XXVI.   ready for combat

Devore was a mess. She was scatter brained. It was as if she wasn't there, like she was on another planet. She was afraid of everything around her, a feeling that she thought she'd gotten rid of. Devore thought she was finally at peace and now the situation with Umbridge was unraveling everything she had worked towards getting better. Or maybe it was all in her head, and her mind was playing tricks on her. Maybe the demons were back and they were trying to pull her back into the darkness. She wouldn't put it past them.

Nobody but Harry understood how she was feeling, and even if she didn't tell him everything she was feeling, she told him enough. And he got it. Devore wasn't afraid to admit to him that she was scared because so was he. Harry had written to Sirius, telling him about the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. Devore had evaluated writing her mother, telling her what happened, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. It would put stress on her, and Devore would feel guilty for it.

For the next few days, she stayed by Harry's side. He had become her comfort blanket in a way. She hadn't spoken to Fred since what happened in the Gryffindor common room, mostly because she was too ashamed to apologize. She felt incredibly guilty for yelling at him. He was only trying to help.

The day was still and quiet, chilly but there was no breeze. Devore walked alongside Harry outside the castle, both of them needing a break. "He didn't mean to upset you, y'know?" Harry said to her.

She nodded slightly. "I know. I didn't mean to yell at him. I just—"

"You don't have to say it. I understand."

She grew a faint smile. "How's Quidditch? Y'know, since Ron's the new keeper. Still can't believe it."

"He's trying his best. He's not that bad." Harry insisted, cringing slightly. "It makes him happy, though. I suppose that's all that matters."

Devore had grown to know that Ron wasn't the most athletic. Neither of them were, which is why they always sat in the stands and watched the matches instead of trying to participate. But she'd support him no matter what, Devore thought.

"I think you're the only person who truly gets it." She watched him frown, the birds chirping becoming the only sound. Devore inhaled a breath. "I just mean that you understand me and I understand you. It's always been that way. We've both lost someone. I know the others care and try their best to help but. . . they'll never truly understand like you do."

Harry truly did understand. "You're more than just my best friend, Dev. You know that, right?"

A soft smile stretched on her lips. "Of course I do."

When the two of them saw Luna, they paused their walk. She stood in front of one of the black skeleton like horses, feeding them meat. Hello Harry Potter, Devore Taylor." Her dream like voice sent shivers down Devore's spine.

"Your feet. Aren't they cold?" Harry asked instead of saying hello back.

Devore looked down and her eyes widened when she saw that Luna wasn't wearing any shoes.

Luna nodded. "Bit. Unfortunately, all my shoes have disappeared. I suspect nargals are behind it."

"Oh Luna, you can always borrow some of mine. We wear the same size." Devore insisted.

She smiled again. "You're very kind, Devore."

"What are they?" Harry asked, referring to the animal.

"They're called thestrals." Luna answered.

"They're beautiful." Said Devore, her expression reading amazement.

"Yes, they're quite gentle really, but people avoid them because they're a bit. . ." The Ravenclaw trailed off and the three of them turned their heads to see a baby thesteal walking down the hill.

"Different?" Harry finished.

She walked forward toward the baby. Harry and Devore followed her. "Why can't the others see?"

"They can only be seen by people who have seen death."

Devore's heart sank. "Your mum?"

Luna nodded. "She was quite an extraordinary witch but she did like to experiment." She explained to them, the sadness hinted small when she thought about her mother.

"What happened to her?" Asked Harry, not knowing the story.

"One day one of her spells went badly wrong. I was nine."

"I'm sorry."

"It was rather horrible. I do feel very sad about it sometimes. But I've got dad." Luna declared and reached in her bag for a red apple. "We both believe you, by the way."

Both Devore and Harry looked at her.

"That He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Mamed is back and you fought him and the Ministry and Prophet are conspiring against you and Dumbledore."

Devore couldn't help but smile.

"Thanks. Seems like you and Devore are the only ones that do."

"I don't think that's true." Luna denied and rolled the apple toward the baby animal. "I suppose that's how he wants you to feel."

That confused them. "What do you mean?" Harry questioned.

"Well, if I were You-Know-Who, I'd want you to feel cut off from everyone else. Cause if it's just you alone,  you're not as much of a threat."

Devore lifted her head and made eye contact with him. Harry gave Luna a smile, a true one at that. Luna tossed a piece of meat to the baby thestral and it gobbled it down immediately. For a moment, Devore had stopped thinking about her hand.

She and Harry began walking back to the castle. "She's a bit odd, yeah?" He spoke.

