I felt like I was slithering through the hallways in the Ministry of Magic. I had no idea why I was here, or what i was even looking at. It was like a door with a big golden knob on it. My name echoed alongside Harry's and I tried to fight the voice, knowing exactly who it belonged too. Voldemort. Suddenly it was like he was there in front of me with his hand outstretched. I jumped and woke in bed, a cold sweat covering me. It was just another nightmare. Most of the room was cleared out, besides Hermione. She gave me a soft smile and I tried to give her one back. I could tell she was biting her tongue not to ask about the dream.

"So, what happened last night? You came back in to bed late." Hermione asked as we headed to class, with Harry and Ron by our side.

    "Nothing important." I shook my head. "Just went up to the Astronomy Tower to get some air."

    "What had you all upset?" Ron asked curiously. "You seemed fine after you left, until you came back raging mad again."

    "I wasn't raging." I scoffed at him.

    "You were." Harry nodded in agreement. "Someone else peeve you off about, being a liar, like Seamus?"

    "It was Lavender." Hermione explained.

    "Yeah, walked in to my bedroom, everything went quiet. Lavender decided to open her ugly mouth and say that I was basically an attention seeking princess who was lying about everything." I growled at the thought as her words rang through my head again.

"So, Ginny and I jumped in after Livy, here, tried to go after her. I told her to shut her big fat mouth and so did Ginny. We tried to get Liv to leave the room, but she fought us. When we finally did she screamed at us and left in a hurry." Hermione said with a frown. "I want you both to know that Ron and I understand you're going through something, that we can't understand. But we'd appreciate it if you stopped jumping down our throats. In case you haven't noticed, Olivia and Harry. We are on your side."

Harry and I both opened our mouths to speak, but gave ourselves a moment and then looked at them both apologetically.

"We're sorry." Harry and I said in unison guiltily.

"It's quite all right." Hermione grinned at us with dignity.

"Yeah, we get it." Ron smiled. "We'll try to be better from now on too. Okay? Try not to be so codily. We know you can handle yourselves, it's just you don't have too."

"Ron, can I actually talk to you for a moment... Alone?" I asked as we nearly reached the DADA class room.

"Eh, yea, course." He said nervously. Hermione gave him a grin and Harry simply walked away from us.

"I'm sorry." We both blurted out at the same time. "You go first. No, you go first." We argued in unison.

I reached up and placed my hand over his mouth, nearly standing chest to chest and looked up into his eyes.

"I don't want you to apologize for anything. I was being selfish and angry for no reason, even still after knowing it wasn't your fault this summer for not writing to me. I can't even begin to explain what's happening to myself, or Harry for that matter. But I desperately needed to apologize for the way I've been treating you. And I promise to try much harder than I have been to be better to you." I shout out quickly. I felt Ron smile underneath my hand and he reached up to remove it. He pulled it down to our side and held it firmly in his own hand, neither of us moved and we stood close together still chest to chest.

"Yeah, but I should have at least convinced him to let me write you regarding what happened." Ron explained. I was rather surprised he had stuttered nervously once like he usually did. He'd really grown and matured this summer, which only made my heart beat faster. "Not that it would have been easy to explain since, we don't really know what's going on between us." Ron chuckled a bit nervously and I smiled at that.

"Well, we have all year to figure it out." I giggled. "Come on, let's get to class."

Harry and Ron sat together as usual, while Hermione and I sat together too. The Patil Twins, enchanted a origami bird, making it flutter around in the air. The Defense Against the Dark Art's classroom chirped with happiness as we waited for the new Professor to come in and start the class. Hermione and I paid no mind to the bird as we organized our things, and studied already. As this year we were fifth years. That meant it was time to take our O.W.L.S. Seamus, who sat with Dean at the desk behind Hermione and I, swatted at the bird. Crabbe stood up in his seat with a slingshot and shot something at it. The sound of paper crackled, by the bird stayed floating in the air. Until it suddenly burned up and landed back on the Twin's desks as a pile of ash.

