Broken: a Draco Malfoy Love Story

Chapter 27 - The New Head

The fifth-years began to get so caught up with homework and exam revision that they almost didn't realise March had come to end and it was now April. There weren't very many weeks left of the school term, which meant their O.W.L. Examinations were drawing even closer.

Alexia and Daphne had decided to study together one sunny afternoon in the school library. However Alexia, who had spent the last week doing some serious and heavy revising, was all over the place! She had turned up without any parchment and the wrong textbooks and even during lessons that day she was less attentive and focused as usual. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Alexia realised she had been attempting her Transfiguration theory revision for more than forty minutes, and she was definitely not succeeding. She looked down at her piece of parchment (which was really Daphne's) and tried to make sense of the few words she had written down.

The vanishing spell (Incantation - Evanesco) - a complex spell used to vanish both animate and inanimate objects.

Although she understood what the vanishing spell was, the definition she had written just seemed to pass straight through her head like a fast flowing river. Sighing in frustration, Alexia dropped her quill on the desk. Daphne looked up from her solid page of writing and gave Alexia a comforting face.
"I can't do this," Alexia said quietly, "I'm just not with it today."
"Take a break, Alexia. You've been working real hard the past few days anyway." Daphne said.
Alexia nodded and started packing away her books and parchment. "I'll see you at dinner, okay?"
"See you then," Daphne replied, quickly passing Alexia her quill she had forgotten to take from the table.
"Thanks," Alexia mumbled, then gave her a half-smile before leaving the library.

Meanwhile in the Slytherin Common Room, Draco was doing his Charms homework with Crabbe and Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson was also sitting at the end of the table scribbling something down on parchment.
Alexia strutted into the room and dumped her bag onto a spare seat, causing Pansy to jump.
"I would pay someone to do my work but that's not really going to help for exams!" Alexia huffed with exasperation.
Draco stopped the spell he was practicing, "Relax Alexia, I'm sure the examiners will be someone we know anyway."
"Yeah, true, but if they're not and I don't go well, there goes my future!" Alexia said dramatically.
Draco was about to say something but stopped and considered what Alexia had said. Agreeing with her, he looked back down at his wand and textbook.
Alexia looked over at Pansy who had been watching Draco and Alexia talk. Pansy quickly looked away and after a minute she softly spoke, "I'm going to go... I'll be back later..." she stammered, looking very much afraid of Alexia and getting up to go to her dormitory.
"Um," Alexia started, "Pansy?"
Pansy turned.
"Wait up," Alexia said.
Draco, Crabbe and Goyle all looked over at Alexia in shock.
Pansy smiled, trying to conceal the worried look on her face, then once Alexia had caught up, headed off towards their dormitory.

"I was hoping we could talk?" Alexia said to Pansy as they walked into their room.
"Yeah, of course," Pansy shyly replied, sitting down on her bed.
Alexia walked over to the dresser, "Remember this?" she asked, opening the drawer and taking out the photos they had found there at the very start of the year. She looked at them for a moment, then passed them to Pansy.
Pansy took them and inspected them closely. She smiled as she looked at the photo of herself, Alexia ad Daphne laughing out in the grounds during winter. "Our fourth-year," she said, looking at the next photo. It was the photograph of Blaise kissing Alexia on the cheek. As she flipped to the next photo,her smile faded from her face. It was the photo of Pansy and Alexia at the Yule Ball, glamoured up and looking stunning for the event. It was the last photo taken of the two together before Pansy went off and betrayed her best friend.
Alexia noticed that Pansy was trying hard to keep herself together as she stared with an unwavering gaze at the photo. "Sorry," Alexia said, "I didn't mean to upset you, Pansy."
"No, no," Pansy said, taking a deep breath to keep from crying, "You don't need to be sorry, Alexia!" she exclaimed, her voice cracking. But as hard as she tried, tears began falling from her eyes.
"Pansy!" Alexia said, rushing over to her bed and sitting next to her. She put her arm around Pansy and comforted her.
"Al- Alexia," Pansy sobbed, "I don't know why I did it... I regret it so much. I'm so sorry!"
Alexia knew that Pansy was truly sorry and it was time she accepted that. Pansy may have slept with Blaise and been silent about it for months, but she regretted it and knew it was a mistake. Alexia could see the pain Pansy felt and even understood it too; Alexia had made some mistakes in the past year and she had to deal with the pain also.
"I get it if you don't want to be friends, just say something... tell me it's okay even though it's not... I'm just so sick of feeling like this." Pansy struggled to say.
"It's okay, Pansy. I know you're sorry." Alexia said.
Pansy wiped her eyes.
"What you did was in the past. It was stupid and it hurt me, but I'm over it. You're my best friend Pansy, and I guess I just felt like I was always second best compared to you; Blaise slept with you before me, you were picked as Prefect over me and it made me so mad at you, I thought I could never forgive you. But I've realised that being second best is just some stupid thought that really brought me down because, well, I'm not used to it. I can't let that ruin our friendship! I'm struggling with my life right now... I need someone like you to be around for me." Alexia told her.
Pansy looked up and sniffed, "Oh Alexia, I-I'm so sorry! Thank you... you're my best friend too," she said with a quavering voice, "I'm so sorry for everything! From now on... I'll be here for you whenever you need me."
Alexia tightly hugged Pansy, who had broken down into tears again. She was happy that she had forgiven Pansy. She needed her best friend.

