I walked as slow as I possibly could to Umbridge's office, somehow thinking that would hold off what was about to happen to me. I didn't know which rumors to believe and which ones to toss aside as fake. And if there was more than one that was true, then which kind of detention would I be getting? As I rounded the corner to her office, I saw Gregory coming out of it. Had he somehow gotten detention too?
He saw me, and quickly walked over. Glancing around to make sure there was no one else, he gave me a quick kiss. "I talked to her as you asked. I couldn't get you out of detention, but she did say she was going to go easy on you since it's your first time." He wasn't smiling, and that concerned me.
"What is she going to do to me?" I was truly terrified now as it all became a reality.
"It's going to be okay. Come find me when it's all over, I'll be in our hallway." He kissed me one more time, longer than before, then hurried down the hallway. I was practically shaking now. There was no reassurance of false rumors or of not being hurt. Just 'it'll be okay'. I forced myself to walk again, and knocked softly on the door, partly hoping she hadn't heard it.
The door opened swiftly, with Professor Umbridge standing on the other side. "Come in Miss Snape." She opened the door wider and motioned for me to enter. As I did, I saw that her office was uglier than her outfits. All pink with a whole wall dedicated to plates with cats on them. There was no doubt in my mind now, this woman was insane. I heard the door close and she walked over, motioning to a desk with a paper and quill on it, no ink. "Please sit." I did so, just wanting to get this over with as quickly as I could. "You'll be writing lines for me tonight. 'I will not read forbidden books during class'."
"But class hadn't-" I stopped myself. I knew too well that my mouth always ended up worsening whatever trouble I was already in. I sighed as I picked up the quill. "How many times?"
"Until it sinks in." She smiled and sat at her own desk, watching me.
I went to dip it in ink, remembering that there was none on the desk. "There's no ink here. How do you expect me to write anything."
"Watch your tone young lady. And you'll find that it is a special quill."
I sighed and shook my head. Putting my quill to the parchment, I began to write out the first line with my right hand. I began to feel a sting in my left hand, which quickly rose to searing pain. I dared not check my dark mark or yell out in pain, giving away to a member of the Ministry that I was a death eater. I quickly noticed, however, that this pain was different. Unlike the last time I was cursed through my mark, this didn't spread, and it didn't even start at my arm. It started and stayed at the back of my hand. I was on the third line when I decided to take a glance at my hand. What I saw made me gasp. The words I had been writing were being carved into the back of my hand. I compared the writing to the words on the page, and saw that not only was it my handwriting, but also that the ink was in fact blood. I had been too preoccupied with the pain that I hadn't noticed I was writing with my own blood!
"Everything alright?"
I sat there, looking from my scared hand to her and back. Was this kind of punishment even legal? I collected my thoughts and stood straight up, holding the quill in my right hand. "No! What kind of quill is this?"
"It's called a black quill." She remained calm, seated, smiling.
"It's carving words into my hand! You can't do this to students!"
"Please sit down Miss Snape and finish your lines."
"No! I'm not going to just sit here and cut myself willingly!" I quickly ran out of the room, the back of my hand still searing with pain. I quickly forgot about Gregory and my plan to meet him afterwards, as I hurried right past our hallway and to my father's office. I didn't know if he knew about my detention or not, or even if he knew what Umbridge did during her detentions, but I was sure he'd find out. It was dinner time, surely he wouldn't be there, and if I had stopped for just a second to realize that I wouldn't have gone to his office. But there I was, knocking on his door frantically. So my own surprise, he opened the door, but looked awfully annoyed.
"Shouldn't you be serving your detention with Professor Umbridge." It was more of a statement than a question. So he did know, that awful woman must have told him.
"She's torturing students! She has this quill that doesn't need ink since it uses the student's blood as ink! And as you write the words on parchment, the quill somehow carves it into your hand!" I was freaking out, still unable to believe what happened even as I spoke the words. Surely I must have sounded crazy.