"Good morning, children." The high pitched voice of Professor Umbridge appeared behind us, making the entire class turn to look at her. She walked forward with her wand out, pointed at the chalkboard. "Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations. O.W.L's. more commonly known as OWL's. Study hard and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be severe."

She waved her wand and books that had been piled on a desk, started to hover and pass themselves out to each of us. Mine landed in front of me and I frowned hard as I looked at it. Dark Arts Defense, Basics for Beginners. This had to be a joke.

"Your previous instruction on this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know from now on, you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry approved course of Defensive Magic." She explained and Hermione's hand raised in the air. "Yes?"

"There's nothing in here about using defensive spells." Hermione stated like a question.

"Using spells?" Umbridge chuckled. "Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."

"We're not gonna use magic?" Ron questioned her. I looked around to see just about everyone in the room looked a bit more confused by this as well.

"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure risk free way." Umbridge began to explain. I opened my mouth to speak, but Harry beat me too it.

"Well, what use is that? If we're gonna be attacked, it won't be risk free." Harry pointed out. Umbridge glared and quickly turned away.

"Student's will raise their hands when they speak in my class." She demanded. When she turned around she had a sinister smile on her face. "It is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be sufficient to get you through your examinations, which, after all, is what school is all about."

"Please enlighten us all then, on how theory is supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" I questioned her forcefully.

"I asked for raised hands, Miss Potter." Umbridge said harshly. "But to respond to your question, there is nothing out there, dear. Who do you imagine would want to attack children, such as yourselves?" Asked in a horribly cheerfully tone. That was rightfully only setting off the bubbling anger that quickly rose again.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe, Lord Voldemort?" Harry spoke in a mockingly thoughtful voice.

The room filled with quick murmurs and whispers over Harry's words. They were all filled with fear, while Umbridge didn't even look phased at Harry's truthful accusation.

"Now let me make this quite plain." Umbridge addressed the entire class. "You have been told that a certain dark wizard is at large once again. This. Is. A. Lie." She stated firmly, stopping near Harry's desk.

"He's not lying!" I stood forcefully from my seat. Hermione's eye's widened at my outburst and tried to pull me back into my seat.

"We saw him, we fought him!" Harry argued back.

"Detention, Mr. And Miss Potter!" Umbridge yelled.

"So you're trying to tell us all, right now, that Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?" I scoffed, throwing my hands down onto the table.

"Olivia, no." Hermione whispered. The class looked at me, half-frightened and half-amused.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident." She glared at me as she spoke coldly. "Now sit down, insolent girl."

"Absolutely not!" I scoffed. "You are trying to suggest a lie to a room filled with students that, some of which, were Cedric's friends. Neither Harry, nor I have been ready to speak of that moment as it haunts us, as it would any of you! It was murder! Voldemort killed him!"

"ENOUGH!" Umbridge screamed at the top of her lungs. She flattened down her dress and recomposed herself. "Enough. You both shall see me later, Miss and Mr. Potter. For now, do come up here."

I kicked my chair away, Harry shoved his and it fell to the floor. I was so angry I almost didn't care what happened next. I was quite sure, Harry felt the same way. I could feel the eyes of the other students in anticipation of what was going to happen, as though they were all holding their breaths. We walked up to the front desk, where she pulled a pink sheet of parchment out and scribbled something on it.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear. Off you go, the both of you." She cheerfully piped as she handed us a magically sealed envelope.

I took it from her hand and swiftly left the room, not even bothering to look back at Ron or Hermione.

"I don't like her. I hate her, actually." I scoffed angrily as we walked the hall.

"Yeah, I saw. But I'm right there with you." Harry agreed in a snotty tone.

"How else can they explain that he died? I'm sorry if you weren't ready for me to speak about it, even though it wasn't much. But I am sorry." I growled a bit lower, trying to calm myself.

"Please, Liv. Don't apologize. She was crazy out of line. I have to say, I've never seen you lash out like that before though." Harry mentioned and I immediately felt my face pale.

"I-I..."

