Chapter 4
The next morning is etched so firmly in the minds of the Companions and survivors, they could relate any detail even as much as twenty years from the day. The morning was perfect, it was warm, and sunny and the last place any of the students and most of the teachers wanted to be was in the castle.
At breakfast, they received their schedules. All four were shocked. They went to Professor McGonagall immediately. "Professor," Hermione called McGonagall's attention "We were looking over our schedules, and there seems to be something wrong."
Minerva McGonagall looked at them sternly. "Let me see." She fairly snatched the parchment from their hands, glanced over them and handed them back. "No, they are correct, now run along, or you'll be late." She waved them off.
"But Professor…" Hermione started.
"I said to run along. Or you'll be late." She glared at the four students. "So go!"
They retreated looking at the schedules. All four talking in hushed tones as they headed into the halls. "I don't get it." Ron stated. "There's nothing but times and rooms. I don't even know what books to carry!" His frustration and confusion evident in his mannerism and tone.
Harry looked at his schedule, "What 'class' have you all got next?"
"Charms Hall Room 103" Hermione answered. The other two looked at their schedules and nodded.
"Why are we all in the same classes?" Ron asked looking at Ginny. "You aren't supposed to be in the fifth year."
Ginny shrugged. "I don't know. It's all very odd."
They trooped to the Charms Hall and found room 103; it was a small room, barely big enough to fit a dozen students. Dumbledore sat at the desk rummaging in a small leather bag. "Ah!" he exclaimed cheerily as he drew out a quill and ink bottle. "Please have a seat. The other students should be ambling in any time now."
All in all ten students were in the small classroom when the last 'ambled in' as Dumbledore has so quaintly put it.
"You were all picked" Dumbledore said as the last student sat down "to attend a, shall we say 'advanced curriculum' from here on out. You were each chosen for merits and skills that are sorely needed in these dark times." He paused and drank from a glass of water on his desk. "As such, you will not attend normal classes, but rather you will simply show up at the times and places listed on your schedule. Your books will remain in the classrooms."
Hermione's hand shot up in the air. Dumbledore nodded to her. "How will we complete homework assignments if we don't have our books?" she asked clearly distressed at leaving her books behind.
"You will have no homework that your books will aid you in." He returned his attention to the class as a whole. "You will not perform extra-curricular activities." His gaze played over a few in the room. "You will also be moved from the dormitories, to new sleeping arrangements."
The classroom erupted in comments. It took Dumbledore five minutes and several 'BANG' noises from his wand to regain their attention. "As I was saying, this means you ten will form another 'house' in Hogwarts. As such, I'd like to welcome you to your new house."
The students sat there stunned. "New house?" Harry asked out loud. "What new house?"
Dumbledore smiled. "We are calling the new house 'Telisin' your crest will be a phoenix, and your colors will be gold and silver. You will find all of your personal belongings are in your rooms in the new dormitory. I'll be leading you there shortly. Do you have any questions?"
Hands shot up from around the room, while the most vocal just spilled out questions immediately. Dumbledore smiled softly, and waited until the furor died down. It took the better part of the class for the bulk of the questions to be answered. Finally, Dumbledore stated, "If you will all follow me then…" and left the room, trailing the ten students behind him.
He led them on a journey through the castle to a little used area, it was apparent that this section of the castle had not seen use in a while. Shockingly, when they arrived at the entrance to the new dormitory, they found six burly trolls there.
Dumbledore spoke quietly to them and then the leader of the trolls sized up the ten students, and gave a short nod to the headmaster. They proceeded to a statue of a chimera. "Voldemort" Dumbledore said, and the statue moved to the side. They walked into a common room not terribly unlike the Gryffindor one Harry noted; only the colors were different.
"This is your common room" Dumbledore stated simply. Pointing to the single set of stairs, he continued "dormitories are that way; you'll find your name on the door to the appropriate room." He glanced at a watch. "Your next class is in two hours. I'd suggest you mingle a bit, and acquaint yourself with your new surroundings." With that, he left the students.
Harry looked at the others for a moment, so what was Dumbledore playing at this time? He wondered to himself.
On the wall a bulletin board had the usual announcements and information, the fireplace positively glowed with warmth, and the couches and tables were soft, and comfortable. Tables were interspersed throughout the room. It was then that they all noticed a small plaque.
'In dedication to the Companions, may their sacrifice not be in vain.' Under it were ten names of which one stood out 'Albus Dumbledore' and the date '1938'.
