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Chapter Text

-September 1st 1995-

Ramona Burke enjoyed silence, it comforted her, like a childhood blanket. She was used to it, usually spending her holidays cooped up in a huge empty manor with nothing but the House Elves for company but other than that, she'd learned to love the solitude from an early age. When her sister Regina was gone, she took with her all the noise and considering they hadn't seen each other in more than a year, Ramona had almost forgotten what it was like. Hence why the cacophony of Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters was so jarring to her.

Ramona watched the hordes of families rushing around, bidding farewell to their children for the next four months, mothers crying, older children desperate to escape back to school, owls squawking and flapping in their cages. Her head pounded as she pushed through them, dragging her heavy trunk and owl cage behind her with some difficulty, having been too lost in her own thoughts to remember to grab a trolley and now she was paying for it.

The train was mostly empty so she was left with a wide selection of compartments but eventually selected one towards the end of the train and closed the door behind her. The window was closed too, muffling the noise from outside and she felt her shoulders relax a bit as she swung her legs up onto the seat and fished out a book, the pages wrinkled and dog-eared and the title half-faded from use and age.

Her parents, although purebloods, didn't have much quarrel with their daughter's interest in muggle literature, music or art but considering they spoke maybe twice a year, they probably didn't even know. It had started as an attempt to get their attention, from what limited stuff she'd overheard from eavesdropping on their dinner parties with their friends, they disliked those not of pureblood descent, or at least saw them as beneath them, but eventually she came to truly love and appreciate them. In some ways she thought muggles were actually more advanced than the wizarding community and both groups could benefit greatly from learning from each other.

The compartment door slid to the side roughly and one Pansy Parkinson threw herself inside dramatically, her pin-straight black hair fanning out behind her. "Oh Mona, you would not believe the summer I had!"

Pansy Parkinson was entertaining at her best and an insufferable sap with no sense of standards or self-worth at her worst, who had decided she needed some female friends to fall back on when her long-time crush got sick of her every now and then and thus thought that Ramona was a suitable candidate and she'd been unable to get rid of her since. She, like Ramona, was pure of blood although she made sure everyone was aware of this fact.

"I think I would believe actually, all you could talk about in your letters was how Draco had-"

"-Danced with me at that-"

"-Party his family had. Yes, I know, I was there if you didn't forget!"

"Is she still going on about Malfoy?" Delilah's smiling face poked around the corner, a large container in hand from which, a nasty hissing was emitting. "What's that you're reading?"

Delilah Lee, in all her cheeky grin and smudged mascara glory, was a horrible gossip, a narcissistic bitch, had a tendency to be a bit sadistic at times and was Ramona's best friend since forever. They had been raised practically as sisters and did pretty much everything together for the majority of their lives. Delilah was there when nobody else was whether she was wanted or not, and for that, Ramona could never pay her back.

Ramona hesitated slightly before showing them the cover, bracing herself for judgement. "'The Great Gatsby', it's a Muggle book, I got it second-hand down at the village down the road."

Pansy rolled her eyes and crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "Of course it is. I'll never understand why you like their books so much, anyways."

"It's really good!" Her curls shook as she adamantly defended her passion, finger holding her page. "It's about this guy, Nick, who-"

"No offence," Delilah held up a hand to stop her. "But we don't care."

Ramona pulled a face, she'd known they wouldn't get it but for some reason she always held a small sliver of hope that they might listen to her for once not immediately condemn anything that came from those "lesser than them". In fairness, their mindsets had been ingrained into them from an early age and unlearning a whole belief system was easier said than done. They all thought she was mad, especially after taking up Muggle Studies in third year but they'd learned to view it as more of an odd quirk so long as she didn't directly oppose them. Still, it was unwise to voice such opinions in the presence of her friends.

"Are the boys going to be sitting with us?" She cleared her throat at the hasty change of topics, hiding her book in her satchel beneath a half-empty packet of Sugar Quills.

"Hopefully." Pansy perked up, fixing her short, black bob. "Draco made pref...oh shit!"

She leapt to her feet and practically sprinted from the compartment, a small bag containing her school uniform in hand. Clearly she'd forgotten that she too, had been made a prefect, and had to patrol the train after meeting with the others. Delilah and Ramona laughed at her expense, she'd been so excited to be prefect (because in her mind that correlated to spending more time with Draco) and she was already failing miserably at performing her duties.

It was no surprise, however, that Pansy had received the badge. Out of all the girls in their dorm, she was the obvious choice; Ramona wasn't afraid to speak her mind in class when she didn't agree with professors (which was often and said with no filter), Delilah was far too fond of terrorising the younger years to be trusted in supervising them, Millicent Bulstrode was too stupid to tell a Doxy from a Pumpkin Pasty and Daphne Greengrass was not in Severus Snape's good books after she'd called him a 'slimy git' right to his face in second year. Pansy won by default.

Ramona and Delilah didn't waste time discussing their summers, knowing well that they were both awful, instead exchanging different rumours they'd heard about their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, a ritual, considering they had a different one every year. Some said it was that the position was cursed, others said it was due to Dumbledore's incompetent hiring, others said it was a funny coincidence. Ramona didn't care what it was, it kept school life interesting even if DADA marks faltered a bit as a result of constantly changing professors.

"Daddy says it's Umbridge for sure." Delilah rolled her eyes. "You know, that horrible old hag up Fudge's ass?"

"The one with that hideous pink cardigan and the cat plates all over her office?" Ramona snorted, recalling the Ministry tour she'd gotten several years ago as part of a 'bring your daughter to work' scheme. "No way would Dumbledore let her teach us, she was the one who initiated that whole Werewolf Legislation thing. If he had to take someone from the Ministry he'd either go for some clueless old fool from Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee or an eccentric Auror like he did last year."

"And how'd last year turn out for him?" Delilah crossed her arms, still annoyed with everything that had gone down at the end of their fourth year, Ramona's mood darkening at the memories.

"How could he have possibly known?"

"How could he not have known that there was an Azkaban escapee taking the place of his apparently 'very good friend'?"

She chuckled, although it was a bit forced. "I suppose he doesn't have the best reputation for hiring capable and not completely insane professors. Lupin was great, and so was Quirrell till we found out what was actually under his turban."

Their compartment door slid open again, rattling a bit from the force, and their smiles died on their lips as Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe pushed their huge frames through the small entrance. They'd be lucky if they went an hour without the pair of brutes causing some sort of physical fight.

"Hey guys." Delilah's lips were pulled into a tight line. "How were your summers?"

"Has the trolley lady come yet?"

The two girls exchanged a look. "No, the train's only just set off, but why don't you two wait here for her while we go to the bathroom."

Making a narrow escape, they left the boys in the compartment and set off down the train in search of familiar faces. They were hoping to find Blaise or Daphne or even an acquaintance from another house, but they weren't having much luck. Eventually, they decided to split up and Ramona carried on towards the end of the train, earning some pitying stares as she went.

Unfortunately, she didn't know anybody in any of the compartments well enough to invite herself to join them and officially escape Crabbe and Goyle, but she did recognise the signature black braid of one Cho Chang heading towards the last compartment, muttering lowly to herself. Speeding up slightly, glad that she now had an excuse for not sitting with tweedledum and tweedledumber, she caught up to Cho.

"Cho, wait up!" She grabbed her wrist and pulled her back.

"Mona? You okay?"

"Yeah, just barely escaped Malfoy's sidekicks, they're like two Confunded trolls without him and I couldn't stand another second," her curls shook as she laughed but her voice dropped to a quiet whisper. "How are you holding up? You didn't reply to any of my letters and I just want to make sure you're okay."

Cho flushed and ducked her head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry. It's been rough but I'm doing a lot better now, I'm starting to come to terms with everything that happened."

Ramona seriously doubted that Cho was getting any better after the death of her boyfriend, Cedric, at the end of last year but didn't press the subject as they weren't in a very private setting and she wasn't particularly in the mood to pick at such a fresh bad memory. "Anyways, where are you headed off to?"

"Looking for Harry, just wanted to say hi to him before school started."

The Slytherin girl walked beside her and sighed slightly. "Yeah, that sounds like a completely harmless, friendly gesture, searching the entire train just to say hi to one boy, a boy who just so happened to have asked you to the ball last year and still turns red every time you look at him."

Cho pushed her shoulder playfully and unsuccessfully hid a smile. "Shut up, it isn't anything like that."

It was definitely something like that but Cho herself was incredibly confused as to whether she was allowed to like Harry. Cedric's death had only been a few months ago and she had convinced herself she wasn't allowed to be happy or let herself feel that way about anyone else so Ramona didn't push the topic much more than that, Cho had to heal in her own time.

When the older girl slid back the compartment door in which the Chosen One resided, they were greeted with four people staring up at them, covered head-to-toe in a foul-smelling green goop that had splattered both the ceiling and the walls. Not exactly what she'd been expecting but far more entertaining than anything she'd had in mind.

"Oh...hello Harry," Cho spoke, nose crinkling at the stench, eyes watering a bit. "Um...bad time?" 

The boy in question wiped away the goop that was covering his glasses so he could see her, surely bright crimson under the stuff. Ramona bit back a laugh at his evident mortification, he never did make his crush on her much of a secret. She knew for a fact that he'd asked her out last year but she was still with Cedric then. And though Ramona wasn't particularly fond of Harry Potter, she had to credit him for his loyalty.

"Oh...hi." He replied blankly.

Ramona could no longer suppress her laughter, snorting very loudly. "Green is a marvellous colour on you, Potter, really brings out your eyes."

Cho elbowed her in the stomach and shot her a warning look for the comment and for embarrassing her. "Um...well...just thought I'd say hello...bye then."

As soon as the pair were a few feet away, Cho buried her burning face in her hands. "God, that was so awkward! Why do I choose the absolute worst moments to talk to him?"

Ramona rolled her eyes. "I'm hardly an expert but he probably feels worse than you do. Honestly, I think you should just kiss his scrawny ass and get it over with. Dunno what you see in him anyways, when you take away all the 'Chosen One' bullshit, he's just an awkward little kid."

"You're horrible, Mona, he's really sweet."

"And I thrive off of it!" She laughed, the noise bouncing around them. "Did you see Longbottom's face when I came in? Priceless!" 
~~

"I'm starving!" Delilah grumbled quietly in annoyance. "Why does the Sorting Ceremony always take so bloody long? Who cares about first years anyways?"

Malfoy shushed her loudly from a few seats down, causing both Delilah and Ramona to burst into a poorly-contained fit of giggles. Even if he was a prefect now, they were unlikely listen to a word he said, far too used to ignoring him and his insatiable arrogance and power-complex.

All the usual teachers were there except for Professor Hagrid, the woman who'd subbed in for him before sitting in his place, and with the new addition of Dolores Umbridge, the height of the table almost reaching her chest. Apparently Delilah's father had been right in guessing she'd gotten the new Defence Against the Dark Arts job. Professor McGonagall proceeded with the Sorting, calling out students one by one until finally 'Zeller, Rose' was put into Hufflepuff. As the Transfiguration teacher exited with the Hat and stool, Dumbledore rose to his feet, commanding attention without even having to utter a word.

"To our newcomers," he spoke in a ringing voice. "Welcome! To our old hands-welcome back! There is a time for speech-making but this is not it. Tuck in!"

Ramona greedily stuffed herself with roast potatoes, steamed vegetables, sausages and three goblets of pumpkin juice. She ignored the looks from those around her, judging her mountain of food, and joined Delilah in making fun of Pansy practically drooling over Draco who was promptly pretending she didn't exist while her dinner lay forgotten.

"Save it for the dorms, Parkinson."

Pansy scowled and threw her fork at Ramona. "Shut it Burke, at least he didn't dump me by owl."

The playful smirk dropped off her lips. "That's cold but at least he was actually dating me."

"Okay, chill with the insults," Delilah rolled her eyes, well used to such petty disputes. "We all know not to bring up Asshole Dickface Larson, Pansy, stick to the contract."

"Fine, I'm sorry but you shouldn't have made fun of me."

"Whatever, one day you'll look back and see how right we are and that even you deserve better."

Feeling pleasantly drowsy after a large helping of sticky toffee pudding, Ramona also didn't care to listen to the start-of-term notices. It was always the same, don't go into the Forbidden Forest, don't use magic in the corridors, introductions to new teachers, Quidditch tryout announcements...wait, why was the pink woman standing up?

"Hem, hem." She coughed, interrupting the Headmaster. Clearly, she too intended to make a speech.

Dumbledore appeared taken aback for a second but slowly sunk back down into his seat, as intrigued as the rest of them to hear what this would be about.

"Thank you, Headmaster," her voice was unnaturally sweet and breathy. "For those kind words of welcome. Hem, hem. Well, it is lovely to be back at Hogwarts, I must say! And to see such happy little faces looking up at me!"

Ramona's frown deepened and her eyebrows lifted. Nobody looked very happy, most likely due to being addressed as though they were five or recently Confunded.

"I am very much looking forward to getting to know you all and I'm sure we'll be very good friends!" She cleared her throat again and her voice took on a more business-like tone as though she were reading from a script. "The Ministry of Magic has always considered the education of young witches and wizards to be of vital importance. The rare gifts with which you were born may come to nothing if not nurtured and honed by careful instruction."

It was at that point Ramona stopped listening. Clearly nothing more than a Ministry puppet, probably sent in by Fudge to keep tabs on Dumbledore and Harry Potter and discredit their claims. She wasn't all that surprised, Fudge wasn't known for his genius plans. The woman droned on about teaching and progress and pruning or something like that. It didn't seem as though she was the only one not paying attention, Delilah was hexing a third year boy's fingernails to grow to an alarming length, Cho was whispering animatedly with her friends, Pansy was trying to sneak her hand into Draco's and everyone else seemed glassy-eyed.

Finally, the awful woman sat down with little to no applause, most of it coming from the staff (even if most barely clapped more than twice before falling silent) and Dumbledore rose to his feet once more.

"Thank you, Professor Umbridge, that was most illuminating." He bowed to her. "Now, as I was saying, Quidditch tryouts will be held..."

"What the actual fuck just happened?" She leaned in. "Did that woman just interrupt Dumbledore's speech? Who does she think she is?"

"She's from the Ministry," Pansy spoke smugly as if she was actually educating Ramona. "Senior Undersecretary to the Minister for Magic, probably here to take that old geezer down a peg or two."

"Like she could," Delilah scoffed. "She's like smaller than the firsties and looks like the human embodiment of that pink toad on the packaging for Fudge Flies. I think I'll take the Azkaban escapee back."

"Don't be so mean, Father reckons she'll fix the school up."

"It'll be grand, sure she's a DADA teacher and they never stay longer than a year, she'll be gone soon."

Chapter Text

-September 1995-

Ramona was always first up in her dorm, not wanting to deal with grumpy Slytherin girls who were irritable enough after their morning coffee, so she showered and dressed in a hurry before quickly petting her owl, Bacon, and slinging her schoolbag over her shoulder.

The Great Hall was mostly empty so she was left in peace to eat her toast while reading, the sun flooding the room with warm hues of yellow and orange. She sipped her tea as she read a book with worn pages, the spine practically falling apart. As the Hall filled up, the professors began to hand out schedules, most students groaning loudly in disappointment at the arrangement of their classes.

Ramona glanced at her own and sighed, Transfiguration first thing then double Potions with the Gryffindors, followed by Ancient Runes and then Defence Against the Dark Arts. Still, it wasn't looking as bad as the Wednesday which didn't involve a single doss class and included Astronomy at midnight.

"I want to die and to then have my cold and lifeless corpse sink into the ground, never to be seen again."

"Descriptive, Lee."

"Thanks, how on earth are you up so early without looking like death?"

Ramona slid a steaming cup of black coffee across the table. "I always look like death so you just don't notice and I wasn't up late gossiping with Daphne."

"What's first?"

"Transfiguration."

"Ew, choke me." She ripped into a piece of heavily buttered toast.

A sly smirk pulled at her lips. "Didn't know you were into that kinda stuff."

Blaise Zabini sank into the seat next to Delilah, snatching the toast out of her hand and taking a considerably large bite. "Oh yeah she is, are you really that surprised?"

"Shove off," she scowled at him but let him keep her food. "You wish."

They chuckled and proceeded with the usual back-to-school questions that none of them particularly cared about but seemed customary to ask. Ramona liked Blaise, he wasn't as set in Muggle-hatred as the rest of their friends were, sticking to mild insults rather than outright targeting muggle-born students but he was painfully arrogant and disdainful and cared a bit too much about other people's opinions of him. But the odd thing was, was how nice he was on his own and even borderline kind he could be after a few Firewhiskeys.

Daphne joined them after another ten minutes, sluggish in her movements and with dark circles under both eyes yet she still managed to look like she'd stepped straight off the runway. Her younger sister, Astoria, followed closely behind her and sat but a few seats away from the rest of them. Daphne was also very nice when not around Draco and Pansy or her parents, all of whom brought out a malicious, catty side to her but this was usually directed at others outside their little group so Ramona didn't mind it too much. It helped that Daphne had dirt on pretty much everyone in the school and was full of juicy stories.

"You're looking well rested, Daph." She smirked at her.

"Fuck off, Mona, I'm not in the mood, Ryan Connelly is back together with Efina Brooks, even after he danced with me all night at the Malfoy's."

"We saw, we were all there."

"Did you not once call Ryan an 'uncooked spaghetti of a boy' or did I misinterpret you?" Blaise asked with a deceptively straight face.

Daphne went a bit red. "I hate you all."

~~

Ramona had decided not two minutes into class that Dolores Umbridge was a colossal raging bitch and if her many disagreements with Professor Gilderoy Lockheart in her second year was any indication, she'd be spending the better half of the year in detention with the hag.

Umbridge watched them with beady eyes from behind her desk as they filtered in and once everyone had sat down she spoke in a high-pitched, sickly sweet, patronising voice. "Well, good afternoon."

There were a few muttered replies. She tutted. "That won't do now, will it? I should like you to reply 'Good afternoon Professor Umbridge'. One more time, please. Good afternoon class!"

They replied as she'd asked but in a dead monotone in stark contrast to her false cheer.

"There now," she said with a thin smile. "That wasn't too difficult now was it? Wands away and quills out please."

She caught Delilah's gloomy eye and they silently agreed that this year was about to be an incredibly infuriating one. Usually new teachers tried to open with a fun and interesting class, evidently, Umbridge did not care. Ramona reluctantly tucked her wand back into her bag and withdrew a long, chewed-on quill instead, often the victim of mistaken identity for once of her Sugar Quills.

Professor Umbridge tapped the blackboard sharply with her wand and the words Defence Against the Dark Arts A Return To Basic Principles scrawled themselves across the surface. "Well now, your teaching in this subject has been rather disrupted and fragmented, hasn't it? The constant changing of teachers, many of whom do not seem to have followed any Ministry-approved curriculum, has unfortunately resulted in your being far below the standard we would expect to see in your O.W.L. year.

"You will be pleased to know, however, that these problems are now to be rectified. We will be following a carefully structured, theory-centred, Ministry-approved course of defensive magic this year. Copy down the following please."

She tapped the blackboard with her wand again and more chalky words began to appear.

Course Aims:
1. Understanding the principles underlying defensive magic.
2. Learning to recognise situations in which defensive magic can legally be used.
3. Placing the use of defensive magic in a context for practical use.

Ramona wrinkled her nose as she scanned the words. Really it just sounded like a bunch of bullshit that just meant the Ministry didn't approve of Dumbledore's handling of the school. In all fairness, they hadn't exactly the best record for DADA professors but Professor Lupin was brilliant and at least with Moody's imposter she learned a little. Still, she bit her tongue and copied it all down.

"Has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?" The class murmured the affirmative but of course this was not good enough. "I think we'll try again. When I ask you a question, I should like you to reply 'Yes Professor Umbridge', or 'No Professor Umbridge'. So: has everyone got a copy of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard?"

"Yes Professor Umbridge."

"Good," she said. "I should like you to turn to page five and read 'Chapter One: Basics for Beginners'. There will be no need to talk."

Ramona and Delilah shared another look before turning to page five and starting to read as the toady woman settled herself behind her desk looking quite smug. Her eyes passed over the text but no meaning went into her brain, silently accepting that she had a very tedious year ahead of her if every lesson was to follow as such and Umbridge proved herself to be as dreadfully up Fudge's arse as Ramona assumed.

As she glanced up briefly from the page, she noticed Hermione Granger's hand high in the air. Now, this was not an unusual occurrence, Granger often would stick her hand up to answer a question perhaps ten times a class, if not more, but what was odd was that Umbridge had asked no question and that she was pointedly ignoring Granger. Several minutes passed and neither force surrendered. Most of the other students had also taken to watching this exchange rather than reading Wilbert Slinkhard's atrocity of a book.

When more than half the class had their attention focused on Granger, Umbridge relented, knowing she could no longer ignore the situation and wait for it to disappear (although this was usually the Ministry's go-to strategy). "Did you want to ask something about the chapter, dear?"

"Not about the chapter, no." Granger said, shaking her impressively large hair.

"Well we're reading just now," Umbridge slightly bared her pointed teeth. "If you have other queries, we can deal with them at the end of class."

"I've got a query about your course aims."

Ramona sat up straighter in her seat, suddenly far more intrigued by this promise of drama.

The professor's thin lips pursed. "And your name is?"

"Hermione Granger."

"Well, Miss Granger, I think the course aims are perfectly clear if you read them through carefully." Her voiced strained slightly.

"Well I don't," said Granger with so much bluntness, Ramona was taken aback. "There's nothing written up there about using defensive spells."

There was a short silence. Ramona frowned and glanced back up at the board. For however annoying Granger could be, she was right. Suddenly, the Ministry's motives became overwhelmingly clear, regulate what the kids learned, reprogram them into uncritical halfwits and blatantly ignore the return of the Dark Lord almost like if they did it hard enough he'd pack his bags and vacation off to France to do some serious self-reflection and soul-searching.

"Using defensive spells?" Umbridge laughed patronisingly. "Why I can't imagine any situation arising in my classroom that would require you to use a defensive spell, Miss Granger. You surely aren't expecting to be attacked during class?"

Ramona's hand flew up.

"Yes, Miss-" the sweetness in her voice became even more forced.

"Ramona Burke. But, is the whole purpose of the class not to prepare us to help defend ourselves against dark wizards, creatures and magic?"

Umbridge looked her over with pouchy eyes. "Are you a Ministry-trained educational expert, Miss Burke?"

"No, but if you're the standard they're looking for I don't think I'll have a hard time at it."

Delilah was staring daggers into the side of her head, clearly reading the situation as Ramona taking Granger's side but in the moment she couldn't have cared less. This woman was unbelievably stupid on top of her incredibly detestful personality.

Her eyes had narrowed into slits and the young Slytherin was surprised she wasn't given detention right on the spot. "Well then I'm afraid you're not qualified to decide what the 'whole purpose' of any class is. Wizards much older and cleverer than you have devised our new programme of study. You will be learning about defence spells in a secure, risk-free way-"

"What use is that?" Harry Potter said loudly. "If we're going to be attacked, it won't be in a-"

"Students raise their hands when they wish to speak in my class, Mr Potter!" She said in a half shout, half sing-song, the oddest intonation Ramona had ever heard in her life.

Potter thrust his fist in the air, looking fairly heated but Umbridge pretended she couldn't see it but at the same time, several others raised their hands, Ramona included.

"And your name is?" She turned to Dean Thomas with a barely concealed tut.

"Dean Thomas."

"Well, Mr Thomas?"

"Well, it's like Harry said, isn't it? If we're going to be attacked it won't be risk-free."

"I repeat." She smiled down at him in a very irritating fashion. "Do you expect to be attacked during my classes?"

"No, but-"

Professor Umbridge cut over him. "I do not wish to criticise the way things have been run in this school," a smile stretched over her lips. "But you have been exposed to some very irresponsible wizards in this class, very irresponsible indeed-not to mention, extremely dangerous half-breeds."

Ramona felt her cheeks heat up in anger. "If you're referring to Professor Lupin, he was the best-"

"Hand, Miss Burke!" She took a second to recover from her outburst. "As I was saying-you have been introduced to spells that have been complex, inappropriate to your age group and potentially lethal. You have been frightened into believing that you are likely to meet Dark attacks every other day."

"No we haven't," Granger said. "We just-"

"Your hand is not up, Miss Granger!"

Granger put up her hand as Ramona's scowl deepened. Umbridge turned away from her, once again deflecting the situation. "It is my understanding that my predecessor not only performed illegal curses in front of you, he actually performed them on you."

"Well he turned out to be a maniac, didn't he?" Dean Thomas spoke again, hotly. "Mind you, we still learned loads."

While their fourth year professor had ended up being a psycho Death Easter Azkaban-escapee in disguise as renowned Auror, Alastor Moody who had been far from kind and one of Ramona's most hated teachers, they had in fact learned a lot from him. If not thanks to him, she'd be unable to resist the Imperius Curse.

"Your hand is not up, Mr Thomas!" She screeched. "Now, it is the view of the Ministry that a theoretical knowledge will be more than sufficient to get you through your examination, which, after all, is what school is all about. And your name is?"

Parvati Patil's hand had also now joined the throng. "Parvati Patil, and isn't there a practical bit in our Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L.? Aren't we supposed to show that we can actually do the counter-curses and things?"

"As long as you have studied the theory hard enough, there is no reason why you should not be able to perform the spells under carefully controlled exam conditions."

Ramona scoffed loudly from her seat, unable to help herself. "We're expected to perform O.W.L. level defensive spells with absolutely no practice beforehand? Forgive me if that sounds like beetle dung to me, Professor."

"Ten points from Slytherin, Miss Burke." Umbridge replied cooly. "I repeat, so long as you've studied the theory hard enough-"

"And what good's theory going to be in the real world?" Potter's hand was up again, now looking very heated.

She regarded him with disdain. "This is school, Mr Potter, not the real world."

"Then how are we expected to defend ourselves 'in the real world'?" Ramona said again.

"There is nothing to defend yourselves against, Miss Burke."

"Oh yeah?" Potter seemed to have reached peak anger, his fists clenched and his ears a violent red.

"Who do you imagine wants to attack children, like yourselves?" She asked in a horribly patronising voice.

"Hmm, let's think..." Potter said in a mocking tone, sure to anger her even more. "Maybe...Lord Voldemort?"

The reaction was as she anticipated, many in the class flinched or gasped, Lavender Brown let out a tiny scream, Neville Longbottom slipped off his stool but neither Umbridge nor Ramona moved. Her sister, Regina, had always referred to him by that name, usually with a curse following quick after so she'd never quite understood the stigma behind it.

"Ten points from Gryffindor, Mr Potter."

The rest of the class fell dead silent, either looking at Potter or Umbridge, anxious to see what happened next. The toady woman stood up from behind her desk and leaned towards them as if it was supposed to be threatening.

"Now let me make a few things quite plain." She said venomously. "You have been told that a certain Dark wizard has returned from the dead-"

"He wasn't dead." Potter fumed. "But yeah, he's returned!"

"Mr-Potter-you-have-already-lost-your-house-ten-points-do-not-make-matters-worse-for-yourself," She said in a single breath without even glancing his way. "As I was saying, you have been informed a certain Dark wizard is at large once again. This is a lie."

"It is not a lie!" Potter was shaking with anger. "I saw him, I fought him!"

"Detention, Mr Potter." She spoke. "Tomorrow evening. Five o'clock. My office. I repeat, this is a lie. The Ministry guarantees that you are not in danger from any Dark wizard. If you are still worried, by all means come and see me outside class hours. If someone is alarming you with fibs about reborn Dark wizards, I would like to hear about it. I am here to help. I am your friend. And now, you will kindly continue your reading. Page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."

She sat down behind her desk, looking triumphant, but Potter popped up in her place like a Jack-in-the-Box. Granger tugged at his sleeve, looking fearful, but he blatantly ignored her.

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

Ramona felt ice run through her veins at the mention of her deceased friend. She'd tried to keep him out-of-mind over the summer, for her own sake, but clearly he'd been haunting Potter, the only one who'd actually seen him die, too.

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

"What do you suppose killed him then, Professor?" Her head felt light upon her shoulders. "A bleeding garden Gnome? It was clearly the Killing Curse, there was a witness and everything!"

She felt hot tears well in her eyes but blinked them back as soon as they appeared.

"Detention, Miss Burke, same time, same place." Her face was blank. "I repeat, a tragic accident."

"Voldemort killed him and you know it!"

For the few long seconds after Potter's outburst, Ramona was sure she'd scream at him but then she spoke in her softest, most sickly sweet simper. "Come here, Mr Potter, dear."

He kicked his chair aside, it screeched on the stone floor and strode up to her desk as the class watched with bated breath. She pulled out a roll of pink parchment from her desk (Ramona guessed it was scented too, she got those kinda vibes off her) and began to scribble some words down upon the surface, the scratching of her quill on the parchment the only sound in the room for an agonising minute or so. She sealed it with a tap of her wand and handed it to the boy in for the of her.

"Take this to Professor McGonagall, dear."

He took it without saying a word and left the classroom with a slammed door behind him. There was another few seconds of painfully awkward silence before: "If you'll please continue with your reading, page five, 'Basics for Beginners'."
~~

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Mona?" Delilah has to jog to keep up with her friend's long strides. "Taking Potter's side?"

She shook her head and rolled her eyes. "I wasn't taking his side, I simply agree with the fact that she's a colossal bitch."

Delilah grabbed her arm and whirled her around. "And all that shit about Diggory? I get that you two were friends but at the end of the day, he was a blood traitor."

She opened her mouth to argue, to bite back but held her tongue once she thought twice about it. It wasn't safe to go around defending blood traitors and muggleborns these days, especially not around her friends. "It's not like it matters anymore, he's dead."

"Yeah, so no more of that, right?"

"Right."

Chapter Text

-September 1995-

"She is by far, the foulest, most horrid, slimy little toad of a woman I've ever met in my entire fifteen years of existence!" Ramona's voice carried around the entire common room which had mostly cleared out when she'd started on her rant, a pillow clenched so tightly in her grasp she'd permanently deformed it.

"Still on about Umbridge is she?" Draco slid in next to Delilah despite Pansy having scooted over to offer him the seat by her, Crabbe and Goyle close on his heels.

"Of course I am!" she snapped. "She's totally and completely incompetent!"

"Dunno," Delilah shrugged. "It was kinda funny when she gave Potter detention."

"Are we all just forgetting that she gave me detention too?" Ramona's upper lip curled into a sneer, disappointed at her friends' lack of sympathy for her.

"For good reason," Pansy sniffed, having shared Delilah's opinion that she was siding with the blood traitors in her rebellion against Umbridge's irrationality and censorship.

"Whatever," she threw the pillow aside and scooted a few more inches away from the others, "I just wanna get this week's detentions over and done with."

Draco grinned teasingly. "Oh yeah, you've gotta spend the evening with Potter, haven't you? Gonna be a riot, I suspect."

"Yes, I'm bursting with excitement as it grows nearer," her shoulders sank and she tossed her head back. "Stuck in a room with Potter and Umbridge, a dream come true."

She'd thought her friends' disappointing reaction to her detention was as bad as it could get but Cho's response was infinitely worse. The second Ramona had relayed to her the story, Cho had gone on a tyrant about how brave and noble Harry Potter was to speak the truth and defend the death of Cedric, not a word of it praising her friend who'd done the same. Needless to say, the talk with Cho had made her feel no better.

Ramona was in a foul mood for the entirety of dinner and didn't speak a word, scowling as she pushed around her baked potato aimlessly on her plate. She wasn't in the state of mind to listen to Draco drawl on about his father and Minirsty business, occasionally slipping in some backhanded insult about Potter as he seemed to more and more every year or watch Pansy drool over him rather than the perfectly good plate of food in front of her.

She ended up leaving early, only Delilah and Blaise sending a look at her retreating figure and went for a walk. First day back at school and she was already in trouble (even if it had been a more than fair criticism). Had Cedric still been there he would've rattled off bad joke after bad joke until he cracked a smile out of her. But Cedric wasn't there anymore. And Cho was sad and her parents were distant and Pansy only ever wanted to talk about Draco and Ramona had never hated her friends before but now she was starting to and-

A force hit her head-on and she stumbled back, falling onto the cold stone floor. She really must have been losing her mind if she was walking into statues she'd passed almost every day for four years. Ramona buried her face in her hands for a second, breathing deeply. She was fine. When she lifted her head, an arm was outstretched towards her, fingers trembling slightly.

"What are you doing here, Longbottom?"

He retracted his hand, biting his lip sheepishly. "Going to dinner."

"You're a bit late, they'll be serving dessert by now," she got to her feet and regarded him. He'd gotten taller over the summer, more gangly, lost some of the baby fat her friends loved to weaponise against him but his hair was still unruly and he still had perhaps a few more years until he grew into his ears.

He mumbled something, not looking her in the eye. She wasn't bothered enough to pull anything out of him and she didn't even have the energy to throw in a snide remark or even a disdainful look.

"Whatever, if you need proper food, you can get into the kitchen by tickling the pear."

He watched her brush past him and down the steps leading to the dungeons where the Slytherin common room and a roaring fire was waiting for her and opened his mouth, thinking to say thank you. But, nothing came out and she disappeared before he could even stammer out a single word. 
~~

The following day was cool and breezy and the dark clouds overhead were not promising which only put Ramona in an even worse mood, already dreading her detention with Umbridge that evening. She was walking down to Care of Magical Creatures (which they unfortunately shared with the Gryffindors) with her friends, listening to Draco's usual insults about Potter. The others all sniggered along to gratify him but Ramona could find no humour in the topic. He never shut up about the Potter boy and it was really starting to get on her nerves, their was a not-so-time line between rivalry and obsession which she thought he had crossed long ago.

In fact, all anyone could ever seem to talk about those days was Harry Potter whether their tone was pity, hatred, love, admiration, or fear and it was slowly driving her mental. Cedric had been brutally murdered and Voldemort was back and people only cared that Potter was a liar and filled with teenage angst. It was infuriating to say the least.

Professor Grubbly-Plank had gotten not two minutes into the lesson on Bowtruckles before Draco had instead turned to mocking Granger as her hand flew eagerly in the air. Pansy shrieked with laughter and Ramona inched away from them and closer to Delilah. They were to split up into groups and examine and sketch the Bowtruckles, little creatures that looked like twigs yet far more dangerous. Hopefully one could scratch out her eardrums so she'd never have to listen to Potter drama ever again. She stuck to the back of the class with her robes drawn tightly around her arms as Delilah picked out a Bowtruckle.

"Where's Hagrid?" Potter had questioned Grubbly-Plank, having also hung back.

"Never you mind," she'd said dismissively, walking to the other side of the group to avoid further conversation.

Draco cut between them and seized a Bowtruckle in his fist, the creature squirming in discomfort. "Maybe the stupid, great oaf's got himself badly injured."

"Maybe you will if you don't shut up," Potter had shot back tiredly under his breath.

"Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift."

Ramona's head throbbed and she felt the familiar bubbling of her temper rise to a boil. "For Merlin's sake, Draco, do you really have to make a comment every time Potter breathes? It's getting old."

Both boys looked at her as if she'd sprouted two heads and starting reciting Greek poetry and she realised that perhaps that may have read as her defending Potter which she most certainly was not, she knew better.

"...But sure, Hagrid sucks or whatever."

Draco spent the rest of the lesson sending her evil looks and leaving Pansy to do all the work while Potter had clearly relayed what she'd said to his friends, all three of them stealing glances at her when they thought she wasn't looking. She would have killed to become invisible.

She spent the rest of her day steeping in this foul anger, wishing for things to go back to the way they were last year, when life wasn't so damn complicated. By the time she was shuffling herself off to Umbridge's office for detention, you could practically see the black cloud hanging over her head, her fists balled up in her robes, feet dragging across the stone floor and a poisonous look in her dark eyes.

"You're late, Miss Burke." Umbridge and Potter stared up at her as she entered. The office was covered wall to wall in bright pink wallpaper, little ceramic plates of moving kittens lined up in rows upon them, every surface was draped with little lace doilies or floral print cloths and there was way too many cushions, embroidered, fluffy, crocheted, all pink and all hideous. Ramona's eyes felt assaulted and she blinked a few times to try and adjust to the sudden attack of colour. "Never let this happen again."

"Okay."

She took the seat beside the boy, dropping her bag to the ground with a clatter, pulling the piece of parchment set before her closer, she just wanted to get this over with and admittedly, writing lines was not the worst detention she'd ever had, the company was just less than subpar. A few days of this wouldn't be too bad, at least she wasn't being hung by her ankles as Filch always begged.

