Minor irritations and Hiding Mr. Filch.

Our favorite little bad boys give Umbridge a chance to recover,,,somewhat while they set their minds to protecting Mr. Filch from her. Harry takes a turn at driving her batty. Kingsley and Amelia are on the marriage law trail. Draco and Marcus talk Quidditch.

The Slyhterins had voted and come to a decision to let Umbridge rest a bit while she struggled to remove the green dye. Of course, just because they were taking a break from the BIG pranks didn't mean they couldn't pull little pranks and cause her little, minor irritations. They were just giving her time to let her guard down before they went after her again. Harry, over the summer, had made friends with an American wizard who was also into jokes. The boy had sent him a care package of joke items once he got home. He was dying to try some of them out on Umbridge.

After the class wide detention, Umbridge was surprised and pleased when she went to class the next day and they all seemed remorseful. She began her lecture and was in the middle of an explanation when she lifted her wand and it blew bubbles. She frowned and shook the wand. Deciding it was just a fluke, she continued her lecture. Once again, she lifted her wand and it blew bubbles. Glancing back, she caught sight of Potter and Weasley, hiding their laughter. Frowning, she decided to just ignore the bubbles and keep on with her lesson. Pretty soon, it seemed as if the more she tried to ignore them, the bigger they got. Finally she snapped at the class to "LEAVE, JUST LEAVE NOW!"

They didn't waste a second, scrambling out of the room before she could change her mind. As they laughed their way to the Great Hall, they ran into Fenrir, heading up for his class of the day. He howled with laughter as they told him the bubble story.

"Serves the old biddy right! How the hell did she talk the Ministry into letting her come back here, anyway?" he asked.

"We don't know, but somehow she got Mr. Filch's name on that marriage list, even though he's a Squib. I've written to the Minister and he's promised to look into it from his end and let me know. The boys think she's up to no good and we're going to try and keep Mr. Filch away from her as much as possible." Hermione told him.

"Yeah, I wouldn't put it past that biddy to try and take the school again, not saying that's what this is, but isn't that what she tried to do the last time she was here?" Fen wondered.

Hermione started to answer, but stood as if struck. "Fen! That's it! She's trying to take the school again. She kept on till she ran Dumbledore out, now she's trying to get rid of McGonagall!"

Fen snorted. "Good luck with that! Alex and Mikey will stop her, along with their parents. None of them like her because of trying to break up his grandparent's marriage." At Hermione's look of surprise, "Oh yeah, Granger, I wasn't around much but his grandpa is and always has been my family doctor. Ever since the man got his Healers license. I was there, not for the whole thing but enough to know she was causing problems."

Hermione crinkled her brows, trying to figure out WHY Umbridge would feel the need to try and take Hogwarts again. She wished Shacklebolt would get back to her with any news. She absently followed Mikey and the others into the Great Hall for lunch.

After lunch, she had a free period. She went to the library while Mikey went to Fen's class. She was working on her Transfiguration essay when she sensed someone sitting across from her. To her surprise, it was Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris.

"How did I end up on that list, missy? We both know I don't have a lick of magic. I know you been looking into it. You found anything yet?" he seemed genuinely confused about his status and hopeful that Hermione would figure it out. Hermione smiled gently at him. Unlike other students, she'd never had any problems with Mr. Filch. She'd actually felt a bit sorry for him, living at a magical school while having no magical ability himself.

"I'm looking at the records we have here and I also have a letter into the Minister to look into the matter from his end. We'll figure it out." She smiled at the old man.

"She still talks to someone at the Ministry, missy, I heard her the other day. She wants to finish what she started and I think she wants rid of you, the Potter boy and them Snatcher boys, too. She thinks once you four are gone, she'll have free rein here." Filch told her, carefully looking over his shoulder.

