Merely Misunderstood

Chapter Thirty-Five

"Dumbledore left. He pretty much abandoned us," was the first thing Mirah said when she caught up with us in the Slytherin common room later that night. "Umbridge has been made Headmaster."

"Well," I replied, leaning against the stone wall and staring into the fire, "we're screwed."

"Not necessarily..." Draco cut in from the couch where he was seated, "if we pledge loyalty to Umbridge, maybe it wouldn't be so bad."

"And why would we do that?!" Mirah exclaimed, stopping her pacing to glare daggers at Draco. "She's a foul, evil piece of —" she swore loudly enough to cause multiple heads to turn in our direction. "How could you even consider —"

"I never said we actually have to be loyal to her!" Draco interrupted, looking annoyed. "I only said we could pledge our loyalty to her! If we pretend to be on her side, we could get the good side of all this."

"He's right," Pansy invited herself into our conversation, sitting down beside Draco, her eyes all over him, "it's the smarter thing to do. Only a complete moron would fight against her —"

"I don't remember asking your opinion, Pugface," I spat at her, wedging myself onto the sofa between her and Draco, putting a protective arm around him.

"It's a good thing I wasn't talking to you, then," Pansy sneered back at me.

"Tell me, Pansy, do you pick on people to make you feel better about yourself?" I asked her smugly. "I suppose I would too if I had your face."

"It's funny that you think anything you say will affect me."

"Then maybe I should try a different approach."

"Hey, hey," Draco was suddenly standing, and he pulled me up and away from the sofa, taking my wand out of my hand. I hadn't realized I'd drawn my wand, but I was glad he'd noticed, or else I could've earned myself a week's worth of detention.

It would've been worth it, though....

"That's enough of that," he murmured, pocketing my wand, and I glared at the floor, determined to avoid meeting anyone's eyes.

"You all right?" he asked, rubbing my shoulder comfortingly, and I nodded, still fuming.

"I don't know why you waste your time with her, Draco," Pansy muttered nasally as she stood up from the sofa.

"Just one of the many things beyond your understanding, I reckon," Draco snapped at her, and she glared at him for a moment before turning on her heel and storming out of the common room.

"You shouldn't let her get on your nerves like that, Bri," Draco muttered with a weary sigh, flopping back onto the sofa, "you might end up doing something you regret."

"She's got it coming for her, though," Mirah interjected for the first time, coming to stand beside me, her face showing how disappointed she was that Pansy hadn't been hexed. She winked at me as she added, "And I'll gladly give you a hand if you ever decide to give her what she deserves," and she didn't bother lowering her voice, earning a very exaggerated eye-roll from Draco.

Draco and I were called to Umbridge's office moments later, and when we departed from Mirah, I knew she'd noticed the anxious looks on our faces. She didn't ask what we'd done, however, and simply shot us an encouraging glance before we left the common room.

We walked to the new headmistress's office as if in slow motion, desperately trying to think of something to do.

It was impossible to come up with a plan; I couldn't tell her the truth without getting hexed, and I couldn't lie to avoid it.