The ten students looked at one another as this information came clear. So Dumbledore himself had been a part of this just a few years before the defeat of Griswald. "So eight years prior to the fall of Griswald" a voice behind him stated "Dumbledore was part of this 'Companions'." Harry knew the voice was Justin Finch-Fletchley.
He surveyed the cluster of students, Ginny Weasley, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Cho Chang, Hanna Abbott, Susan Bones, Lisa Turpin, Dean Thomas, and himself. He noted the distinct lack of ex-Slytherin, and a large number of ex-Gryffindor.
They wandered the common room a bit, peering at items of interest, and eventually headed into the dorm area. On each of the five doors were two names. The first was 'Harry Potter' and 'Ron Weasley' next was 'Hermione Granger' and 'Ginny Weasley', next was "Lisa Turpin' and 'Susan Bones', then 'Dean Thomas', and 'Justin Finch-Fletchley' and finally 'Hanna Abbott' and 'Cho Chang'.
They entered the rooms, to find two four poster beds the drapes were a soft golden fabric, trimmed in silver, and emblazoned in red on each was a phoenix. They found all their personal items lain out as before. The bathroom came as a complete surprise. There was only one.
They went back to the common room, and this became a heated topic of conversation until the doorway opened again. Sirius Black entered the common room, and stated "Calm down all of you!" The students fell silent. "Yes, we realize that the accommodations here are less than perfect. However, you must understand that these are difficult times, and some allowances must be made. Every one of you are asked to make some sacrifices, this is one of those. We are not going to add another bathroom to this dorm; it's up to you to decide how to work with the tools we have given you."
With this another bout of arguing started. "I am not showering in the same room that boys do!" Cho stated.
"Then you are going to smell bad." Was Sirius's reply.
Ginny thought a moment, and then stated. "I do at home; it's not really any different. You just need to set a schedule, and stick to it."
Ron nodded at this "It's not so bad really."
Sirius noted that this seemed to calm down the most vocal opponents and dropped the next bit of news. "I am your Head of House. My office is located in the next hallway down to the left." He paused again waiting for questions, none came. "The classrooms in this wing are being renovated to ready them for your classes. You will not be joining your ex-classmates for classes. This is your house, and you will take classes here in this wing. You are your own classmates." He stopped again.
"Professor Black," Susan Bones asked. "Are we going to be completely isolated from our old friends? Where are we to eat?"
Sirius looked at them and smiled. "No, you will eat in the main dining room, unless your classes interfere. A fifth table has been set up for you. During breaks you are allowed to freely mingle as you see fit. However," at this his voice took on a hard edge "you are not allowed to discuss your lessons with anyone not in this room. You will be magically bound to secrecy. There will be no more and no less than ten students in this house until the danger has passed."
Hanna spoke up, "We can leave the program then?"
Sirius nodded at this. "Yes, no one is forced into their roles in this group. You were all selected because you have a unique talent that this group will need in the coming months."
Sirius then stood and beckoned them to follow. "Its lunch time and Headmaster Dumbledore asked that I lead you until you are accustomed to the new path to the great hall."
A sense of something wrong was in the very air of the castle during the lunch break. The students seemed restless. They noticed the small table set aside from the rest of the students, and the ten students who sat there.
Sirius cornered Ron, Harry, Hermione and Ginny "Come to my office tonight after dinner. We have some things to discuss with you four in private."
They turned and left the hall leaving a stunned set of students behind them. "What on earth could they want with us?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked thoughtful, "Perhaps it's something to do with the Order" she whispered to the other three. "Perhaps something's happening and they need us to do something." She was positively glowing with the thought of doing something for the Order.
Harry rolled his eyes; he had thought Hermione of all people would be glad to have a normal year in school. He sighed wistfully and thought what it would be like to be normal, go to school, dream of your girlfriend, and quiddich, your worst fear being the next exam. Best not dwell on those thoughts, he returned to his friends. "Well, we'll all find out in a few hours then, won't we?"
Their classes were interesting, to say the least. Each one seemed to be focused more on practical application than on learning things like Goblins who revolted, or how to turn a pincushion into a hedgehog. Instead they got basic healing magic, advanced potions, how to detect, block and break curses, advanced herbology, and mastery over the dark arts. This final class was taught by Dumbledore himself. It was by far the most interesting and thought provoking of all of the new classes. They were learning the dark arts, and how to track them down.
Advanced potions was taught by Severous Snape, who taught them with a wicked glint in his eye, oddly enough for Harry, Snape actually seemed to not go out of his way to antagonize him, it made potions almost pleasant. They were working on a draft to aid the senses when suddenly Snape looked up.
