Chapter Twenty-six: Problems, Big and Bigger
I disclaim anything recognized as famous.
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Kailey's Point of View:
"You two are about to learn what happens to trouble-makers in my school!"
Fred and George each raised an eyebrow at the stubby witch before them before turning to one another.
"I dunno how I feel about that, how about you George?" Fred asked lightly.
"I think the old bat's gone a bit loopy if she thinks we're sticking around," George nodded importantly.
"Yeah, I reckon we've outgrown the castle."
"Think we should test our skills out in the real world?"
They grinned at one another and summoned their brooms loudly. Umbridge, meanwhile, was slowly turning purple. Rather, her clothes were turning purple.
"Just where do you two think you can go? You have not finished the school year!" she shrieked.
"That's the beauty of being seventeen," Fred stated sarcastically.
"And we happen to be willing and able to employ ourselves," George added.
Their brooms came sailing into view then and they caught them with instinctual skill.
"Sorry, Angelina," George called once the two were in the air.
"But men have to have priorities," Fred finished with a shrug.
The crowd of students laughed loudly and Umbridge's face reddened.
"And if any of you have priorities, then come on down to number ninety-three Diagon Alley to Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes!" George crowed.
"Where you can purchase our Portable Swamp!" Fred continued. "Special discounts to any Hogwarts student who swears to use our products to get rid of the toad!"
"Stop them! STOP THEM!" Umbridge cried, not even noticing that her entire outfit was now obnoxious neon blue.
The Inquisitorial Squad sent spells whizzing into the air, but the twins were too adept at maneuvering around bludgers to be caught by inept Slytherin bullies. They soared away through the doors, pausing only to yell out "Give her hell from us Peeves!" before sailing away from the grounds.
Hermione, who was between me and Ron, groaned quietly in the back of her throat.
"What?" I asked, laughing and applauding with the rest of the student body.
"Mrs. Weasley is going to be furious."
Ron stopped clapping abruptly and looked down at Hermione.
"Why'd you have to go and say that?"
I laughed harder at the look on Ron's face.
"What's wrong with Ron?"
I jumped and turned to see Harry standing right beside me.
"Hermione's just reminded him how angry Mrs. Weasley is going to be about this," I shrugged. "She'll get over it."
"I reckon she'll be alright with it once she realizes that Filch was going to whip them," Harry replied darkly. "Look over there, he's holding it now."
We all looked over and Hermione gave a little gasp.
"That's barbaric!" she hissed before she frowned. "What's happened to Umbridge's clothes?"
She asked the second question just loud enough that several other students took notice as well. The loud applause slowly gave way to sniggering. Umbridge didn't take notice until the sniggers infiltrated her Inquisitorial Squad members.
"What is so funny?" she demanded, wheeling around to face Filch, whose face had gone slack as he realized what was different about her.
"Ma'am, were you wearing blue all day?" he asked, looking her up and down.
"Blue? Of course not! I never wear blue, I only wear pi—" she stopped halfway through the word as she looked down at her sleeve.
Her shriek of rage was so loud that the hour glasses keeping track of the house points shook.
"Bit of an overreaction, don't you think?" Ron sniggered as the students scattered.
"I can't believe they actually left," Hermione shook her head as we headed towards the common room. "I never thought that they really would do it."
"I did," I argued with a smirk. "Even without knowing what I know; once they're set on something they get it."
"Yes but…" Hermione trailed off. "I just never thought that they would decide that school wasn't important. What if the joke shop goes under? They'll have nothing to fall back on."
"The joke shop won't go under," Ron shook his head vigorously. "It's like Kailey said; they're set on it."
"Besides, we could all use a laugh every now and then," Harry added.
Hermione humphed quietly but said nothing more.
"How did it go, Harry?" Ron asked once we were safely in our corner of the common room. "Did you get it all sorted out?"
"Yeah, as much as I could that quickly at least," Harry nodded.
"Did they explain why nothing changed?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.
"Actually, Keena said that things did change," Harry countered, causing all three of us to frown back at him.
"Huh?" Ron spoke for us all.
"Look, first year do you remember seeing Keena here during the first week of school?"
I frowned at him.
"No…"
The other two looked at me with concern.
