At long last... it's mine again! I found it... my motivation to update this story— and I dropped it again

Because of previous comments, I am leaving a reminder that, yes, this is the Fred x Harry fanfic

Harry trusted that Professor Flitwick would take action, but he kept worrying that it wouldn't be enough. After all, Umbridge was here because of the Ministry; they may have even given her a pass to do whatever she wanted.

He shook his head irritably. He was overreacting again. Surely even the Ministry would not like children getting hurt unnecessarily. Then again, they believed Harry had defeated the Dark Lord as a baby and were too busy celebrating to worry about what had become of him.

A hand rubbing his back brought him back to the present. Luna was watching him sympathetically, as if she knew what was going on inside Harry's head. She didn't speak, but her presence helped.

The owls came flying in, dropping off packages and the Daily Prophet. Luna opened her copy and laid it out so Harry could see it.

"'High Inquisitor'?" Harry said, frowning. "What does that mean?"

He listened closely as Luna read it aloud. A low growl rumbled in his throat. Umbridge was already intolerable as it was without giving her more authority over Hogwarts.

"As if we need a reason to be in her presence even more," Harry muttered.

"Just make sure you don't say anything," Luna begged. "The last thing we need is for you to land in detention again, where you'll be in her presence alone."

Harry rubbed his hand subconsciously. Luna was right, of course. He did not want to be near her outside of classes.

A sudden commotion made them lift their heads. At once, Harry had to clap a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

The staff were all backing away from Umbridge, who looked as though she had gone mad. She was scratching herself desperately, shrieking for someone to help. Of course, no one did.

Face flushed from humiliation, Umbridge took off, running out of the Great Hall with more speed than Harry would have thought a toad like her would have possessed. He looked back at the staff table. Flitwick met his gaze briefly and he gave a quick wink. Harry suddenly felt a rush of affection for the small wizard.

"What did you do to her?" Hermione hissed, glaring at Fred.

"Nothing!" Fred said, trying to reign in his laughter.

"Come on, Hermione," said Ron, "don't pretend you actually care."

Hermione huffed and glared at her plate. But Fred noticed she did not say anything else in Umbridge's defense.

Once Flitwick was certain Umbridge would be staying in the hospital wing for a length of time, he made his way to her office. He had to stop at the doorway to keep from gagging at the pinkness. He liked the color, but not to this extent.

Shaking his head, Flitwick quickly began searching her office for the blood quills. He found a drawer full of plates with cats on it— "More of them?"— and another with normal quills and a clipboard.

He finally found what he was looking for in a secret stash behind the cat plates and pulled them out. His face went pale. They would have been used on more than just Harry, he reckoned. Flitwick would guess Umbridge knew exactly which students she would have wanted to target.

Satisfied he had what he was looking for, Flitwick made sure everything was back in their original position and left.

While Flitwick gathered the evidence, Fred found himself being questioned once more. Last time, it was after the second task when he had been Harry's hostage. Now it was about Umbridge.

"I didn't do anything to her," he said, and he was honest, too. "Maybe she had an allergic reaction."

"Or maybe you gave those sweets to someone else," Hermione said once they were alone.

"I dropped them and forgot to get them back," Fred said.

Hermione clearly didn't believe him, but she didn't push it any further. "Ron and I were thinking—"

"No, that was just you."

"Umbridge is a dreadful teacher," Hermione went on, ignoring Ron. "We're obviously not going to learn anything from her. I was thinking that— maybe the time's come when we should just— just do it ourselves."

"Well, just grab a book and start practicing, then," Fred said, not knowing where she was going with this.

"We're past that stage," Hermione said. "We need a teacher, a proper one, who can show us how to use the spells and correct us if we're going wrong."

"Someone like you?" George asked.

Hermione gave him a look. "No, like Harry. He's the best in my year at Defense Against the Dark Arts."

Fred pondered over her words. It was true, Harry was brilliant in that subject. "But who would he teach? Just you, me, George, and Ron aren't going to be enough."

