I hadn't seen Harry, Ron, or Hermione all day today. Saturdays were generally fun, but after the amount of restrictions Umbridge has put in place, fun isn't much of an occurrence anymore. I saw the trio this morning, but after they left to take a walk outside, they haven't been back yet. Draco was being distant as well, I think from the shock of us all being caught, but I hoped he wasn't pushing me away. We all need to stick together at a time like this.
-
In the evening, after putting on a sweater I 'borrowed' from Draco, I was starting to get sick of the stark white walls of the common room, so I decided to take a walk. Through the corridors, I began to hear a quiet snivelling, and hushed voices. Rounding the corner, Fred and George Weasley were sitting with a young first-year boy. He was crying, cradling his limp arm. Fred had an arm around the boys shoulders while George was kneeling in front of him. I ran up toward them, a frown falling over my face.
"Your hand's gonna be fine, Michael." George whispered.
"It's not as bad as it seems. See? It's fading already." Fred rubbed a hand on his back.
"You can hardly see ours anymore. And the pain stops after a while." George added. The young boy broke into another set of sobs.
"Are you alright?" I asked, my hair turning a shade of purple. Fred turned to me and nodded, motioning toward the scarring words ripped through the skin on the boy's hand. My heart broke. She was abusing children. It was absolutely barbaric. The boy sniffed, looking up at me with glassy eyes.
"Look, Michael. This is Aurora. She's gone to detention with Umbridge more than anyone, even us." Fred gestured toward me and I gave Michael a little wave.
"Really?" His big eyes went wide, and I gave him a small smile. Pulling up the large sleeves on Draco's sweater, I revealed the worded scarring all up my arms. Michael let out a horrified gasp. The skin of both hands were completely annihilated, covered in the raised grooves and swirls of my own handwriting. The white scarring gradually faded as they went all the way up to my elbows. Fred swore. I had never revealed my scarring like this to anyone, not even Draco. He had seen it, but not when they were this bad. My hands were usually sore, but I eventually got used to it. My skin was lighter from the scar tissue, and they were very prominent against my usually tan skin.
"Bloody hell, Aurora. Are you alright?" George asked, raising an already raised eyebrow even higher.
"Yeah. Don't worry Michael, she won't be able to hurt you like this much longer." I whispered, placing a hand on the small boy's shoulder. Fred gave me a small nudge and a smile, and I could tell he was trying to thank me for helping.
My head snapped up as I watched Harry round the corner of the corridor. His eyes were wide and he looked completely emotionless as he beheld the scene before him. A small cough interrupted my thoughts, and we all turned toward the Gargoyle. Michael stopped his sobbing and began to quiet his harsh breathing. I walked up to face Umbridge. I wasn't scared of her anymore. Michael stayed sitting on the bench as Fred and George took up station on either side of me, Harry coming up beside Fred.
"As I've told you once before Miss Whitethorn, Mr. Potter, naughty children deserve to be punished." I held my bone shattering glare at the back of her head until the tapping of her shoes on the stones had become inaudible. I took a deep breath, trying to calm my thundering heartbeat. I could kill that woman.
"You know, George, I've always felt our futures lay outside the world of academic achievement." Fred learned his head toward his twin, the four of us still facing the place where Umbridge stood.
"Fred, I've been thinking exactly the same thing."
-
The sound of scratching quills and the ominous swinging of the large pendulum at the front of the hall filled the room. The pendulum was keeping time, as Umbridge sat on Dumbledore's throne, watching over us like a snake playing with its frozen mice. I was staring at my Theory of Charms exam with intensity, as I looked over the questions. I had finished about 30 minutes early, which wasn't unlike me, since I loved reading so much. Even textbooks.
I was seated in the middle of the Ravenclaw row, and I snuck a glance over at Ron, who had his head in his hands in defeat. I gave him a small supportive smile, and flipped to the front of the parchment. I quite liked Charms, since it was with Flitwick and being our Head of House, he had a soft spot for us Ravenclaws.
As I set down my quill, a large booming sound echoed in from outside the hall. The massive doors were sealed for exams, so it was muffled by the thick wood and iron. Heads turned toward the door to perhaps catch a glimpse of the disruption. I looked back up at Umbridge, and a scowl had fallen over her face. The booming continued, growing louder and louder each time. Umbridge sniffed, and the clicking of her shoes replaced the booming as she strutted toward the door. Whispering filled the room, and she glared at the students who had now taken their full attention away from their OWLs. The booms were now accompanied by small pops and whistles. I raised my eyebrows in suspicion, looking over to Draco, who shrugged.