"You don't?" Hermione cocked her head to the side. "That's odd. I even spoke to her; she's the one who showed me the Book of Hogwarts Alumni."
"What about second year, do you remember her from then?" Harry pressed.
Ron and Hermione nodded but I only grew more confused.
"Not really," I felt like I was going insane. "Why can't I remember that?"
"She said it was because the time loop hadn't completed itself until I went back," he explained. "But since you and she were still connected, sort of, you would have more trouble remembering her being there. I think I can count on one hand the number of times the two of you spoke during our first two years," he added thoughtfully.
"I don't think I like that," I mumbled, shaking my head. "It's weird."
"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Kailey, but you've always been weird," Ron grinned, making Harry snort and Hermione roll her eyes.
I deigned to reply.
"Kailey!" Hermione gasped suddenly, making all three of us jump.
"What?" I blinked, pressing a hand over my chest.
"You've got your career advice meeting in two minutes!"
"I do not, I have it on Monday."
"Kailey, it is Monday," Harry pointed out.
"Aw crap," I groaned, standing up and stretching. "D'you think McGonagall is used to people being late?"
"Probably," the boys chorused.
I made it to McGonagall's office in record time. Luckily, the halls were mostly empty since classes were over for the day already. I had a feeling that Fred and George's grand exit had a hand in that as well.
Grinning to myself, I knocked on the door and waited a brief moment before going inside.
"Afternoon, Professor," I said happily, glancing around to see that Umbridge was not present. Good.
"Good afternoon Ms. Snape," she said sounding happier than she had in months. "How are you today?"
"I'm good, how are you?"
"Blooming," she replied. "Now, we are here today to—"
"Professor?" I interrupted politely. She gave me a strange look. "Not that I want to be rude, but we both know what you're about to say. Wouldn't it be more efficient if I just told you I want to experiment with Potions? Maybe even teach it when my dad retires?"
She shook her head.
"I suppose you're right. And you do have the grades necessary for that sort of work. Where would you want to experiment?" she asked, shuffling through some parchments that lay scattered across her desk.
"Maybe the Department of Mysteries?" I suggested timidly. "Do you think that's a possibility?"
She pursed her lips as she stared at me through her spectacles.
"I think you stand a fair chance of getting into that department. It's much simpler to do when you have connections with them, which you do. You'll need to maintain or even increase your grades from now on, though, Ms. Snape."
"I know, but I think I can handle it," I nodded. "Is there anything I should focus on improving for now?"
She looked over my grades for a few moments and I held my breath.
"The only area you seem to be having trouble in is Herbology," she admitted. "You'll need that NEWT if you want to do anything with Potions. You should pass the OWL with an A, but be sure to bring it up."
I nodded at her and smiled, reaching for my bag.
"Is that everything?"
"It is," she nodded. "Now, I need to know," she leaned forward, flicking her wand quickly and creating a silencing spell around us. "How did you turn her blue?"
"Time-delayed potion," I grinned. "I infused the spell that Fred and George used on the French boy last year with it so anything she puts on will, eventually, turn blue."
"And you have an antidote?"
"None that have worked," I said, pulling my hair over my shoulder and pointing at the blue streak that ran through it. Her face grew stern. "I'm not drinking it! Just dipping the end of my hair into it. Besides, none of the ingredients I use have any poisonous qualities whatsoever."
"Alright then, as long as you're taking the appropriate precautions," she nodded. "This conversation never happened," she added.
"Yes Professor," I grinned.
Keena's Point of View:
The flames in the fireplace turned green a second time that afternoon and Fleur stepped gracefully into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place.
"Hello everyone," she greeted with a smile. "I 'ope I am not interrupting?"
"Of course not," James shook his head. "We're just telling stories."
"Good, Bill will be 'ere shortly," she nodded, her posture deflating in what seemed to be relief.
"Why? What happened?" Sirius asked.
But before she could answer, the flames turned green once more and Bill stepped out of the fireplace. His ears were bright red.
"Well, Fred and George finally did it," he stated, coming round to sit on Remus' other side. "They've quit school. On the worst bloody day possible."
"They quit?" Lily asked.
Sirius turned to James.
"Pay up," he demanded, holding out a hand.
