Disclaimer: Don't own.

It had been a tiresome week when coming back to Hogwarts. Of course, the fact that Umbridge had been moving on in her tyranny didn't help either, as she had begun taking notes on the teachers in her spare time. The sound of a quill scribbling on that darned clipboard was enough to make Ginny think she was going to go insane. Minus Trelawney, all of the Professors were great! And even then, Trelawney at least knew what she was teaching. Umbridge didn't know anything about defending yourself against the Dark Arts.

Many of the DA students had seemed to be more secluded when in Umbridge's class; although it was only because the toad would think she had the power to do certain things, like scaring the students into believing that adults were actually like this. None of the students believed her. And when she had created the Inquisitor Squad, even more students were angry at her. It was one thing to come to the school to teach, it was another to abuse that power of teaching, even more so than Snape.

And yet, besides Umbridge, everything was becoming normal.

Some of the fifth years, Hermione included, had already began studying for their OWLS. Ron didn't really see any point to it, stating that they still had plenty of time, but the exams were slowly approaching, as if they were just on the horizon. And although Ginny didn't really see the point in studying so early, she did have to agree that studying eventually would be needed. The exams were going to map out their whole careers, from what they were going to go into to how high of a position they would get. While the Twins only scraped out three owls each, they were already discussing about which building on Diagon Alley they would buy so they could set up their shop.

Umbridge had said that she was only starting to 'interview' the professors, to 'see' if they were compatible for the job. Fred joked that if they weren't so sure of the professors, then they should interview Umbridge herself to see if she was compatible to do anything, whether it was working at the MoM or teaching at Hogwarts. Many of the students in the Common Room had laughed at it, although there was truth to his words.

But the events that transpired before and during Christmas Break were not forgotten. There was still the chance of being found out by not only the Ministry, but the whole wizarding world as well. They knew the risks into being illegal animagi too, although they took the risks anyways. It was better to take risks in life than to take none at all.

And so, one fourth year, four fifth years, and two seventh years were eating breakfast on the Saturday morning after they had returned to Hogwarts. Surrounded by friends and Gryffindor DA members, chatter was heard from all around. Some of the DA members had been paranoid when they heard about the born animagus in the newspaper, although since they didn't know which house he supposedly came from, or the fact that it was Harry, they decided it was better to not worry about it. "Who trusts Adrian and the cow Skeeter anyways?" Dean Thomas said, "If you trust them, then you trust the Ministry. And we all know that the bigots there just want to make anybody who believes—Voldemort—oh, c'mon—is back." Although several people shuddered or flinched when Dean had said that, it was still fact. Minus certain people, trusting the Ministry was one of the worst ideas in the world.

"Wait, who did you say the woman was?" Luna asked in a concerned voice. "And why didn't you tell us about it sooner?"

"We don't know who the woman was," Ginny replied, "She had white hair and blue eyes, though. White as in the palest blonde hair color you have ever seen. We didn't tell you about it sooner because, well, we didn't think it would be a good idea, since although you wouldn't take us for crazy, it's just the fact that this woman is terrifying."

Luna bit her lip, signifying that she was hiding something.

Ginny looked at her friend, keeping her face in the same relaxed expression, although her suspicions were growing. Luna did hide a lot of things, but she knew something that they probably needed to know. She knew something. You're right, she does know something, but we can't force it out of her.

I know, but this is just insane! If she knows something, why isn't she telling us? It could be important.

I don't know. But fretting over it won't help.

Ginny had to agree. Worrying definitely wouldn't help.

"Maybe you should research on her," Luna finally said, "It wouldn't hurt to try, now would it? Besides, you guys could get some more information."

"Yeah," Ginny responded, "We might actually do that."

And they did. After breakfast, harry and Ginny told the pack that they were going off to the library, both of them trying to think of how the woman could even be in literature. And of course, going to the library for a very hard subject meant that spending most of the morning trying to find a book was in order. But, when they did finally find it, it wasn't what they were expecting at all.

"I found something," Harry said, although Madam Pince couldn't hear them since they were once again very deep into the library. "But. . . ."

Ginny walked over and saw why he was a little bit nervous—the cover. Two very familiar people, and not just because of the Pensieve. "Why do they have to come up when we try to find something?" Ginny sighed. "I mean really, this is starting to get annoying! We find out about our Bond last year because they were vaguely mentioned, then we get two of Luna's cousins, and then when we get into that Pensieve, we suddenly find out that this couple is Mary's parents!"

"Not to mention that Sarah and James l knew them," Harry added, before opening up the book to its table of contents, "Hmm. . . . Aha!"

