Disclaimer: I do not own W.i.t.c.h. or Harry Potter.

Chapter Ten

A Visit To Sirius

The first Hogsmeade weekend was announced for the third week of term, but Will and Harry decided to visit Sirius instead. No one would notice they were gone.

They got permission from Elyon, who declined to come along, but she informed the Oracle, Cedric, Caleb, Vathek and Sirius of Harry and Will's intend to visit.

When she found out, Cornelia insisted on coming along to see Caleb, although Will wasn't going to argue anyway.

After the other students left, the three went into an abandoned classroom to crossover. The instant they were in the castle courtyard, Cornelia shot off without a word.

"Cornelia! Back here in two hours!" Will shouted after her, not knowing if she heard.

"Think she heard?" Harry asked.

"Probably not." Will answered. "Come on."

They walked on to Sirius's house, and while Harry was calm, Will knew how excited he must be.

Will was the one who knocked, a special knock she and Sirius had come up with, partly so he could tell it was her visiting, partly for fun.

They waited a moment and then Sirius opened the door, already smiling, but when he saw Harry, it turned into a full grin.

"Harry!" Sirius exclaimed, embracing Harry like a son. "Will! Come in!" He ushered them inside, and they sank into chairs in what was probably the living room.

"So how is everyone back home?" Sirius asked.

"Remus got married." Harry answered.

"Ha! Never thought he would tie the knot. Who's the lucky lady?"

Harry gave an amused lopsided smile. "Tonks."

Sirius gave a loud bark of laughter. "Now there's an odd couple! She'll keep him on his toes!"

"She's teaching at Hogwarts. Defense Against the Dark Arts." Will put in.

Sirius's smile faded into a puzzled look. "Tonks? She's an Auror, and it's unusual for a new bride to go off and work away from her husband."

"That's what we thought. There's something strange going on at Hogwarts." Will said.

"Like what?"

"No Divination classes, North Tower's off limits and Professor Trelawney hasn't been seen at all since term started." Harry answered, biting his lip.

Sirius leaned forward, his hands folded, deep in thought.

"Ron and Hermione both say they saw Kingsley at the castle." Harry added.

Sirius raised both eyebrows. "Now that's even more interesting. Another Auror. Has Dumbledore said anything, given any hints?"

"Nothing." Will replied.

Sirius paused. "And Voldemort?"

"Nothing." Will repeated.

Sirius paused again and looked at them sternly and with a hint of protectiveness in his eyes. "Be careful, all of you. Don't get involved in anything unless you have to."

"That was the plan. But whenever something suspicious like this happens, Voldemort gets involved, which means I get involved." Harry said.

"Sirius told us to be careful. All of us." Will said.

It was a rather large group sitting under the biggest oak tree by the lake, all the guardians, Elyon, Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Isn't that what we always try to be?" Irma replied, lying on her back.

"What about that one time with Andrew-" Hay Lin started, swinging upside down from one of the tree branches.

"Hey, that was a long time ago!" Irma yelled, sitting up to glare at Hay Lin.

"So what did you guys do today?" Will asked, changing the subject before anyone could ask questions.

"Draco and I did some exploring near the Shrieking Shack. I'd like to go in sometime." Elyon said, playing with her hair, which she'd cut two days ago.

"No, you don't." Ron replied. "Anyway, we pretty much spent the whole time at Zonko's." He gestured toward Hermione, was sitting with her legs tucked under her to his right.

"We all know what you did." Irma teased, smirking at Cornelia.

Cornelia frowned at Irma, but simply tossed some of her silky golden hair over her shoulder.

"Anyway, Neville and I hung out at The Three Broomsticks with Hay Lin and Seamus." Irma said, much cheerier now.

"Hey wait a minute, where were you all day Taranee?" Hay Lin asked, dropping to the ground. "You never showed up when we were waiting for you at the gate."

"Oh, I ran into some friends and went with them." Taranee replied, staring out at the lake, looking almost bored.

"Who?"

"Some Hufflepuffs."

"Hufflepuffs? When did you befriend Hufflepuffs?" Irma asked, flopping onto her stomach.

At that, Taranee snatched up her bag, looking annoyed. "I've been friends with them since last year. If you've been too busy to notice, I'm sorry you have so many demands on your time." And Taranee marched off towards the castle.

"What did that mean?" Hay Lin said, staring after Taranee, looking puzzled.

"I dunno. I've never seen her hanging out with Hufflepuffs though." Irma replied.

"Is there something wrong?" Hermione asked, concerned.

"If there is, she hasn't said anything to me about it." Will said, feeling sad that if there was something wrong, her best friend hadn't told her. "But… wait a minute… I saw her on the train with some Hufflepuffs! I thought it couldn't have been her, but it must've been!"

"Why would she hang out with Hufflepuffs?" Irma said.

"There's nothing wrong with Hufflepuffs." Harry said defensively, thinking of Tonks and poor Cedric.

"I didn't mean it like that." Irma replied, holding up her hands as if to defend herself from the statement.

End Chapter Ten

A/N: I'm terribly sorry for the shortness of this chapter. The next chapter is going to be longer, I swear.