Hermione dropped down onto a couch in the common room, sighing.

"You finally finish that chore for Filch?" Luna asked, petting Crookshanks as the cat cuddled up to her.

"What are you doing here?" the head girl asked, mouth dropping.

"Hermione, that's a bit rude," Harry said, sitting next to his girlfriend.

"She's a Ravenclaw, Harry. She should be in her own common room."

"You're just cranky because you had a full day detention with Filch," Draco said, lazily flicking his wand to create sparks.

"It was my last day. He wanted to get his money's worth."

"He wasn't paying you."

The Gryffindor girl glared. "You know what I mean." She sighed, rubbing one of her shoulders. "Now that the month of torture is up, we can focus solely on Christmas." She smirked. "Do you two have a bet going to see who can get Siria the best present ever?"

"Do you?" Harry asked, brow quirked.

"I've started a pool. Lavender says it will be Draco. Professor McGonagall swears it will be Regulus." She shrugged. "My money's on Moony."

Draco scrunched his nose. "What does Regulus know about babies?"

"What do you know about babies, Draco?" Luna asked, cuddling into her boyfriend.

"That they crawl sooner than you think."

"She's standing now, actually," Sirius said, waltzing in through the portrait hole, carrying the little girl on his hip.

"Now we have to worry about walking?" the blond moaned, covering his eyes.

"Not for another few months," Remus said, following after his friend, carrying a book in his hand.

"Whatchya reading there, Moony?" Harry asked, eyes squinting to get a better look.

"I didn't read any of the baby books for Siria, because I assumed Sirius would actually think that becoming a father meant taking on responsibility and actually learning what it takes to raise a child…"

"A terrible mistake," Sirius smirked, "but continue."

"Now, Annie wants me fully informed on all that's going on baby-wise." The lycanthrope held up the baby book. "This one's on their first year of life."

Hermione opened up a book and turned to the correct page. "Have you told her about the possibility of the baby contracting lycanthropy?"

"Why would you like to know, Miss Granger?"

"I know how my one professor's daughter was conceived, my headmaster enjoys handcuffs, and my boyfriend's cousin has Hufflepuff negligee." She glanced up from her reading. "There's no such thing as privacy anymore."

"And that gives you the right to ask about such a touchy subject?"

"Someone needs to."

"She's got a point, Moons," Sirius said, sitting down next to Harry, allowing Siria to stand on his lap. She giggled and clapped as Harry tickled her stomach. "If you don't tell Annie soon, she'll find out another way."

"Yeah, like when her one month old turns into a werewolf," Draco said, turning the sparks coming from his wand blue.

"She's knows I'm a werewolf," Remus said, staring at the ceiling.

"So you assume she deduced the possibility from that singular fact?" Hermione straightened in her chair. "Does she know anything at all about werewolves?"

"I offered her books…"

"Yes, because everyone wants to read a million books," Harry said, rolling his eyes.

"There's only four."

"And two of them were written by Lockheart," Hermione said, going back to her book.

"So, you mean two?" Harry said, quirking his brow.

"Regardless," Draco smirked, "it is important to have an open and honest relationship. Part of that is actually informing your partner of her possible lycanthrope offspring."

"Since when are you the relationship guru?" Remus asked, glaring.

"Since Hermione made me read that book: How to Become a Relationship Guru."

"Stop." The head girl looked up. "It's called Keeping the Love You Find." She glared. "And I didn't make you read it. I handed it to you while I was unpacking and suddenly it was yours. You had it read by the end of the day."

"Shh." Draco put a finger to his lips, his cheeks turning red.

"It was meant to be a wedding gift, Draconus."

"I highly doubt Uncle Sev would appreciate the gesture."

"Enough," Sirius said, holding up a hand to stop the impending argument. "That is not why I came up here."

"You mean you're not just here for a visit?" Luna asked, taking a hold of Siria's hand.

"As much as I love all of you, I don't need to spend more time with you than I already do."

Remus rolled his eyes. "Dora thinks she's narrowed down the suspects to three aurors, and would like someone who has experience with the locket to direct us to the correct culprit."

