Chapter Twenty-Two

Draco stared at the portraits hanging on the walls around the office. He'd never actually been called to the Headmaster's office before. Any time he got in trouble, barring that one time in first year, Snape handled it. He'd always gotten off pretty easily because of it. Sitting there alone, he thought he finally understood why people hated going there.

After he'd nearly walked into three of the founders, they'd taken him to the office and left him there. In total, he waited nearly fifteen minutes for them to return. When they did, he made sure to sit up straight and offer them all a nod as they filed in and took their seats, this time with Ravenclaw there as well.

"Thank you for waiting," Hufflepuff said with a faint smile, though it was grim.

"We'd like to discuss your conversation with Hermione," Ravenclaw told him. "We've been trying to find her for a few days now."

"I can't tell you anything," he said firmly. They were truthfully a rather scary group, but he also refused to give up anything about the curse. He'd done it once for her own good. Telling them would do nothing.

"Well, perhaps you can tell us why she is avoiding us," Gryffindor requested. "Because it is not only us, Draco, but her friends, too. We're all very worried about her."

"They were just gone for ten months," Draco pointed out casually. "Perhaps she needs time alone to ground herself."

"Draco," Slytherin sighed. "We are aware of the curse on Hermione. We want to help her, but we can't do that if she's avoiding us."

"We heard you telling her that your friend's library may have something to help her," Hufflepuff continued. "We would like to see if we can help as well."

"Lord Nott would never allow you in his library," Draco said plainly. He did see concern in their eyes, but he wasn't going to cooperate with them if Hermione didn't want to. It wasn't his place. "I told Theo because she trusts him and he may truly be able to help her. There's no cure to this curse, but he may be able to find a way to, at the very least, suppress it."

"We may be able to create a cure with the correct resources," Ravenclaw insisted. "We plan to do everything we can, Draco, but we do need help. We cannot do this alone."

"Then I suggest you speak with Hermione about it," Draco said firmly. "Because you refused to tell her about it before and instead, Sirius told her. He isn't the most stable and calmest person, is he?"

"He is not," Gryffindor sighed, shaking his head. "I was unsure how to tell her."

"I have nothing for you," he told them truthfully. "If you talk to her and she decides she wants Theo's help and yours, you can see about working together."

"She will not speak with us," Hufflepuff reminded him. "Or Harry and Ron."

"Would you like to know why she's speaking with me?" at their nods, he raised an eyebrow. "Because I saw how afraid she was before she could hide it. She doesn't want anyone else seeing her like that. Without me, she would be alone right now."

"We have seen her afraid," Gryffindor blinked in confusion. "More than once."

"Before the other day, I have never once seen her afraid for herself."

The founders exchanged a glance as they understood the difference. During the test, she'd been afraid for Slytherin and for Harry. During the centaur attack, she'd been afraid for her friends, the students, and the founders.

Never for herself.

"Thank you, Draco," Hufflepuff nodded. "You can go."

The blonde got up and left, leaving them alone again. The four friends sat down, all different levels of frustrated and concerned.

"We should have told her," Salazar muttered, rubbing his forehead.

"It wasn't an immediate problem," Rowena sighed. "But now… you are right. We should have told her when it happened."

"I cannot imagine what Sirius told her," Helga frowned to herself.

"If he's in my House, he will have told her the truth," Godric shook his head regretfully. "Poor girl."

"What do you suggest we do?" Helga wondered. "We must handle this quickly. If we hope to get Theo's help, we will have to speak with him before school ends."

"Find Hermione," Rowena said. "Discuss it with her as Draco suggested. Ultimately, this is her life. She deserves to know what is going on."

"Tomorrow," Salazar suggested. "For now, I believe we should continue on our search for this supposed curse."

His friends all grimaced.

They were not enjoying that task.

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Harry sat cross legged on the couch while Ron paced back and forth in front of the table. While Ron tried to process and come to terms with what Harry'd told him, Harry focused on feeling around for his core. It was something Rowena had suggested he learn to do. Apparently, it was helpful during battle to see how drained you were.

"But they're related!"

Harry glanced up at the same outburst that Ron had already had twice before and sighed. "Yes, Ron, but not by blood. Besides, it's the Black family. Sirius's parents were first cousins. I don't think they care."

"I just don't get it," Ron sighed heavily, throwing his arms up. "I don't get it."