He opened it up to a certain page, to reveal a woman with the same white-blonde hair and blue eyes, except this time she wore a sickening grin and blood was around her mouth. "Aubrey Jason," Ginny said aloud.

Aubrey Jason

Known to be the most deadly woman in the years 1500-1800, Jason is known for her ruthless attack on average people, both magical and muggle. Having been bitten when she was twelve, she lived in a society where she was treated as if she was nothing more than vermin.

Many people and scholars have argued over the centuries on how she exactly became the way she is today, as she was born in 1306, Denmark. Some believe that the influence from what she was labeled as caused her to become a killer, while others say that she married a man by the name Evan Jason, a human, only to have him die when they were thirty-three. Whatever the reason is, she was not known until the early 1500s when a sudden uproar in dead children came about, many of their parents stating that they saw a woman with white hair, pale skin, and blue eyes, which matches the description of Jason.

She is also known for turning the sole Chaput heir, Damion Maine Chaput, and then kidnapping him. Nobody exactly knew what happened to him, until he traveled to Britain, going by the name Damion Pendragon. Chaput is not as deadly as his sire, as people claim who have known his identity that he would rather die himself than become a killer, often feeding off of animals instead of human beings. Chaput was born in 1695, France, and changed in 1712.

The text ended rather abruptly.

Ginny blinked. She had never heard of Aubrey Jason, but then again, the woman was before her time by a long-shot. It made sense that none of the pack except for Luna, and being bonded to her George would as well, would know. And Luna would only know because Chaput was at least somewhat a friend to Quinn and Moonstone Lovegood.

"So," Harry finally said after a few minutes of silence, "She's even worse than we thought. A blood-thirsty killer who wants to kill this guy we don't even know, and she possibly wants to kill us too, although she's a Death Eater."

"The bitch," Ginny agreed.

"Hey, do you think this is like the Bonds book?" Harry asked her, and she shrugged.

It's worth trying.

Who should we try to look up then?

Was there a Lovegood family section?

Yes.

. . . .

He didn't try it, though. Instead, the book seemed to read their minds as the pages turned on their own. When it finally settled, Ginny blinked, looking at the picture of a Mary whose eyes weren't haunted by the years of war or the deaths of two of her best friends. A grin was on her face, and she just seemed so lively.

Rosemary Emerald Lovegood

Born in 1960, Rosemary is commonly known for being the rebellious one out of her parent's five children.

Later on she completed the soul bond to Sirius Orion Black, on January 15th, 1995.

Siblings are Scarlet, Xenophilius, Topaz, and Ella.

Ginny on instinct took a step back away from the book. That, even for books in the wizarding world, was not normal. Harry, sensing her discomfort, closed the book and put it away before wrapping his arm around her waist as they walked back towards human civilization.

They were not aware of the golden yellow eyes that were watching them.

XXX

"Dia," Lance said, and she closed her book and looked up at him, "Harry and Ginny found that darn book that Quinn made."

Dia looked at her twin brother in surprise. While they had known that Quinn had made a book that listed off the Lovegood family tree as well as alliances and the like, it was very deep into the library that it should have been very hard to find, very hard. While it wasn't exactly normal for people to go that deep in, it had happened before. "Why were they going that far?" she asked. "It seems unlikely that they would go that deep just to find something on one of their OWLS."

"That wasn't why they were there," he shook his head, "They were looking for information about Aubrey," he spat her name, "They saw her in one of their 'dreams'. She's going to target Damion, no, more likely she's wanting to torture him until he can't stand, and then kill him. And if she's after him, you know what that means." His voice dropped to a whisper. "Jason's after all of us."

"Are you sure? They could have been lying or trying to get some information on what they are up against."

The air around her noticeably got hotter and his blue eyes became emerald green before finally settling upon golden yellow. "You think I'm playing some kind of joke," he said accusingly, "Well guess what, I'm not! If you can't stand the idea of a threat to our whole family, or if you can't take it seriously, how about you try to make peace with the cow? You know that won't work, or are you just acting smart when in truth you're a bloody idiot?" That was when she yelped as a red mark flashed across her hand.

"Lance!" she shrieked, before slapping him clear across the face, which was a cure to the temperature and his eye color, "Don't be a bastard about this! You know how much I care about this, and you're going to try and use this all against me? This isn't just about you, me, or our family! It's the cost of the whole war! So don't you dare try and blame this on me, or there will be hell to pay for it, I promise you that!" For once, his eyes actually showed fear.