"Well, who's acting the most irritable?" Harry asked, placing his goddaughter firmly on his lap.

"It just so happens that these three men are the most cantankerous of the auror department."

"Which of these men has tried to kill someone in the past couple of months?"

"They're aurors, Harry. Every other day someone is throwing dangerous curses at them. They have to defend themselves."

"Which of them is irritability new to them?"

Sirius sighed. "They all have been this way for a long time. One's a widower who's never been the same since a kidnapper killed his wife. Another is a man who lost his brother in the first wizarding war. The last has been overlooked for the past five head of department promotions and became bitter two promotions ago."

"Only two?" Draco asked, brow furrowed.

"Well, it is the auror department. Two promotions ago could be several months ago," Hermione said hopefully.

"Surprisingly, no," Remus said, pulling out a parchment from Siria's diaper bag. "After Torquil Travers was killed in the field during the Wars of Grindewald, the rule has been that the head of the auror department stay out of the field unless it's an emergency."

"How do you know so much about aurors?" Harry asked.

"Naptime gets boring."

"Needless to say," Sirius interrupted, "all three men could very easily have the locket and we have no clue which one."

Hermione closed her book and rubbed her eyes. "What are you suggesting?"

"You and Harry come with Severus and me to meet the three men."

"Under what pretense?"

The Head of Gryffindor shrugged. "Job shadowing?"

"Yes, because the boy who regularly has a maniacal psychopath on his tail wants to make a career out of catching maniacal psychopaths."

"It doesn't have to be the truth."

"How about you say you're doing reports for your graduation projects?" Luna asked, grabbing Siria's hand and moving it up and down. "Don't you have to show some competency in magical government?"

"Oh," Hermione's mouth dropped. "I forgot about those!"

"You forgot?" Harry asked. "Since when do you forget about school? And why couldn't I have gotten this Hermione last time around?"

"I got caught up in the Herculean trials of Filch," Hermione said, glaring. "Anyway, we should get on picking a topic."

"How about auror studies?" Sirius said, handing them each a scroll.

"What are these?" Harry asked, unrolling them.

"Questions Spots and I think might help sell the act."

"What does an average day look like in your line of work?"

"How are these supposed to help us figure out if they have the locket or not?" Hermione asked, reading over her friend's shoulder.

"We're hoping they'll be wearing it," Sirius said. "However, if you read down further, some questions get a bit more personal and might lead them to admitting to owning it."

"Like what?" Draco asked, scowling. "Do you steal from personal effects of criminals?"

"Hermione," Remus called, looking past the toddler balancing on her dad's lap, "would you please read one of the questions from your scroll?"

The Gryffindor girl cleared her throat. "What are your opinions on the current rule forbidding jewelry to be worn during your shift?" She scrunched her nose. "Is a cantankerous man going to admit to wanting to wear jewelry?"

"Not all jewelry is made of diamonds and pearls."

The trio rolled their eyes but remained silent. They skimmed through the questions once more.

"Why do we have one asking about their ideal date?" Harry asked.

"Spots asked Voldy that after the last post-death eater meeting soiree. After Tom's fourth merlot, he actually answered…"

"Still doesn't explain why we're asking that," Draco said, "but I would like to know the answer."

"The locket changes your personality, right? It makes you more like old Voldy…"

"Oh," the time travelers sighed in realization.

"So, if the answers match, we know we have the culprit," Hermione said, tilting her head to see her head-of-house.

"Most likely, yes." Sirius furrowed his brow. "Unless all cantankerous men like the same thing."

"So, what is it?"

"Can't answer. May skew the results."

Hermione opened her mouth to protest when Siria burst into a face-splitting yawn.

Remus picked up the young girl. "It looks like someone needs a nap."

"Thank you for noticing, Moony," Sirius said, "but I've still got loads to grade…"

"Not you!"

"Do we get our common room back?" Ron complained, glaring at the men and Ravenclaw intruders.

"What's his problem?" Sirius asked, getting up to leave.

"He lost his sister?" Luna replied, taking Siria from the werewolf.

