Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. I make no claims to ownership.
Henri didn't come out of his room for a few days. Occasionally Sirius would knock on the door, demanding entrance only to receive silence in return, until Dora dragged him away ordering him to leave Henri alone. A couple times Sirius also caught Remus hovering at the end of the hallway, watching the door to Henri's room uncertainly.
Then, about two weeks after they found and destroyed the Horcrux, Sirius passed by Henri's room in time to hear a woman yelling.
"NO, I WON'T BE QUIET, HENRI REMUS LUPIN! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE'VE BEEN? WE THOUGHT YOU HAD DIED! ANDRE SAID HE COULDN'T REACH YOU EITHER – Don't tell me to calm down, Teddy!"
Snickering to himself, Sirius continued on his way downstairs, his step a bit lighter. Shortly after Henri finally emerged from his room, his brown hair lank and unwashed, his clothes rumpled, and large, dark circles beneath his eyes, but he accepted the plate of toast Dora handed him. Unless she was at work, she had been sticking around the house, hoping Henri would recover soon.
"Sorry it's burnt," she said as Henri eyed the toast dubiously. "I'm not much better than Sirius at cooking."
"We've kind of been starving for the past few days," Sirius added lightly. "Remus can make some sandwiches and soups, but that gets boring after a little while. He also refused to let the kids help."
Henri's shoulders hunched inward.
"Enough about that," said Remus, watching Henri. "Camellia seemed very intent on baking a cake and was very put out when I said no."
Henri's head whipped up. "Wait, is today Halloween?"
Sirius felt his own smile drop at the reminder of the date. In Azkaban, at least, he wasn't ever aware of time passing, and so he didn't feel this bitterly sharp guilt every Halloween. Then again, he hadn't really needed it, as every time the Dementors passed his cell, he would be forced to remember finding two cold and still bodies, and Hagrid taking a squalling baby from him. Sirius had let Harry go, thinking that Dumbledore, who was reputed to be so intelligent, would be there to defend him after he caught Wormtail. Instead Dumbledore, using his power as the Chief Warlock, chose to secure a Death Eater a job at Hogwarts and didn't even try to get Sirius a trial.
A scrape of a chair jolted him from his thoughts as Henri rushed to the pantry.
"Do we have ingredients for a cake?" Henri called to them.
"I don't believe so," answered Remus, frowning. "That's why I told her no."
Henri poked his head out of the pantry. As his lank hair changed color, Sirius understood that the natural sandy brown color symbolized sadness, and orange must mean anxiousness.
"Can you get some?" Henri pleaded. "It's the twins' birthday and if I don't do something…"
"Well why didn't you say so!" cried Dora, leaping to her feet. "Come on Remus, we need to go shopping. Henri, what do they want? Cake flavor and presents, I mean."
"We always do two separate cakes – cheesecake for Logan and a carrot one for Josh. And presents…" Henri paused and glanced at Sirius. "They've mentioned a puppy again…"
"Absolutely not," Sirius said flatly. "I am never doing that again."
"I meant a real puppy," Henri said quickly.
Remus and Dora exchanged a look.
"I suppose we could get one," said Remus almost reluctantly.
Sirius let his feet drop from the table to the floor and he straightened in his seat angrily.
"Hold on, you told me no when I asked!"
Remus rolled his eyes. "Because we were sixteen and living in a dorm room. Now you have a house. Dora and I will just have to take the dog on walks, I suppose, and we'll train it to, er, use the restroom in a crate or something."
"There's a backyard," said Henri, waving a hand vaguely in the direction of it.
"There is?" Dora's brows rose. "Where? I've never seen it."
Sirius gestured to a passage off the kitchen. "Through there. It's all overgrown with poisonous and illegal plants. Haven't you ever noticed it through the windows?"
"I thought it was your neighbor's," she admitted with a shrug.
"Unfortunately, all of this load of shit belongs to me."
"Better start clearing that backyard, then," Remus told Sirius humorously. "We're about to get a puppy."
