A/N: So to all who are sticking with me and not furiously planning my demise, I appreciate it. Onwards!

Disclaimer: See previous chapter, or any chapter before that.

Chapter 25: In the Fire

At breakfast the next morning, Victoire sat with Kevin once more. Theo tried his best to ignore it, sitting with other Ravenclaw seventh-years farther down the table. This move, however, placed him right beside Michaela Black, and he was slightly put off to see not only the two Black twins from Gryffindor but also a Hufflepuff boy and a Slytherin girl sitting at the table as well.

Glancing across at the Gryffindor table, his eyes immediately fell on the girl whose name he now knew was Laura Corner. She noticed the moment his gaze settled on her, and hid behind a large black boy that she was sitting next to. He looked away and shook his head sadly. If he couldn't understand how Kevin had made Victoire fall for him so quickly, he certainly couldn't understand his own sudden obsession with this little Gryffindor girl.

Laura peeked around Shane's shoulder. The Head Boy was no longer staring at her. Letting out a breath, she resumed her seat. "Why does he keep staring at me?" she groaned.

"Both of the Heads are acting very strange," said James from her other side. He had been careful to sit on the opposite side of the table from Pearl this morning, and thus wound up sitting in her usual spot next to Laura, since she had anticipated that he would sit across from her. The result was that she was giving him annoyed glances every time his eyes passed over her.

James let his gaze pass from Theo to the girl next to him, still looking very out-of-place in her Gryffindor robes among the Ravenclaws. For some reason she looked particularly beautiful this morning, and he was loathe to take his gaze away from her.

Sitting beside Rose and Albus, respectively, Dominique and Molly noticed their cousin's staring. "If I didn't know better, I'd say Cupid had gone on a rampage through this school," Dominique muttered bitterly. She couldn't believe her sister had dumped Teddy for Kevin, and was furious at the manner in which she had done it. She had no intention of talking to her until things were amended.

Albus glanced from his brother to Michaela. This was something he had by now seen many times. He wished some change would occur in that story, so that his brother wasn't always left staring at her with that look of his.

Upon finishing breakfast, students began to disperse to their morning classes. Kevin nudged Victoire. "Come on, we've got Defense now."

She looked at him, smiling widely. "I know." Seconds passed, but she simply continued staring at him.

"Well, come on," he gently pressed, getting up from his seat. Her eyes followed him, and only when he was beyond her view did she move. Still smiling, she rose and skipped ahead of him off to class.

Kevin watched her go, sighing. This was wrong. It was all wrong. She was supposed to be with him, but not like this. It was too big a change, too quickly. It wasn't her.

Headmistress McGonagall reentered her office and collapsed heavily into her chair, rubbing her eyes. She had not slept well the previous night, after everything that had happened yesterday.

During breakfast, both she and Professor Hagrid had remained silent about what had occurred outside the castle. No one else had witnessed the events.

Suddenly her fireplace came to life. She sat up immediately, quickly making herself presentable. Whoever it was, however, gave her a fair amount of warning time to prepare.

Finally, from among the flames, the image of a large, bald head appeared.

"Kingsley!"

"Sorry to disturb you, Minerva," came the deep voice of the Head of the Auror Department. "I need to speak to Teddy Lupin."

McGonagall frowned. "Teddy?"

Kingsley sighed. "I know I promised him a couple days off, but I'm missing some important documents that he was supposed to be in charge of. No doubt he was distracted thinking about visiting the school and got a little bit disorganized."

The Headmistress opened a drawer of her desk and peeked in sheepishly at a bunch of unopened letters from the Ministry of Magic. Usually these letters served as nothing more than an annoyance, and she tended to overlook them. No doubt one of them held information about Teddy Lupin visiting, for she knew nothing of it.

She shut the drawer. "Okay, I'll get him." She slowly got to her feet.

"There's no hurry, Minerva. Just have him floo me at some point today."

McGonagall sat back down. She didn't feel like moving. "Okay."

"Thanks, Minerva. Take care."

"You too."

The head disappeared, and the flames died down again.

