Serpentine ; Fred Weasley

Thirty-seven

The next months were a lot.

Not long after we went back to school, an article in the Daily Prophet told us that there had been a massive Death Eater outbreak in Azkaban.

Ten death eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange had escaped

In February, my brother turned nineteen, a few months before I'd turn eighteen. I sent him a letter and a present I got from Hogsmeade.

Fred and I finally managed to have an actual date after becoming a couple. We went to Hogsmeade, bought some sweets and ate them together in the snow while laughing and talking which ended up turning into sex behind a building.

At the end of February, Gryffindor lost to Hufflepuff even though Gryffindor caught the snitch.

We had just entered March and the snow was slowly melting, the sun being more out during the day.

Some days, I didn't have to wear my winter robes. Some days I could just wear the summer ones.

Umbridge had put multiple Educational Decrees up in these past months and it was tiring.

I hated that woman more than anything and I just waited for someone to get rid of her.

I was now on my way to the Great Hall when I noticed almost the entire school gathered in the entrance hall.

Making my way out there, I frowned, seeing Umbridge stand in the middle of the hall with Trelawney whose bags were packed.

I located my friends and Fred immediately made room for me so I could stand in front of him and be able to see something.

"What's happening?"

"Umbridge's banning Trelawney." Angie told me, her arms folded over her chest as she glared angrily at Umbridge.

"What..."

Trelawney was one of my favourite teachers even though I didn't take her class anymore. I did take her class from year four to six but then I changed I wanted to take a class that was at the exact same time during the day.

"You c-can't!" She cried out. "You c-can't sack me! I've b-been here sixteen years! H-Hogwarts is m-my h-home!"

"It was your home." Umbridge corrected her. "Until an hour ago, when the Ministey for Magic countersigned your Order of Dismissal. Now kindly remove yourself from this hall. You're embarrassing us."

As everyone stood and watched them, McGonagall showed up and hurried through the crowd to hold Trelawney as she cried.

"There, there, Sybill... calm down... blow your nose on this... it's not as bad as you think, now... you are not going to have to leave Hogwarts..."

"Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" Asked Umbridge, and I found myself reaching behind me to grab Fred's hand, squeezing it to get my anger out at this entire situation. "And your authority for that statement is..."

"That would be mine." Dumbledore's voice filled the room as he too made his way through the crowd.

"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" Umbridge asked as Dumbledore placed himself beside McGonagall and Trelawney. "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here—"

She pulled a parchment roll from her robes. "—an order of dismissal signed by myself and the Minister for Magic. Under the terms of educational decree number twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation and sack any teacher she— that is to say, I — feel is not performing to the standards required by the Ministey of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her."

Dumbledore didn't seem effected by her comments. He kept smiling.

"You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle, I am afraid."

***

A couple days later, I came back to the common room after having detention with Umbridge for an hour.

This morning, she had caught Fred and I in the Serpentine corridor, making out with my shirt completely undone and because I was the only one showing skin and being "inappropriate", she only gave me detention.

I must not whore around.

I've been literally labelled as a whore.

My hand was dripping with blood and I was feeling dizzy. The more control she got, the crazier she got and we all had to suffer, except the Slytherins of course.

I leaned against the wall in the common room, lifting my shaking hand to look at it. I was in so much pain that it was shaking like crazy while the blood kept running from the deep wound.

Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath, then continued to make my way up the stairs.

I turned to the boys dormitories and when I finally got to Fred's dorm, I raised my healthy hand and knocked.

I waited a moment before opening the door, leaning against the doorframe as my eyes landed on Fred.

He was currently shirtless, his hair wet. He had probably just taken a shower.

"Freddie..." I breathed, earning his attention.

He was holding a shirt in his hands but when his eyes landed on me, he threw it on the dresser and marched over to me.

"I thought it wasn't until tonight." He said, carefully taking my hand to look at how bad it was.

"No... it was now." I said quietly. "It's very... painful."

I let out a small chuckle to try and hide how much pain I really was in, but my hand was shaking so I knew he could tell.

"C'mere." He said softly, leading me over to his bed and once I sat down, he got to his knees to pull out his trunk where he stored some stuff throughout the years.

He found a cloth before he grabbed his bottle of water off the nightstand, getting the cloth wet.

Then he joined me on the bed and carefully started cleaning up the blood, apologising every time I hissed in pain.

"George and I are thinking about leaving school." He said, causing me to look up at his face. "We're done with the way school is now. We don't know if we'll do it yet but we're considering it."

"What?"

Fred looked at me.

"You should consider it too."

"I can't." I said. "How am I supposed to get a job?"

He looked at my hand again and once again I hissed in pain.

"Sorry." He muttered.

"It's different with you and George." I said. "You're opening your own shop. You'll have a job but I... I don't even know what I want to do."

"Yes you do." He told me. "You're just scared that it won't work out."

I frowned and he looked at me again.

"The book shop." He said. "That's your dream. You want to open a bookshop."