Begin Again (George Weasley/Draco Malfoy)

Twenty-Two.

We all decided that staying at Hogwarts would be what is best for us kids this Easter. Hermione, all the Weasley’s, and I were all staying behind this holiday. I received a letter from my mother about my decision to stay behind, telling me she would miss me. I examined her handwriting on the envelope, it had been such a long time since I’ve seen it I wanted to take it in.
   
Of course when I received her letter it had already been opened, and she knew to keep her letter vague and not mention my father or anything that he was up to.
   
God I missed her so much. I really did. My mum was my very first ever friend growing up, since she raised me on her own until I was about 13, and even then my dad has never tried to assert any authority in my life because he wasn’t there when I was growing up so he doesn’t feel like it’s his place.
   
During our last D.A. meeting before Easter, we were working on our Patronus again, more and more of the students get it down every time we practice. George, being the sweet thing that he is, told me that all he has to do is look over at me, remind himself that I am his girlfriend, and he has no problem being happy enough to produce a Patronus. It made me giggle. I replied by telling him I just think of the letter he wrote me on Christmas and then I am happy enough as well, which made him blush so hard. You wouldn’t think a Weasley could get any more red than they already were, but he did. Fred, who had been listening to this conversation, pretended to gag.
   
Shortly after that, as I was making my rounds around to the other students checking in on them when Harry is having a loud conversation with Dobby, the house elf that works in the Hogwarts kitchens. They’re talking so loud you can’t help but overhear. Dobby was frantic going on about she and her and that she knows.
   
“Umbridge?” Asks Harry, Dobby nods and tries to bang his head on Harry’s knees. “what about her? Dobby does she know? Has she found out about us? About the D.A.?”
   
Dobby then tries to kick himself in the head, but instead he falls backwards onto his back and screeches, “Yes, Harry Potter, yes!”
   
Harry looks over at all of us, who are silent as we watch this madness unfold, “Don’t just stand there!” yells Harry, “RUN!”
   
We all start running in different directions out of the many doors this room has now made for us. And we didn't stop running until we were back in our dorm.
   
“I’m just surprised that we all made it back,” said Sadie, looking disheveled from her bed.
   
“Well, I don’t know about you all, but I am going to bed,” I say, my voice sounding tired. It was late enough as it was, I needed some sleep.
   
The next morning we woke to the news that Umbridge was now the headmistress of Hogwarts, and Dumbledore was nowhere to be found. I sat at the Black Lake with Harry, Ron, the twins, and Hermione during break from classes just to ask Harry what happened. They said it was Cho Chang’s friend Marietta that snitched on the D.A., which didn’t surprise me because her mother works for the ministry helping them keep an eye on all of our fires and other means of communication. She’s a snitch just like her no good mum. Harry said that Dumbledore took full responsibility for the D.A., saying it stood for Dumbledore’s Army, not Potter’s Army, and that Harry was merely a member of the Army and not the founder, which was a total lie.
   
Then Hermione tells us that they ran into Draco and his goons this morning and he docked them all nearly 50 points. I guess the new Headmistress has given her Inquisitorial Squad the power to award or take away points from the houses now, which is too much power for the Slytherin’s to have if you ask me. That’s when Fred and George spoke up, saying that they put a student in a vanishing cabinet for trying to take away points from them.
   
“But you’ll get in terrible trouble!” says Hermione, of course that’s her first concern.
   
“Not until Montague turns up, and that could take weeks, I dunno where we sent him,” said Fred coolly, “Anyway…We’ve decided we don’t care about getting into trouble anymore.”
   
“Have you ever?” Asks Hermione.
   
Then the twins start doing that thing where they start finishing each other’s thoughts, “Course we have,” said George, “Never been expelled, have we?”
   
“We’ve always known where to draw the line,” said Fred.
   
“We might put a toe across it occasionally,” said George.
   
“But we’ve always stopped short of mayhem,” says Fred.
   
“But now?” Asks Ron tentatively.
   
“Well now –” says George.
   
“– What with Dumbledore gone –”
   
“– we reckon a bit of mayhem–” said George.
   
“– is exactly what our new Head deserves,” said Fred.
   
“You mustn’t!” Whispered Hermione. “You really mustn’t! She’d love a reason to expel you!”
   
“You don’t get it, do you Hermione?” Said Fred, smiling at her, “We don’t care about staying anymore. We’d walk out right now if we weren’t determined to do our bit for Dumbledore first. So anyway,” he checked his watch, “phase one is about to begin. I’d get in the Great Hall for Lunch if I were you, that way the teachers will see you can’t have had anything to do with it.”
   
“Do with what?” Asked Hermione anxiously.
   
“You’ll see,” said George, “Run along now.”
   
“Adelaide,” Hermione looks at me. “You’re a Prefect. What do they have planned?”
   
I shrug my shoulders, “I don’t know. This is the first I’m hearing of this too.”
   
“You’d think I’d tell my Prefect girlfriend our plan?” Scoffs George, “I’m not an amateur, Hermione.” She rolls her eyes at him. We all stand up then, and George gives me a quick kiss before he and Fred take off into the crowd to start whatever it was that they have planned.
   
