Hey, y'all!

I have an at-home activity planned for Monday night, so I'm posting this chapter a day early! YAY! Hopefully y'all are staying safe during the COVID-19 pandemic - my family & I are all in good health & aren't in any danger of losing our jobs, so we're doing just fine for now!

Thanks so much to NicoleR85, who reviewed the last chapter! I'm glad you liked it!

In this chapter, I kinda threw another monkey wrench of canon divergence, but this will make future actions from Neville & Luna more believable! Hopefully you guys enjoy it!

As always - read, enjoy, & review!

- Owlix

Chapter Forty-Four: The Fallout

Over the next few days, all anyone could seem to talk about out of class was the breakout from Azkaban.

The people who grew up hearing these names in the Wizarding World made sure to spread stories about how awful these wizards & witch were & unfortunately ended up making the relatives of the Death Eaters' victims the unwilling objects of scrutiny & fame. People were constantly coming up to the Weasleys for stories about their uncles Fabian & Gideon Prewett, who were killed by Antonin Dolohov when Ron was a year old; or Susan Bones to talk about the uncle, aunt & cousins that were all killed when she was a year old; or even to Neville to talk about his parents. Susan actually had the balls to say that she now had a good idea of what it was like to be Harry!

"And I don't know how you stand it, it's horrible!" she'd said bluntly that day in Herbology. I was so moved by her miserable face that I extended to her the same offer that I'd given to Neville - if someone gives her too much of a hard time, let me know & I'd scare them off. I'd already fulfilled that promise with Neville a few times, thankfully never with the same person more than once! There were a LOT of things that were weird about the British, but I could definitely say that they were quick on the uptake, most of the time. People like Crabbe & Goyle had no chance, no matter where they were from.

Harry had started noticing that there were a lot more hallway discussions happening amongst teachers as well as students. They'd always stop when others would walk by, but you couldn't mistake the seriousness when you saw McGonagall, Sprout, & Flitwick whispering urgently outside the Charms classroom.

"They can't speak freely in the staffroom anymore," Hermione whispered. "Not with Umbridge there."

You'd think that the breakout would've humbled Umbridge, maybe at least showed her that there really were bad people out there somewhere, but no, of course not! Instead, she started ramping up her crusade to turn Hogwarts into Umbridge-Land! She was putting up new Educational Decrees seemingly every day, & she was also intent on firing at least one teacher before the end of the month. What people couldn't agree on was whether she'd fire Professor Trelawney or Hagrid first.

Both had been put on probation before the breakout, but it was clear that Umbridge was at the end of her rope with both of them. She insisted on attending each of their lessons, interrupting them at random moments to ask them difficult questions & have them demonstrate how proficient they were at their chosen subject.

I'd never seen Professor Trelawney before, but Harry pointed her out in the hallway a couple times & I immediately thought of a hippy gypsy fortune-teller who had a serious drinking problem. I could smell some sort of sweet, fruity booze whenever she got close enough, but she was never … all-there-enough to realize that we were right next to her. She always seemed to see or hear something behind her or around a corner, jumping & whimpering whenever she "sensed" something.

Hagrid, on the other hand, seemed to be acting like … for lack of a better comparison, an abused child! He was often distracted & jumpy in class, which never featured anything more frightening than these two-tailed Jack-Russel-Terrier-type dogs called crups. His bruises also never fully went away, & he was purposefully distancing himself from Harry, Ron, & Hermione. Harry was particularly upset about this; Hagrid had been the one to introduce him to the Wizarding World, & now he couldn't even have a proper visit with him!

The only way we could get our revenge on that useless toad was to double down on working the D.A. to the bone, not that anyone was complaining about that. Even the most reluctant members were fighting to master the spells, jinxes, & hexes we were teaching them! To be honest, though, the most inspiring member was undoubtedly Mr. Neville Longbottom. The news about Bellatrix's escape seemed to have galvanized him & given him an almost frightening drive to become as magically strong as he could be. He would barely speak in D.A. meetings, forcing all of his attention onto the spell we were learning at the moment, not even caring if he got hurt in the process!

