Pariah: The Other Malfoy

Chapter 49: Caught

It was a few days after the full moon when I next spoke to Tobias. Harry, Ron and Hermione organised it, with them pushing us both to be in the courtyard at the same time, forcing us to communicate. Ron had told them both what had happened, but neither of them said a word to me about what I had done, instead just pushing me to talk to Tobias.

And so, they tricked us into coming face to face.

We stood silently for a few seconds, neither of us knowing quite how to start the conversation. We hadn't spoken in almost a week, and now we couldn't even say one word. He had been avoiding me for obvious reasons, and I had avoided him as well, mostly because I was so ashamed of myself.

"I'm sorry—"

"I overreacted—"

We both stopped immediately, laughing sheepishly.

"You go," Tobias said after a short silence, and I nodded.

"I'm sorry for what I said, how I reacted," I sighed, "There's no excuse for it, especially when you were just trying to help. I'm not going to stand here and try and justify my actions by saying I was tired or that the holidays had affected me or anything, because that doesn't factor into the equation. It isn't important. The only thing that matters in this is that I was a complete asshole to you, and I said things I shouldn't, and I'm so sorry. I really do appreciate everything you do for me, you keep me sane, stop me from getting into some huge messes. The way I treated you was completely unfair. I'm sorry."

"I..." he scratched his head, "Lyra, I overreacted. You didn't even say that word, I jumped to conclusions. You could have been about to say anything. I knew how stressed you were, I knew the full moon was coming up, I knew you were still affected by the holidays, yet I still pushed you to breaking point. If anything, I should be the one apologising! You work so hard to prove to everyone you're not like your family, and I stood there and threw that in your face by jumping to conclusions. I should be the one apologising, I was unfair - I'm sorry, Lyra. You are the best person I know, you have worked so hard to change your mindset from what you were taught by your family and I am so proud of you for it."

"You don't have any reason to apologise," I whispered.

"I have every reason," he gave me a small smile, "So... are we..."

"I hope so," I smiled, throwing myself at him, and he hugged me back tightly.

"Let's try not to fight again," he laughed, kissing the top of my head, "From now on, we fight on the same side."

"Deal."

After that short burst of happiness, things got worse very quickly. We were doing Patronuses in DA, my vision a swirl of light as more and more people succeeded, animals dancing around the room as people thought of their happiest memories. I was happier than I had been in a long time, being asked to demonstrate my own Patronus and reliving my best memories as a Hippogriff soared around the room.

Dogs, cats, rabbits, an otter! Tobias's Patronus was a wolf, much to my amusement, and more people had succeeded in a corporeal Patronus than Harry and I had expected when we decided to teach it that day. We had even prefaced the lesson with 'don't be disappointed'.

Things were going well, we were all laughing, when there was a massive bang on the door. I joined everyone else in looking at where the sound came from. I advanced on the door slowly, wand raised. Someone must have worked it out, or someone told.

"Crap," I whispered when I looked through a small gap, "It's Umbridge!"

"You go first! She'll throttle you if she catches you here!" said Harry and another door appeared out of nowhere.

"Come with me!" I said as I headed out.

Many people followed me and got out, but it wasn't to last for long. They had all signed their names on a sheet before I had joined so that they couldn't betray the group without consequences, and Umbridge had got her hands on it. Every single person bar me had their names down on the sheet and so they were all caught in the act.

It had been left in the room, an oversight that was foolish in hindsight. We soon found out who had ratted us out, the daughter of someone who worked with Umbridge, but she faced the consequences of Hermione's curse.

The whole of the DA was punished bar me. They were made to use Black Quills and many came out of their detention with tear-streaked faces. I had collected potions from Snape while they were away and did my best to relieve their pain, feeling guilty that I had avoided punishment.

Tobias came straight to me, pain evident in his eyes. I examined his hand and cursed inwardly. Clear as day were the words 'I will not break the rules'. I hugged him tightly, feeling immensely guilty despite the fact it had nothing to do with me. He hugged me back and we stood there for a while, the shock of the situation sinking in slowly. I hadn't cared so much when she did it to me, but the fact that she had caused one of the most important people to me pain was another matter. I was just glad that his wouldn't scar, they only had one session.

Matters only got worse when Harry appeared. The paper had said Dumbledore's Army, so of course Fudge was furious. He had sacked Dumbledore with the intention to take him to Azkaban, but Dumbledore was gone.

We were alone with Umbridge now.

Umbridge replaced Dumbledore, and we were all on our best behaviour. I understood Harry had contacted the Order, narrowly avoiding being caught, but at that point I was worried about what Umbridge planned next.

I kept my head down, studying hard for the O.W.Ls that were looming, working harder than ever before to get to my best, to be able to get straight O's, no matter how unrealistic that was. I was determined to show Umbridge how her plan to ruin our education had failed.

The first exam was Theory of Charms. I managed to get an answer for every question and had checked it over a million times. I couldn't think of any I'd got wrong, but there was a fair chance I had. I enjoyed the theoretical part of Charms, unlike most. The technicalities of it interested me a lot, it was fun to learn how things worked.

Then it was time for the practical examination. I was one of the first people called up and I was almost sick with nerves. I had talked myself into panicking, but relaxed a bit when I got into the actual exam situation. I did better than I had hoped, not choking as I had expected.

I studied all night for Transfiguration and managed both the written and practical fine. Of course, the practical went better but I didn't think I made any serious mistakes. I was determined to get an O in it, or McGonagall would probably end me. I was one of her best students so she wouldn't stand for anything less.

Then it was Herbology. It didn't go fantastic, but I also didn't get eaten by a plant and that was always a bonus. I had DADA after that, and that was the real test. We had been taught the theory of it thoroughly, but all of our practical work was down to student teaching and own knowledge. But I just had a determination to prove Umbridge wrong, she wouldn't make us fail just because she didn't want us to be able to fight.

I had the night off when everyone else left to go for Astronomy - I was a werewolf, and classes frequently coincided with full moons. In fact, I slept the whole time they were in their exam, having spent the whole day studying already.

I found out afterwards that while I had been sleeping soundly, Umbridge had taken Aurors with her to sack Hagrid, and she was unsuccessful as Hagrid had fled. But McGonagall, coming to the rescue, had ended up being hit by two Stunning Spells and rushed to St Mungos.

The story filled me with such rage, I almost left to confront Umbridge at that very moment. But that wouldn't help McGonagall, I just had to hope that she'd pull through. She had to!