The first day of classes started today, and I was tired. Tired of the drama already? The boys? The teachers? Homework? No. I was just tired. I didn't get any sleep at all last night. I was having nightmares again.

I was in Defense Against the Dark Arts, sitting beside Hermione, when the bitch came in.

"Good morning, children." We all turned around and saw her bright, annoying pink outfit and smile as she walked to the front of the room. "Ordinary Wizarding Level examinations. O.W.L. More commonly known as O.W.L.s," she said cheerfully.

"No shit," I muttered.

"Study hard, and you will be rewarded. Fail to do so, and the consequences may be severe." She started passing out textbooks with the flick of her wand. "Your previous instruction in this subject has been disturbingly uneven. But you'll be pleased to know that from now on you will be following a carefully structured, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic."

Hermione raised her hand and spoke up. "There's nothing in here about using defensive spells?"

"Using spells! Ha-ha! Well, I can't imagine why you would need to use spells in my classroom."

"I'm pretty sure that's the point of this class," I pointed out.

"You'll be learning about defensive spells in a secure, risk-free way," she informed me.

"What use is that? If we're attacked, it won't be risk-free," Harry added.

"Students will raise their hands when they speak in my class," Umbridge said. "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."

"And how is theory supposed to prepare us for what's out there?" I asked.

"There is nothing out there, dear. Who do you imagine wants to attack children like yourself?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe Lord Voldemort," Harry spoke up.

That was the first time I heard him say that name in class before. I was always careful about it. People started whispering and whatnot. Hermione looked at him with wide eyes.

Umbridge was silent for a moment. Then she spoke up. "Now, let me make this quite plain. You have been told that a certain Dark wizard is at large once again."

"Damn right," I muttered.

"This. Is. A. Lie."

"It's not a lie! Max and I saw him! We fought him! Tell her, Max!"

"Detention, Mr. Potter!"

"So according to you, Cedric Diggory dropped dead of his own accord?"

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic accident."

"Sounds like your birth," I mumbled under my breath.

"Detention for you, Miss Potter!" she yelled at me.

"Cedric's death was not a tragic accident! It was murder! Voldemort killed him! You must know that--"

"Enough! Enough. See me later, Mr. Potter, Miss Potter. In my office," she said, cutting me off.

We were quiet for the rest of the class. I sat there in my seat, thinking about Cedric again. I still hadn't seen him ever since that night, and the thought of him didn't come up until Harry mentioned him. It made me upset again.

Sometimes, I just wished Harry would keep his mouth shut.

*******

That evening, Harry and I headed for Umbridge's office for detention. We were quiet for almost the whole way there until Harry spoke up. "Max?"

"What?"

"Sorry for mentioning Cedric earlier."

"It's okay."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

"Okay."

As soon as we reached her door, Harry knocked on it. She let us in and the first thing I saw was pink. And cats. I had never seen so much pink in my entire life.

"Good evening, you two. Sit." We did as we were told and sat down in front of her. "You're going to be doing some lines for me today." We started to grab our stuff when she stopped us. "No, not with your quills. You're going to be using a rather special one of mine." She handed us two quills and some parchment. "Now I want you to write, 'I must not tell lies.'''

"How many times?" Harry asked her.

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

"You haven't given us any ink," I pointed out.

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

I shrugged and started writing. It only took one sentence for my hand to start hurting. My left hand. And I wrote with my right hand. Harry's was starting to hurt as well.

"What's happening?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he replied. We looked on our hands and saw something written on them:

I must not tell lies.

Oh. That was what she meant by letting the message sink in.

Umbridge came by us and looked concerned. "Yes?"

"Nothing," we replied at the same time.

"That's right," she smiled. "Because you know, deep down, you deserve to be punished. Don't you?" She smiled at us.

However, I knew that smile was fake the moment I saw it.

*******

"What the hell was that all about?" Harry asked.

"You think I know? That woman is batshit crazy! It didn't take long for the message to sink in."

"Well, let's make a deal. We don't tell anyone about this."

I nodded in agreement. "Agreed."

We went into the Gryffindor Common Room and sat on the couch. Everyone was in there, but paid no attention to us as Harry grabbed his Defense Against the Dark Arts textbook, and I started working on an essay for another class.

Ron and Hermione were talking when they plopped on the couch beside us. Hermione looked at Harry's hand. "What's wrong with your hand?" she asked.

"Nothing," he replied, holding out his right hand.

"The other hand," she said, grabbing it and observing it. Ron took my hand and looked at it, too. "You two have got to tell Dumbledore."

"No," we said.

"Dumbledore's got enough on his mind right now," Harry added.

"Plus, we don't want to give Umbridge the satisfaction," I told her.

"Bloody hell. The woman's torturing you," Ron spoke up. "If your parents knew about this--"

"Well, we haven't got any of those, do we, Ron?" I snapped.

"You two have to report this," Hermione protested. "It's perfectly simple--"

"No, it's not," Harry interrupted her. "Hermione, whatever this is, it's not simple. You don't understand." He grabbed his stuff and then stood up from the couch and walked back upstairs.

Hermione looked at me. "Max, help us understand what's going on here."

I sighed and put my stuff back in my bag. "He's right, Hermione. It's not simple." I walked up to my dorm and threw my stuff by my bed. I changed into my pajamas and instantly fell asleep.

~~~~~~~

A/N: Hi there!

So from now on, I'm going to add a long ass Author's Note at the end of every three chapters, instead of making tiny ones in every three chapters I update. Makes sense right? Of course it does.

So sorry for not updating in like forever! I've been busy and stuff. School is killing me. I finished a paper this week and next week I have to write ANOTHER one. Joy.

Not.

So comment, vote, and yup. Lol I'll try to update soon! Love you guys!

-A