The Motherland who Ran Away

THIRTEEN

The weekend bled into the week seamlessly. Ireland had spent most of it with Fred and George in utter secrecy, as she knew that their innocent act wouldn't hold long, and being on their side was being on Umbridge's bad side. Her mother had taught her how to deal with people like Umbridge from a young age, knowing that the world was full of Umbridges. It was imperative to stay on their good side until the moment was right.

She had seen Harry a few times as well, but he had ducked out of the room every time she had gone to speak with him. She had just assumed that he was saving her reputation, as Harry's name was being dragged through the mud incessantly. However, she was slightly worried that he was going through something that he couldn't quite understand.

But the weekend did not last as long as Ireland wished it too, and soon enough, there she was again, standing at the front of the classroom. That Monday, she had Charms. Professor Flitwick was a delight, and didn't make her do anything other than collect the homework from the older years and sort it alphabetically.

But Monday didn't last long enough either, and Tuesday was no where near as pleasant as Monday had been. She, once again, had defense against the Dark Arts. This time, with the fifth years. Ireland had no expectations of them other than she knew that Umbridge would bully Harry and that there would be nothing she could do about it.

And that was exactly what happened. Ireland was surprised that Harry lasted five minutes in the class. And as Harry left the room, furious, tightly clutching the pink note that he had been given, he shot a look of betrayal back at his godsister. The room was completely silent as the class read. Ireland glanced over at Umbridge, wondering how lucky she could get.

"Dolores," she whispered, "should I follow him? Potter's a bit of a trouble maker, the thought of him able to go anywhere worries me," Ireland said. Umbridge turned to face her. Ireland kept a concerned look steely planted on her face.

"Yes, of course, I didn't think of that," Umbridge giggled a little. "Thank you, Ireland."

Ireland stood and left the classroom calmly before bolting down the hallway as soon as she was out of eyesight of the classroom. She found Harry, already in Minerva's office.

"Ireland?" Minerva asked, looking up at the older girl as she entered smoothly, trying to pretend she hadn't just run halfway across the castle. "Did Dolores kick you out too?"

"No, she sent me to 'monitor' Harry," Ireland said.

"Why didn't you say anything, Ireland?" Harry asked. "How did you keep your temper when she said all of those things about Voldemort being a lie?"

"Because it's my job, Harry," Ireland sighed with a little smile. "It's my job to both work for her and keep an eye on her, and I can't to either if she doesn't trust me. So I mostly tune her out."

"Something that I recommend that you try to do, Mr. Potter," Minerva said, sighing.

"Speaking of my job, Harry," Ireland said, taking a biscuit from Minerva's outstretched tin, "we'll both have to be careful. There's a link between us, and I know you'd like to do nothing more than prove Sirius innocent, Dolores Umbridge isn't the way to go about that. She doesn't need an excuse to hate you and make your life worse than it already is. She knows something about me and I'm not sure quite what it is yet. I need to earn her trust as best I can, because there are many things I would not like for her to know. Essentially, if she sees us together, it'll give her less reason to trust me and more of a reason to suspect that Sirius brought us together."

"Erm, yeah," Harry said, blinking, empty hand in the biscuit tin. "Stay away."

"It's for your safety, Harry. Besides, bad things happen to the people I love. Better to not be one of those people really. Sorry to spring it on you, and thanks for the biscuits Minerva," Ireland stood up, smiling tightly at the teenager and his teacher. She left with a swish of her robes, disappearing out the door with the ease of someone who knew what it was like to run away.

a/n: wow imagine not updating in over a year. i could never heehee.

sorry friends.