"Now you two will be doing some lines for me. No, not with your quill," she added and the pair retracted from their schoolbags. "You're going to be using some very special ones of mine. Here you are."

Ramona inspected the long, inky black quill and its unusually sharp point at the end, she did not have a good feeling about this.

"Ms Burke, I would like you to write 'I must not talk back', Mr Potter, please write 'I must not tell lies'," she said softly but with some menacing glee stewing at the back of her throat.

"How many times?" he asked, an edge to his voice, like he was trying incredibly hard not to snarl at her like a rabid dog.

"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in," Umbridge dropped three sugar cubes into her teacup. "Off you go."

Ramona looked around, the quill hovering midair, and realised they were missing something. "You haven't given us any ink."

"Oh, you won't need ink."

Ramona had barely scratched out her first 'I must not' when a sharp pain twanged from her left hand and she let loose a strangled gasp. She looked from the shining red letters on her parchment to where they also stood stark against the back of her left hand. She glanced at the boy sat beside her, equally as startled, and turned to look up at Umbridge.

"Is there something the matter, dear?"

Ramona opened her mouth to let loose a flurry of curses, how inhumane this was, child torture, illegal, something plucked straight from a medieval punishment book, that she would not sit by and wilfully deform herself, but Potter placed his hand on her shoulder and said, "Nothing."

The girl tore her eyes from that disgusting woman and scribbled out: 'I must not talk back' again, the second crimson line joining the first. She tucked her left arm beneath the table and out of sight of Umbridge. She would not give her the satisfaction. She wrote it again and again, line after line, the letters becoming messier as it became harder to ignore the pain, for what felt like hours and prayed that someone, anyone, would burst in and stop her and haul her off to Azkaban.

"Hands," Umbridge said after a while.

The pair presented their left hands to her, bright red and throbbing although the cuts had healed over. She snatched at them with her stubby fingers, and examined what damage she'd done. "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."

They left silently. The halls were empty, it was surely past midnight and Ramona really wanted to cry.

"She can't do this," she muttered as they left the dreaded office in their wake. "It's literally child abuse...we have to tell someone."

"We can't," he said.

She looked at the Boy-Who-Lived with wide eyes. "What the ever loving fuck do you mean we can't?"

He sighed. "Telling someone won't do anything, Umbridge has got the Ministry's protection, nobody can stop her, even Dumbledore, it would just be making an unnecessary fuss."

"That's a bullshit excuse and you know it, Potter," she hugged her arms around herself tightly. "This is a pride thing and I get it but it's not just you she's attacking, despite how special everyone tells us you are, your wellbeing is no more important than anybody else's. Just because you're the Chosen One, doesn't give your life any more importance than mine. See you tomorrow, Potter, maybe invest in some disinfectant for that hand."
~~

The second detention was just as bad as the first although at least now, she knew what to expect. With every line she wrote out, her hatred festered more and more and she wished she could reach across the lace-draped desk and wring her awful fat neck. Miraculously, she managed to keep her temper in check and breathed through the pain but the mere thought of another two days of this torture gave her a headache.

She hadn't told any of her friends about the detention, the idea of doing so made her feel oddly queasy but none of them had even asked which made the topic easy to avoid. Ramona couldn't help but think that if Cedric were still alive she would have gone to him. He would have been furious, he'd always hated seeing other people get hurt, especially her. God, she missed him more than words could describe.

Ramona's fingers ghosted over the red raw patch on the back of her left hand while sat out by the lake with Cho, the pair taking a much needed break from the rest of the school.

"How are you holding up?" she asked softly, watching the tentacles of the Giant Squid skim the top of the water.

Cho sank down a bit into herself. "I don't know, Mona, it's ups and downs. Mostly downs."

"That's okay, I've been thinking about him a lot too," she took Cho's free hand in her own, the unmarred one and squeezed it lightly. "Nobody else really gets it, they didn't know Cedric like we did."

"It's like everyone expects me to just get over it, like I had a few months to grieve and now it's old news, they're sick of me, they're sick of talking about his death," Cho's voice wobbled a bit as she spoke. "I'm just really sad and confused all the time and all my friends are treating me like I've lost my mind."

Cho dissolved into tears, a common occurrence these days.

"I know, Cho," she wrapped her arms tightly around her friend and pulled her close, wishing she could do or say something, anything, that would make all this pain stop but she knew better than that, she knew that the world didn't work like that. "But you just have to keep on, there's nothing else you can do. You know Cedric wouldn't want you to feel this way, if he could he'd rise from the grave just to stop you from crying."

Cho buried her face deeper into Ramona's cloak and her shoulders shook violently.

"I'm sorry."
~~

The third and second last detention sucked Hippogriff ass. The wound had stopped healing over and instead remained an angry, bleeding crimson, the words mocking her every time she caught sight of them. I must not talk back. Umbridge was a twisted woman. Thankfully, once she'd seen that their wounds were freely bleeding she'd let them leave early (if half ten could be considered early) with a comment on how with one more session could etch the message even deeper that sent a shiver down Ramona's spine.

Her and Potter had walked all the way down the hallway in silence before they parted ways, stopping briefly before he was to go up the stairs and her to go down. "Wrap up that hand of yours, Potter," she clapped him on the shoulder. "You wouldn't want it to scar."

He'd looked at her oddly in the dim torchlight before nodding. "You too, Burke."

Ramona was far from being Harry Potter's biggest superfan (she still thought he was annoying and egotistical and how did he manage to literally be the centre of everything that happened in Hogwarts?) but after the past few days she supposed he wasn't all that bad. While she couldn't say she really knew him or understood him any better, they had something in common now, an enemy, and that was more than what she had with anyone else at present. 
~~

Ramona trudged off to Umbridge's office at five o' clock on Friday evening as she had done so all week, glad to be done with it and looking forward to the weekend. If anything, Umbridge's methods were effective, Ramona might think twice before she spoke up in DADA again. Potter was looking more sullen and irritable than usual, his gaze directed out the window where Gryffindor Quidditch tryouts were being held. At least that explained his attitude when she'd been dumb enough to greet him as she took up that cursed quill.

She had gotten used to the pain at that point, and the itching that followed some hours after the bleeding stopped but that made it no less unpleasant and she had to grit her teeth to stop herself from betraying her discomfort to the fat woman across from her. Some drops of blood from the back of her hand fell onto the lacy white tablecloth and she hoped it would stain.

After darkness had fallen outside, Umbridge put down her own pink quill on the desk and looked to the pair expectantly. "Let's see if you've got the message yet, shall we?"

Ramona held up her bleeding hand to the foul woman who examined it with beady eyes, grinning when she flinched as Umbridge poked at the stinging flesh with the tip of her nail. She'd moved over, satisfied with the damage and Potter offered his hand next which she'd snatched up in her stubby little fingers like a greedy child after sweets. She'd held him for but a few seconds when he ripped his arm from her hold and sprang to his feet, looking alarmed. Drama queen.

"Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?" she said softly. "Well I think I've made my point, you're both free to go."

Potter literally sprinted away from her office and Ramona debated chasing after him, for what reason, she didn't know and ignored her weird impulse, instead shouting half heartedly after him. "It was lovely hanging out with you, Potter, I really will miss our lovely conversations."

When she got back to the common room, she fell down in one of the armchairs by the fire, folding her arms around herself and tucking her knees into her chest. It wasn't as late as it usually was when she got back from detention and there were still plenty of people around, playing cards or reading or speaking in low tones or finishing off homework but none spared her much notice.

"Mona, what are you doing down here?" Delilah squeezed herself between Ramona and the side of the chair, already dressed in her pyjamas. "Avoiding everyone again? Or just moping?"

"I'm not avoiding you guys."

"You're a terrible liar," Delilah poked her in the side of her ribs. "You've been acting weird since we got back to school, is everything okay?"

Ramona didn't look at her, guilt clawing at her insides. "Yeah, I've just been in a really bad mood because of Umbridge and Potter and Pansy's being annoying and I can basically see the stick up Draco's ass coming out his mouth it's so deep in there and I just...I really miss Cedric."

Delilah's eyes softened a bit and she took up her friend's hand in her own, not noticing the writing on the back. "I know, but no matter how much everyone is pissing you off, they're the ones that really count in the end. Do you really think that when Potter and his posse accuse you of being a Death Eater, Chang will step up and defend you against her boyfriend? Not even Diggory would if he were still around. But we've got your back, no matter what, through thick and thin, always, because...we understand...what's this?"

Ramona looked down at her bleeding hand in Delilah's and shrugged as if that made the self-inflicted torture any more bearable. "Umbridge."

"She made you do this?"

"Yeah, sick freak." she swallowed the lump building up in her throat. "Potter had to write something about telling lies and he's being a dramatic little bitch about it."

"When's he not?" Delilah said softly. "Threw a tantrum the other day about missing Quidditch. We should get this bandaged up though, it's not curfew yet, I can borrow some stuff from Madam Pomfrey."

Ramona shook her head and took her hand back. "It's fine, I almost hope it scars so I can use it against her someday, maybe in court, maybe as blackmail, who knows?"

"Why not tell someone? Snape will be over the moon to get her fired."

"I..." she couldn't just say she'd promised Potter not to tell anyone, that would just result in a lecture she wasn't in the mood to sit through. "That won't get her fired, she's the Ministry's little puppet and they'll just cover this up if it gets out."

"True...I suppose we'll just have to cover up her her hideous murder as an unfortunate disappearance in the Forbidden Forest or something."

"I wish."

Chapter Text

-September 1995-

Ramona wasn't exactly the world's biggest Quidditch fan but she didn't exactly dislike either, it was just dreadfully uninteresting. Regina had played while she was still in school, Keeper, and was the Slytherin's team captain in her seventh year so Ramona had a little store of Quidditch knowledge in her head from Regina's many rants on the subject. It was also often enough that she was dragged down to the pitch to watch the different teams practice whether that be to cheer on their friends or to mock Potter and co.

The day after her detention just so happened to be a day for mocking as Draco had caught wind that Ronald Weasley had made Keeper on the Gryffindor team and this was an opportunity he simply couldn't pass up. Ramona lagged slightly behind the group as they traipsed down the the pitch, clutching onto Blaise for warmth despite the multiple layers she was practically drowning under. She could never stand the cold, something that sucked major balls when living in the UK, and it only ever served to put her in a worse mood than before. 

They got there before the Gryffindor team but there were already a few onlookers in the stands, most from the Slytherin team but also those from the other Houses to scout out that year's competition, Daphne went to every Quidditch practice she could, despite not so much as touching a Quaffle in her life, Quidditch was one of the 'greatest joys' in her life. It was windier up in the stands and Ramona was starting to regret agreeing to come along even if she did have to prove that she wasn't actually avoiding her friends. 

"What's that Weasley's riding?" Draco's voice jeered down, meaning that the Gryffindors must have entered the pitch, sometimes she thought he had a sixth sense for sniffing them out, like a bloodhound for sniffing chivalry and recklessness. "Why would anyone put a flying charm on a mouldy old log like that?"

Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy roared with laughter while the others mentally prepared themselves for at least another hour of this shit. 

"Hey, Johnson," Pansy called as the team huddled up in the air. "What's with that hairstyle anyways? Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"

Angelina Johnson firmly ignored the jibe but Ramona was not so controlled or calm in her reaction. "What the actual fuck, Pansy? Worms? Really?"

Pansy met her flaming gaze and looked almost guilty for a second. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Let it go, Mona," Delilah said firmly though she was no less pissed off by Pansy's ignorance. "It won't do any good to make a fuss about it." 

She listened for once and tried to focus on the Quidditch although it was pretty difficult amidst the constant snarky commentary and exaggerated laughing every time a player fumbled coming from beside her. After a bit, a chant had started up, a painfully childish sounding: 'Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers', as Katie Bell bled furiously from the nose after being socked in the face with a poor pass from Weasley who was clearly thrown off by the crowd. 

The practice was cut short as Katie turned an unsettling chalk white, the front of her robes stained dark red, an unnatural amount of blood from a nosebleed, the Weasley twins helping her back up to the Hospital Wing. Down a Chaser and both Beaters, Johnson stopped the practice and began to clear up though the jeers didn't stop till they'd left the pitch and were out of earshot in the changing rooms.

"Well that was a terrible waste of time," Delilah said as they hurried back up to the castle. "It lasted like what-twenty minutes?"

"Twenty minutes too long," Ramona grumbled, eyes meeting those of Harry Potter, who was leaving the changing rooms with a sullen-faced Weasley. She tried to convey her best apology for the day by nudging her head in the direction of Pansy and Malfoy who was walking fast to escape her and rolling her eyes. He managed a tight-lipped smile. 

"Hurry up, I've got Divination homework to bullshit." 

~~

Ramona didn't trust much of what the Daily Prophet had to say but it made for a good excuse not to have to talk to people in the mornings, seeming invested in that day's news. The morning it arrived, snatched just moments before it was about to fall into her porridge, with a large moving picture of Dolores Umbridge's face on the front cover, she knew the Ministry had stepped up their bullshitting game to a whole new level. 

MINISTRY SEEKS EDUCATIONAL REFORM 

DOLORES UMBRIDGE APPOINTED 

FIRST EVER HIGH INQUISITOR 

Once she found out what 'High Inquisitor' actually meant, basically a fancy title giving the old hag power to be even more of a little shit and more than just a general nuisance, anger blossomed in her chest. The whole article was blatant Ministry propaganda and nothing much more than an excuse to slander Dumbledore. While she could admit the man had many faults in how he hired his staff, she'd take him over Umbridge any day.

"What's wrong?" Delilah peered over her shoulder at the article, bleary-eyed and frizzy-haired. 

"Umbridge just got worse, now she's got an excuse to be even more of a living nightmare."

The woman herself sat up at the staff table, looking far too pleased with herself, shoulders set back, a little smirk pushing at her round cheeks, a little golden badge, perfectly polished, pinned to the breast of her knitted cardigan. The now faded writing on the back of Ramona's hand itched. It was so sick, all of it.

True to the promises of the article, Umbridge started popping up in various lessons, clipboard in hand, trailing after teachers, quizzing students, asking horribly intrusive questions and just being more of a pain in the arse than usual. How she had time to do this on top of her regular class times and essay-grading, Ramona didn't know but she might have been impressed at the time-juggling had she not hated the woman so much. 

Like she'd promised Delilah, she bit her tongue in class, no matter how angry she got, though it was definitely not easy. She'd managed to get through several days of these supervised lessons without incident until one Care of Magical Creatures class with the Gryffindors later that week which was a disaster from beginning to end.

Umbridge had spent her time quizzing students on various magical creatures, taking notes on her clipboard, most of them answering with little problem, while Hagrid's teaching methods were a bit unorthodox, they worked. It wasn't until the very end of the lesson, after she'd finished cross-examining Professor Grubbly-Plank in excessive detail, Umbridge turned to Goyle, her little smile widening.

"Now I hear there have been injuries in this class?" 

Goyle shot a dopey grin at Malfoy who said: "That was me, I got slashed by a Hippogriff."

"A Hippogriff?" she began scribbling frantically on her clipboard, tutting under her breath. 

"He was hardly slashed, Professor," Ramona couldn't stop herself from speaking up, Malfoy's dramatics had lead to that creature's death and even still he played the victim. "It was a scratch, he's hardly been crippled."

Malfoy was looking at her venomously, after his initial shock had subsided. "I was in a sling for weeks."

"Only because he was too stupid to listen to what Hagrid told him to do," Potter spat from a few feet away. 

Several groans resounded from the other students as Umbridge's face went stony and she slowly turned to face him. "Another night's detention, I think. Well, thank you very much, Professor Grubbly-Plank, I think that's all I need here. You will be receiving the results of your inspection within ten days."

As Umbridge waddled past, she met Ramona's eyes, and pursed her lips. Despite how silly she looked, Ramona knew this was a warning, she was lucky she hadn't wound up in detention again but she wouldn't be getting any more chances after this. Another stunt and she'd be back to forcibly deforming herself. 

~~

"What's wrong with you, Mona?" Pansy had exploded after a terse silence while the girls did their homework on the floor of their dorm in a little circle around a pile of sweets and snacks. 

"Lots of stuff, Pansy, you'll have to be more specific."

Pansy's fists grabbed at the parchment she had half a Potions essay written on, crumpling it under her grip. "Why were you such a bitch to Draco earlier?"

Ramona huffed a bit and refused to look up from her Charms book. "Because he was being a drama queen about it, an innocent creature died because of his need for attention. All I did was call him out on it because it would have affected Umbridge's inspection."

Delilah and Daphne looked at each other awkwardly, unsure of whether they should try to slip out of the room before this dissolved into another famous Ramona vs Pansy row. 

"That beast was hardly innocent, it almost killed him!"

"Pomfrey herself said he was fine! Are you trying to argue with a trained medical professional?"

"She wasn't there!"

"It was his own fault for not listening!" Ramona's sudden leap to her feet sent papers scattering everywhere, homework forgotten in her anger. "I'm leaving, don't follow me."

Making extra sure to slam the door behind her, Ramona took the steps two at a time to the common room, trying to control her breathing. She ignored Blaise as he reached out to catch her arm and shouldered past two little second years who'd yelled after her. She didn't know where she was going but she didn't care anymore, she just had to get away before she said something really bad and ruined her own life. 

~~

They had almost been at school for a full month and Ramona hated it more with every passing day. She felt her friends grow more and more distant from her, her patience was near nonexistent and Umbridge only grew fouler, like a glass of milk left out on a warm summer's day. She'd tried hard not to earn herself another week's detention after the first, she wanted to get sick every time she looked at the fading pink mark on the back of her hand and wasn't sure she could handle another session, not with everything else going on in her life.

That morning she'd gotten a letter from Regina, it had to be since her parents had never sent her a letter in their lives and she had no close connection with anyone outside of Hogwarts besides her sister. She'd tucked the envelope away in her robes before anyone else had seen it and had the chance to pester her and she slipped away with the excuse that she had some homework to finish before class. 

One of Ramona's favourite things about Hogwarts were the little alcoves on the first floor windows which were perfect for hiding yourself away in with a book during free classes or for reading letters from your sister that your friends definitely did not approve of. The alcoves were well-lit, comfortable and private enough without seeming too suspicious and like you were trying to hide something, even if you were. 

Dear Mona, 

I would ask you how school's going but I have a feeling I already know your answer. I'm sorry I didn't write much over summer but I've taken on a bit of a side-project and it's more than a bit time consuming. I'm hoping things quieten down a bit at the shop so maybe I can meet up with you in Hogsmeade sometime soon, just send me on all the dates once you get them. 

On a more serious note, how are you doing after everything that happened last year? I know you were close with that Cedric boy and I also know that you're going to pretend you're not upset about it. Just try not to follow in my footsteps and act rashly, it never turned out in my favour and it certainly won't in yours. I don't think Imaan and Richard could bear another overwhelming disappointment in the family. 

Take care of yourself and try not to get any detentions this year!

Regina.

P.s. please send some of those little lemon cookies the kitchens make I'm having really bad cravings for them.

Ramona folded the letter back up with careful hands and kept it safely in the inner pocket of her robes, making a mental note to reply later that night when the rest of the dorm was asleep. She hopped out of the little alcove, planning on heading back to her dorm to grab her school bag when she felt something land on her shoe. It was a toad. Not too perturbed by her new friend (much weirder things had happened), she slowly picked him up in cupped palms. 

"Hey little guy," she held him up to eye-level and smiled at him. "You're handsome, aren't you? You're probably the best looking boy here, let me treat you to some breakfast."

Ramona headed back to her dorm, toad still cupped in her palms, hoping that Daphne (who also had a pet toad though hers had cost half a fortune and was as large as a small cauldron) wouldn't notice if she stole some of its food. She wondered briefly if she was truly losing her mind, seemingly having adopted some poor soul's lost toad and talking to it like they were long lost friends. She should probably make some missing posters.

As she fed the toad flies from a little container from Daphne's nightstand she said: "I should probably give you a name until I find your owner shouldn't I? You like Rasputin? I'll take your silence for a yes."

"Who are you-Merlin's balls, Mona!" Delilah and Pansy stood in the doorway, looking down at her in disappointment. She hadn't spoken to either since the fight last night but it seemed it would blow over as most of their rows did, with one of them forgetting about it overnight. 

"What?" she said snippily, daring them to mock her and invoke her wrath. 

Pansy rolled her eyes. "You've finally cracked, haven't you? Talking to a frog."

"Rasputin is a toad, dumbass."

Delilah barely held back a snort of laughter. "You named it?"

"Him," she corrected. "Not 'it'. Or at the very least, 'they' would've sufficed."

~~

Ramona spent the rest of her day making up 'Lost Toad' posters whenever teachers weren't looking during class and pointedly ignored her friends' judgemental stares as she did so. She'd only had Rasputin a couple of hours and already felt safer in his company than she did theirs even though he was a toad and couldn't really hurt her even if he tried. 

She'd then spent her evening hanging up the posters around the school, having left dinner early after Pansy's drooling over Draco had put off her appetite, Rasputin tucked safely in her pocket, the slight weight in her robes almost comforting. It was really too bad she couldn't keep him, he was awfully sweet and didn't bite her like Bacon, her owl, did, however much she loved him aside.

"Hey, this is Trevor."

Ramona turned to a voice further down the corridor where a slight Ravenclaw girl with almost white blonde hair stood examining one of her posters, her shoes suspiciously absentee, tangled hair ornamented with little trinkets. Loony Lovegood, as most people tended to call the eccentric girl, she thought Delilah was the one to originate the name. Ramona had never personally spoken to her so she couldn't be much of a judge and she'd seen far stranger than a girl missing her shoes with some funky stuff in her hair, maybe it was a new fashion trend. 

"Is this your toad?" Ramona fished him out of her pocket and approached the girl whose actual name she had to learn because even referring to her as 'Loony' in her head felt a bit wrong. "I found him this morning."

"Oh no," she said in a breezy voice that seemed very fitting, patting his little head with a finger laden down with homemade rings. "He's not mine, he's my friend's, he's always losing him. Personally, I suspect it's-"

Heavy footsteps and deep laboured breathing approached them and Neville Longbottom rounded the corner, red-faced and teary-eyed. "Luna I can't find him anywhere! Gran's gonna kill me!"

She laughed a bit, shaking her head, reminding Ramona a bit like the tinkling of bells. "He's right here, I told you the chant would work."

He then seemed to notice Ramona Burke standing there, his toad cupped in her palms, posters tucked under one arm, and he felt himself die a little bit inside as she stared him down. It really was just his luck that she'd find Trevor instead of somebody infinitely more approachable. 

"He's yours?" she asked. "You're a lucky guy, Ras-Trevor is one special toad, don't lose him again or I might just keep him."

She placed the toad carefully into his hand and looked up at his pale face and wide eyes. She debated whether she should waste energy to try come across as more friendly and decided against it, he'd probably pass out from shock and even if that'd be a little funny she didn't wanna help haul him down to the Hospital Wing. 

"Well then, I'll go take down my posters, don't miss me too much."

~~

Gina, 

You were too late in your warning, I had detention the whole first week of school with the new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor because she is so far up the Ministry's arse she can't handle listening to logic or understanding basic fact. You'll be really proud of me though, haven't gotten a detention since that first round and I'm not planning on it anytime soon. 

I don't know if you've been reading The Daily Prophet but if you have, you have some idea of the absolute fuckery I'm putting up with on a daily basis. Umbridge, the new DADA professor (though that title is an overstatement she does little more than sit at the top of the room while we read the "Ministry Approved" textbook) is also now High Inquisitor and has been sitting in on all the other lessons and making up reports on all the other teachers. On top of this, she's absolutely sick, I don't feel right talking about it over post but next time I see you I can show you. 

To be honest, I'm not doing too badly coping with Cedric's death, at least compared to Cho. I miss him more than I could've imagined and it makes me so angry thinking about it and my other friends have only grown more distant because of it, but things could be worse. It helps that I'm wasting a lot of energy being mad at other people so I don't have time to get too sad. 

On top of all of this I can't find the jumbo pack of of Sugar Quills I packed anywhere. Personally, I suspect Millicent, she's been acting really shifty lately but I can't accuse her of anything without being told that I'm 'siding with bloodtraitors and mudbloods', that's pretty much their go-to comeback whenever I piss them off. 

How's the shop going? I haven't been in ages and I think I might miss it more than you. Whatever your "side project" is, I hope it's to do with work instead of something dumb and reckless like it usually tends to be when you're being secretive like this. 

I've attached a tin filled with as many of those lemon biscuits as I could fit, please make them last this time, the poor House Elves must be sick of me. 

Mona. 

P.s. Hogsmeade trip first weekend in October, Three Broomsticks?

P.p.s opinions on us getting a pet toad??

Chapter Text

-October 1995-

Ramona was not-so-pleasantly surprised to see that Umbridge had gotten worse. On the first day of the new month, she'd woken up to see a framed piece of parchment stuck up on the notice board in the common room. It was early enough that not many people were up and about, but those who were, were crowded around this piece of parchment.

She made her way up and gently pushed to the front and read what she'd thought was perhaps the start of a new club of sorts. 

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS

Any student found in possession of a spell-check charmed quill will be severely punished.

The above is in accordance with Educational Decree Number One.

Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor.

"Is she serious?" Ramona reread the statement but none of the words changed. "This is ridiculous! Who cares?"

"This does seem a bit excessive," said Blaise from beside her. "Why'd she need to frame it? Waste of good wood if you ask me."

Ramona drew away from the wall and basically threw herself onto the emerald couch by the fire, Blaise hot on her heels. "It's so unfair, she hasn't taken into account students with dyslexia who already struggle enough as it is!"

"You could talk to her about it," he rested a hand on her shoulder. 

Ramona scoffed. "She wouldn't listen or care, this is the start of her slowly stripping power from Dumbledore and the other teachers until the Ministry have control over literally every aspect of our school lives."

His brow furrowed. "When you put it like that it sounds a little fascist."

"Only a little?" Ramona fought to keep her voice level. "Just you wait till she sets up her own private disciplinary force, I can already see it."

Ramona was still seething with anger through breakfast and couldn't even bring herself to read that morning's Daily Prophet, almost fighting with the owl that had brought it so she didn't have to waste a Knut just to get even more furious. But eventually, she was Daily Prophet-free and covered in scratches. 

To make matters worse, Umbridge also had Filch hang up her first Educational Decree outside the Great Hall on the empty space around the door. There was enough space for hundreds more but Ramona didn't want to think about something so horrifying.

Not many of her friends seemed as disgruntled about this Education Decree as she was, they didn't seem to understand that this could only get worse, that Umbridge would slowly strip them of all their rights and liberties. When they had a dictator for Headmaster they wouldn't be so nonchalant.

"Mona, wait up!"

Cho Chang skidded to a halt, red-faced and out of breath, taking a moment to regain it as Ramona laughed at her a bit, leading them to sit down in one of the alcoves by the windows, there was still an hour until class and she needed to talk and take her mind off of Umbridge. "What's up?"

"So, I was just talking to Hermione Granger back there and she was telling me about this group they're making in opposition to Umbridge and she said I could invite anyone I thought would be interested so of course you were my first thought."

Ramona shifted uncomfortably under Cho's eager gaze as she tried to process this sudden rush of information, so much for taking a break from Umbridge talk. "I'm guessing Potter is leading this group then?"

"Yeah," Cho only looked embarrassed for a split second, character development in comparison to her usually bright red face whenever he was mentioned, "that's what Hermione said. He'll be teaching us actual defensive magic! The first meeting is this weekend in Hogsmeade."

"It sounds great but you know I can't." Ramona focused her attention on the fraying sleeve of her robes, not wanting to meet Cho's eyes while she explained herself. "People hate me, Potter and his crew definitely do, and they don't want me there, I'd kill the vibe."

Cho took her by the hands, brow furrowed as she carefully thought through her next words. "But this is your chance to show people how cool you really are, to show them what Cedric saw in you, to get some friends who actually appreciate you."

Ramona snatched back her hands as if Cho had burned her. "I already have friends that appreciate me plenty, I've got you and Delilah and when they're not being prats, Blaise, Daphne and Pansy, I don't need to be in with the Potterheads to prove I'm not a bad person, in fact, I don't owe that to anyone."

Cho's face dropped and her eyes grew watery despite her rapid blinking. Those days, tears came quick and easy and often with little notice to Cho Chang. "Sorry, I just wanted to help, I didn't mean to make you upset."

Regret surged through Ramona as she watched her friend struggle to fight back tears. She really had to learn to filter her words because all her fat mouth ever seemed to do was get her in trouble. She was really about to regret her next words. "No, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped like that...I'll go."

Cho's head snapped back up, eyes growing a bit brighter.

"The first meeting only, if they don't want me there, I'm not hanging around and you're not allowed to advocate for me, okay?"

Cho leapt up and was all but bouncing. "Oh this is going to be so fun! You, me and Marietta fighting against injustice and censorship!"

Ramona's stomach dropped. "You never said Marietta was coming..."

Cho was already halfway down the corridor and pretending she couldn't hear Ramona's protests.
~~

It was only the first weekend in October yet there was already a thin layer of frost and snow blanketing the ground and the sky was that steely grey that warned of biting winds. Ramona could feel the chill even in the warmth of the castle, anxiously poking at her eggs, already questioning all her life choices that led up to this moment. Pansy sat opposite her, babbling away about something she'd long since stopped listening to and Delilah was still asleep, having stayed up late in detention with Flitwick after being caught terrorising some poor third years.

"Earth to Mona!" Pansy's fingers snapped in her face. "What is with you today? You haven't even made a snarky comment about Draco yet and you haven't said a word all morning about Educational Decree Number Nine. Did I accidentally piss you off again? You should be telling me when I do that, remember that talk we had about communication?"

Ramona blinked a few times. "No, I'm just tired, nightmares."

Pansy nodded, her bob swishing as she did so, which was about as sympathetic as she ever really got. "I'd have nightmares if I had to hang out with Edgecombe too."

"She's not that bad," Ramona defended weakly. "She's been one of the only ones still there for Cho after everything with Cedric last year, she's been really supportive."

"She's also a spineless coward and a total suck-up, remember that time she got you landed in detention for a month?"

She grimaced, memories of scrubbing the floor of the Owlery flooding back and hitting her like a hammer to the skull. "All too well, but you can't say I didn't deserve it, I literally destroyed the bathroom."

"Sneaks get stitches as the Muggles say...I think."
~~

Ramona's head swirled with thoughts of turning tail and running, any ounce of confidence sapped from her body long before. The only thing stopping her from doing just that was Cho's grip on her hand, leading her down to the Hog's Head Inn, a shady pub at the far end of Hogsmeade with a broken sign and windows so dirty you couldn't see through them. It also happened to be her sister's favourite place in Hogsmeade, for reasons Ramona never dared ask. The odd thing that helped settle her nerves was Marietta's constant stream of talk about nothing, rattling on about different types of quills, uncaring if either of the other girls were listening or not.

Cho was off in her own head, probably fantasising about Harry Potter holding her gently as he gave her private defence lessons, whispering sweet words in her ear, the dazed smile on her face telling all to the world. Lovesick idiot or recently confunded, most would never know.

"Does anybody actually know I'm coming?" Ramona asked quietly as they approached the inn. "Or is this a lovely little surprise? I'm sure they all missed their favourite person."

Cho was momentarily knocked out of her stupor and looked a little bit embarrassed. "I didn't tell anybody, no, I kinda forgot...but Hermione said to bring anyone I thought would be interested, she didn't mention anything about it being limited to certain people."

"Because nobody else would think to bring a Slytherin," Marietta added in unhelpfully, her reddish-blonde curls getting tangled around the buttons of her coat with a sudden gust of icy wind.

Ramona said nothing in retaliation, knowing it would do nothing but cause more problems, and she'd rather save her nastier insults for Umbridge instead of wasting them on Marietta.

"Mona has just as much of a right as anybody else to be here, her House shouldn't dictate stuff like that," Cho squeezed her hand a little bit tighter and Ramona felt her pulse slow a little. What was the worst that could really happen?

They entered with a creak from the old wooden door, the handle half-rusted and falling off. A good few people were already there, talking in low voices, all of whom seemed to be staring straight at Mona, as if she was the oddest thing they'd ever laid eyes upon. Resisting the urge to collapse in on herself, Ramona flashed Potter a smile and awkward wave as they met eyes and shifted a bit closer to Cho. More people came in after them, some people from the Gryffindor Quidditch team, a few Potter fan club members, Luna Lovegood (who had dreamily smiled at Ramona and took the empty seat beside her), a few Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws she vaguely recognised, three more Weasley siblings and the Quidditch commentator.

The barman was watching this eclectic group of children in bewilderment, having stopped halfway through polishing a dirty glass with an even dirtier cloth. This was probably more business than he got all year. Twenty-nine kids didn't seem like very much of a secret, underground group but she also doubted that this was everybody in the school unhappy with Umbridge's teaching, just those well-known to Potter and stupid enough.

One of the Weasley twins (she wasn't sure which one) did a quick head count and ordered drinks for everyone. He handed them out, only sparing an extra second of a look at Ramona before moving on. "Cheers, cough up everyone, I haven't got enough gold for all of these..."

Everyone rooted through pockets in search of money, coins clinking together as each person dropped their share on the counter in front of the thoroughly displeased looking barman who seemed vaguely familiar before they moved back to sit around an uncomfortably fidgety Harry Potter.

"Er-" said Hermione Granger in a weird, high-pitched voice. "Well-er-hi."

The focus shifted from Potter to her in one unanimous wave.

"Well...erm...well, you know why you're here. Erm...well, Harry here had the idea-I mean I had the idea-that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts-and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us-" her voice cracked a bit, "-because nobody could call that Defence Against the Dark Arts."

"Hear, hear!" Anthony Goldstein raised his Butterbeer proudly.

Granger smiled dimly. "Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands," there were a few small choruses of agreement and she continued, slightly more heartened. "And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells-"

"You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. too, though, I bet?" Michael Corner (she thought that was his name) piped up, ever the little swot.

"Of course I do," she said without missing a beat. "But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because...because...because Lord Voldemort is back."

Marietta let out a shriek and spilled Butterbeer all down her front, multiple people flinched, Neville Longbottom let out a weird sort of yelp that he unconvincingly tried to turn into a cough. Even Ramona's eyebrows shot up on her forehead, she'd never thought she'd hear that name out of Granger's mouth, she was so used to the venomous spit that accompanied it when on her sister's lips.

"Well, that's the plan anyways," she fumbled a bit with the sleeves of her jumper. "If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to-"

"Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?" A blonde Hufflepuff with a nose so upturned it was almost remarkable said rather aggressively.

"Well, Dumbledore believes it-" Granger began to explain.

"You mean, Dumbledore believes him," he nudged his head at Potter.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Both Ramona and Ron Weasley had said rudely in unison, flashing each other briefly surprised looks.

"Zacharias Smith, and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back."

She should've guessed it would turn into something like this, it would be a miracle if she could hold her tongue. She decided to focus on her Butterbeer as an attempt to hold back her temper which only lasted about half a second.

"Was Cedric's corpse not enough proof for you, then?" Her glass clattered loudly as she slammed it a bit too hard against a tabletop, Butterbeer sloshing over the brim.

"It's okay, Burke," Harry said softly, all eyes now on him. "What makes me say You-Know-Who's back? I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone."

The silence was thick and heavy, only broken by Smith's disdainful voice cutting through again, "All Dumbledore told us last year was the Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know-"

"If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone, I can't help you," Harry said, eyes blazing, the tips of his ears faintly red. "I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out."

Nobody moved and it seemed as if the whole room was holding one collective breath, waiting to see what would happen next. Ramona's hand found Cho's again, giving it a small squeeze, and Marietta had slung her arm around her back, in silent support.

Granger cleared her throat, "So...like I was saying...if you want to learn some defence then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet, and where we're going to-"

"Is it true," a girl with a long thick plait interrupted, (Ramona was starting to feel sorry for Granger), "That you can produce a Patronus?"

A few interested murmurs swept through the group, even Ramona sat up a little straighter.

"Yeah."

"A corporeal Patronus?"

"Er-you don't know Madam Bones, do you?" He asked as a smile split her face.

"She's my auntie, I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So-is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?"

"Yes."

Ramona couldn't help but be a little bit impressed, there was many an adult wizard unable to cast the Patronus Charm, the fact that a fifteen year old boy could without having been officially taught it in school, was pretty astounding. The group rang with praises of Potter's capability, to which he looked mortified.

"And didn't you kill a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?" Terry Boot, a Ravenclaw who'd had a very brief relationship with Delilah back in second year, said. "That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year..."

