Without You

Resilience

It was the same for the next few weeks. Dumbledore's Army would meet in the Room of Requirement once a week, and Autumn would do all she could to keep the meetings a secret. She did all kinds of things to keep them away, and had quite a lot of fun doing so. The invisibility cloak made it possible to do almost anything.

It was, until the day Umbridge called Autumn to her office. It was seven o'clock in the evening, when her office was empty. Because of the large number of students on detention, she had moved them to write in the classroom, instead of her office. This gave her time to speak to Autumn in privacy.

"Miss Rosewood, dear," she started, "Where were you, exactly, five weeks ago on Wednesday, after curfew?"

"I was in bed." she lied, she remembered everything. Although it had been five weeks ago, she remembered everything clearly. It was the night she had discovered the formation of the Inquisitorial Squad. The night she entered Umbridge's office and heard more than she should have.

"You mustn't tell lies," she said her voice still sweet, "Now tell me, dear, the truth. Why do I get reports about twenty nine students going missing, and one including you? The punishment will be less severe if you tell me now. Who leads these twenty nine students, and where do you go?"

Autumn looked down, shaking her head, "I don't... know."

Umbridge slammed her hands onto her desk, her voice echoing. "TELL ME THE TRUTH!"

"I'm telling you the truth!" Autumn cried, "I don't know anything!"

She yelled out much louder than she had intended. Autumn had to repeat herself multiple times, hoping her explanation was enough for the woman to believe. However, Umbridge was never persuaded. Umbridge settled back in her chair, sighing, a smile finding its way back onto her wrinkly face. "I asked nicely, Miss Rosewood. I know the truth; I've heard you speaking in the bathrooms past curfew. Unfortunately, you've been making all this such an inconvenience to me. I'm afraid I'll have to find another way." she opened her drawer, pulling something out of it. Autumn couldn't quite see what it was, but could only fear what was coming.

"Crucio!"

Autumn fell out of her chair, intense pain striking her. She felt as though her head was going to burst with pain. And never, in her life, had she screamed so loud. Her scream could be heard from outside of the office. It echoed through the hallways, but no one was there to hear it.

Autumn held her head between her hands, finding it impossible to withstand the pain and agony of the curse. Umbridge continued to ask questions, each of them left unanswered. Autumn knew she couldn't betray her friends. They were relying on her trust On the day Voldemort returns, they need to be ready. They couldn't let Cedric die in vain, and let his death be a message left unread.

"Let's try that one more time," Umbridge sat comfortably in her seat, "Where is Harry Potter?"

* * *

"Did you hear that?" Pansy asked, her legs resting on top of the desks. The Inquisitorial Squad were supposed to be monitoring the hallways, but they all seemed to get bored of busting no one.

"Hear what?" Crabbe's head was resting on a desk, his eyes closed.

Draco was sitting between Pansy and Goyle, staring at the wand he was holding in his hands. Autumn's wand.

"And why do you have her wand?" Pansy asked. The other Slytherins in the room seemed to be asking the same question. Even Crabbe lifted his head up to hear what the leader had to say. He did not respond, only ignoring her.

"I can't believe you went to the Yule Ball with her. Out of all the girls, Draco." she sniggered, laughing with a snort. "I think she suits Davies. What do you reckon?"

Pansy looked at Crabbe for a response, but Draco slammed his hands onto the table before he could say a word. Crabbe jumped in surprise, almost falling of his chair. Draco had never been so terrifying before. The look in his eyes frightened him.

Pansy didn't seem afraid of him at all, however. She folded her arms, looking in Draco's direction.

"What? I'm only saying what the others say. I'm not the only one, Draco."

This annoyed Draco. He hated being compared to others, especially if it meant competition. He hated Thomas Davies, especially, and hated the fact that Pansy pointed out how suitable he was to Autumn. His blood was boiling with both jealousy and anger, his hands balling into fists.

"Shut up, Pansy. When are you ever going to stop talking?"

Offended, she leant back in her seat, crossing her arms.

Another scream echoed through the room. Much louder, this time. Whoever screamed must have been in so much pain. Draco tucked Autumn's wand into his pocket, before standing up and running towards the scream. There was no mistakeㅡ it was definitely Autumn. He knew her voice, and although he wanted to deny it, it was definitely her.

By the time he arrived in front of the Defence Against Dark Arts classroom, Autumn was standing at the door, her back facing him. When he called her name, she only turned her head. She had been cryingㅡ her watery eyes were noticeable under the moonlight. Shortly after, Pansy and the other Inquisitorial Squad members arrived.

"What are you doing up so late?" she asked, crossing her arms. "You do know that means a detention, Rosewood?"

"Leave us." Draco ordered, the others starting to disappear down the hallways. Pansy was hesitant at first, but left with the others after a while.

Autumn took a deep breath, wiping away her tears with her sleeve. She looked completely unharmed, Draco had a hard time figuring out why she was crying. The past few weeks had been a challenge for the both of them. Whenever Autumn or Draco came across each other in the hallways, they'd just walk past each other as if they were strangers. Not even a glance or a smile was exchanged since the night they spoke in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. Autumn felt that Draco had been hiding something from her, and he felt the exact same way. Neither of them wanted to talk it through with one another until now.

"Autumn," he softly whispered, his face now only inches away from her's. Autumn was backed up against the stone wall, with nowhere to go. A rush of heat spread throughout her body, as she looked up at him, her eyes meeting with his. Draco slowly leaned in, his hand brushing away the hair in her face, and in an instant, his lips were on hers. The kiss was full of passion and longing, and neither of them pulled away until they were out of breath.

He smiled at her, wiping the stray tears from her cheeks. "I've wanted to do that for a long time."

A small smile spread on her face, but she lowered her gaze from his. "I hate this place, Draco. I want to leave for good. I'm sick of everything here."

He took her hand into his, driving her away from Umbridge's classroom. "What happened?"

"She wanted me to tell her where Harry and the others are," Autumn started, "And because I wouldn't tell her, sheㅡ"

"Why won't you tell her?" Draco interrupted, "She's going to torture you everyday until it comes out of your mouth. The pain is unbearable, Autumn. And I can't let you go through that."

"I promised I wouldn't, and I can't. They're my friends, and this is for the benefit of the school, Draco. If they don't practise their defensive magic, Cedric's death would've been meaningless." Autumn said, looking at him in disbelief, "I thought you'd at least understand that."

The two stood in silence again, Autumn's last words echoing through the hallways.

"And I need my wand back. I can't afford getting into anymore trouble now."

She let out her hand. Seeing that he wouldn't give it back, she pulled her wand out of his pocket and replaced it with the one in her sleeve.

Draco grabbed onto her hand. "Autumn, listen to me."

"Why does it matter so much to you? Just leave me, Draco. I can handle this on my own."

"It matters to me because Iㅡ"

"Because you what?"

"Because I love you."

Draco couldn't say it. He didn't want to look so weak and pathetic in front of Autumn. After another brief silence, Autumn walked off towards the Gryffindor tower.

Draco couldn't get Autumn's scream and desperate cries out of his head. He hated imagining her going through the torturous pain, especially if it was only for Harry Potter. He walked up the stairs to Dolores Umbridge's office, knocking twice. He entered her office, clenching a tight fist. She looked up, grinning like a toad. as usual.

"Yes, dear? Is there something you'd like to say?"

Draco nodded.

"I know where they are."