chapter eightﾠ✶ ﾠeducational decree.

LAYLA WAS SURE RON NEEDED A BIT SO THAT MAYBE HE COULD ASK HER TO BE HIS GIRLFRIEND... RIGHT?

⠀⠀She was afraid he thought he didn't need to ask, because after that strange day they had been frequenting each other as usual, kissing from time to time and treating each other better than before. She wasn't very mellow, and evidently neither was he, so in that aspect the two of them complemented each other perfectly. Added to the fact that he still didn't know that she was the girl of the letters, she was afraid to formalize it and didn't know how to tell him... Would he take it badly? Would he care too much? She knew that once the boy had tried to discover her while watching the girls do their homework (not discreet at all), not to mention the fact that she cast a spell to modify her handwriting.

⠀⠀Anyway, she was scared, or rather, terrified.

⠀⠀By the following Saturday, Layla had had to act as girlfriend-not-girlfriend to support Ron with the outcome of the quidditch match that day, especially since they had gone against Hufflepuff and she had had to be on both sides: on the one hand, supporting the redhead with his distrust and trying to get him to ignore the Slytherin boos, as well as Megan, who told her that if she saw more support for the lions than for her she would put her to sleep on the floor. 

⠀⠀The best thing that could be said about that match was that it was short, the Gryffindor spectators only had to endure twenty-two minutes of martyrdom. It wasn't easy to decide what had been the worst, but she thought it was Ron's fourteenth missed save, the moment when Sloper missed the bludger and instead hit Angelina in the mouth with the bat, and the spectacle of Kirke screeching and falling backwards off his broom when Zacharias Smith came whizzing towards him with the quaffle. The miracle was that Gryffindor only lost by ten points: Ginny managed to catch the snitch when the ball was under the nose of Summerby, the Hufflepuff seeker, so the final score was two hundred and forty to two hundred and thirty. 

⠀⠀She was dismayed, because even though they had won, her best friend was furious at the bad behavior of Smith and the others, causing them to almost lose; on the second zero that she stepped on the firm ground of the field, she threw her broom and stormed out of there. It seemed that at any moment she would explode and cause everything to go to shit, Wayne said beside her as he carefully climbed down from the stands. The brown-haired boy went off to find the girl before Fred could try, and she to Ron.

⠀⠀"You did well," Layla murmured to the boy, who stood on the shore of the Black Lake throwing stones in annoyance as if there was nothing better to do. Evidently there wasn't, which was why she was there supporting him.

⠀⠀"I was terrible," he muttered, tossing another stone as it skipped in the water. She leaned her head on his shoulder, and sighed.

⠀⠀"It's not true, honey, you did well," she tried to believe it too: she was sure it was extraordinary, he just didn't believe it yet.

⠀⠀Probably if Hufflepuff had beaten Slytherin or Ravenclaw she would have taken him to the party that was surely at its point in her common room, celebrating; but she wasn't able to, because it had been against his team and that would make Ron feel worse. Besides, thanks to the pleasant experience they had both had the previous Saturday, she were sure that the last thing they were thinking about was going to a party. They had had to make Harry swear not to say anything about everything they did that day, because after he had found them they had to explain to him their long and tedious odyssey just to find Ron's wand, which to top it off had been in his room the whole time.

⠀⠀"Just... hug me."

⠀⠀Layla couldn't help but blush heavily at how Ron acted like a little boy, and already lying in a tree with him on one side, she hugged him tightly, smelling his signature scent of freshly cut grass, new parchment and toothpaste. She truly adored him, and though she didn't know what Ron would want to do for the next few hours (since they couldn't be there all the time), she would follow him.

⠀⠀She didn't care: if she was with him, everything was perfect.

⠀⠀The few days passed and on Monday at breakfast he watched as a pile of mail arrived for Harry. She remembered that he had had an interview with Rita Skeeter in The Quibbler, hence why they were with Hermione last week at the Three Broomsticks Inn, and she was glad for that. Luna Lovegood had told her in the corridors that she was anxious for people on the outside to read it and show their support (or not) towards the dark-haired boy.