"Er-yeah, I did, yeah."

Cho was beaming at him, awestruck, two young boys who must have been brothers were almost bouncing in excitement, and there were a few impressed whistles.

"And in our first year," Longbottom said quite loudly to Ramona's surprise, she didn't think she'd ever known what his voice actually sounded like. "He saved that Philological Stone-" ("Philosopher's," hissed Granger) "Yes, that-from You-Know-Who."

"And not to mention all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year-getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things..." Cho added in, still smiling at him, he only looked a little bit chuffed to be praised by her.

"Look," he said, and silence descended upon the group, "I...I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but...I had a lot of help with all that stuff..."

"Not with the dragon," Ramona said. "Or with those Dementors."

He looked a bit embarrassed. "No, no, okay, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I'm trying to make is-"

"Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?" Zacharias Smith had made a grandiose and moronic return.

"Here's an idea," Ron Weasley said loudly, "why don't you shut your mouth?"

Smith was now red in the face. "Well, we've all turned up to learn from him and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it."

"That's not what he said," snarled one of the Weasley twins, the one that had bought the Butterbeers.

"Would you like us to clean out your ears for you?" The other pulled out a long and sharp looking metal instrument from one of their many Zonko's bags.

"Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this."

Smith eyed it warily, paper-white, and shrunk back a bit in his seat.

"Yes, well, moving on," Granger looked a bit disturbed. "The point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?" Sounds of agreement bubbled up from the group, even from the more reluctant of those in attendance. "Right, well, next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week-"

"Hang on," said Angelina Johnson. "We need to make sure this doesn't clash with out Quidditch practice."

"No, nor with ours," said Cho.

"Nor ours," said Smith, some colour having returned to his face.

"I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone," she said, clearly getting a bit fed up with the constant interruptions. "But, you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters-"

Ramona felt a few pairs of eyes dart to her and soured a bit. Honestly, she was just thankful nobody had kicked her out yet. Ernie MacMillan drew away any attention on her, rattling on about exams and how ridiculous it was that the Ministry would employ Umbridge to teach them defence.

"We think the reason that Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defence Against the Dark Arts," said Granger tentatively, "is that she's got some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilise us against the Ministry."

Mouths dropped open in astonishment and Ramona almost laughed at the thought of Dumbledore leading an army of kids to attack the Ministry, marching in formation.

"Well, that makes sense," piper up Luna Lovegood, not looking remotely surprised. "After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army."

Ramona did chuckle a bit at that, disguising it as a cough.

"What?"

"Yes, he's got an army of Heliopaths," she said solemnly.

"No, he hasn't," snapped Granger.

"Yes, he has."

"What are Heliopaths?" Longbottom asked blankly.

"They're spirits of fire," her eyes widened even more, looking like misty crystal balls, "great, tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of-"

"They don't exist, Neville."

"Oh, yes, they do!"

"I'm sorry but where's the proof of that?"

"There's plenty of eye-witness accounts. Just because you're too narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you-"

"Hem, hem."

Ramona whipped around in alarm, wondering how on earth Umbridge had managed to slip in unseen, only to realise it had been Ginny Weasley in an impeccable imitation of Umbridge, now laughing to herself. "Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and have defence lessons?"

"Yes," said Granger, regaining her composure. "Yes, we were, you're right, Ginny."

"Well, once a week sounds cool," said the Quidditch commentator, Lee Jordan.

"As long as-"

"Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch," said Granger tensely. "Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet..."

Everyone fell into deep thought, wracking their brains for any place that could suit a large group of kids meeting up in secret rebellion. Ramona thought first of the Forbidden Forest but quickly dismissed the idea, few would willingly enter the forest, they would definitely get in even more trouble if caught going there seeing as it was off limits and loud noises tended to attract unsavoury creatures that would love to snack on some little kids.

"Library?" suggested Katie Bell.

"I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library."

"Maybe an unused classroom?" suggested Dean Thomas.

"Yeah," Ron Weasley perked up, "McGonagall might let us have hers, she did when Harry was practicing for the Triwizard Tournament."

Ramona didn't interact with the Gryffindor Head of House much outside Transfiguration class but she couldn't see her allowing them to so blatantly go against Umbridge, especially considering she was now evaluating the professors and essentially held their jobs in her pudgy little fists.

"Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere. We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and place for the first meeting," she dug through the contents of her bag and pulled out a long piece of parchment and a quill. "I-I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think that we ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anybody else what we're up to."

Several people exchanged dubious and less-than-happy looks at this prospect. Ramona practically leapt to her feet and cheerily scribbled down her name at the top of the page, before passing it behind her to one of the Weasley twins. Sneakily, she watched which name he signed, okay so the taller one was Fred...or was he actually taller or was George slouching? She supposed she'd never truly know.

"Er..." Zacharias Smith eyed the parchment the slouching twin was trying to hand him, "well, I'm sure Ernie will tell me where the meeting is."

However, Ernie Macmillan also looked to have his own reservations about signing. "I-well, we are prefects," she resisted the urge to mock him in a high-pitched voice, "and if this list was to be found...well, I mean to say...you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out-"

"You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year," said Potter dryly.

"I-yes, yes I do believe that, it's just-"

"You're a coward," Ramona finished for him, unable to help herself, "and a hypocrite."

"I-no-"

"Do you honestly think they'd just leave this lying around?" she said, suddenly aware that everyone was looking at her. "Either way, it doesn't specify anything, just a list of names for our study group."

He opened his mouth before quickly closing it again and mulling over his words, "No, of course not. I-yes, of course, I'll sign."

After that, nobody argued about signing their names, though Marietta hesitated and shot Cho a reproachful look. When finally, all twenty-nine names had been signed, Granger snatched up the parchment and slipped it back into her bag

"Well, time's ticking on," non-slouchy twin stretched and got to his feet. "George, Lee and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we'll be seeing you all later."

The rest of the group began to gather their stuff and leave in the twos or threes they came in, braving the biting cold outside. Ramona planned on making a beeline to the Three Broomsticks for a Butterbeer that didn't taste like a goblin had pissed in it and to meet her sister who she hadn't seen in months.

"Burke?" Potter's voice sounded from behind her. "Can we...talk a second?"

Ramona glanced at Cho who lingered in the process of putting on her cloak, clearly wanting to stay, but Marietta's incessant foot-tapping seemed to be winning her over. She motioned for them to go on without her and closed the few feet of distance between her and the Chosen One. "You're not going to kick me out before the first meeting, are you? Because I'd have preferred you just told me straight off the bat."

"I-no," he squinted at her as if he was trying to figure her out, Granger and Weasley standing a bit behind him on either side, like sentries. "Why'd you come?"

"Simple," she said, mentally preparing herself for a cross-examination, "I hate Umbridge, you hate Umbridge, and I want to be ready to protect myself and my loved ones when Voldemort strikes back."

"So you believe me then?"

Ramona scoffed, sounding a little more condescending than she would've liked. "Obviously, he murdered my best friend and my parents tend to run with several of his acquaintances. Also, I don't believe everything the Ministry tries to shove down our throats, just because they're in charge, doesn't mean they're right."

None of them said a word for a few seconds, the only noise being the steady squeaking of the bartender still scrubbing the glass which only seemed to be getting dirtier.

"Right...thanks then."

"Eloquent and articulate as always, Potter," she smiled faintly. "See you three round."

With a lazy wave over her shoulder, Ramona set back out into the chilly autumn air, jogging to try and catch up with the others and trying not to over-analyse whatever had just happened and convincing herself that this wasn't a mistake.
~~

Regina Burke was almost identical to her sister, the same dark skin and frizzy curls and the same dimple in her left cheek, but she was taller and more gaunt-looking, her face hollowed and carved out where Ramona still had some baby fat. But, the most distinctive thing about Regina was the scarred over, burnt flesh stretched tight across her right side, crawling up her neck and just tipping over her jaw. It aged her tremendously, the scar, and when she wasn't smiling, it made her look haunted. But when she caught sight of her little sister, arms hugged close to her sides, her face split into the brightest smile ever seen.

"Mona," she held her close to her chest, tightly, as if she were afraid Ramona might disappear, "Merlin, I've missed you."

"Whose fault is that?" They slid into a booth, still beaming.

"Mine, I know, I've been so busy."

Ramona took the Butterbeer already laid out before her and wrapped her hands around the mug to warm her frigid fingers. "With what, Gina? Your letters are so vague it sometimes makes me think you're hiding something."

Regina had never been very good at lying, especially when things were sprung upon her, emotions tended to rise up on her face, which meant she was terrible at card games. "I-well-I...promise you won't tell?" She leaned forwards over the table and lowered her voice.

"Cross my heart."

"I'm...I'm sort of, kind of, maybe working with a secret group of rebels trying to stop the Big Arsehole."

Ramona's eyebrows shot up an inch on her forehead though she was not particularly surprised, Regina was known for being reckless and stubborn and where Ramona was all words, Regina was all fists. "Well that's a coincidence, I just joined a secret group to stop our own local tyrant in a pink cardigan not thirty minutes ago."

"What a coincidence."

Chapter Text

-October 1995-

BY ORDER OF THE HIGH INQUISITOR OF HOGWARTS
All student organisations, societies, teams, groups and clubs are henceforth disbanded. 
An organisation, society, team, group or club is hereby defined as a regular meeting of three or more students.
Permission to re-form may be sought from the High Inquisitor (Professor Umbridge).
No student organisation, society, team, group or club may exist without the knowledge and approval of the High Inquisitor. 
Any student found to have formed, or to belong to, an organisation, society, team, group or club that has not been approved by the High Inquisitor will be expelled. 
The above is I'm accordance with Educational Decree Number Twenty-four.
Signed: Dolores Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor

"She can't actually do this...can she?" Ramona stood at the front of the small crowd gathered around the notice board in the common room, the most recent 'Educational Decree' pinned up for all to read. "First she's discriminating against dyslexic students with that whole 'no spell-check quills' bullshit and now she's controlling our free time?"

"Does that include Quidditch?" Daphne asked worriedly.

"What about Frog Choir?" some third-year bellowed, raking his hands through his hair.

Ramona wondered who the rat was. There was no way this was a coincidence, that the very week after they'd all met up in Hogsmeade, Umbridge banned all student organisations, groups, teams and societies. Zacharias Smith, perhaps? But what would he gain from selling them out? Or one of those shifty looking Ravenclaws? Regardless, many would definitely point the finger at her, it would be the most logical answer in their brains.

Daphne was still wailing about Quidditch as they made their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast, where there was a general gloomy mood about the students. So they'd all read it then. The hag herself sat at the teachers table, looking far too pleased with herself, her shiny High Inquisitor badge shining bright on her cardigan as she sipped a cup of tea. Potter was surrounded by a few of the Gryffindor members of their short-lived group, conferring in low but clearly panicked voices.

"This is ridiculous," Blaise was angrily stabbing into the butter with a knife, "what am I supposed to do about Book Club?"

"Quidditch, Blaise!" Daphne shrieked, tossing her hands into the air. "What about Quidditch?"

"Who cares about Quidditch, she'll have to reinstate that."

Cho was over at the Ravenclaw table with Marietta, both of them listening eagerly to Ginny before she darted down a few seats to Luna Lovegood. Cho swivelled around and beckoned Ramona over frantically with several not-very-subtle jerks of her head. Blaise and Daphne were still deep in their rant and she slipped away without either of them noticing.

"What is it?" she slipped in between the two girls, noting Marietta's visible irritation. 

"Things are going ahead as schedule."

"Potter said this himself?"

She smiled softly. "Yeah, isn't he just so brave?"

"Only the bravest," she said, "or the stupidest. And that's something I can get on board with."
~~

Daphne perked up later that day after Umbridge granted the Slytherin Quidditch team permission to re-form, Draco waving about the little slip of parchment before Potions, the Gryffindors looking particularly sour about this as his rant dissolved into snide remarks about how they wouldn't be allowed to keep playing.

"I mean, if it's a question of influence in the Ministry, I don't think they've got much chance. From what my father says, they've been looking for an excuse to sack Arthur Weasley for years.," he glanced over at the Gryffindors a few times to check that they were listening, "and as for Potter, my father says it's a matter of time before the Ministry has him carted off to St Mungo's, apparently they've got a special ward for people whose brains have been addled by magic."

Ramona opened her mouth, a retort halfway up her throat, when Neville Longbottom tried to charge past her, heading straight for Draco with a war-cry. Potter caught him by the back of his robes as he struggled, red-faced, nose scrunched up, fists flailing as if he hoped one might catch Draco if he swung wildly and fast enough. She'd never seen him so angry before, in all the years of torment, not once had he ever retaliated, not like this. Maybe this had been the thing to tip him over the edge.

Crabbe and Goyle flexed their fists and got low, ready for a fight but Weasley seized Longbottom by the arms and the two boys managed to haul him back towards the side of the dungeons the Gryffindor were crowded against, most looking as shocked as Ramona felt.

"Not...funny...don't...Mungo's...show...him..." he spat through gritted teeth.

Before the situation could get worse, the door opened and Snape swept down the steps, taking in the scene with mild pleasure glimmering in his eyes. "Fighting, Potter, Weasley, Longbottom? Ten points from Gryffindor. Release Longbottom, Potter, or it will be detention. Inside, all of you."

She debated defending them but very quickly decided against it, it would only result in a shunning from her friends and the docking of House points, Snape didn't care. Instead, she followed Delilah into the classroom and almost had a heart attack when the metal of the High Inquisitor badge caught the dim light in a far corner. She was literally the stuff of nightmares.

Ramona found herself distracted from the Strengthening Solution she was supposed to be finishing, mind far off, wondering why Longbottom had done what he'd done, borderline obsessing over it. Delilah caught her hand before she accidentally added a bat wing into her potion, which was definitely not needed, the fourth mistake she'd almost made, not even twenty minutes into class. What was wrong with her?

Umbridge quietly took notes for the first half hour before getting bored and digging up Snape's repeated failures at getting the Defence Against the Dark Arts position and making some vague comments about 'backgrounds'. She might have been entertained had she not hated Umbridge infinitely more than Snape.

Muggle Studies was thankfully Umbridge-free and she'd gotten an Outstanding on her essay about the social habits of British muggles, but right after was Defence Against the Dark Arts, where there was no chance of escaping her. Ramona managed to keep her mouth shut by skilfully dozing off while they were meant to be reading Chapter Three of Defensive Magical Theory, the most effective solution to her temper so far as she got through the class without so much as rolling her eyes.

Unfortunately, her week only got worse, the next day she couldn't find her little bag filled with Sugar Quills and all the girls in her dorm swore up and down they hadn't seen them, in fact, they all thought she was overreacting tremendously. She double and triple-checked every classroom she might have dropped them in and scoured the floor of the Great Hall before dinner to no avail. She was starting to wonder if Millicent had actually nabbed them from her bag as she was having no success in finding them in the library when an airy voice spoke from behind her.

"Are you looking for your Sugar Quills?" Luna Lovegood peered at her with those impossibly wide eyes from over the top of her father's magazine, curled up in one of the armchairs. "You know, they put addictive enchantments on them before they mass produce them so people buy more of their products? Daddy did a whole article about it a few months ago, it was very informative."

"I wouldn't be surprised, it's a common tactic used by Muggle producers but they use chemicals, it's really clever actually, if unethical," Ramona said. "How'd you know I lost them?"

Luna bookmarked her page and carefully tucked the magazine between her hip and the side of the armchair. "I thought I saw some Nargles flitting about you...and I also saw them fall out of your bag yesterday."

Not bothering to ask what a Nargle was, Ramona decided to focus on the missing Sugar Quills problem. "Why didn't you tell me if you saw it happen?"

"Well, you were shouting really loudly at your friend and you didn't hear me when I called after you."

She briefly recalled ranting very loudly at Delilah about how the Ministry had tried to cover up the Clodbury Riots. "Do you know where they are then?"

"Yes," she said proudly, puffing out her chest a bit.

Ramona waited a few seconds for her to elaborate but Luna just continued to stare at her with her pale eyes. "Can you-where are they exactly?"

"Well, I put them in my bag to give to you later but then I put them in my nightstand and then I put them in the left-no-right pocket of my robes and then-"

"Where are they now?"

Luna paused and thought for a second, eyes glazing over. "I'm not too sure, actually, probably the Nargles up to it again, they took my left shoe last week, found it floating in the lake the next day."

Ramona felt the familiar rise of anger in her throat, frustrated and worried that she was actually going into Sugar Quill withdrawal because she was way too emotionally invested in finding them but shouting didn't seem like a very productive or effective method of solving her problems so she swallowed it and breathed deeply for a few seconds.

"Okay...okay...I suppose we should go looking for them then, retrace your steps," Ramona said, cracking her joints. "Come on, Luna."

A dreamy smile eased onto her face as she tucked her magazine into her bag and hopped to her feet. "I definitely had them when I was up on the roof."

"Why-what-you know, I'm not even gonna bother asking."

The pair of girls scoured the castle, starting at the roof (which Luna actually did know how to get up on, surprisingly) and working their way down, on a serious time crunch as curfew drew nearer. There was no sign of them on the stairs or in Luna's dorm or behind that statue of Gregory the Smarmy where Luna often apparently hid things. Ramona wondered if someone had stolen them from Luna, her things often went missing and it seemed far more likely that it was malicious teenage girls rather than Nargles or any other mystical creature or spirit that no one other than the Lovegoods had ever heard of.

After an hour and having reached the ground floor of the castle without having found her Sugar Quills, Ramona sank down to the ground against the wall, the hope draining from her body with every inch she fell. How was she supposed to get her fix now? There wasn't another Hogsmeade trip for ages and even if Regina were to send on some in the post, she'd have to wait a few days for them and Bacon was hardly a reliable courier. The world was a cruel, terrible place and sometimes she wondered why she even bothered.

"Oh..." Luna's eyebrows shot up on her forehead as she slowly pulled a hand out of the inner pocket of her robes. "Seems like the Nargles put them back in my pocket...odd, they never do that. They must really like you!"
~~

Later that week, Cho came sprinting up to Ramona after lunch one day, grinning from ear to ear. This seemed to becoming a bit of a pattern but Ramona much preferred this to Cho's breakdowns which had lessened in their frequency as of late. Whether Potter had anything to do with it, Ramona wasn't sure, but if he did she couldn't be more grateful.

"Ginny says Harry wants to meet tonight, eight o'clock, seventh floor opposite that tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and those trolls, told me to tell you."

Ramona's brow furrowed. "But there's nothing opposite that tapestry, we can hardly do it in the middle of the corridor, we're literally asking to get expelled."

Cho shrugged. "He just said you'll be able to find it...trust him, Mona."

She sighed and debated whether it was worth the effort and risk of getting in serious trouble. "Fine, I've come this far, might as well plow on to the end of this stupid plan."

"That's the spirit!"
~~

Ramona slipped out of her dorm at half seven that night, claiming she was off to hang out with Cho, which was not really a lie, just an understatement, trying to look as inconspicuous as she could, not like she was on her way to a secret illegal Defence club. She narrowly dodged Filch patrolling the second floor (although it was perfectly fine for her to be out, fifth years didn't have to be back until nine), ignored the portrait of the warlocks who asked where she was going in such a hurry and safely made it to the seventh floor without incident.

The tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy getting clubbed to death by trolls was one of the oldest in the castle, half-faded and moth-eaten and stretched about seventeen meters across the wall. Usually, the wall opposite this tapestry was empty and completely blank, or so she'd thought. Somehow, in all the years she'd passed that wall, she'd never noticed the massive polished door with ornate brass handles that glistened in the torchlight.

Ramona knocked twice, just in case this wasn't the right place and was actually a private bathroom or an office or something and in only a few seconds the door swung open and she found herself staring at Harry Potter, looking the least gloomy she'd seen him all year.

"Nice place, Potter," she said as he let her into the room. "Where'd you find it, I never knew this place existed?"

The room was wide and circular, lit with flickering torches, walls lined with fully-stocked bookshelves, some holding Sneakoscopes and Secrecy Sensors and there were little piles of silk cushions on the floor, many of which was occupied by the other members, chatting excitedly amongst themselves in little groups, or reading in Granger's case. She hadn't a clue how they'd put all of this together in such a short space of time, it was so perfect.

"Dobby told me."

"Who's Dobby?" The door shut behind her with a click.

"This House Elf I know."

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

She took the empty cushion by Cho and Marietta and watched the rest arrive, struck with awe as they looked around. When finally everyone was there and seated on the little cushions, Potter locked the door and moved to stand in front of them, the whole group having fallen silent.

"Well," his voice quivered a bit, "this is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've-er-obviously found it okay."

"It's fantastic!" said Cho, many nodding alone with her or making general sounds of agreement.

"It's bizarre," said one of the twins, though neither were slouching now and she didn't know how to tell them apart. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."

"Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" Dean Thomas pointed at all the trinkets at the back of the room.

"Dark Detectors," he stepped around them and made his way to a giant mirror swirling with fog. "Basically they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled..."

There was a weird tension in the air after he said that with a far-off look in his eyes as he stared into the misty mirror. A Foe-Glass, she knew, her parents had one at home though they'd only gotten it for decorative purpose before Regina stole it when she left home to pawn it off for money. They hadn't even noticed its absence.

"Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first," said Potter to break the brief silence he'd created, "and-er-what Hermione?"

Granger lowered her hand. "I think we ought to elect a leader."

"Harry's leader," said Cho, almost looking offended that anyone would dare suggest otherwise. Marietta and Ramona shared a look of raised brows and pursed lips.

"Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," she paid little mind to the outburst. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So-everyone who thinks Harry ought to be leader?"

Every hand flew up, even that of Zacharias Smith, though he looked less than pleased about it.

Potter's face was burning. "Er-right, thanks. And-what Hermione?"

"I also think we ought to have a name," she said brightly. "It would promote a feeling of team spirit and unity, don't you think?"

Ramona had never envisioned herself as part of a group with either a strong team spirit or unity and it felt extremely weird to think that this wasn't just a bad trip.

"Can we be the Anti-Umbridge League?"

"Or the Ministry of Magic are Morons Group?"

"I was thinking," Granger had rolled her eyes at both suggestions, "more of a name that didn't tell everyone what we're up to, so we can refer to it safely outside of meetings."

"The Defence Association?" said Cho. "The DA for short, so nobody knows what we're talking about?"

"Yeah, the DA's good," said Ginny Weasley. "Only let's make it stand for Dumbledore's Army, because that's the Ministry's worst fear, isn't it?"

Ramona laughed. "Amen to that."

"All in favour of the DA?" Most hands flew up, the owners bearing excited grins. "That's a majority-motion passed!"

Granger took the sheet with their signatures and pinned it against the wall to write down their new name in capital letters across the top. Things were starting to feel really official, no longer just a little act of rebellion against a dictating teacher but an actual movement against injustice.

"Right," Potter said, smiling faintly, "shall we get practising then? I was thinking the first thing we should do is Expelliarmus, you know, the Disarming Charm. I know it's pretty basic but I've found it really useful-"

"Oh please," came Smith's nasally tone. "I don't think Expelliarmus is exactly going to help us against You-Know-Who, do you?"

"I've used it against him," Potter's voice went quiet but dark and he looked at Smith with such venom Ramona felt a chill run down her spine. "It saved my life in June. But if you think it's beneath you, you can leave."

Smith didn't move and the room collectively held a breath.

"Okay, I reckon we should all divide into pairs and practice."

Everyone clambered to their feet and began to head off in their pairs. Ramona looked to her left to already see Marietta dragging Cho off by the sleeve and once she realised neither would be an option, she began to look for Luna but spotted her already off with Ginny Weasley. She approached a few others but they expertly skirted around her to find their friends. Soon it was only her and Neville Longbottom without partners.

They stared at each other for a few moments, the two meters between them feeling more like kilometres, in dreaded silence. There was no way that this would end well.

"Sorry," she said eventually, looking anywhere but at him, "I know I'm your last choice for a partner but..."

"No, it's...it's fine."

It was not fine. They walked to an empty space, fiddling with their wands, refusing to look at each other. Ramona had never been outright cruel towards Neville Longbottom but for many years she'd stood by and watched her friends torment him and call him names without doing much about it. Sometimes she even laughed if it didn't seem too harmful. It was almost embarrassing how she'd never thought of things in that way before, how she'd been so stupid and self-involved and completely void of empathy.

She wondered if she should apologise, right all her wrongs now to avoid unfortunate 'accidents'. She could think of so many different ways something could go wrong, a bunch of students in one room, all firing defensive (and not-so-defensive) spells at one another with no licensed professional to watch over them to make sure they didn't kill each other. But how was she just supposed to bring that up without it being extremely awkward and forced? Fuck it, if she didn't do it now, she never would.

"I just-"

"Expelliarmus!"

Ramona's wand flew out of her hand and went scattering across the floor like a pebble over the surface of a lake, realising far too late that in her internal monologuing she hadn't heard Potter's countdown before they were to begin.

"I did it!" Neville looked as surprised as she was. "I've never done it before-I DID IT!"

She couldn't help but laugh with him. "Nice one, I don't think anyone's ever gotten me that good before, you're ruining my reputation, Longbottom."

Okay, so maybe she'd worked herself up a bit too much about all of this, he didn't seem like he wanted to murder her and that, in her books, was a definite plus.

The kids spent their time firing Disarming Charms against each other, getting more and more invested in it, Potter walking around like an actual teacher, giving pointers and tips to help out. While Ramona still wasn't his biggest fan, she had to admit that he was really in his element. Before they knew it, it's was ten past nine and there was a sudden scramble and panic upon realising that they were past curfew.

They scrambled out the door after agreeing to meet again next week at the same time and the same place, in their twos and threes, Potter checking a large map every so often before letting them off. Ramona was left at the end with Potter, Granger and Weasley as he "made sure there's no teachers on the way to the dungeons" as if any map could tell him that.

"Thanks, you lot," she said sincerely. "Not just for giving me a chance to rebel against the Ministry but...I actually had fun, haven't been having a lot of that recently."

Ron Weasley squinted at her a bit and for a split second she was worried that he was going to say something nasty to her. "You're alright, Burke."

She placed a hand over her heart. "Such kindness, bless your soul, Weasley."

Ramona made her way back down to the Slytherin common room with no run-ins with Filch or teachers, taking the long way back like Potter had advised her, still riding a bit of a high from the excitement of it all. However, she was surprised that when she got back up to the dorm, Delilah was staring straight at her, back straight as a pin.

"Where'd you go, Mona?" Her voice was dangerously soft, the way it often got before she started yelling, like she was warming up.

"I told you before I left, I was hanging out with Cho, we just lost track of time," she began to take off her robes to seem as casual and nonchalant as she could, an actress, Ramona was not. "Honestly, it's a long way from Ravenclaw Tower to the dungeons."

"Really, Mona?"

"Really, Del."

Delilah's stony face crumpled. "I'm sorry, I just don't want you getting in trouble again. I know how badly you want to but don't, for your health and my sanity, that woman is mad, don't push her. Yeah?"

"Yeah."

Chapter Text

-October 1995-

The DA meetings went on for the next two weeks with the same level of success as the first. In fact, things only seemed to be getting better, people had stopped giving her suspicious looks every time she spoke, she'd mastered the Reductor Curse which she'd always struggled with and she had become acquaintances with Neville Longbottom. Even if she wasn't so widely hated anymore, they still tended to be the only two left partner-less and were therefore stuck together. She had been ready for weeks of awkwardness and uncomfortable tension but surprisedly, he was pretty chill once he'd hit her with a few jinxes and she'd spent a weird five minutes aggressively complimenting his toad. They were far from best friends for life but he no longer flinched every time she walked in the room and that had to count for something.

The only problem with the meetings was their irregularity. Having to work around the schedules of three different Quidditch teams, which were also irregular due to the ridiculous weather they'd been having of late, made finding one set day and time impossible. Luckily, in true Granger fashion, she'd found a solution, a fat gold coin, identical to a Galleon, in which the numerals around the edge changed to show the time of the next meeting.

"The coins will grow hot when the date changes, so if you're carrying them in a pocket you'll be able to feel them," she held one up to the light. "We take one each, and when Harry sets the date of the next meeting he'll change the numbers on his coin, and because I've put a Protean Charm on them, they'll all change to mimic his."

A stunned silence followed her words. That was an advanced spell and they weren't due to learn it until seventh year and even then it was one of the more challenging ones that rarely came up in exams.

"Well-I thought it was a good idea..." she said, looking a bit dim as she held the basket of fake Galleons to her chest. "I mean, even if Umbridge asked us to turn out our pockets, there's nothing fishy about carrying a Galleon, is there? But...well, if you don't want to use them-"

"That's not it, Granger," Ramona cut in before things got worse, "they're impressed. The Protean Charm is still advanced at N.E.W.T. level, you've stunned them without even having to cast Stupefy."

"Oh...well...yes, I suppose it is a little advanced," her face brightened considerably. "So, does this mean we're using the Galleons?"

~~

The tension in the crowd was palpable, even if the champions couldn't be seen, this was the final task and so far things had been pretty neck-and-neck between Potter and Cedric and everyone was desperate to see who would come out victorious. Fleur  Delacour had been first out, having shot a shower of red sparks into the air about an hour in, a signal of surrender, and was escorted out of the maze shaking and pale. Viktor  Krum didn't last as long as many had expected, also being taken out after surrendering not long after Fleur. So it was just between the two Hogwarts students. Even with their guaranteed success, the student body was restless and full of anticipation.

Ramona was sitting at the very edge of her seat, lips bitten raw, Cho's hand clutched tightly in hers as they silently cheered Cedric on. He was the perfect example of what the champion should be, humble, kind, patient, selfless, ambitious, the list was endless. In her mind, it shouldn't go to the already famous, over-hyped, not even properly qualified Boy Who Lived.

There was a sudden crack and two people landed in front of the entrance to the maze, the Triwizard Cup gleaming in the moonlight. The crowd sprung to their feet, cheering wildly, the applause thunderous. But Ramona knew something wasn't right. Why wasn't Cedric moving? Was he hurt? She began to push her way into the aisle and made her way down, Cho not far behind her, confused. A hand caught her by the shoulder, trying to stop her. Harry Potter was sobbing through words that she couldn't make out, clutching onto Cedric's unmoving chest...his eyes were wide and open and blank.

For a second, all noise vanished and her sight grew fuzzy before everything came back at once, hitting her head-on like a train. Ramona pushed off the hand holding her back and managed to make her way down to the lifeless body of Cedric Diggory. His father was there, cupping his face which was splattered with tears and blood. Ramona just stood there, staring down at him, unable to breathe.

Then, he stared back. He stood in front of her, warm and colourful and alive, the crowd and the maze melting away and leaving only the two of them. She blinked rapidly a few times to try and dispel the image of his body from her mind. He was fine, he was right in front of her, smiling, but...he still wasn't breathing. His chest wasn't moving. He wouldn't even blink.

"Ced, what's going on?"

He just stared back, looking eerily like a wax statue.

"What are you doing?"

No response. She wondered if he was playing another weird joke on her again, a muggle one, even if she definitely wasn't finding it funny.

"Cedric!"

She might have imagined it but she thought he looked sad for a second, despite his fixed smile.

"Cedric, please talk to me!"

She made to grab him by the arms, to shake him back to her but when she tried, her hands moved through him like a mist. It wasn't like with a ghost, there was no sudden cold sensation and for a few moments, he shimmered and began to dissipate like morning fog before it swirled back together to make him whole again. Ramona tried again, to take his hand in hers, but again, she made no contact.

"Cedric!"

~~

Ramona was surprised that when she opened her eyes, she was staring the the emerald green canopy over her bed instead of Cedric's body. She sat up, slowly realising that she must have had a nightmare, that hadn't been how the day actually played out though she was unsure if this was worse. She rubbed at her eyes to clear them, only to find that her face was wet. Had she been crying or had Delilah tried to wake her up with a surprise Auguamenti again?

"Morning!" Daphne peered at her around the door of the bathroom.

"Merlin!" Ramona had not expected any of the girls to be up already, it was still dark outside and the Slytherin girls were notoriously Not morning people. "You're up early, Daph, couldn't sleep?"

"No," Daphne looked almost offended. "It's the first Quidditch match of the year and we were so cruelly deprived last year so I'm going all out with the face paint."

Ramona blinked at her a few times. "How many hours did you think you'd need to put on a few stripes?"

"It's not that simple, I need to account for different shades of green and silver, which best would compliment today's ensemble and then I need to decide whether I'm doing horizontal or vertical or diagonal or even if I am doing stripes or-"

"Fine, fine, point proven, I'll never question your judgement in regards to this fine art form ever again."

Ramona slipped out of her bed as Daphne disappeared back into the bathroom and began to get dressed, pushing the painfully vivid image of Cedric out of her mind. Making sure she had the little Galleon Granger had handed out, she headed downstairs, wondering what that day's Daily Prophet headline would be and if it would infuriate her more than the last.

Despite the early hour, the Great Hall was pretty full, everyone had sorely missed Quidditch and all teams wanted to properly scope out what they'd be up against this season. Most were decked out in red and gold, making Ramona stick out like a sore thumb in her green jumper and the little stripes on her cheeks that Daphne had forced upon her, and the topic on everybody's lips was the match.

What was odd to her was that seemingly everyone at the Slytherin table bore a little silver pin in the shape of a crown and stared at her as if it was her fault for missing the memo. She dismissed it as a new trend she'd either forgotten about or completely blocked out, sat down amidst the chaos and tried to silently enjoy her toast, praying that the Daily Prophet owl would hurry up so she could drown out the noise.

"Did you not get a badge, Mona?" Daphne loomed above her, her whole face painted green and silver. "They were handing them out in the common room."

"What are they?" she sighed. "We've already got banners and scarves and hats, why do we need badges too? Bit of a waste, if you ask me."

A little smile tugged at Daphne's lips and she dug a handful of the badges out of her pocket, scattered them across the table for Ramona to read what was etched across the little crown.

Weasley is our King.

"No."

"What?"

"I'm not wearing that, Daph," she pushed them away from her and began to butter another slice of toast. "First of all, they look cheap, second of all, it's just a pitiful Potter Stinks wannabe, third of all, it's actually sad that you all invested time into making these just to take the piss out of Weasley."

Daphne would have looked rather intimidating had her face not been so ostentatiously painted. "Don't suddenly start acting all high and mighty, Burke, it's not a good look on you."

She gathered her badges back into her arms as a massive jeer rose from their table, Potter and Weasley after entering the Great Hall. Ramona watched them make their way to the Gryffindor table, Weasley looking ready to projectile vomit at any second, the green tint of his face clashing with his hair. She could only hope this was him after seeing the badges, if not, Gryffindor was in for a hard defeat. She wanted to do something but she couldn't think of a single way of going  about it without getting herself in a lot of trouble. What only made things worse was when Draco came down and began handing out sheets of parchment to little clusters of students which they would then immediately begin pouring over.

"Draco," she called as he went to pass her by, "what're those?"

He looked her over briefly. "The chant for the match today...where's your badge?"

"They're tacky, I wouldn't be caught dead in one," she leaned across the table and snatched the top piece of parchment on his pile and began to read.

Weasley is our King, 
Weasley is our King,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.

Weasley cannot save a thing, 
He cannot block a single ring, 
That's why Slytherins all sing: 
Weasley is our King.

Weasley was born in a bin,
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley will make sure we win,
Weasley is our King.

Weasley is our King, 
Weasley is our King, 
He always lets the Quaffle in,
Weasley is our King.

It was like a Reductor Curse hitting a bag of dog shite, or more simply: not good.

"Pretty clever, huh? We wanted to put in a few verses about his fat mother and loser father but we ran out of time."

"It's juvenile, degrading, offensive and cruel," she scrunched the parchment up into a tight ball and resisted throwing it at him.

"That's kinda the whole point, Mona."

Without a single thought of the shunning she would get for this stunt, Ramona snatched the ball of parchment off the table, stood up, and made a beeline for the Gryffindor table. All she could think about was how hypocritical she would be if she let this happen, if she didn't at least try to stop it.

"Where are you going?"

She raised her middle finger over her shoulder without looking back. Cho had tried to catch her as she stormed past and DA members turned to look at her in panic, terrified she was about to blow their cover, a Slytherin willingly associating with Gryffindors was far too suspicious. This was such a bad decision, she knew it, but she was doing it anyways.

She approached Harry Potter where he sat talking with Luna, a life-size lion head mounted atop her own which swayed precariously ever time she moved her head even slightly, Weasley sat beside him, staring despondently into his empty bowl of cereal, reevaluating all his life decisions. She tossed the scrunched-up lyrics at Potter.