"Let me see." His face still showed no emotion, neither did his voice, proof of how crazy I must have sounded standing there. I quickly pulled up my left sleeve, just enough to show the back of my hand, but not enough to show my dark mark, in case anyone was walking by. He just sighed. "I don't have time for these games Serena." And with that he closed the door.
Games? I turned my hand around so that I could see the back of it. Even with some of the pain still present, the carved letters were not. The whole thing had healed, it wasn't even red. But how? Then I remembered her words, "until it sinks in". I shuttered at the thought of going back, of having to carve one more line into my skin, of even having to see her again. And now my father thinks I'm making all this up. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes and my feet quickly carried me back towards Umbridge's office. I knew I wouldn't be able to force myself to write...to carve another line into my hand, but at the same time it was a detention I had to serve. It wasn't until I passed the little hallway that I remembered Gregory.
I walked down the hallway, fighting my hardest to hold back my tears. As I reached the bench we always sit at, he was nowhere to be seen. I had nowhere else to go now but detention, and the thought of going back there made the tears spring from my eyes. I leaned against a wall and slid to a sitting position, letting tears flood my face. It wasn't just the pain that scared me as I thought more about the detention, but the words were being carve into my left hand, not even a foot away from my dark mark. Surely she'd eventually see it, and then it's a one way trip to Azkaban for me.
I buried my head into my knees and cried when I heard footsteps. I stopped my tears instantly, but was too scared to look up and see who it was. Suppose it was Professor Umbridge, I'd rather be killed on the spot than have her see me crying.
"Serena?" I heard the soft clinking of a plate on the ground near me as I looked up. There was Gregory, kneeling down next to me. I had no control over my body as I threw my arms around him and cried into his robes. "That was quick, was it really that bad?"
I sobbed into him a few more times before composing myself and sitting back up. I wiped away my tears and took some deep breaths. "I left early. She was having me carve words into my hand." I glanced at it, seeing the plain white skin, unmarked. "The words are gone now. My father didn't believe it, and I bet neither do you." I looked down at my hand, just staring at it and wondering how it could betray me by healing so quickly.
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly Serena." He sat down next to me. "I've seen plenty of students walk out of that office with words carved onto their hands, and I'm sure your father has too. But leaving early is only going to make your future detentions with her worse."
"I'm not going to anymore of her detentions. Not if that's what they're like." I took a look at the plate, filled with food. He noticed where I was looking and smiled.
"I thought you'd be out later, so I went and got you dinner before they stopped serving it. I realized I don't really know what you like, so I grabbed you a little of everything."
I smiled a small smile at the food. With everything that had just happened, I didn't feel like smiling, but this kind act forced me to. "Thank you." I picked up the plate and began to eat, savoring flavors.
"I hope you realize, you can't just not go to her detentions. She's headmaster now, she'll expel you if you do."
I swallowed the food currently in my mouth. "Then let her expel me, but I refuse to let her torture me."
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Over the next two weeks, I accumulated more detentions from Professor Umbridge, most of which were for missing previous detentions. Finally, right after I had finished dinner and was relaxing in the Slytherin common room, a second year Slytherin came up to me and informed me that I was wanted in the headmaster office. When I asked if it was another detention, I was told it was not, but that it was important. I made no effort to move from my spot on the couch.
"Aren't you going to go?" Crabbe asked, eating his third pastry that he had taken back with him from dinner.
"Nope. I'm going to stay right here." I smiled and took a small cookie from Crabbe's plate. He always had good taste in sweets, and would bring back the most tastiest treats from dinner.
"If you don't go I'll just have to go to bed early tonight." Gregory teased. Our affections for each other had continued to grow, and the two of us began to not care who saw us. I giggled at the remark, despite the fact that it was a meeting with Professor Umbridge, which I really didn't want to go to.
"You wouldn't dare!"
"Do you really want to try me?" Gregory let his arm rest around the back of the couch, behind my shoulders. "Besides, it's probably just to yell at you for not attending detentions. It'll be quick. I bet you Crabbe won't even be done with his plate by the time you get back."