Finally, we had one meeting where we had absolutely everyone in the room. Harry & I had agreed that we wouldn't bring up Sirius until everyone was available to either accept or deny the opportunity to know about him. Once everyone had come in & shut the door, Harry gave me a nod & stood up at the front of the room.

"Right," he said after taking a deep breath. "Today, we aren't going to be working with spells. I know, I know," he said when groans of disappointment came from the crowd, "but we have something just as important to talk about. We've been hearing about different things in the Prophet, & I know you have all wondered what the truth really is. Now, we don't know the truth about everything, but there are some things that we do know about."

At that point, Harry had everyone hooked. Loads of people across all four Houses had complained about how they couldn't trust the media & had even put out multiple theories about reported situations that had made some of us laugh & some of us shudder in fear.

"The first time we were aware of the Daily Prophet & the Ministry getting something wrong," Harry said, glancing over at me to get a reassuring nod, "was when Sirius Black escaped Azkaban. We didn't learn all this until the end of my third year & we're still learning things as time goes on, but we want to share this information with you tonight."

That was my cue to stand up, No-Maj pen & jinxed parchment in hand.

"What we're about to say to you," I said seriously, "is beyond top-secret, beyond classified, because the Ministry refuses to accept it as fact. In fact, it will be considered dangerous to know this information before the Ministry decides to accept it & publish it. In order to protect you, we're going to ask you to sign a new contract. This one won't be connected to the first one, so no need to worry about that. But if you don't sign this contract, swearing to not say a word about this to anyone but us until the Ministry tells the public the truth, then you need to go back to your common rooms right now. This discussion will take up all the time we have today, so there's no point waiting out in the hallway for us to let you back in. All those not willing to keep this secret, stand up & get out now."

I made sure to wait for a full minute to give people a chance to decide, but not a single person moved. They all looked up at Harry & me with resolution & trust in their eyes. The sight & realization brought tears to my own eyes that I had to turn back to Harry to hide. He gave me a small smile as I walked over to him & turned back around.

"Everyone willing to sign," Harry said with a proud smile, "come on up!"

With that, I set the paper down on the small table we had behind us & took a step to the side as Tracey & Theo came up, seemingly cool as cucumbers yet anxious to be first in line.

"I hope ye have a hiding place for this," Theo whispered as he came up behind Tracey.

"Absolutely!" I said with a smirk. "I'd tell you where it is, but …"

"Fair enough," he said, smirking back & winking for good measure as Harry glared over at him.

Harry & I stood up at the front of the room & watched as every single person in the room signed our new contract. There were so many people present that some had to sign in the margins or even on the back to get their name on that piece of parchment. I had never been prouder of anybody in my life!

Finally, everyone had signed & sat back down again, waiting for our story. Harry & I looked over at each other & nodded, agreeing that Harry would take over the first part of the story. He'd talk about what he'd learned from Uncle Sirius the night they'd met, & then I would take over to tell the story of where Uncle Sirius was now & how he was related to me. We'd rehearsed this with Ron & Hermione a couple times, thankful for their input as to what we should tell the D.A. & what still needed to remain under wraps.

By the end of Harry's portion of the story, everyone's expressions showed varying levels of shock, some showing hints of sympathy, guilt, or even anger at what Uncle Sirius had gone through & what Pettigrew had gotten away with. Harry stepped back when he finished, letting the information sink in. They others murmured amongst themselves for a minute, but then Tracey asked Harry urgently,

"Where is Sirius Black now? Do you know?"

"He does," I said, stepping forward, "& so do Hermione, the Weasleys ... & me."

"Why you? Are you related somehow?" Susan Bones asked, proving she could be quite shrewd when she wanted to be.

"Actually, yes," I said calmly. "I'm his niece. Turns out my dad was his younger brother, Regulus."

Those who weren't already in the know (which was most of the room, to be honest) immediately burst into gasps, mutters, &, surprisingly, chuckles.

"What's so funny?" I asked, looking down at Theo, who was actually chuckling at me, the little shit!

