CH 159

How does everyone know about this?' Harry demanded. 'It took me ages to figure out what she was doing.'

'A lot of Gryffindors have got detention from her,' Katie shrugged, 'word gets around.'

'Then why hasn't anyone done anything? It's a torture device!' 'They're scared of what Umbridge will do to them.' Katie looked a little abashed.

If they're that scared of Umbridge then Voldemort might as well just announce he's back and we'll lose instantly.

It was ridiculous. Umbridge was a cruel, malicious woman with very poor taste in clothing and decor, but hardly anything to be afraid of if you weren't stupid enough to repeatedly provoke her.

'What did you do to it?' Katie whispered, looking around for Madam Pomfrey, who was fortunately too far to have overheard any of their conversation. Harry was fairly sure she would have commended him anyway, she would loathe something created to cause injury or pain.

'I improved it,' Harry answered simply. Katie wasn't as easy to dissuade as Neville; she stared at him until he eventually gave in. It wasn't like she was going to betray him to anyone.

'I may have altered the enchantment on it so its ink source is the creator rather than the user,' he admitted.

'And you reduced the pain it caused,' Neville added quietly.

Katie grinned rather vindictively. 'Good,' she beamed. 'I hope it leaves a permanent scar'. Then she turned to Harry and punched him firmly in the stomach. 'That's for breaking your promise, even if she did deserve it you don't break your promises to your friends.'

'I didn't break it,' Harry gasped, winded. 'I promised I wouldn't get caught.'

'Oh,' Katie looked a bit guilty, 'I did say that didn't I.' 'Yes,' Harry smirked, 'just after offering me a chance to check your injuries.' He gave her a faintly suggestive look and she flushed crimson.

'Let's just pretend I never said that,' Katie groaned. 'I can't believe I thought that would be funny.'

'I'm rather glad you weren't serious,' Harry smiled.

'Do you have to talk about this when I'm right here?' Neville asked plaintively. His face was almost as red as Katie's.

'Sorry, Nev,' Harry smirked. 'Watch out for Katie, though,' he winked, 'she's very forward.'

Katie dragged the blankets back up above her head. 'Go away,' she muttered from underneath, 'go away and let me die of shame under here where I can't be seen.' 'No,' Harry told her cheerfully.

After a few moments she reappeared, glaring and no longer red-faced. 'Why are you still here?' She demanded.

'I don't have anything to do until this evening,' Harry replied honestly.

'No plans for the weekend, then' Katie deduced, incorrectly.

'Death by fire,' Harry informed her.

'Ah,' Katie beamed. 'You're visiting Fleur,' she whispered.

'What about you, Nev?' The shyer of his two close friends often drifted out of the conversation if he wasn't dragged back into it. 'I promised I'd help Hermione, Dean, Seamus and Ron again,' he confessed. 'I'm sorry about telling them about the Room of Requirement, Harry.'

'Why? I'm not sleeping there anymore, and it's part of the school, to be used by the students capable of finding it, which you did.'

'It still feels a bit wrong after last year,' Neville shifted guiltily. 'You taught me how to use it, and it always sort of felt like it was your room.'

'It isn't.' Harry decided not to tell him that pulling the sword out of the Sorting Hat did technically make him the heir of Godric Gryffindor in a convoluted vague manner.

'What are you helping Hermione Granger with?' Katie giggled, biting her lip suggestively.

Neville went very red and squeaked, prompting Katie to dissolve into giggles. 'Nothing like that,' he managed to reply indignantly after a moment, 'just some of the spell we are going to need but not learn in class.'

'It's turning into a bit of a regular thing now,' Harry remarked. 'It'll be good for you to teach, you'll know if you can understand and do it if you can teach it.'

'Hermione said that they're not the only ones who want help, either,' Neville told him gloomily. 'Apparently everyone's struggling without someone to teach them.'

'I'm sure you'll figure something out, Nev,' Harry said sympathetically.

'He's upset he might have even more people there when all he really wants to do is give Hermione some one-on-one lessons,' Katie quipped. Neville flared crimson again. 'She is evil,' his friend bemoaned. 'I don't even think of Hermione like that. It's just weird.'

'I know what you mean really,' Katie told him. 'Some people are just more like siblings than anything else.' She cast a glance at Harry when she thought he wasn't watching. He didn't react, but inside he felt more than slightly relieved.

'I don't have any siblings,' Neville remarked rather miserably. He was obviously thinking about his parents.

'Neither do I,' Harry told him at the same time as Katie, and all three of them smiled. Neville looked quite a bit more cheerful.

'No,' Neville grinned, 'don't even think about saying something touching about surrogate siblings. I don't need to be associated with the Gryffindor's Dark side anymore than I already am. 'I wasn't going to,' Harry shrugged. 'Katie would make a terrible older sister, look at how she treats the first years. I've never heard the words human sacrifice so many times in one explanation of how to get into Gryffindor Tower.'

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