We all head into the Great Hall then. Hermione is going a mile a minute, “I don’t know how on Earth you two ended up together, Adelaide. A Prefect and a notorious mischief maker. It doesn’t make sense.” I knew she was just saying these things because she was frustrated and nervous that the twins would get expelled. She didn’t really mean what she was saying right now.
   
I just shrug, “Opposites attract I guess.”
   
I take a seat with my Hufflepuff friends, and I watch as Filch comes in and retrieves Harry and takes him out of the Great Hall. It made me nervous. What more could Umbridge possibly want with him? I didn’t know. It wasn’t very long after that when we heard the first major BOOM! Come from right outside the Great Hall. That’s when we all decided to get up and run out the doors to see what the twins were up to.
   
Dragons composed of green and gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud, fiery blasts and bangs as they went. Shocking pink wheels five feet in diameter were whizzing lethally through the air like so many flying saucers. Rockets with long tails of brilliant silver stars were ricocheting off the walls. Sparklers were writing swear words in midair of their own accord. Firecrackers were exploding like mines everywhere you looked, and instead of burning themselves, fading from sight, or fizzing to a halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longer you watched them.
   
I have never been more proud of the Weasley Twins before. They’re for sure going to put Dr. Filibuster out of business once they open their shop. Umbridge came out of her office, trying to stun the fireworks, but there were too many of them for her. The more she tried to vanish them, they multiplied. She screamed every time it happened until she finally learned her lesson.
   
They never did catch Fred and George for that little act, and their fireworks continued to get lost all over the school for the rest of the day. George was very proud of himself, and his brother, for doing this prank. They were heroes in the Gryffindor tower that night.
   
Then, the last week of March, the week after Easter break when classes were finally resumed, we had Career advice with our Head of House that Umbridge just had to stick her nose into. She sat in all of the meetings. When I said I had wishes to be either an Auror or maybe a Professor, Umbridge scoffed. She said that I shouldn’t aim that high because of who my father is.
   
“My father is a great man,” I hiss at her. I don’t care who she is, I was not standing for that.
   
“As I’m sure you think so, Miss Fawley, but he is a werewolf. And even though you two don’t share a surname people still know who your parents are. So it will be quite difficult for you to get such a respectable job like an Auror, or even a professor. It just simply won’t happen due to his condition.”
   
“His condition that I don’t share with him,” I point out, “And once people know that I am not a werewolf, they will see that I am not my father. I’ve made the grades and I’ve put in the work. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to become an Auror if I so choose to become one.”
   
“Yes, but people will see your name and not even consider you.”
   
“And who’s fault is that?” I ask turning to look at her now. I was sick of her and her bullshit right now, and I wasn’t about to take any more of this. “Because I believe it was you who wrote all of the anti-werewolf columns for the Ministry. It’s because of you that my father can’t keep a job, and it’s because of you that I won’t get the job that I want. Don’t you blame me or my father for this, when you’re the one who wrote the columns, Headmistress. He didn’t ask to become a werewolf, none of them do. And you can give me all of the detentions you want for losing my temper with you, I don’t care. But I don’t tolerate people putting my family down over things that they have no control over.”
   
I turn and fold my arms over my chest. I will not apologize for losing my cool, and Umbridge knew I was right, so she kept her mouth shut for the rest of the time. Professor Sprout suggested some remedial, low paying jobs that I lied to her when I said that I would consider them. I didn’t want to make things worse for myself by blowing my top again on anyone.
   
As soon as I stepped out of the office, tears threatened to pour out of my eyes so fiercely that I couldn’t control it. I just let them come out. I sat on the floor up against the brick wall and just cried into the sleeves of my robes. I was so upset about this. My father is the best man I have ever known, but he’s in poverty due to the fact that he’s a werewolf. He doesn’t deserve that at all. He was four when he was bitten, it wasn’t his choice. And if people actually studied werewolves, they would know that they’re only dangerous once a month when it’s a full moon. That’s it. It was just so frustrating I couldn’t take it. I felt so bad for him.
   
“Adelaide?” A voice asks, I look up and see Draco staring down at me. “What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Was it Weasley? Did he break up with you? I’ll kill him.”
   
“No, no,” I assure him, “It’s not George.”
   
“Oh,” he says, “what is it then?”
   
“It’s nothing,” I lie and wipe my eyes again.
   
“It doesn’t look like nothing,” says Draco, eyeing me. “But if you don’t want to talk about it I won’t force you.”
   
He starts to walk away, I stop him with two words, “It’s Umbridge,” I say and he turns to look at me again. He steps back over to me, “She insulted my dad in the career advice meeting, and then told me because I’m his daughter people won’t hire me because they’ll think that he passed on being a werewolf to me. Even though I’ve worked my ass off and made top marks every year I’ve been at Hogwarts so far.”
   
Draco sits on the ground next to me. “That’s rubbish, Adelaide. I’m sorry she said that to you.”
   