"Potter, gather your classmates together, and destroy the drafts."
Harry blinked. "I'm sorry Professor, but I don't understand."
Snape sighed heavily and stood up. "You are not being taught to think Potter, you are being taught to do. Now destroy these potions!"
Harry looked at the ingredients and selected a few new ones from the items on the shelves. He passed them around and the class made the potions inert. He looked to Snape, "It's done Professor."
"It took you too long; you need to be able to render potions inert in a much shorter time. Five points from Telisin." Snape sat down again and went back to his parchments. "Now, clean up and start again, this time, you are making the potion on page 435."
Harry sighed, and went to work cleaning out the cauldron. Sure enough they were about halfway done Snape told them to destroy their potions, this time Harry was ready, he had already set aside the items to destroy the potions. "Ms. Weasley, destroy the potions."
This went on for the next several hours, the students thinking ahead and planning ways to make the potions inert as they went along. Finally as the class ended Harry did something that amazed even himself. He raised his hand.
Snape regarded him for a moment. "Yes Potter?"
"Why are you teaching us to destroy the potions Professor?" Harry asked finally. "I mean that's what we are learning here. Why?"
Snape looked at him as if he were a complete idiot. "Potter, I was given the chore of teaching you ten a specific set of tasks. I answer to one man in this castle, that being Headmaster Dumbledore, not Student Harry Potter. You would be well advised to keep that in mind." With that he stood up, and made to the door. "Oh, and Potter the next time you question me, you will serve detention."
They spent the evening meal at the Telisin table, eating and talking in hushed whispers.
"What was that all about?" Harry finally asked as they were digging into their meals. "Why teach us to destroy potions?"
Hermione looked at him. "Well Harry, if we are making something that must not be captured, we need to be prepared to render it valueless." Ron looked at her shock evident on his face. "Oh isn't it obvious?"
From the blank stares from the rest of her new housemates, it wasn't. "We'll discuss this in the common room later."
The rest of the meal was spent in more or less silence made more evident by the laughing and joking from the other four house tables. Finally a small knot of people from Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw came over to the Telisin table.
Colin Creevey, the self-proclaimed spokesperson for the students spoke up. "What's going on with you?" Harry wasn't sure if the question was meant for him in particular or for the collected members of Telisin.
"What do you mean Colin?" Ginny asked at once.
"Well you aren't part of Gryffindor anymore are you? You have different crests, for a house that doesn't exist. No one knows where any of you are, and we lost our seeker." He looked positively aghast at the last part. "There is no way we can win the house cup now."
Harry considered it a minute. "You are right Colin; we aren't part of Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff." He saw the look on Colin's face. "No, we aren't in Slytherin either Colin. It's difficult, and perhaps if you want more answers you should talk to McGonagall."
"Yes, Mr. Creevey, you should be talking to your head of house, now leave." This came from Snape who had overheard the conversation. "Return to your house tables, and do not bother these students any more."
It was hard to tell who was more shocked, Harry or Colin. The small band of students practically fled from the Telisin table back to their own house tables.
"Well, that went well." Ron said under his breath.
They finished up and headed back to their common room "Voldemort" Harry said, being perhaps one of the only ones not to flinch at the word. The Chimera stood firm.
Harry blinked, "Voldemort" he repeated. The statue stayed firm.
"U hast to all says de passwud." The grating voice of the troll on duty informed them.
In turn each said the word, and the statue slid aside with a fluid grace. Albus Dumbledore was waiting for them.
"Professor, can we have the password changed?" Ron asked pensively, already knowing the answer.
"No Mr. Weasley, I will not change the password. It's just a word, a name after all and nothing more. You cannot remain afraid of a simple word and remain in this house." He smiled warmly at them. "Now let's get some questions out of the way and answered shall we? For a bit however, please don't ask questions, just listen."
They took up seats near the fire, and Harry noticed the tea and chocolate biscuits on the table. He poured himself a cup, and selected a biscuit, settling down intending on listening.
"When Hogwarts was founded," Dumbledore began "there was a very real, very present danger to the wizardling world. The muggles were trying to destroy the wizards, sure that the wizards were going to use their power for ill-gotten gains. The four founders knew there would be an issue with defending the castle, so they looked for someone to assist them in protecting the castle. This was a witch by the name of Coriander Telisin." He paused to nibble a biscuit and sip his tea. "Coriander Telisin was a witch of some renown in the arts of deception, warding, and protection. She set forth the basis of many of the wards that even now defend the school and grounds from detection both by muggle and wizard means. When the Sorting Hat was fashioned, Godric Gryffindor added Coriander Telisin into the hat as well, but only during trying times, and even then only a small number of people."
