Without You

Bandage

Autumn and Harry agreed to never tell Ron and Hermione the truth behind Umbridge's detentions. If they knew what was actually happening, it would make the detentions more difficult to attend. Umbridge would probably only make things worse for them, too. She seemed to have such a high place in Hogwarts now.

"Wasn't so bad, was it?" Hermione asked, "How was your detention?"

Harry coughed before Autumn could respond. It was good he reminded her, she almost spoke about the special quill and its scalpel-like nature. Autumn's hand still pained from the writing.

"It's nothing too bad."

"Just wrote lines over and over again. My hand hurts from that." Harry added.

"Harry, did she let you off for Friday?" Ron asked, turning to Harry. Harry shook his head, just as disappointed as Ron. "She has to! These try-outs are more important than anything right now!"

* * *

The next detention was just as horrid as the first. Autumn sat in the same seat, plainly responding a "Good evening" to Umbridge. And that was all she said that night. The pain this time was almost twice as painful. The message etched on the back of her hand no longer looked like it was fading away, and the skin surrounding the scars became irritated.

When Umbridge poked Autumn's hand to test the progress, Autumn refused to show any signs of pain or discomfort. Harry seemed to be doing the same. She looked at Harry's hand, and looked pleased with the now permanent message.

"Do we still have to come tomorrow?" Harry asked, the two of them crossing their fingers.

"Oh, of course," Umbridge said, grinning widely, "I think we can etch the message's meaning a little deeper with another evening's work."

Autumn never thought she'd hate a teacher at Hogwarts. She muttered a "Good night" before leaving the room with Harry, staring at her aching hand while they walked back to the Gryffindor common room. Harry paused at the stairs, where he saw Ron hiding behind a statue, clutching onto his broomstick.

"I'm going to catch up on my homework," Autumn said, turning to Harry and Ron, "Good night, you two."

They both responded before Autumn rushed off, remembering the amount of work she had to catch up on. Detention with Dolores was much worse than she could ever imagine. Turning on the lamp in her shared room with Hermione, Hermione sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Sorry... Did I wake you up?"

"Actually, I was waiting for you to get back. I knew you were falling behind in homework, so I thought I'd help you. Besides, you've still got Snape's essay to write."

Autumn groaned, resting her head on the table. She shot back up when she noticed Hermione staring at her left hand. Autumn coughed, pulling out a book with her right hand, but this didn't seem to distract Hermione from looking at her hidden left.

"What's that on your left hand?" Hermione asked.

"Just a scratch," Autumn replied, "I was playing with Crookshanks earlier."

Hermione, however, did not look persuaded. She took Autumn's left hand, lifting it up to her eye-level. She was quiet while staring at it, then looked at Autumn for an explanation. Autumn explained everything; she knew she couldn't lie to Hermione. She and Harry could no longer hide this from their friends; it was no longer fading away.

"You have to report her!" Hermione said, "She can't just get away with this."

"There's no one really to tell, is there? I'm not quite sure if Professor McGonagall even has power over her, and Dumbledore has got enough to deal with," Autumn said, "Besides, I don't want to give her the satisfaction of knowing she's got us."

Autumn did most of her homework that night, forgetting to learn the spell she needed to for Transfiguration. Autumn and Draco were sitting beside each other again, due to McGonagall's seating plan, but did not talk to one another as usual.

"Miss Rosewood," McGonagall smiled in her direction, "Would you like to demonstrate the Vanishing Spell for us today?"

McGonagall definitely expected Autumn to have learnt and practised her spells. Although she wasn't as studious as Hermione, she did not like falling behind in studies, especially with the O.W.L.s nearing. Although Thomas had demonstrated the spell for her the other night, Autumn didn't seem to completely understand how to cast it.

"Can I demonstrate, instead, Professor?" Draco asked from beside her.

The Professor nodded quite happily, since Draco never really volunteered himself to demonstrate in class. As he sat down after casting the spell, Autumn whispered a "Thank you" before she shut her book closed. Ron and Harry were staring at Draco, eyes wide in horror, finding it impossible to believe what he had done for Autumn. Everyone knew how Draco hated Transfiguration classes, and especially making a demonstration.