Devore nodded. "A bit, yes. But she's brilliant."

"Brilliant."

Halfway back to the castle, Harry turned to her again. "Devore." She look at him. "Even when we weren't speaking, I hated you with Draco." He brought up, making her laugh.

"Yeah, you and everyone else."

"I saw the way he treated you. It took everything in me not to kill him. And I knew one of the only reasons you acted the way you did was because of him, because you didn't want people to know he was hurting you."

Devore's face fell at the continuation.

"You're not crazy for thinking you'll get hurt again. In fact, your feelings are valid. But Fred really does love you. You must know that." Harry spoke as gently as he could, but firm to get his point across.

"Of course I know that, Harry." She spoke lowly. "So why can't I get over the past? Every time I think I'm past it, something always happens and I can't help but think the worst."

"You'll never just get over it, Dev. It's not that easy. Believe me, I know. But when you're happy with your life and with yourself, the good always outweighs the bad. Look at everything you've been through with me, with Ron and Hermione. We forgave you. We love you. The good outweighs the bad, I promise."

There was another reason why Harry and Devore were such great friends. He always knew what to say. Even if he was awkward and sheepish, he knew when his friends were upset, and he always knew how to fix it. Devore hugged him. "Thank you, Harry. I needed that."

Harry was right, is all that she could say to herself when whole way back inside the castle. What happened to her, what happened in the past, would never just go away with the snap of a finger. It was a part of her, it's what made her strong. The good always outweighs the bad and Devore had so many good things. She had her mother, she had her brother. She had all of her friends and she had a boy that loved her more than anything. A boy who'd never hurt her. Fred wasn't Draco. He wasn't even close.

Walking into the Great Hall, Devore spotted Fred sitting with Lee and George, the three of them looking through the Skiving Snackboxes. Harry touched her shoulder, smiling encouragingly, and he went to sit with Ron and Hermione at the table.

With her hands shaking and legs like jelly, Devore walked up behind Fred, George and Lee pausing their conversation when they saw her. She put her hand on his shoulder and Fred turned around, the smile on his face fading ever so slightly.

She motioned her head to the door and without a word, Fred got up. The others watched them walk away. "Think they'll work it out?" Lee asked out loud.

George nodded. "It's Fred and Devore. They'll be okay."

Devore looked up at Fred, feeling her mouth go dry. "Hi." She spoke nervously.

"Hi." Fred said back, a little awkward, and he put his hands in his back pockets.

There was silence. "Fred, I'm sorry—"

"You don't have to—"

"Please, just listen to me." She insisted and put her hands together. "Please?" Fred licked his lips and nodded silently. Devore inhaled a quick breath. "I'm not crazy for thinking I'll get hurt again." She recited Harry's words. "But I am sorry for how I treated you. I know you and I know your heart, and I know that you love me. So I'm sorry for being hostile."

Fred pursed his lips and nodded again, still listening. He removed his hands from his pockets.

Licking her lips, Devore began to unwrap the bandages around her hand. With each unravel, her hands shook worse and Fred shook his head as he watched. "Dev, no—"

She showed him her hand, the scars still there but they were now pink instead of blood red. She saw him tighten his jaw. "Yes, Umbridge hurt me. She hurt Harry. And if I could kill her, I would. But I want to deal with it on my own terms. I used to think I wasn't allowed to feel anything when I was with Draco because I was scared of what would happen if I showed what I was feeling, but I don't have to be scared anymore. I want to take my life in my own hands. All I ask if you respect that."

Devore's brain was wired to think the worst, so her first thought was that he would be upset. But Fred reached for her hand, her marked one, and he held it. "I've never been a violent person but, I won't lie, it's taking everything in me not to slaughter that woman."

A teary smile slipped onto her lips.

"My brave girl." He whispered endearingly and he rubbed her hand. Fred met her eyes again. "I'll always respect you, Devore. Please don't ever doubt that."

She felt a large feeling of relief and Devore released a breath, smiling with her teeth. "Okay, good. Phew."

Chuckling, Fred cupped her face. He kissed her forehead and then he kissed her cheek. "I promise you that with everything in me, and everything that I am, I will never hurt you, Dev. From the moon to the stars."

Devore grew a loving smile. "From the moon to the stars." She repeated in a whisper and they kissed.

Hermione turned to Ron and grinned. "Anything to say?" She asked, smiling slightly.

He observed the couple and then shook his head. "Nah, it's their moment." He answered, feeling himself grin.

"Pardon me, professor, but what exactly are you insinuating?" Umbridge's horrid voice broke out from out in the hall.