⠀⠀"Now why is Harry so in demand?" Asked Megan as she sipped her juice, and waited for the brunette's answer together with Wayne, who also looked at her with curiosity.

⠀⠀She told them in a few words what had happened, and they were both very interested and supportive of him. Needless to say, if Wayne's family saw him plotting against Umbridge and supporting Harry they would kick him out of the house (something she sensed would happen sooner rather than later).

⠀⠀"Oh, oh," the boy interrupted the conversation that his best friends were beginning to have, and pointed towards the Gryffindor table, "apparently Umbridge isn't so happy about that."

⠀⠀The Hufflepuff frowned as she watched the pink toad snatch The Quibbler from Harry and, after surely punishing him or lowering his points, she stormed away from there towards the outside of the Great Hall. Many eyes had gone to them, and she felt like approaching them to chat, but she didn't. 

⠀⠀Layla sometimes felt that, even if all the lions received her well, she was left over. Their talks were usually interrupted by her arrival, and she felt bad, not because they wouldn't tell her what they were talking about (since she had no business meddling in that), but because, even if Ron tried to bring her into the conversation, they were topics unknown to her and private to Harry, Hermione, and the Weasleys. She adored the redhead for the simple fact that he made her feel welcome, even if she wasn't always.

⠀⠀She smiled without thinking, and her gaze wandered to her plate of food, wiggling it with false curiosity and not looking back at the Gryffindor table: there might be time for them to tell her about that later, but that was not the time.

⠀⠀The funniest thing was undoubtedly when in the middle of the morning huge signs appeared all over the school, not only on the bulletin boards, but also in the corridors and in the classrooms, announcing the new mandate of the 'High Inquisitor', which strictly forbade the possession of the magazine and, in case of not obeying the order, to be expelled. 

⠀⠀Layla thought that this measure was too much, and that it was completely stupid that a student could be expelled from school just for reading it. At the same time, though, she loved it, because thanks to the many advertisements (even though she hadn't seen a single piece of The Quibbler in the whole school), the students were talking to each other about the interview. She overheard them whispering as they waited in line to enter the classrooms, and they talked about it at lunchtime and during lessons. Moreover, when she and Hermione went into the toilets, before the Study of Ancient Runes class they shared together, they overheard some girls talking about it, and they even bombarded the lioness with questions.

⠀⠀People were beginning to believe.

⠀⠀Meanwhile, Professor Umbridge was going around the school stopping students at random, demanding that they empty their pockets and show her their books. Layla knew that what she was looking for was copies of The Quibble, but the students were ahead of her: they had bewitched the pages of Harry's interview to look like textbook fragments in case someone other than themselves read them, or had magically erased them, and were waiting for the right moment to read them. Before long it seemed as if the entire student body had read the interview.

⠀⠀And to say that the days were passing so fast that she couldn't assimilate them was true. Suddenly, Professor Trewlaney had been fired from her position as Divination teacher, and thanks to Dumbledore she was still living in the castle, being replaced by a centaur named Firenze, who looked very serious and wise. She partly regretted not having taken that subject, but the reality was that she disliked it, and in her mind was anything but the noble art of Divination, as she once heard Trewlaney say.

⠀⠀Whatever she had with Ron was unique, and it was that they were hanging out more and more (if that was possible) sneaking everywhere and spending time together. And while she couldn't say for sure if he was thinking of asking her to be his girlfriend, she was sure that their sort of relationship was serious, since he said she was 'his girl'. From what Ginny told her, he had already told her mom about her, but she didn't know precisely what words he had used to describe her. She got nervous every time the two of them were alone, whether it was in the kitchens, in their common rooms, the courtyard or near the Great Lake, thinking that maybe that would be the day.

⠀⠀It was clear that it was not yet the day.

⠀⠀Megan and Wayne had proposed that she ask him, and she had to admit that she didn't dislike the idea at all. The only obstacle to that was that she was too embarrassing that she wouldn't know if she could do it without making a fool of herself, saying words she shouldn't, or regretting it at the last minute. Ron deserved more than that, and it was still a 'we'll see'.

⠀⠀Maybe she would, maybe she wouldn't. Guys were very depositional, and clearly Ron topped that list, so as the weeks went by, that idea seemed less and less far-fetched to her.

