An American At Hogwarts: Book Three

Chapter Sixty

A/N: Important and exciting news! We're somewhat near the end of AAH3 now, which is ACTUALLY crazy, but I'm happy to announce that for the rest of the book I'll be updating every three days, instead of once a week! Check back Monday at 10:00am for the next chapter, then Thursday, etc. Looking forward to finishing out this book with y'all, and thank you to everybody who's still here and reading after MANY delays courtesy of my irl life. Love you all, hope you enjoy, and have a very happy new year!

*****************

"Hey! Harry!"

I called out down the hallway, jogging behind Harry and Umbridge as she dragged him who knew where, locking away the stress and the adrenaline from earlier and plastering a dopey smile on my face. Umbridge stopped dead, forcing Harry to do the same, and they turned to face me. Harry stared at me with wide eyes, clearly calling me crazy without saying a word, while Umbridge looked absolutely gleeful.

"Miss Stark. And what on earth do you think you're doing out in this area, at this time of night?"

"Looking for Harry, Professor!" I said, keeping the lightness in my tone and the bright, relaxed smile on my face. "We were studying together in an empty classroom where we could use the chalkboard to go over theory, and Harry left to go to the bathroom so long ago I'd started to worry about him! What's going on?"

Harry stared at me with wide eyes, slightly slack jawed, and I tried to send him a message without changing my expression too much: get it together, Potter, and help me pull off my lie.

I wasn't sure if he got the message, but he at least shifted to look more neutral than absolutely shocked. Umbridge, however, shifted from shocked to a tight, sightly sweet smile that I knew meant trouble.

"Miss Stark. You don't seriously expect me to believe a single one of your lies after the stunts you've pulled since Mister Weasley told me the truth about you, do you?"

"Professor, I'm sorry, I don't know what-"

"I have just caught Mister Potter trying to escape from an illegal club meeting, which I now have no doubt you are a part of as well! You're coming with us, now!"

Her voice had risen a few octaves over the course of just a few sentences, and had reached an alarmingly shrill pitch by the time she finished. She reached out and grabbed my arm too, dragging Harry and I both along with her now. I could've broken the hold and had her on the ground in thirty seconds, before she could even remember she had a wand, but that wouldn't do much to help Harry in the long run, so I held back.

"Alexa, you don't-"

"Harry, we were just studying, and I'd be happy to say as much to anybody who wants to have a problem with the two of us walking around the hallways before curfew doing nothing wrong!"

Umbridge scoffed so loud I thought she might've broken something, and I shot a very meaningful glare at Harry, but he didn't stop.

"But Alexa-"

"Harry!"

"Enough, the BOTH of you! Fizzing Whizbee!" shouted Umbridge, a little too much glee on her face for me to be happy with as she dragged us up the stairs to Dumbledore's office. I got that ominous, dark cloud feeling again, and it only intensified as she barged through the door without pausing to knock.

It felt like the final shoe dropped as we made it into the room and I managed to shake Umbridge's hand off my arm. Dumbledore sat calmly behind his desk, with Professor McGonagall standing next to him looking about as stressed as I'd felt when Dobby came into the Room of Requirement. Kingsley Shacklebolt, the Order member, and another auror I didn't recognize guarded the door. Umbridge was here, obviously, but the real one-two punch came from Cornelius Fudge, the head-up-his-ass Minister of Magic standing in the middle of the room, with none other than Percy Weasley hovering over his shoulder.