Over the past few months, she had turned into something dangerous. She wasn't what he called goody-two-shoes anymore, no; she was now a force to be reckoned with. It didn't matter about his excuses anymore, because acting like nothing really mattered was inexcusable. He didn't care that his own life was on the line as well as his own education, and he certainly didn't care that the fact that she wouldn't protect him over the former two. If he wanted to actually care about something, it had to directly involve him anymore; it couldn't just involve the rest of the world and him on some basis.

In a short summary, he was going to wind up dead if he was acting like this, and he knew it himself.

But that was the weird thing about Lance. He didn't care if he got killed or not. He just knew what was on the line, and he just acted like it was not a big deal at all.

"What'd you do that for?" he growled.

"I did it because sooner or later you were going to need to be slapped. You're just lucky I decided that doing worse wasn't called for, but it may be in the future if you can't get your act straight," she said with forced calmness, "Now, I want you to say you're sorry. It isn't fair on how you decided this was my entire fault, and you know that all of this isn't my fault either. So, I'm not going to let you walk out of this room until you say that you are truly sorry, and I don't care about your excuses, because you just crossed a dangerous line, Lance Xavier Lovegood," she narrowed her eyes at him, "Now. Sit."

He gulped before nodding and sat down. A playful smile came to her face, and she picked up her book again.

Their mother would be so proud of her.

XXX

Ginny felt the rain pouring down on her as she raced to the opposite side of the Quidditch Pitch, Bludgers flying past her and almost hitting her on more than one occasion. This was the third match, Gryffindor vs. Slytherin, and it was raining cats and dogs. At least there weren't any Dementors, which was a good thing. But where were her twin brothers when she was about to be pounded with both Bludgers at once? "And Potter scores, 160-70, Gryffindor!" the sound of three quarters of the crowd cheering almost took over Luna's commentary.

Alicia Spinnet had been hit with a bludger, and although they got a penalty, it meant that Ginny had gotten to play instead of watching. Don't get her wrong, she loved playing, but the Slytherin beaters were being rather brutal. Although, if they won this match, they would be playing against Ravenclaw; their chance to get the Cup was on the line at the moment. Frustration was echoing from Harry as he couldn't find the Snitch, but it was better than being knocked out by one of those damn flying balls of evil.

What a nice assessment, Ginny.

Ignoring his comment, Ginny grabbed the Quaffle from Katie, before passing it to Angelina, who passed it back to Katie. Unfortunately, the Slytherin Chaser was able to block her from scoring, and it was back to trying once again.

Angelina, in some ways, was just like Oliver Wood. The same attitude that they had to win the Cup, the same energetic ways; although she hadn't been on the Quidditch team in her second year, she still knew from hearing Harry and the twins complain about it, plus memories.

Fred and George finally batted the bludgers away, before they flew away in two blurs, after where the balls were flying. Luna's commentary was continuing while the scores were starting to match up to each other.

Pulling up before one of the Slytherin Chasers slammed into her, Ginny quickly looked around. Katie and Angelina were chasing after the other two Slytherin Chasers, while Fred and George were batting the Bludgers at the Slytherin beaters. This was starting to turn into something dangerous. But then again, Quidditch had always been a dangerous game.

Swerving before a bludger hit her; she then dived and caught the Quaffle that the opposing team's chaser had had, and turned to fly down the Quidditch pitch. She vaguely heard Luna shouting that Harry and Draco were chasing after the Snitch, although once she had scored, the walnut-sized ball had disappeared once more into the rain that was crashing against the players. Ginny swore, if this didn't let up eventually, she was going to get hypothermia. What a nice way to wind up spending a week in the Hospital Wing, which she didn't have time for as Harry would be stuck with the same problem as well. And not to mention the fact that they were part of the leaders of the DA. She couldn't afford to get a simple cold or the flu.

"And Bell passes the Quaffle to Potter, and she scores! 190-170 Gryffindor," Luna called out, before she almost screamed, "Potter and Black have seen the snitch! Both dive after it, and—" A moment of silence followed as the whole crowd paused until the dirty blonde shouted, "AND POTTER CATCHES THE SNITCH! 340-170 GRYFFINDOR," Ginny heard Fred and George whoop before the crowd roared.

Ginny grinned as Katie and Angelina exclaim in happiness, while McLaggen shouted, "We won! We won!"

Staring up at the sky, rain still pouring down; her grin turned into a smile. "Ginny!" Harry exclaimed, before he wrapped his arms around her.

"We won," she said as they slowly came down to the ground, the cheers deafening to the people below, although she just wanted to enjoy being this high up for a few minutes longer.

Yes we did.

I love you.

I love you too.