⠀⠀She almost did it on his birthday, the first of March, because that day Ron had been in a strange mood, in which he didn't want to leave his common room, causing Layla to have to go looking for him to give him his present. She had gotten an autographed jersey of all the players of his favorite Quidditch team (Chudley Cannons) thanks to Megan, as a distant uncle of hers knew a player. In addition, she also brought lots of food and candy in a huge box.

⠀⠀"He's lying down, I think," Harry warned her, leading her over there, though she already knew where it was from the time of the hangover, when she went to the twins' room, "but I'm sure he'll take you well."

⠀⠀She bit her lip nervously and felt her palms sweat; she dried them quickly before seeing him, because she didn't want to hug him with wet hands. She held the box thanks to a spell, and just watched as Harry stopped in front of the door.

⠀⠀"Aren't you going to accompany me?" She asked nervously, and the dark-haired boy smilingly shook his head.

⠀⠀"He wants to see you, not me."

⠀⠀She rolled her eyes, and at Harry's mocking look, knocked on the door. The dark-haired boy walked away.

⠀⠀"Who is it?" Ron asked from inside. She hesitated to answer.

⠀⠀"Layla!"

⠀⠀Not five seconds passed and the redhead opened the door, blushing. She smiled, and nervously entered the room without waiting for his invitation, her gift floating. When he closed the door she pounced on him, hugging him tightly.

⠀⠀"Happy birthday!" She exclaimed, pulling away and kissing him on the lips. At first Ron was surprised at how quickly that happened, but he ended up reciprocating the kiss and hugging her anyway.

⠀⠀Damn zoo, Layla thought as she broke away from him and saw a big smile on his face.

⠀⠀"Thank you," he murmured, giving her another short kiss.

⠀⠀"I brought you a little present..." She began, taking him by the hand and leading him to her bed. She made him sit down, and she did the same in front of him, placing the box between them. "I hope you like it."

⠀⠀"You didn't need to give me anything," Ron said embarrassed and blushing, slowly opening the gift.

⠀⠀"Oh, of course I needed to. You deserve that and more," she smiled at him.

⠀⠀She remembered that awkward talk about their birthdays two weeks earlier. Layla's birthday was June 1, and when he said his date, she had to pretend she'd just learned that fact: she'd discovered it in second year.

⠀⠀Ron finished opening it, and after looking at the pile of candy on top, he saw that there was another box underneath it all. He looked curiously at the girl, who was just smiling, and lowered the big box to the floor to open the smaller one. Those little minutes when he was opening it very carefully felt much longer, and she longed mightily for him to see his present already.

⠀⠀"You shouldn't have," the redhead muttered under his breath, carefully pulling out the shirt and looking at it as if it were a complete treasure. Layla smiled big and blushed.

⠀⠀"It's the least you deserve, I told you," she repeated.

⠀⠀He was still admiring the shirt, and his gaze went from her to Layla every ten seconds, still open-mouthed.

⠀⠀"I have no words," he concluded, his face white. She wanted to laugh at his surprised attitude, but she didn't want to ruin the moment, so she just kept quiet and smiled.

⠀⠀After a couple of minutes of surprise, Ron reacted and hugged Layla again, taking her by surprise and causing them to almost fall to the ground. She laughed at that.

⠀⠀"I like you a lot, and really thank you for everything you do," he told her when they were both calmer. Ron had made them both lie down on his bed and eat sweets.

⠀⠀"I like you too, you know that," she whispered warmly, and hugged him.

⠀⠀"What do you say we stay like this for the rest of the day?" He proposed, biting into a slice of pumpkin pie. "I think it's an excellent idea, don't you?"

⠀⠀"I think you couldn't have picked a better idea."

⠀⠀The grayish month of March gave way to a blustery April, and Layla's life seemed to have once again become one long series of worries and love problems, as it did every year. It looked like Harry and Hermione were hinting to Ron about asking her to be his girlfriend, but there wasn't that much progress.