"That's why I was thinking of getting a few people from the other houses. We could all learn together."

"I like that idea," George said.

"Yeah. The only problem is getting Harry to agree."

"You're his boyfriend," Hermione said. "I'm sure you could find a way to convince him."

"And try to do it without snogging his brains out," George added.

Ron's ears went red. "I did not need that image in my head."

"I'm sure I can convince him," Fred said, sounding more confident than he felt. "Just give me a day or two."

Three days passed before Fred mustered up the courage to tell Harry. He was fully prepared to start giving reasons when Harry said, "Let's do it."

"Sorry, what?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you had an entire speech of sorts to persuade me."

"Pfft, no."

Harry raised an eyebrow.

"Just a few points," Fred admitted.

Harry laughed and stepped forward to kiss him. "You can tell Hermione I'm in. Just tell me where to meet up with you."

"Okay."

"With any luck, Umbridge won't be a problem by then. But I doubt the Ministry will change the curriculum," Harry said, frowning.

Fred mumbled something noncommittally, his eyes trailing down to the scars on Harry's hand. They were barely visible, but Fred had a feeling they would never completely disappear.

"Hem hem."

Speak of the devil.

Harry stiffened ever so slightly and turned.

Umbridge had regretfully recovered from her trip to the hospital wing the day before and was back to her irritating self. "Detention, Mr. Potter."

"For what?" Harry wondered if breathing was a crime now. If so, Umbridge had been breaking the law before he was even born.

Umbridge looked at his hand, which was entwined with Fred's. "We cannot have you tainting the school's good name with your... afflictions," she said, smiling sweetly.

Fred winced as Harry's grip on his hand tightened.

But Umbridge wasn't finished. "But I suppose it makes sense. You do live with a werewolf after all."

Harry looked like he was close to pouncing.

"And what is going on here?"

Fred never thought he would see the day he'd be glad to hear Snape's voice. He turned to see the potions master coming up.

"I was just giving Mr. Potter detention," Umbridge explained.

Snape looked at Fred, who shook his head ever so slightly. "Whatever Mr. Potter has done I can handle him." He jerked his head, indicating for Harry and Fred to follow.

Umbridge looked disappointed, but she didn't have anything to say so she let them go.

Snape didn't speak until they were well away from Umbridge and inside a classroom. "What happened?"

"She called our relationship an affliction," Harry said, crossing his arms. "And hinted I was influenced by Remus because he's a werewolf."

"Didn't want us to taint the school's good name," Fred added, massaging his hand.

Snape scowled. "Professor Flitwick has gone to the headmaster," he told them.

"And what is Professor Dumbledore going to do?" Harry asked. "Will he even be able to do anything?"

"Flitwick has provided proof of the blood quills," Snape reassured him. "The Ministry cannot ignore it."

"So she'll be kicked out," Fred said. "She won't be in the school."

"I wouldn't get your hopes up," Snape warned, not one for sugarcoating. "You still won't be learning anything useful in Defense Against the Dark Arts."

He was looking directly at Fred when he said this. Fred had a feeling he knew about Hermione's idea.

Harry had ducked his head. "Great, we'll still have a lousy teacher."

"Just because you graduated Hogwarts doesn't mean you're qualified to teach," Snape pointed out.

He definitely knew, Fred thought. But he wasn't saying anything, so did that mean he approved?

"You should get back to your dorms," Snape said. "And five points to Ravenclaw and Gryffindor each for keeping a level head. Two points from Gryffindor for carrying around prank items."

"Me?" Fred's eyes rounded innocently.

Harry snickered while Snape rolled his eyes.

"Go before I remove three more points."

Harry and Fred left in higher spirits. They went to the Ravenclaw Tower first, where Fred gave Harry one last kiss before leaving.

Because they'd be damned if they let Umbridge get in their way.

People are gay, Steven— I mean Umbridge