"Boys and girls are not permitted to be within eight inches of each other!" Umbridge's voice booms through the speakers and students across Hogwarts grounds groan at the new rule that only seems to have gotten even more ridiculous as the days went by.
"Those wishing to join the Inquisitorial Squad for extra credit!"
"Students will be submitted to questioning about suspected illicit activities. Any student in noncompliance will be expelled!"
It was only the beginning of Umbridge's power over Hogwarts. Ever since the day Dumbledore had vanished with his phoenix, Fawkes, the Ministry had appointed Umbridge as Headmistress of the Wizarding school.
The walls outside the Great Hall were filled with an utterly disgusting array of decrees that had a new one hammered almost every week. It was now gone to the point that it nearly reached the statue guardians of Hogwarts and the Headmistress was still ordering Filch to squeeze in another plaque in her atrocious collection.
It wasn't just the decrees that students had detested but even the moving portraits that had decorated the moving staircases for decades were being removed and relieved of their duties. Apparently, Umbridge had them taken care of because even the people in the pictures had shown their disdain for her control.
As much as there are times those portraits have been overboard with their gossip and taunts, Aine had found some of them rather pleasant. It made many upset now that the pictures and their occupants were completely eliminated. The stairways became disturbingly quiet as though all liveliness had been lost and put away.
Life at Hogwarts soon lost its cheerful spirit and every day became even more harrowing.
Despite Dumbledore's bargain about imploring the Ministry to not punish the students of Dumbledore's Army, the newly reinstated Headmistress Umbridge, deemed otherwise. As soon as she had overtaken the post of Head of Hogwarts, the first thing she had done was to make sure the members of the secret organization she had recently found were disciplined. And what better form of punishment would be better than the old, usual writing lines?
Removed of all of the house tables were replaced with rows of wooden desks, and the Great Hall was used as a detention session for the members of Dumbledore's Army. Aine glared at the lines she had been tasked to write, nothing was new since it was something she had experienced before. Thus, she was used to the Black Quill and its properties of carving one's skin as one wrote with their own blood.
Even so, she couldn't hide the fact that it still hurt. The back of her hand was completely reddened and further scarred from her previous rounds of writing lines. Just when she had thought that the hideous scar was healing from the ointment from her Potion's Professor and her father. She winced silently, clenching her hand up as her body trembled from enduring the pain. It had been nearly three hours since she had started writing and she was only on her fifth page out of ten.
She took a short breather, allowing her hand to rest. Her lips had gone dry and her face was equally pale as the rest of her friends who had shared her punishment. Beads of sweat form across their foreheads as they struggle with their lines. There were grunts and whimpers, as well as sighs and a whole lot of tea sipping.
Sitting in front of the group was none other than their new Headmistress Umbridge, overseeing the lot of them as they carry out their lines. She had sat on the throne-like chair that had once belonged to Dumbledore, wearing a bright pink robe over her usual pink tweed dress. She crosses her legs and raised her chin with authority and pride as she casually sips the tea that she had prepared next to her seat. She simpers at the students, feeling the power of her reign in the air.
Aine could hear the thoughts of her friends, ridiculing, insulting, screaming in their minds at Umbridge. Well, she couldn't blame them since they were literally saying what she would in her mind as well.
She glanced over to Hermione, concerned. She could hear the quiet sniffling as the brunette writes her lines. Occasionally, she would wipe her teary eyes before continuing.
Hermione met Aine's eyes and forced a smile, reassuring the girl she was okay but clearly, she was not.
There were a couple of others in the group who started to get tired and mentally drained as they watch the words 'I must not tell lies' etched into their skin, over and over again. Some even question Umbridge's humanity and power but if there was one thing they would never change, was the fact that they were fighting against her; as a member of Dumbledore's Army.
Aine could feel her wrath in her fingertips as she presses the quill deeper into the paper, stabbing it with her own blood across the words. There was no doubt that she felt guilty for involving her peers in this, she was the one who had started this whole thing with Harry, Ron and Hermione. If anything, it was partly her fault for entangling her friend since she had agreed to help her friends out with this. Her friends, however, did not deserve such horrible treatment.