"Thank you, Mr. Filch. I'll keep that in mind. You be careful and stay out of her way as much as possible, alright?" she reached over and patted his hand. Mrs. Norris sniffed her hands. She stroked a hand down the cats back. Mr. Filch nodded, stood and quickly shuffled out of the library, Mrs. Norris on his heels.

As she checked her time, she realized Fen's class should be over soon. She decided to go meet Mikey, and tell him what Mr. Filch had said. She peered through the window and counted five students beside Alex, Mikey, Lavender and Seamus. The older four looked between sixth and fourth years. The littlest one, a girl, looked to be a little first year. She was looking fearfully at the older students. Hermione watched as Fen sat down next to the little girl and put his arm around her. He hugged her close and the little girl looked up at him as adoringly as Lavender did. It was obvious to Hermione that Fen was a natural born father. All of these young weres were looking to him for guidance through the difficult journey they now found themselves on. He was obviously more than willing to both claim them and guide them on their journey.

As the bell rang and signaled the end of class, all the students crowded around Fen. They were all waiting for a hug and a word or two. One by one, Fen talked to each student. Finally, he got to the little girl again. He hugged her, called her his little princess and turned her over to Lavender as she had a class very close to her. He spoke quietly to Mikey and Alex, then the three came to the door. Miley caught sight of her and smiled. She walked over, hugged him and told them of her very brief, surprising visit from Mr. Filch.

It was like Fen had figured. She was back to attempt another takeover of the school. She'd picked the wrong set of students to challenge though. She should have waited for a school year that didn't have A) students who had already found one silent war against her and won and B) students who had just fought an actual war.

Miley and Alex were talking about their next prank on Umbridge, but they were going to let her relax first, throw her off her guard, then they were going to strike. In the meantime, Harry had a whole bag of treats he was wanting to use on the old huzzy, some of which would require the assistance of a wily pair of Snatchers. Hermione laughed softly, shaking her head at them.

They were standing in a corridor talking as Filch came around the corner. Suddenly, they heard "Argus, Argus, where are you? I need you to keep an eye on some of the students." At the look of terror on his face, they jumped into action. Alex scooped up Mrs. Norris and hid her under his robe after put a slinging spell on her. Miley put a silencing spell on Mr. Filch and spelled him into a suit of armor. Umbridge came around the corner, saw them and frowned. "Have you seen Mr. Filch?"

"Yeah, we did!" Alex and Mikey said in unison. "He went that way," pointing in two different directions. "Or maybe that way." They changed directions, still pointing in opposite directions. "No, I actually think he did go this way." They pointed back in the original two directions.

"Actually I think he might have gone to the fifth floor to check on Fluffy. He's been very lonesome lately because Hagrid hasn't been coming up as much as he used to." Hermione piped up. The boys smiled admiringly. Umbridge hurried off in that direction.

"Nice, Granger, we'll make a prankster out of you yet." Laughed Alex. Hermione smirked. She could be quite tricky when she wanted to be. She just didn't show that side of herself very often. They released Mr. Filch and Mrs. Norris so they could hurry away in the opposite direction of Umbridge.

That night at dinner, Harry told Hermione to keep Mikey pulled close as he would definitely burst out laughing and get detention for something he hadn't even done. Hermione rolled her eyes, but kept Mikey right beside her.

As everyone settled down, the teachers came in and began taking their seats. As Umbridge sat down, there was a loud squishing sound from her chair. To the delight of every student there, it was Mike Scabior who provided that evenings laugh at the expense of Umbridge. As Mikey had told her before, neither he nor his dad had a filter. Turning to peer across his wife, Mike said loudly, "Great Merlin, woman! Shouldn't you be doing that in the loo, not here in the dining hall! Make us all sick, you will!" Mrs. Scabior face palmed, beet red. McGonagall had a napkin over her face, her shoulders shaking. Alexander McKeon, Snape, and Greyback were laid face down in their plates, dying laughing. Mikey's head jerked toward the teachers table. Hermione grabbed him and pulled his face into her bosom just as he burst out laughing. Harry and Ron high fived and accepted the congratulatory handshakes from the Slytherin boys. Umbridge's face turned beet red, but she was unable to give detention as she wasn't sure who was responsible for the trick.