Groaning, Sirius placed his arms on the table and settled his head on them. Later, though, he was grateful for the work Henri inflicted on him as they removed the tangles of plants. It took his mind off Halloween, and how Harry still hadn't answered his offer after two weeks of Sirius waiting. From his own experience with Mr. and Mrs. Potter taking him in, Sirius understood what Harry might be feeling, but it still rankled him. All he could do, though, was apply Dora's advice on Henri, and wait for Harry to come to him.
~FoD~
Tension in the school was high as the first Quidditch match of the year drew closer. Cygnus refused to cancel the meetings for the Defense Club since the majority of the members weren't on the Quidditch teams, so Harry, Ron, Fred, George, Angelina, Ernie, and Cho were forced to miss some of the meetings when they had Quidditch practice.
Both Snape and McGonagall were showing quite a bit of interest in the upcoming game. At least McGonagall was fair, though, for she didn't make any of the classes do homework. Snape, however, reserved the Quidditch pitch so that the Gryffindor team had hardly got a chance to practice, and turned a deaf ear to the many reports of Slytherin attempts to hex Gryffindor players in the corridors. Nick physically had to restrain his brother when they found out Snape had insisted Alicia Spinnet had attempted a Hair-thickening Charm on herself despite fourteen eye-witnesses reporting to have seen the Slytherin Keeper, Miles Bletchley, hit her from behind with a jinx while she worked in the library.
"This is why Dad burned his portrait," Daniel muttered, crossing his arms.
Nick adjusted his glasses as he glanced up at the staff table. "Dad did that because Snape transferred his obsession from Grandpa's mum to Aunt Lily."
"Really?" Ron said, horrified.
"That's what Dad said," Nick answered with a shrug.
Combined with all of the bullying from the Slytherins, Ron was getting extremely nervous. He was not on the same level as Wood, mostly due to his own lack of confidence in himself. Harry thought Ron could make an amazing Quidditch player, though. Sometimes Ron had shown an extraordinary ability on par with a professional Keeper; one time he had hung one-handed from his broom and kicked the Quaffle so hard away from the goal hoop that it soared the length of the pitch and through the center hoop at the other end.
Despite this, Ron continued to display a severe case of anxiety, especially when Draco Malfoy imitated Ron dropping the Quaffle each time they saw each other. However, Malfoy's antics stopped at once one day when Juliet gave him a look of utmost disapproval. Harry almost laughed until he heard Orion whisper that Juliet was imitating Narcissa Malfoy's exact expression.
Juliet turned her attention to Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "Just ignore him," she said, waving a hand in the direction of Malfoy's retreating figure. "He's a right twat until after the war."
"Yeah, and Grandpa is amazing at Quidditch," Orion added a bit proudly. "Or he was, before he got so old."
As a consolation to all of the complaints, Cygnus held a meeting the night before the match. Angelina warned that she didn't want any of her players tired for the game, so Cygnus did another demonstration. This one was Cygnus, Keyla, Andre, and Daniel up against Ry, Alphard, and Caelum. Harry watched them in awe.
"You don't mess with the phlesi and his Knights," said Nick, watching avidly as well.
One of the Slytherins glanced toward him, her eyes narrowed, but she didn't say anything. Harry recognized her as the one who had defied Snape, and for the first time he realized she looked a lot like Elizabeth, only with blonde hair and green eyes. For a moment, Harry wondered if the world truly hated him. Is she their other grandmother?
"Knights?" asked Ron.
"Yeah," Nick replied, and it took Harry a moment to realize that he was answering Ron, not Harry's unspoken question. "That's what my uncle calls Caelum and Alphard."
Harry returned his attention to the fight. Even with a smaller number, the latter three held their own extremely well and worked together seamlessly. Ry did the sneak attacks, Caelum used overwhelming strength in his spells, and Alphard defended them so that the other four seemed to always be on their toes. Finally Cygnus called it a draw, although Harry wondered if this was because Cygnus didn't want to lose.
The morning of the match Ron seemed slightly less queasy than Harry expected. Harry glanced at the Slytherin table as they passed, bracing himself for more jeering, but the Slytherins were oddly subdued. The reason became clear when Warrington opened his mouth and Pucey hissed at him.