She bit her lips, scribbling the sentence onto the next line. Her quill brutally grazed across the parchment. There was a sharp scratching sound that erupted from her table and she could feel the eyes on her. She ignored them, minding her own business as her mind swirled with the never-ending hatred for Umbridge. Her eyes drifted upwards for a second, witnessing the sneer on the Headmistress's face as she saw the girl.
Aine let out an inaudible scoff as she rolled her eyes, looking back down at her pile of papers. Any longer did the staring competition with Umbridge means that she was tainting her eyes. And doing so was clearly not worth it. In fact, her eyes hurt looking at so much pink.
By the time the day had dimmed, Umbridge had dismissed all of them but not before tittering her way out of the massive doors as she passed by the students.
When the doors opened, Aine found Cho standing outside as she had waited for everyone since the time they had started detention. It was the least she could do after being forced to expose them. Though the rest of the group didn't seem to take it as they had all believed that she had betrayed them. The Ravenclaw senior tried to talk to her friends, warily walking over. She even looked like she was going to cry for making them go through the torturous punishment, regretting that she had given them away. However, everyone had simply avoided her, giving the girl a cold shoulder, and glaring at her as they passed.
"Harry..." she calls out in a timid voice, remorse cemented over her face. She minced towards the boy who barely gave her a look before walking away with his friends. He was still upset over the events.
Aine sighs at them before meeting her worried gaze on her, she approaches Cho.
"Aine..." Cho murmurs. "I'm so sorry, I... I shouldn't have—" she sniffles, feeling apologetic to everyone she has let down. She couldn't even speak properly because her mind was all jumbled up with the things that had happened so far.
"It's okay, I know you didn't have a choice," the girl said, placing a hand on Cho's shoulders. "Umbridge threatened to have your mother sacked, didn't she? And she rendered you to speak the truth with Veritaserum too..." she added bitterly.
Cho's eyes widened, shocked. "How did you..."
Aine pointed to her head, "I accidentally read your thoughts that day," she chuckles awkwardly. It was the first time she was actually having a conversation with the Ravenclaw girl. "Sorry for that," she cringed.
Cho shook her head and took Aine's hand, gripping it as she looks at her with glossy eyes. "I don't mind it at all! I just— I should have tried to fight back but instead, I got all of you in trouble and didn't even get punished like the rest of you..."
"Don't worry about it. There was nothing you could do against Veritaserum anyways. It's a powerful truth-telling potion after all," Aine shrugs. At the very least, she was a little glad that Cho managed to avoid the painful line writing. She knew from Hermione that Cho was lately having mental breakdowns, overwhelmed by everything around her. Cedric's death was still fresh as if it had happened yesterday and her feelings for Harry only made her even more conflicted. Then, there was the problem of the possibility of jeopardising her mother's career too.
Aine pursed her lips as her senior was unable to utter anything else but apologies. She exhaled one more time before sending her a reassuring smile, "I'll try to talk to Harry. Don't worry too much, alright? Take care of yourself too." She peeked at the setting sun before turning to Cho again, she could see the shadows under her eyes. "It's probably getting late, you should head back and have a good rest soon. Thank you for waiting for all of us."
Cho let out a strained sob, she wipes her tears and nodded, thankful that Aine was understanding but she still felt bad. "Thank you, Aine..."
"See you around then, Cho," Aine bids, leaving her alone to clear her thoughts.
The girl went on along, heading back to the common room to freshen herself up before dinner. Throughout the entire time during their night meal, the Gryffindors weren't bustling with energy as usual but instead completely fatigued. Ginny was sulking down on her food, Ron wasn't stuffing himself, as usual, Hermione was being self-conscious of everyone else's mood, Fred and George weren't joking as usual and Harry had been silent throughout, eating his own food with a troubled mind.
After the tense dinner, on the way back to the Gryffindor common room. Aine had met up with her Slytherin friends after noticing their presence when was she heading back. Ginny looks back to Aine who had told her to go on ahead, that she would be right behind. The ginger head girl exchanged looks with Draco Malfoy before smirking at her friend.