Here he paused and drank again. "Ever since, whenever times are trying, the hat speaks ten names. These ten are the chosen ones by the criteria Coriander Telisin gave the hat. The make up of the group seems different each time. In my lifetime, the hat has spoken three times. The first was in 1938, when Grindalwald was making a nuisance of himself. I was one of ten chosen then. The next time was in 1970."
Harry dropped his cup. "You mean…"
Dumbledore raised his hand. "It is time to listen Harry, not to speak." With a deft wave of his wand the cup reassembled itself, and Harry picked it up, filling it with trembling hands. "The second time was in 1970," he continued "when Voldemort was coming into power. The third time was a week ago; the hat began speaking the names of you ten." He drank more tea, the snapping and popping of the fire was the only noise for a minute. "So here you are, chosen for this task ahead of you. You need to understand, this is no light matter. Now is the time for questions."
Ron spoke up "We just spent an entire afternoon almost brewing potions Professor, why?"
Dumbledore thought for a moment. "I am sure Professor Snape didn't elaborate, pity, as he of all people knows why. Well, simply put, let's imagine something. You are moving into a site known to be occupied by death eaters; you find a cauldron brewing on the fire. What would you do?"
Ron considered for a minute. "Well, I'd look to see what they were brewing…"
Dumbledore looked at him for a handful of seconds as if waiting for the rest of Ron's answer "Then Mr. Weasley, what would you do?"
Hermione caught on. "Destroy it."
"Precisely Ms. Granger. Now how exactly would you destroy a light green potion that is slightly lumpy looking?" Asked a smooth voice from the doorway, Sirius Black stood there watching them all.
Harry thought desperately. "Slip in some armadillo bile. The potion would be meant to aid in the senses we learned…" He looked up at Sirius. "We learned that today, and I talked back to Professor Snape about it." The guilt on his face was apparent.
"Well Harry, I am glad you understand now. There will be no trivial learning here. You have much to learn and a very short amount of time to learn it all in. Make sure you pay attention in your lessons." Sirius poured himself a cup of tea and selected a couple biscuits sitting in the chair next to Dumbledore. "Tomorrow morning, and all Tuesday mornings you will report to the Great Hall in sweats."
The students exchanged glances.
Well, we seem to have an abnormally high number of student authority positions in Telisin, professor." Black noted. "Three prefects, a head boy and girl."
Dumbledore nodded. "You will all understand, I hope" he said flatly "when I ask for your badges."
Ron and Ginny dropped their badges on the table along with Harry and Hermione's head boy and girl badges. Susan Bones fingered her badge for a moment and finally piled it with the other four. "Well, it was good while it lasted." She stated simply, but the hurt in her eyes was apparent.
"Ms. Bones, please do not look at this as you losing your status, if anything you have gained status in Hogwarts in a way precious few people have been asked to do. You ten will be instrumental in bringing Voldemort to his knees." Sirius held her gaze a minute longer. "The titles of Prefect, Head Boy or Head Girl, Team Captain, are simply not in league with Companion."
Her eyes grew at that comment. "There are three living Companions, other than you ten; they are Professor Dumbledore, Arthur and Molly Weasley." Heads snapped up, Ginny's breath caught in her throat.
"Mum and dad were Companions???" Ron blurted out. "That's not possible!"
"Apparently you don't give your father and mother much credit Ron; they were amazing in their roles, quite pivotal in the end." Dumbledore said simply. "They were the ones to defend Diagon Alley from an attack by the death eaters the night before Harry's parents were killed. It was they who thought of using the charm to protect Lily, James and Harry from Voldemort. It wasn't until I had a chance to talk to them that they understood partially at least, what went wrong." He glanced apologetically over to Sirius. "They remain the most loyal of the Companions.
"Tonight, you will join the ranks of the Companions. You will experience a quickening of your powers, however, to do this will also quicken your age. It seems that this process places you at the age of twenty years." He paused to allow the words to sink in. "This means a considerable amount; you will all be adults, capable of making decisions based solely on your merit. Do not misunderstand, you will still need to mature emotionally, and mentally, but physically in less than one hour, you will be twenty years old. Wizardling law thus dictates that you follow the laws as an adult, and that you are granted the privileges of adulthood." He looked sternly at them all.