“Me, a Pureblood witch with top marks in school is destined for bottom of the barrel, low paying jobs and possibly even poverty because my dad was bitten by some psychopathic werewolf when he was four. It’s so unfair.”
   
“Especially because you’re not even a werewolf like he is,” adds Draco.
   
“Exactly,” I say shaking my head.
   
“I see why you’re so upset, I would be too,” he admits. “But listen, between you and me here, my father has told me that people these days are turning against the Ministry. A lot of people believe Harry, and a lot of them don’t agree with Fudge, and they think he should be shut down and replaced. They just won't express it because they don't want to lose their jobs.”
   
“Yeah, well, as long as there are people like our new Headmistress in high power positions there’s never going to be any justice for people like my father,” I scoff. He tried, I’ll give him that, he did try.
   
“Yeah, well, they’re all old and going to die soon,” shrugs Draco, “and then more open minded people will take the spots that they have.”
   
“We couldn’t get that lucky,” I say, looking up at the ceiling of the school. “I should get back to my house,” I say standing. I turn a look at him then, “Take care of yourself, Draco.” And then I turn the other direction and head to Hufflepuff house.
   
A few days after the career advice I didn’t get any kind of punishment for losing my cool on Umbridge during my meeting. It was a nice, warmer late March day when Harry rushed over to Fred and George and asked them to cause a distraction because he needed to talk to Sirius. So they made a plan together. They would cause the distraction so Umbridge would be away from her office and Harry could use her fire to talk to Sirius. We were in Umbridge’s class that next day when we heard the loud boom and the entire class followed her out of the classroom to see what was going on. The twins didn’t tell us what they had planned, but we knew it was going to be big.
   
“What have those idiots done?” Asks Hermione in a very angry tone. We ran over to where they were standing. We all knew Fred and George would be up to something today, but they never told us exactly what they were doing. A swamp was now filling the corridor of the fifth floor’s east wing. Umbridge was frantically trying to get everyone to get away, but no one listened to her. We all just watched as the twins did what they did best; cause mayhem.
   
“Did you come to watch the fun, babe?” Asks George now looking in my direction. I just smile at him. Trying my best not to look like I am as proud of him as I am. As a school Prefect, I should have not let them get away with this kind of behavior, but for this particular situation I think I can make an exception.
   
They were caught rather quickly, of course considering that we were only a floor underneath Umbridge’s office. Umbridge was redder than I have ever seen her before, meaning she was much more angrier than she has ever been before. With her stubby hands on her wide hips, she was fuming. She got George by the arm and Filch grabbed Fred and he handed him off to Umbridge as she said something I couldn’t hear over the commotion.
   
They went with her without putting up a fight, and I knew why. They were done. They were going to drop out of Hogwarts. I could tell. It had to do with whatever it was that Umbridge just told Filch. There was no way they’d be so keen to follow her if they weren’t planning on leaving.
   
“What do you think she’s going to do to them?” Asks Ginny, sounding worried about her brothers.
   
“Filch looked a little too happy,” says Ron, “I hope that doesn’t mean she gave him permission for whippings. He’s been trying to get Fred and George whipped since they started here. Dumbledore always said no.”
   
I was now worried. I hope she didn’t go too hard on them. They deserved to be punished, but I just hope that whatever their plan was to get out of there worked before the punishment got physical. I saw Harry’s hand the first week of school. Umbridge likes her physical punishments.
   
“If she or Filch lays a finger on either one of them I will destroy both of them,” I hiss through my teeth. Jude grabs my hand into hers, trying to keep me calm. About not even five minutes later, however, as we all waited anxiously to see what the twins would do next, we heard a loud crash, sounding like it was from Umbridge’s office. We see the twins riding their brooms overhead of us.
   
George swoops down and stops in front of me in a hover and I run over to him. “Fred and I are leaving, she gave Filch permission to whip us,” he explains, Fred begins to shout over the swamp to everyone.
   
“If anyone fancies a portable swamp, as demonstrated here, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley! Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes! Our new Premises!”
   
“Good luck, I’ll miss you,” I tell George.
   
“I’ll miss you, too, but I’ll see you this summer.” He flashes me that smile that I love so much, “Alright love?” He asks and I can’t take it anymore, I pull him in for a kiss on the lips. I had to kiss him one more time before he was gone from Hogwarts for good. After the kiss, he says goodbye quickly and then he takes off and he’s floating above us once again. They both fly circles around our heads and George calls, “Special Discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they’re going to use our products to get rid of this old bat!” He finished that with a finger pointing at Umbridge.
   
“STOP THEM!” Umbridge screeches, but it was too late. They were too fast for Filch to catch them.
   
The twins started their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Only stopping when they saw Peeves the Poltergeist and Fred tells him, “Give her hell from us, Peeves!”
   
“I love you, Adelaide!” Calls George as he and Fred are almost out of ear shot.
   
“I love you, too, George!” I call back to him, not sure if he can even hear me he’s getting so far away.

________________________
Here's part 22!

The twins had to leave at some point.

And Umbridge can go to hell and stay there.

-Emily Winchester.