PHOENIX HAD FOUND IT DIFFICULT TO APPROACH ANGELINA the next morning. She wanted to see if Angelina was coping in the immediate aftermath of the breakup. But the other part of her, she could not deny, was resentful with Angelina for breaking up with Fred so publicly and abruptly. She knew that she'd have to approach her friend eventually, after all, they had Ancient Runes together.
"Did Fred tell you then?" Angelina asked Phoenix miserably when she took the seat beside her in Professor Babbling's classroom.
Phoenix hesitated for a moment as she pulled out her copy of Futhark Magic from her bag, "He did, yes."
"Am I a bellend?"
Phoenix looked at Angelina; she looked a mess. Her braids were loose, as though she had been tugging at them repeatedly and her eyes were almost as red as Fred's had been the previous night. Phoenix had been so caught up in Fred's feelings that she had completely disregarded Angelina's. Her stomach seemed to tighten and drop as guilt filled her.
"I mean, a bit," Phoenix said honestly.
"I feel, so... bad," Angelina sighed in defeat, she ran her hands roughly over her face. Phoenix also noticed how short her nails were, as though she had been chewing them. "Why did I do it?"
Phoenix was at a complete loss of words as she stared at Angelina Johnson; For a woman that was so put together, Angelina was completely torn apart.
"I mean, what is wrong with me?" Angelina appeared to be talking more to herself than to anybody in particular, "Fred is like... the best thing in the world and I ruined it!"
"I don't know..." Phoenix said, treading her words carefully around Angelina. "Maybe it was your time–"
"Our time?" Angelina spat suddenly. "What do you mean our time?"
Phoenix raised an eyebrow at Angelina. This was very unlike Angelina. Why was she snapping at Phoenix? She couldn't help but feel hurt, upset even. Phoenix was not a punching bag for Angelina to smack when she wished. She knew Angelina was hurt, but that was not an excuse for her to snap at Phoenix when she was simply trying to help.
"Perhaps if you thought more carefully before you spoke, you wouldn't be in this situation Angelina," Phoenix countered, turning away from her friend and facing the front of the class, "Especially when talking to the people that love you most."
Angelina appeared so determined to avoid Fred, that she did not even sit at the Gryffindor table for lunch that afternoon.
"If she was the one to dump me, why is she hiding?" Fred mused as he tucked into a plate full of sandwiches.
Alicia shrugged, "Guilt probably."
"She's probably hiding from me too," Phoenix admitted grumpily, "I snapped at her in Ancient Runes."
"Why?" Lee asked, looking taken aback at the news.
"I was just trying to console her, give advice and she just snapped at me," Phoenix explained, eyeing Fred as he picked at the crust of the sandwiches nervously. "So, I told her to think before she spoke."
"Angelina is more emotional than we all realise," Alicia said thoughtfully, her eyes glassed over though her mind was elsewhere, "She's fierce in more ways than one. She loves fiercely, and she leads fiercely. She just... she struggles to find a balance of speaking her mind and not hurting people who care about her. She's got a lot to learn. Just give her the space she needs."
Phoenix dropped her gaze down to her lunch; Alicia was right. Angelina was not one who could deal with her emotions easily. As her best friend, Phoenix should have known this and known better to let Angelina's comment slide over her head.
"A Scorpio through and through," grinned Lee, "right Alicia?"
Alicia smiled, "She is! Mercury, Venus and Mars were all in Scorpio on Angelina's natal chart!"
"We'll pretend we know what that means," murmured Fred.
Phoenix's mind was elsewhere, far away from the talk of astrology. Her mind was consumed with thoughts of Angelina, about how happy she had been with Fred during their sixth year and how Phoenix had never seen Angelina smile so brightly. She then thought about Angelina's change in behaviour over the past few weeks; bags had formed under Angelina's eyes after she had spent her nights cramming in homework and Quidditch tactics with great difficulty. A sense of culpability washed over Phoenix. She should have been there for her friend; she should have checked in on Angelina and made sure she was okay and coping.
