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AS THEA MAKES her way to detention, her mind drifts absentmindedly to her mother. Despite the anger, guilt and pain that form a horrible knot in the pit of her stomach when she thinks of her at the moment, she can't help wondering if her mother walked down this corridor. If she walked down this corridor on her way to Charms, holding hands with Thea's father. If she ran down here with her friends, trying to get away from Filch. Thea wishes she was messing around with Daisy and Dean now, not on her way to see the last two people on earth she wants to see.

And the worst part is, if it wasn't for Umbridge, she'd be around Harry as much as she could. Not that she likes him, but she thinks they'd have made good friends in another life.

"Thea!"

Thea's head whips round, and she sees Harry walking as quickly as possible in order to catch up with her. She pauses for a moment, until he falls into step beside her.

"Hi," she says, smiling softly at him. "Sorry I didn't wait."

Harry shakes his head. "Don't worry about it, T."

They walk in silence for a moment before Thea can't help herself.

"What I'm actually sorry for, is for avoiding you."

Harry glances at her, and she catches his eye. "Really, Harry – and that I didn't stand up for you against Umbridge earlier today." She glances down at the ground.

Harry pauses. "It's alright. I understand it. You need to put your mum first, and supporting me right now is dangerous."

Thea frowns. Before she can think too much about it, she grabs Harry's hand.

"Don't say that! Really, I wouldn't give a shit what my mum thinks and how dangerous it is, it's why I stood up for you in the first place. But my mum's threatened to pull me out of school if I keep talking to you. That's the issue." She catches his eyes again. "I can't afford that."

"Are you joking?" Harry exclaims, pulling his hand back.

Thea shrugs. "Unfortunately not."

Harry sighs, looking like he wants to say a million things, but all he can manage is. "Well, I guess we'll have to just talk in secret."

Thea raises her eyebrows. "What, and I suppose we could just become invisible at will?"

Harry smiles. "Maybe."

Before Thea can reply, they reach Umbridge's office. They exchange another glance before Thea raises a fist and knocks three times.

"Come in," says a sweet voice from behind the wood, and immediately, Thea's stomach drops.

Thea and Harry walk in. Thea has to make an effort not to gag at the lace, pink, cats and flowers decorating the entire room. Honestly, Thea thinks this place is scarier than the dungeons.

"Good evening, Mr Potter, Miss Cindercroft."

Thea shuffles further away from Harry, as she feels Umbridge's beady eyes burning into the closeness between them.

"Evening, Professor Umbridge."

"Well, sit down," she says, and Thea and Harry both take seats at the two tables in a row in front of them.

"Er, Professor Umbridge...before we start, I need to ask you a ...a favour."

Thea's gaze drops to the desk. She feels bad for Harry, as she can already tell where this is going to go.

"Oh, yes?"

"Well, I'm...I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o' clock on Friday and I was – was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it – do it another night instead..."

Thea wants to rip the huge, evil grin that splits Umbridge's face in half right off. She inhales deeply, trying to ground herself, not letting herself show the rage burning in her body.

"Oh, no, no, no. This is your's and Miss Cindercroft's punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, Wednesday, Thursday, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you both."

Thea wants to roll her eyes, but thinks better of it.

"There. We're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we?"

Thea digs her nails into her palm, her blood racing around her body. She wants to yell, she wants to scream, she wants to fight back like she did in the Great Hall. But she knows that she can't do anything. She prays silently that Harry knows he can't either, and ignores the bait that Umbridge is taunting them with. Daring them to argue with her again, to disobey her. Thankfully, he does, and after a few moments, Umbridge is passing them quills. Without any ink.

Oh, shit.

Thea remembers these from summer.

"You haven't given us any ink," Harry says, his voice tight.

Thea can tell that he's bubbling with anger. She can feel it radiating off him, even with the distance between them. Her heart flickers. She wishes she could calm him, that she could make this better. But she can't.

She remembers when Umbridge had come to her house for a meeting with her mother about a new Prophet article. According to her mother, Umbridge was the Ministry's 'voice' that Lyra had been so keen to get into her writing. Something Thea finds very odd. After, Thea had gone downstairs to write a quick note to her mother about going out to the shops, and grabbed the quill left on the dining table. And before she realised what was happening, the word 'mother' had been carved into her hand. Thankfully, it healed over pretty fast, but the twist in her gut didn't. She couldn't help but wonder what her mother and her new friend were talking about.