"He never seemed to like her that much," Remus said, scrunching his nose. With that, the four left.

Ron walked over to the time traveling trio. "Alright, here's the deal…"

"What deal?" Harry asked, crossing his arms.

"I know your little secret."

"Which one?" Draco asked, brow furrowing. "I can't keep track of them anymore."

"I know you three are time travelers."

"Seven years…" Hermione said, passing over a handful of galleons over to Harry. "What do you know? You were right!"

"I told you he was clueless," Harry said, accepting the money.

Draco frowned. "My bet was on never…"

"Weasley, it took you seven years of us being careless for you to recognize that we're not from this time period."

"It only took Neville five," Hermione said, "and he's not as nosey as you."

"I've known for over a year," Dean called out.

"Two," Lavender added.

"I've known since their third year," Collin said, holding up photos of Sirius turning to Dragon and back again.

"I've known since Christmas first year," Parvati said. She turned to the common room. "Alright, everyone. Who had seven years?"

Pansy Parkinson jumped out of the dark corner of the common room, hand raised. "That would be me."

"What are you doing here?" Draco asked, mouth dropping.

"Not following you around."

Harry and Hermione shook their heads, turning back to Ron. "So, what's the point of telling us you know this?" the boy-who-lived asked. He turned to Hermione. "Also, Fate and Time must really hate us by now."

"Well, I'm going to blackmail you," Ron said.

"How?" Draco crossed his arms. "You going to tell Voldemort?"

"That's not a half-bad idea…"

Hermione glared. "Thank you, Draco."

"Well, what's the big deal if he knew? We're already on the death-eater's most wanted list. We can't get higher up than we already are. It doesn't give HIM an upper hand…"

"What would you even want?" Harry asked, ignoring his friends' bickering for the moment.

"Revenge," Ron answered, rubbing his hands together.

"How are you going to get revenge from blackmail?" Harry rubbed his eyes. "Seriously, you're better off going to him directly and telling him everything I'm doing."

Hermione glared at her friend. "Harry!"

"I'm just trying to make sense of this whole situation."

Ron huffed. "Maybe I will." With that, he jumped up and ran to his dorm.

"Great," the head girl sighed, "now we have to worry about Ron spying on us."

"At least we know he won't be a good spy," Draco said.

The next day, Sirius and Severus arrived in a dark alley near the ministry of magic entrance, Hermione and Harry at their side. The head girl handed her headmaster and best friend each a flask.

"Is this necessary, Miss Granger?" Severus asked, glaring.

"Don't ask, just drink."

The three downed their potion. Within a minute, Dean Thomas, Pansy Parkinson, and Narcissa Malfoy stood where Harry, Hermione, and Severus once did.

"Now, I understand why it doesn't look good for the headmaster to leave the school unsupervised," Severus started, crossing his arms, "but is there a reason I had to be Narcissa?"

"Well, according to the employee handbook," Sirius pulled out the tome from his pocket, flipping to the correct page, "it is the head-of-house's responsibility to ensure students receive post-grad job training. Would you have preferred to be Pomona? Flitwick?"

"Yes, I would have much rather have been Flitwick."

"What Ravenclaw would we have brought with us?"

"Luna!"

"Oh," Sirius tilted his head, "I didn't think of that. I always think of her as a Gryffindor." The man shrugged. "Take this as a time to truly get to know your future aunt-in-law."

"I think I know my godson's mother fairly well."

"Enough," Hermione said, putting the flask back in her bag. "I have extra potion to last us three hours. I do not want us caught in a compromising position."

"Why did we need to polyjuice ourselves again?" Harry asked.

"Seeing as Pious Thicknesse, a renowned death eater, is the minister of magic and the ministry's been taken over by death eaters?" Sirius asked, pulling out several forms. "I almost forgot. Do either of you know how to forge Thomas's and Parkinson's guardian's signatures? I need them for these release forms."

The potions master snatched the parchment out of the animagus's hands. "Give me those." He pulled out a quill and signed, casting a quick drying charm. "I think the bigger problem is that they have different wands."

