The Enemy of my Enemy

The First Decree

- BY ORDER OF –

THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

All Student organisations, societies, teams, groups, and clubs are henceforth disbanded. An organisation, society, team, group, or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.

Permission to reform may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge_.

No student organisation, society, team, group, or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled,

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-Four.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge.

Teddie ripped the decree of the Slytherin notice board and folded it three times before stuffing it into her backpack. She was curious as to whether the others had seen it while they headed up to breakfast, the only reason she was seeing it now was because she had slept late.

As she zipped her backpack closed, Teddie couldn't help but wonder how Umbridge had found out about the defense group they were had been planning, or did she know? Was this Decree in relation to the defense group or just groups in general? What about Quidditch? Was that involved. Or Gobstones?

Teddie shook her head. She was certainly overreacting. Quidditch couldn't have been cancelled for a second year, besides, Dumbledore would have mentioned something at the Start of Term feast if the annual tournament was to be removed for another year. Plus, the Houses had pretty much done all their tryouts and chose their members.

She paused. Montague hadn't said anything about Quidditch position since last weeks tryouts, and Theo hadn't mentioned anything about retaining the position of Seeker, either. She wasn't sure if training had started, it should have done by now, seeing as the first game was approaching fast.

Hefting the backpack up onto her shoulders, Teddie scanned the notice board again. Several different signs littered the green velvet back, including and not limited to – a list of secondhand spell books for sale, the regular reminds of school rules from Filch, offers to barter Chocolate Frog cards, dates of Hogsmeade weekends, and –

Teddie touched the announcement labelled "Tryout Results' and pulled it down the list of positions, skimming over the names trying to find Theo's. Her brow furrowed as she reached the position of Seeker and glanced across, horrified to find Draco Malfoy scrawled next to it.

"No," Teddie murmured.

This couldn't be right, surely?

~X~

History of Magic passed in a whirr of sleepiness. Teddie, who hadn't slept much the previous evening due to reoccurring nightmares, removed her robe and used it as a pillow to nap on her desk. She had been hoping to talk to Theo about the Quidditch results, but every time she tried to bring it up, he would brush her off.

She knew that he wasn't intentionally trying to hurt her, and Teddie was also aware that Montague hadn't made the decision based on their friendship, but also couldn't shake the feeling that maybe she could've done something to help Theo keep his position. He really loved playing Quidditch, and after all the hell he had gone through in second year regarding the rumours on how he become seeker, he was protective of it.

Teddie couldn't blame him. For the first four years of their schooling, being friends with her had put her friends in a tight spot when it came to upholding family traditions; especially family members like Theo's father. Mr. Cyrus Nott was still in Azkaban, locked up on charges of domestic assault of his wife and son, and the murder of his wife.