"I want you, Mr Potter, to write, I must not tell lies," she says, her voice still sweet, but her eyes burning into them. "I want you, Theabel, to write I must not spread lies."

Thea draws in a shaky breath, and braces herself. Umbridge's use of her full name makes her shiver. It reminds her of her mother, trying to calm her down over the summer. Reminds her of her mother trying to silence her. But she doesn't show this. She sets her face like stone. She knows that she can do this. She can write slowly. Her curse has increased her tolerance to pain. She's got this. And Umbridge will be none the wiser about any of this. If her mother taught her anything, it was not to show any weakness, to wipe your face and mind clean of thoughts, emotion, pain.

So she does.

And she writes 'I must not spread lies' over and over again, feeling not just the blood quill pierce into her skin, but Umbridge's knife-like stare, and the sharpness of her red blood staining her parchment starting to hurt her eyes. She doesn't dare to glance at Harry once during the detention, not wanting to make Umbridge suspect any friendship between them. Thea knows now that she has to play the game. But the problem is, is that Harry already ignites a fire in her heart. She cares about him.

Only, the risk of speaking out loudly is too dangerous for Thea.

So she'll stay quiet.

After what feels like years, Umbridge finally breaks the silence.

"Come here, both of you."

Harry and Thea glance at each other, for the briefest of seconds. Thea can't tell what he's thinking, but looks away before she can figure it out. Umbridge will be observing all of this, ready to report back to Lyra, which Thea can't afford.

"Hands."

They hold out their hands, and Thea looks at Harry's. Their skin looks the same, bright red and sensitive. Umbridge takes Harry's in one hand, and Thea's in the other.

"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet. Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go." Then, Thea wants the ground to swallow her up. "Theabel, before you leave, I'd like a word."

Harry seems to pause for a moment. Umbridge narrows her eyes at him.

"Potter, I told you that you may leave."

Harry gives Thea a look, one that she doesn't return.

After Harry slips out of the office, Thea feels more alone than she has in a long time.

"Theabel," Umbridge starts, staring at Thea with a smile and a sweet look.

Thea wants to throw up again.

"I understand that your mother has been in contact. She is aware of your behaviour at breakfast the other day."

She waits for Umbridge to carry on speaking, but all that remains is a painful silence. Thea clears her throat.

"Right. Yeah, she is."

Umbridge chuckles. "Well, I have a proposal for you to make amends. I'd like us to be friends, Theabel."

Thea raises her eyebrows. Her mother will have her calling this woman 'aunt' before she knows it.

"And what's the proposal?"

Umbridge smiles wider, and Thea's pulse starts to quicken. "Well, I am sure you have been informed by your peers in Slytherin that we have formed the Inquisitorial Squad. It is a group of selected students who will work together to stop any misbehaviour." Umbridge's stare hardens. "To have order."

Thea frowns. She knows Umbridge has done this on purpose, that her mother probably had a hand in it. To get her 'on the right path'. So she realises exactly what she has to do.

"OK. Sure, I'll join."

Evil glistens brightly in Umbridge's eyes as she looks at Thea. "Wonderful! Well, you will have your first shift on Thursday afternoon, with Mr Strenegal."

Thea sucks in a breath. Of course it had to be Strenegal. Who would be better to drive a wedge between her and the Gryffindors? No other than the one they somehow seem to hate more than Malfoy.

Thea nods. "OK. Can I leave now?"

Umbridge giggles. "Yes, see you tomorrow evening!"

Thea wants to rip the door off its hinges. She has no idea how long has passed since Harry left, but he's nowhere to be seen. She sighs, pulling her bag higher up her shoulder, and starts to walk back to the common room. The hallways are silent, until she rounds the corner and Harry stands there, resting against the wall. Thea frowns, but her heart swells, with happiness, flames and confusion. Harry's here?

"What are you doing, Harry?"

Harry raises his eyebrows. "Waiting for you."

Thea's frown grows deeper, and she thinks her heart might be doing somersaults.

"Why?"

Harry shrugs. "Had to check she wasn't going to murder you, didn't I?"

Thea smiles at him, as they set off walking towards the common room.

"How long did she have me held hostage?"

"About half an hour."