"Something on your mind, Pixy?" Phoenix barely registered George's voice through her haze of thoughts.
Phoenix blinked, her eyes had focused on a tall, dark skinned girl with braids who had just walked past the Entrance Hall.
"Tell Umbridge I'm ill," Phoenix said to George, standing up so suddenly that she had upset her goblet of pumpkin juice, "Tergeo." Phoenix muttered, waving her wand messily as she scrambled to pick up her various books from Gryffindor table.
"Where are you going?" George asked, grabbing Phoenix's hand before she could walk away from the table.
"Just tell Umbridge that I'm in the Hospital Wing," Phoenix instructed George, her eyes staring pleadingly into George's, "Please?"
For a moment, George stared at her intently. His eyes shifted as he studied her face, he could see the sheer desperation in her eyes and how agitated she had suddenly become. Although George was completely nonplussed as to what had brought upon Phoenix's sudden urge to skive her lesson, he knew it was best to leave Phoenix to her own devices than pester. "I'll let her know," He said, dropping his grip on her hand. "I'm sure you'll miss a brilliant lesson!"
Phoenix gave George a quick kiss on the lips before she hurried down the aisle between the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw tables.
There was only once place that Angelina could have been on her way to. Phoenix slipped her way down the castle grounds; the grounds were soaked, and Phoenix's shoes were quickly becoming muddy as rain spattered down from the sky.
The Gryffindor changing rooms were ice cold when Phoenix entered. She shivered, her eyes running over the room until she saw the door to the Captain's office open ajar, from which muffled sobs could be heard.
Sucking in all the pride Phoenix possessed, she pushed open the door to the Captain's office.
Angelina stood beside a large blackboard, on which a Quidditch pitch was mapped out. The names of members of the Gryffindor Quidditch were dotted around in various locations. Phoenix noticed that Fred's name had been scribbled out harshly.
"Come to tell me I'm a b-bitch?" Angelina whimpered, wiping her wet cheeks with her school robes.
Phoenix felt her shoulders fall at the sight of her best friend, standing in the Captain's office, sobbing hysterically into her school robes, "Of course not," Phoenix said softly. "I've come to apologise."
Angelina hiccupped. "Why would y-you apologise?" She asked, sinking into a nearby armchair. "I should be the o-one apologising... I broke F-Fred's heart." Angelina's sobs only intensified at her own words, her head bowed as hot tears rolled down her cheeks, "I hate myself Phoenix, I h-hate myself."
Phoenix's hair and eyes turned pale as her heart broke for Angelina. Without hesitation, she reached out to a sobbing Angelina and hugged her tightly.
"I'm such a shit p-person!" Angelina blubbered, gripping Phoenix's forearm tightly.
"You're anything but a shit person, Angelina," Phoenix comforted, leaning her head against Angelina's as her friend sniffled and cried. "You're passionate, Ange. You're human."
"I w-wish I wasn't."
Phoenix could not help but laugh at Angelina's words, "Do you wish you were the Giant Squid instead?"
Angelina's sob mixed with her laughter, "A little bit, yeah."
"I'm sorry for what I said in class–"
"–don't be! You were honest. I-I needed that. It hurt but you're right."
"I'm still sorry. I should have known that you were dealing with stuff. It's not like you to act like that and I'm really sorry that I didn't realise it, Ange. I think I was just a little bit defensive because of Fred..."
Angelina smiled gently at Phoenix, "I'm going to talk to him," she announced to Phoenix with a sigh, her fingers fidgeting with one another recklessly. "I need to work on myself as a person before I get another person involved. I don't know how to deal with my emotions myself sometimes and I just lash out... Fred doesn't deserve to be pulled into it."
"He'll understand," Phoenix reassured, "He just wants you to be happy."
"I want him to be happy too," Angelina murmured, "Fred Weasley deserves the world."
"You do too, Angelina," said Phoenix.
