Supported & Torn (HP) {Book 3 of the Wild & Free Series}

8. Professor Umbridge

Lavender dressed at top speed next morning and left the dormitory before I had even put on my socks.

"Does she think she'll turn into a nutter if she stays in a room with me too long?" I asked  loudly, as the hem of Lavender's robes whipped out of sight.

"Don't worry about it, Liana," Parvati muttered, hoisting her school-bag onto her shoulder. "She's just..." But apparently she was unable to say exactly what Lavender was, and after a slightly awkward pause followed her out of the room.

Hermione gave me an it's-her-problem-not-yours look, but I was not much consoled. How much more of this was I going to have to take?

"What's the matter?" asked Hermione five minutes later, catching up with Harry, Rowan and Ron halfway across the common room as we all headed toward breakfast. Harry looked very pissed.

"You look absolutely — oh for heaven's sake."

Hermione was staring at the common room notice board, where a large new sign had been put up.

GALLONS OF GALLEONS!
Pocket money failing to keep pace with your outgoings? Like to earn a little extra gold?
Contact Fred and George Weasley, Gryffindor common room, for simple, part-time, virtually painless jobs
(WE REGRET THAT ALL WORK IS UNDERTAKEN AT APPLICANT'S OWN RISK)

"They are the limit," said Hermione grimly, taking down the sign, which Fred and George had pinned up over a poster giving the date of the first Hogsmeade weekend in October. "We'll have to talk to them, Ron."

Ron looked positively alarmed.

"Why?"

"Because we're prefects!" said Hermione, as we climbed out through the portrait hole. "It's up to us to stop this kind of thing!" Ron said nothing; I could tell from his glum expression that the prospect of stopping Fred and George doing exactly what they liked was not one that he found inviting. I grinned and thought about signing up for that job. I really wanted to help Fred and George with their joke shop.

"Anyway, what's up, Harry?" Hermione continued, as we walked down a flight of stairs lined with portraits of old witches and wizards, all of whom ignored them, being engrossed in their own conversation. "You look really angry about something."

"Seamus reckons Harry's lying about You-Know-Who," said Ron succinctly, when Harry did not respond.

"Ah," I said, remembering my own argument with Lavender.

"Yes, Lavender thinks so too," Hermione said gloomily and I nodded, feeling my mood drop again.

"Been having a nice little chat with her about whether or not Liana and I are lying, attention-seeking prats, have you?" Harry said loudly. I frowned at him. That was not really something Hermione deserved.

"No," said Hermione calmly, "I told her to keep her big fat mouth shut about you, actually. And it would be quite nice if you stopped jumping down Ron's, Rowan's and my throats, Harry, because if you haven't noticed, we're on your side."

There was a short pause.

"Sorry," said Harry in a low voice.

"That's quite all right," said Hermione with dignity. Then she shook her head. "Don't you remember what Dumbledore said at the end-of-term feast last year?"

Harry, Rowan, Ron and I looked at her blankly, and Hermione sighed again.

"About You-Know-Who. He said, 'His gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust —' "