"Why is it the worst day possible?" I asked, not the least bit surprised about the twins. We had all known Harry's apology only meant one thing. James thought they'd been expelled, and Sirius had been adamant that they'd quit.
Bill blushed slightly and took Fleur's hand in his as she sat down beside him.
"Oh, so you've told your mother."
"Does that mean we're allowed to talk about the two of you officially now?" Lily asked, a wicked grin forming on her face.
"Ha! You pay up!" James cried, punching the air in triumph.
He'd betted that Bill would admit to going out with Fleur before Remus admitted to his relationship with Tonks. Sirius had thought the opposite. Honestly, the men I lived with…
"Grow up," Lily said, shoving James in the shoulder. "So Molly didn't take the news well?"
"I think she might've taken it better if she hadn't gotten a letter from the school in the middle of our conversation," he said, shaking his head. "She thinks we're being too rash."
"Too rash by dating?" I asked, smirking and raising an eyebrow.
Bill's blush deepened.
"Er no…" he looked at Fleur and she gave him an encouraging smile. "By getting engaged."
A moment of awkward silence ensued.
"Congratulations," Remus finally spoke up, snapping the rest of us from our trance.
Sirius and James followed in their friend's lead and Lily and I looked at one another for a moment before leaning closer to Fleur.
"May we see the ring?" Lily asked, smiling gently.
Fleur grinned and lifted her left hand to us.
It was a simple ring with a small diamond and a plain silver band studded by two rubies. Nothing like what I would have imagined on the finger of a Veela.
"It is most beautiful, no?" she smiled, her eyes shining. "I do not know 'ow he knew just what to get."
Perhaps it was too early for me to judge her.
Kailey's Point of View:
The weeks following the twins' departure were full of pranked hallways and skipped classes. Well, I didn't skip, Hermione wouldn't let me. I didn't tell her I could have easily made myself some Fever Fudge down in the kitchens with Dobby's help. What she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.
At one point, she gave half of the third years detention to try and stem the flow of illnesses that passed through her doors. That one had failed miserably because the next day the remaining third years and all of the second and first years had managed to get their hands on Weasley products and she had been forced to let them all go to the Hospital Wing. I was thankful she opted to not punish the second years, since it meant Alianna would avoid detention again.
Harry was keeping a low profile these days as well. None of us bothered with Weasley products in our DADA class. Hermione was part of the reason. The other part was that Harry and Ron didn't want to risk getting booted from the Quidditch team. I was content to doodle during my time in that classroom anyway.
There was one memorable afternoon where Peeves came swooping into our classroom and dropped fifty dungbombs down on Umbridge's desk about five minutes into the lesson. He came in screaming "SHIELDS UP!"
With barely a hesitation, I knocked Harry's wand out of his hand and raised my own. I would be damned if Umbridge found an excuse to kick Harry off the Quidditch team this late in the year.
My shout of "Protego!" had mixed with a few others in the class who had been DA.
The dungbombs failed to go off immediately and Umbridge apparently thought this meant that they were all duds.
"THERE IS TO BE NO MAGIC IN MY CLASS-!"
"BOMBS AWAY!" Peeves shrieked over Umbridge's cry.
And he zoomed back onto the safe side of the shield just as the explosion of noxious green gas went off. Umbridge's shouting turned quickly to a scream of rage followed by a gagging cough.
She dismissed class without handing out a single detention.
"What did you knock my wand down for?" Harry grumbled as we ascended the stairs to the tower. "I haven't had a chance to practice a decent shield in ages."
"Believe it or not, Harry, I would like it very much if you remained on the Quidditch team," I answered, shaking my head. Ron snorted but Hermione narrowed her eyes.
"Is he supposed to still be on the team?"
"Nope," I shook my head.
"Why not?" Ron asked incredulously.
I sighed and glanced around. There weren't any Slytherins to speak of nearby so I assumed I was safe.
"You remember that first match? Malfoy was going to run his mouth off at the twins and Harry," I murmured. "All three of you were supposed to get kicked off for beating him up."
"What, you mean like a muggle duel?" Ron laughed.
"Yeah, a fist fight."
"Oh, Harry, please tell me you wouldn't have," Hermione groaned but Harry shot her with an eye roll.
"I guess we'll never know, now, will we?" he replied.
