ii | xviii. stubbornness

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Lyra was getting very upset with the current predicament in the school.

There was no Hagrid, so there were no ground inspections with Hagrid and Fang. Students weren't allowed to go around without teachers. Speaking of no wandering --

"What d'you mean!" Lyra said desperately. "Why can't I see her?"

"We're taking no more chances," Madam Pomfrey told her through a crack in the infirmary door. "No, I'm sorry, there's every chance the attacker might come back to finish these people off. . . . "

"Please," Lyra begged finally. "You know me."

"That is my final answer," Madam Pomfrey stated firmly, her eyes softening. "I'm sorry, Lyra."

In her next lesson, Potions, she sat at a table with Harry and Ron, no longer wishing to sit with Malfoy. He kept going on and on about 'Mudbloods' despite being told off for saying the slur and Lyra chose not to speak with him anymore after hearing it again. Today, he went on about his father and the headmaster to his goons, Crabbe and Goyle.

"I always thought Father might be the one who got rid of Dumbledore," he said. "I told you he thinks Dumbledore's the worst headmaster the school's ever had. Maybe we'll get a decent headmaster now. Someone who won't want the Chamber of Secrets closed. McGonagall won't last long, she's only filling in. . . . "

"Hey, Draco?" Lyra called to him.

"Yeah?" he called back, turning to face her.

"Shut up," she demanded forcefully. "Especially about Minnie."

Snape swept past her, making no comments on Hermione's empty seat or cauldron.

"Sir," said Malfoy loudly. "Sir, why don't you apply for the headmaster's job?"

"Now, now, Malfoy," said Snape, though he couldn't suppress a thin-lipped smile. "Professor Dumbledore has only been suspended by the governors. I daresay he'll be back with us soon enough."

"Yeah, right," said Malfoy, smirking. "I expect you'd have Father's vote, sir, if you wanted to apply for the job -- I'll tell Father you're the best teacher here, sir -- "

Snape swept off with a smirk.

"I'm quite surprised the Mudbloods haven't all packed their bags by now," Malfoy went on, infuriating Lyra. "Bet you five galleons the next one dies. Pity it wasn't Granger -- "

The bell rang at that moment, luckily for Malfoy. At his last words, both Lyra and Ron leapt toward him.

"Take it back!" Lyra yelled at him, barely held back by Seamus, Neville, and Parvati. "Take it back, now!" she fought, making the flames in the room slightly shiver.

"Let me at him," Ron growled lowly as Harry and Dean hung onto his arms. "I don't care, I don't need my wand, I'm going to kill him with my bare hands -- "

"Hurry up, I've got to take you all to Herbology," barked Snape over the class's heads. Ron and Lyra were still being restrained by their friends. The only time they were safe for release was when they were headed toward the greenhouses where Hermione and Justin would be missing Herbology.

As Lyra was about to tip an armful of withered Abyssinian Shrivelfig stalks onto a compost heap, she was face-to-face with Ernie Macmillan.

She sharply inhaled, startled as she put a hand to her chest. "Damn, Mac. You can be terrifying," she breathed out.

Ernie took a deep breath and formally said, "I just want to say, Lyra, that I'm sorry I ever suspected you. I know you'd never attack Hermione Granger -- " her name made Lyra breath sharply again " -- and I apologize for all the stuff I said. We're all in the same boat now, and, well -- "

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