So Teddy Lupin was here, was he? Visiting Victoire Weasley, no doubt. McGonagall chuckled softly to herself. She only hoped that Victoire didn't get too distracted from her studies. But she had chosen the Head Girl herself, and she knew that wouldn't happen.

Then a notion hit her like a ton of bricks. She sat up straight, ears alert for a howl. "Lupin."

It couldn't be. The boy had inherited his mother's gift, not his father's curse.

The Headmistress quickly rose to her feet and made for the door of her office. She had to be sure.

Victoire was one of only two girls in the N.E.W.T.-level Defense Against the Dark Arts class this year. Early in the year, this had bothered her, but over time she had grown accustomed to it, and even found perks from it. She enjoyed dueling the boys, since she almost always won. Her favorite opponent was Theo. The other students loved watching their Head Girl out-duel their Head Boy, and perpetually ribbed him about it, though they could do no better. And on the rare occasion that Theo beat her, he was always very nice about it.

The other girl in the class was a sixth-year Hufflepuff named Sandra, whom Victoire knew to be the seeker of their quidditch team. Sandra was very friendly and outgoing, but in a duel she was quick-thinking and extremely agile, the same seeker advantages that Uncle Harry used himself whenever he dueled. Victoire had a very difficult time beating her, despite knowing more spells.

She was shocked that none of the other Gryffindor girls had gone for N.E.W.T.-level Defense. The supposedly-brave girls were quite content to let men protect them. Just as Albus Dumbledore had defeated Gellert Grindlewald and Harry Potter had defeated Voldemort, the men would always be there to fight and save the day.

What would Aunt Hermione say? Victoire knew perfectly well how much her aunt had helped her uncle in his quest to save the world. Though it may seem like it is always the men who do the fighting, they always need the help of women.

The two girls sat in the front row of the class, along with Kevin and Theo. Professor Brant greatly appreciated when one of the girls answered one of his questions. His questions, however, always struck Victoire and the other seventh-years as fairly simple, and they had decided early-on to allow the sixth-years who were new to the N.E.W.T.-level to ponder over them and answer. It was obvious that Professor Brant did not know nearly as much about skilled defensive magic as Professor Shahim had last year, and he always allowed the seventh-years to do demonstrations for him, rather than reveal his own level of magical ability, which Victoire suspected was rather low.

Moreover, Brant was always going on about the great protection that the Ministry of Magic provided for all of Wizarding Britain, which annoyed the students. Victoire didn't disagree, since her own uncle was the face of the Auror Department at the Ministry, but she knew that each wizard and witch needed to be able to fend for himself or herself in case something happened.

At the moment, the professor was frowning down at the textbook, as if he were having a difficult time reading it. "Protego... Horribilis? Yes, Protego Horribilis." He looked up at the class. "Who can tell me what Protego Horribilis does?"

Victoire rolled her eyes, guessing that the professor didn't actually know about that ward spell, a far-advanced version of the basic shield charm.

"Professor, why don't you teach them what Protego Horribilis does?" Everyone in the room looked up immediately at the unmistakable voice. Headmistress McGonagall stood in the doorway of the classroom.

"Er... right..." stammered the professor, before quickly recovering. "What can I help you with, Headmistress?"

"I need to borrow Miss Weasley for a moment, if you don't mind."

"Not at all," said Brant, anxious to be rid of his boss. He gestured for Victoire to go with the Headmistress.

The Head Girl rose and followed the Headmistress to a nearby classroom that was empty. Inside, McGonagall turned to her. "I've just received word that Teddy Lupin is here."

Victoire frowned, not wanting to hear that name. "He isn't. Not anymore."

The Headmistress raised her eyebrows at the unexpected reaction. "Oh? But he was here?"

Victoire nodded curtly.

"When?"

"Yesterday."

"I see." Clearly Teddy hadn't returned to the Auror Department, otherwise Kingsley would know about it. She observed the Head Girl's expression, and her voice changed to one of sympathy. "Something went wrong, I take it?"

Victoire clenched her fists. She had no wish to speak about this. "Yes."

