It Could Have Gone That Way; A Harmione Fanfiction

Chapter 51: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Harry glanced up from his parchment, wincing. Hermione had to be at least thirty lines ahead of him, if not more. The pair were in Umbridge's office on the final night of their two weeks of detentions. Hermione's face was scrunched up and the cuts in her hand were getting deeper. More like a hundred lines ahead of me, Harry thought, trying so hard not to blame himself for what was happening.

Once they were finally allowed to leave, Harry wiped at his hand furiously. Beside him, Hermione was doing the same. Try as they might, however, the pair could not make the words 'I must always remember to respect my superiors and learn to keep my big, blabbering mouth shut' disappear from the dorsal side of their hands.

"She added loads more words to make it hurt more..." Harry grumbled, giving up and folding his arms across his chest.

"At least they'll start to fade now." Hermione sighed.

"Not mine." Harry looked at the ground,"I've got another day, remember? For shouting at her in Divination."

"Oh yes. I'm sorry, Harry."

"No, 's all right."

Hermione nodded slowly, not knowing how to respond. She took Harry's left hand and squeezed it tightly, stroking the partly scabbed-over words with her delicate fingers.

The following evening, Harry plopped huffily onto the pink chair that awaited him in Umbridge's office. He and the professor were totally silent until about halfway through the detention, when Umbridge spoke up with a sly smirk.

"You know, you do look a little lonely." She simpered,"Perhaps I should bring your friend back and have her do some more-"

"No." Harry said firmly, setting down his quill,"Absolutely not."

"Oh, but-"

"No." Harry repeated,"She doesn't deserve another detention, and I do. That's the end of it."

Umbridge sighed a satisfied sigh,"You may go, Potter."

Harry gaped at her,"But-but I've only been here for-"

"Leave, Potter."

Unable to contain his relief, Harry practically skipped all the way to the common room. When he got there, Hermione seemed more surprised to see him than he had been when he Umbridge had let him go early.

"Harry, what on earth are you doing here?" Hermione stood up and hugged him happily.

"She let me leave early. Early! Can you believe it?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed a little,"Was there a catch?"

"No." Realisation hit Harry like a freight train,"Oh." Something brown flew in through the window."Oh."

A very small owl landed on Hermione's shoulder, a tiny envelope in its beak. Anxiously, Hermione prised the pearly-white envelope from the owl and peered at the front of it. Her name was written elegantly across the envelope in soft pink ink.

"Oh." Hermione agreed as the owl flew back out of the window. Opening the letter, she cleared her throat,"To Miss Granger, Your dear friend Mister Potter has decided that he would rather you take today's detention instead of him. I apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused you, but I'm sure Mister Potter shall have a wonderfully rehearsed explanation for why he has done what he has done. Please come to my office as soon as you receive this letter. The detention shall begin when you make it here and will go on for its usual length of time. Yours sincerely, Professor Dolores Umbridge."