The Depth of Deception // H. Potter

flashback: writing lines

"Hello, Miss Malfoy."

Amara doesn't speak, but watches as Umbridge stands from her desk and points to a desk sitting across the room. Amara silently make her way over to the desk, carefully observing the decor in the room.

Umbridge's office was, you guessed it, pink. The sight of it made Amara want to vomit, but she held her throat shut. Oddly enough, the walls were lined with hundreds of live images of cats. What a sick woman, Amara thought to herself.

Amara spotted Professor Snape in the corner of Umbridge's office.

"Hello, Miss Malfoy. It's strange to see you here. You never caused any trouble in my class." Snape looked at Amara, confused. He was handing something over to Umbridge in a vile. Amara gulped, wondering what sort of potion the two had conjured up.

"I have total respect for you and your class, Professor Snape." Amara spoke, looking at Snape. He seemed to smile and began to leave the room. Umbridge looked displeased.

"You don't seem to know when to stop, do you?" She asks, her voice lowering. Amara looked her dead in the eyes.

"I stop when I've said all I wanted to say."

"That's just the problem, Miss Malfoy." Umbridge smiled at the girl, but held a deep anger towards her.

Amara sat down at the desk, taking a deep breath. Umbridge's eyes never left Amara's, and Amara shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. If looks could kill, Amara would most certainly be dead.

"You're going to be doing some lines for me today, Miss Malfoy." Her smile never seemed to fade from her face as she talked. It was her terrifying, evil smile that creeped Amara out the most. Not to mention the cats that were eagerly watching her every move.

Amara began to reach in her bag to get her quill, but Umbridge stops her. Amara was confused. How was she supposed to write lines without a quill?

"I have a rather special quill for you." Umbridge smiled and began handing Amara the small, black quill. Amara quickly inspected it with curiosity. What kind of quill was this? It had no feather.

"I want you to write," She thought for a moment, "I must keep my mouth shut." Amara shuddered. This woman was going to be the death of her, and Amara wanted nothing more than to kill her. But Amara brushed those harsh thoughts out of her head.

"Well, go on then." She urged Amara to start writing, so reluctantly, she did. The moment the quill touched the parchment, Amara's hand seemed to burn. It was uncomfortable and Amara unsure of what to do. What was happening?

The words from the parchment began to carve themselves onto the back of Amara's hand. She watched as the blood from the letters began to drip off of her hand and onto the parchment. That moment is when she realized; this is exactly what she wanted. To see Amara in pain after what she did. Amara was not about to give her the satisfaction of seeing her in pain.

"Has the message sank in?" She stood over Amara's shoulder, watching the words bleed on her hand. Amara held back her tears, not wanting to give in.

"It hurts but I know how to hide it. I kind of like it." Amara smirked. Umbridge took a step back, looking shocked. She wouldn't get the chance to see Amara Malfoy cry.

"Write another line. This time I'll make sure it sticks."

~X~

"So how was detention with Umbridge? I hear she's a real loony one." Blaise joked as he picked up a pillow from the couch. Amara laughed, knowing what was coming.

"I'm fine. I just wrote some lines." Amara spoke as nonchalantly as possible. She didn't want anyone to know what was going on. It would only worry them more. Besides, she was a Slytherin, she should suck it up. Amara would do that, even if it killed her.

Blaise and Draco were throwing pillows around as Amara was studying for the OWL's. She had to do well so that I could be successful after her time at Hogwarts. It had always been an ambition of hers, and she was desperate to succeed.

One pillow came down on Amara's hand, making her hand burn with pain. Amara hissed as the pillow then fell to the floor. She felt the words began to bleed once more, making her nervous. Oh no.

"Amara? What's wrong?" Blaise panicked, thinking he did something to hurt the young girl. Amara couldn't bear to look either of them in the eye.

"It's nothing-"

"It's not nothing. You winced..." Draco spoke in a low voice, like he didn't want anyone to hear. Amara only sighed, not wanting to reveal the ugly truth. Amara just couldn't think of anything else to say. How would she explain the words carved into her hand? They were a wrapped gift from Umbridge for misbehaving.

"Oh, Amara..." Draco took my hand in his, "Who did this to you?" His eyes held his pain. Amara looked away from her brother before any tears could slip from her eyes. She didn't want anyone to see her cry. She couldn't let anyone know she was weak.

"Umbridge."

"I swear to God I will kill that wretched bitch." Draco shouted angrily. He picked up the pillow and threw it across the common room. Amara gasped, being a bit frightened seeing him so angry.

"Draco, calm down. We'll figure something out." Blaise looked at Draco, "In the meantime, let's get Amara's hand cleaned up."

"You guys...can't say anything to anyone." Amara spoke, watching the two of them pace the floors of the common room. She kept her eyes fixated at looking at the fireplace.

"What? You want to keep this a bloody secret? Amara, that is against the rules! Wait until Father hears about this!" Draco spoke.

"You can't tell Father, Draco. He will only be mad at me from disobeying Umbridge. He won't care about this. Besides, she works for the Ministry, Draco. She can do whatever she wants. This is what she does to people who defy her!" Amara explain again, getting herself worked up again. Why did her life have to be like this?

"I'm not going to let her hurt you again." Draco hugged me, and Amara gripped onto his shirt. She looked at Blaise, who stood just feet away from the siblings. Blaise sent Amara a quick smile.

Amara hoped that nobody else would have to deal with Umbridge. But, she knew that it would continue to happen. Again. And again. And there was absolutely nothing Amara could do to stop her.