Alexandra Dursley {Golden Trio}

Chapter 74 - The Centre of the Rumour Mill

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 "Merlin, she's such a cow!" Al exclaimed quietly over the Daily Prophet at Monday morning's breakfast.

 "What?" Daphne, Theo and Draco all asked her, looking up from their own letters.

 "Umbridge," Al explained, "Front page article, she's gone and called Lupin out for being a werewolf."

 "What's so bad about that?" Draco asked, "Most people here know anyway."

 "Exactly," Al said, folding her newspaper up in a huff, "Enough people know already without her making sure the whole of wizarding Britain know too. How's he supposed to find work now? It's so unfair-"

 "Alright, alright," Theo said, spreading butter on his toast, "Calm down or you'll blow our cover." Al shut her mouth at this and ate her porridge silently, but her red-hot fury still burned inside her.

 "Since when did you care about werewolf rights so much, anyway?" Daphne asked, sipping her coffee.

 "I don't," Al huffed, "Not that much anyway. It's just Lupin...he was the one who...well, you know."

 Draco shook his head, "No. We don't."

 "He rescued me from You-Know-Who," Al hissed across the table.

 "Oh," Draco said quietly. "That was nice of him."

 Al stood up, not hungry enough to finish breakfast. "I'm going to send a note to him with Dill," she announced, "Make sure he's alright."

 Daphne nodded, "That's good of you, Al."

 Al nodded at Draco, "You might want to give that a read," she said with a glance at the paper, "Your Pa's mentioned." Draco snatched the paper off as Al scurried off to the common room to scribble a quick letter to Remus and Sirius.

*****

 The next week saw rumours of various teacher's inspections fly around, but Al had only seen Vector's, and it wasn't as entertaining as everyone painted them out to be. She was sure she'd have died of laughter in McGonagall's, so it was probably for the best. That was until Snape's inspection.

 Al had been struggling in Snape's classes recently, owing to the fact that she could never focus when he was around. Every time he came near her desk she had to conceal a shudder and take deep breaths to stop herself breaking down. Frequently, the taste of the potion forced itself to the forefront of her mind, and more often than not her hands shook while she was trying to do something.

 He floated around as usual, eyeing people's potions, awarding points to the Slytherins where he could get away with it. Al's potion went well, for once, and the bright turquoise colour was there as described.

 Al was surprised at this, as she'd spent the whole lesson glancing over and snickering at Umbridge and Snape, who seemed to be having a battle of wills between who could be the biggest git. Umbridge seemed to win, Al reflected after the lesson, and if she'd been an impartial judge, she might have felt a bit sorry for Snape. But evolution stopped her feeling anything other than fear and hatred towards him, so she didn't.

 The first Hogsmeade weekend came and went, with Al deciding to go with her friends as George said he was busy with Weasley's Wizard Wheezes. Al found she was quite enjoying a peaceful year at Hogwarts, with only Umbridge to worry about. That was until...

 "They can't cancel quidditch!" Draco exclaimed from in front of the notice board. Several people groaned and rushed over.

 "What?" Al asked. It was rather odd that they'd cancel it. She rushed over to the notice board and read it through. "And the Duelling Club!"

 More people groaned and rushed over. "How am I supposed to pass my NEWT with Umbridge and without the Duelling Club?" a seventh year complained.

 "And it was so much fun," a second year said sadly.

 "It's alright," Al announced to the members that had turned to look at her. "I'll go and talk to Umbridge now. We'll practice in here if we have to!"

 And with that she stormed off, Draco in tow, to find Umbridge before breakfast. It turned out she was in her office marking essays. "Ah, Miss Dursley, Mr Malfoy," she said with a sick smile that Al returned, "How may I help you?"

 "We saw your notice," Al began, "We're here to ask permission to reinstate the Duelling Club and the Slytherin Quidditch team, please."

 "The quidditch team, yes," Umbridge said, "But unfortunately the Duelling Club will not go ahead."

 "Thank you, Professor," Draco said happily. Al was going to protest but decided better of it.

 "Thank you anyway, Professor," she said stiffly, before turning to leave with Draco.

 "Just a second please, Miss Dursley," Umbridge called, and Al turned around with a pleasant smile on her face. "I'm sure you would like to know why I have called off your Club?"

 "Yes please, Professor," Al said politely.

 Umbridge maintained her ugly smile. "The Ministry of Magic believes it would be foolish to have witches and wizards who are loyal to Dumbledore trained in combat," Umbridge said, "I would, of course, not be telling you this unless I believed you had potential."

 "Potential, Professor?"

 "The Minister himself told me you had an interest in magical law," Umbridge said. Wow, Al thought, a lie that I told two years ago is still helping me today.

 "Very much, Professor," Al said, "I find it fascinating."

 "Then you would be interested in accompanying me on an excursion to the Ministry?" Umbridge asked, and Al tried to give the impression she was swelling with pride.

 "Yes, I would, Professor," she said, trying to sound excited. To be honest, she couldn't be less bothered; magical law was as boring as History of Magic.

 "Excellent," Umbridge said, "The meeting I'd like you to attend is next Thursday evening, if you'll meet me in here at four o'clock. And I daresay the Prophet may want to interview you about you experience at Hogwarts thus far." Ah, there was the catch. But Al was sure she could dig her way out of any awkward questions about Dumbledore and Voldemort.

 "Thank you, Professor," Al said, before turning to leave and tell the others.

 Al was just near the Great Hall when a voice squeaked out from behind her. "Excuse me," Al turned around to see a Hufflepuff third year.

 "Yes?" Al asked, trying to sound nice.

 "I-uh, I heard a rumour that Harry Potter was starting the new Duelling Club. But it's a secret," the third year said.

 "Right," Al said, resisting an eye roll. "Who did you hear this from?"

 "My cousin invited me to join it," she said meekly, "He said it was important to defend ourselves."

 Al nodded, it sounded like the sort of thing Harry would do. In fact, it sounded like a fantastic idea. "What's your name?" Al asked.

 "Anne," the girl said, "Anne Macmillan."

 "Well, Anne, I want you to listen carefully to me," Al said, "I need you to get as many people as you can to join this club, because your cousin's absolutely right, you do need to defend yourselves. But you need to keep it a secret, especially from the professors." Anne nodded. "I also want you to tell people that if they here anything like this again, to come straight to me. Do not go to a professor. Got it?"

 Anne nodded, grinning, "Got it!" Al nodded and she hurried off.

 "Remember," Al called after Anne. She turned, looking back and Al put a single finger up to her lips. Anne nodded and rushed into the Hall. It looked like it was going to be an interesting year  after all.