12 Grimmauld Place

Harry wasn't sure he was doing the right thing. He'd never had to help his best friend cope with losing a parent before. His thoughts remained muddled as Remus flooed into Grimmauld Place.

"I really wish the Fidelus charm allowed owls through. Then I wouldn't be reduced to a bloody mail carrier." Remus complained as he threw the Black's mail onto the kitchen table.

"Oh, you love it. Otherwise, you wouldn't have a reason to come over here and visit your boy toy." Hestia patted him affectionately on the head.

"Please, Hes, don't say things like that. That's how rumors get started." Remus said as he slid his hand down his face. "How, can we get to the real issue at hand? Harry, there's a very thick envelope in that stack from Hogwarts just for you."

"Oh no, it's the OWL results, isn't it?" Harry asked nervously.

"Along with your school list, I supposed." Remus nodded.

"Well, Prongslet, hurry up and open it," Sirius smirked, sneaking up on his godson, causing Harry to squeak as he jumped out of his seat.

"You scared me, Padfoot." Harry glared as he took the envelope and opened it with a flick of his wrist. Remus and Sirius continued on with their breakfast, ignoring the way Harry was starting at the paper in shock before he simply stated, "O."

"What does that mean, Prongslet?" Sirius asked, looking up from the Daily Prophet.

"I got an O. In Defense Against the Dark Arts." Harry couldn't look away from the score.

"What else did you get?" Remus asked, grabbing the score sheet from Harry's hands. "You scored a D in History of Magic? I thought I taught you better than that?"
"That's when I got the vision…" Harry trailed off.

"And they still scored it? That's an outrage!" Sirius screamed, ripping the sheet from Remus' hands. "I'll have words with the board!"

"It's okay, Padfoot. I promise." Harry said. "I wasn't planning on using History of Magic for anything anyways."

"What else is in that envelope?" Remus asked, pointing at the lump still sitting on the table.

"Oh, I don't know. Hermione's had us all worried about the OWLs. Scores were all I was worried about." Harry replied, grabbing the envelope and dumping in onto the table.

"Is that-" Sirius started, staring at the pin that fell out.

"It is." Remus finished.

"Merlin above. It's that damn Quidditch pin." Hestia shrieked, picking up the bit of metal and waved it under Sirius' nose.

"I'm the Quidditch captain?" Harry asked in disbelief.

"Harry! That's a good thing! You can let me be on the Quidditch team!" Rigel cheered.

"You won't be in school until after I graduate," Harry said, ruffling his godbrother's hair.

"Doesn't mean you can't tell Ginny that I have to be on the team. Youngest chaser in a century!" Rigel pointed out.

"That won't work," Adara said snottily. "Ginny won't let Harry tell her what to do. She's a lady. Ladies don't let boys tell them what to do. Everyone knows that."

"You spend too much time with your Aunt Cissy," Sirius said over the paper. "You'll be a Slytherin at this rate."

"And I will rule that house with Atria by the end of my first year." Adara pointed out.

Sirius spluttered his tea at that as Hestia laughed at her daughter's cheek.

"Well, you know what they say, Padfoot," Remus smirked. "Slytherin and Gryffindor are two sides of the same coin."

"Shut up, you wanker." Sirius glared. Harry laughed as he pulled one last sheet of paper from his envelope and reading it.

"Oh shit." He said, sitting straight up in his chair.

"What's the matter, pup?" Sirius asked as Hestia said, "Language at the table, young man."

"Dumbledore wants to use me," Harry announced, not tearing his eyes away from the letter.

"What the hell does 'use me' mean?" Sirius asked, ripping the paper from Harry's hands a second time.

"Shit! I'm getting massive paper cuts from you!" Harry exclaimed, holding his hands up to Hestia, hoping for sympathy.

"Your hands are fine. Sirius Orion Black, you will set a better example for these kids." Hestia commanded. "You are not going anywhere with Dumbledore until we have more information."

"Oh, you've gotta be shitting me!" Sirius exclaimed, ignoring his wife. "He wants to take Harry to pick up Slughorn! Like that'll make the old fart want to teach again! He wasn't even that good of a teacher!"

"Oh piss," Hestia added. "Why would he want Ol' Sluggy to teach? Unless…. Oh, hell. He's going to move Sev to Defense Against the Dark Arts."

"Language, Mother." Adara sniffed causing Rigel to roll his eyes.

"Why would Dumbles do that?" Sirius asked, sipping his tea.

"Because Severus would probably be the best Defense professor we could have since Moony taught us," Harry said pragmatically.

"That's a good point." Sirius snapped to attention. "Here's what we're going to do. Harry, you'll go with Dumbledore. Then, you're going to let Slughorn 'collect' you."

"And why would I let your crazy old professor 'collect' me?" Harry asked.