"Hey!" Crabbe had this terrible habit of talking with his mouth full, especially with cream puffs like right now. I giggled at this, trying to have this moment last for as long as I could. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Draco gather his things and head up to his dorm in an annoyed manor.
"Fine fine, I'll go." I gave Gregory a quick kiss then walked out and towards the office. I was in such a good mood on that particular day that my smile didn't disappear until I walked into the headmaster office and saw Professor McGonagall, Professor Sprout, Professor Flitwick, and my father all there with Professor Umbridge. Something told me this would not be quick as Gregory had said it would be.
"Good evening. Please sit down Miss Snape." I took the seat obviously meant for me by her desk. She stood behind her desk, her usual annoying smile replaced by her stern look. To one side of her stood Professor Sprout and McGonagall, who had a sad look on her face, almost as if she was looking at a dead puppy. Was I the dead puppy? To her other side stood Professor Flitwick and my father, who looked very disappointed and upset. Just looking at him tied a knot in my stomach from nerves of why I was here. Sitting in a chair with five adults standing around you is very intimidating. "Miss Snape, do you know why I've called you here this evening, along with the heads of each of the houses here at Hogwarts?"
I thought for a second, looking from professor to professor, unsure of who was the least uncomfortable to look at. I settled with Umbridge, since it seemed that was who my conversation was currently with. "If I had to guess, my detentions?"
"Correct. Over the past couple of weeks you have been skipping your detentions. Would you care to tell us why?"
I could feel myself start to glare. She knew exactly why, and surely whatever I said she'd turn around and use it against me. "Because your detentions are literal torture." My anger began to come around, and my voice became louder. "I'm not going to willingly hurt and possibly scar myself just because your twisted mind thinks its an effective punishment for students!" And there I go again, words slipping out before I could stop them. For a moment, I had forgotten the four other professors standing around me, one of which was my father. Back in grade school, I remember how scared I'd become when I did something wrong and was told that a note was being written to my father. Now, the scared feeling was ten times worse. No note had to be written, he was standing right there, and there was nothing I could say to change the story in my favor.
I watched as Professor Umbridge's head turned towards my father, but I didn't need to look to see his angry eyes piercing into my soul. "I thought you were going to correct these outbursts Professor." I was shocked, and tried my best not to show it. It was her who planted the idea to my father about grounding me! She had gotten in his head, and he had let her! Without waiting for a reply, she turned to face me again and continued. "Anyway, on with it. Miss Serena Snape, from this moment forward you are hereby expelled from Hogwarts. I have arranged for the Hogwarts express to take you back home in an hour. You have until then to pack."
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I couldn't believe it . Expelled? I would have never imagined being expelled from Hogwarts, and now that it was happening it still didn't feel quite real. I silently walked through the Slytherin common room and up to my dorm, ignoring Gregory's calls to me. I mindlessly packed up my trunk, still feeling as though this was all a dream. Me, expelled? Impossible. And yet, it was happening.
"Serena...? Did everything go okay?" Gregory was standing in the doorway to my dorm, both of us uncaring that boys were not allowed in the girls dormitory. "Why are you packing?"
"Umbridge expelled me..." I clamped and locked my trunk shut. Silently, he helped me carry it down the stairs and into the common room. We sat in silence for a few minutes, I still had 20 minutes before the train left. I rested my head on his shoulder and our hands remained entangled. Right now, the last thing on my mind was limiting the amount of PDA we showed. I was no longer going to see him on a daily basis, and I somehow had to figure out what I was going to do with the rest of my life now. Probably just get some lousy job and lead a miserable life, students hardly ever get expelled from Hogwarts.
With 15 minutes left until the train would leave, my father came into the common room. Without even looking at me, he went over, picked up my trunk, and headed back out. "Come Serena."
I nodded and slowly got to my feet. Gregory got up alongside me and cupped my face in his hands. I blushed slightly, partly from this attention from him, and partly from the eyes of those around us, watching us. "I'll come by and visit, I promise." He gave me one last kiss before I went and followed my father. I allowed myself one quick glance over my shoulder before allowing the door to the common room to close behind me.