The Siren's Call (A Draco Malfoy Fanfiction)

98. Detention

After grabbing a quick dinner that night, Dioleh found herself once again facing Umbridge's office. Just as she raised her hand to knock, a voice quickly whispered to her, "What are you doing here, Granger?" Turning, she saw Snape with slight concern over his features.

"Detention," she replied quietly.

"For what?" he demanded in a hiss.

"It's difficult to explain," she replied, glancing at her watch.

Glancing down the hall cautiously, he said quietly, "Come to my office after the detention is over and explain."

"Yes, sir," she replied. She waited until he was out of sight before knocking on Umbridge's door.

"Come in," a sickly sweet voice replied. Dioleh opened the door and stepped inside to find Umbridge sitting behind her desk sipping a cup of tea. Gesturing to the chair in front of her, she said, "You know how this works." Dioleh sat, setting down her bag and picking up the quill. "I want you to write, 'I will not be inappropriate.'" Without a word, Dioleh began. The bronze skin of her hand was cut open as she worked but she refused to look at it, knowing the sight of the blood would bother her far too much.

She worked in silence for hours and hours, her entire hand going numb as she vaguely felt the habitual cutting through again and again and again. It became only a vague buzzing as she sliced into her hand repeatedly, never daring to ask how much longer or how many times more. Finally, Umbridge got up, snatching Dioleh's hand from the table to look at it. Dropping it, she snapped, "Come back tomorrow."

Getting up, Dioleh left the room, allowing the blood to drip onto Umbridge's floor. Shutting the door behind her, Dioleh reached into her pocket with her uninjured hand, drawing out a cloth and quickly wrapping her hand as she headed down to the dungeons and checked the time. It was about nine-thirty. The moment she knocked on Snape's office door, the door flung open and he quickly shuffled her in, glancing out cautiously.

"Let me see," he ordered. Dioleh held out her hand and Snape carefully removed the blood-stained cloth. With a quick flick of his wand, he healed the marks. They did not completely disappear, but instead, they remained as thin, pale lines against her skin and the pain faded. "Now tell me what happened."

Taking the cloth back from him, Dioleh quickly spelled it, leaving it completely clean again as she explained, "Umbridge has been harassing me. She thinks I'm being too affectionate towards my boyfriend in public. She has reprimanded me at least once a day to the point where we can't even walk to classes together."

"She's harassing you and not him?" Snape replied with a raised brow.

"A little of both but mostly me," Dioleh admitted, "but please, you can't go to Dumbledore about this."

"Why?" Snape replied.

Glancing briefly away from him, Dioleh said, "Trust me, nothing good would come from it."

"So your intention is to live with this harassment the rest of the school year, possibly longer?" Snape replied with a raised brow.

"Yes," Dioleh said. "Think about it, Professor Snape. You go to Dumbledore, tell him what's going on and what she's doing, and he goes to Umbridge. What do you really think he can do? Fudge is backing her. She's untouchable until she falls out of his favour. All that you would accomplish by going to him is making everything worse for me and Draco." Snape's eyes flickered with slight interest but he said nothing for a long time.

Finally, he said, "Very well then. I will not inform the Headmaster."

"Thank you," Dioleh said, her tone breathy with relief. After a hesitant pause, she added, "Professor Snape, I never properly thanked you. I know a lot of people dislike you, but you've always been kind to me. So, thank you." Before she could see his reaction, Dioleh disappeared out the door and down the hall. Upon reaching the Common Room, Dioleh stepped inside to find Draco, Blaise, and Imani waiting for her. "Hi," she said wearily, sitting next to Draco and laying her head on his shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Imani asked anxiously.

"I'm fine," Dioleh said. Draco picked up her hand to look at it. With a small sigh, he ran his thumb over the markings.

"We have to tell someone," he said.

"I already did," Dioleh admitted. Imani and Draco both looked up in surprise. "Snape saw me before I went into detention. I explained what happened."

Anxiously, Draco asked, "What is he going to do about it?"

"I made him promise he wouldn't do anything," Dioleh admitted.

"What?" Imani cried. "Dioleh, not only is she torturing you, she's been harassing the two of you for months now. How are you just okay with this?"

"I'm not," Dioleh admitted. "Look, even if Snape went to Dumbledore about what's happening, do you really think he could do anything about it all? Whether anyone admits it or not, Dumbledore doesn't have the to power to get rid of Umbridge. If he spoke to her, she'd just get pissed off. This is the best solution. She'll probably be gone by the end of the year anyway."

"Let's hope so," Blaise sighed. "I haven't had a worse Defense Against the Dark Arts education in the history of Hogwarts. At least Lockhart let us use spells."

"Well, if you want to actually be learning something, there is a secret group learning defensive magic like once a week," Imani said.

"Really?" Blaise replied. "Who's running it?"

"Harry," Imani explained. "I found out about it from Andre. He got invited by his friend Terry Boot."

"Why were we never told about it?" Dioleh asked with furrowed brows.

Imani shrugged, admitting with a sigh, "According to Andre, they don't have anyone from Slytherin."

"Are they opposed to it?" Draco asked.

"We can ask," Imani said. "I'll talk to Andre about it. Who all would want to join?"

"Me," Dioleh said as Blaise raised his hand.

"Me too," Draco said.

"I'll ask if I can as well," Imani said. "I didn't ask Andre before because I didn't want to be the only Slytherin. But we can talk to Andre tomorrow."