Phoenix and Angelina sat in the Captain's office talking for over an hour before departing to Charms together. It felt good for Phoenix and Angelina to sit and just talk. They hadn't felt this close in a long time. Despite the number of tears that Angelina had shed, they both felt as though a large weight had been lifted between them. They returned to the castle cautiously, it was in almost complete silence as the occupants of the castle were hunched over in classrooms.
"I can't believe we ditched Defence Against the Dark!" Angelina exclaimed nervously, looking at her watch as she spoke. "I got Arista to tell Umbridge I had cramps."
"George probably made some excuse up for me," Phoenix shrugged nonchalantly as they rounded the Charms Corridor.
"Is Fred okay?"
"He's not himself," Phoenix admitted. "But he'll be okay, I think–"
"Well, well..."
Shit, Phoenix thought as her heart stopped and she and Angelina froze. A smug-looking Professor Umbridge stood before them, a sweet smile stretched across her lips. She was a satisfied lion who had just caught its prey.
"I would have thought skiving would have been beneath the pair of you," Umbridge said sweetly as she surveyed the two guilty-looking Gryffindors. "I think a detention for each of you will ought to teach you both a lesson."
Despite having received a detention from Umbridge, which was scheduled for Wednesday after dinner, Angelina and Phoenix were in high spirts. After their final lesson, they met with Alicia to have a last-minute energetic Chaser only Quidditch practise. In which, they spent more time laughing than practising, but Phoenix thought it was one of the best evenings of her life.
The three seventh year girls walked up to the Gryffindor tower together, covered in mud and shouldering their broomsticks.
"When is your detention with Umbridge?" Alicia questioned as they approached the portrait of the Fat Lady.
"Tomorrow," Angelina mused. "Can't be anything worse than Snape's detention, can it? I couldn't get the smell of rats brains out of my nose for almost a whole week!"
"Uhm," Phoenix shifted uncomfortably as they reached the entrance to Gryffindor tower, where the Fat Lady was having an animated conversation with her good friend, Violet. "I think Umbridge's detention will be a lot worse."
"Mimbulus mimbletonia!" Alicia said to the portrait, which swung open to reveal the portrait hole, which the three girls all climbed through.
"What do you mean it's worse?" Angelina questioned, her brows furrowed in concern.
Across the common room that they just entered, Lee was waving frantically at them. Phoenix saw Fred look their way, his eyes met with Angelina's and he quickly glanced back down at the sheet of parchment in front, looking as though he wished he never looked up in the first place.
"After, uh, you and Fred broke up last night, him and George went out for a little late night Quidditch session," explained Phoenix, her eyes locking with Angelina's, "but Umbridge caught them."
"Oh no," said Alicia.
"She gave them an immediate detention. I was in the library last night, then found a broom cupboard to finish the book I was reading–"
"–swot–" Angelina muttered jokingly under her breath.
"–until past midnight. So, when they returned, I ran into them in the common room, they told me what happened and showed me what Umbridge made them do."
Both Angelina and Alicia were incredibly confused by Phoenix's words, looking at one another before glancing back at Phoenix, noticing how her hair had turned grey.
"Made them do? What do you mean by that, Nix?" Angelina questioned, her voice laced with worry.
Phoenix's hair abruptly went from grey to a fiery red, her mind flashing with images of Fred and George's scarred hands, she was suddenly full of rage at Dolores Umbridge.
"It's completely illegal!" Phoenix sputtered angrily.
"Illegal?!" Alicia gasped, "It's not torture, is it?"
"Basically, yes!" Phoenix retorted, "She's using blood quills!"
George Weasley choose that exact moment to approach the three girls.
"You ladies are all looking rather fetching covered in mud," George chortled, his arm weaving its way around Phoenix's waist.
"Hush George," Angelina dismissed quickly, her eyes wide at Phoenix's revelation at Umbridge's barbaric method of punishment. "You're telling me that she's going to use blood quills on us?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying–"
"Wait, you two got a detention with Umbridge?" George shot, his eyes wide and his arms dropping from Phoenix's waist.