"Read those, I'm going to try and stop it."

Weasley looked up and tried to read over Potter's shoulder but was nudged away as the famous Boy-Who-Lived turned to look at her. "Did you know about this?"

"I just found out this morning, it's embarrassing how much effort they've all put into this."

He almost looked worried. "What are you going to do, Burke?"

"I just told you," she was already walking away, "I'm going to stop it, you don't need to know how exactly I plan do do it, keep him distracted and don't let him hear."

"Burke!" he called but Ramona was already out the door. 
~~

"But Professor this is literally mass bullying!" she gestured frantically at another copy of the lyrics she'd laid down on Professor Snape's desk.

"This is nothing more than a bit of friendly competition, Miss Burke," he slid the lyrics back across the desk. "Now, I'd advise you get back to the stands to cheer on your team."

She tried to stop the shout that rose in her throat. "Professor this is-"

"Not my problem," he cut in sharply. "Get back to the stands before I have to deduct points for wasting my time."

With a low growl in the back of her throat, she took the lyrics and stormed out of his office, brain flooding with all the various ways this could end up in disaster. The match was sure to be starting soon, the corridors were empty and she could hear the hum of the crowd heading down to the pitch outside. She didn't exactly have very many options.

She sprinted up and away from the dungeons, heading towards the staff room, praying that she could catch McGonagall before she left for the stadium. Just as she was approaching the door, it opened and she almost collided headfirst with whoever had come out. She had hoped it would be McGonagall herself or pretty much any professor other than Umbridge.

"Miss Burke, why am I not surprised?" Umbridge fixed her High Inquisitor badge with a huff. "You're in violation of Educational Decree Number Two, no running in the corridors so I'm afraid I'll have to deduct ten points from Slytherin."

Ramona grit her teeth. "I'm looking for-"

Umbridge held up a hand to stop her. "If you don't apologise Miss Burke I'm afraid I'll also have to give you detention."

"I'm sorry," she all but spat back. "I'm looking for Professor McGonagall, is she in there?"

Umbridge pursed her thin lips suspiciously. "Pray tell, what business do you have with Professor McGonagall that cannot be handled during class time?"

"My business."

"I don't like your tone, Miss Burke," she flashed a sickly sweet smile. "I'll ask again and I advise you to be careful with your words, what's your business with Professor McGonagall?"

Ramona really didn't have the time for this but couldn't find any way around this that wouldn't wind her up in detention or even worse. "It's in regards to slanderous material targeting a student on the Gryffindor team."

"What 'slanderous material' is it you speak of, dear?"

Ramona fixed her with a look, knuckles turning ashy around the ball of parchment. "You'll find out soon if you don't let me see Professor McGonagall!"

"By Educational Decree Number Ten, students may not unnecessarily raise their voices, Miss Burke!"

"I see it as necessary!" Ramona fired back, digging her grave deeper and deeper. "If I have to shout to get my point across I am more than willing to do so!"

"Detention, Miss Burke!" a vein in her forehead twitched though her smile widened. "All next week, same time, same place, same punishment, it's clear you have not learnt from your mistakes and it's only right  that I drill the message in deeper. It's for your own good, Miss Burke."

Though the words on the back of her hand had faded some time ago, she almost felt them sting at that. She really should have known better than to provoke Umbridge like that. Why did she even care so much? It was just a stupid little song, it wasn't even good, no harmonies or anything. Maybe this was self-sabotage.

"Please, Professor," she said in the calmest, most even tone she could muster, "where is Professor McGonagall?"

"I'm afraid she's already left for the match, dearie."

Well that was a massive waste of time and energy. Ramona turned on her heels and began to march down the hall towards the still open doors. She wouldn't have much time, barely any, but if she legged it, she might have a chance of stopping it. McGonagall always sat in the commentator's box so she wouldn't be hard to find and then she'd just have to-

"Where do you think you're going?"

"To the match," she didn't stop walking, she even sped up as the clacking of stubby heels followed after her.

"Miss Burke you must have misunderstood me if you believe I would let you go down to the match after you've completely disregarded not one, but two of my Educational Decrees and been so blatantly disrespectful," her breaths grew short and wheezy.

Ramona stopped and turned to face Professor Umbridge. "You can't do that."

"I can and I am," she was almost doubled over. "My office, Miss Burke, now. You will serve your first detention now, my special quill is out on the desk and I trust you know how to use it by now."

The air seemed to grow colder around her and for the first time in a while, she wanted to cry about something other than Cedric. "Okay."

"Good girl," Umbridge began to waddle away before stopping after a few metres to turn and say: "And Miss Burke? If I find your work unsatisfactory, I will not hesitate to keep you until I am, understood?"

"Crystal clear."
~~

I must not talk back

Ramona could hear the muffled tune from the Quidditch Stands, it rose in volume every so often, she assumed whenever Slytherin had scored. Her emerald green scarf lay discarded on the floor, she wasn't feeling much House pride at the moment.

I must not talk back

She glared venomously at the picture of Cornelius Fudge and Umbridge mounted on the wall behind the desk, the pair of them smiling down at her mockingly, fascists did tend to stick together.

I must not talk back

She was tempted to write something foul, or even do a crude drawing but that would definitely get her expelled unless her parents stepped in, not everyone had such a great sense of humour as her.

I must not talk back

The singing outside had stopped, instead replaced by several screams and the shrill blowing of Madam Hooch's whistle. Maybe Dementors had crashed the game again and if she was lucky they'd go for Umbridge.

I must not talk back

She wiped some of the blood off her hand using one of Umbridge's lace doilies before plopping it unceremoniously on her desk as a nice little present for later.

I must not talk back

There was no more singing, or screaming, and with a glance out of the window, she could see people filing back up to the castle in little groups.

I must not talk back
I must not talk back
I must not talk back

The door opened with a creak. Umbridge stood in the doorway, a satisfied little smirk on her wind-whipped face.

"Who won?" asked Ramona.

"You made that inspiring chant out to be a lot more mean-spirited than it was, Miss Burke," she sat in her chair opposite Ramona. "I thought it was a lovely display of creativity and House unity-let me see your hand."

She presented her hand, trying not to wince as Umbridge poked it and grinned.

"The message is really sinking in now," she patted it sharply two times.

"If you mean scarring, then yes."

"What was that, dearie?"

"I said thank you, Professor."

"You're dismissed for tonight."

Ramona trudged back down the corridor, inwardly whining at how much of a distance was between Umbridge's office and her common room, it was actually ridiculous. At least she was getting in a bit of a leg workout while she was at it, the Hogwarts stairs were killer. She supposed she'd have to accept this as her new life now, at least until Umbridge inevitably expelled her.

The common room was empty when she got there but soon started filling up and before she knew it, Blaise and Daphne were at her side, eyes wide. This was not a rare occurrence, the pair loved scandal and even more than that, they loved telling Ramona because she didn't care and wouldn't tell anybody, but something about the fact that everyone had that same look in her eyes made her feel like she was out of the loop of some big drama. They dragged her over to the couch by one of the glass panels, a few Grindylow darting past and began shedding their extra layers in the comfortable heat of the common room.

"Where were you?" Daphne demanded. "I hope I didn't actually upset you this morning because I didn't intend that at all I just thought that you were maybe over-"

"No," Ramona stopped the oncoming rant, "I actually got stuck in detention."

They looked confused but brushed it off. "It's fine, we'll get back to that later," said Blaise.

"Gryffindor won, quelle surprise," Daphne said lowly, "and Draco was pissed about it because we were in the lead until Potter caught the Snitch, so he started just spewing insults at Potter and maybe the Weasleys, I don't know we couldn't hear-"

Ramona rolled her eyes. "What's new, Daph?"

"I was getting to it!"

"Anyways," said Blaise, leaning in closer, "Potter and one of the Weasley twins lose the rag and start attacking Draco and like everyone was screaming-"

"I missed a scrap?" Ramona whined, she wished she hadn't said all that shit and got herself landed in detention. "Between Draco and Potter, no less? This is literally worse than detention."

"Would you let us finish?"

"Fine, sorry."

"So Madam Hooch breaks up the fight but Draco broke his nose and is lying on the ground, looking like an actual corpse and Potter and Weasley were sent up to McGonagall," Daphne spoke faster, "and now, rumour is, they're banned from Quidditch, permanently."

Ramona did a double take. "McGonagall would never do that-"

"But Umbridge would," said Blaise dryly. "Apparently she's in charge of all punishments in Hogwarts now, Educational Decree Number Twenty-Five, signed by Cornelius Fudge himself."

After a brief shock, not knowing whether to be angry or still in disbelief, Ramona glanced down at the back of her hand where the words were still etched in. "We're all screwed."

Chapter Text

-November 1995-

Dear Ramona, 
I am writing to you to express my disappointment and appall at your behaviour as of late. It is of my understanding that you have been particularly unwelcoming to your mother and I's good friend, Dolores Umbridge. We have been lenient towards many of your questionable and often insulting choices these past few years but publicly siding with Harry Potter and opposing the Ministry is where we draw the line. We understand that you are a teenager and that you look up greatly to your sister but these actions are not the same reckless yet harmless stunts Regina once pulled. What you are doing could get you, and us, killed, I'm sure I need not go into any more details. Keep your head down and your mouth shut, you're better seen and not heard. 
Richard Aaron Burke.

Ramona almost laughed as she glanced over the letter again. Not once in all her years at Hogwarts had either of her parents ever written her which meant that they were actually scared. She'd guessed as much over the summer, they were even more absent than usual, were always off for what they claimed were meetings, often spoke to each other in low, shaky voices in the dead of night, and both had started to go grey. This letter was basically confirmation that they were, or at least affiliated with, the Death Eaters.

She folded up the letter and tucked it into her pocket and continued to eat her cereal as if nothing had happened and it was just a regular Sunday morning. The words on the back of her hand hadn't faded yet so she cleverly wore a sweater she'd nabbed years ago from Blaise that was far too big for her and covered her hands, she figured it would soon have to become a staple in her closet considering she still had a week of detention ahead of her and was worried it would actually scar this time.

Despite her efforts to keep quiet (for the first time in her life), Delilah knew, she'd spotted it while they brushed their teeth the night before and was now glaring at Ramona's hand, not having so much as touched the cup of tea placed in front of her, ignoring Draco who was dramatically recounting the attack on him at the game yesterday while Pansy cooed and fussed over him.

"The lake's frozen over," Ramona said casually, poking Delilah with her foot underneath the table to make sure she heard, "we can go skating on it later."

"Is that safe?" Pansy peered over.

"Of course not, but we should do it before Umbitch bans it."

Delilah met her eyes and she did not look amused. "Don't do it, Mona, you're in enough trouble as it is."

She thought of the letter in her pocket, any more stunts could get her and her parents killed, a small voice inside her told her to see how far she could push it while her hand screamed that enough was enough, she had to lay low. "Ice skating isn't illegal...yet. I want to have fun and I'm fully prepared to argue my way out of another situation."

"What if you fall in and drown?" Draco said through a mouthful of egg that Pansy had fed him like a toddler, he was still playing up his injury in typical Draco fashion, despite Pomfrey having said he was perfectly fine.

"Then I'll be dead, what do you think?" she snapped and rose to her feet. "So, who's coming?"

None of them stood. She suspected some were still a bit angry about her blatant betrayal yesterday with the song and the badges but she'd thought fun games in the freshly-fallen snow might've righted her wrongs with them. Clearly not, if their dour faces were anything to go by.

"Fine, stay inside and be miserable," she swigged the last of her tea and began to set off. "It's all any of you are good for anyways."

Ramona went back to her dorm, shrugged on her heavy winter cloak, a woollen hat that she just managed to squeeze over her curls and gloves, ready to brave the snow outside. Ice skating wouldn't be as much fun on her own but she was now determined to go through with it, for no reason but for the sake of proving herself right.

It was colder than she'd anticipated, despite her many layers and briefly she debated just going back inside to tackle her mountain of homework considering she'd be wasting her evening in detention but then she remembered how embarrassing it would be to have to eat her words and stepped onto the frozen lake. One of the many great things about being a witch was that she didn't even need those bladed shoes muggles used to ice skate, surely she could cast a simple Glisseo charm on the soles of her shoes and be off with ease. At least, in theory she could.

After casting the charm, she lowered one foot down towards the frozen surface of the lake, the voices of her friends echoing around in her head, spite flooding her very being.

"Burke!"

In shock, Ramona's foot slipped the second it touched the ice, sending her sprawling onto her back with so much force that the ice cracked underneath her. She was plunged into the shallow, icy water with a scream. She didn't think she'd ever felt so cold in her life, it completely engulfed her, seeping through her clothes and skin, seeming to take hold of every muscle. Maybe this hadn't been so much of a good idea.

~~

Ramona had only been in the Hospital Wing a few times before then, once in third year to laugh at Draco and his 'devastating injury', again that same year after Peeves smashed an ink bottle over her head and once last year after breaking every bone in her hand for punching a statue (not her finest moment she'd admit) yet it always looked the exact same, the rows of neatly-made bed separated by blank screens, the perfectly polished cabinets of medicines and the stone floor so shiny that it reflected the light.

She sat on one of the beds, her wet clothes dumped in a pile on the floor, wrapped in several heavy blankets while Madam Pomfrey tried coaxing her into swallowing one of her nasty potions. Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood (who was failing at hiding her grin) and Neville Longbottom sat in the seats around her bed, none quite knowing what to say while Pomfrey yelled at her.

"Completely and totally idiotic!" she stuck another vial of Pepper-Up Potion into Ramona's hand. "What stupidity possessed you to do something like that? In all my years here there have been few injuries more ridiculously caused than this!"

Ramona avoided her furious gaze, feeling even worse as her ears started to smoke violently. "I was trying to prove a point, didn't work."

"Oh you think so?" Pomfrey said sarcastically, with wide eyes.

A little giggle escaped Luna's mouth.

"This isn't funny Miss Lovegood!"

"It was kinda funny."

"Wow," Ramona said dryly, "I really admire and appreciate your concern for me, Luna, thanks."

Pomfrey glowered. "Had you not been pulled out so quickly Miss Burke, you could've died."

Ramona wasn't quite sure how she was supposed to respond to that. "Okay..."

With a huff, Pomfrey turned on her heel and began to storm back into her office.

"Can I go?" No answer came. "I'm just gonna leave then."

Ramona slipped off the bed, still smoking at the ears, and took her pile of soaking clothes from where they'd been left on the floor. She couldn't remember how to dry them without setting them on fire so she supposed she'd have to leave in the pyjamas she'd been given that were about four sizes too big on her. The other three followed her out, Luna trying desperately to stifle her laughs.

"What were all of you doing outside anyways?" Ramona asked as they all walked down the hall, receiving some odd stares. "Hardly just waiting for me to embarrass myself?"

"No," Longbottom looked at her sheepishly, "we were looking for Trevor."

"Your toad?"

He nodded. "I lost him again, haven't been able to find him all morning, starting to get really worried."

"He'll turn up eventually, he always does," she said. "I lose my stuff all the time too but I find them most of the time, what did you say was taking them again, Luna?"

The young girl beamed brighter than Ramona had ever seen. "Nargles!"

"Yeah, those, maybe Trevor's off with them for a bit."

He looked doubtful but smiled nonetheless. "Thanks."

She gave him a taut smile as they reached the stairs. Ramona would be heading down to go to her common room while the others were planning to head back out and look for Trevor but as she readjusted her hold on her clothes, Ginny Weasley let out a little gasp and grabbed Ramona before she could bolt. "What's that on your hand?"

Ramona felt as if she'd been dunked in ice water all over again. "Nothing."

Luna took up her hand and held it close to her face before Ramona snatched it back and held it close to her chest. "What does that mean? 'I must not talk back'?"

"Exactly what it says," she snapped and began hastily walking down the stairs to the dungeons, not having expected them to follow her.

"Who did that to you?"

"Why would they do that to you?"

"Have you told Dumbledore?"

She picked up the pace a bit.

"Is it like a tattoo?"

"No Luna, it's clearly a scar."

Ramona stopped in her tracks and the three behind her almost crashed into her back. "It's Umbridge's idea of detention,  justice, in her eyes."

"That has to be illegal," said Longbottom, pale-faced and slightly trembling.

"It's not," she snarled. "Ministry has given her jurisdiction over all punishments at Hogwarts, whatever she sees fit, so long as she can squash Dumbledore's power and spread Ministry propaganda. They're using fear and terror against anyone who doesn't agree with them to silence them."

There was a horrified silence between the others, broken only after a long, very loud croak came from Ramona's feet. "Trevor!"

~~

Ramona had never been the biggest fan of Rubeus Hagrid or of Care of Magical Creatures in general but she found herself genuinely looking forward to another one of his eventful classes after she'd seen him return to the staff table that morning, black and blue with bruises. While Grubbly-Plank was great for following the course, she wasn't nearly as fun or dangerous.

That Tuesday brought about the first Care of Magical Creatures class of the week, Ramona trudged down with Delilah through the snow, wondering what dangerous creature they would encounter that day. She was worried, for a second, that Umbridge would be there to spoil the fun but there was no sign of her when they arrived, only half the class and a very bruised Hagrid with a dead cow slung over his shoulder. His grin was broad despite his ominous appearance and the wariness of many of his students.

"We're workin' in here today!" He gestured behind him to the Forbidden Forest which looked more threatening than usual. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark."

Draco, who stood a bit behind her gulped audibly. "What prefers the dark? What did he say prefers the dark-did you hear?"

"Lots of terrifying, bloodthirsty creatures," Ramona dropped back as they ventured into the trees, grinning, "Vampires, Acromantula, Lethifolds, or maybe he's got another Hippogriff."

"That's not funny!"

The poorly-hidden smiles on the other students' faces begged to differ.

Hagrid led them deeper into the forest, the light growing dimmer the further they ventured. After a bit, he held up a hand to stop them, looking quite excited. "Ready? Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the Forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em."

"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" Draco said loudly, slowly growing paler. "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"

A few people seemed to agree, even some reluctant Gryffindors who were still sour towards him for getting three of their best Quidditch players kicked off the team.

"'Course they're trained," Hagrid scowled, twisting his bruised face to make him look even more intimidating.

"So what happened to your face, then?" Malfoy demanded.

"Mind yer own business!" Hagrid snapped. "Now, if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!"

"Must be really vicious to be able to do that to Hagrid," Ramona whispered to Draco, suppressing the rising giggle in her throat.

They followed the hulking man into the Forest, some more warily than others, and walked for about ten minutes until the reached an area where the trees clumped closely together, blocking out most of the light from above without even a speck of snow on the ground. With a grunt, Hagrid dumped the dead cow on the ground a few feet in front of him and turned to face the class.

"Gather roun', gather roun'," he encouraged at the sight of their pale faces, wondering if they'd soon be attacke. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me."

He turned and gave a chilling shriek that echoed through the trees, making all the hairs on Ramona's neck stand on end. He sounded like some twisted, monstrous bird. The class held their breath in terror. He gave the call again. Nothing answered, the trees were still. He shrieked for a third time. Her head whipped around at the sound of rustling leaves and watched as a blank-eyed, bat-winged, skeletal, black horse emerged from the trees.

She relaxed somewhat, recognising this as one of the creatures that pulled the carriages up to the school as it tore a chunk out of the cow flesh on the ground. It seemed, however, that she was one of the few could could see it, most were looking around in terror, eyes passing over the giant horse. The only others who seemed to see it were Potter, Theodore Nott (who watched it with distaste) and to her surprise, Neville Longbottom.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" Hagrid pointed just ahead of them where another of these skeletal horses emerged, dipping its head to eat. "Now...put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"

Ramona raised her hand, not tearing her eyes off the horses. She'd wondered why nobody had ever commented on them before.

"Excuse me," Draco sneered, "But what are we meant to be seeing exactly?"

Hagrid pointed at the half-eaten cow on the ground and a few students screamed as they watched chunks of flesh disappear into thin air.

Ramona leaned over to Draco again. "Invisible rabid vampires, you can't see but there's one staring right at your pretty little neck."

"You're lying," he said but he flicked up the collar of his robes, eyes flitting about anxiously.

"What's doing it?" Parvati Patil shrieked, backing away as fast as she could. "What's eating it?"

"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly, puffing out his chest. "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows-?"

"But they're really, really unlucky!" Patil said again, now almost behind a tree. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once-"

Ramona had never been particularly superstitious and she hadn't been inclined to believe the waffling of Professor Trelawney since she'd watched her having an argument with a plate of roast potatoes.

"No, no, no, tha's jus' superstition, that it, they aren' unlucky , they're dead clever an' useful! Course this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate-an' here's another couple, look-"

Ramona watched as more entered the clearing, Patil screaming as she thought one brushed up against her. Truthfully, they looked very ominous but they hadn't attacked them yet which she was taking as a good sign that they were trained as Hagrid claimed.

"Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' yeh can see 'em an' some can't?"

To nobody's surprise, Granger raised her hand. "The only people who can see Thestrals are people who've seen death."

Ramona supposed that made sense, she'd watched one of her family's House Elves die after her uncle had killed it with such a strong Reductor Curse that there was nothing to bury but the tip of a bat-like ear, and Potter had seen Cedric die, she thought she remembered Theodore talking about watching his mother die but she had never thought that Neville Longbottom had once seen death. Now that she thought back to it, he, like her, had been more than a bit freaked out when they'd watched imposter Moody cast the Unforgivable Curses on those spiders.

"Hem, hem."

Brilliant, a creature more disturbing than bat-winged, eyeless horses of death. Umbridge stood at the edge of the group in a green cloak and hat, making her look like more of a toad than usual. When Hagrid didn't take notice of her, she gave her fake cough again.

"Oh, hello!"

"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" She spoke in a very slow, carefully enunciated voice, as if she was addressing someone recently Confunded or like one of those condescending people talking to someone with little English. "Telling you I would be inspecting your lesson?"

"Oh yeah, glad yeh found the place all righ'," he said brightly, lacking experience with Umbridge's foulness. "Well, as yeh can see-or I dunno-can yeh? We're doin' Thestrals today-" 

"I'm sorry?" She cupped a hand around her ear. "What did you say?"

Ramona braced herself for another shitshow.

"Er-Thestrals, big-er-winged horses, yeh know!" He flapped his arms like wings as Umbridge began frantically scribbling on her clipboard.

"Has...to...resort...to...crude...sign...language."

"Well, anyway," Hagrid looked confused. "What was I sayin'?"

"Appears...to...have...poor...short...term...memory."

Ramona wondered how long it would be before Umbridge had Hagrid sacked, and they'd be back to doing boring, non-life threatening creatures. Draco, on the other hand, was beaming with excitement. The class went on this way, with Umbridge interrupting every so often by twisting the meaning of his words and writing them down in her review, Hagrid getting more and more flustered with each one, her speaking to him even more slowly and now with sign language, and Pansy and Draco having a silent fit of laughter. After a while she moved amongst the students, asking them questions, sticking mostly to the Slytherins.

"Do you find," she asked Pansy, "that you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?"

Pansy was trying and failing to suppress her giggles. "No...because...well...it sounds...like grunting a lot of the time..."

Ramona rolled her eyes and elbowed Delilah in the ribs as she snickered.

"Er...yeah," said Hagrid, having heard every word, "good stuff abou' Thestrals. Well, once they're tamed, like this lot, yeh'll never be lost again. 'Mazin' sense o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want ter go-"

"Assuming they can understand you of course," said Draco, dissolving into laughter again.

Umbridge grinned at this and moved towards Longbottom, who looked at her, eyes darting at Ramona's gloved hand and gulping. "You can see the Thestrals, Longbottom, can you?"

He nodded numbly.

"Who did you see die?"

"My...my grandad."

"And what do you think of them?" she waved her hand around the clearing, indicating the Thestrals themselves.

"Erm...well, they're okay."

"Students...are...too...intimidated...to...admit...they...are...frightened," she muttered along with what she wrote on her clipboards.

"No!" said Neville, suddenly looking upset. "No, I'm not scared of them!"

"It's quite alright," she patted him on the shoulder with an extremely condescending smile.

Before she could stop herself, Ramona spoke. "Well, I can see them too and I think they're magnificent!"

"Is that so, Miss Burke?"

"It is so, why in my opinion, they are the most elegant, beautiful and intelligent creatures I've ever seen! Hagrid must be extremely talented to have not only tamed them but befriended them, you heard him yourself, he's the only person in Britain who's managed to train them."

She curled her lip into a sneer. "Well, wild beasts do tend to take better to other wild beasts."

~~

November 21st brought heavy snow, the deadline for their Potions essay, and Ramona's sixteenth birthday. As usual, she was first awake and was glad to find no surprises in the dorm or down in the common room and she safely made it down to the Great Hall without any nasty surprises. Nobody said a word to her during breakfast and all she got in the post was that morning's Daily Prophet and a bunch of little jars of tea leaves from Regina with a singing card that she'd incinerated before it could get two notes out, sparing her any embarrassment.

Delilah muttered a 'Happy Birthday' and slid over a wrapped parcel as she came late to Charms. Inside Ramona found the emerald green cloak she'd been eyeing up the last time they went to Hogsmeade, and a worn Muggle novel with the words 'Animal Farm' written on the front. She folded the cloak carefully around the book and slipped them into her bag. "Thank you, Del, where'd you get the book?"

She smiled tiredly. "Bullied a first year into giving it to me, I also wanted to have a party but Pansy's still pissed at you."

"What did I do this time?"

"You gave Draco a funny look, apparently."

"Delusional."

Later that day, Blaise gave her a bunch of his old clothes so she wouldn't have to steal them anymore, Cho got her a little locket with a picture of them and Cedric, Daphne replenished her supply of hair care products and Pansy reluctantly gave over an album filled with pictures, dating all the way back to when they were little kids, having tea parties while their parents had meetings together.

That night, she was supposed to have a DA meeting and was hoping Cho wouldn't make a big deal out of it being her birthday, she didn't think she'd ever recover from the embarrassment. She was a bit late, having had to pry herself away from the others who actually wanted to spend time with her for once and when she finally arrived at the meeting she apologised quietly.

"It's fine," Potter said. "Happy Birthday by the way."

She gave him a suspicious look. "How do you know?"

"Er-Cho told me."

"Of course she did," she sighed and made her way over to Longbottom who was practicing with Ginny and Luna in her absence. "I'm so sorry I'm late, was a bit preoccupied."

"Happy Birthday!" Luna squealed, accidentally sending her wand flying six feet into the air.

"So Cho told you too, huh?"

Luna shook her head, bottle-cork jewellery clinking together. "I sense a change about you...also I saw you getting presents at breakfast and lunch."

"We didn't have much time..." said Ginny Weasley nervously as she went rooting through her bag.

"...But you're always eating them," Longbottom chimed in as he was handed five bundles of neatly wrapped Sugar Quills.

She took them gingerly from them. "I don't know what to say..."

"'Thank you' is usually appropriate in these situations," Luna had retrieved her wand.

"Thank you, all of you, I'll have them all lost by tomorrow."

Chapter Text

-December 1995-

Ramona wasn't sure of much but she definitely knew that she could not spend Christmas at her parents' house that year. The letter from her father was proof that they were tangled up with the Death Eaters and she couldn't risk them trying to get her involved too because one could not simply leave the Death Eaters and live to tell the tale, that just wasn't how things worked. So, she wrote to Regina, begging her to let her spend the break with her instead of having to wallow in the castle with Umbridge and generally just having a miserable Christmas. Finally, after a week, Bacon returned with her reply.

Mona,
Are you mental? Of course I'd love you to spend Christmas with me! It's about time, I've only been waiting for you to ask for the last  three  years. I will warn you that my apartment is tiny and you will be sleeping on the couch and also you won't be allowed to leave on your own, Knockturn Alley is full of shady people who know how to cover up a murder  very well . Also, don't be expecting a Christmas feast or anything, if you're lucky we might be able to get muggle takeout or somethin g if they're open. If not, you'll have to risk food poisoning from my attempts of cooking. 
Love you, 
Gina.

Ramona couldn't help but grin at the idea of having Christmas with Regina again. Christmases with the Burke's tended to be spent on her own while her parents made the circuit of parties and dinners which they hadn't brought her to in many years, afraid she'd say something that would get them in trouble. However, it was infinitely worse when distant relatives came for Christmas. Her mother's family were fine, if a bit elitist, they always gave great gifts and had revolutionary tips on ways to further your career but her father's family were...odd to say the least.

For starters, there was her uncle Alexander who had become a total social recluse, driven half-mad after a stint in Azkaban for reasons nobody seemed to want to tell her, and then there was her grandmother, who hadn't spoken in thirty years and had no less than twenty-two house elves despite her living on her own. Now that she thought about it that side of the family seemed to have a shady background with House Elves. The worst of all of them, however, was her father's younger sister, she believed quite staunchly in the idea that children (especially those with conflicting opinions to her own) should be neither seen nor heard, hence, whenever her and Ramona were in the same room, things tended to get messy.

"Are you going to Draco's Christmas party?" said Pansy excitedly one evening in the common room, having forgiven Ramona for whatever reason she was mad about before. "We'll have the house to ourselves because his parents are going out for a few days so it'll be brilliant."

"No," said Ramona casually, "I'm spending Christmas with Gina."

"Your sister?" Pansy's lip curled slightly, Regina had left a bit of a stain on Slytherin's reputation when she'd been at school. 

"Yeah, it's been a while and my parents are pissed at me at the moment," Ramona stared into the dying fire. "Don't try to say they're in the right, I'm not in the mood tonight."

Pansy frowned. "Fine, they're just worried about you though, so are we...Mona...think about the long-term consequences for your actions, openly supporting Mudbloods and-"

Ramona stuck her fingers in her ears and began to hum as loudly and obnoxiously as she could, childish though effective; she'd just have to wait for Pansy to give up.

"You could-"

Ramona added lyrics to her not-so-harmonious tune. "Ignoring Pansy because she's full of shit."

"Mona-"

"Bigotry sucks, discrimination sucks, burn the Ministryyyyy."

Pansy rolled her eyes and got out of her armchair in a huff, hastily stuffing all her homework into her bag. "Fine I'm sorry for bothering you with my friendship and concern!"

"Goodnight!"

~~

Ramona was much earlier to the last DA meeting before Christmas break than she normally was, Delilah having passed out from eating far too many sticky toffee puddings at dinner, and she was surprised to find the room fully decorated with bright tinsel and garlands. Potter was in there alone, tearing down strings of golden baubles with his own face reading 'Have a Very Harry Christmas'. He looked down at her evil grin in dread and said lowly: "Please don't tell anyone about these."

"I think they're lovely, very festive and with a personal touch," she laughed, picking up one string from the pile of the floor, baubles clanking against each other as she did so. "Do you mind if I keep some? As a Christmas present?"

He gave her a withering look but sighed. "Fine, I wasn't going to do anything with them."

"Brill, these'll be worth a fortune in twenty years, limited edition Harry Potter Christmas decorations, one of a kind..."

"That reminds me," he hopped off the step stool and jogged over to his bag in the corner and dug around for a few minutes, finally pulling out an odd little trinket and placing it in her palm, "your Christmas gift."

It looked a bit like a troll's attempt at making a crystal ball, looking more like a crystal egg but it was it filled with fog, it was clear and inside looked to be thin little wires. As she tapped it with a nail she found it wasnt crystal either, it was very thin glass.

"What is it?" she turned it around before holding it up to her eye to peer at the wires inside, also magnifying Potter's face before her, elliciting a small snort.

"A muggle lightbulb," he said. "The Dursley's gave it to me for Christmas but I've got no use for it and I know you like Muggle stuff...it's not much but I thought you'd like it..."

She'd heard about lightbulbs in Muggle Studies, how they were used to supply their houses with light and how they ran on electricity but she'd never seen one in real life, only pictures. She thought it was all quite genius. For some reason, this little object, useless to her, made the back of her eyes sting.

"This is..." Ramona trailed off, trying to blink back her tears. "This is...thank you, Potter."

Awkwardly and quite stiffly, Ramona wrapped her arms around him and actually hugged him. She could hear a mini Delilah in her head screaming bloody murder. "Sorry I didn't get you anything..."

"It's a lightbulb, Burke, hardly anything spectacular," he hugged back, patting her gingerly as if he'd never hugged anyone before.

"Shut up, I like it," she sniffed and drew away, carefully stowing it into her bag.

Soon the room started filling up with the other DA members, many stopping to comment on the decorations. Cho came with Marietta at her side, hair done in an elaborate braid but her eyes looked bloodshot and tired. Nonetheless, she smiled at Ramona before turning to gaze dreamily at Potter while Marietta rolled her eyes, descending into an even worse mood than usual.

"Okay," Potter called loudly once they were all there. "I thought this evening we should just go over the things we've done so far, because it's the last meeting before the holidays and there's no point starting anything new right before a three-week break-"

"We're not doing anything new?" Zacharias Smith whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, to nobody's surprise. "If I'd known that I wouldn't have come."

"We're all really sorry Harry didn't tell you, then," said one of the Weasley twins loudly (she still couldn't tell which was which).

"We can practice in pairs," said Potter (Ramona and Neville caught each other's eyes and smiled). "We'll start with the Impediment Jinx, for ten minutes then we can get out the cushions and try Stunning again."

The room divided up into their usual pairs while Potter walked amongst them, observing and walking past Cho far too many times to just be a coincidence. Neville's improvement was nothing short of incredible, he'd managed to freeze her almost every time, except once when his spell had actually hit Potter while he walked behind her. She told him so as they brought out the cushions to practice Stunning.

His wand fell through his fingers as she relayed her thoughts to him. "You really think so?"

"Yeah," she bent down to pick it up and hand it back to him, "it's terrifying how much you can improve with a competent teacher, just goes to show that it's not you that's the gormless lump."

"Thanks, but I'm still not as good as everybody else," he said lowly.

Ramona scoffed. "I'm sorry did you not see Smith's own spell backfiring on him not five minutes ago? Or Bones chip her own tooth?"

He let out a short-lived laugh. "Thanks Burke."

The Stunning spells went even better, though Neville had missed her once or twice (his wand had a tendency to do that) and before they knew it, the hour was up and they had to head back to their dormitories. It felt kind of sad that they wouldn't be meeting for another three weeks but the prospect of Christmas and Potter's promise of teaching them Patronuses helped a bit to ease this.

People left in their staggered groups, wishing each other Happy Christmases and saying goodbye while Potter tidied up the cushions in a suspicious slow manner, as if he was stalling, insisting on doing it himself. Ramona checked her bag to make sure her lightbulb was safe before leaving but when she went to say goodbye to Cho she noticed her arguing in low tones with Marietta. They were some of the only people left at that point and nobody else seemed to spot this.

"Just go on without me," Cho was insisting.

"I don't want to go back on my own!"

"Please, Mari, I just want to wish Harry a Happy Christmas."

Marietta scoffed loudly. "You could do that now, Cho."

"Ow!" Ramona threw herself dramatically onto the floor, careful not to land on her bag in the process. "Somebody help me-not you Potter-anybody, help me!"

Cho rushed over to her side and bent down. "Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing, Mona?"

"Yes!"

"Go on, Marietta, I'll bring her up."

"Goodbye, Marietta," Ramona forced trying to convey the hint through eyebrow movements alone as she was supposed to be in a great deal of pain.

Marietta sniffed and tossed her curls before stomping off, leaving only Ramona, Cho and Potter in the room. Once she was sure Marietta was gone, Ramona sat up and gathered her things. "How weird, I feel completely fine now so I suppose I'll just go, is that mistletoe? Merry Christmas you two!"

And with that, Ramona fled from the room as if she was aflame, barely fighting off a satisfactory grin as she silently congratulated herself on her superb wing-woman skills.

~~

Cho sat across from Ramona as they sped past fields and hills blanketed in white snow towards London, dabbing at her eyes and cheeks every few seconds as she retold the events of last night after she'd left her and Potter alone. Marietta was wedged in the corner, not quite scowling but not looking particularly pleased about any of this either.

"And I-I couldn't stop myse-myself," she said between little hiccoughs, "I k-kissed him."

"That's brilliant, Cho," Ramona squeezed her hand, "you've been wanting to do that for months now and you were under mistletoe and everything! It's so romantic!"

She only sobbed harder. "B-but I wa-was cry-crying!"

"I'm sure Potter understands," she moved so that she was sitting next to Cho, an arm over her shaking shoulders, "he knows himself how much you're suffering and I'd hope he'll understand that you're a bit confused, he's not a complete idiot."

"What i-if I r-ruined it? I think h-he's avoiding me..."

