The Sunrise of My Heart

Wednesday night, I made my way to Professor Umbridge's office for my first night of detention. I wondered, boredly, what she would make me do. I hoped it wasn't something really tedious and dull. Maybe I could go into the Forbidden Forest. Doubtful, but I could still hope.

When I got to her door, I knocked softly, heard a soft 'Enter', and opened the door. Upon entering, I almost gagged. The walls were pink. Pink! And there were pictures of cutesy kittens all over them. Don't got me wrong, I love kittens probably more than your average person, but that was just too much girly, cutesy stuff in one room.

"Erm hi, Professor," I said. "Am I late? I would have been here earlier but... The staircases took me to the wrong floor." Good enough lie, I thought. Honestly, I had simply not wanted to come and so had stalled as much as possible.

"You're on time," she said in her sickly sweet voice. She gave me a smile that made my skin crawl, then pointed to a smaller desk in her room. "Sit there, please. You'll be writing lines tonight."

"Righto," I said, moving over to the desk and sitting down. I started to grab my quill and ink, but she gave a soft 'hem hem' so I looked back at her, trying to smile politely. "Yes, Professor?"

"You won't be using your quill and ink tonight. I have a special quill of my own that you are to use. Here you are," she said, setting the quill on the desk, next to my arm.

"Excuse me Professor, but I don't have any ink if I can't use my own."

"Don't worry about that," she said, giving me a smile that let me know this would be far worse than simply writing lines. "Like I said, this is a very special quill. Now, you will write, 'I must not talk back,' until the message really sinks in."

"It's not full of dark magic and gonna like curse me once I start writing, right? Er, right of course not, the Ministry wouldn't use something that curses people." I smiled sweetly, trying to butter her up so I could get out of Friday's detention, and then began writing.

As I wrote, the back of my hand began to sting. I ignored it, scratching at it lightly before continuing my lines. But as I continued to write, the stinging turned into a harsh ache, which then progressed into a profound burn. I cringed slightly and looked at it to see what was wrong. What I saw made me narrow my eyes into slits. There on the back of my hand, the skin was red and inflamed. Testing what I already knew was true, I wrote another line, and sure enough, my hand got a little redder and more painful.

With a cold, evil smile, Professor Umbridge came over to inspect my hand. "I don't quite think the message has sunken in. Perhaps ten more lines will do it." And she stood back, her eyes gleaming with a sort of triumph, as I began to write ten more lines, clenching my jaw to keep from cursing in pain.

"I think I get the message now," I said to her when I was finally done with those ten excruciating lines. "It's really had a chance to sink in."

"Good," she said. "Now, perhaps you'll be more like your fellow Slytherins, who behave admirably, as opposed to those Gryffindors who always break the rules and step out of line. I do commend you on your choice of boyfriend, Mr. Malfoy is a wonderful boy. But your choice of friends seems to be rather... displeasing."

"Yes, well..." Deciding I didn't want to go through more detentions than I had to, I cut off my rude remark and smiled. "I agree that Draco is a wonderful boy."

"I think maybe you won't need the second detention on Friday, don't you?"

"Yes, Professor, I agree. I've really gotten the message, and will be sure to spend more time with the Slytherins." Total and complete bullshit, of course, but I really didn't want another detention. It hurt!

"Then you may leave. I'll expect you to be much better behaved in my next class."

"Absolutely, Professor," I said, pushing down my hatred for her and smiling again so I could get the hell out of that room. "Good night." And before she could change her mind, I left in a hurry, clutching my throbbing hand to my chest.

As I walked down the hallway, I knew that I really didn't want to go back to the Slytherin common room and deal with all of the Slytherins and their superior sneers. So instead of going down to the dungeons, I made my way to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked when I walked up to her portrait.

"Crap," I muttered, realizing I had no idea what it was.

"Riley? What are you doing here?" a voice from behind me spoke. I recognized it immediately as the voice of Harry.

"Hi!" I said, turning around to face him. "I don't want to deal with Slytherins right now, so I thought I'd come and hang out with you lot. Is that ok?"

"Sure," he said, and then told the Fat Lady the password so we could enter. "So where have you been, if not down with the Slytherins?"

"I had to do one of my detentions tonight. It sucked!"

"Did she make you write lines, too?" he asked me, showing me his own hand. His hand was far more red and painful looking than mine, and I could see that the words had even started to carve themselves into his skin like a brand.

"Yep," I answered, showing him my own hand. "Looks like she went easier on me than she did you. She's way biased and prejudiced."

"Hey, Riley!" a few of the Gryffindors called when they saw me. I smiled and waved at them. Beside me, Harry began chuckling.

"What?" I asked him.

"How are you in Slytherin? I mean, you don't act like them, or even like them most of the time, and most of the Gryffindors here have gotten so used to you spending time with us that you might as well be one of us. So how did you end up there?"

"I'm cursed," I joked lightly. "Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. I guess it's because I am really sly and willing to do what it takes to get what I want. I just happen to want less sinister things than the other Slytherins do."

"Hang on, won't some of the Professors get mad at you for being in the wrong common room so late at night?"

"Nah, I pretty much have free reign, at least within reason."

"Why? What makes you so special?" He narrowed his eyes slightly, realizing that I really did get extra special treatment. "Like, why did they let you actually join the Order," he lowered his voice for this part so no one could overhear us, "but they only let me in on one meeting? Or how some of the members seem to really respect you. And Snape. It's like he hates you, apparently for ruining his life, but at the same time, he seems fond of you for some reason, other than you being a Slytherin. I just don't get it. What makes you so different from everyone?"

I sighed softly, having known eventually these questions would arise. "Look, I just am really different. I can't explain right now, there are too many people, and I still have to figure out how to start my story, and what all to add, because there are a lot of details, so not all of them are all that important. Plus, I'm just waiting for the right moment to tell you. It's a lot to tell, and a lot to take in, so I'm waiting for the opportune moment."

He didn't look too pleased with this answer, but he nodded. "Alright. But you have to tell me, You've already agreed that you will."

"I know. I've already decided that no matter what, I'm going to tell you. Just not yet."

"Soon?" he asked hopefully.

"Maybe," I agreed, smiling. "Now, which one of you lovely Gryffindor boys want to keep me entertained?" I called out loudly, just to see how they'd respond. To my surprise, most of them gathered around, trying to get me to pick them.

"Sorry lads," Fred said, coming over and dragging me away from them.

"But we're kidnapping her and keeping her entertained ourselves," George finished.

I laughed and shrugged at the boys, then grinned at the twins. For the next few hours, we stayed up, talking, laughing, and having a really fun time. Finally, I decided it was time to return to my own dorm, so with a last smile at them, I left, going back to the cold dungeons where I knew Draco would be waiting for me, still awake and probably very angry. Oh well, I'd had a lot of fun and didn't care if he was in a temper with me.