Sinners and Serpents {g.w.}

Chapter 28

There was nothing that could ruin a pleasant Saturday morning quite as spectacularly as receiving an owl from Umbridge informing you that she was calling an impromptu Inquisitorial Squad meeting that was mandatory, no exceptions. It didn't matter that you'd had plans to venture down into Hogsmeade with Ron and Dorian, who'd strangely become fast friends after the first D.A. meeting, or that George had made entirely tentative plans with you for this very weekend. It wouldn't have even mattered if you'd had Prefect duties (which, by the way you did), for the Inquisitorial Squad always came first.

It was unfair in every aspect, but especially when you considered the tiny fact that you hadn't wanted to join at all. You had been unpleasantly surprised when Umbridge hadn't disinvited you from the squad after your joyous afternoon of detention with her a few months ago, but apparently such a small, one-time infraction didn't merit being kicked out.

As you dragged your body, heavy with sleep, out of bed, you wished vehemently that it had. In fact, you would rather suffer through five more detentions just like that one if it meant you were no longer a part of the squad. You had kept your involvement to the bare minimum until now, doing the least you possibly could to keep Umbridge's eyes off of you, but not doing anything that actually affected anyone. There was no chance you'd be like Malfoy or Parkinson or any number of the other Pureblood students in the squad who seemed to actually take their membership incredibly seriously. More than once, they had ratted a student out and consequently gotten them a detention much like your own. Every day there seemed to be more and more students sporting similar white or pink scarred lines on the backs of their hands. Most of them were unique, but some were along the same lines that yours had been- declaring that you must learn respect.

Respect. As you tucked your wand in your waistband and slipped on your boots, you snorted. You'd met very few people who deserved less respect that Umbridge did. Really, the only person you could think of that was as horrendous as her was Snape, but even then you couldn't really compare the two. If anyone took one look at Snape, they'd immediately be able to tell what kind of man he was. With Umbridge, her appearance was incredibly deceptive, and that almost worsened her wretchedness. One would never suspect such a foul, vile, vicious toad lay beneath the frilly pink exterior that Umbridge sported.

~

Walking into Umbridge's office, you were surprised to see only black, green, and silver decorating the robes of the students already present. Including you, all Slytherin Prefects were now in attendance, but it seemed nearly the entire seventh year, sixth year, and a good majority of fourth year students were there as well.

Finding an empty space near the back wall of the gaudily painted office, you watched Umbridge totter in, her pink heels clicking loudly on the stone floor. As always, her lips were painted a garish pink that made her look more like a mime than a professor, and her dishwater-blonde hair was piled on top of her head in a beehive of ringlets and dotted with a handful of small pink bows. It was safe to say that pink was no longer a color you ever wanted to see again.

Umbridge grinned sweetly at the students gathered before her, but it was the sort of sweetness that would make one's teeth hurt and their tongue feel gritty for hours afterwards. "How lovely to see your shining faces on such a bright Saturday morning!" she said jovially, scanning the crowd. When her eyes passed over you, you had to resist the urge to slink back in an attempt to disappear into the wall behind you. "I wish that this meeting was one of good news. However, I must admit it is the exact opposite. I have come across some rather troubling information regarding a certain Gryffindor and his band of spirited little rebels."

Her beady eyes seemed to stick too long on you as she spoke. Doing your best to convey nothing but complete indifference, you met her stare with an unflinching one of your own. "These misguided students have fallen under the impression that I am not teaching them in a way they find to be acceptable, and have formed a group they call 'Dumbledore's Army'."