The rest of October came and went in the blink of an eye, and November seems to be going by just as fast. As if the stress for the upcoming O.W.L.s and the rest of the term wasn't enough, the introduction to the impossibly unpleasant Dolores Umbridge just seems to top everything off. The Ministry had elected her as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the choice seeming to have everyone's eyebrows raising in question. Something feels off, the Ministry seems to be up to something rather suspicious.
I haven't run into Draco in almost two weeks, he's been avoiding me. I'm not complaining though, my life is so much easier when he's not around. Of course we still play the glancing game during classes, his cold eyes meeting my unamused ones, but he surprisingly hasn't seemed to be around me much anymore. Unless of course he's gotten better at hiding it, but that's not something I want to think about.
Luna and I have been studying for the O.W.L.s together, Hermione catching up with us in the library when she can. She's been busy with prefect meetings, and the boys don't seem to be worried about the upcoming exams at all. They're planning on "winging" it, just like they do with everything else. I don't understand how they seem so unbothered, not taking the exams seriously.
"Hey guys" Hermione says breathless, flinging her bag on the table as she slumps down in the seat to the right of Luna who's sitting across from me.
"Hey" Luna and I say at the same time, smiling as we slide our open books to the side to give Hermione more space.
"How was your meeting?" I ask curiously, observing her disheveled appearance. Her hair is an even wilder curly mess than usual, strands of hair sticking up everywhere. Her tie is nearly undone, her dress shirt untucked under her open robes. I've never seen her stressed out like this before.
"Oh you know, same nonsense different day" She pulls her textbook out of her bag, letting the strap slip out of her hands and thudding to the floor. She sighs, leaning forward slightly to look over at Luna's book before flipping to the same page number to join us in our studies.
She huffs as she slams her palms down on the table on either sides of her book suddenly, catching mine and Luna's attention. We both look up from our books, glancing at each other before our gaze shifts over to Hermione.
"You know what's absolute rubbish? The fact that Malfoy busted Gryffindor again." She huffs again, her right index finger trailing down the page in her book. Luna and I glance at each other again, confused as to what she's referring to.
"What for this time?" I sigh, not surprised at the fact Malfoy was targeting us more than any other house. Her eyes continue skimming the page in front of her, her finger stopping just before the end of the page.
From what I've heard, Malfoy has been causing more harm than good with his prefect privileges. He's constantly busting Gryffindor for some kind of nonsense, making sure he gets house points deducted from us every two seconds. Half the time his reasoning doesn't even seem valid but of course it's his word against any one else's. He's always getting his way, it's highly annoying.
"Oliver Wood's party" she mumbles, flipping the page as her eyes scan the words quickly. Luna and I stare at each other again, furrowing our brows as her words sink in.
"But that's-" I mumble confusedly, Hermione cutting me off. She doesn't bother looking up from her book, her finger still trailing down the margin as she reads.
"Tonight, I know. Supposedly he overheard someone in the hallway talking about it." She looks up at me, sighing. She shrugs her shoulders at me, refocusing her attention back to the potion listed in front of her.
"How bad is the damage this time?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest in annoyance to Malfoy causing trouble yet again.
"Fifteen points. And Wood's got detention with Snape the rest of the week"