Over the next few days, she found herself on the receiving end of enough minor pranks to drive a saint insane. Her quill sprouted wings and flew away, forcing her to chase it down the hall. The chalkboard erasers exploded every time she touched them leaving her solid white more than once. Her seat screamed, "No more, no more, please have mercy on me!" every time she sat down. She began scribbling madly in her notebook, every word of which appeared across her forehead, which she still hadn't noticed, apparently it was covered up temporarily by the green dye or she just didn't pay attention. Some brave or stupid student had left her a toy centaur on her desk. She screamed as she saw it, especially as it began crying, "Mama, Mama," and following her around the class room. Every time she tried to assign Filch to watch them, she was never able to find him. The students and Peeves formed an alliance to keep Filch busy and far away from Umbridge. To that end, Peeves began chasing first years up and down the halls with water balloons, overturning furniture, and generally being his regular old pesky self. He thought it was hilarious that the students were actually fighting to keep Filch away from Umbridge and at Hogwarts. To his way of thinking, Filch was the best opponent he'd ever encountered here at Hogwarts in all its history and his long life as a poltergeist.

At the Ministry, Shacklebolt was attempting to wrangle the government into some semblance of control. He was trying to look at every aspect of the marriage law. He honestly didn't think the situation was bad enough to enact such an archaic law. It was a last resort, not to be used lightly. Certainly at this time, it hadn't been necessary to use it. Which begged the question of why? Why had this archaic law been dragged out of storage and put into use? Who would benefit from it? There HAD to be a reason for it, there just had to be.

"Minister Shacklebolt, you have a visitor. Miss Amelia Thompson is here to see you?" he smiled and rose from his chair. Amelia walked in and they shared a small hug. The night they left Hogwarts, he had escorted her home and left. They hadn't really had any contact since then, except notes sent back and forth while he tried to figure out this marriage law problem. Evidently, Amelia had decided to remedy that.

"Good morning, Amelia. How are you today? I'm sorry I haven't been to see you. I've been trying to figure everything out." He apologized.

"Maybe I can help, I was pretty good at research while I was at Hogwarts." Amelia offered.

"I'm trying to figure out why this law came into being." Said Kingsley.

Amelia looked at him, warily. "Are you trying to get out of marrying me?"

"What? No! Amelia, darling, this isn't about you. I admit, being quite a bit older than you, I would have thought you would actually be wanting to get out of marrying me. Believe me, this is NOT about you. Please, sit down. I want to show you what I mean." Kingsley decided to show her his findings. Maybe a second pair of eyes would help show him the solution to the problem. "Look at these numbers. Now, the reason the law was enacted was supposedly because we lost too many people and too much magical blood, right? They're afraid the birth of Squibs will outweigh the birth of magical children. But according to these birth records, the number of Squibs being born is actually less than it was ten, even five years ago. Now, with that being said, what is your opinion on the matter? Do you think it was necessary for this law to be used?"

Amelia looked at his research and couldn't, for the life of her, add it up. He was absolutely right. There was no reason for this law to exist. She frowned, confused. "Kings, who was the one who first proposed this law? What were the reasons for its enactment?"

Kingsley looked at his records. "There doesn't seem to be a single person behind the law. It was a combination of people, according to this document. Let's see, Travers, Runcorn, Umbridge, and Alden." He looked up at her, puzzled. "Why would any ONE of those want this kind of law made?"

Amelia was already writing the names down. "I don't know but I can find out. I'm in the secretarial pool with the assistants of all those people and, trust me, they love to take about their employers. If anyone knows what's going on, they will. In the meantime, you look as though you haven't had a good meal or nights rest since this whole situation began. Let's go to lunch. It doesn't have to be fancy. Maybe, just a quick sandwich in the cafeteria, if nothing else?" she looked so hopeful, he couldn't tell her no.

