Still two more weeks passed, and still Sirius had not returned. His letters became less frequent as well, which worried Harry. He was dying to hear what he'd found about Brenda and any connection she might have to Voldemort. Her sudden departure, and the reason for it, were a hot topic all around the school. Malfoy had received a few barbs from friends and foes alike at the fact his father had been made to bleed by a girl. That, he had to admit, amused Harry and his friends to no end.
"I want Christmas break to hurry up and get here already." Ron groused.
"We've only got two more days of classes." Hermione reminded him.
"You and Sirius are going to be at the Burrows, right?" Ron asked Harry.
"If he gets back in time." Harry replied.
"Where did he go?" Hermione asked. She'd asked numerous times, but each time Harry refused to tell her, which made her worry.
"I already told you, I can't say." Harry sighed.
"Well, so long as he gets back in time." Ron shrugged. "The Dennisons are going to be there too."
"The Dennisons?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, Brenda and her parents." Ron nodded slowly.
"Why?"
"Turns out her dad and mine know one another." he answered. "Plus, my dad was over the moon when I told him why she'd been expelled."
"The Malfoys do have a way of endearing themselves." Hermione remarked.
The group stopped walking when they reached the bottom of the stairs, a large group blocking their way. Mrs. McGonogal stood, shooing the students, but they refused to budge.
"Go to your dorms." she called out. "Now!"
Slowly the students began to move away, looking back over their shoulders as they went. When the group had disspersed, Ron, Harry and Hermione could see a robe lying on the ground, and a book bag on its side, its contents spilling out onto the floor.
"You don't think its happened again, do you?" Hermione asked with a gasp.
"I hope not." Ron said with a shudder.
Harry stared at the spot and felt dread fill him. Three students had gone missing over the last two weeks. Two Hufflepuff and one Ravensclaw. No one had heard or seen anything which worried people even more. His mind automatically went back to those first couple of dreams. Then to Brenda and her possible involvement. He really wished that Sirius would get back. He was dying for some answers, especially if he was to spend his Christmas break with her.
"Harry!" Hermione nudged him and pointed to the main doors of the school.
It was as though he'd read his thoughts. Sirius strode into the building, looking rather confused at what was going on with McGonogal and the robe. Otherwise, he looked rather happy and relieved.
"Harry." he said as he joined the group. "I need to speak to him alone, if you two don't mind." he added.
"I hate when people want rid of you." Ron said as he and Hermione turned and left.
"What did you find out?" Harry asked.
"We can get Brenda too, and I can tell you both at once." Sirius said as he led Harry to an empty room.
"You haven't heard then." Harry said. "Brenda isn't here."
"Where is she?"
"She was expelled." he answered.
"For?"
"Punching Lucius Malfoy."
Sirius tried to contain his laughter, but was unable to. The image proved to be too much and a broad smile spread across his face.
"She preaches to me about not doing that, and then she goes and gets expelled for doing it herself." he chuckled.
"What did you find?" Harry asked eagerly.
"Its not her." Sirius said with a smile. "It's not her in your dream."
"It sounded just like her." Harry said, having been sadly sure that it had been her.
"Her grandmother." Sirius explained. "Belinda Dennison. She disappeared when Brenda's father, Cal, was a small child. Never heard from again really, until Voldemort started to come to some noteriety. Then she appears in a few documents."
"Her grandmother." he whispered. "Does she know?"
"Not that I know of." Sirius shook his head. "I need to find her, to tell her."
"She'll be at the Burrows." Harry informed him. "She'll be there with her mum and dad." he added, wiping the smile from Sirius's face.
"Her dad." he groaned. "Oh dear."
"Not looking forward to telling him that his mum is up to no good, or that you fancy his daughter?" Harry asked.
"You teenagers." Sirius sighed.
"Not an answer, but I'll let you slide." Harry laughed, feeling much better about Brenda at least. "Do you know where her grandmother is?"
"No." he shook his head. "Brenda is the spitting image of her." he said, looking down at an old newspaper clipping.
"Let me see." Harry said, taking the paper from him.