Thea gasps. "God, I thought it'd been a week."

Harry laughs. "What did she want anyway?"

Thea's stomach plummets. "Um, she just wanted me to join that stupid squad thing that Malfoy's been harping on about. Didn't really have a choice. I'm pretty sure my mum signed me up without asking anyway."

Harry goes quiet for a minute. "So, you'll have to hang about with the Slytherins then?"

Thea shrugs. "Trust me, not for any longer than I need to."

They walk the rest of the way in silence, and Thea heads straight upstairs to bed, and falls asleep the second her head hits the pillow, feeling lighter than she has for a while, just because Harry waited for her. It makes her feel a lot less alone.

A couple of days pass before Thea brings herself to speak to Harry. For some reason, she just feels like her heart's about to explode out of her chest when she sees him, and she scuttles off before he sees her. At Thursday lunchtime, Thea and Dean steal some sandwiches and rush off to the courtyard, desperate for some fresh air to clear their heads after spending two hours in a stuffy Potions classroom. She mostly enjoys Potions, but she can't wait to drop it next year so she doesn't have to deal with Snape.  

"So..." Dean starts, after swallowing a mouthful of pumpkin juice.

"Don't you dare say what I think you're going to say –"

"...when are you going to stop avoiding Harry?"

"I'm not avoiding Harry."

"If you're not avoiding him, how come you knew what I was going to say?"

"You can tell me who to stop avoiding when you stop avoiding Seamus," Thea hums.

Dean narrows his eyes at Thea. "Deal then. We both stop ignoring our problems and deal with them head-on."

Thea raises her eyebrows. "I'll only do it if you do."

Dean nods at her. "I will."

"Fine. I'll literally go and find Harry right now just to talk to him."

"Sure you will."

Thea raises her eyebrows. "Watch me!"

"Cinders!"

Thea stares at Dean, who stares right back. They're both thinking, what the hell?

"Strenegal..."

Thea hates her life.

Dean frowns. "No offence, mate, but what do you want with T?"

Strenegal raises his eyebrows. "Cinders and I have a shift together." Realisation seems to dawn on his face. "Don't tell me you forgot!"

Thea smiles awkwardly. "Uh, maybe...anyway, Dean, meet me in the common room later?"

Dean sighs and rubs a hand over his face, "Whatever, Thea."

Thea frowns at him, but he stands up and walks away before she can say anything. And he barely every calls her Thea, so she thinks he's probably upset with her. Her heart begins to ache and she walks next to Strenegal into the castle.

"So, we're supposed to patrol the Great Hall this afternoon."

Thea just nods quietly, but Strenegal seems to notice this.

"Thea, look, I'm sorry if I caught you at a bad time. But I'll try and make you have a good time..."

Thea looks at him and smiles a little.

"...And, if you happen to disappear, I won't see anything."

Thea smiles a little wider, under the sickness that comes with carrying the weight of her mother's job on her shoulders. "Thanks."

Then her mind is filled with Harry, Dean and Ron's looks of betrayal again if they catch her, but she has to force it from her conscience. For her mother.

After an hour, Jude tells her they have to go to Umbridge's office for a meeting. She goes along, not letting herself drag her feet, just admitting defeat. They eventually reach the office, Thea stepping in last and shutting the door, hoping no one saw her marching through the corridors with a Slytherin, on her way to Umbridge's office. What a story that would be!

"Now. You've all been chosen specially by me! Isn't that wonderful! To identify you all, I shall be putting up an Educational Decree, along with giving you all one of these brand-new badges."

Umbridge begins to hand out the silver pins, all of which are in the shape of the letter I. Thea wants to crush it under her shoe as she fastens it to her robes, discreetly covering it with her hair.

"Professor," starts Draco Malfoy's annoying voice. "You said something about handing out punishments? Could you please elaborate?"

Thea rolls her eyes.

"Of course, Mr Malfoy. You can hand out detentions and take away points, while also giving them to those demonstrating exemplary behaviour. I trust you all will not abuse this position of power." She replies, taking a seat at her desk. "You are all dismissed."

Thea cannot get out of the office fast enough, which proves to be true when Malfoy sidles up beside her.

"Bet your boyfriend's going to love that, isn't he, Cindercroft?" he cackles.

"Boyfriend?" she scowls, trying to get away from him.