Keena's Point of View:
It was nearing the end of May now. The news from Hogwarts was rare and almost never good. We heard rumors from the twins occasionally when they would drop by unexpectedly for dinner. The twins had accounted for Umbridge's mail screening process long before Dumbledore had even left. They had managed to develop a nonsense code that made it possible for students to continue to order their items through Lee Jordan. He would slip off to Hogsmeade through one of the secret passages and give the latest order forms to Rosmerta. In return, she would give him the new products. Sometimes, Lee would send them a letter of his own just to let them know how everything was going.
"Why haven't we heard from Harry or Kailey at all, then?" Lily had asked one night.
"We didn't want Hermione knowing," George shrugged.
"Even though Umbridge deserves it, she'd let being a prefect come first," Fred finished.
"Besides, Lee knows that we'll contact him with any important information."
"And he'd tell us if something big were going on with any of those four or Ginny."
As annoyed as I was that I hadn't known, it made sense for them to keep it close to their chests. The less people who knew, the better. They had made it clear that there was a wide chain of people, with a few representatives in each of the three 'respectable' houses, but no one knew exactly how Lee managed to get everything so quickly.
One Saturday, that could very well have been the day of the match Gryffindor was supposed to play against Ravenclaw, Sirius, Remus and James decided that they wanted to go and visit the shop. I wanted to go as well, but Lily wasn't sure if it was a good idea.
"Dumbledore told us not to leave," she insisted, rubbing the back of her neck. "I don't know if this is a good plan."
"Lily, Voldemort is still in hiding, do you really think he'd blow his cover just to come after us?" James asked, annoyed with his wife.
"I don't know, James, isn't it just better to be safe?"
"We've been safe for the past fifteen years," he stated, throwing his cloak over his shoulders. "One day out isn't going to kill us."
"Not us, maybe," she replied quietly. "Don't you think us visiting the twins make them into targets?"
"They're Weasleys, Lily, they've been targets since they were born," James rolled his eyes.
"James, this isn't funny," Lily insisted, her voice rising. "I know you're tired of being here, I am too, but we have to think about what Dumbledore said; when has he ever been wrong?"
"I'm not saying I don't trust him, Lily, I'm saying I don't think he's right this time."
"Well, I'm not going."
I paused in the act of wrestling a shoe onto Aradia's wiggling foot to look up at my brother. He had his eyes closed and his mouth was shut in a tense line. I glanced at Lily to see that she was staring at him with an expression of pity. She knew it was killing my brother to stay inside constantly, but she had never been one to disobey orders.
"What about a compromise?" Remus suggested before the silence could grow too tense.
The two looked at him curiously and he shrugged.
"What kind of compromise?" Lily asked slowly.
"I know you were looking forward to walking around Diagon Alley, Prongs," he offered cautiously. "But what if you and Lily just met us at the shop? Then when we're ready to leave, you'd just come straight back here. You'd be able to go out but less people would know where you'd been."
Lily frowned for a moment then sighed.
"Alright, I suppose it wouldn't hurt," she said and James' face lit up. "But just this once."
"They said the shop was next door to the Apothecary, if you apparate just outside of there you should be able to get inside before you're seen by too many people," I added, finally getting Aradia's second shoe on.
The rest of us flooed to the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius going first, me and Aradia in the middle and Remus coming through last. I looked around the pub cautiously, feeling a sense of foreboding. The crowd was noisy and it was just another weekend to these people. Sirius wrapped an arm around my shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze and I sighed.
The street was crowded with people busy doing their shopping. Mostly it was mothers with young children who weren't old enough for Hogwarts running about and getting errands done. There were some women gossiping in front of Flourish and Blots about Dumbledore by the sound of it. One of them, I noticed as we got closer to the group, was Augusta Longbottom.
She looked up just in time to catch my eye and said loudly to her friends, "Well, here is someone with a great deal more authority on the subject of Hogwarts and its doings!"
The gaggle of women spread out slightly as they turned to see who she was talking about and she came forward, offering a hand for me to shake.
"Professor Black," she greeted, leading me back into her circle of friends. "My friend Mrs. Finnigan was just telling us her opinion about why you and your husband were fired. I've been trying to tell them that you can't possibly have been fired, you've worked wonders as the students' tutor!"