He was right. The photo was black and white, but it looked just like Brenda. It was a wedding photo, and the bride and groom looked so happy. He wondered if Belinda Dennison had always been evil, or if something made her that way.
"Two days until the Burrows." Sirius said.
"Yeah." Harry nodded.
"We can wait that long." he decided. "Not looking forward to that little chat anyhow."
"It's about time you two arrived." Molly Weasley said as Harry and Sirius stood on her doorstep. "And what is this? Knocking. You both should know you can just come in."
"I keep forgetting that." Harry said apologetically. "And, its his fault we're late." he added, pointing to Sirius.
"I had some things that needed seeing to at my house." Sirius explained.
"Well, you're here now, that's all that matters." Molly said with a smile. "Come on, everyone else is in the kitchen."
The trio entered the kitchen and Harry and Sirius received waves from Ron and Ginny, not to mention all of their brothers.
"Mr. Black." Cal Dennison said. "Can I talk to you?" he asked quietly, looking around the room.
"Of course." Sirius said, casting a questioning look towards Brenda who only shrugged in response.
"Can I call you Sirius?" Cal asked as he shut the door to the living room behind him. "Great." he said as Sirius nodded. "I need to talk to you about something rather important."
"If this is about Brenda.."
"What would this have to do with my daughter?" Cal asked. "I was wondering why it was I got a letter from a friend at the American ministry telling me there was some strange guy looking into my family." he explained, "And when they told me who it was, the fact it was my daughter's former tutor piqued my curiosity even more."
"Oh, that." Sirius nodded. "Well, that does have something to do with Brenda, and partly why she was expelled."
Cal sat down, got comfortable, feeling this was going to be a long explanation.
"Harry has dreams now and then, and they tend to be rather, well, prophetic." Sirius went on. "One he had involved Voldemort, and who Harry thought, was Brenda."
"Excuse me?"
"That's what I was looking into. I started a few inquiries, and that led me to your family tree."
"My mother." Cal said, sinking back into the sofa.
"Yes."
"Brenda doesn't know what her grandmother was." he said. "I told her she died when I was young, and for all intents and purposes, she did." he explained. "She's working with him, do you think?"
"Unless Harry's dream was wrong." Sirius nodded.
"I didn't want to explain." he sighed. "You know, she's so much like her in some ways, it's hard for my dad to be around her at times. Physically and personality wise they're nearly identical."
"That would be why Harry mistook the voice." Sirius said, making the connection. "Their voices are similar."
"Dad?" Brenda called from the door. "Mom wants to know where you put some of the presents." she said, looking back and forth between the two men, hoping she'd been able to interrupt anything too awkward.
"Right." Cal said, shaking his head. "Excuse me." he said to Sirius as he got up. Before heading out the door, he stopped and hugged his daugther tightly. "I love you, Bren." he told her before leaving.
"What was that?" she asked, closing the door. "I assume you didn't mention..."
"Us?" Sirius said. "No. I was talking to him about something else."
"Oh, I see." she said. "Did you find out anything?"
"Yes. And, I know you are telling the truth." he nodded, resisting the urge to move closer to her.
"And? Do I get to know what you found?" she asked, not resisting, and casually moving forward.
"I think it best that your father tell you."
"Oh." she said, biting her lip in confusion, trying to think what it was he would have to tell her. "Is it really bad?"
"I don't think you're going to like hearing it." he answered truthfully.
"And will it affect us?" she asked.
"We should probably hold off on getting too involved until it blows over." he reluctantly replied.
"Damn." she hissed. "That's fine, I'm patient."
"Liar." he laughed. "So, did he bleed a lot?"
"It was streaming." she nodded as she laughed.
"Wish I'd been there to see it."
"Well, if you'd been there, I doubt I'd have done it." she said. "Is it true that there are some students missing?" she asked.
"Yes." he nodded. "Three."
"Were those games an opening for some, Voldemort or anyone?"
"I think so." he said. "I know it's cruel, but part of me hopes that Harry has another dream soon. It might give us some more clues."
"You're right, it does sound cruel." she nodded. "But, I think it might help."