Ramona shot Marietta a pleading look, to help in the way Cho always claimed she did, to not be an asshole for ten minutes.

"If Harry can't get over a few tears, he's not worth your time," she said heatedly.

Cho sighed. "I th-thought he really liked me."

"He does," Ramona said, "he's just a dumb little nerd and doesn't know what to do."

"He doesn't know what t0 do?" Cho dabbed at her cheeks. "But he's fought You-Know-Who so many times and he's really taken charge this year and then last year at the Tournament! Not to mention the fact that he was the youngest Seeker in a century and how funny and sweet he is...I can't imagine a world in which Harry Potter doesn't know how to ask me out."

"Did you not hear the part where I said he's a dumb little nerd?"

~~

Regina wasn't hard to spot amongst the din of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, having pushed all the way to the front of the crowd and holding a massive homemade banner which read 'WELCOME HOME MONA' with a poorly-drawn illustration of Ramona's face. Normally, she might have been embarrassed by this display but any twinge of mortification was overwritten by her excitement to spend Christmas with Regina for the first time since she was twelve.

Her sister hadn't changed much since she last saw her in October, if a bit more tired and worn, curls frizzy and tangled but her smile was just as bright and twice as infectious. When Regina caught sight of her she let out a shrill squeal and bounced happily on the spot.

Ramona dropped her trunk and Bacon's cage (which sent him into a frenzy) and caught her sister around the middle, holding her close and not really wanting to let go. They'd always been close but now that she knew for sure that she was cutting herself off from her parents, Regina was the only family she had left and for some reason that thought made something inside her twinge and want to hold on tighter. Finally, they broke apart with identical grins and Ramona took up her trunk and cage, giving a hushed apology to Bacon.

"So," Regina said, helping her with their bags as they pushed their way to the exit, "what's the sca? Any breakups? Any fights? Any more detentions?"

Ramona thought of all that had happened since the start of September, or rather everything that had changed and her head started to ache. "Nothing I haven't told you already besides an update on the Cho and Potter situation, I'll fill you in on that over dinner."

"Speaking of dinner, you want Chinese or pizza?"

"I'm thinking Chinese for tonight."

They made their way to the magical door through to the Muggle train station, which would be bustling as ever with Muggles in their funny clothes, talking in their weird little bricks, but just before hey we're about to cross the barrier, Ramona spotted Neville Longbottom standing before a severe-looking woman who was trying to straighten his hair, his face burning red. She thought for a second about saying goodbye, wishing him another Merry Christmas but embarrassing him even further didn't seem like much fun anymore so she grasped her sister by the arm and slipped silently through the barrier of Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

Chapter Text

-December 1995-

"Why are you staring at me like that, Gina?" Ramona said over their pitiful breakfast of burnt toast and a rubbery egg. "It's really starting to creep me out."

"You're happier," her sister said softly, not giving much explanation.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ramona said. "Of course I'm happy, I'm not stuck at school with Umbitch or our bigoted parents for three weeks."

Regina shook her head, sending her curls splaying. "No, you look happier than I've seen you in years, Mona, you haven't smiled like that since you were a kid, after winning arguments against Aunt Florence or when we'd sneak down to the sweet shop down the road...it's just been a while."

Ramona looked up at her, not quite sure what to think about that. She just thought it was odd, especially as this was proving itself to be one of the most emotionally stressful years of her life. Dealing with Cedric's death, Cho's trauma, the return of Voldemort, the ever-growing distance between her and her friend group, Dolores Fascist Umbridge, it was too much. And yet, now that she thought about it, she felt lighter and thinking about everything wrong with her life didn't immediately give her a migraine. What this all really meant though, she didn't know.

Regina cleared their plates and left them to clean themselves in the sink while she fixed her deep purple robes and pulled back her curls, leaving her scar on full display. "Hey, you'll have t be extra quiet today, some not very nice people are coming over in a bit and I would prefer they not know about you."

"I'll be quiet as a mouse," she threw herself down on the couch/her bed and picked up a book, "I'll read all day."

"Okay, just no audible reactions this time, I had to write you off as my overexcitable cat last time."

"Fine, I won't," she watched her sister unlatch the trapdoor and lower herself down through it into the shop below, "be safe!"

Ramona locked the trapdoor as she heard the soft noise of Regina pinning up a tapestry to hide the upstairs entrance. This had become daily routine over the Christmas break and she'd learned not to think oddly of it anymore, it was for both of their protection and to maintain Regina's cover. Despite the dull, lonely hours of treading lightly, trying to find something to do in the little apartment, it was turning out to be one of her better Christmases. Sure, she felt a bit like a stowaway but she was with Regina, and that was all she could've hoped for.

She read from seven until noon, only stopping when an owl stopped by with a letter for Regina. This happened often but she wasn't allowed to go near these letters, "sensitive information, not for the eyes of little kids" Regina called them. Ramona suspected these were from other people in this rebellion she'd mentioned as every night, she'd spend hours writing replies to these letters, making sure her little sister was far from eyeshot.

At one, she usually started to make herself some lunch, as silently as she could manage but that day, it seemed as though something was happening in the shop below. She jumped as she heard a sickening crack and loud but muffled voices. Slowly, she lowered the kettle she was about to boil for her tea and crept towards the trapdoor, pressing her ear close to the floor, trying to hear past the thundering heartbeat in her chest. As she did so, the whole flat shook violently, sending bookshelves crashing down, shattering several plates left out on the dining table and jolted Ramona back so suddenly that she whacked her head off the floor and let out a scream of pain.

The noise from below was silenced as quickly as one would snuff out a candle until loud, heavy footsteps clomped their way closer to Ramona's hiding spot. Eyes wide, she scrambled to her feet and began a beeline to the fireplace, hopping over the smashed glass coffee table. Regina had sat her down her first day there to discuss in depth how to escape from the flat if she had to. Ramona had laughed at this at the time, having thought her sister had lost her reckless nature and was actually maturing somewhat but as the lock on the trapdoor rattled as someone from underneath tried to ram it up with sheer strength, she felt like a fool.

With shaking hands she snatched up her unfinished Charms homework and ripped off a chunk of parchment at the bottom. The trapdoor gave another jolt and rattle, the sound of arguing drifting up to her. She scribbled three words on the torn parchment before throwing open the curtained window where thankfully, the owl from before still rested and thrust it towards him. It looked at her curiously as she desperately wracked her brain for the address her sister said every night as she sent off her letters.

"Grim...fuck...Grimmer-no...Twelve, Grimace-I don't know!" She shouted, voice cracking as she heard a blood-curdling scream from below. "Wherever you bring all the other letters!"

This seemed to be enough instruction for the owl as in one movement it took to the skies. As Ramona darted next for the smashed pot of floo powder by their fireplace, upset by all the banging and shaking, she heard the dreaded sound of the lock sliding open from across the room and a shriek of pain. She watched in horror as someone pushed the trapdoor up and looked around for her nearest weapon. Moving towards her entering intruder, Ramona grabbed their measly Christmas tree, a naked looking thing, barely taller than her and decorated with a few trinkets, pine needles sticking painfully into her palms and brought it down, star first, through the open door. Hoping that this would buy her enough time, she dug around fragmented pieces of the broken ceramic pot, trying to scrounge up enough powder for one trip, cutting up her hands even further.

With the sound of a loud curse, she watched as their Christmas tree shot back up through the door, now smoking. Not far behind it, a figure emerged, a man she'd never seen before, his face smeared with blood that still seemed to be streaming from his crooked nose. At the sight of her, he bared his bloody teeth in a mangled sort of grin and she felt as if she'd been plunged into an ice-cold lake. Another person popped up by his side, a very tall woman with sharp angular features and slicked back hair which made her look like some kind of bird of prey.

"Another rat," the bloody man said, approaching her with heavy thuds, slowly raising his wand, "I wonder if you'll scream like the one downstairs did."

Ramona had never really understood the idea of the fight or flight response before, it made sense but she'd never truly gotten the instinct that drove it until she found herself on her feet, desperately trying to wrestle with a fully grown armed man, a weird energy pushing her on as she sunk her teeth into his hand as hard as she could, tasting the sharp tang of blood. He yelped in pain and pushed her back roughly, holding his hand tight to his chest.

In the few seconds she'd bought herself she looked between the smashed floo powder on the floor and her wand left over on the counter there, only a few feet away and then, at the man who was again raising his wand at her, mouth opening to form words. Ramona lunged for her wand, mind racing, wondering the best way to not get killed. She thought back to all those evenings with the D.A., recalling every single spell Potter had done with them and wondering if she could actually pull through when she needed to most.

As she reached out for her wand, mind set with a plan, a leather boot sent it scattering to the left, rolling under the couch, along with any hope of her fighting them off.

"Crucio!"

Ramona had seen the Cruciatus Curse performed several times before, how the victim would writhe and scream in unimaginable agony, as if they were burning from the inside-out. Her uncle once tried to teach her how to do it, walking her through all the steps as he demonstrated on a Gnome she'd taken in from the garden as she so often did as a child, ignoring her screams for him to stop. Professor Not-Moody had led her to believe it was like being tortured with white-hot knives. Nothing, however, could have prepared her for how it actually felt.

It was a pain she didn't believe could be described with mere words, when children fall, they feel pain wherever they fell, the pain is isolated to a specific area but the Cruciatus Curse targeted everywhere, at full volume so that there isn't even space to think or feel anything but the pain, she was stripped of anything else. She couldn't see, hear, or taste anything, only feel. Surely, this was what hell felt like.

And then, just like that, it was gone. Her sight, though blurry, held the picture of Regina's cracked ceiling, laughter sounded as if from another room though she still knew it was as her expense, the metallic tang of blood settled in the back of her mouth again, and the pain felt more like an echo, like a nightmare. She tried to move, to crawl away, maybe to try and reach her wand, but something seized her by the hair, nails digging into her scalp, hoisting her up a bit.

"Pretty little thing," the man hissed in her ear, hot breath on her cheek. "It'd be a shame to see you end up like your sister, all scarred and bloody."

Ramona thrashed though her limbs felt as if they were made of jelly, maybe if she kept this man talking long enough, help would arrive before her body was cold. "What did you do to her?"

A wicked smile flashed across his face, teeth still stained with blood, whose, Ramona didn't think she wanted to know. "Do you wanna find out, little bird?"

The woman suddenly moved forwards, a scowl pulling at her face. "That's enough, she'd only a kid."

"A kid who tried to kill us!" His wand flew up under her jaw, the tip poking hard into her skin. "Better to get rid of troublesome little brats when you can before they become a problem."

"Let's just wipe her memory, take the stuff and leave before any Aurors show up," she insisted.

"Oh, but Natalia...that's much less fun," his grip on her hair tightened. "Crucio!"

The pain came back, feeling even worse than before, as if something inside her was trying to burst out and rip her open. This time however, it did not last long as she was shoved forwards onto her stomach, head just missing the corner of the coffee table. She breathed hard and fast, trying to think as the sound of arguing grew louder, making her head throb painfully.

It seemed as if they'd momentarily forgotten about her, facing away from her, over by the window. She glanced around, wondering if she could make it downstairs without them noticing...no, the trapdoor was right beside them, she'd need to distract them or something. Her wand, where was it? She'd almost had it before he'd kicked it under the-yes, her wand lay under Regina's old couch with crumpled-up Transfiguration notes and a Chocolate Frog card of Newt Scamander.

In a rush of adrenaline and sudden determination, Ramona crawled across the room as was humanly possible, just about reaching their patchy couch, and stuck her hand underneath, fingers searching desperately for her wand. In the milliseconds that felt more like hours, she finally felt the reassuring sense of her wand in her hand and pointed it straight at the window opposite the two arguing attackers.

"Bombarda!"

With a sickening crash, thousands of tiny glass shards propelled themselves forwards in a deadly rain, catching the pair by surprise, long enough for Ramona to aim at them instead this time, Potter's teaching voice echoing around in her head. She wondered if it would be harder when she was not gunning for the sweet, round-faced Longbottom, when the stakes were infinitely higher, but she hadn't much time to dwell on that.

"Stupefy!"

A jet of dark crimson light sprung from the tip of her wand and hit the woman in the centre of her back, sending her limp body crashing down onto the man, his face even bloodier with scrapes from the glass. And then, with the speed of a Snitch, Ramona took off for the door to the shop and practically threw herself down the ladder. Behind her she could hear the roaring anger of the man and the sound of glass crunching underfoot. The second her feet were firmly on the floor, she kicked the ladder to the side, hoping that she'd bought herself some extra time.

The shop looked as if it'd been hit by a storm, the glass display case at the front had been blasted to bits, the walls were littered with singe marks, several of the cursed books were flapping about in a frenzy and the large oak bookshelf Regina had so proudly shown off Ramona's first day there had been yanked out from the wall and now lay at an odd angle, as if something was jammed beneath it.

Ramona scanned the shop for any signs of her sister as fast as she could, unwilling to leave without her, she didn't want to think what would happen to Regina if she left her with two possible Death Eaters. Then, she spotted a familiar wild mane of dark curls splayed out on the floor from underneath the collapsed bookcase and her blood ran cold. All the noise seemed to be sucked from the world as her eyes lay there, fixed.

Regina Burke wasn't moving.

The silence broke as swiftly as it came in the form of a growl right in her ear as a hand wrenched her back roughly by the hair. Still, Ramona could not tear her eyes from her motionless sister, her only sister, her only real family. Was it Ramona who'd gotten her killed? Because she'd made too much noise? She'd blown her cover? She felt a pain even worse than the Cruciatus Curse, though she'd thought it impossible.

Ramona Burke had killed her own sister.

The tip of a wand pressed hard into her cheek. She was vaguely aware of the man hissing something into her ear, taunts and threats, no doubt, about how slowly he was going to torture and kill her, just for the fun of it, how long it would take for their bodies to be found, but she couldn't bring herself to care much anymore, not when Regina was gone. The sole thought that came to the front of her mind was the hope that they were caught before they could get away.

"Incarcerous!" a voice resounded from what felt like far off.

With the sudden cry, the hand entangled in her hair flew away, bringing a chunk of her dark curls with it. She turned to see the man collapsed several feet away, bound with thick ropes around his arms, torso and ankles, writhing violently. Ramona tumbled backwards, palm pressing to the raw spot on her scalp and pushed herself as far away from him as she could.

A woman knelt down before her, blocking the view of her attacker. A warm smile spread across her pale heart shaped face, her short spiky hair a shock of violet. "You must be Ramona, Gina never shuts up about you. Any clue where she is?"

She opened her mouth to reply, but no words came out. Instead, her eyes drifted to the fallen bookcase and her fallen sister. The woman seemed to understand this, despite the lack of description, and swept over to Regina. Ramona could now see another man bent over the one who'd attacked her, who now appeared heavily sedated, patting him down. He had a wild mane of straw-like grey hair that looked as if it had never seen a comb before and from underneath his patchy robes was a clawed wooden foot. The recognition hit her like a train.

"Professor Moody?"

He swivelled to face her with a low growl. "What?"

"Oh..." she blanched at the sight of his heavily scarred face, his fake eye pointing through the back of his head. "There's-there's another upstairs...a woman."

With a grunt of (maybe?) appreciation and a jerk of his head, another man emerged from the doorway, broad-shouldered and dark skinned who walked so quietly she wondered for a second if he was a vampire. He repositioned the ladder she'd kicked aside and disappeared upstairs.

Seeing Mad-Eye Moody again was like having her head dunked in a bucket of freezing water. Though she knew it had not really been him last year, fear crawled in the pit of her stomach. Though she'd never mentioned it aloud to anyone before, she still occasionally had nightmares about the time he'd Imperius'ed the class, however silly being forced to tap-dance was, thinking of his voice in her head, controlling her, gave her the shivers.

The woman, meanwhile, had managed to shift the bookcase off of Regina and had turned her onto her back where she was now checking for a pulse. "She's alive, Mad-Eye!"

Ramona jerked up. "Alive?"

They ignored her, even as she tried to push them aside.

"But she's not responding to my healing Charms, we have to get her to St Mungo's!"

"You and Kingsley take those two to the Ministry, I'll take Burke," Moody said.

"Should we tell them the truth? The Ministry?" The woman shot a furtive glance at Ramona, speaking in a lower tone now. "It could put the Order at risk if it gets out what they were looking for."

"Spare the details, they won't blab either-move girl!" he barked at Ramona who'd been trying to reach Regina.

The woman nodded. "Okay, if you see Arthur there, give him my love, I'd been hoping to visit him today."

"Will do," he said as she walked off, though Ramona couldn't picture him wishing anyone 'love' even if it was not his own. "Girl, hey!"

He snapped his fingers in front of her face. She just tore her gaze from Regina's pale face. "Sorry, what?"

"Your sister got an emergency portkey?"

"For..." her head felt foggy, "for St Mungo's...drawer under-under the register, broken sunglasses."

She heard him rustling about through the clutter of odd bits and bobs that Regina kept in the drawer under the register until he pulled out a pair of sunglasses with a missing lens and bent wire and set them down on the floor next to Ramona. He tapped the portkey twice with his wand, a gnarled looking thing, and it turned a greenish hue for a split second.

"Take her hand," he said, taking Regina's other hand in his own, "hold on to her tight, on the count of three, touch the portkey and I'd appreciate it if you don't get sick."

"O...okay," she took a deep breath and pushed back the thousands of questions and millions of worries on her mind. "I'm ready."

"One...two...three!"

And with a tug from behind her navel and a wave of nausea, the destroyed remains of Regina's store swirled and disappeared.

Chapter Text

-December 1995-

Ramona had only ever been in St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies once before when her uncle had sent a jinxed teapot in the post that spat acid across the room and it had burnt Regina so badly that she'd been permanently scarred. She wondered if Regina would have any lasting damage after this as well. It felt as if had been days since they'd taken her away on a magical stretcher, leaving Ramona in the waiting room with Moody who was perusing Witch Weekly of all things. Every time a Healer came out, Ramona would leap to her feet, wondering if there was news on Regina, but they never said more than that she was stable and needed her rest.

"Why won't they let me see her?" she asked Moody softly, sinking back down into her chair after having paced the room for the seventh time. "Does it mean something bad that they're trying to hide from me because they think I'm a kid?"

"You are a kid," he grunted, "and a whiny one at that."

"Sorry if my trauma annoys you!" she said a bit louder than she'd intended, garnering the attention of everyone else in the waiting room. "I was just tortured and almost killed, Merlin forbid I be a bit whiny about it!"

He rose to his feet, a menacing look in his eye, setting Witch Weekly aside. "Now, listen here, girlie-"

"Miss Ramona Burke?" They both wheeled around at the calling of her name. "Your sister is awake, she's on the fourth floor, Eleanor Povitsky Ward."

Before anyone could stop her, Ramona was tearing down the hall and up the stairs, lined with portraits of famed Healers, taking them two at a time, dodging others whose eyes followed her in bewilderment, Moody's wooden foot clanking and his annoyed mumblings in the distance. Finally, she reached the fourth floor, marked 'Spell Damage: Unliftable jinxes, hexes, incorrectly applied charms etc.' and pushed her way through the double doors framing the corridor, mind buzzing.

She scanned each door for the name of Regina's Ward until just before the door marked 'Janus Thickey', she spotted it. Moody had just reached the top of the stairs, wheezing somewhat, calling for her to slow down as she burst into the room, scaring an elderly Healer so much that the glass of water she'd been handing to a patient went flying.

It was a small, dark room, lined with three beds on either side and smelled faintly of smoke, possibly due to the young witch who occasionally sneezed flames into a deep-set bucket. In the bed closest to the door lay a quite peaky, but otherwise fine, Regina Burke. Her hair was limp and pulled back into a braid, her face wiped clean of dirt and blood, a thin white gown having replaced her usual brightly-coloured robes.

When she caught sight of Ramona, she tried to lift herself up from off her pillows, the Healer by her side gently pushing her back down. "Mona!"

"Gina!" Ramona fell into her sister's bandaged arms and held on as if she feared they might be forced apart. "I was...I thought...I was scared."

And she had been, which was saying something as Ramona made a point never to lose herself to fear as it did nothing but make things worse. As she'd newly learned, easier said than done when you had Death Eaters on your doorstep. To think, she'd thought Umbridge was as foul a human could get.

Regina softly pulled away, looking more grim than Ramona had ever seen her. "I'm sorry, Mona, for dragging you into this."

"Don't, it was me screaming that got us in trouble."

"It wasn't you," Regina said simply, with an air of finality that suggested she was not going to elaborate further, busying herself with fixing Ramona's frizz and tangles and the larger pieces of debris which had gotten caught in them.

Moody had finally caught up, wheezing a bit, sinking into one of the chairs by Regina's bed as soon as he got there. "What's the damage, Burke?"

"Nothing too severe, they healed my physical injuries no bother but they want to keep me overnight to check for brain damage."

Ramona almost choked on her own saliva. "Brain damage!"

Several Healers shushed her with disapproving looks.

"Yes," Regina said softly, "the Cruciatus Curse does that sometimes...when used excessively. But I think I'm fine, tip-top shape, just a bit tired."

The pit in her stomach grew heavier and she held to her sister's hand a bit tighter. "No offence, but you don't look it."

"Bitch."

"I said 'no offence'!"

"Everyone knows that really means 'full offence intended'!"

"Shut up, the pair of you," Moody growled. "I can see the family resemblance, is incessant talking genetic?"

Regina gave a small little sigh and pulled her hand out of Ramona's. "Can you give us a few minutes alone, Mona?"

She looked from one to the other, unsure of how to feel at the sudden tensity in the air. "Is this secret organisation stuff? Can't it wait for somewhere less public? Not very secret then."

"None of your business!" Moody barked, gesturing her towards the door. "Wait in the hallway."

Ramona stood silently as he clicked the door closed behind her, leaving her in the empty hospital corridor, mind racing with questions, her heart thundering. She pressed her back to a section of the wall that did not have a portrait on it and sunk down to the floor. Eyes fixed on her jeans, she realised with a jolt that she hadn't changed out of her torn, dirty clothes yet, nor had she showered. She was sure she must have smelled foul. She lifted up her stained hoodie and gave it a cautionary sniff, something tumbling from the pocket in the process.

Sugar Quills. She laughed dryly, of course this was the one time she didn't lose them. They had been smashed to bits inside their packaging, probably from the numerous times she'd fallen or been thrown around like a rag doll. A shiver ran up her spine, blood stained teeth flashing briefly in her mind. No, she didn't want to think about it anymore, not unless she wanted to burst into tears in public. Now that would be the embarrassing cherry on top of her horrific day.

Footsteps echoed up from the stairwell, two pairs if she thought right, one seemingly wearing heels. She glanced up, wondering if people-spotting could help keep her mind off the attack. Onto the fourth floor stepped two people, an elderly woman, stern in the face, wearing a massive stuffed vulture atop her tight grey curls, and a young boy, her age, round-faced with an odd solemnity in his eyes. It took a few seconds for her brain to register her recognition.

"Longbottom?" She said softly, bringing their footsteps to a halt.

He slowly turned to face her, a look of pale horror upon his round face.

"Oh, Neville, is this one of your friends from school?" The woman beside him, his grandmother she assumed, said, smiling tautly at Ramona.

"Er-Ramona Burke," she stammered, stumbling back to her feet, wondering briefly if she should offer her hand before remembering the dried blood that had seeped into every line on her palm and decided she'd rather not be bombarded with questions into her wellbeing.

A look of vague recognition and slight wariness flashed in her eyes. "Ah yes, you're in Slytherin, aren't you?"

"Uh...yes, ma'am."

She opened her mouth, about to say something, when her grandson cut across. "You go on ahead, Gran, I'll be there in a few minutes."

She gave him a prolonged look before trotting further down the hall and disappearing into one of the other wards, red leather bag swinging on her arm. Ramona wasn't quite sure what to say to the boy, it was clear his gran wasn't her biggest fan, owing perhaps to the fact that she hadn't exactly been the kindest to Neville in previous years. The shame made her feel nauseous.

"What're you doing here?" He said slowly, fidgeting with the hem of his knitted jumper.

"My sister," she said simply, trying not to choke on her words, "we were just attacked."

His gaze softened considerably. "Are you...okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine!" she said, a tad louder than she'd intended. "Just a bit scratched up, shaken as well I suppose. Regina, my sister, should be fine too, they said, they're keeping her overnight...checking for brain damage."

She wasn't sure whether to tell him the full story. He'd be weirded out enough if she said it'd happened in Knockturn Alley, she didn't want him thinking that Regina was a dark witch. Though, maybe it didn't matter, surely she would be expelled from school, likely to never see him again, she'd cast underage magic, two spells so she doubted she'd get a warning.

"Oh," he nodded awkwardly, "I'm sorry."

"Why're you sorry?" she'd said, a horrible edge to her voice that made him flinch. "Why're you always sorry?"

"I-I just...I just am...sorry."

"Don't apologise for apologising," she sighed, suddenly unable to meet his eyes, "I shouldn't have snapped, I'm just like this raging hurricane of emotions at the moment...I also get really grouchy when I haven't showered in a while."

To her immense relief, Longbottom gave a little laugh, even if it was only out of pity it made her feel a little better.

"Anyways, why are you-"

The door to her left swung open with a bang as it hit the wall, Moody walking out. He grabbed her tight by the arm and began to haul her away towards the stairs. "Come on, girl."

She tried to wrench herself free, to no avail. "Hey! I was in the middle of a conversation! Aren't you at least going to let me say goodbye?"

"No."

~~

Ramona felt jumpy as she packed up her trunk, even with Moody standing guard by the door. He refused to tell her where he was bringing her and a part of her was terrified he was handing her off to her parents. She hadn't any other close relatives and there was no chance Delilah's or Cho's families would take her in. Hogwarts might have let her wait out the rest of the holidays there if she hadn't cast underage magic. She debated making a run for it, snapping her wand and living out the rest of her life as a Muggle. That was if Voldemort didn't kill and/or enslave them all.

"Have I been expelled?" she asked quietly, rolling up her socks.

Moody turned to look at her, his magical eye pointing to the back of his head, still keeping an eye out. "Dunno, why?"

"I cast underage magic."

He gave a barking laugh. "What spells?"

"Bombarda and Stupefy," she began scouring the broken remains of the coffee table in search of her Charms homework. "Could I make a case and say it was in self-defence? Or would the Ministry try and spin it that Dumbledore is breeding dangerous kids, that's why Umbridge is there. Is it better not to fight it?"

"No need," he said in a tone that suggested she was stupid. "Trace doesn't work like that, can't pinpoint who did the underage magic, too many in Knockturn Alley to narrow it down to you. They would've sent an owl by now telling you about the expulsion if they had."

Though relief settled upon her, anger flared as well. "But in that way, they can only really punish muggle-borns or half-bloods for underage magic, it's systematic injustice!"

"Take it up with the Minister."

"I would if he wasn't such a bumbling imbecile," she shut her trunk closed with a snap. "Stupidity is dangerous, stupidity is what gives people like You-Know-Who the chance to do as they please."

"Don't you have a diary or something for writing down all your monologues?"

She now understood how Fake-Moody had gone the whole year undetected, he'd had the gruff, demeaning attitude down to a T. "Whatever, let's go."

Ramona took a final lingering look at what remained of Regina's flat, smashed furniture, their poor ruined Christmas tree, the cup of tea she'd never had a chance to make. It was weird, that so much had happened in so little time, it couldn't have been after seven. She wondered if Bacon would be able to find her at this new secret location, he'd been out dropping off a letter to Cho. Would he presume her dead and fly off to live in the wilderness, settle down with a nice fellow owl, make a home? With a sigh, she held tight to Moody's left arm as they spun on the spot and Disapparated, leaving the flat behind forever.

They reappeared on a seemingly regular muggle street, tall houses with shining golden windows, a dog barking in one of the gardens, just blocking out the faint sound of passing traffic. Ignoring the nausea of her swirling stomach, she peered around in great interest at some odd round discs they all had fixed to their roofs, she made a mental note to ask Professor Burbage about them when she came back to school as she doubted Moody knew or cared what they were. He was already several feet ahead of her, keeping to the shadows.

"Where are we?"

"Shut up...I saw that!" She'd forgotten about his magical eye for a moment and flipped him off.

"What are you doing?"

"I said shut up!"

Ramona repressed the urge to mock him and instead sighed heavily, feeling the full weight of the day's events upon her shoulders. Merlin, she was tired. She wanted nothing more than to lie down right there on the concrete and just pass out for several hours, unfeeling and weightless without the worries that plagued her mind. She felt as if she'd aged ten years in the span of only a few hours.

She sat down atop her trunk and sighed, breath swirling before her in a foggy cloud, letting her eyes rest shut for a few moments when a loud crack came from several feet behind her, the shock sending her tumbling to the ground. It was the witch from earlier with the bright violet hair, now looking considerably more ruffled, her shirt untucked and ink smudges staining her right cheek.

"Wotcher, I've got it, told Dumbledore the whole thing, says he'll come over as soon as he can," she walked past Ramona with a terse smile and handed something over to Mad-Eye."

"Voice down, Nymphadora!"

In the pale light of the flickering streetlamp, Ramona watched in amazement as the woman's hair turned bright scarlet. "Don't call me that!"

"Stop complaining and hurry up!"

Nymphadora, though she didn't seem to appreciate being referred to as such, made an odd growling noise in the back of her throat and made her way back to an extremely lost and confused Ramona Burke. She dug in her pocket and held out a folded slip of paper. "Don't listen to him, you can call me Tonks. Read that and memorise it."

"Tonks suits you better anyways." Having lived in a world of magic her entire life, this was not the weirdest thing she'd been asked to do so she carefully took a small slip of paper from Tonks and read over the words in the dim light.

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"Hey, isn't that-"

"Shut up, not here," Moody had made his way over, snatched back the piece of paper and set it aflame with the tip of his wand, making sure it had disintegrated into ashes before he took her by the crook of her elbow and dragged her forwards while Tonks took her trunk and empty owl cage.

As she neared the neat row of houses, each numbered, she noticed that quite peculiarly, there was no number twelve, the houses marked eleven and thirteen came one after another or maybe Muggles had a different number system. She was sure, at least, that this seemed to be a Muggle community, broken windows had been patched up with pieces of cardboard, distinctly Muggle music drifted down from an open window above her and circular dishes were mounted atop their roofs. They led her up between the houses marked eleven and thirteen and Moody nudged her in the side of her rib cage.

"What?"

"Don't 'what' me! Think about what you just memorised."

She resisted the urge to say something snarky back and recalled the words. To her surprise, a battered old door began to squeeze its way in between the other houses, then grimy-looking windows and chipped brick, a whole house appearing out of nowhere. She was starting to wonder if today was a fever dream. The house looked abandoned, and filthy, surely this was not their Headquarters?

Moody tapped the door with his wand and a series of metallic clicks from behind the door followed before it cracked open. "In you get."

The room she entered was dim and smelled damp and dusty, a bit like an old broom cupboard. The door closed behind her with a click and she jumped involuntarily, wondering if the house was now deflating on the outside. She felt Moody clunk past her and heard a soft hissing sound before light sprang to life along the walls, revealing all-too familiar decoration. It looked just like her grandmother's house, gothic architecture, dark woods, embellished snake heads everywhere you looked. It brought back darker memories of tiptoeing around and whispering for fear of at best being yelled at. It seemed kinda ironic that the Headquarters of this infamous group was located in a house that was clearly once in the possession of blood purists, she was sure its previous owners were turning in their graves.

Moody ushered her down the hall and then down a steep flight of stairs, the walls lined with what was surely dark artifacts, and through a weathered looking door into what must have been the kitchen. It was decently sized with rough-looking stone walls, various pots and pans hanging from the tall ceiling like stalactites in a cave, a large fire at the end of  the room being the main source of light. As she entered, several familiar pairs of eyes stared back at her over their food, arranged either side of a long wooden table that felt a little out of place in the cavernous room.

A loud crash and exclamation of pain sounded from the hall, everyone along the table bringing hands over their ears in anticipation as a shrill, banshee-like, shriek, consumed the air. Ramona winced as two men leaped to their feet and legged it out of the kitchen.

"MUDBLOODS AND BLOOD TRAITORS AND HALF BREEDS IN THE ANCIENT AND MOST NOBLE HOUSE OF BLACK SULLYING THE HALLS OF MY ANCESTORS! FILTHY ABOMINATIONS-"

"Sorry about that, I dropped the trunk." Tonks appeared behind them, red in shame and humiliation.

"What...was that?" Ramona was starting to feel lightheaded.

"My mum."

Ramona wasn't quite sure who she'd been expecting to see when she turned around but the mass murderer Sirius Black had not been what she'd had in mind. He looked far more well-groomed than his wanted posters, hair now trimmed, face clean, though Azkaban had clearly left its mark in the form of sunken cheeks, dark eye bags and more wrinkles than you'd expect of someone his age. "Oh. Okay."

"How's Regina?" Ramona's head snapped at the familiar voice, if she wasn't hallucinating right then, that was her old Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Lupin.

"She's fine," Moody clunked his way to the table, leaving poor Ramona to flounder in between a mass murderer and her old professor who'd been outed as a werewolf. "Complaining and whining more than ever."

Just when she thought her day couldn't any weirder, a large red-haired woman, ushered her to the table, commanded a sulking Ron Weasley out of his chair, and thrust a plate of food into her hands. "Oh, you poor thing, you're shaking dear, did Mad-Eye not explain everything?"

"Um...no. No, he didn't."

Chapter Text

-December 1995-

Molly Weasley sat before Ramona in the kitchen after she'd forced down some roast potatoes and chicken, fussing over her scratches and the blood caked deep into her skin, cursing St. Mungo's under her breath for not seeing healing her minor injuries as a necessity. Some of the others in the room had cleared out by that point, Moody had left shortly after dropping her off, Tonks rushed home to her parents and Ginny was sent upstairs by her mother, stomping the whole way up and setting off the screaming bigot again. After a short, hushed conversation, Professor Lupin (could she still call him Professor?) began to explain things in a very soft, slow voice.

The mass murderer was, in fact, not a mass murderer, but wrongfully framed, though the details were left unsaid; this was the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, which she'd gathered at that point; that they were doing their best to oppose You-Know-Who and the Ministry; that Arthur Weasley had also been attacked and was in St. Mungo's, which was why the rest of the Weasley's were there and explained why none of them had been on the train.

"Does that answer all your questions, Miss Burke?"

She paused for a second, thinking long and hard. "No, but I'm too tired and my brain is too fried to handle any more information."

Molly Weasley's face crumpled and for a second Ramona was terrified that she was about to cry but instead she gently helped her to her feet, shooting dirty looks at anybody who opened their mouths to speak and began to usher Ramona out of the kitchen, through the hallway and up the stairs. "You poor thing, we need to get you clean and in bed immediately, no 'if's 'and's or 'but's."

Ramona had no qualms with that, she was desperate to wash all the shit off her and get into a bed, the adrenaline was wearing off very quickly and she found herself crashing. The rest of the house was even creepier, despite the obvious effort that had been put in in order to make it a bit more Christmassy, the Santa hats on the stuffed House Elf heads, the tinsel wrapped tightly around the bone-carved hall table, they still sent shivers down her spine.

Ramona was beginning to loathe the typical Pureblood British house decor, it followed her everywhere, from her childhood home, to her Hogwarts dorm, to Regina's shop, to these Headquarters, it did nothing but put her in a rapidly worsening bad mood and remind her of darker days. Resisting the urge to knock a silver snake statue off the shelf, she followed Molly Weasley off the first floor landing and through a thin but rather tall oaken door, complete with newly cleaned snake handle.

The older woman went rooting through a cupboard and handed Ramona a small stack of towels, a few brightly-coloured bottles and promised to leave a set of her clothes outside the door for when she was done. As the door clicked closed and she listened closely to the fading steps of the Weasley mother, Ramona breathed for what felt like the first time in hours.

The bathroom was quiet but even when she had the shower running, her sobs still echoed in the room due to the impractically high ceiling. Now that Ramona was alone, she couldn't hold back the slew of emotions, her little dam collapsing to dust. She shook as she peeled her clothes off, caked with dried blood and dust and briefly wondered whose blood it was that stuck so adamantly to her skin.

The shower itself was a godsend, a miracle, the best moment of her life, as she scrubbed her skin raw and watched in teary satisfaction as reddish-brown water disappeared down the drain, no longer weighing her down. However, with every blink, the image of bloodied teeth snarling at her replayed itself on the back of her eyelids. Her breathing picked up slightly as she wondered if she'd have to testify in court against him, to face him again. Merlin, she didn't know if she had the stomach for that.

