Royals (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Chapter 63

A fine misty drizzle was falling so that the people standing in huddles around the yard looked blurred at the edges. Harry, Ron, Hermione and (Name) chose a secluded corner under a heavily dripping balcony,turning up the collars of their robes against the chilly September airand talking about what Snape was likely to set them in the first lessonof the year. 

They had got as far as agreeing that it was likely to besomething extremely difficult, just to catch them off guard after atwo-month holiday, when someone walked around the corner towardthem. "Hello, Harry!"It was Cho Chang and what was more, she was on her own again.This was most unusual: Cho was almost always surrounded by a gangof giggling girls; (Name) watched the interaction carefully, "Hi!" Harry chimed back "So did you . . . er. . . have a good summer?"The moment he had said this he wished he hadn't (Name) kicked him lightly: Cedric had beenCho's boyfriend and the memory of his death must have affected herholiday almost as badly as it had affected (Name)'s and Harry's. 

Somethingseemed to tauten in her face, but she said, "Oh, it was all right, youknow. . . .""Is that a Tornados badge?" Ron demanded suddenly, pointing atthe front of Cho's robes, to which a sky-blue badge emblazoned witha double gold T was pinned. "You don't support them, do you?""Yeah, I do," said Cho."Have you always supported them, or just since they started winning the league?" said Ron, in what Harry considered an unnecessarilyaccusatory tone of voice, (Name) smiled at her ginger friend who was only being hostile because it was rather clear Cho had a crush on Harry.  "I've supported them since I was six," said Cho coolly. "Anyway . . .see you, Harry."She walked away. Hermione waited until Cho was halfway acrossthe courtyard before rounding on Harry, "shes flirting with you! and (Name) is right there!" Hermione hissed and the (h/c)ette just laughed "I couldn't care less" and the three looked at her in shock and then the bell rang.

"That's the bell," said (Name) listlessly, because Harry and Hermionewere bickering too loudly to hear it. They did not stop arguing all theway down to Snape's dungeon. "Settle down," said Snape.

***

Potions and Divination flew by rather quickly and DADA was next, (Name)'s head was rather preoccupied with figuring out how to tell Harry about her rather complex situation, Hermione was easy enough, she was logical while Harry would just flip out. When they entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroomthey found Professor Umbridge already seated at the teacher's desk,wearing the fluffy pink cardigan of the night before and the black velvet bow on top of her head. "Well, good afternoon!" she said when finally the whole class hadsat down.A few people mumbled "Good afternoon," in reply."Tut, tut," said Professor Umbridge. "That won't do, now, will it? Ishould like you, please, to reply 'Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.' One more time, please. Good afternoon, class!""Good afternoon, Professor Umbridge," they chanted back at her."There, now," said Professor Umbridge sweetly. "That wasn't toodifficult, was it? Wands away and quills out, please."Many of the class exchanged gloomy looks; the order "wands away"had never yet been followed by a lesson they had found interesting, (Name) slipped hers into her bag pulling out a quill and some ink. 

 Professor Umbridge opened her handbag, extractedher own wand, which was an unusually short one, and tapped theblackboard sharply with it; words appeared on the board at once:Defense Against the Dark ArtsA Return to Basic Principles."Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disruptedand fragmented, hasn't it?" stated Professor Umbridge, turning to facethe class with her hands clasped neatly in front of her. "The constantchanging of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followedany Ministry-approved curriculum has unfortunately resulted inyou being far below the standard we would expect to see in yourO.W.L. year."You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are nowto be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year.Copy down the following, please."She rapped the blackboard again; the first message vanished andwas replaced by Course aims:1.Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.2.Learning to recognize situations in which defensive magiccan legally be used.3.Placing the use of defensive magic in a context forpractical use.For a couple of minutes, the room was full of the sound of scratching quills on parchment. When everyone had copied down ProfessorUmbridge's three-course aims she said, "Has everybody got a copy ofDefensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"There was a dull murmur of assent throughout the class.