"Shoulda known ye were a Black!" he said, still chuckling. "The stunts ye pull prove ye're at least half-mad!"

I couldn't help but snort with laughter at the truth of it all.

"You're so lucky I like you, Theo!" I laughed, ignoring the tittering & gossiping that came from that statement.

"Anyway," I said after regaining control, "right now, Uncle Sirius is living at an undisclosed location that is thankfully the safest place in the UK, since no one can find it unless they already know where it is! Unfortunately he's also stuck there & he's VERY bored! If you remember what I'm like when I'm bored, you can imagine what it's like for him."

The Gryffindors who had seen me in a similar state chuckled & nodded at the idea.

"In order to help with that problem," I said with a grin, "I've offered him the opportunity to be a consultant for us! He lived through the first part of the war - he saw how it started, what tactics the Death Eaters used, & why it all ended as badly as it did. He has valuable information," I stressed. "Information that can save your life, your friends' lives, your family's lives, if it's taken seriously & used properly! Do you want him to tell us what he knows?"

"Yeah!" "Yes!" "Absolutely!" "Please!"

The sense of power that came with those cries was surprisingly intoxicating! I grinned & stepped back to an object that had been set up behind Harry & me. It was tall, narrow, & covered with a sumptuous cloth. After gesturing to Harry, I reached up & grabbed the cloth before yanking down in a theatrical flourish.

Everyone gasped & then cheered loudly at the sight before them: an engorged mirror showing the grinning form of Uncle Sirius standing in Grimmauld Place's drawing room. He spread his arms wide, accepting the adulation of our classmates with a disarmingly confident grin that was larger than anything I'd ever seen on his face before. For a moment, I could almost see the confident young Padfoot who had ruled Hogwarts's halls as part of his beloved Marauders.

The rest of the time we had with the D.A. that day, we spent asking Uncle Sirius many questions. He answered many of them with utter seriousness (no pun intended) & honesty, some with jokes & nonchalance, a few with pain & regret, & a scant couple with a painful silence & terse request for another question. Every once in a while, he'd glance over & grin at me with a look of fatherly pride that made me grin back. I couldn't help but be proud of this man, my uncle, & hope that I would always have him & his regard.

The only thing that potentially could have ruined that day & the following days was the lingering effects of Harry's Occlumency sessions with Snape. I would often catch him gently rubbing his forehead, & sometimes he'd grow abnormally snappy with people when he had no need to be or sometimes grin or even chuckle when it wasn't appropriate. When I'd ask him about it, he would usually brush it off but when the instances became more obvious, he finally admitted to me what was going on. He described it like becoming an aerial which was tuned in to any tiny fluctuations in Voldemort's emotional state, & he also admitted that he was now dreaming about the hallway to the Department of Mysteries every night.

"I just wish it would open!" he told me angrily. "I'm sick of staring at it!"

"I know this is a pain in the ass," I said, grabbing one of his hands, "but you have to remember, this isn't a one-way street! I know you've seen the door before, but what if the door in your dreams is representing the connection between you & Voldemort? What if opening the door opens up Voldemort's mind & exposes you to him? You haven't learned how to fight with your brain, but Uncle Sirius says that it's one of Voldemort's specialties! Once you're in his mind, he'll be able to mess with you however he wants!

"I know you don't like Snape - I don't like him either, I don't think anyone does - but you need to find a way to work with him & figure Occlumency out!" I begged him angrily. "If you're not worried about keeping your mind from turning into jello, then think about him occupying your mind & using your body to hurt us - Ron, Hermione, Neville, Luna, Fred & George, Ginny, Sirius, the Weasleys, the Professors, Dumbledore, me! That's what you need to think about when you start thinking about giving up - the pain we will feel & experience at Voldemort's hands if he wins!"

Later that night, I went down to Snape's office, serious & worried about what was going on with Harry. When he opened the door, he seemed honestly surprised to see me instead of one of his Slytherins.

"Miss Dolan," he stated, his voice going slowly as if trying to figure me out. "I did not think you knew where my office was."