⠀⠀Meanwhile, the OWLs were getting closer and closer, something the teachers and Hermione (without fail) kept reminding the students about. All the fifth years were more or less stressed, but Hannah Abbott was the first to receive a calming potion from madam Pomfrey, after bursting into tears during Herbology class and claiming, between sobs, that she was too stupid to pass the exams and wanted to leave the school as soon as possible. Megan was about to throw an Aguamenti at her the day she had a nightmare in her sleep and woke her up, because it seemed like she would have a panic attack at any moment.

⠀⠀Moreover, she was convinced that, had it not been for the DA meetings, she would have been terribly unhappy. Sometimes she had the feeling that she only lived for the hours she spent in the Room of Requirement and with Ron. She worked hard there, but at the same time she had a lot of fun and took great pride in watching the other members of the DA and seeing how much progress they had made. She was one of the best, and loved watching Neville mastering all the spells better and better; she understood perfectly how Harry must feel.

⠀⠀They had finally started working on Patronus charms, and although it had taken Layla a while to get it, it turned out to be a badger, much to the amusement of many classmates.

⠀⠀"And you said you weren't a Hufflepuff through and through!" Megan scoffed as her dachshund-shaped Patronus ran off to chase Fred's magpie. He gave her an annoyed look, though she didn't mind.

⠀⠀"I am not!" She exclaimed laughing. Ron's Jack Russell Terrier dog came to Layla's side and looked at her wagging his tail. She blushed and her badger moved closer to it as they seemed to play.

⠀⠀"Mine is the best," said Wayne, pointing to his Patronus. The brunette's gaze went to him, and she could see a small squirrel running around.

⠀⠀At that moment the door to the Room of Requirement opened and closed again. Layla looked around, but saw no one. It took her a moment to notice that her classmates standing near the door (as well as her) had gone quiet. She noted that all eyes were on Harry, more specifically much more the floor. She did so, and was surprised to see Dobby, the house elf, staring at him from under the eight woolen hats he wouldn't take off even to sleep. She looked at Ron, he looked at her, and they slowly approached towards them.

⠀⠀"Hello, Dobby!" He heard Harry exclaim. "What are you doing? What's the matter?"

⠀⠀The elf was staring at him with wild eyes; he was trembling with fear. The DA members closest to Harry had become mute and were all staring at Dobby. The few Patronus the students had managed to get dissolved into a silvery mist, and the room was much darker than before.

⠀⠀"Harry Potter, sir..." Shrieked the elf, who was shaking from head to toe. "Harry Potter, sir... Dobby has come to warn you..., but the house elves have been warned not to tell..."

⠀⠀He threw his head against the wall. Thanks to Wayne, she knew that habit, and it was that he was trying to self-punish. Harry tried to pin him down, but the elf bounced off the stone, protected by his eight hats. Layla and some of the girls let out screams of fear and grief.

⠀⠀"What happened, Dobby?" Harry asked as he grabbed him by the slender arm and pulled him away from anything he might try to hurt himself with.

⠀⠀"Harry Potter, she..., she..."

⠀⠀Dobby hit his nose hard with his free fist and Harry held it as well.

⠀⠀"Who is 'she', Dobby?"

⠀⠀The elf raised his head, looked at him squinting slightly and moved his lips, but without articulating a sound.

⠀⠀"Professor Umbridge?" Asked Harry, horrified. Dobby nodded, then tried to bang his head against Harry's knees, but Harry reached out and held his arms away from his body. "What about her, Dobby? Are you implying that she's discovered this..., that we..., the DA?" As Harry continued to hold his hands, Dobby tried to kick himself and fell to his knees on the floor. "Is she coming this way?" Harry asked quickly. Dobby let out a yelp and exclaimed: "Yes, Harry Potter, yes."

⠀⠀So many things were going through Layla's mind, she just hoped they wouldn't find them. It would be horrible if, after so many months of practicing and discovering new things, they were caught. She cursed Umbridge and her group of students who only wanted extra points (all from Slytherin).

⠀⠀Harry straightened up and glanced at them.

⠀⠀"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" He shouted. "RUN!"

