CHAPTER 33: EXPLANATIONS
After hurriedly packing, while being exceedingly quiet so as not to wake their roommates, Harry, Ron and Hermione grabbed a hold of the portkey Professor McGonagall had arranged for them. In seconds, they disappeared from the Gryffindor common room and were sprawled over the kitchen floor of Grimmauld Place.
The three students untangled themselves, and their luggage, and stood up, brushing themselves off. "I'll never get used to that," Ron complained.
"I don't think luggage helped," Hermione said.
Harry wasn't listening to his friends, since all his attention was focused on finding Sirius. Unfortunately, everyone was in an impromptu Order meeting that was taking place in a different room in the house.
"Where are they?" Harry asked.
"It is pretty late," Hermione said. "Maybe Sirius is already asleep."
"Maybe," Harry said with a frown.
"What?" Hermione asked, knowing Harry well enough to know that something was bothering her friend.
"I just thought he would've been waiting for us, that's all," Harry said, struggling for indifference.
"Oh," Hermione said, understanding. "Professor McGonagall did surprise us with the information, so I doubt he was even contacted. I'm sure he'll be surprised in the morning."
"You're probably right," Harry said.
"Probably?" Ron questioned. "Probably? Hermione's always right."
"Ah, you're here," Mrs. Weasley said, bustling in through the kitchen doors. "Albus told us you were coming. Everyone's in an Order meeting, Sirius and Remus too," she added, as if knowing what was on Harry's mind.
"You were wrong," Ron breathed with wide eyes, looking at Hermione.
"How could I possibly know what was going on? I took a wild guess," she said.
"I jinxed it. Now you'll never be right again and it's all my fault," Ron said, not looking away from her. "My whole world is forever changed. What are we going to do about homework, Harry?"
Hermione, who was looking slightly flattered, scowled at Ron's last sentence and smacked him while she walked right by. "You can do it yourself from now on," she said. "You won't get so much as a peep from me, especially if you didn't jinx me."
Ron's eyes widened even further as he realized what this meant. Her tone was anything but comical. "I was just kidding," he said, however Hermione didn't stop walking. "She knows I was kidding, right?" Ron asked Harry.
"I don't know, mate," Harry said, amused.
"Well, you can find out tomorrow," Mrs. Weasley said, ushering them all out of the kitchen and up to their rooms. "It's late and you should be in bed."
"But I really need to talk to Sirius," Harry protested.
"You can see him tomorrow, dear. Right now he's at the meeting and it might be awhile before he gets out. And don't even think of trying to listen in," she said, crushing their hopes. "The protection charms have been increased due to Fred and George's miserable inventions."
"But it's important," Harry said. "I'll wait up, I'm not even tired."
"You say that now but tomorrow you'll be sleeping late and dragging around all day. You might as well get some sleep because you're not seeing Sirius tonight. Now get to bed. All of you," Mrs. Weasley said. "They'll be plenty of time to catch up tomorrow."
Harry sighed and shared a look of exasperation with Ron. They both knew they weren't going to win the argument. "Come on, mate. It can wait a couple hours."
"Yeah," Harry muttered dejectedly, dragging his bag up the stairs.
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"Let me get this straight," Moody said after Dumbledore finished describing the events of the evening, "Are you suggesting that she's controlling the Minister of Magic?"
"It would make sense," Snape hissed, "seeing as how she gets away with everything."
"You're just jealous," Sirius said happily. "She gets control of the Minister, gets the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, gets away with tricking and embarrassing you, while you step out of line and get a two week suspension. How was that by the way? Get much done?"
"That's another thing," McGonagall said, interrupting Snape's retort, "she could do whatever she wanted, but she's at Hogwarts, seemingly protecting Harry. I'm not saying that she did anything, but it seems a little odd that all the evidence Umbridge had mysteriously disappeared. They could have easily had him expelled, but he got away unscathed."
"It seems to happen a lot around here," Snape said. "The boy never gets in trouble no matter how high the offense."
"Well, seeing as how we'd all be dead if Harry hadn't broken quite a few of those rules, I see nothing to complain about," McGonagall said.
"You wouldn't," Snape sneered.
"You're just bitter because the House Cup has been noticeably absent from your office over the last four years," McGonagall said, goading Snape.
"That's a valid point, Minerva," Dumbledore said, causing everyone to look at him with startled expressions. "About Miss Fox," he clarified with a smile.
"Of course," she said.