Ramona almost didn't recognise herself in the mirror, for a fraction of a second, she saw her sister. Outside the door Molly Weasley had left her her most comfortable pair of pyjamas as well as a dressing gown that she did not own. She felt like crying again but soon realised she was too tired for even that and decided she'd just have to postpone the mental breakdown and schedule it for a later date, Ramona was practical like that. 

"You're in with me and Hermione," Ginny Weasley said, head poked round the doorframe at her when she'd exited the bathroom amidst perfumed steam. "Sorry but it'll be a bit cramped."

"I don't mind, Malfoy's ego takes up half the Slytherin common room anyways, we've all adapted to limited space."

Ramona was starting to think she was much funnier when she was on the verge of a complete breakdown, screw education, she should snap her wand and become a Muggle comedian.

The room would have been nicely sized if two beds, a mattress and three large trunks hadn't been crammed into it. Thankfully, the walls were bare which meant she wouldn't have to sleep in the same room as stuffed Magical creature corpses or shouty portraits of dead bigots; though even if there were she likely would still have passed out the second she lay down.

For the most part, she ignored the other two girls in the room, she had no energy to spare on explaining what had happened or how she felt and decided that sleeping was the best way to go about that. Ramona barely lasted thirty seconds before sleep caught up with her and eased her into a dreamless void.

~~

The exhaustion hit Ramona the following morning, undeterred by the solid eight hours of sleep she'd managed to get, Hermione and Ginny had to heave her out of the mattress that had been wedged between their beds, both of which had small stacks of presents at their feet. Clearly someone felt guilty and had left two parcels at the foot of Ramona's mattress. The first was from Cho, she'd clearly sent it back with Bacon who'd miraculously managed to find Grimmauld Place and was dozing atop the wardrobe, it was a thick leather-bound book detailing the entire history of Goblin society as well as a small hamper of sweets and teas. The second was unlabelled and seemed hastily wrapped but inside when she found a container of salve she knew it had to be from either Potter, Granger or Weasley, probably Granger seeing as she doubted either of the boys were thoughtful enough to give her a present.

Just as the three girls were about to head downstairs, dressed in warm jumpers and woolly socks, the echoing sound of crying drifted upstairs and Ginny ushered them upstairs instead, frowning. The next floor up had more bedrooms and another bathroom, decorated much the same as the rest of the house, classic blood purist aesthetic with Christmas stuff plastered over it. Ginny led the way into one of the bedrooms, not even knocking, where the other Weasley kids and Potter sat.

"Merry Christmas," Ginny threw herself onto one of the beds which was laden in torn wrapping paper. "Why's Mum crying?"

"Percy sent back his jumper," shrugged one of the twins with the hint of a scowl on his face, "with no note or anything."

"Prick."

Ramona felt extremely awkward, she didn't like being thrown in the middle of Weasley family drama first thing in the morning so she busied herself by fiddling with a loose thread on her jumper and avoiding everyone else's eyes as they began to thank each other for their presents.

Seeing the small wrapped package in Granger's arms, Ron asked: "Who's that for?"

"Kreacher," she said brightly as everyone else's faces grew dark and slightly fed up. Ramona couldn't help but wonder who 'creature' was but also didn't care enough to ask, sure she'd get more information than she wanted.

"It had better not be clothes!" he warned her. "You know what Sirius said: Kreacher knows too much, we can't set him free!"

A house elf then, she surmised as one of the twins leaned down and began to explain in a whisper that Hermione Granger was apparently an advocate for House Elf rights and was trying to set the Hogwarts elves free, one poorly-knitted hat at a time.

"Well, she's right in a way," Ramona said back, louder than she'd intended, "house elf rights in this country are practically nonexistent but setting the school elves free won't do much, they're treated very well and offered pay if they'll accept it. The real issue is house elves belonging to pureblood families, the more a family has, the more status they have, that's why they preserve the heads and display them. Rights would have to be slowly introduced, freeing them all right off the bat would just send them spiralling into depression because servitude and abuse is all they've ever known their entire lives. There's exceptions, of course, but-"

She stopped as she realised everyone was staring at her quite oddly. "I will shut up now."

"No, no please don't," Granger looked rather excited to have found someone who didn't immediately roll their eyes at house elf liberation. "I'm so pleased I'm not the only person with a lick of sense," she shot the others in the room a rather nasty look, "though I do have to disagree with you that freeing Hogwarts elves would do nothing; it would set an example. We must talk more about this, would you be interested in joining the Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare?"

"Ha, spew."

"I've had it up to here Ronald Weasley with that overused, childish, unimaginative joke! Honestly, the insensitivity-"

"I sense I've made a mistake," Ramona frowned.

"You have no idea," the twins said in unison as Ginny decided to lead her downstairs while Granger was busy lecturing so as to avoid further house elf talks first thing on Christmas morning.  

She felt distinctly out of place down in the kitchen as Mrs Weasley handed out breakfast, looking a little teary, the other kids talking animatedly, the fight from earlier having smoothed itself over, Sirius Black (who despite apparently not being a mass murderer, still made her feel uneasy) and Potter speaking in hushed voices in the corner. She'd never been in a house where she wasn't expected to be invisible before, to speak no more than basic manners, and therefore was at a bit of a loss for how to act. She sat quietly, back as straight as a pin, avoiding making direct eye contact with anybody else at the table, Ramona definitely didn't fit with the wonderful chaos of this family and it hurt her a bit more than she'd expected.

Most of the morning was spent socialising, showing off present hauls and avoiding pranks set by the twins but Ramona was anxious to head off to St. Mungo's. She'd been promised that when the Weasley's went to visit their father, she could see Regina and if they were lucky, she'd be discharged. Ramona wondered where they were supposed to go now, they couldn't go back to Regina's old apartment, it was completely destroyed and there was no way they could stay with their parents and it didn't seem like Grimmauld Place had any spare bedrooms and they couldn't cram in another mattress into the girls' room. Did Regina even have money to buy a new place? Merlin, this was far too stressful, she would rather listen to Pansy talking about her darling Draco for a solid two hours.

She could only pick at the lovely Christmas lunch Mrs Weasley had made, Mad-Eye, Professor Lupin and some sketchy, scraggly-haired man, who reeked of tobacco and alcohol, named Mundungus turning up throughout. Apparently, when you travelled with the Boy-Who-Lived you got a private escort everywhere you went in a clearly stolen and enlarged car. People like this Mundungus Fletcher were not who she'd envisioned when she'd thought about the brave rebel group her sister had described but at least he got the job done (not without much protesting from Mrs Weasley however).

Ramona had never entered St. Mungo's through their outside entrance before, only through emergency portkey or Floo and was rather fascinated by the large, red-bricked department store it had been disguised as. They stepped through the large, glass display window where a nylon green dummy stood, and into the reception area she'd paced a track in the previous day. It seemed much more pleasant when she wasn't fearing for her sister's life, with much more elegant and festive Christmas decorations than Grimmauld Place.

She separated from the others, Lupin accompanying her, up to the fourth floor while they went to the first floor for Creature-Induced Injuries. Regina looked better than she had the day before, some colour having returned to her face, hair pulled back loosely into a bun, and the remains of a Christmas dinner on her lap. The sisters hugged tightly, as if afraid the other might crumble to ash in their hands.

"They're discharging me today, you'll be glad to hear," Regina said with an infectious grin that pulled at her scar. "No brain damage at all, the Healers were shocked, I'm a miracle apparently."

"Don't say that, Gina." Ramona had noticed the pale clammy shade Lupin had turned upon hearing those words.

"It's true though, the one time my thick skull had been useful for something."

"Well, where has your thick skull decided we're to live now?" Ramona began to help her pack up what little belongings Regina had at the hospital, only her old clothes which had been washed of the dirt and blood.

Her sister frowned at her, again pulling at her scar in a slightly different way. "Well, I need to lay low for a while, Fluffy has offered his place-"

"Who the hell is that? What kind of shady fake name is 'Fluffy', they're not a drug dealer or anything are they? I don't think I can mentally handle that."

"No, dumbass, it's where you're staying right now," Regina hissed. "Tonks and Kingsley already grabbed as much of my stuff from the shop as they could and left it there, I thought you would have noticed."

"Bit preoccupied with the whole surviving a near-death experience to be noticing the finer details of anything at the moment."

Just as they were exiting the ward after thanking the Healers, the sisters arguing over whether or not Regina needed her weight supported, they almost collided with a fair-haired man in the Mungo's patient uniform with blindingly white teeth who was speaking to a group of kids. Ramona blinked several times in disbelief. As an outspoken twelve-year-old she'd spent hours upon hours with this particular man, mailing off autographs and fan-mail replies as a sick form of punishment and had once professed aloud to the Slytherin common room that she would never hate anybody more than him. "Professor?"

"Another autograph then?"

It seemed he hadn't changed at all but she'd been expecting some form of negative reaction, they had never once had a conversation where she hadn't deeply insulted him and he wasn't even frowning. "Uh...no."

"I'll do several so you can hand them out to your friends."

"As tempting as the offer is, I think I'll pass."

A Healer poked her head out of a door at the end of the corridor, tinsel woven into her hair. "Gilderoy, you naughty boy, where have you wandered off to?"

It was at that moment Ramona realised that the group of kids her ex-Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was talking to was, in fact, Potter, Granger and the two youngest Weasleys; what luck. It seemed wherever there was any sort of drama, Potter and his gang weren't far behind.

The Healer, at least, seemed pleased to see them, beaming as she approached them. "Oh, Gilderoy, you've got visitors! How lovely, and on Christmas Day too! Do you know he never gets visitors, poor lamb, and I can't think why, he's such a sweetie, aren't you?"

"We're doing autographs!" He told her, beaming back with even more enthusiasm. "They want loads of them, won't take no for an answer! I just hope we have enough photographs!"

Regina had firmly decided she'd had enough, whisking Lupin off, arm-in-arm. "We're gonna go have a cup of tea, you have fun with your friends, Mona."

"They're not my...shit." And there she was, following morosely after this Healer who had Lockhart's arm in a tight grip, as she went on about his memory loss and how they were hoping that his new obsession with signing autographs was a sign that his memory was coming back. She also explained to the morose-looking teenagers that he was in a closed ward and that she had no clue how he'd momentarily escaped and led them to the door she'd seen Longbottom's grandmother disappear into the previous day.

'Janus Thickey Ward', she read on the door as the Healer unlocked it with a tap of her wand. It was a nice enough room, spruced up by Christmas decorations and personal effects like photos and trinkets around each bed, with plush armchairs instead of the rickety wooden ones in Regina's old ward. There were several beds with more space than in the other wards, the ones at the far end blocked off by curtains for privacy, and most had their own blankets atop the beds as well as potted plants and hand-drawn pictures; it felt lived in, in an almost sad way.

"This is our long-term residents' ward," she informed them as she helped Lockhart into the armchair by his bed, around which the walls were plastered in signed pictures of his own face. "For permanent spell damage, you know. Of course, with intensive remedial potions and charms and a bit of luck, we can produce some improvement. Gilderoy does seem to be getting back some sense of himself; and we've seen a real improvement in Mr Bode, he seems to be regaining the power of speech very well, though he isn't speaking any language we recognise yet. Well, I must finish giving out the Christmas presents, I'll leave you to chat."

Lockhart had already begun feverishly signing his signature onto a stack of fresh pictures with a quill and Ramona was beginning to wish she'd run after Lupin and her sister. All this chaos was starting to make her feel lightheaded. If this was the sort of stuff Potter and his gang had to put up with all the time, she pitied them, truly. Poor Ginny, who'd made the mistake of sitting down was being accosted by autographs as they flew from Lockhart's hand and into her lap. Ramona, feeling sorry for her, took half of the impressive pile he was building up and was beginning to wonder what on Earth they were supposed to do with all of these, when Ron Weasley cried out: "Neville!"

Her gaze snapped to the far end of the ward which had been previously curtained off for privacy, where Neville Longbottom stood with his grandmother, looking as if somebody had shot him. He had had a similarly terrified look on his face as he had the day before, only ten times worse.

"Neville it's us!" Weasley had leapt to his feet, looking much happier than he previously had. "Have you seen-? Lockhart's here! Who've you been visiting?"

"Friends of yours, Neville dear?" His grandmother was even more ostentatiously dressed that day, with cranberries dangling from the brim of her stuffed-vulture hat and a fur-lined coat draped over her arm. Longbottom, for one, had gone a deep purple colour and kept his gaze adamantly stuck to his shuffling feet. She moved around to each of the kids, shaking their hands and clearly conveying that she knew exactly who each of them was.

When she came to Ramona, her face seemed to soften more than it had when they met the previous day, though it still could not have been described as kind. "Lovely to see you again dear, I would like to apologise for our rudeness yesterday, we were in a bit of a hurry, Neville speaks very highly of you."

"He does?" She couldn't conceal the disbelief in her voice, she'd been an utter prick until that year when they'd started pairing up for the DA meetings.

"Indeed, he says you've been very kind to him this year, helping him find Trevor, partnering with him-I could hardly believe he was talking about a Slytherin."

"Gran!" He'd hissed, still not meeting anyone's eyes, but Ramona had taken no offence, she was far too surprised to feel anything else.

"And you must be Hermione Granger?" She'd moved on to the bush-haired girl at Ramona's side who seemed shocked that she'd known her name. "Yes, Neville's told me all about you. Helped him out of a few sticky spots, haven't you? He's a good boy," she cast him a stern look down the bridge of her pointed nose, "but he hasn't got his father's talent I'm afraid to say." Mrs Longbottom jerked her head towards the two beds at the end of the ward.

Ramona was ready to jump in on defence on autopilot, to say that Neville Longbottom was plenty talented himself, but Weasley cut across her. "What? Is that your dad down the end Neville?"

"Shut the fuck up, Weasley," she hissed and pretended that her hitting him upside the head with her pile of autographs was an accident.

"What's this? Haven't you told your friends about your parents, Neville?"

Ramona could sense this was not a conversation Longbottom wanted to have, especially not with her there, but she couldn't leave, no matter how strongly she wished to. He took a deep breath, turned his eyes to the ceiling and shook his head softly.

"Well it's nothing to be ashamed of!" She said angrily. "You should be proud, Neville, proud! They didn't give their health and sanity so their only son would be ashamed of them, you know!"

"I'm not ashamed," he replied faintly.

"Well you've got a funny way of showing it!" she said. "My son and his wife," she turned back to the others, "were tortured into insanity by You-Know-Who's followers."

Ramona felt as if she'd been thrown head first into ice cold water and her entire body seized up. It explained far too much: why Longbottom had become so visibly distraught when fake Moody demonstrated the Cruciatus Curse, why he'd lashed out at Draco when he made jokes about St Mungo's, why any mention of Death Eaters made him go pale and shaky. And to think, everyone had made fun of him for all of those things for years. It felt as if her throat had swollen up, she couldn't speak or cry or breathe. She couldn't breathe!

"They were Aurors, you know, and very well respected within the wizarding community. Highly gifted, the pair of them. I-yes, Alice dear, what is it?"

A woman who she assumed was Longbottom's mother had shuffled her way down the ward towards them. Her face was thin, unnaturally so, her hair a shock of white which hung limply around her shoulders, her eyes too big for her face. She didn't speak, or couldn't, but gestured towards her son meekly, holding something in her bony hand.

"Again?" His grandmother sounded tired. "Very well, Alice dear, very well-Neville, take it, whatever it is."

Longbottom had already taken, however, an empty wrapper of Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, from his mother. "Thanks Mum."

His mother pottered back down the ward towards her bed, humming faintly, and when Neville Longbottom turned back to face them, he was defiant, daring them to laugh. Ramona had to fight back tears as she recalled how to breathe.

"Well, we'd better get back," the old woman pulled on long, emerald green gloves. "Very nice to have met you all. Neville, put that wrapper in the bin, she must have given you enough to paper your bedroom by now."

As they went to leave, Longbottom stopped for a second, drew something out of his jeans pocket and handed it into Ramona's stiff hands. "You dropped these yesterday."

Her Sugar Quills, she realised. It seemed they were always finding each other's things. She watched solemnly as he followed after his grandmother and tucked the wrapper into his pocket.

~~

Ramona sat silently in the empty kitchen, eyes fixed upon the mug of tea cradled in her hands. She didn't think she'd ever felt so exhausted in her life but tried as she might, sleep refused to come. She couldn't stop thinking about what had happened in the hospital and Neville Longbottom's face. A shiver ran the length of her spine as she recalled the feeling of the Cruciatus Curse. She wondered how long his parents had to endure that before they lost their minds. It could easily have happened to her or Regina had the Order not gotten there at that moment. She didn't feel like drinking her tea anymore.

Regina had always been a people-person, she could always tell when to talk your ear off and distract you or when to just sit in silent support. One glance and it was like she knew all your deepest secrets but you didn't feel violated or exposed, you felt less alone. And at her core, that was who Regina was. To think, she'd almost lost her. She didn't want to think about life without her sister, it would just lead to more tears and she was sick of crying. She'd cried more in the past two days than she had in her entire life.

To her surprise, the kitchen door opened and a bleary-eyed, pale Harry Potter stumbled in, not bothering to turn on the lights and not even looking her direction. He put on the kettle, not noticing it was still warm and began to make himself a cup of tea, all the while completely unaware of Ramona sat at the table. She wanted to laugh at him but that would spoil her brief respite from moping so she stayed silent and still and waited.

He had just sat down opposite her at the table, taken two sips from his mug before Ramona grinned madly and said, "Really, Potter, I hadn't thought your hair could get much worse."

The mug flew two feet away and the Boy-Who-Lived fell backwards onto the stone floor. The attack and the hospital felt like years ago as she laughed so hard she had to clutch at her stomach and wipe tears from her eyes.

"Where'd you come from?" He spluttered, re-emerging over the table.

"Been here the whole time, you're just blind," she stood up. "Sit down, I'll make you a new cup, look like you need it."

Luckily the mug on the floor hadn't chipped at all and she quickly mopped up the spilt tea with a tea towel and started on a new cup. It was worth it for the short-term relief it gave her from her torrential thoughts. "So, what're you doing awake at this hour?"

"No, you? What're you doing up?"

"Watch your tone! Merlin, wake up on the wrong side of the bed? Very grouchy, indeed." She carefully placed down the new steaming mug in front of him and sat back down behind her own, wrapping her hands around it to try and absorb some of the heat. "I couldn't sleep, that's it, kept thinking about...stuff."

He was silent for a few seconds, as if thinking hard. "She was nice, your sister."

"She's not dead!" Ramona barked out a laugh. "She's sleeping upstairs in case you forgot! But I'm sure she'd thank you for the compliment anyways, however ineloquent."

"Sorry." He didn't look it, in fact he seemed nothing but annoyed by her presence. Of course, that didn't mean she would leave, on the contrary.

"You never answered my question," she said matter-of-factly, "why're you up?"

He scowled at her. "Nightmares."

"What's with the scowl? I'm not making fun of you for it, that's so third year, I'm way more mature now...I only make fun of your social constipation and inability to brush your hair."

He didn't laugh or even crack a smile.

"Merlin, you've got no sense of humour at all, Potter," she poured her untouched cup of tea down the drain and briefly rinsed it out in the sink. "Fine, I'll leave you to yourself, I can read the room."

She made it to the door before he spoke. "It's okay, you can stay."

"Thank you, oh Chosen One for giving me the privilege of remaining in the room with you."

He was clearly already regretting his choice of words, fingers raking through his hair, the scarred over words on the back of his hand catching what little light there was in the room. Ramona felt a little guilty for teasing him but not enough for her to apologise.

"Cho was really worried about you, you know," she kicked him lightly under the table.

"Really?" he perked up slightly.

"Yeah, wouldn't talk about anything else, it was really annoying. She kept going on and on about how sweet and funny and charming you were, it's a real pity she's delusional."

"Hey!"

"Seriously though," she narrowed her eyes at him. "You should buy her a Christmas gift or something, she likes Poinsettas and her favourite band is the Hex Sisters and she looks really good in dark blue."

Suspicion marred his tired face and tension plucked at his shoulders. "Why are you telling me all of this, Burke?"

"Because my friend likes you and you like her and I'm sick of watching the two of you moon over each other...I'm also trying to distract you."

He stared at her for far too long, creepily long. "I hate to say it but it worked."

"What can I say, I've always been a people person." That actually did elicit a laugh, albeit a brief one, she was debating whether or not she should be offended that he found the concept laughable. "Not to mention, I owe you big time."

"For what?" His face was blank, not a single thought between the eyes.

"You may have indirectly, accidentally saved mine and my sister's lives," she murmured quietly. "Bombarda and Stupefy, both to try and buy time to escape. So...thank you."

"Your gratitude is overwhelming," he said rather dryly and she resisted the urge to smack him or "accidentally" knock his steaming drink into his lap.

"Hey, you're lucky you're getting any, Potter," she made her way to the door again, this time, determined to actually leave, she thought she might be able to sleep now. "Now go to sleep. Dumbass."

Chapter Text

-January 1996-

Staying in Grimmauld Place was much easier with her sister at her side. The Order had collectively decided that since Regina's cover had been blown, it wasn't safe for her to stay in Knockturn Alley so she'd agreed to stay at Headquarters with Sirius for a while until things died down and the two Death Eaters who'd attacked them were locked up. The framed murderer was delighted that he wouldn't be left alone until holidays started up again like he'd thought and was already helping her set up a room. Regina, however, wasn't overly pleased seeing as she'd lost both her shop and her home and gained a hell of a lot of trauma in their place.

"Sometimes I just think about snapping my wand and integrating into the Muggle world," she said to Ramona one evening after dinner in the drawing room, the pair sprawled across the dusty couch, listening to the distant sounds of conversation from outside the door.

"You wouldn't last a day, Gina," Ramona sighed. "Do you actually know anything about Muggle life? You would have to do your cleaning by hand, you'd have to hire people to fix things, learn to drive a car, double the amount of time you spend doing everything-"

"Fine, fine! I get the idea!" Regina dragged her hands down her face, stretching her scarred skin weirdly. "I'd be a shit Muggle, I know, but let me have my fantasy."

"Sometimes I fantasise about it too," she admitted after a pause. "It would make Mother and Father so angry."

"I know...it'd be glorious."

"Do you know yet if we need to testify in court?" Ramona asked abruptly, the question had been playing on her mind for days.

Regina shook her head of messy curls, eyes wide in her surprise. "No, Mad-Eye says they're both pleading guilty."

Ramona frowned despite the good news and turned her gaze to the cobwebbed ceiling. "It just seems a bit too convenient to me."

Regina propped herself up on her elbows and disentangled her legs from her sister's. "You're just paranoid, Mona, be glad that we're washing our hands of it."

Ramona supposed she was right, she should have been glad that she didn't have to relive that experience in public in front of the Ministry but suspicion lingered at the back of her brain like an itch that she could never quite completely ignore.

Over the days which followed Christmas, Ramona had discovered that they were, in fact, keeping an adult Hippogriff that was supposed to be dead in the attic. Sirius Black took her up one day (he would often spend hours up there when he got a "fit of the sullens" as Mrs Weasley called it) and she was for some odd reason, surprised to see it was the same one which had "almost killed" Malfoy back in third year so she immediately felt a kinship with the creature. The Hippogriff, Buckbeak, however, didn't quite feel the same and snorted at her when she tried to come close. She also discovered rather quickly that Ron Weasley's owl, a tennis ball sized thing named Pigwidgeon, wasn't fond of her either, it took plenty enjoyment out of dive bombing at her head at every given chance.

A few days before they were set to head back to school, Mrs Weasley had poked her head round the door of Potter and Weasley's bedroom where they'd all been sat, keenly observing a violent game of Wizard's Chess, and declared that Professor Snape was downstairs and wanted a word with Potter. The teenagers had all exchanged baffled looks and after Potter had reluctantly left the room, they began to debate possibilities.

"Maybe he failed his last Potions essay?" Hermione guessed, her grip on Crookshanks faltering, allowing him to leap onto the chess board and send the pieces scattering, complaining in their little voices.

"Maybe Umbridge did something," Ramona plucked up the ugly ginger cat to stop him from causing more damage, barely dodging the claws that swiped at her, "and Snape's trying to warn Potter."

"Like what?" Ginny shifted uncomfortably. "Do you think she found out about the DA?"

"It's certainly a possibility though I thought she would have just immediately expelled everyone on that list we signed," Ramona dropped the cat back into his owner's arms.

Granger shook her bushy hair in disagreement. "No, I have the list on me and I don't think any of our members stayed at Hogwarts over the Holidays."

Their concerns about the DA and Umbridge were short-lived however, as they quickly became distracted by the return of Arthur Weasley, still dressed in his Mungo's pyjamas. The Weasleys' reunion was touching, a teary dog-pile soon ensuing which Ramona and Granger kept well clear of in fears that they'd be dragged into it but watched on with smiles.

They began to shuffle the man towards the basement kitchen to share the good news and start on dinner, from which Potter had not yet returned from, only to find Sirius Black and Professor Snape pointing wands at each other, faces murderous, Potter wedged in the middle trying to keep them apart.

"Cured!" Mr Weasley had brightly exclaimed before his eyes came to rest on the scene. "Completely-oh."

Ramona again felt that familiar feeling that this was not something she should have borne witness to and shrunk back in the doorway, half-hiding behind Granger's massive hair.

"Merlin's beard, what's going on here?"

The wands were lowered reluctantly, glares still full of contempt, and there was a terribly awkward silence which permeated the room, giving Ramona a bit of a headache. Snape pocketed his wand rather dramatically and swept past them all without so much as a spare glance. "Six o'clock, Monday evening, Potter."

Though Sirius and Potter tried to be happy and congratulatory for the Weasleys and played off whatever showdown had just occurred, it was clear it had been no friendly chat between old mates and dinner was seething with negative vibes despite the continuous efforts by the twins and Regina to crack jokes. Ramona couldn't lie that the drama of it all intrigued her but Potter was in deep whispers with his two friends, no doubt explaining what had transpired, and he clearly didn't seem to want her or Ginny or the twins knowing, blatantly lying through his teeth and saying he had to do Remedial Potions for the next few months. Rather than demanding the truth, Ramona instead headed up to Buckbeak's room to brood for a while before Sirius decided it was his turn to brood and shooed her out.

With her sister safe and the pair reunited in Grimmauld Place, Ramona had no inclination to return to Hogwarts to be tormented by Umbridge (who had no doubt signed off a dozen new Educational Decrees over the holidays) and to fight with her friends but before she knew it, the day and boatloads of dread were upon her the morning after Mr Weasley returned.

They were to take the Knight Bus, a form of travel Ramona's parents despised due to it's "Muggle-like appearance", escorted by Tonks and Lupin. They had eaten a rather hurried breakfast before they tugged on coats and hats and scarves. The sisters hugged tightly and for overly long, biting back tears and hiding their faces in the other's dark curls, promising to write. She made sure to thank Mrs Weasley and Sirius Black profusely for taking her in and for being so good to her and made a mental note to send a care package of sorts to say thank you; that was the sort of thing polite people did, right?

The January morning air was chilly and biting, tugging Ramona's hair out from where she'd tucked it into her Slytherin scarf. To her amazement, it seemed that Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, she'd warped her features to look like a tall, grey-haired woman with a pinched face which did not at all suit her upbeat but anxious tone as she ushered them down the steps. Lupin held out his right arm and with a bang a flamboyant purple, triple-decker bus had appeared out of thin air next to them, almost colliding with the streetlamp.

A young man in a purple uniform, face speckled with acne, leaped down onto the path and said, "Welcome to the-"

"Yes, yes, we know, thank you," Tonks said swiftly. "On, on, get on-"

They hopped up one by one until Potter was inevitably recognised by the conductor who goggled at him. "'Ere-it's 'Arry-!"

"If you shout his name I will curse you into oblivion," Tonks muttered menacingly, sending a thrill of both fear and excitement down Ramona's spine.

The Knight Bus was just as chaotic inside as she'd expected, an odd assortment of armchairs and wooden stools grouped haphazardly around windows, some of which had toppled over (along with their residents) when the bus had stopped at Grimmauld Place. As the others split up and paid their fares, Ramona lingered by the young conductor who was trying to follow after Potter and Weasley and began to release an onslaught of questions relating to how exactly the bus worked, barely keeping her balance as the bus took off down the street with a loud bang.

"Does the Knight Bus have the same working principle as a Muggle Bus?" She had to shout over the din of rubber on tarmac and the skidding of chairs on the floor. "Does it work off an engine or it it magic-based?"

"'Ow should I know?" He tried to turn his back to her to say something to Potter but she interrupted him again.

"Is it a mixture of both, then? That would make the most sense, we wizards really should implement Muggle techniques more often, they're quite effective, don't you think?"

"Sit down." He seemed thoroughly annoyed by her so with tremendous effort, she shut her mouth and put a lid on the boiling pot of questions she had and sunk grumpily into an armchair with Bacon resting in her lap. She supposed she'd just have to ask Professor Burbage when classes started back up.

The bus ride felt like something that should be in a Muggle amusement park rather than as a legitimate mode of transport, swaying dangerously from side to side as they careened around sharp corners and weaved between cars at impossible speeds. With another bang, the motorway scene switched to that of a peaceful country lane lined with blackberry bushes and Ramona's chair went toppling backwards, Bacon squawking in indignation. The outdoor view switched from a main street in a busy town to a viaduct surrounded by rolling green hills, then to high-rise flats. They stopped outside a little pub which leapt backwards to avoid collision and a little witch who was green in the face and reeked of vomit hobbled off before they were off again.

The next time the scenery changed, they were on the snowy roads of Hogsmeade Village, speeding past all the shops and restaurants till they skidded to a stop outside the Hogwarts gates. Ramona shakily got to her feet and resisted the urge to get violently sick all over the conductor's shoes, letting Lupin help her heave her trunk down off the bus. They all exchanged last-minute goodbyes and began the hike up the slippery drive to their school, a pit of dread in Ramona's stomach as she tugged on her trunk.

~~

"I'm sorry, Cho," Ramona interrupted her, mid-Potter-rant, "but I fail to understand how you and Potter have been flirting for months, dancing around each other, kissed and yet haven't plucked up the nerve to go on a date. If you aren't going to do it, I'm sorry but I won't listen to you rambling on about him when I have a Potions essay due tomorrow!"

Cho flushed under her friend's accusatory and exhausted glare. "I can't ask him out, Mona, he's the Boy-Who-Lived."

"He's a scrawny, dumb, reckless, hot-headed prick who's a bit talented at Defence Against the Dark Arts, I don't understand the intimidation." She scratched out the last few lines of gibberish of the essay she was trying and failing to write. She was regretting not plucking up the courage to ask Granger for help with it when they were sharing a bedroom in Grimmauld Place.

Cho narrowed her eyes in suspicion. "When will you admit that you actually like Harry?"

Her quill momentarily stopped its scratching. "Well...I don't hate him."

"No, Mona," she shook her head, dark hair splaying out over her shoulders, "believe it or not, you're friends."

Ramona went to retort but it fizzled out on her tongue. She pursed her lips in annoyance and sighed. "Acquaintances, and I'm not arguing with you any more. Either ask him out to Hogsmeade for Valentines or suffer. It's your choice."

As if summoned by their topic of conversation, Potter shuffled into the Great Hall, seemingly thinking deeply. Cho had a moment of internal debate before she hastily rose to her feet, smoothed out her uniform and breezed over, trying to look as cool and collected as possible. Ramona couldn't help but watch from afar, she may have been fed up with the pair but entertainment was entertainment.

Even at a distance, it looked like an awkward exchange, Cho's cheeks were red and Potter kept frowning and scratching the back of his neck. Merlin, she wanted to strangle the pair, they'd been back almost a full day and they hadn't even spoken despite her advice. However, Cho returned with an excited grin and announced she had a Valentines date. Marietta wasn't particularly glad when she heard the news at dinner that night, huffing and sighing and complaining so loudly that Ramona couldn't stand her any longer and decided on the lesser of two evils by returning to her dorm straight after dinner.

Delilah was distantly polite, asking her how her Christmas had been and handed her a little hamper of sweets and some potions for her hair but Pansy had only gone on a rant about the Malfoy Christmas party Ramona hadn't been invited to and how Draco had complimented her dress and danced with her. Daphne informed her of all the drama that had happened, who'd been caught snogging whom, who was wearing dress robes from last season, who had gotten frightfully drunk. Even Millicent Bulstrode had gone and spoken rather enthusiastically about it. All of it made Ramona want to rip her hair out despite the fact that she wouldn't even have gone if she had been invited. Did a small part of her want to cling on to what she once had? She wanted to scream at the other girls and hurl jinxes at them but she bit her tongue until she'd had enough and slipped out, head pounding, not stopping her brisk walk until she was outside in the vicious air, stood silently by the lake.

It wasn't fair, she thought, that her old friends could continue celebrating their wealth, ignorance and privilege whilst she was shunned for daring to believe otherwise, attacked and tortured. It wasn't fair that their parents could buy their way out of Azkaban while Longbottom's parents were confined to St Mungo's, sanity lost forever. It wasn't fair that they could just discard her like her years of friendship had meant nothing to them.

Last summer, writing Delilah and Pansy every week, moping at the Malfoys, expertly sneaking out to Blaise's, it all felt like years ago and it made her heart hurt, it made her want to collapse in on herself like a dying star and cease to exist. And yet, despite all of this, she couldn't bring herself to regret any of her actions, not even the ones which wound her up in detention. She shivered at a sudden gust of wintery air and wondered why that was. Was this really just her teenage rebellion phase like her parents hoped or was this who she really was? Did Ramona even know who she was? She realised with a jolt that she didn't. Being sixteen was awful.

Ramona turned on her heel, clenching her jaw in an effort to suppress any traitorous tears and stalked back through the main doors and into the Entrance Hall where she found herself looking down upon an all-too-familiar toad. She laughed despite her emotional turmoil and plucked him up in her numb hands.

"Hello handsome," she whispered to the toad like a freak. "I haven't seen you in a while, missed you rather terribly I must admit."

Trevor stared back at her, wide eyes blank. She took it as a sign that he'd missed her too.

"Now, where's your owner? If I can't find him soon I suppose I'll have no option other than to kidnap you for myself."

Trevor croaked lowly which she chose to interpret as acceptance and approval if the situation resulted as such.

The slapping of shoes on stone floors echoed to her right as a panicked Neville Longbottom rounded the corner, blonde hair messy, robes tangled around his legs. When he spotted her and the toad cupped in her palms, his face lit up but his treacherous robes sent him sprawling to the ground in a heap, panting heavily. Her face appeared over his, the snow in her hair beginning to melt, cheeks wind-worn and when she smiled he couldn't help but flush an even deeper red.

She sat down on the floor next to him rather than helping him up and held out Trevor, her genuine smile becoming awkward. "I believe you lost this."

He flinched at the sudden movement and Ramona felt surges of guilt wash over her again and again like waves on a beach but she pushed those feelings down deep to where she could deal with them later and half-jokingly said, "Do I scare you, Longbottom?"

"I'm scared of lots of things, you being one of them is a very high possibility."

The pair couldn't help but burst into quiet laughter at that, the flinching long forgotten. After they'd recovered, she held Trevor out again, their hands touched as the toad passed holders, two distinctly different people. His hands were warm where her's were cold. Each drew back the second they'd touched.

"It's funny how we're always finding each other's stuff," Ramona said after a beat, clearing her throat, fingers fiddling with the hem of her robes.

"Sometimes I think Trevor likes you more than he likes me," Longbottom sighed as he tucked the toad safely into his pocket.

"I'm just glad there's an animal out there that doesn't hate my guts," she said. "For a while I thought I just got stuck with a particularly violent and hateful owl but I've recently discovered that most animals simply don't like me."

"Maybe it's only toads, you're like a toad whisperer."

"That's the worst special magical ability I've ever heard of," she groaned with a grin dancing on her lips. "A Parseltongue on a budget."

He laughed at that, which made her feel a bit warmer inside and she reached out a hand to help him up. As she pulled him to his feet, she was again distinctly aware of how hot his hands were compared to hers.

His smile faltered and his face turned rather serious, like something which had been on his mind for a while had bubbled up to the surface. "Hey, can I-can I ask you a question?"

"Depends, if you're gonna ask me to hide a dead body I'd rather you didn't say it aloud...that was a joke, sorry, ask away."

He took a deep breath, his eyes as grim as they were that day in St Mungo's, for some reason, that look made her feel nervous, her stomach knotting up in anxiety. "You're not going to tell anyone about my parents, are you? I would rather nobody knew."

