Harry stood outside the door to Umbridge's office.  He gently rapped on the door and waited for an answer.

"Come in," Umbridge said, her voice muffled by the door.

He opened the door, looking in.  The office had pink walls and hanging plates up and down the wall.  They all had moving pictures of different cats.  The appearance was soft and delicate, but there was something about it that was off putting.  When he opened the door, it was like a wave of anxiety rushed over him; but he had been calm before.

"Good evening, Mr. Potter. Sit." The woman gestured to a chair and desk off to the side. Silently, he obeyed, slipping into the seat.  He looked up at her as she continued to speak.  "You're going to be doing some lines for me today, Mr. Potter."

Harry looked at the blank sheets of paper lying in front of him on the desk.  He noticed that there wasn't any ink or quill.  "I...uh.. I don't have a quill."

"No, not with your quill. You're going to be using a rather special one of mine." She stood up, pulling a quill out of the drawer to her own desk.  Handing it to Harry, he took it and she began to pace behind him. "Now... I want you to write, I must not tell lies."

"How many times?"

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

"You haven't given me any ink," he pointed out.

"Oh, you won't need any ink."

Harry decided to take her word for it.  But there had to be a catch.  She seemed so confident, unless all she really wanted to do was have him write it a few times.  Slowly, he began to write the words that she had told him to write.  He glanced at his left hand as it began to tingle. Suddenly, he drew in a sharp breath as pain shot through his hand as the words he wrote imprinted on his hand. Dropping the pen, he clenched his fist.

"Yes?" Dolores asked in fake innocence, now standing in front of him.

"Nothing," he mumbled.

"That's right." She leaned a little closer, looking straight into Harry's eyes. "Because you know, deep down... you deserve to be punished. Don't you, Mr. Potter?"

He could only stare back, unable to form words on his tongue.  Shifting in his seat, he felt very uncomfortable.  Even a little petrified by the woman who stood before him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Varian was walking through the halls when he came to the staircase to Sybill Trelawney's classroom.  He took her class the previous year.  Of course, he remembered how the woman disturbed him, but it wasn't exactly her fault.  How she told the futures and how dramatic she could be was unsettling for him.

Hermione came down the stairs, practically running if she were going any faster.  Her face was written with either frustration or disgust.  Perhaps both.  She walked past him, her shoulder bumping into his.

"Well, jeez!" He retorted, but she didn't stop to show she even show she heard him.

Varian heard something and rolling and thumping.  Looking up the stairs, he watched as a crystal ball came rolling down the stair, only stopping at his feet.  Sighing, Varian bent down and picked it.

"Guess I better take you back," he muttered.

Walking up the stairs, he let himself in the classroom as Harry and Ron came bursting out.

"Oh, sorry," Harry apologized.

"What the heck is wrong with you people?  Where's the fire?" Varian ranted.

"We gotta find Hermione," Ron snapped, grabbing Harry and dragging him down the stairs.

"Like that gives me an answer," Varian called down.  He sighed, rolling his eyes.  Someone probably insulted her and the boys were trying to chase after the whirlwind.  He just so happened to be in the way.

He walked up to Trelawney's desk and set the crystal ball in it's stand.  It appeared as if the clouds in the ball were begining to swirl around.  That was strange.

"Oh, hello there."

Varian whirled around.  Slybill was standing behind with a cup of tea.

"Did you need something?" She asked.

"Uh, no... I was just putting this back.  Found it at the foot of the stairs-"

"Wait! I see something! Sit down!" She gently pushed him in a seat in front of the ball.  Immediately after, she sat in her own chair, staring intently at the ball.

"What do you see?" Varian's curiosity had been sparked.

"I see... You're future."

Varian looked surprised at the woman.  "You see my what?"

"Your future," Sybill whispered. "I have future sight, dear, it's what I do."

He looked around the room before sitting in the chair in front of her ball.  "Why are you suddenly seeing my future?  What does it hold?"

"...Betrayal...Pain... Death? But I can't see who, what, where, when or why..."

"Well, that's bloody helpful," Varian retorted.  "What good does that do me?"

"All I can do is warn you, child.  Be careful where you tread and what fights you pick.  Don't make any brash descions and be careful who you trust. Your near future doesn't look bright."

He glanced at his surroundings, anxiety building up in his chest.  What was going to happen to him?  When was it going to happen?  She said near, so within weeks?  Days? Hours?

"Excuse me." Varian stood up, briskly walking out.  He tried to steady his breathing, but it was no use.  Sweat was building on his forehead and neck, but he felt cold and nauseous from his building anxiety.

Scratch that.  He was about to have a panic attack.  Betrayal?  Pain? Death?  Was he going to die?  No.  Was he going to be killed?  The thought sent shivers through his body.  Merlin, he was going to throw up. His shoulder bumped a student as he picked up his pace.

"Hey-"

Varian felt someone grab his shoulder.  He whirled around in panic, ready to punch whoever it was.  He caught himself in time as his eyes met with brown.

