Unexpected | Bill Weasley

~22~ Umbridge

We had a new professor. Dolores Umbridge. She had a pale toad-like face and was a short, squat woman. She worked at the Ministry and when I heard that, I wanted to scream.

Anyway, the first few days of classes were not so bad, but I noticed Draco Malfoy was in a bad mood a lot. Knowing he's my nephew, I had the urge to talk to him, but I couldn't tell him. Not when Dumbledore told me not to. Hagrid was away on a mission for the order, and Umbridge really wanted to find out about it. Even though Minerva, Snape and I knew full well where he was, we lied and said we didn't know.

One day, I was sitting in the staff room with Minnie, Pomona Sprout and Filius Flitwick and we were talking about Umbridge.

"I don't understand..." began Pomona.

"I do," said Minnie briskly. "The Ministry wants to watch over Hogwarts, and Umbridge is... is...."

"A hag." I stated.

"Fawn!" said Minnie, shaking her head.

"No, no Fawn's right." said Filius with a chuckle.

The door opened and Umbridge walked in. She smiled sweetly. "Hello,"

"Hello..." we muttered.

"Oh do carry on, don't stop your conversation on my account." she grinned and went to make herself a cup of tea.

"Uh, we were talking about..." began Filius.

"Bill!" said Minnie.

"Oh right, now do tell us, when will you be getting married?" said Pomona.

"Hopefully next summer or the summer after." I said, grateful for Minnie quick thinking.

"Ah, that's too long away." said Minnie.

"You're engaged?" interrupted Umbridge.

I gave her a fake smile. "Yes."

"To whom?" she asked.

"Bill Weasley." I said, smiling to myself.

She raised her eyebrows. "Bill Weasley? Would that make him a relative of Percy Weasley?"

I frowned. "Yes, They're brothers."

She looked at me. "I see, I believe that Percy's family think that You-Know-Who is back?" She laughed.

I narrowed my eyes. "Yes they do, and I think so too."

She pursed her lips and left without saying anything.

I let out a sigh. "I don't know how I'm going to survive this year without punching that old hag in the face."

Minnie nodded. "Me too Fawn, me too."

~ ~ ~
The fact that Harry yelled at Umbridge and called her a liar went around school very fast. I had to admit, I was proud of Harry for standing up for himself, but also thought he was an idiot for doing it to Umbridge.

"You have detention?" I asked him one day after my class.

He nodded glumly. "Everyday for the next week. First one's today."

I sighed. "Well, do look out for yourself."

When I asked Harry what they did in detention, he just said lines. I felt like he was lying but I couldn't get anything out of him.

One day, Draco had failed to submit his homework to me for the fourth day in a row and I had enough.

"This is the fourth day Mr. Malfoy!" I said, when I called him into my office.

"I have other homework too Professor Starling!" he said.

I narrowed my eyes. "I know perfectly well you're not doing any other homework too."

He looked up. "How do you-?"

"You realize us professors talk right? We always talk about our best and worst students. We also talk about those who don't submit their homework on time."

He sighed "All right, all right, I'll do it!"

I placed a hand on his shoulder. "Look Malfoy, if there's something going on in your life that's holding you back or distracting you from your studies, you can talk to me ok?"

His eyes clouded. "Well....."

I sat down in front of him and waited.

"My dad, he um...."

I held up a hand. "Does this have to do with him being a Death Eater?"

He looked up. "Potter told you didn't he."

I nodded. "He did, I won't tell anyone, just so you know."

"You won't?"

I shook my head. "I won't, now what seems to be the problem?"

He sighed. "I'm pretty sure my parents want me to be a Death eater when I'm old enough, and I don't want to. I'm not evil. I've been brought up on certain things but.... it's just too much."

I nodded. "What about you bullying the other students?"

He looked away. "I only do that so the other Slytherin's don't think I'm a fraud or something. Don't tell anyone this either please."

I smiled. "How about I tell you a secret."

He raised an eyebrow. "Ok, what is it?"

I leaned against my desk. "How many sisters does you mother have?"

He looked confused. "Two."

"Anyone else?"

He thought for a moment. "Oh, there is another sister, but she died a couple days after she was born."

I looked at him. "She didn't die... that sister is me."

He looked shocked. "What? Does my mum know?"

I shook my head. "No and she can't, I'll keep your secret if you keep mine."

He nodded. "Course I will..... wait you're my aunt?"

I smiled. "Yes, I am."

"How come we can't tell anyone that you're a Black? Or are you a Weasley now?"

I chuckled. "No Bill and I aren't married yet. And we can't tell anyone because if Voldemort hears about me, he might try to get me onto his side. Professor Dumbledore says I'll be safer if I keep going as Fawn Starling."

Draco shuddered at Voldemort's name. "Makes sense. We can't even tell my mum?"

I shook my head. "Nope, what if your dad finds out? He's a Death Eater."

He looked away. "Oh right yeah."

He looked back at me. "Does my Aunt Andromeda know?"

I nodded. "Yes, she does. Never met her yet though."

"You look a lot like her."

I smiled. "I know, her daughter, your cousin, said so too."

His eyes widened. "Wait, when you get married to that Bob Weasley-"

"Bill," I corrected.

"Right Bill, that means I'll be related to the Weasleys?"

I smiled. "Yup."

He grimaced. "So I'll be related to Ron Weasley."

I grinned. "Yup."

He sighed. "I guess I can live with that as long as you stay the way you are."

I raised an eyebrow. "Meaning?"

He shrugged. "Caring. You seem to care about me more than my own mother."

I had no idea how to reply to that, so I just hugged him tightly. "You're my nephew, I'll make sure you're safe and well."

"Thanks Aunt Fawn."