With that, Harry and Hermione produced two wands. "You mean, these?"

"How did you get those?"

"We asked," Hermione said. "It's how Pansy ended up babysitting Siria."

The spy rubbed his eyes. "Let's just get in and get out."

Sirius smirked. "I think I heard Dora say that last night."

"March!" The potions master pushed the three giggling baffoons toward the ministry entrance. Once they had registered their wands at the front desk, they were greeted by the auror who set the whole interview up.

"Aunt Cissy!" Dora cried, going and hugging Severus. Sirius bent over, clutching his stomach and trying to catch his breath. "I didn't know you would be coming!"

"I didn't know you would be here," Severus said through clenched teeth. He turned to his two students, who were dropping onto the benches nearby, struggling for each breath. "And if two of you do not want detention, you will stop this nonsensical giggling."

"Professor Malfoy…" the boy pretending to be Dean whined. One glare quieted the boy down.

"Not to be rude, Aunt Narcissa, but I thought Severus was coming," Dora said, quirking her brow.

Severus took a deep breath and in his best falsetto said, "He thought it best not to leave the castle unsupervised, especially with your aunt Bella around."

"That does sound like him." Dora shrugged. "Although, normally he designates that to Remus."

"Why is Remus in charge of all the sitting duties?" Severus asked, putting a dainty finger to Narcissa's chin. "He's not really any more mature than you…"

"No offense, Professor," Hermione said, pushing herself between her headmaster and his fiance, "but we do have other places to be today."

"Yes, yes. You are correct." Severus turned to his deputy. "Come along, cousin Sirius."

"Why is it that our family constantly uses things like 'Cousin' or 'Aunt'?" Dora asked, leading the four Hogwarts visitors toward the interview room.

"We have to remind ourselves we're related; otherwise, we'd end up in a marriage," Severus said, his falsetto becoming a bit hoarse.

"We almost were, weren't we, Cissy?" Sirius asked, elbowing his friend. Severus choked.

Hermione glared at her professors. "Maybe we should table the family talk until after we've returned to Hogwarts?"

"That's a good idea, Pansy," Dora said, unlocking the door. "You and aunt Cissy should come to tea with me and Sev."

The potions master turned to his deputy. "Did I just get invited to my own office for tea?"

Sirius smirked. "At least you're invited this time."

"Here we are," Dora called. "Miss Parkinson, Mister Thomas, I would like you to meet Auror Dawlish, Auror Williamson, and Auror Shacklebolt."

Sirius's brow furrowed. "What is Kingsley doing here?"

Narcissa's elbow made contact with his ribs. "Because Kingsley Shacklebolt is an auror and the students are here to interview aurors."

"But he's not cantankerous," Sirius whispered into her ear.

"He is since the last time he was overlooked for head of department," Severus whispered back.

Harry turned to his head-of-house. "We can go now."

"What?" Sirius glared. "We just got here!"

The boy-who-lived put a hand to the side of his mouth and whispered, "It's Dawlish! He's a death eater."

"We still have to interview them," Hermione said. "If not, only for appearances."

Harry rolled his eyes and turned to the three men. "Five galleons it's Dawlish," he said under his breath to Sirius. He augmented his voice. "So, what made the three of you want to become aurors?"

Dora stepped up. "Dean, why don't you interview them one-at-a-time?"

"Where should we keep them until we finish our interviews?"

"We do have other things to do than to sit here and be interviewed by children," Shacklebolt said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine," Harry said, sighing. "But you can't leave until we say so."

Williamson jumped up and glared. "We're being bossed around by seventeen-year-olds."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Welcome to my world."

Once the other two aurors left, the crowd of wizards and witches turned to Dawlish. He crossed his arms and scowled.

"Do you need me to repeat the question?" Harry asked.

"Well, I lost my brother in the war. I felt the need to get justice for him."

"Then why'd you become a death eater?" Dora asked.

Dawlish scowled. "Are you accusing me of something?"

"No, I'm just curious. Most people joined the aurors to put death eaters away. You seem to have gone in a different direction."

"Death eaters weren't the only ones to kill people in the war."

