did the smart thing and took me out of the equation."
Celeste made a noise, "I mean if you two had gotten together I wouldn't be surprised....well I would, George has always had his eye on you. Everyone knows that..." Celeste was rambling she took a deep breath, "I just had to ask....make sure you weren't using any of the empty rooms on the seventh floor for.....things."
"Things?" Harper looked at Celeste with a furrowed brow, Celeste averted her gaze to the portraits they passed and began to hum. "Oh gods, Celle!"
"What?!" Celeste waved her arms in the air, "the seventh floor is like the perfect spot. You don't know how many times I've personally-"
"And I don't want to know!" Harper cut her off, shaking her head.
Celeste laughed slightly and nodded, turning around in a slight circle, "so does that mean you and George have finally.....ya know?"
"You know what? Yes. I am cheating on George with Victor," Harper said with a reproachful look on her face. "Let's talk more about that!"
"You haven't?! I would've thought by now...."
Harper sucked her cheek between her teeth, shaking her head slightly, Celeste was the only person out of the Gryffindor house she fully trusted with things. Aside from her activities involving the DA practices, Celeste and Harper had grown rather close through their patrols and mutual classes over the years. But talking to her about something so intimate made her nervous, as if she might about-face and spread it around the school if Harper ever crossed the Slytherin.
"You know what? I'll talk to Hastings about it," Celeste smirked, waving a finger at Harper.
"What makes you think Joy knows a thing?" Harper gave a smug smirk in return.
"Mmmmmm Alicia then....Definitely her," Celeste nodded. "It definitely won't be Johnson what with her dating Fred....it would be like a competition at that point."
"A competition?" Harper frowned, as soon as she asked for the clarification she wished she hadn't as Celeste gave a wide smile.
"Who's better," she winked with a giggle.
"I hate you. So much. I hope your house loses literally everything. Honestly, I'm going to go throw myself off the astronomy tower because of that and you can explain to George that you asked me if Angelina and I compare him with his twin brother!"
Celeste doubled over laughing at Harper's declaration in the middle of the corridor, she started to reach for Harper's robes as she fell to her knees and continued laughing. Her face cherry red as she lost all sense of herself in the moment, Harper stood shaking her head in embarrassment as portraits began to take note of the girl on the ground having a fit.
"You done?" Harper frowned at her, folding her arms, contemplating leaving the blonde and heading to the DA practice that was happening that evening.
Maybe hexing someone will get this out of my mind for a bit
Celeste jumped to her feet, wiping away her tears as she grinned. "I'm sorry....I just figure with the news in the Prophet, poking fun at you would lighten my mood, ya know?"
Harper's glare softened as they returned to their patrol, she had spent the morning running around the school removing any and all Daily Prophets to keep the gossip of the Azkaban break out at bay. Even with the Educational Decrees a plenty that Umbridge announced as if she were Malfoy and his threats to call his father at every single inconvenience, gossip about the break was whispered throughout the school. It was a failed mission from the start that Umbridge had set her and Victor on, but as Victor reminded her-they needed to keep their titles for the sake of the DA. It was grueling task and Harper only wanted to dive the backing of her badge into Umbridge's toothy grin at the end of the day.
"You're right...." Harper nodded, looking at her friend who had a pensive look on her face.
"I spent all day having to remind people that not all Slytherins are from those types of family," Celeste's voice got quiet. She glanced at Harper with apprehension, "I'm half blood, you know? And I'm in Slytherin...do you know how odd it is to remind people that 'hey! I'm not Pureblooded! Some of us are just here because of a damn hat! Like...if only purebloods get into Slytherin then tell me why lover boy and the other Weasleys aren't in it?"
"I didn't even think about that today...I was so busy with other things, you're only half blood?" Harper looked at Celeste with some surprise. Celeste nodded solemnly.
"News flash, Harps. Half bloods can just be ambitious sometimes."
"That's not what I meant..."
"I know...." Celeste sighed, running her hands through her hair, the two falling into silence. Harper bit her lip and bumped the blonde's shoulder, Celeste looked at her expectantly.
"So....you've done it then?" Harper smiled.
Celeste snorted, wiping away a stray tear as she shook out her hair and lifted her nose to the air slightly. "Wouldn't you like to know?!"
Harper snorted, nodding her head. She took Celeste's arm in hers as they got to the fourth floor, giving it a squeeze. Her mind slowly wandering to things that Celeste had planted seeds about, how was the DA doing tonight? How were her friends? Had Angelina gotten further than herself? Would George ever consider it at school? Were there others in the other houses experiencing similar things as Celeste?
"I'll let you use the head office for a party if you tell me," Harper offered.
"Ah, Nonemacker. Always driving a hard bargain!" Celeste chuckled, the tension that hung in the air slowly dissipating.