"No closer than eight inches between you two, okay!" Ginny reminded, sarcasm in her tone as she wriggles her eyebrows teasingly.
Aine rolls her eyes, shaking her head. "You're hardly the one to talk, Gin!"
"See you, Ai!"
Aine faces back at Draco and his friends, she looks around at the many eyes staring at them before suggesting that they should probably go somewhere quieter to talk. Draco had proposed heading to the Astronomy Tower, deeming that it was probably the best place to speak freely without any unwanted attention.
They headed up the narrow building, Cyrus and Blaise keeping a lookout for Umbridge and her goonies as Aine cast the Muffliato charm so that they wouldn't be overheard. She plopped onto the stairs as Draco settled down next to her. "So, what's up?" she asks them.
Blaise nudged Cyrus who had sighed. He spoke first, "How are you?" he inquired the girl.
Aine gave a proud smile, "Alive," she replied, showing the latest art in her hand. Blaise cursed under his breath while Cyrus's eyes widened with concern. Draco merely exhaled loudly, growing upset and angry. Umbridge's way of discipline wasn't anything he hadn't known but just the sight of Aine's scarred hand made him want to rid the woman so badly. He knew that Umbridge was a vicious, insane and sadistic person and had wanted her to be removed as soon as possible. He would even trade her for Gilderoy Lockhart without hesitation.
Everyone fell silent almost as soon as Aine showed her hand. She didn't mean to make things awkward for them, knowing that they too had felt bad for the organization to be exposed and worse, not getting caught especially since they were all in it too.
"So did you guys come here to admire the artistry or something?" Aine jokes, trying to lighten the air around them.
"No, not at all. We actually wanted to check on you and your friends..." Cyrus said, he couldn't hide his worry and although they were from different houses, he was concerned for Aine's friends too.
An 'oh' escaped from Aine's mouth, nodding silently. "Well, they're pretty bummed. We all are since Umbridge isn't exactly kind enough to let us go..." she trails off, disgruntled. She couldn't quite explain what she was feeling, and the boys simply allowed her to speak her heart out.
"I mean... Harry and I tried so hard to help but it seems like we only make it worse and cause trouble for those who had put their faith in us," she pauses, sighing through her nose as her eyes gazed at her fingers sadly. She really thought that this was going to work, that Dumbledore's Army was going to be where students can really train against the Dark Arts, to fend for themselves without worrying about adults looking down on them just because they were children. "It doesn't really matter anymore, though it was nice while it lasted."
Aine just didn't want to cause any more damage and harm to her friends. Perhaps she had cared too much, maybe she was overthinking it. But for all she knows, the more you care about something, the more it hurts when you lose. She didn't want just to play around anymore now that war was brewing and very closely approaching. This time, for sure, they would all be trapped in it whether they like it or not.
"So, you're just going to disband the group? Give up?" Blaise remarked a little too bluntly.
"Blaise!" Draco hisses, glaring at his friend.
"You and your friends started this to make things right, to teach us when those— when others' deem us unfit for it. And you guys did! We learnt so much from you, Aine," Blaise told her, he spoke nothing but the truth.
"Thanks, Blaise," Aine replied and the boy gave her a comforting smile. It was so unlike the girl to be so dispirited and knowing how much effort she had put into teaching them, helping them, they know how troubled she was.
"You were the best Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher we could ask for this year," Cyrus grins and Draco nodded, agreeing.
"You guys give me too much credit," she simpers.
"Well, M'lady? You deserve it, Aine," Draco added, he gave her a casual hug since his friends were watching but deep down, he knew that she needed it. "Do not for a single second ever think that it was your fault, okay?" he reminded.
"I feel better already, thanks guys," Aine replies, smirking at her Slytherin friends who exchanged satisfied grins. Even though her hand was still stinging from the Black Quill nor was she able to completely forget the guilt, she did feel better hearing from her three friends.
Deciding it would be best to not linger around, she was about to part ways with her friends when Draco held her back. From his inner robes, he pulled out a tin and handed it to his girlfriend. "What is this?" she asks him, curiously staring at the metal box.