"She can't do that!" Alicia fumed, "It's illegal! We should tell McGonagall, or even Dumbledore!"
"Let me see your hand George," Angelina did not wait for George's reply, she took both of his hands in hers and inspected them closely. Firstly, she looked at his palms, then turning them over to look at the top of his hands. She and Alicia let out a gasp of horror at the words etched into George's right hand.
"We have to show Dumbledore!" Alicia said at once, "She's torturing students!"
"I'm not going to see Dumbledore about this!" George retorted, pulling his hands away from Angelina's and stuffing them into the pocket of his robes.
"Why not?" Phoenix countered, her hair still red and her eyes flashing a dangerous emerald green.
"You really think she'd stop if we told Dumbledore?" George challenged, "She's controlled by Fudge, whose only interest is to get Dumbledore out of here! You really think that she'll stop just because Dumbledore tells her off?"
"But it's illegal!" Phoenix said fiercely, "When it gets out to the public that Umbridge is using illegal quills on her students as punishment–"
"Nix, who do you think they'll believe?" said Angelina, looking disconcerted, "The Daily Prophet are painting Dumbledore as a crazy old fool who shouldn't be trusted. We're just going to have to face that detention with our heads held high and stay out from Umbridge's radar."
"What did you two saints do to get a detention?" George asked.
"Umbridge caught us skiving," said Angelina with a shrug.
Alicia sighed, looking over towards Fred and Lee who were in a discussion with Ron and Harry. "Is Fred's hand the same?"
George nodded in reply, "Yeah, he managed to do more lines than I did so his is worse."
Angelina's face twisted in concern for Fred, she glanced over at him, seemingly torn between comforting him and respecting the fact that their boundaries have changed since their breakup.
"I might g-go and get showered," Angelina announced, adverting her eyes from her ex-boyfriend's figure.
"No, you're not Angie," Phoenix interjected, grabbing her friend's arm before she could move an inch. "You and Fred are going to have a chat, alright?"
"But Phoenix..." Angelina groaned, reminding Phoenix of a toddler about to tantrum.
"No buts!" Phoenix remarked, her eyes turning back to their natural blue and her hair a pastel pink. "You're going to have a grown-up conversation!"
"Do you think they'll get back together?" Alicia asked, shooting another furtive look towards Fred and Angelina, who had been talking in one of the many corners of the Gryffindor common room for the past fifteen minutes, Angelina still in her muddy Quidditch robes.
"Who knows," George shrugged, his arm around Phoenix as she was engrossed in her book on Memory Charms. "I wouldn't be too shocked if they got back together."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Lee countered with a wry smile.
George raised an eyebrow at Lee as he wagged his finger at the red head.
"You Aries are incredibly stubborn," Lee proclaimed with a wink.
"What's your sudden obsession with Astrology, Lee?" Alicia questioned, looking half amused, half exasperated.
"I consider Astrology to be the study of love, Alicia," Lee said rather matter-of-factly.
Even Phoenix tore her attention away from the pages of her book to stare at Lee in astonishment.
"I don't know whether to laugh," began George, his mouth twitching as he fought back a smile, "Or punch you."
"Please choose the latter," came Angelina's voice, "I would give all the Galleons in Gringotts to witness Lee getting smacked."
"You can smack me up anytime you want, Angelina," Lee replied with a smirk.
"Lee, for heaven's sake!" Alicia laughed, "You're beyond terrible!"
After the three girls had showered and changed out of their muddy robes, they all sat on Angelina's bed in the girl's dormitory, a box of chocolate frogs and a bottle of Goblin wine that Alicia kept for 'emergencies'.
"How did your talk with Fred go, Ange?" Alicia asked, pouring all three of them a goblet of blood coloured wine.
Angelina took a sip of her wine before answering, it was as though she was mulling over what her and Fred had talked about before she chose her words.