Sirius scowled. "Are you saying your brother was a death eater, too?"

"I have yet to admit to being a death eater myself."

Hermione slammed the table in front of her. "We know you are a death eater. We have proof!"

"You were on the decorating committee for last year's pre-victory party," Severus said, crossing Narcissa's arms.

"So were you! I don't see them holding it against you!" Dawlish said, pointing straight at the faux Narcissa.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that."

"Next Question," Sirius said, grabbing the parchment from his godson's hand. "What do you do for fun when you aren't working?"

"I thought the children are supposed to be asking me this?" Dawlish asked, brow furrowing.

"They only have to take notes and write a paper."

"We're supposed to be taking notes?" Harry asked. He pulled out his backpack. "Where's your dicta-quill when you need it?"

"I go out drinking for fun," Dawlish said, shrugging.

"And planning how to kill Harry Potter," Hermione said, once more slamming the table.

"This feels more like an interrogation…"

Sirius quirked a brow. "See, job training." He scowled. "Obviously, someone needs to watch a little less muggle crime drama."

"You can't handle the truth," Hermione yelled, pointing at the auror.

Severus rubbed his brow. "This is a train wreck." He shook his head. "Miss Parkinson, enough."

"Fine," Hermione yanked the parchment from Sirius and read the next question. "What are your opinions on aurors snatching personal effects of convicts?"

Dora sighed. "That one's a little on-the-nose."

"I think it's idiotic," Dawlish said. "It's fairly obvious when something goes missing. Usually, the person who bags the convict files the personal effects, so it's obvious who takes what. That goes on your permanent record, it does."

"You care about your permanent record?" Harry asked.

"I happen to like my job here."

"Have you noticed any mood swings lately?" Hermione asked, checking her watch before taking a swig from her flask, nudging Harry. He drank from his own flask and nudged Severus.

"Miss Parkinson, I do not believe that is one of the approved questions," the potions master said, clenching his teeth.

Dawlish's brow furrowed. "The previous ones were?"

"I don't want to have mood swings if I become an auror," Hermione said, crossing her arms.

"Most here are good about controlling themselves." Dawlish waved aimlessly. "Aside from women and their times, we're all pretty stable."

"Excuse me?" Dora asked, hands on hips.

"Oh, don't even try and tell me the reason you cried last month was because your fiance got you milk chocolate instead of dark even though dark is your favorite."

"It is?" Severus asked, brow furrowing. "I wouldn't have gotten the milk if I knew you wanted dark."

"What was that?" Dora asked, turning.

"Nothing."

Sirius sighed. "Finally, what's your opinion about Fudge's conviction and sentence?"

Dawlish jumped in his seat. "Fudge was convicted?"

"Yeah," the animagus's brow furrowed. "He's in Azkaban."

"Fudge is in Azkaban?"

"How do you not know this?" Severus asked, his falsetto dropping. "You are an auror. He was the minister of magic."

"I was on a mission," Dawlish said, rubbing his arm.

"What mission?"

Dawlish mumbled, looking away.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, arms crossed.

"An assassin's conference, okay?"

"What?" Harry yelped.

"Why in the world were you at an assassin's conference?" Dora asked, hands waving in the air.

"The dark lord requires us all to take continuing education courses…" Dawlish began.

Sirius, Harry, and Hermione turned to Severus. He shrugged. "Well, he does."

"How long was the conference?" Sirius asked.

"A month," Dawlish said. "I have the portkey registrations to prove it."

Hermione turned to Dora. "How could you not notice he was missing for a month?"

Dora reddened. "His time logs say he was here."

"Can't very well ask for a month off to go to an assassin's conference." The death eater shrugged. "I asked Yaxley to cover for me."

Harry sighed. "You may go." He waved off Dawlish. "Next."

Williamson dropped in the seat and Hermione grabbed the lamp, shining it in his eyes.

"Parkinson," Severus yelled, grabbing the girl and pulling her behind him. "One more time and I'll give you a week with Filch."

Sirius grabbed the parchment from the table. "After reviewing our questions, we believe this one to be the most pertinent: where were you the night of Fudge's arrest?"