It was the best Quidditch match yet, in her opinion.

XXX

"Did you hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Umbridge is trying to find the born animagus!"

"What?"

"Yeah, supposedly she's trying to find out who it is, but she's not having any luck. She even complained to Dumbledore, but he wouldn't reveal anything."

"Serves the bitch right; let's just hope she doesn't find out about us either. Then we'd all be screwed."

"Agreed," the whispers were almost deafening to hear.

Ever since the Quidditch match, it seemed that Umbridge was working even harder to get rid of the DA, the pack, and Dumbledore. Although she wasn't succeeding very well, the fact was still there; the MoM wanted to get rid of Dumbledore as well as Harry and Ginny. And ever since Skeeter was fired, or should they say, blackmailed by Hermione, Adrian had taken over and was making everybody's life a living hell, but the most common person loved him. He didn't badmouth Harry and Ginny a lot; instead he had a mostly neutral view on what was going on. But he still badmouthed a lot of people.

But there were still the rumors floating around, still the facts being told by others, and there was now a sudden uproar in guesses once again. At least it wasn't as bad as before, although quite a few students were still nervous.

Trying to concentrate on her homework, Ginny heard even more whispers joining in different conversations, although they were all covering the same subject. She wanted to perform the Bat-Bogey Hex on all of them at the moment, although she didn't.

Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil were, of course, two of the major sources of the rumors, and gossip spread around Hogwarts quite fast. So, many of the students already knew of the rumors that Umbridge wanted to take out all of the muggleborns from Hogwarts, causing many students to become very angry at the toad. Ginny didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, as although the top pranksters at the school were the twins and Luna, there were still some minor ones that would love to give Umbridge a taste of the misery she was casting down upon Hogwarts. And that of course meant that there had to be quite a few plotting minds against the High Inquisitor.

Even the teachers were trying very hard to not show their dislike towards Umbridge. Ever since she had arrived, it was like a grey cloud was covering over the school. More and more rules were being set into place, making it even harder for some students to live their daily lives at the school. And yet, there was still humor in the air. Although pranks could not be pulled in front of Umbridge or in the Great Hall without risk of getting a detention with the vile woman, they were still played in Common Rooms and in the corridors when the toad wasn't there. In Ginny's opinion, it was better than nothing.

"What do you think is gonna happen if Umbridge finds the born animagus?"

"He or she would probably be expelled."

"Or they would be put in Azkaban."

"You think?"

"Possibly; although, it's up to the MoM to decide on what exactly they would do with him or her."

"Will you guys just shut it?" another person whispered. "It isn't fair as to who is going to endure the punishment that the toad gives, and you're probably scaring the crap out of them, for Merlin's sake! Imagine how you would feel if people were talking like this all around you, and yet they couldn't do anything about it without revealing their identity! So would you please be quiet!" The whispers became silent, and Ginny silently praised whoever brought the quietness back.

Next to her, Harry quietly snickered at both her thoughts and at what the student had said. Ginny thought for a brief moment about whacking him upside the head, but decided not to. That would just draw attention, and they definitely did not need that at the moment at all. Attention would be a bad thing, at the very least. It wasn't that suspicions would be aroused exactly, but Umbridge would be after them. And seeing what happened to Luna, it wouldn't be a good thing.

Hermione had caught Luna when her right hand had words carved into it, I must not tell lies. It had also been carved into George's right hand as well. Originally, they had all been furious at them for not telling that Umbridge had blood quills, something that was not allowed to be used on children, much less adults either, but Luna had stated that there was nothing they could do about it, as the toad would just punish them even more, or they would be expelled, but there were even worse possibilities.

Going back to her homework, an essay on Polish Ancient Runes, she concentrated. While it wasn't that hard of homework, she still needed to concentrate on it.

There was a sudden commotion from the students in the Great Hall as they heard Umbridge saying something as Professor Trelawney walked into the room, sobbing as Filch carried—luggage? "You can't do this," the Divination professor wailed, "I've been teaching here for sixteen years! Sixteen years! This is my home! Hogwarts is my home!" The students were stunned into silence at the scene that was lying before them, some of them with their jaws dropped.

Umbridge just smiled, before simpering, "Not anymore. The Ministry of Magic has deemed you unsuitable for your job." Trelawney sobbed louder. "And as such, you must be relieved, or should I say dismissed, of your current position at Hogwarts." Lavender and Parvati now wore horror-stricken expressions, as Trelawney was their favorite professor. "As High Inquisitor of Hogwarts, you are dismissed from the job as the Divination Professor."