•••

For the entire next week, Alexia and Pansy were inseperable. Wherever Alexia went, Pansy was beside her. Whoever Alexia bullied, Pansy was there to help back her up.
"Make anyone cry today you two?" Graham Montague asked Alexia and Pansy one afternoon as they entered one of the study halls.
"Not yet," Pansy said.
"But it's only four, we still have plenty of time!" Alexia assured him.
Some people were worried that befriending Pansy again was part of some master plan of Alexia's to get back at her, because quite frankly, Alexia hadn't really given Pansy a dose of her own medicine. But once the week was over, the two were still friends. Alexia hadn't done anything to ruin Pansy's life so people began to realise that their friendship was back on.

"What's going on?" Alexia asked in amazement the following Monday morning, reading the notice that had been pinned up on almost every wall of the school.

By order of the Ministry of Magic
Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight.

"Well," Draco started, "while you were catching up on your beauty sleep last night, Potter's secret group was discovered," he told her.
"Draco happened to actually capture Potter himself!" Pansy informed Alexia.
Draco grinned, looking extremely proud of himself.
"And I found evidence of the group; a list of the members of Dumbledore's Army." she added.
"Dumbledore's Army?" Alexia questioned with amusement at the name.
"Yeah, unfortunately because of the name, Dumbledore was able to claim that he was responsible and not Potter, and then apparently he somehow escaped from the school and absolutely no one knows where he went!"
Alexia stared at Pansy with shock, "Wow," she muttered, "But how did you know where to find them? We've been searching the entire school for months!"
"Marietta Edgecombe told Umbridge about the group and this room called the Room of Requirement on the seventh-floor which they were using," Draco told her.
"The Room of Requirement?"
"It's supposed to appear when a person is in need of it," Pansy answered, "It transforms into whatever they need it to be."
Alexia shook her head, "I wasn't expecting to wake up to this sort of thing..." she said.

No matter where Alexia went that day within the castle, the only topic of discussion was Dumbledore's flight. He had overcome two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister of Magic and his Junior Assistant to escape and the only students who had witnessed this was Marietta and Harry. Infact, for most of the next few days, this was the only thing to be heard in the hallways - along with the news that the Quibbler, which had revealed many names of Death Eaters, had to reprint it's latest issue because it sold so many copies.
Though, all this chatter and gossip began to quiet down by the middle of the week as the new Headmistress of Hogwarts, Professor Umbridge, had started taking control, making new rules, harshening punishments and enforcing higher security.
Draco, Alexia and the rest of their group found that they were quite benefited having Umbridge as their new Headmistress. It meant that the Inquisitorial Squad now had even more power; more than several of the outspoken teachers, including Professor Trelawney who had been fired by Umbridge shortly before Dumbledore's escape, but who had not been completely banished from the school.

"I'm thinking we should have a Inquisitorial Squad meeting, Draco," Alexia told Draco as they swaggered through the school to Defense Against the Dark Arts together.
"I agree," Draco said, "we need to check everyone's making the most of their power."
Alexia nodded, "We might even have a few new members seeing as Professor Umbridge is the new Headmistress, and you know what that means?"
"More people for us to boss around and do our dirty work?" Draco questioned.
"Exactly!" Alexia said with a smirk.
Draco grinned back at her, "Tonight at eight in the usual classroom?" he asked.
"Sounds wonderful, I'll get Daph and Pansy to spread the word," said Alexia.
"New head... new times!" Draco added.