I glanced at Mrs. Finnigan, noticing that Seamus had her nose and ears before I turned back to Mrs. Longbottom.
"Oh, no, Umbridge fired me," I replied lightly. "But it wasn't because I was inadequate or anything. I disagreed with her methods of punishing the students."
"Discipline is discipline, Professor," Mrs. Finnigan growled. "And it seems to be something that you failed to teach your nephew according to the stories my son tells."
"I'm sorry you feel that way," I stated tightly, feeling the eyes of all of these women on my face at once. "But I do not condone torturous methods as a means of detention so you'll pardon me for disagreeing with you in this instance."
"Torturous methods?" Mrs. Longbottom cried, the other women echoing her. Mrs. Finnigan's face lost its color. "Whatever do you mean, dear?"
"Umbridge has been using a Blood Quill in her detentions all year long. By fear and intimidation, she's managed to keep the students quiet about it but Sirius and I found out the night that she fired us. I don't know how many students have been forced into this but I didn't have a chance to tell Professor McGonagall before I left," I shook my head and sighed. "The Ministry has approved this method, as far as I know. I haven't even heard from my daughter since she was home for Easter; the mail is being screened."
"Why have you not told anyone?" one woman, who resembled Lavender Brown, demanded.
"Like who, ma'am? The Ministry?"
"The best hope we have is if the parents hear about it," Sirius put in, his arm resuming its position around my shoulders. "And if they demand action is taken against this. Otherwise nothing will be done."
"Well, luckily for you, you've just said all of this in front of Patricia Brown," one of the other women said sagely. "The story will be in every gossip mill by Monday."
Mrs. Brown rolled her eyes but did not deny the statement.
"Yes, well, I wish we could stay to chat some more but we have friends that we're meeting," I said in response to Sirius giving my shoulder a quick squeeze.
I waited until I was sure we were out of their hearing range before sighing in relief. Sirius and Remus laughed at me.
"I hate socializing with other parents," I groaned, shaking my head. "Or with parents in general; it's so awkward."
"It's not that bad," Remus argued, rolling his eyes. "It's just because you were talking about a subject that you don't like with a woman who clearly doesn't believe the truth about Voldemort."
"Mrs. Finnigan or Mrs. Brown?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Both," Sirius replied before Remus could.
We made it to the shop without any more side trips, for which I was decidedly grateful. Remus held the door for me and the baby, leaving me free to look around as I entered. There were a lot of cardboard boxes in place of actual bins at the moment, though there were shelves. The place smelled strongly of paint, but two of the walls were still just white.
A little bell had rung above my head and one of the twins bounded into the room.
"Welcome to Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes!" he crowed. "Come for a tour?"
"And to shop," Sirius grinned, though I gave him a look. "What? Can't I get my godson and daughter gifts while I'm away?"
"You might want to run that by Lily, she wasn't too thrilled when James tried," the twin said sagely. "They're in the back with Fred having a look in the lab," he added, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
"Maybe I should just make my purchases now before she knows I'm here," Sirius winked and I shook my head. "What? You pranked just as badly as the rest of us!"
"I know and it makes me question my sanity on a daily basis."
Kailey's Point of View:
"Kailey, I don't know about this," Hermione murmured.
We were following Hagrid towards the Forbidden Forest where he had 'something' that he wanted to show us. The match had hardly started when we left and I was disappointed to be missing it. But Hagrid needed us, regardless of whether or not I agreed with his decision.
"It'll be alright," I answered quietly. "It's not as bad as you think."
"What are you two mutterin' abou' back there?" Hagrid asked, looking back and grinning at us.
"Boys," I grinned promptly.
Hermione rolled her eyes at me but Hagrid chuckled.
"I reckon the two o' yeh don' get ter talk abou' tha' stuff round Harry an' Ron, eh?"
"The subject only ever really comes up if Harry isn't around," Hermione replied, giving me a look as she smiled. I stuck my tongue out at her.
"Yeah? Tha' don't surprise me none," he laughed before he quieted himself, looking around the forest. "Got ter be quiet in here now, girls." He adjusted the arrow in his crossbow.
"Kailey, your idea of bad and my idea of bad are very different," Hermione muttered as she eyed the arrow apprehensively.