"Don't, you idiot! You'll just be hexed by Black again."
This was followed with a glance at Keyla, who was watching the pair with narrowed eyes.
Unfortunately, Ron had caught the exchange as well. "What was I thinking?" he moaned as they sat down.
"Get a grip," said Harry sternly. "Look at that save you made with your foot the other day, even Fred and George said it was brilliant."
Ron grimaced. "It was just a fluke," he said miserably. "I slipped off my broom when none of you were looking and when I was trying to get back on I kicked the Quaffle by accident."
Momentarily stunned, Harry searched for the right thing to say when John joined the conversation.
"You'll be great," John stated, and then proceeded to give some advice that his grandfather had told him, which just boggled Harry's mind when he thought about it.
Hermione sat across from them, looking concerned.
"He's just nervous," Harry assured her.
"Am not," muttered Ron, and Harry hastily closed his mouth, fearing he might return Ron to his previous sullen mood.
"It's fine to be nervous," said Hermione bracingly. "I never feel you perform as well in exams if you're not a bit nervous."
Oddly, it seemed to be the advice that Ron needed, for he perked up and was even able to eat some food. When he and Harry rose to head to the pitch, Hermione stood with them. She hesitated for a moment before her expression hardened into one of determination.
"Good luck, Ron," she said, rising on tiptoe and kissing him on the cheek. "And you, Harry."
Having not received the same sort of encouragement as Ron, Harry raised his eyebrows and smirked, which Hermione ignored. She turned back to the table, where John seemed to be shoveling cereal into his mouth to keep from laughing.
As they crossed the Great Hall, Ron touched the spot on his face where Hermione had kissed him, looking both amazed and befuddled.
"Shut up," he muttered when Harry nudged him.
"I didn't say anything," Harry responded, grinning.
Angelina had changed already and was talking to the rest of the team when they entered. They quickly changed into their robes, trying to ignore the chants and whistles from the stands. When they reached the pitch, the Slytherin team was standing waiting for them. As the Captains shook hands, Harry leaned over to Ron.
"Look at Crabbe and Goyle. What does that say about the caliber of the rest of their team?"
Ron glanced at the great hulking pair and let out a shaky breath. "Yeah. Yeah, you're right." He firmed his shoulders. "I can do this."
As soon as Madam Hooch blew her whistle, the players shot into the air and the game began with the backdrop of Lee Jordan narrating.
"And it's Johnson with the Quaffle, what a player that girl is, I've been saying it for years but she still won't go out with me –"
Lee's commentary continued in much of the same vein until he suddenly paused. "What's that?"
A loud roar was coming from the Gryffindor stands. Harry laughed delightedly when he saw the people leading the chant. Caelum, Daniel, Juliet, Nick, and John wore hats shaped in lions' heads, and Andre was conducting them as they sang:
No matter how you sling
Or say he's not anything
He blocks all the rings
Weasley is our King
Harry swung around. At the end of the pitch, Ron hovered in front of the goals, shaking but determined. As Warrington hurtled the Quaffle, Ron launched himself at it, and the ball bounced off his fingertips, falling into Katie's surprised hands. Harry's heart soared along with the volume of the singing; the rest of Gryffindor had taken up the chant.
Realizing that he'd become distracted, Harry went back to looking for the Snitch. He passed Malfoy and bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"WEASLEY IS OUR KING!"
After a few more rounds of circling and dodging both players and Bludgers, Harry finally spotted the Snitch. He dived straight down, and in a matter of seconds Malfoy was beside him. They were even with each other, both stretching an arm out, groping – Harry's fingers closed around the tiny, struggling ball, and he felt Malfoy's fingernails scrape the back of his hand.
Harry pulled level, thrusting his hand with the Snitch into the air, and the roar of approval was deafening. Grinning, he turned to look at Ron –
WHAM.
Harry's breath left him as he tumbled to the ground. There was a loud, collective gasp from the crowd. Through the angry yells and jeering, Angelina's voice made it to him. She was hovering over him, looking frantic.
"Are you alright?"
"Course I am," he grunted, letting her pull him to his feet.