"Thomas, of course!" he exclaims.

"Piss off, Malfoy, I don't have the time for you right now."

Draco grins. "Looks like we're going to be spending more time together, so you'd better get used to it."

Thea picks up her pace, but somehow can't lose the blond boy following her like a bad smell.

"Lucky you," she snaps, refusing to look at him.

"Aw, don't be sarcastic, you might start to warm up to me soon, T!"

Thea feels her blood congeal in her body at his words.

"What did you just say?" her voice is deadly, her fist itching to smash into his face.

What does he know? Can he possibly know about her curse? Why else would he make such a big deal about warmth? Does he know what happens when she starts to care for someone? Maybe it's just a coincidence. Can he even think enough to make a play on words like that? Thea's not sure. If she's to guess, he only has about one brain cell. She doesn't even know who'd cursed her. How can Malfoy know anything when she barely knows much herself?

"T –"

"That was a rhetorical question, prick. Now get out of my sight before I make you!" she snarls, not caring about the looks she's starting to receive.

"Oh, I'm terribly –"

"You do know my mother is friends with Umbridge, don't you, Draco?" she says, attempting to use Umbridge's form of intimidation and making her voice an octave-higher and softer.

It seems to work. The boy gives her one last sneer of contempt before strutting off down the hall. She inhales for what seems to be the first time in a century and continues on her way through the school to her next class, passing the Educational Decree Umbridge has somehow already managed to position on the wall.

It's unfortunately time for Divination, which Clare likes for some reason. But she usually sits with Lavender and Parvarti, whilst Thea, Daisy, Dean and Seamus attempt to not fall asleep at the back, halfway through the lesson. Professor Trelawney loves to tell Thea that her death will be slow, hard and cold, despite her dream being about rainbows or food or whatever crap she manages to come up with every time she routinely forgets to fill in her dream diary, much like the others in her class. It's the irony in cold that makes her laugh the most.

When she ascends the ladder, it's Umbridge's grin and voice that greets her. "Good morning, Theabel."

She sees Harry over her shoulder. He catches her eye and smiles lightly.

"Good morning Professor Umbridge," she replies glumly, seeing the clipboard and quill in her hands and realising that the woman must be here to inspect their lesson.

Umbridge gives a little, "Hem, hem," before saying purposefully and loudly, "Your badge is askew, dear."

Thea moves out of her line of sight, so Umbridge can't see that she's got to her, and makes her way to sit with Dean, her head reeling with explanations she can give to him about why she has a badge and why she's part of the Inquisitorial Squad. She glances at Harry. He's frowning at her, and his gaze is on her badge, hurt playing on his face. Even though he knew about her having to join, she guesses that doesn't make it any easier.

"Hey," she mutters to Dean, who'd heard Umbridge too.

"Badge?" he asks incredulously.

"I'll tell you later," she mutters.

Just when she thinks today can't get any more terrible, she realises she has Defence Against the Dark Arts as Umbridge is humiliating Trelawney in front of the entire class. On her way, she walks alone. Dean makes some excuse about needing to talk to Daisy, and Harry and Ron brisk past her and her chest seems to alight, although the rest of her body is enveloped in shivers.

Once they finally enter Umbridge's classroom, Thea takes a seat on her own once again, not looking at anything but her copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard, Chapter Two. Although she's shivering, her face burns and her heart is flickering away with flames more than usual. Her hands won't stop quivering and she can't fill her lungs with enough air to cool her anxiety, that's prickling at her like hot knives in her skin. Thea's sure that, from the outside, she looks like a blonde ball of fire. She can only hope that this lesson goes better than the last.

She doesn't think it will.

"Oh, you do, do you?"

Thea refuses to look, forcing herself to turn the page and try to tune the voices out...

"Well, I'm afraid it is Mr Slinkhard's opinion, and not yours, that matters within this classroom, Miss Granger."

Thea can feel her heart banging against her chest.

The room around her is closing in on her as she tries to keep her attention on the chapter still, wishing absentmindedly that Dean was next to her, telling her to calm down.

Theories of defensive magic are in abundance, however there are a few which are vital to understand. For example...

"But –"

"That is enough," Professor Umbridge says icily, making her way to the front of the class. Barely anyone's reading anymore, their eyes fixated on Umbridge.

