Daddy's Little Girl [FW - Book Two]

Quiditch Drama

Lani and I rush to the Great Hall and find the twins and McKenna crowded around Harry, Ron, and Hermione along with Neville, Dean, and Ginny.

"Did you see it?" Neville asks nervously.

"D'you reckon she knows?" Dean inquires.

"What are we going to do?" McKenna asks, her eyes set on Harry's.

"We're going to do it anyway, of course," Harry answers quietly.

"Knew you'd say that," George beams and thumps Harry on the arm.

"The prefects as well?" Fred asks, looking quizzically at Ron and Hermione.

"Of course." Hermione replies immediately, her voice cold. Lani nods as well.

"Well that's settled then," I say, looking over the tables in the Great Hall. "except, here come Ernie and Hannah Abbott."

"And those Ravenclaw blokes and Smith... and no one looks very spotty." Ron adds, following my gaze.

"Never mind spots, the idiots can't come over here now, it'll look really suspicious." Hermione says, getting to her feet. "Sit down!" She mouths frantically, gesturing for them to rejoin their house tables. "We'll – talk – to – you – later!"

"I'll tell Michael," Ginny says impatiently as she swings herself off of the bench. "– the fool, honestly..."

She hurries off to the Ravenclaw table, gesturing like mad to her boyfriend. Fred walks over to me and slips an arm around my waist, and we walk back to the common room with Lani, George, and McKenna. 

*

"I can't believe she's included Quiditch in all of this!" Fred practically yells in frustration on our way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "Even Angelina knows that the odds are against our being able to reform the Gryffindor team."

"Bloody toad has gone too far." George mutters in agreement.

"I'm sure everything will turn out alright, if you'll remember; Quiditch was completely cancelled last year and you all survived." I say, placing a hand on Fred's shoulder.

"Yeah, but we had something exciting going on then, didn't we?" Fred replies glumly.

"Would you just stop complaining? Angelina hasn't even asked Umbridge yet." McKenna jumps into the conversation.

"Exactly." I agree.

The twins nod their agreement, though obviously still upset. We enter the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and take our seats.

"Good morning class." Umbridge says in her mock kind tone, a wide grin on her toad-like face.

"Good morning Professor Umbridge." The class chants back dully.

"Wands away." She instructs, and the few hopeful students who had pulled their wands from their robes put them away once again. "Open your books to page forty-two and read Chapter Nine."

I open my book with a sigh and begin to read the increasingly boring material in Chapter Nine. The class passes by agonizingly slowly, but when it eventually comes to an end Umbridge assigns us our homework: a summary of the chapter and our thoughts on the material covered. If only I could write my honest thoughts without being given another week's detention with the toad. I sigh and pack up my things, leaving the room as quickly as possible.

*

"No Quiditch practice." Angelina says hollowly as Harry, Ron, and Hermione enter the common room after dinner.