"Well, neither do I, but I think we should probably just focus on being supportive," Harry suggested, eyeing Ron as his pacing began to slow. "She's obviously having a hard time."

"D'you think it's because of Sirius?" Ron wondered, earning himself a dirty look. "I'm not blaming Sirius! I just mean he adopted her. Maybe she misses her parents."

"She might," Harry blinked. It was a good thought. He knew their friend didn't always spend a lot of time with her parents over the summer, but she'd been gone for ten months, plus the ten from school before that and the time she'd spent at Grimmauld Place, which meant she hadn't seen them in over a year and a half. And then when they'd gotten back, she'd gone to see them only to let them know that it wasn't safe to see them again. "Wow, we're thick."

The door opened behind them and they both looked up. They were in the Room of Requirement because Harry had asked Hogwarts to let him know where Hermione was and when she was alone. It was perhaps a bit creepy, but he was worried about her. Over the past few days, she'd gone to the Room at the same time and was there alone for about fifteen minutes before Draco joined her.

"Oh," Hermione blinked, freezing. "Hello."

"Mione, thank Merlin," Ron breathed in relief. "We've been so worried."

Guilt colored her face and her shoulders dropped. "I guess it has been a few days, hasn't it?"

Harry nodded. "We're not the only ones, either."

Ron nodded too, tapping his hands against his legs to dispel the energy he'd gathered from pacing. "The professors wanted to see you, but you were missing. Professor Slytherin argued with the Sorting Hat."

Hermione let out a small laugh. "He argued with a hat?"

"Yeah, it was great."

"I'm sorry," she sighed, coming to sit next to Harry. Ron plopped down on her other side as well. "I guess I've just had a lot on my mind."

"Like… dating Draco?"

Hermione stared at Harry in confusion and slight horror. "What?"

"Look, we're okay with it," Harry assured her, speaking quickly so she wouldn't interrupt. "And I don't really get how you're okay with it, but if it makes you happy, then it's fine. We just wanted to make sure you're okay and since you are-,"

"Shut up!" Hermione said, smacking his arm. "Merlin, Harry, ew. I'm not dating him. He's technically my cousin now!"

"That's what I said!" Ron agreed, nodding rapidly.

"Well… it's just… I walked in here the other day and you two were talking and being all friendly and-,"

"Being friendly," Hermione laughed. "Because we're friends. I'm not dating him."

"Oh," Harry blinked, embarrassed. "Right, well… if you wanted to-,"

"Oh my god, Harry," Hermione smacked his arm again. "Shut up."

"I'm just saying," he grinned at her. "If you wanna get cozy with Malfoy, we won't bother you."

"Uh, he won't," Ron disagreed. "I definitely will."

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Minerva McGonagall just wanted to do her job and teach. She wanted to prepare her students for the world ahead of them. She wanted them to know everything they could and become even better than her.

But currently, her classroom was overrun by four founders who were searching for a fake curse.

"What do you know of it?" Helga asked her with a kind smile. Minerva returned it.

"I don't believe it exists," she admitted. "I, for one, believe that this 'curse' was all Albus's doing."

Helga turned to look at Rowena, who had stopped casting and glanced over at them.

"How so?" Rowena asked her. "He made the curse?"

"Not at all. I believe he fired or otherwise suggested our Defense professors leave at the end of the year," Minerva explained. "Certainly there were some times that it happened on its own, like Lockhart a few years ago, or Quirrel the year before him, but both times, Mister Potter was involved."

"Before Harry got to school, were there as many incidents with your Defense teachers as there are now?" Salazar asked her with a frown. Minerva considered the question for a moment before she firmly shook her head.

"Certainly not. In fact, a great deal of our professors were much better suited for the job before he came to school."

Salazar's lips thinned. "Please tell us what has happened with each teacher since Harry got here."

So, Minerva found herself sitting at her desk in front of the four of them, gossiping like a schoolgirl. "In 1991, Quirinus Quirrel was hired as our Defense Professor. He was truthfully a fine professor, but he had a horrible stutter and took quite a while to go through his lessons."

"Harry has told me he was possessed by Voldemort," Salazar told her. "Did you not notice? Did no one notice at all?"

"We did," Minerva disagreed regretfully. "Filius and I brought it up numerous times, but Albus only promised that Quirinus was perfectly safe. He's either a fool or planned it all along."

"I'd say both," Godric grumbled.

"Obviously, he had no choice to come back," Salazar continued for her. "He died. I do understand that. Do you know why Dumbledore chose Lockhart the next year?"