Everybody that was in the Great Hall walked out. Devore saw Umbridge and McGonagall standing on the staircase. "I am merely requesting that when it comes to my students, you conform to the prescribed, disciplinary practices." McGonagall snapped at the woman.

Devore immediately cradled her hand to her chest.

"So silly of me but it sounds like you are questioning my authority in my own classroom, Minerva." Umbridge argued and stepped up another step on the staircase.

"Not at all, Delores." McGonagall snapped again and stepped on the step as well. "Merely your medieval methods."

"I'm sorry dear, but to question my practices it to question the Ministry, to extension, the minister himself. I am a tolerant woman—"

Devore snorted and Fred immediately nudged her, trying to hide his laugh.

"But the one thing I will not stand for is disloyalty."

Professor McGonagall faltered and stepped down a step, staring at the woman in disbelief. "Disloyalty?"

"Things at Hogwarts are far worst than I feared." Umbridge announced the students who were watching the interaction. "Cornelius will want to take immediate action."

Devore sighed and looked up at her boyfriend. "Can we never have a normal day?"

Fred tapped his fingers on her shoulder. "I'm afraid not, love."

As part of trying to move on from what happened with Umbridge, Devore had been focusing on her classes. She loved Astronomy more than anything, other than Muggle Studies, and she spent time with Hermione and the other girls in the library, studying.

When Devore finally confessed to Morgan and the twins about what Umbridge did to her, it was hard to keep them from being angry. "I'll kill her." Atlas had said with a red face.

"How could she do that to you?" Olivia was close to tears.

"Is that why you were crying that night?" Morgan had asked her, and Devore nodded. She hugged her tightly. "I'm so sorry, Dev."

Revealing the truth to them made her feel better, it truly did. But with Umbridge still parading around the castle, it was hard to fully move on. She was completely intolerable to her and now everybody else. But she didn't let it affect her grades. She had gotten an E on her moonstone essay in double potions while Olivia received an A, which Devore thought they deserved an O because, one, they worked on it together and, two, she was certain it was Snape trying to defile them.

"I wish I could cut that man's eyes out and feed them to the grindylows. I totally deserved an O!" Devore expressed and threw her paper on the table.

"Well, that wasn't as bad as last week, was it?" Hermione asked when they sat in the Great Hall for lunch. When neither Ron nor Harry answered, she pressed on, "I mean, all right, I didn't expect the top grade, not if he's marking to O.W.L. standards, but a pass is quite encouraging at this stage, wouldn't you say?"

Harry made a noncommittal noise in his throat.

"I don't care if he's marking to O.W.L. standards, I worked hard on this!" Devore waved her paper, nearly knocking him in the head with it.

"Well, yes, I agree. I'd have been thrilled if I'd gotten an O—"

"Hermione," said Ron sharply, "If you want to know what grades we got, ask."

Hermione turned flustered. "I don't – I didn't mean – well, if you want to tell me —"

"I got a P," said Ron, ladling soup into his bowl. "Happy?"

Devore winced. "Oh, yeah, that's bad." When he glared at her, she held up her hands. "Sorry."

"Well, that's nothing to be ashamed of," said Fred, arriving at the table with George and Lee, and he sat by Devore. "Nothing wrong with a good healthy P."

Atlas, passing by with Legend holding his hand, snorted at the comment. "I've heard that one before." He commented crudely.

George cackled and Devore scoffed. "You are such a child."

"I know you are but what am I." He hollered over his shoulder and winked.

Hermione grimaced. "Anyway. . .But, doest't P stands for. . ."

"Poor, yeah," answered Lee. "Still, better than D, isn't it? Dreadful?"

Devore saw Harry shift on the bench from the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw his red face and she frowned. "Well, at least nobody got a T, right?" She tried to brighten the mood.

"T?" Asked Hermione, appalled. "Even lower than a D? What on Earth does that stand for?"

"Troll." Said George and Devore at once and they high fived one another.

"So top grade's O for outstanding," said Hermione.

"Which I'm still bitter about." Mumbled Devore with annoyance.

"What did you get, lovely?" Fred asked her, his arm circling her shoulder.

She showed him her paper, the large A in the corner.

"Oh, love, that's wonderful. A stands for acceptable."

Devore scoffed. "Yeah, exactly. I don't want to be acceptable. I work my ass off in that bloke's class and that's what he thinks of me?" She rambled.

"Well, then E stands for—"

"Exceeds expectations," George interrupted Hermione. "And I've always thought Fred and I should've got E in everything, because we exceeded expectations just by turning everything in."