"Are you ok?" Ginny's voice was full of concern and her face and eyes held an equal amount.

"S-sorry.  I uh..."

"Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?  You look pale as a ghost, and I should know.  I've met a few."

"I just..."

"Here." She gently pulled on his arm, leading him through the halls.  "Take deep breaths.  You don't have to talk.  Just focus on calming down."

Varian surprised himself by listening.  He kept himself focused on her voice and her instructions, blocking out the news that had just clouded his head.

"You know, I was debating on going to the infirmary myself, but was trying to make excuses.  I have a headache that's been bothering me and feel a little tired as of late.  It's weird.  It's almost as if I'm not even sleeping even though I definitely have been sleeping. Maybe I'm studying too much." Ginny said the last part as a joke, letting a chuckle escape her lips.

"Probably stress," Varian managed to get out.

"Yeah, that's probably it.  With the attack and Umbridge, especially the latter, have really gotten me a little riled up," she admitted.

They came to the infirmary and Varian suddenly paused.  "Actually, I just think need go bed..."

"But you have to get permission from someone and everyone will just tell you to see Pomfrey," Ginny pointed out.  "But it is up to you."

He let out a sigh and walked in.  The nurse looked up from the desk she was sitting at.  She raised a brow.  "Is something wrong?"

"I just want to go to bed," Varian mumbled.

Pomfrey stood up and set a hand on his head.  "You don't feel like you have a fever, but you do look really pale..." She paused and studied him, noticing that he was fidgeting a lot with his hands. "Did something happen, maybe?"

"Well.... I don't want to talk about it," he muttered.

The woman nodded.  "Alright.  I'll send a note to your teachers that you won't be there and you can rest in one of those beds over there.  Would you like me to give you a potion to help the shaking?"

"Uh... Yeah.  That would be nice," he whispered.

She nodded and Varian took a bed in the back of the room in the corner.  Ginny looked at Pomfrey with concern and the nurse merely passed her a smile.  "He'll be alright.  Thank you for bringing him over."

"Not a problem."

"Is there anything you need?"

"Just a potion for a headache maybe," she admitted.

"I'll get you that," the nurse said.  She went to her cabinet and pulled out two different bottles.  She set the small blue one in Ginny's hand.

"Thank you." The red head drank the liquid before handing the empty bottle back to the woman.  "I'll head back to class." She turned and left the infirmary.

The nursing witch took the other bottle and poured some of it in a glass.  She put the potion away and set the empty bottle aside.  Picking up the glass, she took it to Varian.  The boy accepted it, drinking it one swig.  He made a face from the taste and handed the empty glass to her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Draco laid in bed.  He rolled over, facing Varian's bed.  His roommate was sound asleep, breathing steadily.  The nice thing about Varian was that he didn't snore.

Letting out a deep breath in his restlessness, Draco pulled up sleeve.  The moonlight streaming through the window, shedding enough so he could make the outline of the dark mark.  Normally, he'd have it covered, but he was safe in the cover of the darkness.  Plus Varian wasn't even awake.

It almost felt like his arm was constantly burning his arm, even if he knew it wasn't physically hurt him. It was more like it was all in his head.  A burning reminder that he was too weak to resist it.  He never wanted it, but his parents did.  And if he had refused?  What would have happened to them?  He never had the choice.

He rolled over onto his back.  There was no use feeling sorry for himself.  All he could do was make what he could of it.  Just because he was given the mark didn't mean that he was the Dark Lord.  At least, not the same as him.

As early dawn came, he dressed and left his dorm.  Sure, it was probably a little too early to leave the room, but he was restless.  He couldn't take it anymore.

Eventually, he found himself in the spot that he often contemplated on many things.  Whether it was the big or small things in life.  Gripping the rails at the top of the Astronomy Tower, he took a deep breath as the wind brushed by him.  It was oddly calming and satisfying.  Perhaps that was why he was always there.

"A little early, isn't it?"

He whirled around.  "Professor?"

Severus grunted and stepped up to the rail himself.

"I just wanted some air," Draco muttered as he turned back to look at the sky.  He leaned more on the rail, his arms holding more of his body weight.

"You could just say you're concerned," Snape spoke in his dark tone.

"Tch.  I don't know what you're talking about," Draco scoffed.

"True. You never do," the professor returned.

The younger Malfoy's shot towards the direction of his potions teacher.  "What the bloody heck is that supposed to mean?"

Snape said nothing.  He just raised a brow at him and Draco fumed, muttering curses under his breath.  Severus decided to ignore him.

"I suppose this is where you give fifteen points to Slytherin, isn't it?" Draco said sarcastically.

"You don't care about that."

"Yeah.  I don't."

"So there's no point," Snape retorted.

Draco let out a sigh.  The sun was beginning to rise.  Then he turned back to his professor.  "What are you doing up so early?"

"That is none of your business, Draco."

"I suppose that's fair enough, professor..."

The two fell silent as they both just looked at the horizon.  The sky slowly growing brighter.