Umbridge opened both of the large doors, light from the great hall spilling into the darkened corridor. A small spark of light whizzed in front of her nose, and flew into the hall. The spark exploded into smaller blue ones, which in turn exploded with a flash of magnificent light and a loud whistle. I muffled my giggle with my hand as our new Headmaster scoffed incredulously. The booming now echoed consistently down the hall, and we all had completely turned toward the door.
Forever infused with spontaneity, Fred and George zoomed into the large room on their broomsticks, arms bundled with fireworks, and cheering loudly. The hall erupted in cheers as exams and papers flew into the air. I kept my fists firmly on the desk, trapping my finished exam beneath my fingers. As much as I admired their bravery, they would get an earful if I lost all of that hard work.
The fireworks were thrown into the air and exploded in the enchanted sky with brilliant flashes of orange, purple, red, blue, and pink. I flashed the twins a crooked grin as they looped around the room and high-fived each other. Draco began to laugh from his row. They had now released a group of small spark fireworks that begun to follow each student. A couple of them swarmed around Harry, Ron, Hermione, Draco, and my head before exploding into mini firework shows around our heads. I noticed everyone in the DA had received a miniature firework display. Umbridge came storming into the room, her mouth hanging open in disbelief. She looked like a trout. The smoke and spark of the fireworks filled the large hall.
I noticed a mini-spark burn the end of Goyle's nose before flying and smacking directly into Crabbe's behind. I cringed, watching as he yelped. Another one had begun to chase Pansy around the room. After a good minute of running, it then exploded against the wood panelling on the wall, revealing a rather embarrassing burn replica of her face, twisted in terror. Filch came storming into the room with a mop as the fireworks continued to whizz and burst into fabulous colour.
The twins halted near the tall ceiling, and Fred launched a particularly large firework into the false sky. It burst into a cloud of smoke and small sparks, then coming together revealing a magnificent dragon's face. I gasped and my eyes widened with wonder. Umbridge mirrored my expression, but instead of wonder it was replaced with horror. The dragon blew smoke out of its nostrils as it descended from the ceiling toward her. She began stumbling backward, and ran screaming from the room. Reaching the large doorway, the dragon exploded into more smaller sparks, each targeting a decree on the stone wall, and shattering them completely. The sound of breaking glass and fireworks exploding drowned out the cheering of the students, and a shrieking Umbridge looked about to have a fit as the destroyed frames and shredded parchment rained from above.
The cheering students followed Fred and George out to the courtyard, completely disregarding the bombarded Professor. Fireworks exploded outside, too, as the twins flew off into the distance. I suppose that was a fair way to end their school years at Hogwarts, and quite fitting, might I add. The sparks joined together in a large 'W', signifying their Weasley brand. The applause and deafening cheer of the students was all that could be heard as we watched them make their grand exit. I even saw Flitwick give a little fist pump of excitement. My grin stretched from ear to ear. Well done, boys.
My cheering was interrupted as Harry stumbled and fell at my feet. Crouching beside him, I lay a hand on his shoulder as he panted. His face had gone pale, and he looked extremely disoriented.
"Harry, are you alright?" I asked, squeezing his shoulder a bit. He stayed silent for a long while, as the other students began to file back inside. Hermione took note of us quickly, and brought Ron and Draco to see what was going on. His panting did not stop, and his attention flicked back toward us, surrounding him. His one word set off an alarm in my mind.
"Sirius."
☾
Sorry for the short chapter! I've only just realized how short they actually are. I'm trying though, it's been hard to continue with school right now. I have both English and History (or as we in Canada call it Social Studies) as courses right now, and doing them both consists of a hell of a lot of writing. I think I've written about six essays since the beginning of September. Not to make excuses, but I've been a bit distracted.
EDIT: i write these chapters and notes in advance, so now as i'm publishing this chapter i've already completed both courses with flying colours 😌
Thank you all for reading! You have no idea how much I appreciate it. As I'm writing this, the story has gotten to about 240! Which is incredible, in my mind. Thank you so much! Love you guys!
EDIT NO. 2: were actually at about 2.2k, and i could not be happier. even though y'all refuse to comment (i'm not salty i promise) i really appreciate it. 😘 as a thanks, i'll post two chapters today. this one early, and you'll have to wait until midnight (MST) for the second.
- Z