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chapter forty five | alfie

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THE DOOR TO THE ROOM OF REQUIREMENT opened and closed. Kaya looked around to see who had entered, and stood confused for a few seconds until her eyes caught sight of a small house elf tugging at Harry's clothes somewhere near the knee. The brunette exchanged a confused look with Fred, as did many others, when all members of the DA started to fall silent.

The few Patronuses that had been conjured just before the elf entered faded, and Kaya couldn't help but feel the room starting to feel uncomfortably dark.

"Harry Potter, sir..." the elf squeaked, trembling from head to foot. "Harry Potter, sir... Dobby has come to warn you... but the house-elves have been warned not to tell,"

"Warn?" Milo repeated in a small mutter, his brows furrowing. "Warn Harry what?"

The thing was, Kaya could already feel in the pit of her stomach the very thing everyone was dreading was about to happen. Because, when a panicking house elf shows up trembling, and rushes over to Harry Potter to 'warn him', there was only so many options that could be thought of that would matter to Harry, right now. And the option at the very top of the list was Dolores Umbridge finding out about the D.A. It didn't take a seer to know this was it, even before the house elf (who was now charging his head at the wall?) even had the chance to say 'she'.

"Who's 'she', Dobby?"

Did Harry really have to ask?

The elf looked up at him, slightly cross eyed, and mouthed wordlessly.

"Umbridge?"

The house elf nodded, and tried to bang his head on Harry's knees. Harry held him at arm's length.

"Bollocks," said Jaeden.

"Yeah, we've got to go," said Maisie, picking up her bag that had been placed on the floor. Kaya and the rest of her friends did the same.

"What about her? Dobby - she hasn't found out about this - about us - about the DA?"

But, at this point, even Harry knew the answer.

"Is she coming?"

The elf let out a howl.

"Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

There was a pause, where many scrambled to get to the doorway, and others seemed to freeze, completely stunned.

"WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?" Harry bellowed, for some people were still standing motionless, staring with terrified expressions at the house elf. "RUN!"

That was when Kaya apparently became an athlete.

"Fuck this, I'm out of here," she said, as she and her friends began to move swiftly. "Get the door open - I'm off,"

"Go straight to the library," said Milo. "It's not too far, and it'll be better to hide in, rather than running all the way back to the common rooms,"

It was a good job Kaya had smart friends - she hadn't even thought twice about sprinting to anywhere other than the Hufflepuff Common Room (which was ages away, just to add).

Yet, deep down, every one of them knew that no matter wherever they ran to, or if they got away - in the long run, they were absolutely fucked.

Kaya couldn't have been more glad she and Jaeden had never gotten Alfie and Jeremy involved with the D.A.

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BY ORDER OF THE MINISTRY OF MAGIC

Dolores Jane Umbridge (High Inquisitor) has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight

Signed: Cornelius Oswald Fudge, Minister for Magic

"Fuck me," said Jaeden with a sigh. "As if it couldn't get any worse,"

The news had spread of what had happened in the moments Kaya, her friends, and other members of the D.A had been hiding - and, to make a long story short, Dumbledore overtook two Aurors, the High Inquisitor, the Minister of Magic and his Junior Assistant, and had pretty much just ditched the school to escape, leaving behind nothing but a living hell.

It had turned out that a girl in the year below, Marietta Edgecombe, had been the one to snitch on the D.A. (Kaya felt quite bad, after learning this - she may or may not have assumed it'd had been something to do with Diana Silverstone, for no particular reason, in all honesty). But - get this - Hermione had actually enchanted the parchment they'd signed at the beginning of the meetings, and so now Marietta currently had the words 'SNEAK' plastered across her forehead. Genius.

Kaya had not quite had the time to speak to Harry and get the full explanation of what had happened in Dumbledore's office, as she already had so much on her plate, and with the Headmaster gone, she was pretty much treading on eggshells with Umbridge (her and Fred quite clearly breaking Educational Decree Number Thirty-One without a single fuck to give). But she hoped to one day learn of what happened - because right now, all she knows is Dumbledore has disappeared and they're all left to pick up the pieces.

Not to mention the brand new Inquisitorial Squad hand picked by Umbridge was practically replacing those who were Prefects, or even Head Girl and Boy at this point, of whom Umbridge must've still been wondering what to do with, as (luckily) neither Kaya nor Milo had experienced any change to their roles since Dumbledore left.

The Inquisitorial Squad - which was in fact dominated by Slytherins - did have the power to deduct points from both the Prefects and Head Girl and Boy - and they were definitely abusing that power.