"We'll be okay," she said finally. "Not together, but okay."
Alicia put a comforting hand on Angelina's shoulder, "Well, you have us Ange."
"I know I do and that's all I need," said Angelina, smiling at Phoenix took her hand and gave her a reassuring squeeze. "I love you both so much."
"Who knew you could be so sappy?" Phoenix replied with a wink towards her friend. "But we love you too, of course!"
Angelina beamed at her two friends and they continued to eat chocolate, drink, laugh and gossip about nothing but it meant everything to Phoenix. They hadn't had an evening just the three girls in a long time. It had been difficult to spend time altogether, what with copious amounts of homework from their NEWT classes, Quidditch and the twins or Lee being around. It was what Phoenix needed, to not think about NEWTs or about Umbridge, and just to listen to Angelina talk about her family or Alicia predict their horoscopes.
Detention was Umbridge had been what Phoenix had expected.
She and Angelina arrived in Umbridge's office five minutes before they were due for their detention, in hopes that it would work in their favour. However, Umbridge simply smiled sweetly at them before gesturing towards the two desks, where there was a piece of parchment and a single blood red quill awaiting them.
"Now, I want you both to write 'I must not skip class'", said Umbridge, a smile stretched across her lips though Phoenix noticed a dark glint in brown eyes that made her stomach turn uncomfortably.
"How many times?" Phoenix asked, then with a great amount of effort, added, "Professor Umbridge."
Umbridge smiled, "Until I'm satisfied that yourself and Miss Johnson have learnt your lesson."
It was painful.
Phoenix gritted her teeth as she wrote in her own blood, slicing the skin of her right hand open before it would quickly heal, then cutting open once more. She was determined not to give in to Umbridge, to show her any sign of pain or discomfort.
Umbridge was not marking any papers, she was not doing any sort of paperwork as a matter of fact, instead she simply sat at her desk, occasionally taking a sip of piping hot tea watching the two of them. It looked as though she was thoroughly enjoying herself.
Whenever she could, Phoenix would cast a glance towards Angelina. She was frowning deeply, and she appeared to be clenching her jaw in an effort to stop herself from flinching.
After around an hour, Phoenix wrist was being to ache from the continuous writing, which only added to the pain she was experiencing with cutting her hand open.
She chanced a glance to her right hand and suppressed a gasp. Blood was trickling down from the fresh cut in her right hand, which was now struggling to heal itself with it being continuously split open once again. The sight of the cut made her feel a little queasy, but she shook her head ever so slightly, picked up another piece of parchment and continued to write.
They had spent almost two hours writing with the blood quills before Umbridge had called for them to stop.
"Lovely," she had said, inspecting both their hands, "I assume you both have learnt your lesson."
Phoenix gritted her teeth as she and Angelina said, "Yes, Professor Umbridge."
They returned to the Gryffindor common room that night, both nursing their hands.
"She's such a bitch," Angelina seethed after they climbed through the portrait hole. "How many other students has she tortured?"
"An alarming amount I imagine," said Phoenix.
"Oi! Nix! Ange!"
Both Phoenix and Angelina turned to see Fred and George, sitting at one of the tables in the common room, beckoning them to come over.
"What do you two want?" Angelina asked once they had approached the twins.
"We got some Essence of Dittany for the both of you," explained George, showing them a little green bottle.
"How in the name of Godric Gryffindor did you get that?" Angelina asked, her eyes widening.
Phoenix narrowed her eyes, looking from her boyfriend, to Fred, "you two better have not been into Snape's storeroom!"
Judging by their reaction, they had done exactly that.
"Now Phoenix," began Fred.
"Why on earth would we do that?" continued George.
Despite her disapproval of the twins risking expulsion for her and Angelina, she smiled and thanked the twins.
The first Hogsmeade trip could not have come sooner.