⠀⠀Then they all shot out the door, forming a mob, and began to rush out of the room. Layla quickly swept her hair behind her ear and only saw Ron grab her hand and run out of there, heading towards the Library, which was the closest thing. Her feet were moving as if she had no control over them, and quickly her oxygen began to fail her, causing her to run a bit slowly, but thanks to him not stopping and seeming to be in much better condition than her, he held her tightly and they kept walking until they reached the place. They quickly sat down at the usual table, in front of some attentive looks from a couple of students who were nearby, but which they quickly ignored.

⠀⠀She might have broken many rules throughout her five years at Hogwarts, but she never expected that she would get to this point of having to run from a woman who could resemble the Headmaster of the school, let alone that she would be seconds away from being caught. Her breathing was like crazy and she bet her cheeks were very red from so much effort; she could assure that she had never run so hard in her life.

⠀⠀"That was... close," she mumbled with difficulty thanks to her dry throat. She swallowed dryly and leaned her head back in her arms, which were on the table. Ron leaned against her shoulder, and sighed.

⠀⠀"I hope nobody got caught," said the red-haired boy, with an obvious tone of concern. She understood him, and just hoped that everyone had managed to find a place to hide, including Megan and Wayne, who she saw running in the opposite direction from them.

⠀⠀"Can you imagine what would have become of us if Dobby hadn't arrived?" She asked, trying to joke. "For Helga's sake, we'd probably be in Dumbledore's office right now, being expelled..."

⠀⠀"My mom would kill me if that ever happened," she could tell he was grateful, and she understood. She remembered when he had told her that she had basically threatened him not to get involved in anything illegal.

⠀⠀"I'm sure my parents wouldn't kill me... but I would want to do it with myself. Imagine, a muggle daughter and expelled, ha, I'd still be a muggle in short."

⠀⠀"We would most likely be the unhappiest," Ron finished for her, mockingly. She laughed with him.

⠀⠀"Should we leave now?" She asked, taking off the position she had before and placing herself in front of the red-haired boy. "I want to look for them, but I'm afraid that if I do it will be worse and we'll get caught. "

⠀⠀In the end they stayed there for another hour, pretending they were looking for a couple of books for Study of Ancient Runes, even though he didn't take that subject. They pretended to be preoccupied with homework under the watchful eye of Madame Prince, who didn't seem to believe them much, but ended up doing so.

⠀⠀When she reached her common room she was glad to find Megan and Wayne there waiting for her. She was able to let out the air she had been holding in and sighed, thankful they hadn't been caught. She smiled and walked over to them, hugging them.

⠀⠀"I swear I begged hard for you not to get caught... Where did you go?" She asked them, sitting down on the single armchair in front of them.

⠀⠀"You won't believe it," Megan muttered, laughing and blushing. That surprised Layla, but she let her keep talking. "I had to lock myself in a bloody closet with Fred, and all thanks to that stupid Parkinson chasing me almost all the way down the hall to stop me... It was a relief that he was there and saved me, but well, I guess that's all I can tell."

⠀⠀She wanted to ask more, but from the look on her best friend's face, her nervousness and her blush, she decided it was better not to. Then, they both looked at Wayne, who was also very flushed and avoided making eye contact with both of them.

⠀⠀"I, uh..." He began, rambling. Megan gave him a dirty look, and at that he continued. "Well, I ran into Theo..., he let me go."

⠀⠀Layla knew that at that moment she put on a stupid grin, and along with the blonde, went over to hug the boy and squeal excitedly.

⠀⠀In the last five years his contact with Theodore Nott had been almost nil, not to say that they had never engaged in conversation again since Wayne had been selected Hufflepuff. Still, she knew that the Slytherin wasn't mean, and she could tell that because he never offended or criticized those of the other houses, but rather just went about being in his own world, paying no attention to other people. She hoped that someday his best friend would have the courage to talk to him.

⠀⠀As if the world had agreed to ruin her day, when she was about to go to sleep with Megan, they saw a sign appear on the bulletin board, a new decree.

⠀⠀And so the posters naming Umbridge the new headmistress had appeared around the school overnight, but that didn't explain how it was possible that everyone, except no one in the castle, knew that Dumbledore had outwitted two aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister of Magic and his junior assistant, and had escaped.