Fred and George were taking matters into their own hands, at this point - when Montague attempted docking them both of points, they'd forced him head first into the Vanishing Cabinet on the first floor. God knows where he'd ended up - but it was funny.

"Wanker!" Jaeden had shouted into the cabinet, as if Montague could hear him, before slamming it shut.

"Why do you care?" Maisie had given him a funny look. "Your house is literally thriving at the moment thanks to Team Tossers - you're guaranteed a win at the end of the year, at this point,"

(Oh, and yeah - Maddie Jordan had come up with a new name for the Inquisitorial Squad - Team Tossers. It was now frequently used by many.)

Jaeden had shrugged. "He's still a wanker,"

Of course, when the group had caught up with the golden trio one day, Hermione hadn't been so pleased with the news of what Fred and George had done to Montague.

"But you'll get into terrible trouble!" she said, shocked.

"Not until Montague reappears, and that could take weeks," said Fred, coolly. "Anyway... we've decided we don't care about getting into trouble, anymore,"

"Have you ever?" Hermione asked.

"Course we have," said George. "Never been expelled, have we?"

"We've always known where to draw the line," said Fred. Kaya raised an eyebrow. Truth be told, she'd never thought about it this way, before.

"We might have put a toe across it, occasionally," said George.

"That's an understatement," said Maisie, resulting in George giving her a playful poke in the ribs.

"But we've always stopped short of causing real mayhem," said Fred.

"But now?" said Ron tentatively.

"Well, now-" said George.

"-what with Dumbledore gone-" said Fred.

"-we think a bit of mayhem-" said George.

"-is exactly what our dear new Head deserves," said Fred.

"Right," said a voice, and the group turned to see Maddie strolling up to them, having overheard just the last part of the conversation. "Can't you two just talk in proper sentences? Like we get it, you're twins, you don't have to try and do some weird twin telepathy when you're talking to prove it,"

Kaya laughed.

"Alright, Mads?" Ron said, frowning slightly. "Who shit on your cornflakes this morning?"

"Umbridge, she's driving me mad," the young Jordan said. "She's an evil old woman who does not deserve to live,"

"Don't you worry, Mads," said George, ruffling the girl's hair. Ron shifted uncomfortably, reminding Kaya of the fact that he so apparently had a crush on the girl. She smirked. "We're taking care of her, you'll see,"

"But you musn't!" Hermione whispered. "You really mustn't! She'd love a reason to expel you!"

"...She does have a point," Kaya began quietly, taking the bushy haired girl's words into consideration - however she didn't seem to be heard.

"You don't get it, Hermione, do you?" 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,"

"Anything to do with what?" said Hermione anxiously.

"You'll see," said George. "Run along, now,"

"Sick," Maddie grinned.

"What're you gonna do?" Kaya asked Fred, just as clueless as everyone else about whatever plan the twins had in mind.

"You'll see. See you later, gorgeous," Fred said to Kaya with a wink and a warm smile, placing a soft kiss on her forehead, before disappearing with George down the hallway.

Kaya's heart admittedly sank a little, at the news that Fred was pretty much planning on getting expelled and leaving school (and her) behind. She understood it was probably selfish to think so, but she wondered if he'd even considered the fact that he'd be leaving her behind. School was the last opportunity to piss about before entering the real world, and Kaya had planned on making the most of seeing her favourite people everyday before they all took separate routes of their chosen careers. She hadn't planned on her boyfriend leaving all that behind early. She hadn't planned on him leaving her early...

'Phase One' of Fred and George's plan had turned out to be the release of their very own fireworks over an entire floor. Dragons comprised entirely of green and gold sparks were soaring up and down the corridors, emitting loud fiery blasts and bangs as they went. Shocking-pink Catherine 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 - which had Jaeden cackling as if he were five. Firecrackers were exploding like mines as far as the eye could see, and instead of burning themselves out, fading from sight or fizzling to a halt, these pyrotechnical miracles seemed to be gaining in energy and momentum the longer people seemed to watch.

One of the larger Catherine wheels even ended up whirling towards Umbridge and Filch as they stood transfixed in horror halfway down the staircase. They yelled with fright and ducked, and it soared straight through the window behind them, and across the grounds.

"Hurry, Filch, hurry!" shrieked Umbridge. "They'll be all over the school unless we do something - Stupefy!"

But the spell simply made it all worse. Umbridge and Filch had been surrounded with utter chaos and it couldn't have been done better.