Phoenix walked between Angelina and Alicia, adrenaline coursing through her. She was excited at the prospect of the meeting that would be taking place in the Hogs Head, but she couldn't help but feel anxious. Surely if Umbridge were to find out about it, they would end up in great trouble? Angelina had reassured her that while Umbridge may not fancy the idea of a secret Defence Against the Dark Arts club, they were not breaking any school rules.
"We have a bit of time to kill before we need to head to the Hogs Head," mused Alicia, looking down at her watch. "Where should we go?"
"Shrieking Shack?" Phoenix suggested with a smirk.
"You out of your mind Nix?" Angelina scoffed. "Let's just go Honeydukes, Godric knows I need chocolate."
The trio spent a good twenty minutes or so browsing the colourful shelves at Honeydukes. Phoenix had visited the little wizarding sweet shop many times over her years at Hogwarts, but the excitement that bubbled in her stomach as she looked upon the jars that contained hundreds of different kinds of chocolate, rainbow coloured sweets, delicious chunks of nougat had never wavered.
"Where are the boys again?" Alicia asked as filled her bag with pink coconut ice and pepper imps.
"Probably Zonk– Alicia, why on earth are you getting pepper imps?" said Angelina, looking at the tiny black peppermint sweets in disgust.
Alicia's face dropped, "fuck, I thought they were bits of liquorice or something."
Angelina laughed, glancing down at the watch on her wrist, "We should get going, we have to meet everyone in the Hogs Head."
"Do we know how many other students are going?" Alicia asked, as they queued to pay for their treats.
"Hermione said just a couple of people," said Phoenix, "I feel like may be a little white lie, however. I know that Ginny invited her boyfriend, Michael, along and I'm pretty sure his friends are tagging along too."
They paid for their items and left the sweetshop, their pockets now full of delicious chocolate and succulent sweets.
"Have you told the twins about Ginny dating, by the way?" asked Angelina, as they walked past Zonko's Joke Shop, where Fred, George and Lee were
"Course I haven't," laughed Phoenix, "Ginny sworn me to secrecy."
The Hogs Head was located a few streets off the High Street. It wasn't a very welcoming looking pub. The sign that hung above the door displaying an image of the severed head of a wild boar, with blood leaking onto the white fabric around it.
"Well," said Angelina with a grimace as she approached the door to the pub bravely, "here goes nothing!"
Angelina opened the door to the Hogs Head and Phoenix was immediately hit with a strong smell of goats. It was not at all warm or welcoming like the Three Broomsticks. Nor was it as clean and tidy as the Three Broomsticks. The bar was small, very dirty and gloomy.
Trying not to think about the dirty pub, Phoenix turned her attention to the group that surrounded Harry, Ron and Hermione. It certainly was more than a couple of people. Phoenix recognised a few of the trio's fifth year friends; Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Parvati and Padma Patil. There were also three Ravenclaws, but Phoenix only recognised two of them being Luna Lovegood, the other Cho Chang, Ravenclaw's seeker. The third Ravenclaw appeared to be a friend of Cho's, they were conversing quietly and shooting covert looks at Harry.
"Seems a bit more than a couple of people," muttered Angelina, "Harry doesn't look happy about it."
Phoenix cast a look over at Harry and noticed his furrowed brows and slight scowl.
"Not really surprised," said Phoenix with a laugh, "there's more people to come too."
Sure enough, the pub doors opened again, and several groups of people walked in. There was Katie Bell, two young looking Gryffindors whose names Phoenix did not know; a group of five Hufflepuffs, amongst them was Zacharias Smith, one of the chasers on Hufflepuff's Quidditch team; Ginny Weasley and her Ravenclaw boyfriend, Michael Corner, who appeared to have brought along two of his friends, and last to enter was Fred, George and Lee, all of whom were carrying large Zonko's bags.
After ordering a few rounds of Butterbeer and a shuffling around of furniture, everyone was sat down on chairs, surrounding Harry, Ron and Hermione.