"I was on patrol in Surrey," Williamson said.

"Hey, that's where I live!" Harry said. The crowd stared at him. "I mean, that's where Harry Potter used to live."

"Exactly why I was on patrol!" Williamson grumbled. "Stupid muggles see one little death eater and they're sure they're in trouble! Have to have twenty-four hour coverage on the precious boy-who-lived."

"Wait, he wasn't even there."

"He wasn't?"

"As of June first he was living with me," Sirius said, crossing his arms.

"Idiot muggles," Williamson huffed.

The Hogwarts gang all looked expectantly at Dora. She sighed.

"I'll go check the logs."

As she left, the remaining crew sat around, staring at each other awkwardly. After several minutes of nerve-wracking silence, Williamson cleared his throat.

"Aren't you here to interview aurors for a research project?"

"Oh, yes." Hermione fumbled with the parchment for a moment. "What is your opinion on the current administration rule that states you cannot wear jewelry on the job?"

"What does that have to do with you possibly becoming an auror?"

"We're seeing if that might still be a possible rule when we get into the department." Harry crossed his arms. "You know, change starts with you."

"I think it's dumb," Williamson said. The crew silently cheered, secretly high-fiving each other. They'd found their guy for sure. Williamson reach for his neck and pulled out a chain. "My wife died two years ago. I carry her rings with me wherever I go. I don't think it's right for the department to say I can't wear these in memory of her."

The whole crew let their shoulders sag. So, not their guy, apparently. Dora returned, shaking her head.

"It appears he's right. He was on patrol on Privet Drive in Surrey with…" She paused and squinted her eyes. "Me? How? I knew Harry wasn't there! Why would I have been there?"

"Was that what you were ranting about?" Williamson asked, brow furrowed. "I tuned you out after the first couple minutes. I do remember that part about your fiance and needing to tell him you switched from milk to dark chocolate."

"That would have been helpful, you know," Severus mumbled. Sirius elbowed him in the side.

The crew sighed.

"You can go," Hermione said, ushering Williamson out.

"Well," Harry said, flopping into a vacant chair. "Back to square one."

"Not quite," Severus said, "we still have Shacklebolt to interview."

"It's not him."

"But we still should do our due dilligence."

Dora led Shacklebolt in. He sat down and crossed his arms.

"Is there a reason I was last?" Shacklebolt asked, glaring.

"Perks of being a member of the Order?" Dora said with a shrug. "Last person we suspect."

"Suspect of what?"

"Where were you the night of Fudge's arrest?" Harry asked, looking at the parchment.

"Arresting him."

"Oh, yeah! You were the one who brought him in!"

Severus slapped his forehead. "My godson's an idiot."

"Since when is he your godson, Aunt Cissy?" Dora asked, arms crossed. "Does he really need that many godparents?"

"I hate to say this," Hermione said, raising her hand, "but we took our second dose thirty minutes ago waiting for Dora to get those logs back. We really need to hurry this along."

"Who else was with you the night of the arrest?" Sirius asked, rubbing his brow.

"No one," Shacklebolt said, scowling.

"Isn't that breaking protocol?"

"After twenty years with the ministry, they're beginning to trust me."

"What's your opinion of Thicknesse's rise to power?" Harry asked, looking down at the parchment again.

"Seriously, that's your next question?" Hermione asked.

"I'm following the list."

"I don't really care for the guy," Shacklebolt said, shrugging. "I think he seems like a puppet of the ministry."

Hermione sighed. "Who did you hand Fudge off to when you got to the ministry holding cell?"

"No one. I processed him and I watched him." Shacklebolt quirked a brow. "Short on staff, remember? Besides, I'm one of the few aurors the ministry can actually trust."

"What's your view of the current administration's rule concerning jewelry during work hours?" Harry asked. Sirius and Severus glared at him.

"I think it's reasonable. Do you know what could happen if a death eater got a hold of a necklace?"

"They could make it into a horcrux?" Dora asked.

"Wait," Sirius raised his hand, "is Voldemort technically a death eater?"