The fireworks continued to burn and to spread all over the school that afternoon. Though they caused plenty of disruption, particularly the firecrackers, the other teachers didn't seem to mind them very much. Umbridge spent her first afternoon as Headmistress running all over the school answering the summonses of the other teachers, none of whom seemed able to rid their rooms of the fireworks without her. Kaya knew they were all lying, but in all honesty - who could blame them?

Everyone knew that if Dumbledore was to resign as Headmaster, it was always supposed to be McGonagall to take his place - not the old cow that was Dolores Umbridge. Kaya and her friends knew fully well that although they tried to hide it, the teachers despised Umbridge just as much as the students did.

Kaya was starting to lose the plot, a little. Perhaps it was because of the time of year, and she was being strongly reminded that this time last year she was sharing her last moments with her former close friend before his death. Perhaps it was because her brother was growing more and more distant. Or perhaps it was because everything on top of her exams was slowly driving her insane.

But, naturally, every little problem met it's end at some point - whether or not it was a good or bad end, it would eventually come to a halt. And the time had come for Kaya to finally learn of what was happening to her little brother.

She'd seen Alfie a few days prior with what looked like a bruise and a cut above his cheek, but he'd assured her he'd merely fallen. Kaya couldn't do anything else, as much as she wanted to. She couldn't keep a close observation on Alfie all day for seven days of the week, it was physically impossible.

Which was why she was grateful for Milo's sudden decision to grab his friends one afternoon and drag them off to the library to do some revision.

"Why are we going to the library?" Fred whined. "Of all the things we could do?"

"Don't ask me, it wasn't my decision," said Kaya.

"Because, we have these things, right," said Milo. "Called exams. And since we're in our last year, that means these are our last exams - and therefore will earn us our qualifications. And once we've left, I'm not listening to you all groan about whatever shitty grade you got because you didn't revise - so, really, I'm doing myself and you a favour,"

Something told Kaya maybe she wasn't the only one stressing.

"Bloody hell, alright Miles," she said.

"Anyways, we don't need to worry about wasting our time," said George. "We've got another surprise, later - a big surprise-"

"Kaya!" A desperate voice called, interrupting George, and the group turned to face a young second year, sprinting towards them with a horrified expression. "Kaya-!" Jeremy exclaimed, panting.

Kaya's facial expression hardened.

"Jer?" Jaeden asked his younger brother with a frown. "What's up?"

Jeremy was left speechless, helplessly panting, unable to force any words to leave his mouth.

"Is it Alf?" Kaya asked, dreading the answer of which her gut was pretty much already screaming was right.

Jeremy nodded. "He's... he's getting... he's..."

"Where?" Jaeden said, his voice matching exactly the same stern tone as Kaya's.

Kaya was Jaeden's sister in every way that wasn't biological. So that made Alfie his little brother in every way that wasn't biological. That was the way it had always been - and always will be.

As soon as Jeremy could bring himself to point to where it was happening, it all seemed to click into place in Kaya's mind. There was a distant commotion a few steps away that she hadn't even thought twice about. There had been a cacophonous rumble of yells that didn't belong to the ordinary school crowd filling the corridors. Something was happening. And her gut knew exactly what.

Alfie.

Kaya saw red.

Her face must've flushed or something because the heat building up inside it felt as though it were about to explode. Her hands found themselves folding into a clenched fist, her nails digging into her palms so harshly they were bound to leave marks afterwards. She could not feel her legs as they began to stride forward, the pace increasing as her body shook rapidly. She could not feel herself moving, yet she was speedily heading towards it all. She could not hear the repeated calls from her friends and her boyfriend, Fred in his own little state of shock just at the sight of his girlfriend in this fixed rage. Her ears were ringing. She didn't see Jaeden moving closest behind her, mirroring her actions with the same firm stance as he marched.

And that was when everything seemed to cut off, in Kaya's mind. Everything apart from Alfie.

So the next couple of things that were about to happen, the girl would later not be able to recall, not exactly.

The girl broke through the crowd in search of her younger brother, and came to find him struggling against a boy Kaya knew too well for his name to already spark a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Fred hadn't quite been able to reach Andrew Edwards the first time, to give him the beating he deserved, long ago. But circumstances had been different, then.

And Kaya wasn't her boyfriend.

Andrew'd had Alfie's neck tightly enclosed in his arm, already having given the boy several more cuts and bruises on the face. Why? Nobody knew, not yet. But why was the last thing on Kaya's mind, right now.