They all laughed, except Hermione and Devore. She rolled her eyes. "Says the ones who had to repeat fourth year potions." She bright up, looking at Fred.

He pouted his lips. "Yes, and did that, not, pave the way for the beautiful relationship we have now?" He teased her.

She narrowed her eyes. "No, you made me mess up my potion and it return, I hated you even more."

He only shrugged. "I think of it as you started to think about me more often." He pecked her nose and looked at the others again, ignoring the bizarre stare she was giving him. "You lot had an inspected lesson yet?"

"No," said Hermione at once, "Have you?"

"Just now, before lunch," answered George. "Charms."

"How was it?" She asked again, along with Harry.

Fred shrugged. "Not that bad. Umbridge just lurked in the corner making notes on a clipboard. You know what Flitwick's like, he treated her like a guest, didn't seem to bother him at all. She didn't say much. Asked Alicia a couple questions about what classes are normally like, Alicia told her they were really good, that was it."

"If she tries to talk to me, don't be surprised if I get taken to Azkaban." Devore thought out loud and ate another spoon full of soup.

"We've got Trelawney this afternoon." Harry told her.

"A T if I ever saw one—"

"—And Umbridge herself."

Devore looked at Fred again and sighed. "Wish me luck on not getting taken away?" She asked him.

The older boy smiled at her. "Not to worry, sweetheart. If you get taken, then so shall I." He declared and kissed her quickly, making her smile.

"Bonnie and Clyde?"

Fred furrowed his brows. "Who?"

Purebloods. Devore only shook her head and patted his cheek.

Devore adored Professor Trelawny now matter how nutty she was, and she couldn't help but feel bad for her with Umbridge basically stalking her every move. "We shall be continuing our study of prophetic dreams today," she said in a brave attempt at her usual mystic tone, though her voice shook slightly. "Divine into pairs, please, and interpret each other's latest nighttime visions with the aid of the Oracle."

Olivia and Devore took out their dream diaries and their copies of The Dream Oracle. "Any interesting visions lately, Liv?" Devore asked her.

"Y'know what, I did have a dream that I was being chased by unicorns in the Forbidden Forest." She brought up with her eyes found wide.

"Where did that come from?"

"Not sure, really. I think because I had read a book on magical creatures in the library."

Devore hummed. "Okay then." She eyed Umbridge walking around the classroom while opening her Dream Oracle. "When did you have the dream?"

Olivia thought to herself. "Uhhh, I'd say about three days ago. So, what's today? The twelfth? Make it the ninth."

"Gotcha." She listened and made the note. It was hard to pay attention when she couldn't stop watching Umbridge stand over Trelawny's shoulder. "Old hag." She sneered.

"Hey," Olivia waved her hand, making her snap out of it. "Don't let her bother you."

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Devore mumbled almost incoherently, continuing with the calculations.

"Now, you've been in this post for how long?" Umbridge asked Trelawny and now Devore had no choice but to listen.

Professor Trelawney scowled at her, arms crossed and shoulders hunched as though wishing to protect herself. "Nearly sixteen years." She said in a deep resentful tone.

"Quite a period," said Umbridge, making a note on her clipboard. "So it was Professor Dumbledore who appointed you?"

"That's right."

As she continued to found her, Devore grew more increasingly angry. Olivia had to keep snapping her out of it. But she dug her nails into the palm of her hand, feeling the pain, but she wanted to feel anything other than the murderous thoughts she was having.

"I'd like you to make a prediction for me." Professor Umbridge said very clearly.

It wasn't only her that was staring and listening now; Harry and Ron, Atlas and Legend, and others in the class were staring transfixed at Professor Trelawney as she drew herself to her full height, her beads and bangles clinking. "The Inner Eye does not see upon command!" She said in scandalized tones.

"I see," said Umbridge softly, making another note.

Devore found Ron's eye and she glared. 'Azkaban.' She mouthed, receiving the quickest shake of a head she'd ever seen, and he mouthed back 'No!'

"I – but – but. . . wait!" Trelawney said suddenly. "I. . . I think I do see something. . . something that concerns you. . . Why, I sense something. . . something dark. . . some grave peril." The professor pointed a shaky finger at Umbridge, who continued to smile blandly at her, eyebrows raised. "I am afraid. . . I am afraid you are in grave danger!"

There was a dramatic pause, everybody waited for a reaction or statement. "Lovely." Umbridge chirped and wrote on her clipboard.

When class was dismissed, Devore walked close with Olivia, their shoulders touching, and she uttered, "Liv, I might need you to be my moral compass this year. I swear that woman will drive me into an early grave."