McGonagall, who had been sitting at the Head Table to supervise the students, stood up and quickly walked over to the crying Trelawney, before comforting her fellow professor. And then, glaring, she turned to look at Umbridge. "You should be ashamed of yourself," the Head of Gryffindor spat, much to the increased shock of the students, "Never in my years of teaching have I seen such despicable behavior, even from professors! You should be ashamed of yourself, Dolores! You should truly be ashamed of yourself," The toad's smile just widened.

The toad-looking, miserable, horror bringing, owner of illegal blood quills, children-hater, psychopathic bitch!

Ginny didn't even bother to agree. The rage that she was collecting was astounding, but she couldn't help it. To do that, even to a Professor, even to a person who most people called a fraud, was horrible! It was beyond just plain mean, it even almost matched the darkest evil she could think of! How dare she?

The doors to the Great Hall then swung open, and Dumbledore strode in, his face in a stony mask. Turning to McGonagall and Trelawney, he said, "Minerva, please take Sybil back up to her room." With a nod, the two left the Great Hall and the luggage was vanished away, and Ginny knew it was work by the house elves. Dumbledore then turned to look at Umbridge, "Even as your position appointed by the Minister of Magic, you have the right to dismiss the professors, yes, but you do not have the right to banish them from the school grounds, only the Headmaster does."

The woman smiled, "Not yet."

"Alas, I have already found a replacement," Dumbledore said, and her smile turned into a frown, "His name is Firenze. He has recently been kicked out of his centaur herd when I asked him to teach, but nevertheless, he has agreed." And Dumbledore left just as soon as he had come.

Umbridge's expression was almost hilarious. Her once happy expression had turned into that of horror at the thought of a 'half-breed' entering the school and her eyes followed Dumbledore, although they were filled with anger and resentment, even more so than before. It was almost frightening, actually, at the amount of so-called power she held within them, as if she was in on something big. But then again, she probably was.

The toad left, Filch and Mrs. Norris following her.

It took a few more minutes until anybody in the Great Hall actually reacted—and that was when Lavender and Parvati started to sob, before the two of them ran out of the large room and up to the Gryffindor Common Room. That seemed to break everybody out of their trances. The blood purists quickly gathered up their things and it was obvious that they didn't want to get hexed or pranked because of the display that Umbridge showed. Some people actually cried out in protest, although there were no professors to tell them to be quiet. Others stared in shock at what they had seen, and some buried their heads in their hands, probably unable to take the tyranny that was held over the school anymore. There were only a few that followed in the same suit that Lavender and Parvati had, but even though it was only half of the school in there, it was obvious that they couldn't take it anymore.

Turning to look at DA members, Dia, who was sitting with her brother, stood out the most. Both of their carefree expressions had gone dark, their eyes filled with something that was beyond resentment; it almost caused Ginny to shudder. It was like she was looking into the eyes of teenage Tom Riddle again; malicious, hateful, and angry.

Whispers quickly started back up again, and although it was about a completely different subject, she just couldn't take it anymore. Gathering up her things, Ginny stood up before looking at Harry. He nodded, and cleaned up his area as well, not able to take the suddenly depressing Great Hall anymore. Both of them left rather quickly, feeling the eyes of curious students on their backs. She's crazy. Who would do that to a Professor unless they were Dumbledore; does she just want to make sure all of us are going to hate her?

Harry shook his head. She probably doesn't even want just that. You know what her views are, just by looking at her DADA classes and the rules she's laying out. She hates anybody who rebels against her, she's big on blood purity, and she likes the idea of locking up all of the people she calls 'half-breeds' even if they are innocent. It's sickening to think that a person could be like that, but it's the cold, hard truth, and you know that.

Yeah, I know.

It was scary, to think that the Ministry of Magic had turned into this image, and if they didn't stop Voldemort, it would only get worse. It was terrifying to think that this was the image that was taught to kids nowadays, and beforehand to; that treating people who didn't do anything wrong except who they are was the common thing taught in pureblood families. It was starting to turn into either you rebel or you force yourself to agree.

The two soul-bonded teenagers then continued to walk up to Gryffindor Tower.

A/N: Hello! I'm feeling rather exhausted, having spent some of my time trying to write with a migraine, but I got it done! Yay for me! Anyways, this chapter is kind of—fast, but there needed to be a lot in here. The Erana twins, the Lovegood family book, and Umbridge were all needed, but they also deserved some happiness too, so why not the Quidditch match?

Anyways, I'm interested in your guesses on the animagus form that Lance has. I shouldn't be too hard, but if it is, you'll just have to wait and see about just exactly what his form is!

See ya'll next chapter!