⠀⠀Wherever she went, Layla found that the only topic of conversation was Dumbledore's escape, and although some of the details had been changed by retelling (she overheard one second-year student assuring another that Fudge was in St. Mungo's Hospital with a pumpkin for a head), it was surprising how accurate the rest of the information they had was. Everyone knew, for example, that Harry and Marietta had been the only students to witness the scene in Dumbledore's office, but since Marietta was in the infirmary, Harry was besieged by his classmates, who were asking for a firsthand account.

⠀⠀She was grateful that when she approached the golden trio earlier that day, the dark-haired boy devoted himself to telling her the truth, one that as far as she could tell, he told almost no one.

⠀⠀Apparently, he had put them to sleep for a couple of seconds, talked to Harry and left, leaving only Professor McGonagall and him awake. Ron was nervous, and although ahe didn't understand why, it must have been the fact that at any moment they could call his mom.

⠀⠀When the talk was over, she headed back to her chat (but not before kissing Ron goodbye with a chaste kiss) and made her way to her table, where Megan and Wayne were motioning for her to hurry up.

⠀⠀"What's the matter?" She asked both of them, sitting down next to them. Megan was quick to answer.

⠀⠀"The Fat Friar told us that last night Professor Umbridge tried to enter the Headmaster's office after searching for Dumbledore in every corner of the castle and gardens, but the gargoyle would not budge from the door. The office had been locked to keep her out," she smirked. "Apparently, she threw a frightful tantrum."

⠀⠀"Apparently that woman still doesn't understand how things are at Hogwarts," Wayne laughed, "and I'd love to see how she acts now, because no one respects her."

⠀⠀With a short exchange of words about Megan having forgotten her quill and ink in her common room, they got up from the table and headed toward the exit of the Great Hall.

⠀⠀"The twins told me they have an idea against Umbridge," the blonde whispered to them, smiling, "and I just hope it works."

⠀⠀"Who deserves what, Hopkins?" Asked a haughty voice.

⠀⠀When they both turned, they saw Draco Malfoy smirking self-satisfiedly, along with Crabbe, Goyle, and behind them were Zabini and Theodore. The Hufflepuff was silent, and not so much because he was about to probably be punished, but because the boy he liked was watching him curiously, though it didn't show.

⠀⠀"Mind your own business, Malfoy," Layla snapped back at him with an annoyed tone. The blond laughed.

⠀⠀"Look how your warning made me feel!" He exclaimed and pretended his hand was shaking, then laughed. "Maybe I should lower your points... Anyway, we're also part of the Inquisitorial Squ..."

⠀⠀"The what?" Megan repeated curiously, but without her threatening tone. Needless to say, Malfoy was indeed intimidated by her, but he avoided looking at her and answered.

⠀⠀"The Inquisitorial Squad, Jones," Malfoy repeated, and pointed to a tiny, silver 'I' and 'S' on his robes beneath his prefect badge. "A select group of students supporting the Ministry of Magic, carefully selected by Professor Umbridge. The members of the Inquisitorial Squad have the authority to deduct points from everyone, including prefects... So, Wayne, ten points off for blood traitor. Jones, I'll deduct you five for being overbearing, and Dunnet, ten for being a mudblood."

⠀⠀Megan, furious, pulled out her wand, but Layla, even though she wanted to hit Malfoy, pushed her away and whispered: "Hold still, Meg!"

⠀⠀"A very prudent attitude, Dunnet," Malfoy muttered. "New headmistress, new rules... Behave yourselves."

⠀⠀And with that said, he walked away laughing loudly with Crabbe and Goyle. Theodore gave Wayne a not inconspicuous look and walked quickly away from there with a curious Zabini, who even turned and waved goodbye, mockingly.

⠀⠀"I hate them," Megan muttered, putting away her wand and striding back to her common room. It seemed like she would burst into sparks at any moment.

⠀⠀"That makes two of us," said the brown-haired man, snorting, perhaps thinking of the snake boy.

⠀⠀"I guess I don't need to say that I do too," Layla added at last, shaking her head and keeping pace with her friends. She hated Malfoy, but not as much as she hated Peter White and Roger Malone.

⠀⠀Amid bad words from Megan, surprised from Wayne and frustrated sighs from Layla, they went on their way, and it took them no more than ten minutes to get to and from the common room to head to their next class. What they certainly didn't expect to find was an immense commotion on the floor.