The use of defensive magic is only justifiable in instances where the wizard is exposed to the direct threat of an offensive magical object, spell, potion or other magical influence...

Thea forces her brain to take in the words.

"Miss Granger, I am going to take five points from Gryffindor House."

"What for?"

Oh Harry, Thea thinks sadly, he won't forgive me, before bringing her mind back to the chapter, knowing she doesn't deserve him to. She isn't brave. She can't stand up for him like she wants to, like she tried to. And she isn't brave enough to defy everyone against her, like he can.

It is of the utmost disgust of myself and other experts to use magical means of defence against a Muggle or Squib, no matter the circumstances. It would lead to the exposure of wizards, breaking the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy of [officially] 1692, whilst also risking...

"For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions. I am here to teach you using a Ministry-approved method that does not include inviting students to give their opinions on matters about which they understand very little. Your previous teachers in this subject..."

The final important theory of defensive magic is that which states the point of a spell, potion, object or other source of magical influence may only be classified as defensive if its sole purpose or ability is to protect the victim from dark sources of magic...

"Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher. There was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out the back of his head," Harry drawls angrily.

Thea slams her book shut. It echoes around the room and is the only thing piercing the huge, thick silence that follows Harry's outburst.

"I think another week's detentions would do you some good, Mr Potter," Umbridge says, the slightest hint of fury only just being evident on her face in the hardness of her eyes.

★

"Thea, did I do something wrong?"

She turns around, her heart seeming to wilt as her wild and pained gaze falls on Harry's angry face.

She looks around to see if anyone else is in the common room, and sees only Hermione and Ron. Hermione is pale and her eyes are wide just like Ron's, but she swears Ron's a little disappointed too. More guilt bleeds into her heart at that. Thea guesses they'd tried to talk Harry out of this angry approach, to no avail. But she knows she's brought all of this mess onto herself. What has she done?

"What? No, of course not," Thea responds softly, dropping her eyes to the floor.

"Oh, right. I understand that you can't be seen talking to me by Umbridge, but when you're joking around with Strenegal –"

"What?"

" – and won't even talk to me in the common room where she can't possibly be, it becomes hard to know where I stand with you."

She glances up tentatively, her eyebrows pulling together into a frown and her fingers twirling into her hair. "I'm sorry," is all she can think to say.

He breathes in deeply before sitting down in the red armchair opposite her.

"Explain," he says finally.

"I need Umbridge to trust me again," she says, looking away from him. "I don't want to do this, Harry, and I understand how it looks but I just – it's my mother. And I can't risk being pulled out of school. I can't risk my mother losing her job."

He stares at her intensely, but she doesn't falter, only returns the stare. She can tell he wants to figure her out. How can he when she can't even figure herself out? She feels as though his face is a mirror of hers, with the glassy, confused eyes and a softly furrowed brow of frustration. Her heart jolts and flames seem to make a home out of her chest, which is nothing out of the ordinary. She breaks the gaze, whilst Harry stands up and breaks the silence.

"Goodnight Thea," he says, before turning and making his way up to his dorm.

Thea sighs and looks at Ron and Hermione. Hermione says goodnight and goes to bed too after a few moments, but Ron sits down next to Thea on the sofa.

Thea smiles at him.

"I joined the Inquisitorial Squad, and ignored Harry to stop my mum losing her job, and so I could stay at school." she meets his eyes. "It really hurts that it has to be this way. But, honestly? Umbridge scares me. I don't know what other option I have." 

"It probably wasn't the best idea you've ever had; I can't lie. I mean, I understand why Harry's confused. But I'd do anything to look after my family too, so I understand why you did it. Just be careful around them all, Thea."

This is when her heart ignites in harsh flames, but Thea's body floods with such a comforting warmth that she barely acknowledges the hurt that fades into the background of her mind after a moment.

"Thank you, Ron," she says softly. "That means more to me than you'll ever know."

Ron smiles at her. "There's one thing you can do if you really want to stand by Harry. In secret, obviously. We're thinking of a way for Harry to give us Defence lessons. Real lessons. I'll let you know when we get it sorted properly."

Ron doesn't wait for an answer. He bids her goodnight and follows after his friends to his dorm, leaving Thea to curl up on the sofa and read for a while. Leaving Thea to face her other friends for this absolute debacle that she's managed to get herself into.

Someone send help.