"He likes to know people. Famous people. He likes to make things easier for promising students so they'll owe him later in life. He'll want you because your mum was his favorite student of all time. So, he'll collect you. And Dumbledore will use you. And you'll let them." Sirius explained.

"And why would I do that?" Harry asked again.

"You'll do that because you're going to use it as an opportunity to spy for us. Let us know what Dumbledore knows. He hides way too much from us. And we need to know what he's hiding." Sirius confided.

There was an oppressive silence before Adara said, "And you wonder why I'm going to be the best Slytherin to ever reign?"


Hogwarts Hospital Wing

"Ron found your mum's sweaters. One for everyone?" Hermione asked, chugging a potion.

"Even Fleur," Fred confirmed.

"Wow," Hermione's eyes went wide. "That must have been emotional hell. For all of you."

"It… really was." Fred didn't know what else to say. Suddenly, he sniffed hard and changed the subject, "So, when do you get out of the hospital wing?"

"Madame Pomphrey said that I could go home tomorrow, but I'll be confined to bed until September. I have to take upwards ten potions a day." Hermione told him as she pulled her blanket closer.

"Are you cold?" Fred asked, taking in her movements.

"Yeah." She blushed, embarrassed at the thought. "It's just… I don't know what this curse was, but it makes me cold all the time now."

"Then I'll bring you one of my jumpers," Fred promised and Hermione melted just a little bit.


Diagon Alley

"Ron?" Fred asked quietly.

"Yeah?" Ron looked up from his breakfast. He was caught off guard by the vulnerability in his older brother's voice.

"Could you do me a favor today?" Fred's voice wasn't getting any lighter and Ron was slightly panicking. "If I give you the galleons, could you pick up 'Mione's school supplies for her?"

"How much longer is she going to be in the hospital wing?" Ron asked gently.

"You can go see her, you know?" Fred asked finally looking his brother in the eye.

"Not really. The only reason that Madame Pomfrey is letting you is because you threatened to hex her that night." Ron explained.

"No, I didn't." Fred defended.

"Yeah, you did," Ron said, confusion coloring his voice. "I mean, you probably weren't conscious of it at the time, but you threatened her something awful. Like, nothing I'd ever heard before. Then, you threatened to stop selling your bruise paste at cost to her, which is what really did it."

"No, I didn't." Fred tried again.

"Yes, twin 'o mine, you did," George confirmed, entering the tiny kitchen.

"Fine, I threatened Poppy dearest. Now, will you do the shopping or what?" Fred asked in frustration.

"I will. Now, will you tell me when she get's to go home?" Ron rebutted.

"In the next couple of days, but that doesn't mean anything because she'll be confined to her house until school starts up again after that," Fred explained.

"That's a relief, really," Ginny said as she barged in from the fireplace. "She must be dying for more company," she said taking a seat at the table with her brothers and pulling a pastry into her mouth.

"What are you doing away from Bill and Fleur?" Ron stated, attempting to get the pastry back with no avail.

"I'm not under house arrest," Ginny scoffed. "Did our dear keeper brothers not tell you that we're going school supply shopping with the Blacks and Longbottoms? I'm just happy to finally see the shop...or people...or anyone who isn't a Veela or Bill."

"Does this mean you and Harry are finished? If he hasn't been around all summer?" George chimed in.

"I've seen him," Ginny said defensively, "but between being dragged like an animal to France and wherever else Bill went for for work, it's been letter writing."

"Well, they say absence makes the heart grow fonder. I bet Freddie here can tell us all about it this coming year," George said, standing up from the table. "Come on, let's open the shop. I'm sure there will be a line again today."

The four Weasleys went down to the shop, and let the chaos begin. It wasn't until mid-morning when the Blacks and Longbottoms showed up.

Ginny had been staring in awe at the Pigmy Puffs since she had discovered them on her own tour of the shop. That's where Harry found her. "Don't let Atria see these or the Black Manor will be covered in them," Harry said, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

"I make no promises," Ginny said turning around in his arms, embracing him.

"Are you ready to go?" Harry asked her, picking up a small purple Pigmy Puff.

"Shopping or back to Hogwarts?" Ginny asked, letting the Puff find his way into her hand.

"Both," he said hesitantly.

"I'm ready for things to go back to normal," She said, putting the Puff on her shoulder. "Or as close as they can be."

"Well," Harry said, taking her hand. "Let's go then. Maybe we can ditch Sirius and the Longbottoms."

Ginny let out a small smile and nodded as Harry led her, and the Pigmy Puff, down the stairs and out of the shop.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, at least for the teens, who hadn't seen one another practically all summer. The small crowd of people in Diagon Alley were on edge, all sticking close together. Some shops were boarded up, leaving an eerie feeling for those who shopped. That's when Harry, Ron, and Neville saw Draco.

"C'mon," Harry said. "Let's follow him."