As they exited his office, he realized he was tired and hungry. He'd been so busy with this, he'd been ignoring how tired he was and neglecting to eat any kind of regular meals. "Thank you, dear. I don't think I've slowed down in the few weeks. It's just dawned on me that I've not only neglected myself but also you. I'm sorry."

Amelia smiled at him. Ever since she had started at the ministry, she'd admired him. Knowing he was now head Auror and running the department of magical law enforcement while she was merely a secretary, she had never thought she'd have a chance with him.

Once the war started and the terror had begun, he had disappeared from the ministry. That's when she started hearing about the resistance group formerly headed by Dumbledore years ago in the first war, the Order of the Phoenix. 'He must be a member of that group!' she'd thought.

She had started feverishly listening to the wireless which featured the rogue program 'Potterwatch.' She'd prayed for the Boy Who Lived to succeed in the fight but she'd also prayed for the continued health and wellbeing of Kingsley Shacklebolt. She'd cried tears of relief every time she heard him talking on the radio.

When she'd heard the news 'Lightening has struck!' she'd known the fight was on. Without a thought, she'd apparated to Hogsmeade and joined the citizens who had rushed up to Hogwarts to fight. He'd been too busy fighting to notice, but she had maneuvered herself into a position of being protected by him from behind and protecting him at the same time. She hugged his arm. "Don't you worry about that. We'll figure this situation out, together." She faltered. "One thing, if we should happen to be able to overturn this law, will that be the end of us?"

His heart skipped a beat at the sad look on her face. He might not have been aware of her before the law but he definitely was aware of her now. He tipped up her chin. "Miss Amelia Thompson, would you do me the honor of having dinner with me tonight? I usually have a quick dinner at the Leaky Cauldron but I also have a regular standing reservation at the Silver Stallion that I rarely use. Would you care to join me there?"

Her face brightened and she smiled happily at him. "Minister Shacklebolt, I would love to join you. Thank you for inviting me."

They laughed together and went on to the cafeteria, setting the problem of the marriage law aside for a few moments.

The next day, Hermione received a letter from the Minister. He told her what he'd found out so far. He also told her that he would keep researching on his end and that Amelia was helping him with the investigation. She smiled at his mention of his fiancée. Evidently they were getting along fairly well if she was actually helping him investigate the matter.

The students were getting restless. Quidditch was starting soon and Marcus Flint was uncertain of his position. When he'd left, he'd been Quidditch captain but now that was Draco's position. Draco came to talk to him about it. "Flint, I was wondering. We won more with you as captain but I would still like some input, would you possibly consider being co-captain with me? We have Blaise as a Chaser and Gregory is a Beater. I, of course, am Seeker. What position did you and Aidan want?"

"I was a Chaser and Aidan was a Beater. What about Scabior and McKeon? We need a Keeper, that could be McKeon, that was his old position. Pretty sure Scabior was a Chaser." Flint said, thoughtfully.

"Actually, Gregory wants out of the game. He realizes he's not the fastest player and he's happier to cheer us on than play. So that would be you, Blaise and Scabior as our chasers. We need another Beater, a reserve Keeper and a reserve Chaser for if we have any games on or near the full moon." Draco mused.

"I'll move to Beater. That leaves Scabior and Zabini as our chasers and then we need the reserves. Do you have any candidates lined up? If not, we need to put in for pitch time to have tryouts." Marcus decided. He liked the position of Beater better anyway.

"Harper is a pretty good Chaser. Mackey is a pretty good Keeper. They've expressed interest in staying on the team and they don't mind being the reserves." Draco told him, having already spoken to both boys. They smiled, knowing they had a strong team, hopefully this would be the year they FINALLY beat Potter and won the Quidditch cup.