"Albus told us that Lockhart was the only one to apply," Minerva frowned at them. "I told him to decline the application and find someone else, but he accepted it."

"What happened with him?"

Minerva shook her head sadly as she remembered. She deeply regretted how little she'd listened to Harry and his friends throughout their first few years of school, and she knew it was likely the reason they came to her no more. "Gilderoy attempted to Obliviate Harry and Ronald with Ronald's broken wand. It backfired and he lost his memories. He is in St. Mungo's as a permanent patient now."

"He tried to Obliviate two twelve-year-old boys?" Helga asked in horror. "How cruel!"

"Having lost his memory, he could not come back," Salazar nodded his understanding. "And the next year, who was that?"

"That was Remus," Minerva smiled fondly. "I've always loved that boy. He was always quiet, brilliant, and had the best control over Sirius's… pranks. Unfortunately, he left because Severus threatened to tell the board that he is a werewolf. We were all sad to see him go. He was an incredible professor."

The four exchanged a glance before they looked back at her expectantly, this time with a plan in mind.

"Last year was… it was meant to be Alastair Moody," she explained with a small frown. "But Alastair was captured by Barty Crouch Jr. That boy polyjuiced himself into Alastair for an entire year. He put Harry's name into the Goblet of Fire. He guided him through the tournament… it's horrible, truly."

"I assume he left when he was caught," Rowena hummed, tapping her fingers against her knee. Minerva nodded.

"He was arrested once more. Understandably, Alastair refused to work here this year. Not only because he'd been kept in a trunk for a year over the position, but because now that You-Know-Who is back, he has work to do in fighting him."

"Alastair Moody is a retired Head Auror, right?" Godric wondered. At her nod of confirmation, he hummed. "Is there a reason he hasn't gone back to the Ministry?"

"Albus advised him against it. He said there were too many Death Eaters with their eyes on Auror positions and that Alastair could do much more from the Order."

"Fool," Salazar hissed. "Is he trying to lose this war?"

"It certainly seems like it," Rowena muttered bitterly.

"What was his reasoning for hiring Umbridge?" Godric questioned as the two glared at the desk thoughtfully.

"The Ministry," Minerva answered immediately. "He claimed they were pressuring him to allow them to control the school. Umbridge had control of the entire school in no time. His resistance was non existent."

"WIth that in mind, I believe we should test your theory," Helga told her. "And hire Remus once more. From everything you, Harry, Ron, and Hermione have told us, he is exactly who we need."

Minerva couldn't help but smile at them brightly. "I believe I quite agree. Can I ask, will there be changes to current staff?"

"I'm firing Snape," Salazar said plainly. She gave him a startled look, along with his friends. They hadn't discussed it yet, but when he'd caught Draco again a few minutes before heading to Minerva's office, he'd made sure to ask why they had detention. "He is completely inappropriate to students. He gave Hermione and Draco a week of detention."

"I heard," Minerva nodded. "I couldn't find either of them to tell me why. I don't quite believe what he told me."

"Draco told me that Hermione was standing in the potions room, staring," Salazar said, glancing at his friends. "And Snape began calling her names. Draco, apparently, told him to stop, and so he gave them both a week of detention."

Minerva's lips thinned. "I have been as patient with Severus as I could manage for the past twenty-five years for Albus's sake. I'll be glad to see him gone."

"We have already hired a wonderful historian from France to teach History of Magic," Helga continued on with a firm nod to her friend. "I believe she may be related to Sirius. She has also agreed to get us caught up on everything over the summer."

"Sirius?" Minerva wondered. She wasn't aware of any Black family member that lived in France or was a historian. The Blacks usually stayed in England and worked closely with the ministry or not at all.

"Yes, her name is Cassiopeia Black."

Minerva took a moment to take in a deep breath and wipe the shock off of her face. "She's still alive?"

"...should she not be?"

Minerva shook her head. "I apologize. I thought she died in the first war with Dorea. I went to school with both of them. We were quite close for some time."

"Well, she's to arrive tomorrow," Helga smiled kindly.

"Thank you for discussing this with us," Rowena said, getting to her feet with her friends following her lead. "You may have saved us a great deal of wasted effort."

"Oh, and do not worry," Godric smiled at her kindly. "If anything were to happen to the four of us, we would be proud to have you handle the school. You're still the deputy headmistress."

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