"You just usually love school and the teachers so much. It's almost... Refreshing to see." Harry chuckled, his tense shoulder's lowered significantly.

"You're not upset with me?" I asked a bit surprised.

"Not at all. That was brilliant, actually." Harry smiled.

Harry and I walked into Professor McGonagall's office. She was sitting at her desk looking down at some paperwork, her glasses at the tip of her pointed nose. Hearing the door open, she looked up at us both shocked.

"Potter's?" She questioned. "What are you doing here? Why aren't you in class?"

"We've been sent to see you." I shrugged and handed her the pink envelope.

"Sent? What do you mean, sent?" She quickly pulled open the envelope with the zip of her wand. Her eyes dashed from side to side and narrowed the further down she read. "Come and sit." She ushered in a strict tone. Harry and I each took a seat in front of her desk and she looked up at us. "Is this true?"

"Is what true?" Harry asked aggressively. "Professor?" He added quickly in a more polite tone.

"Is it true that the two of you shouted at Professor Umbridge?" She questioned us both with a raised brow.

"Yes, ma'am. It is." I hung my head slightly. I didn't regret what happened, not in the least. But I'd hate for McGonagall to be angry at us, me specially.

"You actually called her a liar, Olivia?" She addressed me in a softer tone, also using my first name, which made me look up at her.

"Um, yes, ma'am?" I said sheepishly.

"Well, have a biscuit then, the both of you." She ushered to a basket of biscuits on her desk. Harry and I both looked at her with our mouth's agape.

"Have... Wait, what?" Harry questioned her.

"Have. A. Biscuit." She reiterated slowly. Harry and I each took one and began to eat it, while she seemed to watch us both carefully. "You need to be careful, the both of you, Mr. and Miss Potter."

"I'm not sorry about what I said." I bravely stated and she looked at me with a raised brow. "She was lying and if that makes people look at me like I'm some crack pot then so be it."

"Miss Potter, as I'm sure you've well figured out by now, you know who she reports to. Misbehavior in her class could cost you much more than detentions and lost house points." She explained. Harry gave her a confused sort of look. "The Ministry's interfering at Hogwarts, Mr. Potter and that is not good for anyone. The both of you must learn to better control your tempers." Professor McGonagall gave us a pointed look.

The bell rang and she sent us on our way. Harry and I headed back towards the DADA classroom to get to her office we avoided the hall filled with our classmates and entered the empty room, going up to the office. Harry knocked on the door gently and we took a deep breath, heading inside.

"Come in." Umbridge's shrill voice called out as we turned the knob.

The familiar office didn't look familiar at all anymore. It was sickeningly pink covered. The walls, the desk, a cabinet in the corner. Every little thing was pink as far as the eye could see. She also had obnoxious, enchanted cat plates hung on nearly every inch of the walls. The meows filled the air and set my teeth on edge.

"Good evening, Mr. and Miss Potter." She greeted us. "Sit." She pointed with her eyes at two very pink desks, with pink lace crochet on them. She removed the lace and replaced it with two pink tablecloths. "The both of you are going to be doing some lines for me today, Mr. and Miss Potter. No, not with your quill." She said quickly as Harry and I tried to take out our own. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine."

She placed the large feathered quill on the desk and smiled down at us.

"Now, I want you to write I Must Not Tell Lies."

"How many times?" I asked sickeningly sweet.

"Well, let's just say... For as long as it takes for the message to... sink in."

I didn't like the way she had pronounced her words. Umbridge tried to walk back to her desk, but not before Harry called out to her.

"You haven't given us any ink."

"Oh, you won't need any ink." She said simply.

Harry and I shook our heads and got to writing. I must not tell lies. I must not tell lies. I must not... My left hand started out with what felt like a small itch. Tell... I cringed quietly to myself as my left hand that rest on the table as I wrote started to burn. I gasped as it started to hurt even worse. Harry grunted as well and we both stopped writing to look at our hands. My eyes widened in shock realizing the pain I was getting was the words: I must not tell lies, etching themselves on my very skin. I looked down at the parchment paper, finally seeing the ink was my own red blood on the paper.