"It was that thug Crabbe, he whacked the Bludger at you the moment he saw you'd got the Snitch," she spat.
Malfoy snorted from nearby them. "We wrote our own song, it was much better suited for Weasley," he sneered. "Would you like to hear it? Weasley was born in a bin…"
"Leave it," Angelina muttered as Harry turned to face Malfoy. "He's just a sore loser. Ron caught most of them, anyway, so it doesn't matter."
"We wanted to write another couple of verses!" Malfoy called as the rest of the team landed. "But we couldn't find rhymes for fat and ugly – we wanted to sing about his mother, see –"
"Talk about sour grapes," said Angelina, casting Malfoy a disgusted look.
"We couldn't fit in useless loser either – for his father, you know –"
Fred, George, and Ron all three stiffened, seeming to realize what Malfoy was talking about, but before they could do anything, another voice interjected, speaking in a cold, carefully controlled tone.
"What did I tell you, Malfoy?"
Malfoy's face turned ashen and he looked around at Keyla. Her eyes were cold as she looked down on him. Behind her, Cygnus was approaching slowly, his own expression wary. Several people had descended from the stands to the ground, and they were watching the group eagerly. Cygnus' lips were pressed together in a slight grimace, his gaze ping-ponging between Keyla and Malfoy.
Glancing around at the crowd, Malfoy squared his shoulders and gave Keyla a stiff smile.
"My apologies, Black," he said. "I was just angry. It won't happen again."
Her head cocked to the side, her gaze continuing to probe him as she said, "Be sure that it doesn't."
He answered with a small nod and slowly made his way to the changing rooms with the rest of his team. The other students, disappointed that there was not going to be a fight, went back to celebrating.
"What was that about?" Harry asked Keyla.
"Merely reinforcing his training," she replied innocently.
Cygnus let out a long sigh. "She turned Grandpa Draco into a ferret and hexed every single Quidditch player when she caught them creating a song about Grandpa Ron," he explained. "Now everyone in Slytherin fears her."
"And you're smitten," Orion quipped.
Cygnus scowled at his brother while Keyla's lips pressed together. "I am not."
"Smitten?" Daniel turned away from congratulating Ron. "Who's smitten with who?"
"Whom," Juliet corrected him, but he waved her away, quirking an eyebrow and smiling at Orion, who opened his mouth only to be cut off by the arrival of Nick.
"Stop the one-eyebrow thing," Nick muttered to his brother. "You're the only one who can do it."
Harry felt a pinch of guilt. They must have inherited that inability from himself.
"Elizabeth, Caelum, and Addie can, too," Daniel pointed out, now switching which eyebrow he raised.
"Elizabeth is on a plane of her own for just about everything, and Caelum and Addie are Blacks," said Ry, joining them with Alphard. "What're we talking about?"
Keyla's gaze rose to the sky.
I am so glad I don't have siblings, Harry thought for perhaps the first time in his life.
"You won! You did it! You won!"
Suddenly Harry found himself knocked to the side. All he saw was a blur of bushy brown hair before Hermione threw herself into Ron's arms. Surprised, Ron stumbled back as he caught her, and then a wide, goofy grin spread across his face before he leaned down and kissed Hermione soundly on the mouth.
For a moment, it seemed that time froze around them. Then, as Hermione drew back, her eyes wide and her lips parted into a smile, John hooted and everyone began to cheer.
~FoD~
"We won," Ron said, still in a daze. "Harry, we won."
"I know, mate," Harry repeated for the umpteenth time since the Gryffindor celebration had moved to the Common Room, but since he too hadn't stopped smiling, he couldn't be particularly irritated. "It was bloody spectacular."
They were sat on the couch in front of the fireplace, Hermione curled up beside Ron. Harry would have thought this would change the dynamic of their friendship, but so far, he didn't really feel that different with them. It was probably because he usually did things on his own while Ron and Hermione did quite a bit of worrying and fretting together over him.
Harry's smile faded. Am I really that bad of a friend…?
He was distracted from his thoughts by a shout.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Daniel bounded up to Harry with all of the energy of an excitable puppy, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Hagrid's back!"
"What?" Harry exclaimed, leaping up so quickly that he almost over-balanced.