"Sir," Harry seemed full of uncertainty, "if this changes us physically, but not emotionally, or mentally, what will happen to us when we leave the school?"
"Why nothing Harry, the charm that begins the quickening ties the ten of you together until such time as one of you dies. Then you will begin ageing at the normal rate again."
"So, what happens until that day?" Hermione asked sure she knew the answer already.
"None of you will age." Sirius answered.
"But, what are ten twenty year old students to do at Hogwarts?" Susan asked. She had taken a seat next to Lisa, her friend of the last few years. They had been very close since their second year. Harry had heard they had been very close, but he didn't see as it was any of his concern. One thing he had learned very well, happiness is a great gift, regardless of the packaging.
"That, Lisa is why none of you may pursue any extracurricular activities, and why you must be isolated from the bulk of the students. By now you would have noticed that you have new robes on your beds. They will be overly large; I'd recommend you go put them on, as well as the sweat suits that are also on your beds. I must insist on one thing, wear no article of clothing not on your bed." His eyes flickered to each of the girls present. "It is an unfortunate, but necessary precaution, as no one can accurately assume your proportions when you mature.
"Well, go change, and meet back here in thirty minutes." Dumbledore summoned forth more biscuits for himself and Sirius. "Please sit Sirius; let's discuss some ideas I have on the next few months." Sirius selected a few more biscuits and settled back into his chair near the Headmaster and they began talking in low tones as the Companions headed to their rooms.
Ron and Harry changed into the oversized clothing, and Harry realized they had no underwear or shoes. He looked at Ron who shrugged back. Once dressed, they gathered up the bottoms of their robes to keep from tripping over them and padded out to the common room to find the others in a similar state of miserable dress. Harry stifled a laugh; they looked like they were all wearing Dudley's clothes.
Dumbledore caught Harry's eye, and he say the humor reflected there. "Harry, come stand here." He indicated a spot on the ground, and then began placing the rest of them in pairs. Harry noticed that Lisa and Susan were paired next to each other but the rest were boy-girl. As he looked around the circle he saw Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Justin, Cho, Dean, Hanna, Susan, Lisa, and finally himself.
"This will be harder the younger you are you see we are not artificially aging you, rather you are rapidly speeding up the aging process, and you are aging. There will be some pain involved, I'm sorry to say, but it's no worse than using skele-gro." Harry almost contained his groan the others looked at him with some trepidation. "Yes, well, perhaps skele-gro is a bit radical, but the concept remains the same."
With that he gave them each a small vial. "Drink this when the incantation is complete, and everything should be fine." Harry unstoppered his and took a quick sniff of the contents. It even smelled like skele-gro.
Dumbledore performed a very complex ritual that Harry was having difficulty keeping focused on. He reached out with his left hand, and found Ginny's. Holding on to her hand gave him focus and support. He noticed he was sweating, and a certain amount of pain was lancing through him. Dumbledore stopped chanting, and simply said "Drink."
It tasted like skele-gro. Harry downed the potion and instantly regretted it. Pain unlike any he had felt before raced over his nerves, his eyes focused and blurred, his head swam for a moment, and then felt too small, the feeling was matched by the rest of his body, he had to burst free of the constraints of – of himself. There was too much power, and he needed to focus it somewhere other than inside himself, but he couldn't think straight, his mind raced.
Then the pain left. It was as if he had been reborn, he climbed shakily to his feet at once noticing that the robes were no longer too long, nor too baggy, but rather he filled them out comfortably, if anything the robes were a bit short now. He turned to Dumbledore and in a voice barely recognizable as his own asked, "Is it over?"
"Yes Harry, it's over." Dumbledore was assisting Susan and Lisa up from the floor as he answered.
Harry surveyed the others, his eyes lighting on Ginny, and he saw her in a whole new light. They had been close before the quickening. They had declared their love for one another, and kissed passionately as youths do. But now Harry was looking at her with something far more primal, something deep inside himself was waking, and it was enjoying the sight of the new Ginny Weasley.
Ginny felt like she had been chewed up and spat out, her entire body was still humming with the sensation of the growth, when she felt Harry's hand in hers it had been a grateful hand that clutched his, anchoring her to reality. After the quickening she locked her eyes on her boyfriend, and what she saw caused her mind to focus on nothing but him. I have to touch him, feel him. Ran through her mind over and over again, his hand in hers wasn't enough, she needed more. His eyes were points of green fire drawing her in.
"I'd suggest you all retire for the night, perhaps after a shower." Sirius said. "This has taken a lot out of you, and as you may have noticed by now, you are feeling the effects of a hormonal change. Remember you are physically twenty, but emotionally, you are still fourteen and fifteen."