Severus tilted his head to the side. "That's a very good question."

"It's similar to if Jesus is actually a Christian," Harry said, tapping his chin.

"If we're done with the existential questions," Hermione growled. She turned to Shacklebolt. "Who accompanied Fudge to his cell in Azkaban?"

"Again, I did. I cuffed him. I processed him. I babysat him. And I took him to Azkaban, locked him in there, and threw away the key," Shacklebolt said, scowling.

"You threw away the key?"

"Figure of speech."

"Finally," Harry said, pulling out a quill, "what's your ideal date?"

Shacklebolt put his elbow on the table and rested his chin in his hand. "Is this really necessary?"

"It's on the list."

"Fine." Shacklebolt sat up straight. "My ideal date would be a nice candlelit dinner where I then listen to her talk about all the reasons she loves me." He huffed. "Can I go now?"

Silence echoed through the room. Harry shrugged. "Sure, I…"

"Cuff him." Severus said.

Sirius smirked. "You really do have a thing for handcuffs."

"She does?" Dora asked. "Why do you know that?"

"Don't you know what your cousin likes in bed?"

Hermione scrunched her nose. "I'd like to be the first to know, thank you very much."

"We're getting off-subject," Severus said, grabbing Shacklebolt. The auror twisted, getting loose and making for the door.

Dora stood, blocking the door. Shacklebolt grabbed his wand and made to cast a spell.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry called out. The auror's wand flew into the boy's hand. The auror shrugged and went to punch Dora out.

"Stupefy!" Severus called out. Shacklebolt fell to the ground unconscious. "And this is why we don't rely on only one spell."

"Aunt Cissa?" Dora asked. "What are you doing? You just stupefied an auror."

"An auror with a horcrux somewhere nearby," Severus said, jostling the man, looking for the necklace.

"How do you know about that?"

"I know a lot of things."

Hermione shook her head and joined the potions master. "Drat!" she said, scowling. "It's not on him."

"Do you think it's at his desk?" Sirius asked, coming over and scanning the body.

"How do you know he has the locket?" Harry asked, scowling. "Of anyone, he's the last person we would suspect of harboring a horcrux."

"Because Voldemort also likes candlelit dinners and adoring women," Severus said, sighing.

"Well, Spots, I think it's time we take this show on the road," Sirius said, throwing Shacklebolt over his shoulder.

"Spots?" Dora asked, scowling.

"Not now, love," Severus said, blond hair drooping in his eyes. "I don't think it would be at his desk. Why would the locket put itself in that precarious of a position? It wants to be kept safe."

"Which is why we'll have to take him with us," Sirius said, motioning for the others to come along. "We're running out of time."

And in fact, they were out of time. The moment they made it past the doorframe, the polyjuice's efficacy ended. Dean, Pansy, and Narcissa transformed before everyone's eyes back into Harry, Hermione, and Severus.

"Sev…Dear?" Dora said, eyes widening in horror. "Is there something we need to discuss?"

Before Severus could respond, Dawlish turned and his mouth dropped. "Blimey! It's Harry Potter."

Another auror also turned. "Ain't that the headmaster o' Hogwarts, too?"

"And there's that mudblood, Granger. She's Undesirable #2!"

"Dora, sweetheart, I love you, but I have to go," Severus said quickly, kissing her forehead. "Would you mind covering us?" With that, the four rushed out the auror department, spells blasting just past them.

They ran for their lives, Harry and Hermione throwing spells behind them while Severus kept their way clear with a hedge growing hex. Sirius flew toward the entrance, Shacklebolt's body bouncing on his shoulder. Once they got to the entrance, Sirius burst out into the fresh air, quickly apparating when he saw Severus appear. The potions master helped Hermione out of the exit, checking to make sure she was safe before checking for Harry. The boy-who-lived exited last, a nasty cut on his cheek.

"Are you alright?" Severus asked, brow furrowed.

"Sorry, got caught up with Dawlish."

"He cornered you for a duel?"

"No, I asked to be invited to the next pre-victory party." Harry smirked. "I hear they're a hoot."