Ramona felt awful. The fact that he even had to ask that still proved that she wasn't trusted yet, even if these people were nice to her. "Of course not, I would never. Even at my shittiest I wouldn't do that to someone, Longbottom. Despite what everyone thinks, I'm not a completely terrible person."

She brushed past him, annoyed and embarrassed at the lump that had appeared in her throat and the choked sound of her words, the last thing she wanted to do was cry in front of him. Merlin, what was happening to her and why was her self-control falling to bits so often these days?

He caught her hand, the hot and cold touching for the third time that evening, but this time, neither let go and she felt like he was burning her. She'd probably stayed outside in the snow for far too long if one touch made it feel like fire was coursing up through her veins and moving swiftly towards her heart.

"I didn't mean it like that."

She sighed as he finally dropped her hand after what felt like hours but was in truth, only a few seconds. "I know, I'm sorry, I'm a bit on edge tonight and I shouldn't have said that. I was taking out my own frustrations on you, I'm sorry...maybe I am a completely terrible person."

After mentally working up the courage, she looked back and met his eyes. Usually she was so good at reading people and their feelings and could adapt herself accordingly but Neville Longbottom always seemed to throw her for a loop. All she could surmise was that his eyes looked greener in the torchlight which drove her insane.

"Not quite completely."

She hadn't expected him to deny it. "Goodnight Longbottom, keep a hold of Trevor, would you?"

"Goodnight Ramona."

It wasn't until she'd slipped back into her dorm, tuning out Delilah's awful shower singing that she realised he'd called her by her first name. She well and truly was losing it.

Chapter Text

-January 1996-

The first few days of classes were awful, all the professors, Umbridge especially, had piled on the homework seeing as their O.W.L.s were coming up in a few months and the fifth years were worked to the bone trying to get it all done. The one good thing about it was that it meant Ramona seldom had to speak with her friends due to the sheer amount of workload which meant no fights for the first week back and that made for a rather content Ramona. This shaky peace she'd managed to keep with the other Slytherins was swiftly shattered, however.

On January 15th, what would have ordinarily been a usual morning breakfast at the Slytherin table, the Daily Prophet arrived as it normally did, narrowly missing the marmalade. The only odd thing about that particular morning was the headline of the Daily Prophet.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN
MINISTRY FEARS BLACK IS 'RALLYING POINT' FOR OLD DEATH EATERS

Ramona's blood ran cold, her mouth felt as if it had been glued shut and the conversation dulled in her ears. She moved the essay she'd been finishing to the side and began to read further.

The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban.
Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners and two new convicts escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.
"We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when the murderer Sirius Black escaped," said Fudge last night. "Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals, and we beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached."

Ramona frowned. It certainly hadn't been Sirius Black, he was innocent for one matter and also on complete house arrest but, if not him, who? Clearly the Ministry was using him as a scapegoat for all their problems which then blinded them to actually making any effort into seeing the truth. Had the Dementors turned sides? Had it been other Death Eaters? You-Know-Who himself? She flicked forwards to find the page with the names of the escaped prisoners, passing an article about the death of a Ministry worker, an attempted kidnapping of an Auror and equally depressing things which always seemed to fill the paper those days.

The identities of the escaped prisoners took up a whole page to itself, with pictures, names and the details of their crimes. Her eyes skimmed over Antonin Dolohov and Augustus Rookwood, both of whom leered at the camera until it came to rest of the gaunt face of Bellatrix Lestrange, 'convicted of the torture and permanent incapacitation of Frank and Alice Longbottom'. She felt like getting sick. So this was the woman who had tortured Longbottom's parents into insanity. She risked a glance up at the boy in question but he seemed blissfully unaware, fighting off sleep over a plate heaped with buttered toast. Her eyes roamed downwards again, only stopping due to recognition of the faces which haunted her dreams.

'Louis Selwyn, convicted of the torture, attempted murder and attempted robbery of two anonymous women, only imprisoned for fourteen hours before the breakout'

His face was worse than she'd remembered it, arrogant and full of wrath, terrifying even without the blood-stained teeth and a wand to her neck. As she stared into his eyes she could almost feel his grip on her hair and the echoes of the pain of the Cruciatus Curse which stained her like ink on paper, staunch in their position, refusing to wash off.

'Natalia Selwyn, convicted of the same crimes as brother Louis Selwyn'

The bird-faced woman who'd argued for her life stared sullenly up through her picture, hair matted and eyes tired but uncaring. Had they known they'd escape shortly after arriving? Was that why they'd plead guilty? She was right to have been suspicious. Ramona could feel her heart rate speeding up as her senses rushed back all at once and the sound and the colours and the smells became too much to handle.

She folded up the paper and rose clumsily to her feet, speeding out of the Great Hall, unable to miss the eyes which keenly followed her. All she could think about was her sister and whether she was safe. She wanted to storm up to Professor Dumbledore and demand to go and see her but under no circumstances was that a good idea so she stood in the Entrance Hall, shaking hands continuously smoothing over her robes, trying desperately to regulate her breathing.

"So you've seen it too."

Potter, Granger and Weasley, the last people she wanted to see in that moment, stood behind her, looking grim.

"Yes." She clipped out. "It's-it's-oh it's ridiculous that the Ministry are still trying to deny that He's back!"

"Are you...okay Burke?" Potter frowned in a way that made her blood boil. "You seem a little more worked up than usual."

She grew still and stared him down menacingly. "Oh I wonder why? Maybe it's because the two people who tried to kill my sister and I escaped! Roaming free, probably looking for us!" She hissed venomously at them, unfurling the paper and pointing aggressively at their faces.

"Oh." Weasley's ears had gone red.

"Yeah," she bit back. "'Oh'."

She was in a foul mood for the rest of the day, she often found herself writing so aggressively that she tore through her parchment (which was quite the feat) and kept snapping at her friends. Very few people had read the article yet, most of the school had grown tired with the constant stream of death and depression that the Daily Prophet held so they simply stopped reading it which was the reason nobody quite understood Ramona Burke's anger. She was less than pleasant to be around, she snapped at Delilah, let more venom than usual seep into her taunts at Pansy and Malfoy so she wasn't at all surprised to see that Pansy had taken Ramona's usual seat next to Delilah in Defence Against the Dark Arts. She refused to outwardly react and took Pansy's usual seat next to an absent Daphne who'd been caught up in one of the Weasley twins' pranks and was in the Hospital Wing getting the antlers removed. Ramona knew she'd pushed them too far but she couldn't bring herself to feel guilty or regret any of it. A part of her wanted them to be angry with her.

Class went as it always did, with them being set to read a chapter of Defensive Magical Theory by Wilbert Slinkhard while Umbridge leered over them with her beady, scrutinising eyes. Hardly five minutes in, however, she cleared her throat with a little 'hem-hem', attracting the class's attention.

"Miss Burke, are you aware that you are not sat in your assigned seat?" She said it very slowly and clearly as if she was speaking to a child or a troll.

Ramona's lips pursed. "I didn't know we had assigned seats in this classroom, Professor, perhaps it's a failing on your part for not making that clearer."

Umbridge's face went that reddish-purple which filled Ramona with a satisfactory kind of glee. "Miss Burke, your audacity and viciousness surprises me every time. I'm afraid I'll have to dock Slytherin ten points and it's another week of detention for you, same time, same place, you're well acquainted with the process."

"How is it vicious for me to point out the terrifying possibility that sometimes," she let out a fake and dramatised gasp, "adults can be wrong?"

"Miss Burke, I'd advise you to stop talking unless you'd like another week of detention."

Ramona thought long and hard about shutting up before she got herself expelled but that wicked impulsiveness of hers had a hold of her tongue before her brain could stop it and reel it in. "There's plenty of advice I'd like to give you too, Professor, perhaps we can discuss it in detention?"

Umbridge's hands were now shaking in fury as she set her teacup down with a hard clink, tea spilling over onto her lace doilies. "Oh, we'll have plenty of time to talk about advice, Miss Burke, over the next three weeks!"

"Why stop there?" Ramona was starting to wonder if she had a death wish or if she'd simply gone mad. "With four, we can get matching friendship bracelets. Six and we might as well get married, I'm thinking a summer wedding."

She felt someone behind her, probably Blaise, tug at her sleeve in warning but it was too late, the damage had been done and Ramona had signed off on her own death like the Gryffindors she used to laugh at for their recklessness. Perhaps she'd become corrupted.

"I'm sure we'll bond plenty over the next two months, Miss Burke."

"I'm giddy with anticipation."

~~

Her friends were not pleased with her little stunt in Defence Against the Dark Arts, they caught up to her quickly after she'd all but sprinted from the classroom. Delilah caught her by the shoulder but Ramona kept up her brisk pace down the stairs like she hadn't even noticed their presence, leaving them to hurry after her.

"What is wrong with you, Ramona?" Delilah sounded furious, and not in the way she usually got when she was worried about Ramona, a clear sign that she'd well and truly messed up this time.

"What's wrong with me?" She half-laughed, half-scoffed. "What's wrong with you? I can't say I was surprised I wasn't invited to the Christmas Party but a small part of me thought one of you might have given enough shits to at least write me!"

"Why would we want to?" Pansy had to choke out the words, clutching a stitch in her side. "You're a nightmare to talk to these days!"

"Ever stopped to think maybe it's not just me?" Ramona quickened her pace, becoming aware that eyes were following them and several people kept up behind their travelling argument. "I can't talk about anything I like, anybody I care about, without all of you shitting on me!"

Delilah snarled. "I've said it a hundred times, Mona, we're trying to protect you! It's for your own good!"

"No, you're killing me!" Merlin, there were far too many stairs in this school. "You didn't care when Cedric died, you didn't care when you found out the truth about those detentions and you didn't care that I almost died over the holidays!"

The footsteps behind her stopped momentarily. Good, she thought, she'd wanted them to feel shocked and ashamed and guilty though she'd probably regret it later.

"I didn't know." Delilah's voice was soft but managed to carry itself to Ramona's ears. "How can you expect me to when you don't talk to me anymore!"

She'd shouted the last part, prompting Ramona to wheel around and shout back even louder and even more furiously, "Because you don't listen anymore!"

The silence was deafening, all-consuming, as the two girls stared at each other from opposite ends of the staircase, everyone else forgotten, even Pansy and Blaise who looked sheepish and shocked. Never, in a whole lifetime of friendship had the pair actually felt animosity towards the other but something had snapped and for a moment, Ramona hated Delilah more than she hated Umbridge, more than she hated the Ministry, more than she hated the Selwyns. Even though it was just a moment, that was all it took to complete sever any flimsy threads still connecting the two girls who'd once considered themselves sisters.

"I don't need to be protected," she said, far quieter than the previous screaming that had erupted from her. "I've been protected all my life and all it got me was ignorance and unhappiness and I'm done with it, I don't care anymore. Go on and treat me like you treat everyone else you don't deem 'worthy enough', curse me, spit on me, call me whatever you'd like, I'll take it all gladly and proudly."

The rhythmic sound of Ramona's shoes on stone was the only thing she heard until she'd slipped into the almost empty Slytherin common room, not being paid much mind by the few students who were there. She dropped her books off in her dorm and knew it was time to disappear for a few hours before she had to face Umbridge and her quill.

~~

Ramona was beginning to become desensitised to the pain of self-mutilation as she scrawled the words 'I must not talk back' for what felt like the hundredth time that night alone. She wasn't alone that evening, a Ravenclaw first year quietly sobbed to herself beside her, handwriting messy from how terribly she was shaking. She wrote: 'I must respect my elders'. It made Ramona hate Umbridge even more. With every little sob, with every clink of porcelain teacups, with every satisfied smirk, Ramona found herself planning various ways to hurt this foul woman. Lately it seemed all she was able to feel was hate.

The Slytherin girl had practically begged for this herself but what had the first year done? Not said thank you? Ran in the halls? Made an ill-timed joke? At least with all the time Ramona was spending in detention, she could keep her eye on any other poor souls who got lumped in with her.

They were released at ten that night, well past the first year's curfew, after Umbridge had poked and prodded at their puckered wounds in a triumphant manner. Ramona offered to walk the first year up to the Ravenclaw common room, noticing how she was still trembling. Unfortunately, it seemed the young girl was as equally frightened of Ramona as she was of the castle at night, keeping several feet between them as they walked, arms hugged close to her chest, refusing to speak a word to her.

"What did you do?" Ramona couldn't stand the silence between them any longer. When she didn't answer, she replied, "I sat in the wrong seat, dared to suggest it was her fault then begged her to give me more detention...I'm Ramona, by the way, Ramona Burke."

She was well-aware of the very odd stare on her back as the first year stopped walking. "You're mental."

"I literally just said my name was Ramona."

The first year quickened her pace and refused to look in her direction any more, as if it might turn her to stone. Ramona sighed and let her go, she'd almost forgotten that the rest of the school hated Slytherins. "You'll wanna get something for your hand! Go to Pomfrey in the morning!"

Feeling dejected and lonelier than ever, Ramona started back down the stairs, not caring if she got caught, she was already booked into detention for the next two months, any more wouldn't make a difference. Her hand had long stopped healing over and blood began to trickle down her fingers, hot and sticky. Where had she put that balm Granger gave her again? She prayed she hadn't forgotten it in Grimmauld Place, it would be very embarrassing to ask for more. As a temporary measure, she wrapped up her hand in her robes to stem the bleeding and traipsed down the steps into the dungeons which was far cooler than the rest of the castle, especially at night.

She hadn't gone to dinner that night, she'd hidden in an empty classroom to avoid any stares or having to deal with her friends who she supposed weren't really her friends anymore, so she slipped into the kitchens. The House Elves greeted her excitedly despite the late hour and packed her up with enough food to last her several days without ever needing to go to the Great Hall. She thanked them profusely, bundling it all up in what remained of her robes and went back to her dorm, praying her roommates were asleep.

The common room was mostly empty, only a few seventh years trying desperately to finish their homework without nodding off clustered around the desks, none of them sparing her so much as a glance as she padded up to the girls' dormitory. The curtains on all the beds had been drawn tightly shut but all the lights were on and she could see silhouettes of them all cramped together on Daphne's bed, the furthest one from Ramona's, silent and still as they heard the door open and close. They didn't speak again still she locked herself in the bathroom, shower running to drown out the sounds of her eating alone.

Ramona didn't sleep easy that night nor any night for the next week, she'd stay awake long after the other girls had stopped whispering and giggling and got up before the sun had even risen. Cho and Marietta had offered to let her stay in their dorm but she knew there'd be war over it with her being from both a different House and year so she'd politely declined. Luckily, she managed to get away with eating the occasional meal at the Ravenclaw table, no teacher other than Umbridge cared, though those solitary meals were awful whenever they came around.

The news of the Azkaban breakout had finally managed to circulate around the school from the few people besides her which read the Daily Prophet and it soon became the only thing people wanted to talk about. There were rumours that the escapees had been spotted in Hogsmeade, hiding in the Shrieking Shack, planning to attack Hogwarts. Ramona had already written to her sister about it all, receiving in turn, a letter promising that she was safe but to only worry about herself and to start writing vaguer letters. It seemed Regina was worried that Hogwarts or the Ministry was going to start reading their mail and it seemed her fears had proven true when the next few letters from her sister had already been opened and Bacon was grouchier than usual, feathers sticking up oddly like he'd been mishandled.

The one bit of relief Ramona got was that her name had not been published in the Daily Prophet, announcing her and her sister as victims though speculations of their identities circulated often. Everyone else who'd been related to the other victims of the escaped Death Eaters, found themselves as unwilling celebrities in the school. Longbottom hadn't needed her to keep his secret anymore, now that the Prophet had declared it to all of Britain and he was now followed by pitying stares, awkward condolences and even more torment from a select few Slytherin who found the situation very funny. For those particular Slytherins, she managed to sneak Doxy nests into the bottom of their trunks, waiting patiently for the day the Doxy eggs hatched and caused havoc.

As a result of this news about the prisoners, Eduational Decree Number Twenty-six was published, banning teachers from giving students any information that wasn't strictly related to their subject. Ramona found herself joined by at least one other person in detention every day who'd made a claim that they couldn't be told off for playing Exploding Snap or eating during class as it wasn't related to the subjects taught (which was always, coincidentally, Defence Against the Dark Arts, all other teachers had stopped handing out detentions altogether). None who joined her in detention cared much for her advice unless they were in the DA.

Both the Azkaban breakout and Umbridge's tyranny spurred new redoubled efforts in the DA, particularly Neville Longbottom. He had become rather closed off and quiet since the news of his parents' torturers' escape, hardly speaking to anyone during meetings, jaw set and eyebrows furrowed in determination as he worked on jinxes and counter-spells with more dedication than Granger. Now that their meetings had to revolve around Potter's Remedial Potions as well as the three Quidditch Teams' practices, they'd become rather sporadic and Ramona made sure to keep her faux Galleon on her at all times. Longbottom's improvement was astounding, despite the irregular meetings, he was mastering charms almost as fast as Granger was, and left Ramona in a gleam of sweat after every duel, besting her more and more frequently. She was the only person determined to keep up with him, the Selwyns and the Cruciatus Curse playing on loop in the back of her mind during every minute of every day. She refused to let anything like it happen ever again.

With Ramona's new efforts, she found herself lacking in energy to talk about Potter with Cho or to stand being around Marietta for more than ten minutes, and likewise, they hadn't the energy to put up with her new obsession with Defence. This distanced her from them and thereby, all of her friends. To make matters worse, her nightmares about the Selwyns were now peppered with the occasional nightmare about Cedric which she'd thought had long ago stopped. Sleeping became all but impossible until Luna convinced her (by wearing her down for days) to fetch Dreamless Sleep Potions from Madam Pomfrey, just so she didn't collapse in class from exhaustion.

Now that she thought about it, Luna Lovegood was often hovering over her those days, oftentimes not even wanting to chat, she was perfectly content just being in Ramona's moody presence. Ramona appreciated this more than words could describe. If Loony Lovegood was her only friend left in this school, she'd happily live with that.

The pair were widely targeted, Luna for her eccentricity, Ramona for her falling out with her entire House. Their belongings were often stolen and hidden in odd places, jinxes were thrown their way as they walked from class to class and there was a foot-long list of cruel names which had been hurled their way. It was a sharp contrast to the protection she'd gotten for being part of the Slytherin girls' gang.

"I'm sorry you're getting tormented because of me," she said one evening as they went looking for Luna's stolen tie, checking round the back of suits of armour, portraits and even the chandeliers, people had gotten very creative with the torment.

"Oh no," she said airily. "If anything, incidents have gone down since we started hanging out more...I think people are afraid of you. I wonder why?"

Ramona felt a wad of guilt wedge itself in her throat, remembering all the nasty things about Luna she'd once laughed at back when the Slytherin common room used to feel like home. "Probably because I'm so visually threatening," she flexed her biceps under her robes.

"No, I think it's because of that rumour that you strangled a centaur to death with your bare hands."

"What?" Ramona couldn't help but let out a stream of very uncharacteristic giggles. 

Luna didn't seem to understand why she was laughing. "Well, did you?"

Ramona shook her head of wild curls with a small smile. "No, Luna, I didn't murder a centaur and I'm not planning to any time in the future."

Chapter Text

-February 1996-

Ramona was glad Cho and Potter were finally going out but the one massive downside was that she was stuck going into Hogsmeade with Marietta with no mediator. She'd hoped she could tag along with Luna and Ginny but when she'd asked, Marietta had given her the most poisonous glare so Ramona wisely retracted the request and thus doomed herself to what would surely be a miserable Hogsmeade trip. Neither of the girls spoke at all the entire walk in, just far away enough from Cho to keep an eye on her. It was terribly uncomfortable, Ramona would've preferred going in alone but Marietta hadn't exactly given her a choice.

People kept well clear of them as they went from shop to shop, Ramona bought thank you presents to send to Mrs Weasley and Sirius Black because she was nothing if not someone who hated being indebted to someone else, while Marietta blew all her money on a very expensive calligraphy set which she had packaged in the shop, both stocked themselves up with as many Honeydukes sweets they could carry. They strolled slowly past Madam Puddifoot's expecting to see Cho and Potter mooning over each other in the window, instead bearing witness to what was surely an uncomfortable situation. They were the only couple not holding hands or kissing, Cho had her arms crossed tightly over her chest and she was speaking rather fast while Potter stared back, wide-eyed and affronted.

"What do you thing they're talking about?" Marietta said, brushing her curls back from her face, bags swinging from her arms,

"Probably Cedric," Ramona sighed knowingly, eyes drifting over to the mugshots of the escaped prisoners in one of the shop windows. "He hates talking about it but it's the only thing she wants to talk to him about."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a Legilimens."

"Very funny, Burke."

They turned to leave, expecting Cho to finish up with her date sooner than promised and they'd agreed to meet up with her afterwards to discuss the date. As they headed off back the way they came to wait for her by the Three Broomsticks, they had the misfortune of running into Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, their eyes lighting up in delight upon the sight of the pair.

"How's social irrelevance suiting you, Burke?" Malfoy called.

She smiled falsely, readjusting her grip on all her packages. "I wouldn't know, Malfoy, you have more experience with that than I do!"

His pale face screwed up in anger. "You're a filthy blood traitor! You don't have the right to speak to me that way!"

She pressed her lips together in a tight line, retorting would just make things worse, she told herself firmly to suppress the urge to scream back at him that if he didn't want to get offended he shouldn't have spoken to her in the first place. She didn't need to say anything however, Marietta took care of that for her, most unexpectedly.

"And what gives you the right to be a dick? With a face like that and insults that bad, the only thing you have a right to is the right to shut the fuck up!"

Ramona felt as if someone had punched her hard in the stomach. Marietta Edgecombe defending her? This had to be some kind of fever dream or drug trip. She wasn't allowed to relish in the moment, however, the boys were advancing on them, fists and wands at the ready, and Marietta had seized her by the sleeve and was swiftly dragging her away.

Luckily for them, Crabbe and Goyle were slow and Malfoy was too much of a coward to take them on himself so they managed to lose them pretty quickly after ducking round the back of a few shops. The two girls breathed heavily, bent over and clutching at their stomachs; running with a lot of packages was difficult and it seemed one of the few things they both had in common was a love of shopping.

"Where in Merlin's name did that come from?" Ramona couldn't keep the amazement out of her voice. "Who are you and what have you done with Marietta?"

"He's a prick and I know what it's like for all your friends to suddenly drop you," she said, a bit too casually for her words, fixing her hair in her reflection from a shop window.

"Why did your's bugger off?"

Something in her pretty face tightened, like she was strategically controlling every singular muscle in her face. "They got sick of Cho and grieving and I wasn't about to leave her on her own like that."

Ramona looked at Marietta for perhaps the first time ever, beyond her need for control, possessiveness and vanity. "You're not terrible."

"High praise from miss madam herself." She smiled at Ramona, for once it held no sarcasm.

"Reserved only for those whom I hold in the upmost esteem."

They laughed, contrasting sounds, Ramona's low and earthy, Marietta's high-pitched and airy, nevertheless on the same wavelength.

~~

The fun Marietta and Ramona had together in Hogsmeade was short-lived. Cho dragged them back up to the castle and explained in explicit detail, her disastrous date with Potter. Ramona was starting to think they were never meant to be together but she nodded and sympathised with Cho while trying to offer some perspective into why Potter behaved the way he did. Cho wasn't in the mood for her to be agreeing with Potter and began only listening to Marietta who agreed with everything she said like a good friend was supposed to apparently.

Eventually, after Cho had calmed down considerably, she finally asked Ramona for advice. "What am I supposed to do now? Do you think he hates me now, Mona?"

She sighed and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "He doesn't hate you, babe, he's just a teenage boy, a particularly angsty one at that. On top of that, he has no clue how to talk to you."

Cho buried her face in her hands and groaned loud enough to attract several stares. "I don't know why I got so worked up about him meeting up with Hermione, you were right, Mona, they're obviously only friends. But-" her face contorted with rage again, "I just can't believe how rude he was about it! And refusing to speak about Cedric when he so clearly needs to! I thought out of everyone, he might understand...oh but people deal with grief in different ways I suppose and maybe I was a bit harsh."

"Well now that I've talked some sense into you," she shot Marietta a disparaging look, speaking fast before Cho could launch into another rant, going back and forth with herself, "how about we get you a nice cup of tea and you forget about it for tonight?"

Cho looked up suddenly, panicked. "Oh no, Mona, I can't do that!"

"What do you have against tea?"

"It's not that..." Cho looked away again. "It's just-I was wondering, since you and Harry are friends after all-don't try to deny it-you would...maybe speak to him...for me?"

Ramona gave her a flat look. Seriously, they weren't in second year any more, surely Cho wasn't asking her to play messenger for them and to fix their broken relationship? Despite herself, Ramona gave a single, reluctant nod, already regretting and cursing her actions as Cho flung her arms around her neck, thanking her profusely. She already knew she was about to have a very unpleasant evening.

The trio of Gryffindors were huddled around a little table in the library, heads bent low, deep in quiet conversation. When they didn't take immediate notice of her, Ramona did her best impression of Umbridge's 'hem-hem' and was delighted by the fear on their faces as they sprung apart, shoving papers down the front of their robes. She dragged over a chair to the table and sat down.

"That wasn't funny, Burke!" Weasley wrenched out the papers he'd tried to hide in his robes and threw them unceremoniously on the table.

"It was a bit funny," she said, "but believe it or not, I'm not only here to annoy you."

Granger cocked her head. "Is it about the DA?"

"No," she shook her head, mentally preparing herself. "Just to preface, I don't want to do this and I'm sure you don't either but I've been sent to let Potter know that he's upset Cho."

His face scrunched up in annoyance. "Yeah, I kinda guessed that when she yelled at me and stormed out of the cafe."

She crossed her arms tightly over her chest. "I can't say I'm surprised, you haven't got a romantic bone in your body have you? And no tact, either!"

"What was I supposed to do?" He looked genuinely bewildered, she was sure that he was a lost cause.

"Try not being a dick when a girl brings up her dead ex-boyfriend!" This was all happening in whisper-shouts in cause Madam Pince was on the prowl. "You could have comforted her and answered her questions, she's still grieving, Potter, it's a massive improvement that she was even able to start dating again."

He looked a tiny bit remorseful, all she thought she'd be able to get out of him. "But she feels bad about it too, and wanted me to come and see if you hate her now."

He did a double-take. "Hate her?"

"Yes, Potter, I didn't stutter."

"Well I don't," he said it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Are you not going to give out to me for talking about other girls? Hermione said I should've called her annoying and ugly so Cho didn't feel..."

"Insecure?" Ramona rolled her eyes. "She's fine now, though Marietta didn't help, egged her on. I gave her my two cents anyways and she came round to her senses."

"Ramona Burke voicing her opinions? What a shock."

"Shut it, Weasley, before I shut it for you," she hoped this was the playful banter that friends did and not a cruel sort she often mistakenly partook in. "So, I'll tell Cho you don't hate her, any other messages you want me to deliver while you're at it? I'm a fantastic owl."

The trio shared a look, a look she didn't like, it was mutual understanding that she'd just handed them a prime opportunity for something, though what, she didn't know. Before she could take it back, Potter asked: "Do you know why you and your sister were attacked over Christmas?"

The atmosphere became rather serious and Ramona quickly scanned her surroundings, looking for perked ears, desperate for gossip. "Her cover as an informant was blown, simple as."

They shared another one of those annoying looks which made her feel pretty excluded. "Is that really it? No other reason?"

She frowned. She disliked thinking back to that night though she remembered every second in vivid detail and raked through everything they'd said for even the smallest of clues which hadn't seemed important to her at the time in comparison to the life she thought was on the line.

"Well...I'm not sure if it means anything, but they started arguing about whether or not they should kill me-don't look at me like that, Weasley-and the woman said something about stealing something from the shop, wiping my memory and leaving...they were looking for something, I think."

Both excitement and worry flashed in all their eyes as they shared yet another look. "Like a weapon?" Potter asked.

"I don't know, I was a bit too preoccupied with fighting for my life to be asking them intimate questions."

"What was Regina selling, do you know?" Granger had taken out some spare parchment and was taking notes with rapid speed.

"All sorts, flying carpets, enchanted silverware, creepy artefacts, illegal books," she listed off, wracking her brain. "She kept a list of everything and who bought them which she then sent back to the Order and everything important left in the shop was taken and hidden by the Order before the Ministry got there."

"You don't suppose she'd tell you if you asked?" Weasley tried hopefully.

"Not a chance," Ramona shook her head and lowered her voice even further. "Umbridge is reading and checking everything that goes in or out of Hogwarts, all my letters have been coming late and already opened."

"Do you think she'll check Mum's Easter Egg package?"

"I can see you clearly have your priorities straight, Weasley."

~~

Despite Ramona's hard work as a part-time owl, Cho and Harry still refused to talk to each other. Annoyed with the relationship politics, Ramona spent even more time with Luna who had gifted her with every edition of her father's magazine, The Quibbler, that she owned for her to read through. She'd never read it before, everyone said it was full of nonsense but she was delighted to find that it was entertaining nonsense at the very least. She particularly enjoyed a long analytical article about Crumple-Horned Snorkack sightings, whatever those were. Luna also hinted very heavily that the next edition was going to be special. Ramona didn't understand what she'd meant until the February 23rd edition of The Quibbler arrived at breakfast.

HARRY POTTER SPEAKS OUT AT LAST: THE TRUTH ABOUT HE WHO MUST NOT BE NAMED AND THE NIGHT I SAW HIM RETURN

She immediately caught Potter's eye from across the Great Hall, he was swamped with letters and more seemed to be arriving every minute, almost knocking over pitchers of juice and plates laden with rashers. They clearly had no clue what to do with all these letters and they were quickly amassing attention from everyone in the Great Hall.

"It's good, isn't it," Luna said to him after dragging Ramona along with her to the Gryffindor table, squeezing herself between Fred and Ron Weasley. Ramona floundered for a second until Longbottom scooted over, she gratefully took the seat. "It came out yesterday, I asked Dad to send you a free copy. I expect all of these are letters from readers."

"That's what I thought," Granger said eagerly. "Harry, d'you mind if we-"

"Help yourself."

"This one's from a bloke who thinks you're off your rocker," Weasley scanned through the one he'd ripped open. "Ah well..."

Granger also looked disappointed. "This woman recommends you try a good course of Shock Spells at St Mungo's."

Ramona took up another. "This one is from a witch proclaiming her undying love for you," she cleared her throat, a smile dancing on her lips, "'Harry Potter, dearest, sweetest Harry'- Hey!"

Potter had snatched it from her hands and read over it himself. "It's not a love letter, but it looks okay. Hey, she said she believes me!"

They went through a few more, some convinced, others not, a select few in between. Ramona wasn't allowed to read any more aloud since she kept making them up and putting on stupid voices. Unfortunately, all the mess of the letters and the owls flocking to them like moths to a flame, attracted attention and Umbridge swiftly made her way over.

"What is going on here?" she said in her saccharine sweet voice, dressed in particularly atrocious woolly pink robes overloaded with ribbons which were also weaved into her hair. "Why have you got all these letters Mr Potter?"

"Is that a crime now?" Fred Weasley had whirled around in his seat. "Getting mail?"

"Be careful, Mr Weasley, or I shall have to put you in detention," she said, tone growing more irritated. "Well, Mr Potter?"

He hesitated for a second. Ramona kept deadly quiet, hoping Umbridge wouldn't notice her there. "People have written to me because I gave an interview about what happened to me last June."

Umbridge's lips grew thin as she pressed them tightly together. "An interview? What do you mean?"

"I mean a reporter asked me questions and I answered them," he said plainly. "Here-"

Umbridge's beady eyes scanned over the article, her grip on the paper growing tighter with every second. "When did you do this?"

"Last Hogsmeade weekend."

Ramona couldn't hide her smirk as Umbridge's face went a patchy violet colour. "There will be no more Hogsmeade trips for you, Mr Potter," her voice was a dangerous whisper. "How you dare...how you could..."

She stalked away after deducting fifty points from Gryffindor and giving him a week's detentions, clutching The Quibbler to her chest, snapping at students on her way back up to the staff table. Ramona was just glad she was too angry to notice her.

Noon had only just rolled around when there was a new Educational Decree up, banning students from possessing The Quibbler. It had the opposite effect to what Umbridge had intended, however: the magazine became a must-have for Hogwarts students. Luckily, since Ramona had so many copies thanks to Luna, she was the main source of this contraband and charged two sickles a copy, giving all the profit for Luna to send home to her dad.

Ramona also helped people start camouflaging their copies as Umbridge began to randomly ask students to turn out their bags in search of the magazine. She disguised them as extracts from textbooks, letters from great-aunts or sometimes wiped them blank with a simple charm students could undo if they wished to read the article again.

While teachers were not allowed to speak to the students about the article, Professor Flitwick held her back after class and asked for about a dozen copies of the interview, disguised of course, and gifted her a tin of shortbread biscuits on behalf of the teachers as a thank you present. After that, she considered charging people with food only. Illegally dealing a magazine was proving itself to be pretty rewarding.

The article also prompted Cho to start speaking to Potter again which both Marietta and Ramona were annoyed about for very different reasons. They'd both scowled as they watched Cho whisper something in his ear then kiss his cheek. The hot and cold game she was playing with him just didn't seem right, for either of them. The only good thing that came of that was the teasing material it gave Ramona for future use.

The only people who seemed angry about the interview were Ramona's old friends. Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle upped their torment of her due to all their fathers being named as Death Eaters present that night. One morning, they'd blown up her cereal, leaving her smelling like milk all day, another time, they locked her in a broom cupboard and stole her wand but she was swiftly released by a few frightened second years, alerted by her yelling. Worse than this, however, was their continued efforts to sneak into the girls' dorms to find her stash of The Quibbler and get her expelled for it. She'd caught them trying to convince Delilah and Pansy to help them find it but both girls declined, much to her surprise as they still weren't talking and didn't seem likely to any time in the future.

After she offhandedly informed the DA about this one evening, the Weasley twins took it upon themselves to lash back with doubled efforts. With her help, they snuck orange dye into Malfoy's shampoo, set off several Dungbombs in their Quidditch changing room, and performed a really neat charm on their hats which made their heads invisible, refusing to come off until they clapped their hands three times. Best of all was that they had yet to get caught, the twins were pranking masters and they made sure the pranks couldn't be traced back. Ramona enjoyed it more than she let on.

Life finally seemed to be looking up for Ramona again, despite ongoing detentions with Umbridge and the silent treatment she was receiving from her old friends and for the first time in months, she was well and truly happy.

Chapter Text

-March 1996-

Ramona was finishing up her Transfiguration homework one evening in the middle of March, just as the weather began to become warmer and the rain less like freezing bullets and more the romanticised droplets overly-described in poetry, when her concentration was interrupted by a woman screaming in the distance. Several other people in the library had heard it too and were looking around in curiosity and Madam Pince looked livid that any noise at all was permeating the walls of her library. Ramona quickly shoved all her books and loose parchment into her bag, rather haphazardly and ducked out of the library, others following in her stead.

The scream came again, sounding like it came from a floor below. She took the stairs two at a time until she came out into the Entrance Hall which was quickly filling up with other students flooding from the Great Hall where dinner was finishing up. She pushed a path through the crowd until she saw what was going on.

Professor Trelawney stood in the middle of the Entrance Hall, her wand in one hand, an empty sherry bottle in the other, shaking dreadfully, her hair sticking up in every direction as if she'd just been electrocuted. Two large trunks lay by her feet and her magnified eyes stared across the room at a self-satisfied Umbridge. It seemed the fateful day had finally arrived.

"No!" Trelawney shrieked as if she was some kind of vengeful wraith. "No! This cannot be happening...it cannot...I refuse to accept it!"

Ramona had never taken Divination as a class, it conflicted with Ancient Runes, so she couldn't say she knew Professor Trelawney very well especially since it was rare she descended from her tower to eat with the rest of the school so as to maintain her mysterious allure. Still, she felt a surge of pity for the bedraggled woman.

"You didn't realise this was coming?" Umbridge was smiling and sounded deeply amused. "Incapable though you are of predicting even tomorrow's weather, you must surely have realised that your pitiful performance during my inspections and lack of any improvement, would make it inevitable that you would be sacked?"

"You c-can't!" Professor Trelawney wailed, tears streaking down her face and staining the shawls slipping from around her. "You c-can't sack me! I've b-been here sixteen years! Hogwarts is m-my h-home!"

"It was your home," Umbridge walked closer to the poor woman who had collapsed on the floor and was sobbing harder than ever, "until an hour ago, when the Minister for Magic countersigned your Order of Dismissal. Now, kindly remove yourself from this Hall. You are embarrassing us."