"I see," McGonagall repeated. She placed a gentle hand on the Head Girl's shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Victoire shook her head, still furious with herself for having loved that man when Kevin had been right next to her all along.

"You may return to class," the Headmistress said softly.

Victoire turned immediately and left the empty classroom. Outside of the Defense room, she took a moment to compose herself before reentering.

Albus had just rounded a corner when he crashed into someone. Both went falling to the floor.

"Watch it, Potter!" spat Rachel Vicsen, a first-year Slytherin girl.

Beside her, Alexander Zarin placed his hands on his hips, looking down at Albus with disdain. "Well, aren't you clumsy, Potter."

Albus got to his feet, and offered to help Rachel up. She declined his offer, swatting away his hand and getting up on her own.

"How cute," said Alexander mockingly. "See you around, Potter." With that he stepped around Albus and Rose. Rachel followed after giving Albus one last sneer.

Rose continued walking immediately, followed after a moment by Albus, then stopped abruptly when she saw Scorpius leaning against the wall a little ways away, watching the scene with the smallest of sneers on his face. Rose found this look from him to be particularly disgusting, since she had thought he was different.

Immediately she continued on, intending to storm past him.

"Wait, Weasley," he said in none-too-loud a voice. She stopped immediately. "I'm not friends with them."

"I saw the look on your face," said Rose angrily. "It was the same as theirs."

Scorpius shrugged. "I'm a Slytherin, aren't I? It's just natural for us."

"I can't be friends with you if you're like that," Rose declared. Her father's words about the Slytherins—and the Malfoys in particular—echoed in her mind.

Scorpius was silent for a few seconds, then he shrugged again. "You don't have to be if you don't want to."

He said nothing more after that, and Rose continued walking. Albus lingered for a moment more, looking at the Slytherin.

"What do you want, Potter?"

Albus looked for a moment more, but said nothing. Rose stomped her foot impatiently, and Albus continued after her.

"Albus!" Albus stopped and turned to find Allison running after him. Scorpius followed the girl with his eyes as she approached, making no move to depart. "One of your cousins is looking for you."

"Which one?"

Allison's eyebrows rose, and she hesitated. "Er... I can't remember which one. Their names all get mixed up. One of the fifth-year girls."

Albus nodded understandingly. He did have a lot of cousins at this school. "Where?"

By this time Allison had noticed Scorpius watching her, and she took a step away from him, looking uncomfortable. "Outside the Great Hall."

"Thanks," said Albus, and he hurried off.

Allison took one last nervous glance at Scorpius, then scurried over to where Rose was still waiting, and the two continued on.

Harry Potter's office was empty. From the fireplace, Headmistress McGonagall looked around in dismay. She needed to talk to Harry about this.

Spotting movement, McGonagall quickly looked up at the desk. A photo of Ginny Potter was watching the head in the fireplace, clearly wondering what was the trouble.

"Do you know where Harry is?"

The Ginny in the photo shook her head.

There was a sound from the door of the office. It opened slightly, and a woman's voice sounded. "Hello?"

"Yes," McGonagall replied. The door opened fully, and a pale, skinny witch looked around the empty room in confusion. "Over here," said the Headmistress impatiently. "I need to talk to Harry."

The witch stared at the fireplace in surprise. "Er... one moment," she stammered, and disappeared down the hall.

"Thank Merlin," McGonagall muttered to herself. Harry needed to know what had transpired with Teddy's visit, and the coincidental appearance of the "unknown werewolf."

Seconds later, Kingsley walked into the office. He looked at the fireplace. "Minerva, what's wrong?"

McGonagall considered telling him, but decided it would be better to speak to Harry about it first. Harry had a much more personal relationship with Teddy than Kingsley did.

"I need to speak to Harry."

"He's not here. He's on assignment."

"This is urgent, Kingsley. Where is he?"

Kingsley frowned. "Corner Industries. I'm not exactly sure how to get in touch with him until he comes back."

"I'll go there myself. Thanks, Kingsley."

"Wait. I still need to talk to Teddy."