⠀⠀Someone (and she had a pretty good idea who it was) had set off what looked like a huge crate of enchanted fireworks. Dragons composed of green and gold sparks flitted through the corridors, sending off flashes and producing powerful explosions ; phosphor pink gyroscopes five feet in diameter whizzed by like flying saucers; rockets with long tails of glittering silver stars bounced off the walls; flares spelled out swear words in the air; firecrackers exploded like mines everywhere she looked, and instead of burning out and going out little by little, those pyrotechnic miracles seemed to gain more and more power and energy.

⠀⠀Filch and Professor Umbridge stood petrified in the middle of the staircase. As the three of them watched the spectacle, one of the larger gyriandulas apparently decided that what it needed was more room to maneuver, and went spinning around to where Professor Umbridge and the janitor were standing, emitting an ominous 'Iiiiiiiuuuuu!'. They both screamed in fear and ducked, and the gyrophone flew out of the window behind them and into the gardens. 

⠀⠀Meanwhile, several dragons and a huge purple bat, smoking menacingly, took advantage of an open door at the end of the corridor to escape through it to the second floor.

⠀⠀"Run, Filch, run!" Professor Umbridge shouted. "If we don't do something, they'll scatter all over the school! Desmaius!"

⠀⠀A jet of red light shot out from the end of her wand and landed on one of the rockets. Instead of standing still in mid-air, it exploded with such force that it blew a hole in the painting of a goofy-looking witch portrayed in the middle of a meadow; the witch ran for cover just in time, and appeared a few seconds later squeezed into the painting next door, where a couple of card-playing wizards quickly got up to make room for her.

⠀⠀"Don't stun them, Filch!" Shouted Professor Umbridge angrily, as if the incantation had been uttered by him.

⠀⠀"As you say, madam!" Exclaimed the janitor, who being a squib would never have been able to stun those fireworks. Ron had told her about it on one of their trips to the kitchens where, on returning to their common rooms, they had almost been caught. He ran to a nearby cupboard, pulled out a broom and began to hit the fireworks with it. A few seconds later, the front of the broom was on fire.

⠀⠀That evening the fireworks continued to burn and spread around the school. Although they caused serious disruption, especially the firecrackers, the other teachers didn't seem to care much.

⠀⠀"Wow!" Exclaimed Professor McGonagall sarcastically as one of the dragons entered her classroom and flew around in circles and let out loud pops and flares. "Miss Brown, would you mind going to the Headmistress's office and informing her that a dragon has escaped and entered our classroom?"

⠀⠀The result of that ruckus was that Professor Umbridge spent her first afternoon as Headmistress running around the school and going to the calls of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to chase the fireworks out of their classrooms without her help.

⠀⠀As the final bell rang and they walked back towards their common room with their bags, Layla watched with immense satisfaction as Professor Umbridge, completely disheveled and covered in soot, staggered and sweating out of Professor Flitwick's classroom. The latter thanked her, mockingly, saying that she had to be the one to take care of the whole thing.

⠀⠀"I'm sure Umbridge must be in her office cursing all of us!" Wayne said as he sat down at a table in the corner of the common room, while they were both doing a potions essay. Layla couldn't help but laugh as she imagined that scene, which she would no doubt pay many galleons to see.

⠀⠀"Oh, I just hope she leaves as soon as possible and Dumbledore returns," she added with a touch of sadness. Hogwarts wasn't the same without him.

⠀⠀"If it makes you feel any better," said the brown-haired boy, and looked her straight in the eyes, more serious than before, "remember that in second year he didn't last outside at all. We all know that Hogwarts is amazing thanks to him. It won't take the Ministry long to realize that it's nothing without his help."

⠀⠀"But they still don't believe, Hop," she muttered with annoyance, glancing sideways at Zacharias Smith, who was laughing along with his group of friends, "and if they don't, there's no way they'll allow Dumbledore to return. Besides, remember they don't even know where he is."

⠀⠀"As long as there is one person in the school who believes in him, he will remain here," he said with the same tone the director used when he said powerful phrases, like that one, that he once said years before.