Ron and Neville, who were still a bit upset about the Battle of the Ministry, nodded discreetly and followed Harry out of Madam Malkin' Robes for Every Occasion.

"Shit." Ron curse as Draco led them into Knockturn Alley. "What the hell does he need down here?"

"Oh, I don't know, Ron," Harry muttered with a roll of his eyes. "Something necessary to serve his new Dark Lord."

"There's also the fact that his mother is in danger and there are things down here that would serve as good, if not slightly illegal, protection from his enraged aunt." Neville pointed out. Harry and Ron gave him a look. "What? I know things."

"Of course you do." Ron scoffed.

After that, they silently followed Draco as far as the door of Borgin and Burke's Curiosity Shoppe.

"I want that cabinet." They heard Draco demand, and they all rolled their eyes at his haughty tone.

"Sir, it's broken," A man explained. "Besides, Vanishing Cabinets only work if you have both cabinets."

"Oh really? That's fascinating information that literally everyone knows, you moron!" Draco's voice was full of derision. "I have the other cabinet. You fix this one up, send me the information, and wait for further instruction. Merlin. Father said you knew better than ask questions in this shop."

"If you're going to act like that, young man-" The man's voice sounded defensive to Harry's ears.

"You'll what?" Draco asked, "Take it up with him?"

Harry, Ron, and Neville couldn't see clearly through the murky glass of the storefront, but they did see enough to know that Draco had his sleeve pulled up to his elbow as he asked this question. All three shared a knowing look, then disappeared back up the alleyway before anyone caught them spying.

"Well," Neville started as they came back into the sunlight of Diagon Alley. "At least we know who's side he's on."

Harry and Ron nodded, but they didn't seem to comforted by that fact. No matter what, it promised to be a long year at Hogwarts.


The Grangers

"Hermione, dear, we need to talk about this." Mrs. Granger demanded.

"Talk about what? There's nothing to talk about!" Hermione screamed, clutching her chest as she did so.

"What do you mean there's nothing to talk about?" Mr. Granger demanded. "You were involved in a battle that directly led to the Minister of Magic losing his job!"

"Not to mention that Molly and Arthur Weasley died!" Mrs. Granger added.

"We can't let you go back to that school." Mr. Granger said firmly.

"Oh, really? Is that what you want? For your daughter to be a drop-out?" Hermione asked. "Because that's what I'll be! A drop-out! It's not like I can just take my A-levels and join a muggle school at this point!"

"What about the other wizard schools? You could transfer to one of them." Mrs. Granger suggested.

"Oh, really? Which one? Durmstrang? They're heavy on the dark magic. Beauxbaton? They don't accept transfer students. Ilvermorny? Do you really want me to get an American education?" Hermione listed hatefully.

"There are other schools." Mrs. Granger argued back.

"I'm not Asian, African, or Australian, Mother! I can't just go to whatever school I feel like! I have to go to Hogwarts!" Hermione's voice raised again, and she felt the skin on her chest heat and flare, causing her to fold in half at the pain.

"No. You're not going to that school. You can't." Mr. Granger said, looking at his daughter.

"It wasn't Hogwarts that did this, Dad. It was Death Eaters. And it didn't happen in a school, it happened in a government building. The only reason we were in that government building when we were, the only reason that I'm hurt, it because that Minister we got sacked assigned an abusive harpy to shut down all outside communication to the school. If that Minister hadn't interfered with our education, we would have been able to communicate with Mr. Black, meaning we wouldn't have had to follow a crazy vision from Harry into a dangerous situation." Hermione explained calmly. Her parents didn't know how to argue with that.

"Look," Hermione started, taking pity on her parents, "It's like when Britain got involved in World War I, yeah? That wasn't our fight, but they took out our ally in Belgium. So we had no choice to back them up. Well, Harry's the target and I have to back him up. That's what friends do."

Her parents remained unconvinced and their faces showed it.

"Besides, the woman that caused all the issues in the first place lost her position. Both with the government and at the school. She was a Fudge loyalist, so she was swept out with the old administration. We should be safe this year." Hermione smiled softly.

"We'll think about your arguments and get back to you in a few days." Mrs. Granger said firmly.

"Professor McGonagall assumed this would be your reaction upon my return to the muggle world. She needs to know by next Monday if I will still be attending Hogwarts. So, if you could make up your minds by then, that would be for the best." Hermione informed her parents.

"Thank you, we will." Mr. Granger replied. With that, Hermione ascended the stairs, thinking about the future, and whether or not she could handle this argument again.


Kat: Well… life's busy. Here's an update. No, we aren't giving up on the story, I just suck at time management.

Gabs: And it's that time of year where I work a million hours a week. It's not an excuse, it's just life.

Kat: Review, PM, let us know you're still with us. We promise we have a plan for this. We own nothing.

XOXO

Gabs & Kat