Phoenix and the other seventh years were sat nearer the back and Phoenix took the opportunity to survey the other customers in pub while Hermione was nervously beginning the introduction. At the bar, there was a man whose head wrapped in badges; there were two hooded men talking with thick Yorkshire accents sat at a table near a window. She felt a little bit uneasy as she noticed a witch beside the fireplace. She knew it wasn't Umbridge, as the witch was a lot taller than the High Inquisitor, but having a meeting about a secret Defence Against the Dark Arts group in such a virtually empty pub may have not been the brightest idea.
"Well... erm... well, you know why you're here," said Hermione in a slightly higher pitch than usual, "Erm... well, Harry here had the idea – I mean – I had the idea, that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts – and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us because nobody could call that Defence Against the Dark Arts–"
"Hear, hear," said one of the Hufflepuff fifth years.
"Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells–"
"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?" interrupted Michael Corner.
It was a rather stupid question, considering he was speaking to Hermione Granger.
"Of course I do," Hermione replied at once, looking a little offended. "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because... because... because Lord Voldemort is back."
Several bottles of Butterbeer fell to the floor. Lee spluttered his drink down himself; Alicia gasped; Angelina swore; Fred dropped one of the Zonko's bags; George's eyes widened, and Phoenix shuddered.
Whatever was said next, Phoenix mentally zooned out of it. She didn't often cast her mind to think about what You-Know-Who's return meant to her, because she found that it was too dark a place to visit. She had to shake her head as she was briefly reminded of the image of her mother dying.
She was pulled back into the moment at the sound of Ron's voice.
"Who are you?"
"Zacharias Smith, and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back."
Phoenix cast a glare towards Zacharias, she put money on the idea that the only reason the chaser was here was to gawk at Harry.
"Look," said Hermione, looking annoyed, "that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about–"
Harry was also glaring at Zacharias, "It's OK, Hermione," he said, getting to his feet. "What makes me say You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone. "
Phoenix had never respected Harry more than in this moment. Despite the Daily Prophet's incessant jibs at the Boy Who Lived, despite the whispers he heard in the corridor, he never succumbed, he never remained quiet.
However, Zacharias evidently did not feel the same, "All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know–"
"What a twat," Phoenix muttered loudly, causing Lee and Angelina to laugh and Ginny to smile back at her.
"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone, I can't help you. I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So, if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out."
Everyone was expecting, or rather hoping, that Zacharias would leave. But he didn't. In fact, nobody did. They all remained, looking expectantly at the trio.
The meeting at the Hogs Head continued with a few more interruptions – thankfully not many more demands from Zacharias – but they had all finally agreed to take Defence lessons from Harry. Working around three Quidditch team schedules would prove to be difficult for their first lesson, but Hermione reassured them all that they would find a night that would suit everyone. The location for their first lesson remained unknown, but again Hermione once again promised that when a room was found, everyone would be informed as soon as. Hermione then announced that they would all need to sign their names on a piece of parchment, agreeing not to spread the word of these lessons. There were a few who were reluctant, Zacharias amongst them, but by the time they had all left the Hogs Head, everyone had signed their names.
"That Zacharias is a bit of a prick," said Fred as they made their way back to the castle.
"A bit?" laughed Alicia, "The fact he asked about Cedric, especially in front of Cho! I mean, how tactless can you be?"
Phoenix remained quiet; she wasn't really listening to the conversation. She couldn't shake away the thoughts that were pushing to the front of her mind. Thoughts about You-Know-Who, her mother and Cedric. She couldn't deny, she was filled with a dreadful worry.
And that worry didn't stop.
The rest of the weekend past by quickly. Phoenix somehow managed to complete her homework, write letters to her family at home and spend time with George. It was sometimes difficult to spend time alone with George, since him and Fred were joined at the hip, but they always found time (though it may have been after curfew) to walk around the grounds, hand in hand.
