Harry glanced over at his professor in surprise. His eyes narrowed as he took that information and combined it with the fact that Professor Snape had essentially taken off without a word. His hand suddenly tightened on hers. He had a very good idea why Snape would leave and their other professor would be hurrying them back to the magically shielded house – Voldemort.

He dropped Maggie's hand quickly and grabbed Hermione, pulling her close enough so he could whisper to her, "Listen to me, Hermione. I think Snape was called by Voldemort. That is why Professor Smith is rushing us back to the house. Look at her, she's terrified of something. That old man over there is really Tonks, and I need you to keep your eyes and ears open." He didn't bother saying anything to Ron about it, as there was no need to panic him. He knew Hermione would keep her head about her and simply be cautious.

Hermione simply nodded, her hand opening her jacket. Harry knew she was making her wand slightly more accessible and he nodded quickly.

Harry leaned close to Maggie, "If something should happen, I want you to get as far away from me as possible."

"But-"

"Maggie, please, just promise me you'll do as I ask? I… I like you a lot, and I don't want to see you hurt. I promised to explain everything I can when we get to the house, but I need you to understand that if something happens, you can't be near me."

She bit her lip but simply nodded at him. He could see she was about to say something, but the bus pulled up and they all boarded it. The bus was nearly empty and they were all able to sit together. The downside to that, of course, was that he couldn't talk to Maggie or Hermione.

-- --

Katrina's eyes hardly left her daughter while on the bus. She knew she wouldn't breathe freely until all of the students were safely inside her home. She wasn't sure how she felt about her daughter getting close to Harry Potter, but she figured that she had five days to decide how to deal with that. Her pressing concern was for their immediate safety.

The bus plodded along its route and she silently cursed the slowness of it. Every time the bus stopped and someone else boarded, she tensed up. Any moment she expected a pack of Death Eaters to descend on the bus. The bus slowed at their stop and she quickly ushered the students off. "Maggie," she called to her daughter. She pulled the house keys from her purse and handed them to her daughter, saying quietly as she did so, "Run on and unlock the doors, okay?"

The request wasn't an unusual one, in and of itself. The situation was unusual, though, and Katrina was glad her daughter didn't question her. Normally, Katrina would ask her daughter to run ahead when her own arms were full of groceries or other packages. She ushered the students along as Maggie hurried off ahead of them.

Stepping across the threshold of her home after the last of the students, she breathed a sigh of relief. She turned to face Umbridge who had remained on the street.

The woman cleared her throat, "I will be back in the morning to observe your class again."

Katrina watched the woman walk away. She was about to close her door when a small popping sound came from her left, startling her. There was Fawkes, sitting on her muggle mailbox, a piece of parchment in his beak. "Fawkes, you scared me," she chided gently, taking the parchment and quickly reading it. It was a short letter from Dumbledore advising her not to take the students out again. He told her he was aware of what had happened at the zoo, and that it was becoming much too dangerous to venture out again.

She pulled a pen from her purse, penned a short response to Dumbledore in which she assured him she wouldn't take the students out again. She handed it to Fawkes and thanked the bird. The bird disappeared again and she closed the front door, locking it securely.

Katrina glanced towards the house, glad to see all the students had gone inside. She glanced down at her hands and saw they were still shaking. She ran her hands through her hair, trying to will the fear and tension away. Her nerves shot for the day; she slowly walked back to the house.

There was no way she was going to try to cook dinner tonight. She entered the house and walked into the back kitchen where she grabbed the flyer for her favorite pizza place. Thank heavens for home delivery, she thought as she dialed the phone and placed a large order.