Everyone started leaving the room as soon as they were being dismissed. It was exactly five to five when Autumn left the room with Harry. Walking towards Umbridge's office on the third floor, Harry let out a heavy sigh. The Quidditch team try-outs were today. Autumn was surprised to hear that Ron was trying out for Keeper, and was upset about not being able to watch him try-out. Harry must have felt worseㅡ you could see the Quidditch field from Umbridge's window, and Autumn knew how badly he wanted to be on the team.

"You know what to do, Mr. Potter, Miss Rosewood."

Autumn took a seat once again, looking at Harry who stared outside the window before writing. As usual, Autumn continued to write the message on the parchment. She could feel the cuts opening up again, digging deeper into her skin. It gave her a stinging pain, but she refused to let out a single sign of pain. Blood from her hand started pouring out onto the paper. Autumn could see Umbridge watching, smiling in content.

"Now let me see your hands." she said, calling to them. She stood up as soon as Harry and Autumn were both standing in front of her desk. She squeezed Harry and Autumn's left hands at the same time, causing Autumn to pull it away in pain. Harry did similar, except without crying out at all.

Umbridge's grin widened, causing Autumn sudden discomfort.

"Yes, the message is finally sinking in. You may leave for tonight."

Every time they'd move their left hands, even just to stretch it, the pain would increase horribly. Grabbing their bags with their exhausted right hands, they left her office with a bit of a stumble. Both Harry and Autumn were startled, seeing Draco standing outside her office.

"Potter."

"Malfoy."

The two boys exchanged glares before Harry looked at Autumn, "Will you be alright? I'm going to head back to finish my essay."

Autumn nodded and smiled, before Harry walked off towards the Gryffindor tower. Autumn lowered her gaze before looking up at Draco, who looked at her with empathy. It had been quite a while since they had last spoken to each other, and it seemed as if Draco was the one who was missing Autumn the most.

"Show me your hand." he said with a softening tone.

Autumn lifted her hand to him, the blood still fresh and dripping. She didn't have a chance to clean it up, since she had just exited Umbridge's office.

"Let's go get it cleaned up." he said quietly, holding onto her right hand. For a while, Draco took the lead, as if he were dragging Autumn down the hallway. After a minute or so, Autumn decided to swallow her pride and walk alongside Draco.

When they arrived at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey immediately cleaned her cuts, putting bandage over it carefully.

"After the weekend, remove the bandage, dear. That way, it'll heal better."

After thanking Madam Pomfrey, Autumn and Draco went into the hallway to talk further. It was late at night, almost passing curfew. The hallways were empty, which was convenient for the two. No one had to hear what they were saying.

"Thank you for coming with me, you really didn't have to."

"I was worried," Draco suddenly said, his cheeks slightly reddening, "You need to stop getting yourself into trouble with ...Potter." The last part of his sentence came out reluctantly.

Autumn just nodded, the hallways silent once again.

"Does it hurt?"

"It feels as though my hand is being torn apart on this very second." Autumn admitted, staring down at her bandaged hand. "And by the way, you still have my wand. I was supposed to ask for it back during Transfiguration, but I had to go to detention."

Autumn pulled Draco's wand out of her sleeve, but Draco didn't do the same.

"Correct me if I'm wrong," he said, "But the only reason you're trying not to be mad with me is because I still have your wand."

He was right. Autumn didn't want to talk to Draco, but the fact that he had her wand changed her approach to the Slytherin. She might have been afraid he'd do something terrible to it again if they got into a serious argument.

"If I gave you your wand back, when would be the next time we'd talk? I can imagine you ignoring me until our sixth year."

Autumn let out a soft laugh, shaking her head. "I still can't believe nobody noticed. Our wands look nothing alike."

The fact that Autumn was smiling and laughing again warmed Draco's heart. He liked seeing her like this.

"Autumn, let's go to Hogsmeade tomorrow. Just the two of us. We never have time on our own."