"I pestered Snape to teach me how to make one of those healing gels for you..." he scratches the back of his neck, feeling nervous as Aine opens it. Inside, she saw the familiar soothing medication that their Potion's Professor had once made for her during the last time she had detention.
A beam spread across Aine's face as she lit up at the sight, "You made this?"
"Yeah, I figured you may need it. Though it's nowhere as good as Snape's."
Draco looks at the concoction, sneaking a look at Aine's reaction. The girl softens at the gel, grateful that he had spent time learning it and creating it for her. She was thankful that he cared for her in ways she had never expected. Taking Aine's battered hand, he slowly smooths the gel over the scars before taking out his handkerchief and tying a bow around it. Then he lets go of the tin in her other hand.
Glancing shyly around, Aine suddenly threw her arms around Draco, giving him a surprise hug. "Thank you, Draco. I'll be sure to use it well," she whispers, her heart fluttering.
Draco ruffled her long raven hair, tangling his fingers in them as he chuckles softly, "You share that with your friends too, I'm sure they'll need it as well."
"I'll be sure to tell them Draco Malfoy prepared this for them," she said to him. "Actually, you know what? I'll brag to them about it."
Draco laughs at her, "Don't."
"Why not? Maybe they'll even change the way they look at you instead of glaring at you all the time like how Crookshanks usually does to Ron?"
"Do whatever you wish, love."
The ends of Aine's lips curled once more, she was never tired of smiling around him. In fact, it was such a natural thing to her because Draco had always made her smile. She bids her Slytherin friends 'Good Night' before heading back to the common room. It was such a long, tiring day and right now all Aine want was to snuggle in her plush bed and sleep without worrying about tomorrow.
As she entered through the portrait, she made her way to her friends sitting by the couch and plops down happily next to the bunch of downcasted kids. They all stared at her, confused at her sudden bubbly behaviour before she said, "Give me your hands."
"What for?" Ron asks, sceptical.
Hermione, Ginny and the twins held out their arms without thinking. While Harry and Ron shrugged, "Come on, give me your hands," she urges the two boys who ended up doing what she had asked.
Smirking, she took out the tin of healing salve and started lathering the ointment onto their scarred hands. Their eyes widened when the cooling paste touched their wounds and they smiled at it. The calming sensation wrapping around the swollen injury. "Woah, this is amazing!" Fred stated, looking at his hand with awe.
"Right?" Hermione replies. She turned to Aine, "Where did you get it from?" she asks and the whole group went silent.
Aine's lips twitched and Ginny immediately smirked, "Boyfriend?"
The girl nodded and Harry and Ron's faces instantly darkened. For a moment there, they had wondered if Draco Malfoy had made poison for them.
"He told me to share it with you guys!" she boasts sheepishly.
"That is... Very nice of him," George forces out and his twin snorts at his remark.
"Very nice indeed. More like unexpected."
"I'm telling you, he's not what you think he is! He was mean but..." she mumbles off, "He was actually worried about us all."
"I think he's more worried about his girl," Hermione teases.
Aine groans, trying her best to change their perspective of Draco from her friends. As much as she tries to, Ron and Harry were still a little cautious and reluctant. But nonetheless, they were grateful for the surprising kind gesture from the Slytherin boy.
"Well, I guess he isn't so bad after all," Harry commented.
"I never thought I'll say 'thank you' to Malfoy in my entire life!" Ron added.
"Come on, you lot," Aine sighs. What had she expected anyways? The bad blood between them wasn't as easily wiped off over a single token but it was nice to hear that there were some improvements.
Slowly, but surely... Hopefully, someday, they could all be friends... She reassures herself.
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A two-chapter update for yall! Hope you enjoyed it! We're nearing the climax of the story and I'm telling you, I cannot wait for you to read the upcoming chapters because we're going to have a lot going on! Till the point where I'm also nervous for you to read it because I'm scared you'll hate what I'm about to do. Believe me, I hate myself too but it has to happen! ;-;
Do upvote if you like this one~ :)
- Zeneria