"Hagrid's back! Come on, it's been ages since I've seen him!"
"He's still alive in your time?" Hermione asked as she disentangled herself from Ron.
Daniel bounced on his feet. "'Course he is. Nothin' can kill Hagrid. He's as bulletproof as McGonagall!"
"Bulletproof?" Ron repeated, his brow furrowing.
"It's a Muggle reference," Hermione explained before returning her attention to Daniel. "But we can't go now. It's almost curfew."
"Never mind that, let's go!" Daniel said, grabbing the back of Harry's collar and pulling him off the staircase to the boys' dormitory.
"But my cloak," Harry protested at the same time that Hermione said, "It's cold outside!"
"Invisibility charms, secret passages, and warming charms," Daniel said as he dragged Harry toward the portrait hole. "Sheesh. Are you wizards or not?"
They received quite a few odd looks as they clambered out of the portrait hole, but no one tried to stop them. People had gotten used to the family completely disregarding the rules, and since not a single person in Ry's family had been docked points outside of Snape's class, they were usually left alone by the other Gryffindors. Harry still didn't understand how they managed it.
Outside the Common Room, John, Nick, Juliet, Caelum, and Andre were waiting for them. Andre's arms were crossed and there were spots of color in his cheeks, and Harry recalled seeing Fred and George opening some contraband alcohol earlier. At least Andre didn't seem that tipsy.
"What about everyone else?" Hermione asked as Juliet applied Disillusion Spells on all of them.
"Can't overwhelm him all at once, can we?" said Daniel's disembodied voice.
"Open."
Both Ron and Hermione's blurred outlines were momentarily visible as they jumped. At Nick's hiss, a section of wall had moved aside to reveal a secret passage. An empty feeling formed in the pit of Harry's stomach as he was forcibly reminded of the Chamber of Secrets.
"Come on," Daniel urged again.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione followed the family through a series of interconnecting passages, most of which Harry had never used or even seen on the Marauder's Map. When Ron expressed wonder at that, Nick informed them that in the future, James and Sirius had done quite a bit of exploring to adapt the map, and that many of the passages had a secret mechanism where Parseltongue was required to open it.
Finally, they reached the Entrance Hall, and after Daniel had shone a light across the floor to make sure Mrs. Norris wasn't there, they crept out into the silent, snowy grounds. A small weight of worry lifted from Harry's chest when he saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid's chimney. He led the way across the snow to the large hut, where he knocked insistently on the wooden front door. Immediately a dog began barking from inside.
If Fang is here, then so is Hagrid, Harry hoped.
"Hagrid, it's us!" he called through the keyhole.
He held his breath until he heard Hagrid's voice answer him, and then Harry's heart leaped with joy.
"Shoulda known!" Hagrid chuckled. "Bin home three seconds… Out the way, Fang… Out the way, yeh dozy dog..."
Then Hagrid opened the door and Hermione screamed.
"Merlin's beard, keep it down!" said Hagrid hastily, staring wildly over their heads. "Under that cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!"
His eyes widened as more than three people squeezed past him into the house. When Juliet removed the invisibility charms, Hagrid's brow wrinkled and he shot a look of confusion toward Harry.
"Er, who are yeh?"
"They're exchange students," Harry said quickly. "Hagrid, meet Nick, John, Andre, Caelum, Daniel, and Juliet. They're friends of ours."
Nick was looking up at Hagrid, who was covered in blood and bruises, with a clinical fascination. "What happened?"
"Nuthin'," Hagrid responded shortly. "Want a cuppa?"
Ron's eyes narrowed. "Come off it, you're in a right state!"
"You can trust us," Hermione said earnestly.
Ignoring them, Hagrid picked up green steak and slapped it over the left side of his face. "Tha's better. It helps with the stingin', yeh know."
Harry crossed his arms. "So are you going to tell us what's happened to you?" he demanded.
"Can', Harry. Top secret. More'n me job's worth ter tell yeh that."
Harry exchanged a glance with his friends. They had discussed what might have happened to Hagrid, and at once, they all knew their theory was correct.
"Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?" asked Hermione quietly.
Hagrid startled so badly that he nearly dropped the steak. "Giants? Who said anythin' abou' giants?"
"We guessed," Hermione admitted.
Looking irritated, Hagrid threw the steak onto the table again and strode back to the kettle, which was now whistling. "Never known kids like you three fer knowin' more'n yeh oughta," he muttered. "An' I'm not complimentin' yeh, neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'."
"It's a Potter thing," Daniel piped up.
Hagrid glared at him, but the massive beard twitched as if he wanted to smile. "Aye, that it is. Worse'n yer father yeh are, Harry."
Harry grinned sheepishly even while warmth radiated through his body.
They discussed Hagrid's journey with Madame Maxine and how their efforts to win over the giants had become moot when the Death Eaters engineered an uprising. Hagrid, Madame Maxine, and Hagrid's newly found half-brother, Grawp, had been forced to flee.
Then there was a loud rapping at the door. Hermione gasped; her mug slipped through her fingers and smashed on the floor, making Fang yelp. Through the window, they could the shadow of somebody small and squat.
"Quickly, get over here!" Juliet hissed.
She, Hermione, and Andre started rapping the others hard on the head with their wands. As the strange feeling of the Disillusionment Spell covered him again, someone grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him into the corner, where he huddled with the others.
"Our mugs!" gasped Hermione.
"Evanesco," Andre said quickly, and the cluster of mugs disappeared.
Once everyone was hidden, Hagrid cautiously opened the door. Professor Umbridge stood there.
"Hello," she said loudly with a large, forced smile. "Are you Hagrid?"
"Er — I don' want ter be rude," said Hagrid, staring at her, "but who the ruddy hell are you?"
"My name is Dolores Umbridge," she replied with the same fake sweetness. "I am the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. I wished to introduce myself to you as a fellow professor."
"Oh! Well then, it's nice ter meet yeh."
He stuck his large hand out, which Umbridge ignored other than looking at in disdain. Her eyes narrowed.
"What has happened to you? How did you sustain those injuries?"
Hagrid removed the dragon steak from his face. "Oh, I… had a bit of an accident," he said lamely. "I tripped. Over… over a friends broomstick. I don' fly, meself. Well, look at the size o' me, I don' reckon there's a broomstick that'd —"
She cut across his rambling. "Where have you been? Term started more than two months ago. Another teacher has had to cover your classes. None of your colleagues have been able to give me any information as to your whereabouts. You left no address. Where have you —"
Umbridge broke off suddenly, shuddering. Hagrid frowned and glanced toward the corner where Harry stood with the others as Umbridge looked around herself, blinking rapidly.
"Er, yeh – yeh were about ter leave," Hagrid suggested uncertainly.
"Yes," she murmured. "Yes, I'll just be on my way now."
In a daze, Umbridge turned from the door. After the door closed, Hagrid pulled back the curtain to ascertain she was heading back to the castle before letting them know it was safe to remove the Disillusionment Spells.
"That weren't the Imperius Curse, were it?" he asked, eyeing the time travelers warily.
Caelum cleared his throat. "No, it was a more powerful Confundus Charm."
Ron starred at him. "I know I've said this before, but mate, how are you not in Slytherin?"
"I actually got the idea from a Gryffindor," said Caelum, glancing at Hermione, who frowned in confusion and shrugged when Ron looked questioningly at her.
Hagrid grunted, still looking suspicious. "You lot had better get back up to the castle."
Harry tried to think of a way to stall, but he knew that Hagrid was right and they needed to leave. On the walk back through the snow, he looked at the dark silhouettes of the trees in the Forbidden Forest and wondered why he felt like he was being watched.
AN: Story idea based on this (half-formed) scene:
"We could say it was arranged."
"Right." Daphne nodded seriously. "As if we did not, in fact, get drunk together and then somehow ended up married in the same night. Nor did you ever see your girlfriend with that man-whore."
Harry's head whipped up. "Ginny isn't a whore!"
Daphne rolled her eyes. "Of course not," she said in a bored tone. "Anyway, I was referring to Smith, not the – not your girlfriend."