"I didn't," I admitted. "I had to ask Professor McGonagall for directions. She seemed a bit worried that I felt the need to talk to you, so be prepared to get nagged a bit."

"... I will be prepared," he sneered, "but why would you descend from your … golden tower to speak with me?"

"It's about Harry," I said sternly. "I'm worried about his … 'Remedial Potions' lessons. I'm afraid the problem you're trying to help him with is getting worse."

"Worse?" he asked, glancing around behind me before ushering me in his office. He waved his wand at the door, windows, & walls before settling an intense glare on me.

"Explain," he snarled, stretching that simple word into five syllables in his nasal drawl.

I took a deep breath before plowing forward.

"He's much more sensitive to … You-Know-Who's mood," I said, making sure to not use Voldemort's name with one of his hopefully former Death Eaters. "I've caught him rubbing his forehead all the time, & after that, he usually acts in a way that doesn't match the situation. I know, you'll say he's just doing it for attention, but he's not! Otherwise, he'd do this all the time & your attempts to 'teach' him wouldn't affect his behavior at all!"

"You think I'm not a good teacher," he stated.

"Not with this subject & student," I responded, surprising him with my honesty. "He's told me about your methods, & honestly, all I can think about when I hear him talking … is 'mind rape.'"

"I beg your pardon!" Snape cried, but I continued over the top of him.

"Insisting on bursting into his mind over & over, bringing up memories that he would rather be buried forever, & then mocking him about his supposed weakness?" I said angrily, holding up a finger for each point that I brought up. "Change the mental penetration to physical penetration, & what do you get?!"

I ignored Snape's increasingly pale face as I continued to talk angrily at him.

"You clearly are NOT the kind of person who can teach Harry the way that he needs to be taught! Harry learned the Patronus Charm at thirteen because his teacher encouraged him & gave him constructive criticism! Professor Lupin told Harry where he was going wrong with the Patronus Charm & then told him how to fix it! Over the past five years, you have proven to Harry that you're unable to teach him this way, partly because you hate his dad & partly because you are incapable of giving a shit about anyone but yourself!"

"ENOUGH!" Snape shouted in almost incandescent rage. I'd never heard him talk above a sneering murmur, so his shouting stunned me into a momentary silence just long enough for Snape to speak.

"Get. Out!" he said sternly, clenching his fists at his side.

My immediate instincts were to obey a man who was yelling at me, but like all the other times before, I swallowed that instinct & remembered who I was there for.

"No," I said stubbornly. "Not until you tell me how you're going to fix this!"

"There is nothing to fix!" he snarled. "Mr. Potter is nothing but a spoiled, lazy, arrogant -"

"You're describing Malfoy, you abusive bully!" I screamed, making him stop short. "You can give me as many detentions as you want, but that's not gonna change that fact! You are abusive, you are a bully, & the child you're describing is much closer to Draco Malfoy than Harry Potter! You're just too blinded by whatever beef you had with James Potter to see that!"

I decided then that, since Snape was not going to change his techniques for teaching Harry Occlumency, I was wasting my time with him. I threw my hands in the air & stormed over to the door, only to stop at the sound of his voice.

"I have not dismissed you, Miss Dolan!"

I stopped short, took a deep breath, & turned back to face him.

"Unless you're going to change how you're teaching Harry or assign me some detentions," I snarled, "then save! Your! Breath!"

Whatever reaction I was expecting from Snape, I didn't expect what actually happened at all.

He turned pale so fast that he seemed to turn pale gray. He took a step backwards & bumped into his desk. And he didn't say a word. We stood staring at each other for a long time, but he didn't seem to see me at all.

Finally, I reached back behind me & grabbed the doorknob. With a quick action, I spun around & turned the doorknob at the same time. I rushed out the open door & back up the hallway before Snape could recover from whatever had happened to him. I didn't stop running until I was on the seventh floor & within sight of the Fat Lady's portrait. Once I caught my breath, I gave the Fat Lady the password & hurried up to my dormitory without talking to anyone.

I had no idea what I had just triggered, but I figured that Snape wouldn't hesitate to present me with the fallout later on.