"This is true," I shrugged, though I didn't offer her anything else.
We walked through the forest in silence with Hermione shooting me looks every few minutes. When we stepped off the path, I turned back to see that she had stopped walking. I glanced over my shoulder to see that Hagrid hadn't stopped to wait for us.
"C'mon, 'Mione, it'll be fine," I encouraged quietly. "It'd be worse if we lost Hagrid."
She sighed to herself but came forward and continued following us nonetheless.
"Hagrid?" I called as his great form was beginning to blend more and more with the dark surroundings. "Could we light our wands?"
"Er…yeah, alrigh'," he answered, pausing from what I could see.
I wrestled my wand from my pocket, acquiring more cuts and scrapes from the surrounding branches as I did so. Hermione held her lit wand closer to me so that I could see what I was doing and I nodded my thanks to her as I finally pulled my own wand out and lit it.
"As a matter o' fact, I should probably fill yeh in," Hagrid said, almost to himself. "We all know I'll be gettin' the sack any day now an'—"
"Hagrid, don't talk like that," Hermione interrupted. "School is almost out for the year and—"
"Then let me finish for me own sake?" he requested and she subsided. "I—er I just need a bit o' a favor is all."
"Hagrid…" I trailed off as I saw the look on his face. "We can try but…"
"So yeh already know then, do yeh?" he suggested sadly. "I was afraid o' tha'."
"I'm not saying we won't do our best, Hagrid," I said hurriedly. "But you understand the problem, don't you? She's approximately five feet tall, wearing blue a lot all of a sudden," I smiled when he chuckled.
"Well, I'll still show yeh what we've come out here for, eh?"
He turned back away from us and we followed him a bit farther into the forest. When he halted, I nearly walked into him and Hermione managed to reach out to steady me just in time. Hagrid didn't seem to notice, but he did turn back to face us, lifting one of his great fingers to his lips.
"Be real easy, now," he whispered, beckoning us forward slowly.
I crept along at an angle so that I could see the giant mound that was Grawp past Hagrid's comparably small bulk. A great, rumbling snore echoed in the silence of the trees and Hagrid sighed in relief as he realized his baby brother was sleeping. I glanced around to see that he had made himself a clearing, littered with uprooted trunks and broken branches. I shuddered to think of what he would be like if he was angry.
"Who is that?" Hermione breathed and I looked around at her to see that she was white enough that I could make her face out in the dimly lit forest.
Hopefully she wouldn't end up being too angry once she got over the shock.
Keena's Point of View:
A few days after our visit to the twins' shop, we received word from Dumbledore. Sort of. It wasn't the usual message from Fawkes, but from Tonks. She came back from work later than usual and her face was drawn and worried as she came in through the front door. I suppose that should have been my first warning; normally she apparated straight into the house after work.
"Had a bad day in the office?" Lily asked from the stove where she was making dinner.
Remus was still out doing Order work and James and Sirius were upstairs in the drawing room discussing something about pranks that they didn't want Lily to overhear.
"Not exactly," she mumbled, sitting down slowly. "Kingsley heard from Dumbledore and he wanted me to pass it along."
"What's happened? Was it at the school?" I asked, sitting up straight in alarm.
"It's not at the school, no," she shook her head. "Not even on this continent."
"What's not on this continent?" Remus shut the door behind him and came to sit down at the table.
"It's Kailey's brother," she said, looking disturbed. "He's run away from home."
"Run away? Why?" I asked feeling totally bewildered.
"The note he left behind said he was tired of his mother talking about his sister. It said he'd left to find Kailey…" she trailed off. "I guess her mum got in touch with Dumbledore somehow and he went overseas to see her in person."
"But Kailey's brother is only twelve; how could he possibly get himself over here?" Lily pointed out, shaking her head. "He'll get as far as an airport then they'll send him back home."
"See that's the thing, though," Tonks disagreed, still speaking slowly and quietly. "Dumbledore had a look at the note he left behind. It mentioned that he had found someone who was going to take him over here."
The word 'kidnapped' blared unsaid between the four of us more clearly than a rampaging hippogriff.
"What are we going to do?" Remus asked finally.
End scene. I hope you all enjoyed it and will come back for the next chapter (and keep an eye out for new one-shots)! Much love!
:-D