The brunette grabbed the boy by the collar, yanking him towards her, and with all the might and force she could muster into her bony fist, she swung directly into his face.

Perhaps the built up anger that had been lingering inside this girl for weeks was starting to leak. Perhaps it was the reason as to why a girl so small was somehow physically able to fight a boy so tall.

Maisie and Milo were yelling - what they were yelling, exactly, was inaudible. George and Milo were forcing Jaeden back in place. Alfie was backing away, stunned.

Angelina Johnson had to scurry over and help George and Milo hold Jaeden in place, as he continued to shove forwards. Lee was only just arriving at the scene.

Kaya forced her head forwards this time, and smashed it into Andrew's, sending the boy toppling back into the wall. His hands were reaching out, but even when one tightly grasped ahold of Kaya's wrist, she used her other elbow to smash down on his own, breaking herself free.

"HE'S THIRTEEN!" she was screaming. "He's thirteen fucking years old! What the fuck could he have done to you to make his life a living - fucking - hell-"

The anger seemed to rise the more she screamed, and the girl used the thick souls of her shoes to pelt into the boy's shins, until he dropped far enough to the ground to kick him in the stomach.

Kaya couldn't stop.

Her mind was completely empty, nothing but the image of her frightened little brother stuck as the only thing she could see. She couldn't see the damage she was doing. She couldn't hear her friends. She couldn't even hear her Fred.

Her fists were uncontrollable as they continued to thrash and pelt at the Hufflepuff boy, his own swinging back at her but missing by inches. His legs were kicking helplessly, but his vision was completely blurred by Kaya Bennett and her furious overload.

More people were gathering to watch the commotion, now. The crowds were growing bigger, but Kaya was not acknowledging this - nor did she care.

"Kaya, stop!" Maisie cried, her voice trembling.

But Kaya could not stop.

Andrew Edwards had gotten on her bad side at the worst possible time.

And, at some point, whilst giving the boy a beating, the brunette had begun to cry.

So, when the awful woman that was Dolores Umbridge finally used the force of her wand to send the Bennett girl through the air away from Edwards and crashing back into the opposite wall, Kaya was a complete and utter mess.

Not as much of a mess as Andrew Edwards was, though.

When the girl regained her vision (and her sanity), she looked around, ignoring the nameless faces surrounding them but instead looking for those who mattered. Maisie was crying, and it looked as though she had been for a while. Jaeden had seemed to have calmed, his face stone cold yet still with a hint of anger. Angelina still had her hand over his chest, as if he were to storm forward any second. Milo was gazing at Kaya with great sympathy. George and Lee seemed to have been too in shock to function, gaping at the girl with wide eyes. And Fred?

Well, Fred must've had some kind of malfunction, because he was frozen, as if he'd been filled to the brim with too many emotions at once it had caused his senses to shut down on him.

Andrew Edwards had a bloodied face, an expression of horror, and a broken nose - and probably many more wounds that weren't visible to the public eye.

"Miss Bennett," said Umbridge, her voice shaking with fury and disbelief. "I have never seen such - such..." even she seemed to be lost for words. "I warned you about keeping your badge and your role. And I'm afraid that this-"

"Oh, have your badge, stupid bitch," Kaya spat. Her voice was tired and hoarse. Her cheeks were rosy and tear stained, and her body was still shaking rapidly. One of her hands (which was already starting to bruise) reached her jumper and unclipped the golden badge pinned to her uniform, before effortlessly tossing it at the pink lady's feet.

Umbridge was red in the face, almost as red as Kaya, in fact, as she stood in complete shock.

"We will discuss this in my office, later, Miss Bennett. I will not forget this,"

"You can't punish her!" Jaeden yelled.

"Jae-" Angelina muttered in an attempt to stop him making matters worse.

"He was beating a second year!" The Slytherin boy continued to bellow. "She was giving him what he deserved!"

"And you will be joining her, Mr Ezra," Umbridge added, before gesturing to Edwards curled up on the floor. "Now... someone get this boy to the hospital wing,"

And she turned to walk away, her heels clicking against the stone floor as she did so.

Kaya's eyes were still streaming when Fred came over to help her up. He gently lifted her from under her arms onto her feet, before wrapping her in a hug. It was the best sense of security anyone could offer her - it felt as though he was holding her - it might've been Kaya's most favourite feeling in the world, being wrapped up in his arms.

And it was at this point she broke into real sobs.

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A/N: So... angry Kaya??