they were just kids [draco malfoy]

Year 5 - 124

To hold their act, Theo and Astrid strolled their way through the dungeons and up to Umbridge's office together. Where one felt rather relaxed, joking and nudging, the other tried to hold his distance, still a little shaken up from what happened in the morning and the threat he had gotten the moment Malfoy had gotten his hair back and had been able to exit their room to hunt the other boy down. Astrid, of course, wasn't aware of the talk the two boys had had at all. Even if she would, it would be unlikely the mood she was in could've ever been ruined by even that.

They had worked everything out perfectly. The back-to-blonde was already at Umbridge's office, awaiting the two teens with the woman, whom he had convinced to hand the two troublemakers over to him. Something about the want to carry out the proper punishment for somebody of the Sacred Twenty-Eight who had mingled with a mudblood had eventually melted the woman's blood supremacist heart. Young Malfoy's eagerness to carry out the punishment she had herself come up with had been what eventually got her to give in. That and the fact that some reckless Gryffindor had arranged himself a detention as well, just at the same time the two others had.

Their plan was easy - Theo and Astrid would come, Umbridge would lead them and Malfoy to the side room she had chosen where two tables and quills stood and where the blonde would be able to make the two teens write whatever they wanted. The woman would lead them to the room, there Theo and Astrid would have a blast drawing over their arms with a red marker, before pulling out the chessboard they had transfigured and stuffed into Theo's pocket. They would arranged the pieces and just play a few games until a bit of time had passed and they would feel it was appropriate for a detention to end.

All in all, it was a flawless plan.

All until, of course, it suddenly wasn't.

"I want Ninomae to stay here," Umbridge declared just when the three teens had been about to head over to the spare 'torture' room. All of them stopped in their tracks as one and just about fought giving one another wary glances that would surely give them away. Astrid, personally, didn't even glance at either of the lads. "I'm glad you're taking initiative, Mr Malfoy, but I feel just one student would be enough for your first time," she smiled sweetly and the teens fought a frown. "I hope you'll give a good lesson on what it means to be a bloodtraitor. As we talked..."

Feeling it to be an appropriate time to do so, Astrid turned to face the lad. She saw his adam's apple bobbling as he swallowed, the sound being heard even over the screech of the meowing cats of the room. 

Astrid wanted to interject. She had a ton of things she could and would say, but she knew she shouldn't. This was the one professor Astrid had learned she wouldn't outsmart. She had learned her blabbering would only end in even further punishment. Not only that, but standing there, Astrid found yet another flaw of their plan being that she would've had detention the following two days as well, meaning she wouldn't be able to escape it anyway. In a way, Astrid tried convincing herself she shouldn't be upset for she would've gotten tortured anyway. 

The girl held her head high and took a painful step away from the two boys. 

Worst of all, Astrid Ninomae wanted to talk. Say anything. Just to ease her nerves. But she knew that if she did, she'd mess everything up even more. In all honesty, the girl was terrified and she found absolutely no way how she would be able to get out of it.

Her head pounding, the pink painfully pressing onto her head, she heard Malfoy give a pathetic attempt at still getting to 'torture' and 'punish' her as well, only to get declined. Just how Astrid had known it would be. But she appreciated Malfoy's sentiment for trying anyway...

The pain the quill induced was worse than it had been the first time. Several months had passed and Astrid had been so scared beforehand, the memories of the last detention horribly etched into her mind, that the whole anticipation of it had made the whole thing even worse.