⠀⠀"I hate to say you're right, but you are."

⠀⠀Wayne smirked and laughed, continuing his essay with ease.

⠀⠀Layla couldn't help but wonder what his friend was thinking, because after the last few days in which he had met Thedore Nott many more times than all five years together, she knew it had caused something in him. She knew he was in love with him, a similar case to her, but, on the contrary, the Slytherin boy would be much harder to deal with, and not because he wasn't nice, but because after so many years of ignoring him, why would he be any different now? Sometimes she liked the fact that his best friend liked boys, because they could talk in general, as they were very complicated, as she had managed to guess since she had met Ron Weasley.

⠀⠀"What do you think?" Megan asked, sitting down next to her and shoving some chips into her mouth. Layla blinked back to reality and looked at her.

⠀⠀"I thought about what Hop might be thinking."

⠀⠀This caused him to raise his head and look at them quizzically.

⠀⠀"Why?"

⠀⠀"Oh, you know," the brunette replied, stealing a chip from her friend, "about that snake. You should do something like me and send him letters or something."

⠀⠀"I'm not as corny as you, Lay," Wayne scoffed. "I wouldn't be able to. I'm still surprised Megan went along with the idea and sent love notes to Fred."

⠀⠀"In my defense," the blonde spoke, smiling self-sufficiently, "she didn't force me, I did it on my own. But you well know it worked, so I don't see the problem here."

⠀⠀"I loved the fireworks, do they sell them?" Wayne asked, changing the subject. Surely he didn't want to be forced to reject his best friends' idea of talking to the blond.

⠀⠀"Actually, I come from the Gryffindor common room," she replied with a laugh, "and well, sort of. From what I've been told, it's the 'Weasleys' Wildfire Whiz-bangs'... And the only problem is that they used up all their stock so now they'll have to start over from scratch. But, 'it was worth it'," Fred's voice mimicked. "There is a waiting list..., the Basic Blaze Box is worth five galleons, and the Deflagration Deluxe, twenty... And according to them 'it's all free for me' before they leave, so you should place your orders in my name..."

⠀⠀"What do you mean, they're leaving?" Layla repeated curiously, straightening up and paying much more attention to Megan.

⠀⠀"Oh, it turns out they are waiting to be expelled..."

⠀⠀"Expelled?!" Wayne exclaimed in amazement. The blonde nodded.

⠀⠀"They do not plan to finish school."

⠀⠀Layla looked carefully at Megan. The girl at first glance seemed to be amused by the situation, and she must have been happy about the fame they were making with their prank articles, but at the same time she knew she was sad. It was the twins' last year, anyway, but she must have thought she still had a couple more months with Fred, and from one day to the next they turned into days, at most a couple of weeks. She imagined she must feel terrible, even if she didn't show it.

⠀⠀"And... are you all right, Meg?" Asked the chestnut calmly. The blonde grimaced and shrugged her shoulders.

⠀⠀"I guess."

⠀⠀"But you could see each other in Hogsmeade, couldn't you?" Wayne suggested carefully. Again she shrugged.

⠀⠀"We're nothing, guys," she ran a hand over her eye, rubbing it, "and you should know better. This whole year was strange for both of us, but I can only confirm that, even though that idiot Fred broke my heart last year, I still love him, and I know he does it too."

⠀⠀"And why don't you tell him?" Layla spoke up, seeing the sad look on her friend's face. "Make the most of the last few days, Meg. Do it if you love him."

⠀⠀Many times the blonde wouldn't take advice, as she was skeptical of that, but now she had to heed them. If she knew she had a couple of days or weeks with Ron, she would do her best to enjoy them to the fullest, and she would surely ask him to be her boyfriend; and although Megan wasn't her in any of those aspects, she hoped she would act from the heart.

⠀⠀"I'll think about it."

⠀⠀She wasn't very pleased with her answer, but she knew it would be the most she would get from her, so she just smiled at her and hugged her. Wayne, though he was very cold and teasing to the blonde, did the same and came over to wrap them both in a big hug.

⠀⠀Best friends were the ones who would always be there, through thick and thin. That was something Layla Dunnet was very clear about.