Though the weekend was nice, Phoenix could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. She had had a nightmare on Saturday night. Not only had she been reminded of her mother's murder and Bellatrix's torture, but new images had materialised. Scenes of Angelina dying at the hands of a Death Eater, Alicia and Lee being tortured by hooded figures, Fred's body limp on the ground as dementors sucked out his soul and George, covered in blood as Bellatrix laughed horribly at Phoenix's tears.
She couldn't quite put her finger on what was happening to her. She had been fine for the past few months, but the potion Madam Pomfrey had given her appeared to not be working anymore. She knew she was stressed, but it felt like a lot more than stress that was causing nightmares and the feeling of dread that now resided in her stomach.
Monday morning did do nothing to lessen Phoenix's worries.
Phoenix, Angelina and Alicia headed to the Gryffindor common room; Alicia was talking excitedly about the news she had received from her mother about her engagement.
"She asked me to walk her down the aisle," Alicia beamed. "I hope she doesn't choose a colour that doesn't suit me, imagine if I had to wear yellow, with my skin tone, absolutely not!"
They all laughed, as they did, noticing a large group of students crowding the noticeboard. Phoenix noticed that a very large sign had been added to it, covering almost everything else on it.
"Who wants to bet this is some kind of Educational Decree?" asked Angelina.
"Only one way to find out," said Phoenix.
They approached the noticeboard, easily making their way to the front as the younger years jumped aside.
BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded.
An organisation, society, team, group or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).
No student organisation, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor.
Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.
Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor
"Oh damn," said Alicia, frowning.
Phoenix had the read the sign once again, just to make sure what she was reading was true, "she knows! It's too much of a coincidence!"
Alicia opened her mouth to reply but stopped as she noticed the look on Angelina's face. "Ange, are you alright?"
Angelina looked as though she was about to be sick.
"Teams," she whispered, "she included teams,"
"What are you–" began Phoenix, before realisation suddenly dawned on her, "oh..."
"Let's not worry about the problem Angelina," Alicia began at once, putting an arm around her friend, "We need to focus on the solution! You and Fred have a free period first, go straight to Umbridge after breakfast and get permission to reform the team!"
Angelina did not look too convinced but allowed Alicia to guide her towards the portrait hole.
Upon arriving in the Great Hall for breakfast, it was very evident that the new Educational Decree was the buzz of the school. The Hufflepuff Quidditch team, Zacharias amongst them, were talking angrily; The Ravenclaw Quidditch team were all grouped around Professor Flitwick and students were rushing up and down the house tables to talk to one another.
"Bit mad, innit?"
"Bloody hell, Lee!" Angelina exclaimed, clutching her hand to her chest.
"Sorry love," Lee replied with a smile. The four of them sat down at the Gryffindor table, Lee made a show of buttering some toast for Angelina, "bit shit about the Quidditch team, but we'll get permission, don't fret about it."
"I'm not fretting," Angelina lied, thanking Lee for the buttered toast and tucking in.
"Course you're not," said Alicia.
They ate their breakfast, Alicia was back to talking about her mother's engagement animatedly, mainly to take their minds off the news that morning. Phoenix nodded along as Alicia talked in depth about the cake that she would have at her wedding, but she wasn't really listening.
Who at the Hogs Head had told Umbridge? There was no question that it was too much of a coincidence that Umbridge just decided to announce the decree after the first meeting of the Defence group. Either one of them ran to Umbridge, or someone was there listening to their conversation. But before Phoenix could ponder who it may have been, she was pulled out of her thoughts by a cheery voice.
"We come baring good news!"
"You're going to do your Charms homework?" asked Phoenix, smiling as George sat beside her and kissing her on the cheek.
"I said good news Nix," Fred chortled, "not a miracle."
"Harry said the Defence lessons are still going ahead," explained George.
"Oh good," said Alicia, "least we'll still have a chance passing our NEWTs!"
"Wait, where are they?" Angelina asked, dropping the knife that had been smoothing marmalade on her toast.
"Near the doors," said Fred, "why?–"
"Harry! Ron!"
And without another word to the group, Angelina raced towards the fifth years.