They talked for a few more minutes, after which Dumbledore bade them to excuse him, and then headed for the door, Sirius made to follow him, and stopped. "Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, please follow me." He turned and followed Dumbledore out of the common room.
The four friends followed Sirius to his office in silence. "Have a seat he said, indicating a couple chairs and a couch. They seated themselves, Harry took a chair, and Ginny perched on the arm. Sirius smiled at this warmly.
"You four are here for a reason. By now I am sure you know what that reason is." Sirius looked at the two couples. "Simply put, I'll explain some rules that you four need to follow. I am going go state this once, we will not discuss it, and when I am done, you will return to your common room for the evening. I'll have no 'room swapping' in Telisin. At night there will be two girls in the east room and two boys in the west room. In the morning there will be two girls in the east room, and two boys in the west room. The only reason there should be any less than that is if you are in the loo, or getting water."
He paused a minute. "There will be no fraternizing in the common room, no 'moonlight strolls' anywhere. Now with that said, I'll be making random inspections of the rooms at 11 pm and 6 am. I suspect everything will be in order every Wednesday night and Thursday morning?"
Four heads nodded nervously.
"Good, get out of here, and get back to your common room. I'd strongly suggest a cool shower." With that he stood up and dismissed them. They bolted back to the common room.
Harry sat in his chair in thought a moment before he spoke up. "Did he just do what I think he did?" he asked Ginny.
She was positively glowing with laughter. "Yes Harry, he did."
A smile spread across his face at that. "I thought as much."
Ron smirked. "Harry, mate, I don't want to know."
Hermione leaned down and whispered into his ear for a few seconds, Ron's face colored a bit. "Yes, well – Let's take a walk then Hermione." They left the common room hand in hand.
Weeks slid by the members of Telisin were amazed at how much they were learning. Nothing was impractical or trivial; it was all hard, consistent magic. Tuesday mornings were for physical training. They spent that time running, exercising, and learning personal combat from a small oriental witch who was addressed simply as 'Sensei Lin' by the students. Harry rather enjoyed this training, it left them all tired for the first couple lessons, but shortly they adapted to the routine.
Before they knew it, there was the announcement of a Halloween Ball. Ron turned to Hermione. "Hermione, do you want to go to the ball with me?"
She stopped and looked at Ron, "Why yes, I think I do." She answered smiling at him fondly.
He grinned back. "See, even I can learn."
Harry watched the two of them smiling, and turned to Ginny he leaned in to kiss her. "Ginny," he started "What color dress are you wearing to the ball?"
She looked at him oddly. "Er, dark blue."
"Does that go with green?" Harry asked.
"Well, yes, I think it does." Ginny said trying to think what he was getting at with this. Of course they were going to the ball together, either that or she would be attending Harry Potter's funeral.
"Well then," and with a quick flick of his wrist he was holding a red rose, "would you do me the honor of being my date to the Halloween ball?"
She blushed, took the rose and nodded.
Hermione and Ginny headed to their room, Harry held onto Ron's should to make him wait until the girls were out of earshot. "We need to talk to Sirius." He stated simply.
Ron looked confused, but nodded as they made their way to Sirius's rooms. They knocked and Sirius called them in.
Harry stood before Sirius and noticed that the Marauder's Map was on the wall, and functional. "Sirius, we need to make a trip to Hogsmeade."
"I doubt the need part. Why Harry, what do you need from Hogsmeade?" Sirius asked.
"Well, we nee - want to get gifts for Hermione and Ginny." Harry looked at Sirius. With a smirk he moved over to the map. "You don't trust me, do you?"
Sirius looked him full in the eyes. "You are the only son of James and Lily Potter, and in possession of what is quite possibly one of the most dangerous magical items that a student who was born from James and Lily could have."
Ron snickered "The short answer mate, is no."
"Oh yes, and let's see Ron and Ginny are fine examples of upstanding moral fiber." Ron blushed "I am sure that the only reason you three are still in school is Hermione's influence, meager though it is, to keep you three in line." Sirius looked at both of them again, and stated simply. "So the answer to your unasked question is no, I won't be 'ignoring' the map anytime soon. However, I think I can help you out regardless. The rest of the school is getting a Hogsmeade weekend before the ball, I am sure you ten will be included in this trip, if not I am sure arrangements can be made for Remus or myself to make some purchases."
They two young men looked relieved, and after a few more pleasantries headed back to the common room.