The Deeper you Dig, The Darker it Gets

2.

Malory's POV

         The weekend went by too quickly. My hangover lasted all yesterday and even dragged into today some. Not to mention I hardly slept at all after what happened during the party.

        After rushing around to get ready, Aary and I met the boys in the great hall for breakfast. Just like always Draco has his green apple, Blaise has his large plate of eggs and bacon. I try a new flavor or oatmeal every morning and everyone makes fun of me for it.

                      "I told you he's not my brother!" Aary hisses at Draco.

            "Yeah yeah," Draco scoffs. "You still have to share a bathroom at home!"

         Blaise, Draco, and I start laughing hysterically as Aary crosses her arms, irritated. I watch as she stares Harry down at the Gryffindor table.

                    "He gets all of the attention now." She sighs.

          We all continue to joke around with her, but I know deep down it bothers her a lot. When her dad got out of Azkaban she was so excited, but quickly she realized that she was no longer going to be his main priority.

          In fact, he hardly even talks to her at all.

         "So what flavor are you trying today?" Blaise scoots closer to me and scans my bowl of oatmeal.

              I wipe my mouth and reply. "Pumpkin and cinnamon, want to try?"

         He doesn't hesitate to dig his spoon into it, and neither does Draco. I roll my eyes.

               "That's not bad," Draco says. "Aary, you've got to try some."

          She shakes her head like always. "I don't like pumpkin."

       That's a lie and we all know it, she drinks pumpkin juice with us at all of the time.

Aaryana's POV

        Malory's face turns defeated and I can't tell if it's because of me or something else. Things have been a little off with her lately, especially since the party Saturday night.

          I look down at my invisible watch and groan. "Shit, class is starting soon."

             "We should just skip today, I doubt Umbridge will mind." Draco says sarcastically.

         Even though she is the worst professor at the school, we still happen to get away with everything in her class. Maybe it's because we're suck ups, but I think it's because we stay out of the Ministry's business.

       Malory sighs while grabbing her textbooks and getting up from the table. "Come on, we've got nothing better to do right now."

       That's completely false but I get what she's trying to say. Plus, I hate missing out on class drama.

       Blaise and Draco hop up from the table and I do the same. The rest of the Slytherin students have already left the great hall which makes me think we're going to be late anyway.

      When the four of us enter the classroom everyone turns and stares dramatically. I can't help but notice Harry giving me a filthy look as well.

                Professor Umbridge stops mid sentence and turns around. "Late again I see?"

      The other Slytherin students laugh to themselves. Draco pushes himself in front of us all to talk.

           "We're sorry, Dolores." He says politely. "Is that a new brooch I see?"

          Umbridge glances down at the cat pin on her blouse and blushes.

                "It is, Mr. Malfoy. Thank you for noticing. Now take your seats."

       Blaise has to cover his mouth so he doesn't burst into laughter. I don't know how Draco does it, but he always gets us out of trouble.

            "That's rubbish." Ron huffs under his breath.

         Draco snaps his head in his direction. "Careful Weaselbee, you might get points taken away from Gryffindor."

         Ron tries to fight back but Harry elbows him hard. Draco's not wrong, Umbridge loves messing with their house. It's quite funny, actually.

       Malory grabs a hold of my shirt sleeve and pulls me down into a chair beside her. Draco and Blaise take a seat directly behind.

             "Did either of you do the homework?" Blaise whispers between us.

        I roll my eyes but still slide my paper back to him and he thanks me with his sigh of relief.

           "We've been learning about spells over the past few lessons," Professor Umbridge starts. "Today we are going to specifically be reading about Salvio Hexia. Can anyone tell me what this spell does?"

         Like always, Hermione Granger raises her hand high. Normally I'd expect Umbridge to completely ignore her, but this time she lets her speak.

Malory's POV

                             "Go head, Miss Granger."

        "It's a protection enchantment, it deflects hexes from an area." Hermione says proudly.

        I hear Draco scoff from behind me but I ignore it. He's always been especially irritated by her but I think it's because he had a crush for a while.

         "That is correct," Professor Umbridge says while wandering the room slowly. "This is a very important protection spell so make sure to take proper notes."

         "If it's so important then why can't we practice it?" Harry mumbles from the front of the class.

                  Aary's forehead meets with her palm. "Here we go again."

           "Students must raise their hand." Umbridge snaps.

        Harry lets out a heavy breath, then raises his hand. Umbridge faces him and smiles.

                               "Yes?" She asks passively.

          "If you're going to teach protection spells we might as well learn them. What's the point if we don't?"

         She chuckles to herself. "Why would you need protection spells, Mr Potter? Is this about The Dark Lord supposedly being back?"

       The room goes silent when she says those three words. I feel my stomach getting upset and instantly regret eating that entire bowl of oatmeal.

          "He is back!" Harry shouts. "I'm telling you, he killed Cedric and he's going to come back to Hogwart-"

       "Detention again, Mr. Potter!" Umbridge screams. "If you continue with this behavior I will have you removed from my class."

       Thankfully, he shuts up and no one else decides to add on. I don't know why I keep getting so worked up over it anyway; There's not actual proof that he's back. And anyway, how could he be?

                     "Now, where were we?"

        Professor Umbridge starts class once again and ends it with assigning a five page paper on Hex-Deflection. If it weren't for the fact that I can't stand her, I wouldn't mind much. Doing school work and studying with Aary and the boys is actually a lot of fun.

          But knowing it's for Umbridge makes it a lot harder. I guess it's a good thing there's a curse on the Dark Arts position at Hogwarts.