Towers - Fred Weasley

65

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

EBONY COULDN'T BELIEVE HER EYES, she had seen in the Daily Prophet a bunch of Death Eaters escaped Azkaban and it looked horrific. It made a lot of people scared, especially the first and second year students. When she arrived in the common room, she groaned.

— BY ORDER OF —
THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

Teachers are hereby banned from giving students any information that is not strictly related to the subjects they are paid to teach.

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

Signed:
Dolores Jane Umbridge
HIGH INQUISITOR

She couldn't believe Umbridge was doing this to them all. This is her seventh year, it was supposed to be the happiest year of all. The one where she would enjoy herself, cherish friendships and the one she would spend with her best friends. 

She chose to ignore the notice board and leave the common room. Ebony walks down the corridor quietly, hoping she would finally be able to study a little bit more. She hasn't really been spending much time on her studies lately. She stops when she hears voices.

"I do not believe it is necessary, Minerva." Umbridge says in her annoying high-pitched voice.

"Don't you think the Slytherin students especially should receive some comfort? Most of the ones who escaped Azkaban were their parents--"

"I do in fact not. They are all the daughters and sons of death eaters, there is no need to baby them." Umbridge replies. "It is a wonder they all follow the rules. I would bet they were more of a problem to handle." 

Ebony smirks to herself. If she expected her to be more trouble, maybe she should begin to be just that. After all, she is the daughter of the infamous Sirius Black, mass murderer who managed to escape Azkaban all by himself. 

She knows better than that, however. She is not the daughter of a mass murderer but she is, and this is much better, the daughter of the infamous Sirius Black. Professional prankster and incredible mastermind. Ebony smirks to herself and continues to walk. 

She enters the Great Hall and walks straight towards the Gryffindor table where she should've sat down ages ago. She takes place next to Fred and in front of George and Lee who eye her up and down suspiciously. 

"Hem. Hem." It was none other than Umbridge. Ebony looks up at her. "I believe, Miss Black, you are sitting at the wrong table." 

"No, I'm at the right table." Ebony replies with an innocent smile. 

"You are a Slytherin, this is obviously the Gryffindor table. You should be sitting two tables down to the right from this one."

"Says who?" Ebony asks back. "You?" She sends a smirk to her professor, one of the famous Black smirks. "Unfortunately I do not believe you have the authority to tell me where to pluck my butt down anymore." 

"You are on the very edge of landing yourself another detention, Miss Black."

"I don't know if you know who I am." Ebony replies. "I have spent seven years in this school and let me tell you, I have spent more time in detention than I have in any of my classes. I am used to it."

"Very well, I see your scar is healing well and already fading. I think we need to make the respect sink in once more. I see you in my office after your classes." Umbridge turns around and walks away.

"What are you doing?" Lee asks in a scolding tone. "She will carve you like a pumpkin." 

"Yeah, well. . . good luck to her."

"What are you trying to proof?" George asks her.

"That I am the Slytherin she thinks I am." 

***

CLASSES HAD ENDED FOR HER TODAY. Ebony walks inside the detention classroom and sees nobody. Something hot in her pocket makes her look down at her DA coin. 'Meeting now!' She smiles down at it. Pretty smart since she's stuck with Umbridge for a while.

"Miss Black." She had already hidden the coin in time not to be seen by Umbridge. "Sit down and prepare yourself." She does as she is asked and takes out a piece of parchment. "I want you to write down 'I must not disrespect my professors'."

"How many times?"

"As much as it takes to let the message sink in." Umbridge replies. 

Ebony nods and begins to write with the quill that was already prepared for her. The burn in her skin is annoying but not unbearable. She would say she expected much worse. Until, she wrote the tenth line. It began to sting so bad she thought she was losing her hand.

By line twenty she felt her head go light and her brain shutting down. By line thirty-five she didn't even remember what she was writing and by line 50 she was grateful for Umbridge to stop her.

"Dear God!" 

Ebony looks down at her hand, the text she was supposed to write was unreadable and covered in blood just like the parchment and the desk underneath her. It looked like a murder scene but the look on Umbridge's face gave her a sense of satisfaction.

"If you don't mind, professor, I will now visit the hospital wing to prevent an infection." Ebony pushes herself away from her desk, takes her bag and walks outside the classroom. Once outside, she feels herself weaken and leans against the wall to hold herself up.

"Ebs?!" Suddenly, two strong arms pick her up and prevent her from collapsing. She tries to remain consciousness but unfortunately her head spins too much and she passes out. 

***

WHEN SHE WAKES UP, she feels much better than she did before. The energy has returned to her and it feels as if she has been charging somewhere on a cable. Ebony opens her eyes and looks towards the three idiots who were waiting for her to wake up.

"Dear Merlin, you're okay." Lee says and jumps up. Fred and George look towards her with worried expressions. "How much did Umbridge torture you in there?"

"I wrote 50 lines."

"50?!" Fred yells and jumps up as well. "Are you insane?! You could've died from blood loss, Ebs. This is not a joke anymore."

"It was never a joke." Ebony corrects him. "It was a lesson I thought Umbridge. I didn't feel the pain until I was halfway through." That was a lie but they didn't need to know that.

"Can you three leave, maybe?" Madam Pomphrey asks and looks at the Gryffindor boys. "I will take good care of your friend, I promise." They nod and leave the Hospital Wing. "How are you feeling?"

"Better."

"You will return to your classes tomorrow but for tonight I would like to keep you here." Madam Pomphrey replies. "I need to make sure your wound doesn't reopen." 

"That's okay, I'm pretty sure I don't want to walk all the way back to my dorm anyway." 

⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅∙∘☽༓☾∘∙•⋅⋅⋅•⋅⋅⊰⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅⋅•⋅

Written: 09/06/2023

Word Count: 1137