McGonagall sighed. "Not now. Take care."

Kingsley raised his eyebrows, and the Headmistress didn't stick around to see anything further. Pulling her head out of the fire, she grabbed her favorite broom and made for the large window in the back of her office.

Above the window, Severus Snape looked down at her from his portrait. "Trouble from another Lupin? Very surprising."

McGonagall frowned at the sarcastic remark. Not taking her focus off her objective, however, she ignored her predecessor and opened the window, hopping on the broom and flying out.

The headquarters of Corner Industries was a large building, but Harry seemed to be making his way through it alright. At any rate, he was fairly sure he had found his way to Mr. Black's private office suite. Finally, he was going to find out about these new Blacks that had arrived in Britain, and if they had any connection to his godfather.

Entering the suite, he found himself in a large, dimly lit reception room. Comfortable black chairs lined the dark-gray walls, and there were four black doors that led to other rooms. A large, black desk stood in front of the opposite wall. Harry made his way up to it.

The secretary behind the desk glanced up at him over her glasses. Her gaze was scrutinizing, and showed no visible recognition of who he was.

"Hi. Is it possible that I may meet with Mr. Black?"

She raised her eyebrows. "Are you asking if you can make an appointment?" She had an American accent.

"How soon can I make that appointment for?"

The secretary shuffled through some papers on her desk, then scanned what appeared to be a schedule. "Mr. Black is a very busy man."

Harry casually swept his bangs aside, revealing the scar. When she looked back up at him, however, she didn't even spare it a lingering glance.

"I know who you are, Mr. Potter." Her voice held not even a hint of the usual admiration, and Harry felt quite embarrassed at being called out on his conceited gesture. "Still, you must make an appointment to meet with Mr. Black, and I'm afraid that meeting cannot happen any time soon."

Harry nodded, restraining his frustration. "Thank you."

"Harry!"

Harry turned, and was shocked to find Professor McGonagall at the entrance to the suite. "Professor?"

"I need to talk to you," she said quickly, approaching him.

Harry glanced uneasily at the secretary, who was looking from one to the other with one eyebrow quirked. He quickly gestured over to the black chairs in the farthest corner of the room, and the secretary nodded.

Sitting down in those chairs with the Headmistress, Harry asked what was wrong. McGonagall quickly told him about Teddy and Victoire breaking up, and then the appearance of the werewolf on the grounds.

Harry frowned. "Teddy isn't a werewolf. He inherited his mother's metamorphmagus abilities."

"I know that, of course," said the Headmistress. "It just seems such an unlikely coincidence."

"We don't even know how many werewolves live in the Forbidden Forest," said Harry. "There's no way to say that this new one wasn't from the forest."

"Kreacher sounded absolutely certain," said McGonagall.

Harry didn't understand how a house-elf would be able to distinguish one werewolf from another. Moreover, this was hardly the first time that the house-elves had been involved in some strange occurrence this year. What was going on with them?

"I'll ask Teddy about it next time I see him at work," Harry assured her.

McGonagall nodded, looking around the dark room uncomfortably. At the desk, the secretary shuffled some papers rather loudly. "Very well. We should leave here." She got up quickly and made for the exit. Harry followed, glancing at the desk. Mr. Black would have to wait.

Shortly after the two departed, one of the doors in the back of the room opened slightly, and a dark pair of eyes peered out. One of the hidden microphones in the room had picked up the entire conversation, and the man's curiosity was piked.

"So Harry Potter came to see me, did he?" The voice was a deep baritone.

The secretary turned her head halfway, peering out of the corner of her eye at the large shadow through the crack in the door. "Yes. Do you wish to meet with him?"

Silence fell for several seconds. The shadow remained still. Then the low voice sounded again. "Let him deal with his werewolf problem first. Make him wait. When the time is right, we will meet."

The secretary nodded, and the door shut, the large shadow disappearing behind it.

It wasn't until Teddy didn't show up at work after his break was supposed to have ended that Harry began to worry.

A week later, when Teddy still hadn't shown up, Harry knew something was very wrong.