A few students were also crying quietly, even people who she knew for a fact hated Sybill Trelawney didn't look happy. It was cruel and malicious, something only Umbridge could delight in.

Footsteps echoed on the stone floor and suddenly, Professor McGonagall was crouched by Trelawney, wiping at her face with a handkerchief and assuring her that she would not be forced to leave the school. It felt like a kind of scene which was not meant for her eyes, something private and personal but Ramona could not tear her eyes away nor will her feet to move.

"Oh really, Professor McGonagall?" Umbridge said in a deadly sort of way which suggested McGonagall would be next on the chopping block if she wasn't careful. "And your authority for that statement is...?"

"That would be mine." A deep voice came as the oaken front doors swung open and Dumbledore appeared before them, a large shadowy figure behind him. People stared at him in silence. How very like Dumbledore to make a dramatic entrance, painting him as Trelawney's saviour.

"Yours, Professor Dumbledore?" Umbridge let out a little laugh which held no mirth. "I'm afraid you do not understand the position. I have here-" she pulled a roll of parchment from her robes, "-an Order of Dismissal signed by myself and the Minister for Magic. Under the terms of Educational Decree Number Twenty-three, the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts has the power to inspect, place upon probation and sack any teacher she-that is to say, I- feel is not performing to the standards required by the Ministry of Magic. I have decided that Professor Trelawney is not up to scratch. I have dismissed her."

Dumbledore smiled of all things, Ramona wondered how many mentally stable teachers they actually had. "You are quite right, of course, Professor Umbridge. As High Inquisitor you have every right to dismiss my teachers. You do not, however, have the authority to send them away from the castle. I am afraid that the power to do that still resides with the Headmaster, and it is my wish that Professor Trelawney continue to live at Hogwarts."

Trelawney was escorted back up the stairs by McGonagall and Sprout, hiccoughing interspersed with laughter echoing away as Flitwick enchanted her luggage to float after them. Umbridge, however, stood there, stock still, a vein in her temple throbbing. Ramona had yet to provoke such a state of anger from her yet, which was really saying something.

"And what are you going to do with her once I appoint a new Divination teacher who needs her lodgings?" Although it was whispered, it carried all the way around the Hall.

"Oh, that won't be a problem," Dumbledore said rather pleasantly. "You see, I've already found us a new Divination teacher and he will prefer lodgings on the ground floor."

"You've found-" her voice was shrill. "You've found? Might I remind you, Dumbledore, that under Educational Decree Number Twenty-two-"

"The Ministry has the right to appoint a suitable candidate if-and only if- the Headmaster is unable to find one," Dumbledore said. "And I am happy to say, on this occasion I have succeeded. May I introduce you?"

The figure moved forwards into the light of the Entrance Hall torches, the sound of hooves against stone following it. Merlin, it was a centaur of all things.

~~

The new Divination teacher, Firenze, was very popular amongst students and was widely regarded as being handsome even though he consistently mentioned the limits of the human mind and sniffed down at their inferior intelligence. The change didn't affect Ramona much, Divination had never been her thing, but Umbridge's resulting rage certainly did affect her. Detentions often spanned up to four agonising hours as she took her frustrations out on students. She had not appreciated Dumbledore undermining her power and this was her way of claiming it back.

She had also increased her amount of inspections in the other classes as a kind of revenge, she seemed to have already chosen her next victim in Hagrid. Ramona was becoming altogether sick of seeing her toady face hovering around with that little clipboard.

As O.W.L.s approached, a certain high-tension anxiety paid a long-term visit to all of the fifth years. Madam Pomfrey was quickly running out of Calming Draught and if it were not for the DA, Ramona was sure she would've completely lost her marbles.

They'd started work on the Patronus Charm, finally, the one thing everyone was looking forward to. Ramona had been very excited about it but her excitement dulled as more and more people got a hang of the charm as the meetings flew by and let their misty animals peruse the room. She hadn't produced so much as a wisp. Then again, neither had Neville Longbottom, despite the fact that they were arguably the most hard-working and determined people there. Still, it was humiliating.

Ramona knew why she couldn't produce a Patronus, all of her happiest memories were bittersweet. She couldn't think about sledding with Delilah or going to the Yule Ball with Blaise after she was unceremoniously dumped by owl the day before or even her first day at Hogwarts without a twinge of sadness reverberating through her. She tried thinking about Regina and how excited she'd been to spend Christmas with her but the Death Eater attack had ruined that for her too. Any memories involving Cedric, him showing her muggle movies and music, them sneaking off while their parents discussed work, just made her upset. She thought about using the past few weeks of pranking or the DA meetings as material but she didn't get so much as a glow of white mist.

"It's useless!" she groaned, staring at Cho's swan with envy. "If I can't produce one here, there's no way I can produce one in the face of a Dementor."

Potter looked at her warily as if she might bite him if he said the wrong thing. "It's okay, Burke, it took me months to make a corporeal Patronus."

"You were also thirteen and facing down a Boggart," she said bitterly, arms crossed tightly over her chest.

He grimaced and moved on to congratulate Lavender on her wisps which were forming into the vague shape of an animal. It was only Ramona and Longbottom who'd had no success at all by the end of the meeting. She took her time packing up as usual, not wanting to return to the dorms before her detention with Umbridge and risk seeing her old friends. This was her last week of detentions before she inevitably earned herself more and she was sure her hand would be appreciative of the break.

She wracked her brain again for happy memories, drawing a big fat blank. Was she really that miserable a person? She must have been if people were sending her such pitying looks as they left the room. If only Patronuses were powered by anger, she would have the Charm mastered within an hour.

Throughout all of detention, her hand worked on autopilot and the pain was dulled, her mind focused on happy memories. There was that first DA meeting but then she remembered how nobody had wanted to partner with her. What about her time in Grimmauld Place? No, she'd still felt left out even with her sister there. She thought of all the times she'd insulted Umbridge and the the satisfaction she felt breaking her rules but surely that alone wouldn't be powerful enough.

She trudged away from detention late that night, still pondering as she applied the balm Granger had gifted her for Christmas to her bleeding wound (she'd eventually found it wrapped in a pair of her socks in her trunk). As she made her way back to the Slytherin common room, she was surprised to hear a quiet voice coming from an empty classroom to her left. Being nosy and bored, she pressed her ear against the door.

"Expecto Patronum!" The muffled voice said, frustration bleeding into their tone. "Expecto Patronum!"

Had this person been there ever since the DA meeting? That was some serious dedication, she had to admit. As quietly as she could, she tried to peer under the crack at the bottom of the door, curious, but the tub of balm slipped from her fingers and clattered against the stone floor. She swore loudly, lunging to pick it up and flee the scene.

She scrambled up as footsteps approached but she'd barely taken two steps away when the door was wrenched open and she found herself face to face with Neville Longbottom.

"Oh," he said, "I thought you were a teacher."

"Sorry, I'm just heading back from detention and I dropped this," she held up the little tub with an awkward smile.

"Is she still making you...you know?"

"Yeah," she held out her hand, it was still an angry red and puckered up but the bleeding had stopped. "It's definitely going to scar, nothing I can do about it really...what were you doing?" she asked as if she hadn't been listening through the door like a creep.

Longbottom flushed a pale pink, barely visible in the dim torchlight. "Oh, I was just practicing."

"Still can't get it?" She hadn't meant it maliciously but he still ducked his head and avoided her gaze. "Me either. See, I can think of loads of times that I've been happy but they're all ruined by something else and I can't do it."

"I just...can't think of anything happy enough."

Merlin, and Ramona had thought she was miserable. In fifteen years he couldn't think of a single purely happy memory? That was something she had to fix. "Guess we'll have to make our own then."

"I don't think you can do that," he said morosely.

"Don't tempt me, Longbottom, I love a challenge." The words had barely left her lips when a hissing came from the right. Their heads snapped around, eyes landing on Filch's abhorrent cat, Mrs Norris. Their stomachs dropped; wherever Mrs Norris went, Filch was soon to follow and both were suddenly hit with the realisation that they were out of bed long after curfew.

"Run?" She asked, already backing away.

"Run." 

They took off towards the stairs, going up rather than down, shoes slamming hard and fast against the stone steps, robes billowing out behind them, fear and panic spurring them on. There was something about running that set the soul aflame, it awakened something deep within, an ancient universal need. The rhythm of their pounding feet and thundering hearts echoed in a discordant symphony, running with no direction, they felt more than human for a precious few minutes.

They collapsed after running all the way up to the entrance to Gryffindor Tower, Ramona giggling in between heaving intakes of air. Her ribs and the sides of her chest burned and she felt dizzy and lightheaded but in that moment, it was the best feeling in the world. She was starting to wonder if she was becoming an adrenaline junkie.

"That...was...brilliant."

"You're...insane."

"Maybe a...little bit." 

Ramona dissolved into breathless, insane laughter again, waking the Fat Lady with a jolt. The portrait sneered down at her disdainfully. "What's a Slytherin doing here, boy?"

Longbottom began to stammer and choke on his already breathless words, round cheeks flushing an even darker red. Ramona couldn't fight the endearing smile that plucked at the corner of her lips and got ready to put on her airs and graces and her most polite smile. Despite not usually acting like it, she had been raised to be a proper little lady.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your sleep, Ma'am, we were running from Mrs Norris, Umbridge kept us too long in detention." It was only a little white lie and it was well worth it as it had the desired effect on the Fat Lady. The portraits disliked Umbridge as much as the students did after she'd started taking some of them down to make room for Educational Decree notices. 

The Fat Lady puffed up her chest, her gaze turning to one of appraisal. "Well, at least you have more manners than most Gryffindor students...I'm not letting you in the common room, though!"

Ramona flashed Longbottom a self-satisfied, celebratory look. "What can I say? Silver tongue."

"You're too good at that," he grumbled, finally getting to his feet. 

"Nah, I'm just good enough, probably wouldn't be able to talk my way out of punishment if I run into Filch," she shrugged, already starting to make her way back downstairs; at the very least she was getting a good leg workout and she'd be so late in none of her roommates would be awake to glare at her.

"Do you...want me to walk you back?" 

She felt suddenly flustered, a weird tightness knotted up in her chest. "Oh, no, that's okay, you'd be more likely to get caught, no offence."

"A little taken."

Ramona waved over her shoulder without looking back, taking the stairs two at a time, planning her route to the Slytherin common room in her head. She'd barely made it two flights before footsteps sounded behind her and a voice shouted: "Wait!"

She whirled around in alarm, expecting to see a teacher or Filch or a prefect but instead found Longbottom doubled over, holding out a familiar package. 

"Merlin, you walk fast," he shook her package of Sugar Quills again. "You dropped these."

It seemed she'd found a good contender for her happy memory.

Chapter Text

-April 1996-

Ramona was correct in assuming that she'd found her memory. She latched onto it with fierce determination, every giggle, every breathless whisper, every thunderous beat of her heart as she'd run from Filch. She produced her first wisps at the start of that class and almost burst into tears with relief, she'd started to fear that there was something out there she couldn't do and she couldn't even stand the thought of that.

The mist began to form a shape about halfway through the meeting and from that point onwards, she refused to let anyone speak to her so as not to break her concentration. Ramona Burke was nothing if not a stubborn bitch. Now that she was having some success, Longbottom was the only one for which nothing at all seemed to be happening no matter how hard he screwed his face up in determination or whipped his wand or spoke the incantation through gritted teeth.

Ramona didn't take much notice of this or anyone else for that matter for on her twenty-third attempt that day, a bird burst from the tip of her wand, a hooked beak, wickedly sharp claws and narrow wings: a falcon. She was so surprised and delighted with herself that she almost let it dissipate but quickly regained control of her senses and let it glide over the other students' heads. There was nothing wrong with her after all-or at least in that sense.

"Thank Merlin," her shoulders eased down, the tension slipping away from them. "I was worried it might be a raccoon or some kind of fish."

"I don't know," Luna said airily from her side, having appeared out of nowhere, her undivided attention on her own silver hare, "I wouldn't mind getting a fish, they're cute."

"Not as a spirit animal though, Luna, babe." She loved the little smile that flitted across the younger girl's face every time she referred to her with any term of endearment.

"I'd be happy with anything at this point," Longbottom angrily shoved his wand back up his sleeve. "Fish or otherwise."

The distant sound of the door opening and closing echoed throughout the cavernous room. Ramona, who was stood close to the door, realised with a jolt that it was not a person who had entered the Room of Requirement but a House Elf, laden down with multicoloured hats and scarves and socks, almost swallowing him whole. He looked like a pile of laundry that had sprouted arms and legs and bat-like ears. "Potter!" she called in worry, a sense that something was very wrong sitting in the pit of her stomach.

He ambled over, smiling as the elf threw himself forwards and latched onto his knees. "Hi Dobby! What are you-what's wrong?"

Everyone had fallen silent and was watching the exchange with bated breath, Patronuses fading away and making the room appear much darker than it already was.

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

Before anyone could stop him, he ran head-first into the nearest wall, Potter made an attempt to seize him before he could do it again but he bounced off the stone wall a second time.

"What's happened, Dobby?"

"Harry Potter...she...she..." He hit himself hard on the nose with a knobbly fist.

"Who's 'she', Dobby?" His voice sounded like he already knew, however. "Umbridge?"

There came a stiff nod and an attempt to smack his head against Potter's knees. Ramona felt a clammy sweat blossom atop her skin in a light sheen.

"What about her? Dobby-she hasn't found out about this-about us-what about the DA?" The elf tried to kick himself before he sank defeated to his knees. "Is she coming?"

Dobby let out an anguished howl. "Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

Terrified looks flitted from student to student. "What are you waiting for? Run!"

There was a dash for the door, bodies jostling uncomfortably against each other, panic thick and heavy in the air. Ramona, however, struggled against the crowd, she wasn't looking to escape. Luna, Longbottom and Ginny tried to call after her, snatch at her robes, but they were swept away with the current and out of the door as the students exploded out into the corridor, the pounding of their footsteps sounded more like a herd of stampeding elephants.

Ramona finally broke free of the crowd and made a beeline for Potter, who was giving the elf instructions. "Potter! Potter, let me take the blame!"

"What?" Potter, Granger and Weasley had all spoken at once, horrified. "No!"

They'd started moving towards the door themselves, giving her no other option but to follow in their stead. "It makes sense, I won't get as harsh a punishment, I'm a Slytherin and my parents are friends with her. I won't be expelled, you will!"

"No, Burke!" Potter roared. "Nobody will be getting expelled if you stop talking and run!"

He shoved her down a corridor so roughly that she almost slipped and fell and Ramona let her self-preservation win over the desire to protect (Merlin, all these Gryffindors were rubbing off on her), taking off down the branching hall. She was doing far more running than she would have liked those days. Her heart pounded in her ears, blurring her concentration and she wasn't wholly aware of where she was going. There was nothing on her mind but escape and avoiding punishment.

She managed to make her way to the staircases, noticing several other members darting off upstairs. Ramona fled downwards instead, the far-off sounds of yelling pushing her on. Instead of going straight to the dungeons, she took a detour, heading to the Transfiguration room. If she hadn't obviously been running and didn't still have her wand in hand she could have lied and said she wanted to see McGonagall about a question for homework.

Perhaps it would be smarter to head for the girls' bathroom-but before she could skid in, something wrapped itself tightly around her ankles and Ramona went down fast, arms pinwheeling, smacking hard against the cold floor and making a rather embarrassing noise from the impact. She lay there for a moment, her breathing laboured, and accepted her fate. And when she'd only just finished up with detentions with Umbridge too.

"Mona?" The familiar voice sent a pang of guilt through her. "Really?"

"Hey there, Delilah," she managed to flip herself onto her back so she could look up at a girl she'd once considered to be family, her closest confidant, their bond unbreakable. "So, you're with Umbridge now?"

Her face, which had momentarily been one of surprise, hardened. "Yes."

Ramona scowled up at her, she didn't know why she was surprised. "Even when you know what she does? Literal torture, Delilah, or do you need a reminder?"

She presented the back of her hand, scarred over words which she'd been told a million times: don't talk back, don't fight, don't be problematic. They were ugly but they were the truth and she wanted to see guilt on Delilah's face, shame even.

"You brought it upon yourself, Ramona," Delilah had that sort of cold anger that Ramona hated festering in her tone. "I warned you, I tried to protect you but you were so...so determined to be somebody you're not."

Ramona wanted to scream at her that this was who she was, that Delilah had never protected her against anything, that Ramona didn't want any of this, that she'd never thought she'd have to choose between her friends and doing what was right but she did what her hand said: she bit her tongue and stared back with a burning hatred in her eyes. Silence was so very unlike her. Being so estranged from someone you once loved with your entire heart was a strange feeling though and she couldn't really bring herself to yell and scream and kick up a fuss.

Delilah sighed, her hands flew to her hair and she cursed under her breath. "Just go, Ramona. Go, before somebody less forgiving than me finds you. Pansy is checking all the bathrooms and Daphne and Goyle are checking the library, go to the common room, nobody will be looking around there."

With a flick of her wand, she undid the jinx and freed Ramona's legs. Ramona didn't need to be told twice, she scrambled to her feet as gracefully and dignified as she could manage and left a guilty-faced Delilah behind her. Mercy made hating her so much more difficult, a part of her would've preferred to have been handed over to Umbridge on a silver platter.

Chapter Text

-April 1996-

Umbridge wasted no time and by the following morning, notices had sprung up proclaiming her as the new Headmistress of Hogwarts. She'd also speedily created something called the Inquisitorial Squad, students she'd handpicked to work above even prefects, students who were supportive of her and the Ministry's agenda. Of course, almost all her old friend group were on this so-called Inquisitorial Squad, their badges glinting at her mockingly everywhere she went. The one benefit of being in the same House as all of them was that they didn't dock her points when she compared them to the Gestapo or when she cursed Malfoy's badge to read 'INEPT SKREWT' though she was threatened with detention more than once.

Rumours circulated the school like wildfire about Dumbledore's escape from the school, about how he'd defeated two Aurors, the Minister for Magic, his Junior Assistant and the High Inquisitor though details seemed to have gone awry. Some said he'd turned into a phoenix and flown out the window, others insisted that he'd sent Fudge to Mungo's with a pumpkin for a head and some fashioned even wilder rumours about Fudge being his old and spurned lover.

Marietta's betrayal also was now well-known. She was still in the Hospital Wing and the only person who would speak to her was Cho. Ramona had yet to speak to either of them, she really did have the worst luck with friends. She'd heard some snide comments that she'd talked Marietta into doing it, that she was some sort of mastermind in the downfall of the DA but Ramona was quick to defend herself.

"Sorry, who are you again?" she'd said rather rudely to Zacharias Smith after she overheard him whispering to his friends about her. "Were you not the same person who only came because you wanted to see if Potter was lying?"

Luna took her gently by the arm and steered her off down the hall, heading towards lunch. "Ignore him, it's easier to put the blame on you, that's why they do it."

"If you would just let me at him I could shut him up for good," Ramona pleaded. "Blaming me is far too hard if your jaw is broken."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you have a killer right hook but do you really want more detentions?" Ginny said, she was joining them more and more often these days. "At this rate you're giving the twins a run for their money for the record of most detentions in a year."

Ramona smirked, oddly proud. "Oh, I've long since beaten that record, at this point I'm just doing it for the heck of it."

As she'd said the words, a large boom sounded throughout the entire school, the walls and the floor shook, disgruntled portraits yelled and complained loudly. The three girls shared a look before they rushed down the stairs, two floors down, only to find that someone had set off an entire crate of enchanted fireworks. Emerald green dragons, shockingly-pink Catherine wheels which emitted a high-pitched whistling, silver and gold sparklers spelling out foul words. The entire floor was a blaze of colours and lights as fireworks lethally swept the place.

The fireworks swelled in size and strength as the seconds went by and began to move off down another floor, into classrooms, out the windows and onto the grounds; it was spectacular pandemonium.

Unfortunately, Umbridge and Filch arrived on the scene, holding Potter tightly by the arm and Ramona's first instinct was to throw her hands into the air and proclaim that she hadn't done it but no notice was taken of her. At first Umbridge attempted to Stun the fireworks but only succeeding in blasting a hole in one of the portraits, then Filch tried to swat at them with a broom until it swiftly caught fire. It was a lovely little promotion gift for their new Headmistress.

Roaring with laughter, Potter grabbed the girls and pulled them behind a tapestry which held a passageway and guided them up. They didn't get far before they ran into the twins, clutching their stomachs and tears streaming down their freckled cheeks, the obvious culprits.

"Impressive," Potter said, thumping them appreciatively on the backs. "Very impressive...you'll put Dr Filibuster out of business, no problem..."

"Cheers," whispered George Weasley, wiping at his tears. "Oh, I hope she tries Vanishing them next...they multiply by ten every time you try."

"Want me to slip some into the Slytherin common room?" Ramona said with a sly grin.

"Do we even need to dignify that with an answer? Yes!" Unlit fireworks had already been shovelled into her bag and the party split with mischievous glee on their lips.

~~

The fireworks continued to cause havoc all day, they broke into classrooms, set homework on fire, made the Slytherin common room completely inaccessible all afternoon and left Umbridge covered in soot and sweat as she'd been left alone to deal with them.

The delight Ramona took in the chaos was however broken after dinner that night. She'd been sat with Luna, in deep discussion about Heliopaths and how exactly Fudge had bred them to be his personal army, when Cho sank down into the seat opposite them. The conversation died rather quickly and a silence ensued.

"Are you okay, Cho?" Ramona said after a beat, worried. "It must've been really hard to lose Marietta after all she's done for you."

Cho looked up over her stew. "Lose her? I haven't lost Marietta as a friend?"

Ramona frowned and sat up a little straighter in her seat, any thought of Heliopaths or comfort gone from her mind. "She could've gotten you and all of us expelled."

An awkwardness lay over them like a wet blanket, dulling everything else going on around them. "Well...I never dreamed she'd tell but she's a lovely person, really, it was just a mistake, and that was a horrible thing of Hermione Granger to do to her!"

Ramona didn't want to ask what exactly Granger had done. "It was no mistake, she knew exactly what she was doing."

"It's been really hard for her, Mona, her mother works at the Ministry and-"

"So does mine!" Ramona snapped. "So does the Weasleys' father, and Susan Bones' aunt! That's not a valid excuse."

Cho's face was red, whether it was with anger or embarrassment, Ramona didn't know. "I thought you and Marietta were just becoming friends! I thought you, more than anybody, might understand what it's like!"

Ramona's face hardened, her lips pursed, gaze steely, she could hardly believe Cho was comparing having a mother who works for the Ministry to having Death Eaters for parents. "Clearly I don't understand. Just because a bad person is capable of being nice occaisonally, doesn't make them good. Marietta had been nasty and conceited and disloyal but you choose to overlook it because she's nice to you and sometimes tolerates me. You might want to rethink who your real friends are, Cho."

Cho left rather abruptly, any thoughts of eating dinner snuffed out like a candle, struggling to hold back her tears. Ramona sighed heavily and watched her speed out of the Great Hall.

"Was that a bit harsh?" she asked softly.

"Yes," Luna said, her voice betraying no emotions. "But it was the truth and perhaps it was what she needed to hear."

"Or maybe I've lost one of my only friends." She stabbed her fork into her chicken forcefully. Cho was the only person who really understood how she'd felt about losing Cedric, was the person who had brought her to the DA and turned her life on its head. They were very different people but they had always understood each other in a way few people could and Ramona couldn't believe how easily she'd thrown that all away for something Cho hadn't even done.

Luna laid her hand on Ramona's shoulder. "If you truly love someone, they're never really lost to you...sometimes a goodbye is necessary to meet again."

Ramona wasn't so sure that statement was applicable to her and her multitude of broken relationships but she laid a hand over Luna's and vowed to keep her close.

~~

The the Easter Holidays had arrived sooner than Ramona had expected. Her and Cho still weren't talking but she'd found out what Granger had done to Marietta and the cruel spiteful part of her thought it was incredible. Granger had blushed when she'd told her as much as if she'd given her the highest form of compliment.

At this point, Ramona was positive that Umbridge had forgotten to punish whatever members of the DA had been caught as several told her they were, perhaps so distracted by Dumbledore's show and then the fireworks situation. She wasn't complaining, it was nice to have a bit of a respite from the constant torture.

The Great Toad's Reign of Terror continued, however, even if they'd managed to evade punishment once. All letters and packages were now being read and inspected, not only hers, and came big big red stamps on them proclaiming that they'd been 'Inspected and Passed by the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts'. Because all mail in and out of Hogwarts was now being checked, people were receiving everything sometimes weeks late. The holidays had long since come and gone when Ginny came to her with an Easter Egg her mother had been kind enough to send for Ramona along with a letter declaring how lovely it was of her to send a thank you gift and that she must visit over the summer.

Exams were edging ever closer and the exam years were practically immovable from the library. She was secretly glad of this as it was yet another excuse to spend as much time not in her dorm as possible. Studying wasn't all bad, in fact, she might have found it peaceful if Longbottom wasn't stress-sweating across from her, moaning about all the stuff he didn't know and how upset his grandmother would be with him.

"If you fail all your exams you can just join the circus or something," she whispered offhandedly, keeping an eye out in case Madam Pince came whirling round the corner with her sharp ears. "That's my plan. Or I'll join the Ministry, it's clear they're letting anybody in nowadays."

He gave her a withering look. "Join the circus? With what talent? Maybe you could talk your way into any job you want but I can't."

She reached across the table and removed his hands from where they were pulling at his sandy hair in frustration. "Then I guess I'll just have to come to all your job interviews with you and convince them to hire you."

"I think that's illegal," he slammed his head down on the table.

"When has that ever stopped me?" she shrugged. "We shouldn't limit ourselves by what's 'legal', the Pink Toad certainly hasn't and look what it's gotten her!"

He lifted his head up, a massive red mark in the middle of his forehead. "Should you really be using her as inspiration?"

"Of course, being a terrible human being gets you places and makes you a lot of money, we can't completely rule it out as a viable career option."

"Merlin, is she trying to corrupt you, Neville?" Potter said, looking to be in a right mood as he always seemed to be those days as he slid into one of the free chairs and dragged a massive book out of his bag and heaved it onto the table with a soft thump.

Ramona pretended to laugh. "How hilarious, Potter, it was actually insightful commentary on societal hierarchies but I'm sure you're too busy moping to care."

"I'm not moping."

"Your face says otherwise," she rolled her eyes and reached over and poked his eye with the tip of her quill. "It's not like I want you to tell me, but tell someone else so the rest of us don't have to deal with the angsty Boy-Who-Lived."

"Ramona!" Longbottom hissed under his breath, mortified. She threw up her hands in defence, but Potter seemed to be actually listening for once. Maybe her methods of delivering advice weren't always nice but they were clearly effective. At least she had enough tact not to ask him about Cho, she assumed any semblance of their relationship had been thoroughly severed since she'd taken Marietta's side.

"Just think about it, Merlin, I thought you Gryffindors were really into all that 'a problem shared is a problem halved' crap."

It seemed she'd planted some sort of wild idea in Potter's head as he'd sprung to his feet, abandoning the idea of study and charged out of the library, almost barrelling into Madam Pince.

"Why do I feel I've made a mistake of some sort?"

Longbottom sighed. "Whatever stupid thing he's about to do would be done eventually, with or without your input."

Chapter Text

-April 1996-

The news that the entirety of fifth year would have to have a careers talk with their Head of House came soon, posted in the common rooms, as pamphlets, leaflets and notices. Ramona was not looking forward to it for a multitude of reasons, the main ones being that she didn't have a clue what she wanted to do in the future and that she'd have to say this to Severus Snape, a man who hated his job almost as much as he hated children. She read through every advertisement and all the requirements for each job and still she was drawing up a blank.

"Well," Luna hummed thoughtfully when the issue had been brought to her. "You're really good at History and Muggle Studies and...yelling at people."

"I can't go into anything where I have to deal with people," she took far too large a bite out of her toast and almost choked on it. "And I'm too impatient for any kind of research or extended education, my grades aren't good enough to become an Auror and I'd rather die than work for the Ministry."

"It's quite the predicament," Luna commented unhelpfully. "What are you thinking of doing, Neville?"

He balked for a second and set his mug down a bit too loudly. "Um...I dunno, I'm not good at anything."

Ramona threw the remainder of her toast at him, smearing jam on his left cheek. "Herbology, dumbass! That gives you loads of options."

He shook his head mournfully as Ginny wiped off the jam with a napkin. "I'm not good enough."

"Because you're fifteen, they don't expect you to come into any profession already an expert," she explained more softly than she normally would. "All they want to see is a passion, which you already have."

He fell silent and kept his gaze trained down on his plate so she couldn't tell what he was thinking. 

"You could train security trolls!" Ginny handed Ramona a pamphlet. "You'd be brill at that, Mona! Not even Snape could deny that."

She probably would, to be fair, but she'd already made the decision to not discuss any actual careers she was interested in her meeting. She'd heard from people who'd already gone that Umbridge was present in all of their meetings and every time she was presented with the idea of infuriating Dolores Umbridge, Ramona happily took the bait no matter what repercussions it cost her.

Her meeting was scheduled for Tuesday afternoon, just after lunch, and she fought hard to keep the grin off her face when she spotted their new Headmistress in the corner with her little clipboard. Snape looked as he always did, fed up and bored and like he hadn't taken a shower in several days. Why he'd been made Head of Slytherin, she'd never understand. 

"Good afternoon," she took a seat opposite his own.

"Well, Burke," Snape drawled our in his monotone. "This meeting is so we can talk over any ideas for careers you have to help you decide what subjects to keep through N.E.W.T. Level. Do you have any ideas?"

She let her smile come then. "Actually, sir, yes I have. I've been thinking long and hard about this and I've settled on becoming a Muggle bin-man."

Umbridge made a strange choking noise behind her pink frills, Snape's brow lifted. "Really, Miss Burke? A bin-man?"

"Yes," She said with a very serious tone. "I've had a calling."

She wasn't exactly lying, she'd certainly had a calling for pissing people off.

"I'm not sure what subjects you'd need for such a profession," he shrugged. "Anything else?"

She hummed thoughtfully, thinking it over. "My backup would probably be the Senior Undersecretary of the Minister for Magic, I've heard the position is far less demanding than my first choice."

Umbridge's face was slowly turning purple, barely visible in the dim lighting of Snape's office. "I think you'll find you're quite mistaken, my dear," her voice was trembling with rage, the sickly sweet air she masked her venom in slipping away. "It is a high rank I'm sure you are not well suited for."

She cocked her head as if she didn't know exactly what she was doing. "Considering the previous occupants of that position, I don't believe it would be a difficult accomplishment."

"Detention, Miss Burke!" Umbridge shrieked as her mask fell from her grip, her clipboard clattering to the ground, one of the buttons on her dress popping and ricocheting off the wall.

"Whatever for, Professor?" Stifling her laugh was difficult.

She tromped closer to the young girl, a pudgy finger pointing in her face. "Oh, I see right through your act, Miss Burke, your blatant disrespect, disregard, is highly insulting! I have tried to teach you respect, manners, but I see now that you are nothing but a rotten apple. You are a lost cause, Ramona Burke, the Ministry would never have you, no reputable employer would have you. If it is a Muggle profession you want, my dear, it is a Muggle profession you will have."

"Thank you for your support, Professor, it really means a lot."

She left Snape's office with another month's detention and with her head held high. Dolores Umbridge couldn't tell her anything she hadn't already heard, she couldn't hurt her, no matter how hard she tried and Ramona was starting to believe that was the real reason Umbridge despised her. She couldn't help it, she let out a stream of giddy laughter, right in the middle of the hallway, probably appearing to be a complete madwoman.

She made her way to return to classes, only to be met with the sight of what appeared to be a swamp occupying the entirety of the fifth floor. She stood there, staring down the greenish-brown sludge for several seconds before swivelling on her heel and stalking back downstairs. No doubt this was the work of the Weasley twins and she didn't want to get the blame for it. Anyways, she was grateful for the excuse not to go to Charms.

As she made her way into the Entrance Hall, however, she was greeted with a large congregation of students cramped together, trying to peer over each other's heads and for a second she was worried Umbridge was trying to fire another teacher to reaffirm herself of her power. There was a great deal of shouting and many of the students looked as though they'd been caught in the fifth-floor swamp. Ramona used her vantage point on the stairs to crane over heads and then she spotted the twins in the centre of the crowd, Peeves bobbing over their heads with anticipation.

Umbridge stormed past her, pushing her roughly into the stair banister and the students cleared a path for her to get through, faces now eager to see some drama. The anger that Ramona had provoked only fifteen minutes ago was now replaced with clear and obvious triumph, she finally had grounds for an expulsion.

"So," she said, malevolent glee seeping from her thin lips. "So-you think it amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

"Pretty amusing, yeah."

Filch elbowed past Ramona this time, his elbows were bonier than she'd expected, waving a slip on parchment in the air as if it were a golden ticket. "I've got the form, Headmistress! I've got the form and I've got the whips waiting...oh, let me do it now..."

Merlin, was child abuse some strange sadistic kink of the caretaker's? How had he even been allowed to work in the school in the first place? Umbridge was wrong about many things but she was definitely correct that some of Dumbledore's hiring choices were ridiculous.

"Very good, Argus," she said, hands rested on her hips in a power-pose of sorts. "You two are about to learn what happens to wrong-doers in my school."

"You know what?" Fred said, projecting his voice, mischief written all over his face. "I don't think we are. George, I think we've outgrown full-time education."

"Yeah, I've been feeling that way myself," he replied casually.

"Time to test out talents in the real world, d'you reckon?" 

"Definitely."

Before anyone could say anything, before Umbridge could crack the whip, they raised their wands high in the air and shouted: "Accio brooms!"

A distinctive crash sounded from somewhere upstairs and Ramona only barely dodged getting smacked in the face by two Cleansweep Sevens that cut through the air and whizzed towards their masters who caught them easily and with great flourish.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred told Umbridge as he swung himself up and onto his broom.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch,"  George flashed her a cheeky grin.

Their gaze now turned to the surrounding crowd. "If anyone fancies buying a Portable Swamp, as demonstrated upstairs, come to number ninety-three, Diagon Alley-Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, our new premises!"

"Special discounts to Hogwarts students who swear they're going to use our products to get rid of this old bat."

"Stop them!" Umbridge shrieked, her arms flapping as she raced forwards but the Inquisitorial Squad were too slow and their spells hit nothing but each other as they closed in.

The twins were now high in the air and grinning like maniacs, they'd clearly been waiting to do this all year. "Give her hell from us, Peeves."

Peeves saluted them with an air of sincerity Ramona had never seen on him before and she cheered and bellowed with the majority of the students body as the twins sped out the open doors and into the afternoon sky like a set of heroes in a story.

~~

The same night of the twins' fabulous escape, Ginny found Ramona after her new bout of detentions started up, catching her from behind a large tapestry of the signing of the Goblin Rights Act of 1675. Though her face was shrouded in darkness, Ramona did not miss her broad smile or the package in her hands.

"What's going on?" Ramona whispered, knowing the Inquisitorial Squad and the Prefects would be doing their patrols around about this time. 

Ginny pressed the package into Ramona's hands, it was surprisingly heavy. "They left it in their dorm, Lee Jordan says it's for you."

"Thanks," Ramona shoved it deep into her bag, underneath a surplus of books and several empty packets of Sugar Quills. "Do you know what's in it?"

Ginny shook her head and her hair splayed over her shoulders. "I don't think I want to but I presume I'll find out eventually."

In the safety of the locked bathroom in her dorm, Ramona found herself face-to-face with an impressive haul of brightly-coloured fireworks, strange-smelling sweets, odd metal contraptions, bottled potions, the like of which she'd never seen, and a small, quickly-scrawled note which read: 'Use them wisely - Gred & Forge'.

She was a rat amongst snakes and she'd been gifted with an almighty means to wreak havoc in their den. They'd chosen their disciple wisely. Had it not been for the formation of the Inquisitorial Squad, she might have hesitated, might have let guilt swarm her like angry wasps and dissuade her, but if her old friends had taught her anything, it was to be merciless when striving to achieve what you want. What she wanted now was not power, it was chaos with perhaps a small sprinkling of revenge.

Ramona Burke had never doubted her placement in Slytherin until the past year but she found all her doubts erasing themselves. Her ambition and cunning was just of a different sort to the rest of her peers, it was the kind that was not valued but after she was done with them, it would be. There was nothing Ramona did better than complaining and pissing people off and she was more than prepared to exploit these skills for the suffering of Slytherin's biggest bigots.