"Yes?" Umbridge walked over to us and stood in front of our desks.

"Nothing." Harry and I stated.

"That's right." She whispered. "Because you know, deep down, you deserve to be punished. Don't you, Mr. and Miss Potter? Go on."

Harry and I swiftly left the office and headed back up towards the Gryffindor Common Room. I looked over the marks on my hand and it had already started to fade away.

"Liv?" Harry whispered. "Um, I was thinking... Maybe we shouldn't say anything about this. You know, Ron and Hermione will make a big deal about it. I don't really fancy seeing their looks of horror and all..." He explained.

"I-I actually agree. I don't think. We shouldn't bother anyone with this." I said simply.

I knew acknowledging what had just happened would make it seem worse and therefore even more difficult to face. Let alone, we not want to bother anyone else with our problems. Throughout the next week, Harry and I had detention with Umbridge every evening. By the third day the scars stopped fading away and became harder to hide.

Our hands oozed with blood as we went back to the Common Room, Friday evening, final day, day five of detention. Ron and Hermione had only thought that we were doing regular lines. But with these scars it was getting harder to hide. After we'd gotten back to the common room, Hermione had scolded the twins about using students as product testers. But, Fred and George had set up their box of Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and were testing out the candies and such on first years, or anyone that volunteered anyway.

"Skiving Snackboxes." Fred said.

"Sweets that make you ill." George said.

"Get you out of class whenever you'd like."

"Obtain hours of pleasure from unprofitable boredom."

"Care for another?" Fred asked. The kid sitting beside him grew a large fatty lump on his chin with a groan.

I pulled my sleeve down over my cuts, holding a book in my opposite arm, to let my bad arm hang by my side as Ron followed me around, begging for help with his homework.

"Aw come on, sunshine. I'm not asking you to write all of it for me." Ron begged.

"Oh, please." I chuckled.

"It's just, I've been so busy studying for these stupid OWL exams." He complained.

"With me." I gave him a pointed look and his ears pinked. He gave me the best dashing look he could muster and I sighed. "I'll do the introduction, that's all."

"Oh, Liv, you're honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met." Ron gushed. "If I'm ever rude to you again..." He walked around to my free, hurt, hand and tried to grab it. I squeaked in pain and quickly pulled away.

"I'll know you've gone back to normal." I said quickly, taking a seat next to Harry on the couch.

"Olivia." Ron said sternly and I looked up at him. He took a seat on the arm of the couch, while Hermione sat on Harry's other side. "What's happened to your hand?" He asked.

"Harry, what's wrong with your hand?" Hermione asked quickly, not even hearing Ron.

"Nothing." Harry and I answered together quickly, showing our opposite hands. We both looked at each other and our other friend as they both had seemingly found out.

"No. Your other hand." Ron said softly concerned. He grabbed it gently and I winced. He pulled up my sleeve to see my arm was filled with scars. "Bloody hell."

"You've got to tell Dumbledore." Hermione demanded after she gasped. She looked over at mine, and examined Harry's hand and arm.

"No." Harry and I stated firmly.

"Dumbledore's got enough on his mind right now." Harry explained our reasoning.

"Besides, we don't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction." I explained further.

"Bloody hell, Liv, Harry. The woman's torturing the both of you. If your parents knew about this..." Ron tried to reason with us, but his words only mad us upset.

"Yes, well, we haven't exactly gone any of those do we, Ron?" I snapped. He shrunk back a bit and I sighed. "I'm sorry." I mumbled apologetically. Ron gave me a weak smile and reached down, patting the upper part of my arm gently.

"Liv, Harry, you've got to report this." Hermione said gently. "It's perfectly simple... You're being..."

"No, it's not." Harry said to her. "Hermione, whatever this is, it's not simple." He stated and then shook his head. "You don't understand. Come on, Liv."

"Then help us too." Hermione begged as Harry and I stood to our feet.

We put our heads down and walked out of the Common Room.