"However," he continued, "I'm not so sure she has the best intentions for Mr. Potter. She may be trying to lure him into a false sense of security and gain his trust, much like young Mr. Crouch did last year. If she's planning for anything to happen to him at school, it would not do for him to be expelled."
"But she hates Snape, how can she be bad?" Sirius asked, bewildered.
"I do believe that Mr. Crouch wasn't too fond of our Potions professor either," Dumbledore said with a smile. "Not all the Death Eaters know each other, or even like each other. "Sarah Fox could be anyone if she is using a muggle's identity and polyjuice potion, which some of the stolen ingredients indicate she might be doing."
"So let's just tie her up and wait an hour," Tonks suggested.
"But that would be no fun," Sirius said, already knowing why they wouldn't do that.
"It'd take the pleasure out of guessing," Remus added.
"The point is to find out who she is and stop her, right?" Tonks asked, confused.
"To some degree, yes," Dumbledore said. "Unfortunately, we don't have enough evidence to prove that she's doing anything wrong."
"Since when do we care about following all the laws?" Snape asked.
"Since we may be putting an innocent young woman's life at stake," Dumbledore said. "It is a serious offense to accuse someone of controlling another person, let alone suspecting that person of controlling the Minister of Magic himself."
"And it's possible we're all being extremely paranoid," Remus said, "although that's not too likely, considering no one can identify any Sarah Fox."
"That seems to be the only real evidence we have against her and even then she may be from some far off country. Or she might have changed her name and/or her appearance for some reason or another."
"We must tread carefully and try to find out her real motives," Dumbledore said. "Once we know what she wants or who she is, we'll be able to take more decisive action."
"And if Harry gets taken and killed will we be able to do something to her then?" Sirius asked sarcastically. "If we think she's going after Harry, don't you think we should do something about it? He gets into enough trouble as it is, never mind the kind we just leave him open for."
"Harry is more than capable of taking care of himself," Dumbledore said with a tired sigh. "He is growing up and does not need, or want, the constant attention that we usually place on him. Not that I'm saying we're not going to be cautious," he added when he saw Sirius about to yell, "We'll just be more discrete."
"Don't you think we should warn Harry that it's possible his professor is after him?" Remus asked. "He tends to trust his professors more willingly than other people," he said. With a quick glance at Snape he said, "Well, most of them anyway."
"He'll need to learn who to trust on his own," Dumbledore said. "He's been doing fine these last four years and I believe he'll continue to do so throughout the rest of his life. If we're always around, telling him what is right and what is wrong, he won't be able to do anything for himself when the time comes. And I fear that that time will come sooner than any of us expect.
"How are things, anyway," Dumbledore asked Snape.
"I still haven't been privy to any information regarding the weapon. All I know is that it's almost done and I don't think we want that to happen. He's stopped going after the Department of Mysteries, but he's out for blood."
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The next morning Harry, Ron and Hermione were anxiously sitting in the kitchen, waiting for Sirius to show up. Mrs. Weasley was currently making a very big breakfast for them all. She had greeted them much warmer than she had the night before, hugging them, exclaiming how glad she was to see them and asking how they were doing.
"You boys aren't getting into too much trouble, are you?" Mrs. Weasley asked suspiciously as she tried to break the silence.
"No Mrs. Weasley," Harry said with a smile.
"Of course not, mum," Ron said. "I can't believe you'd even accuse us of something like that. Really, mothers should be supportive and loving, not accusatory."
"You're becoming more like the twins every day," Mrs. Weasley said, stopping her stirring to look at her son briefly.
"The scary part is, I don't know if that's good or bad," Ron whispered to Harry. "And how come you didn't ask if Hermione was getting into trouble?"
"Because it's Hermione, dear," Mrs. Weasley laughed. "The day she gets into trouble..."
Harry, Ron and Hermione all exchanged amused glances. "You know, it's usually Harry who gets us into things and Hermione that points the way. I just tag along like a good friend, making sure you all don't get yourselves killed," Ron said to his friends.
"You keep telling yourself that, Ron," Hermione said. "Right after you've finished all your homework by yourself."
"It's not like you ever do it for me anyway," Ron grumbled.
"She better not!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, overhearing part of their conversation. "I should hope you're not going to that school just so Hermione can do your work."
"Of course not, mum," Ron said. "Hermione would never cheat."
"And you would?" Mrs. Weasley asked, picking apart his words.
"No! I just meant that if I would cheat, which I wouldn't, Hermione would never allow it and she'd stop it. She just looks over our homework occasionally to make sure it's correct. It's not like she does our work," Ron said.
"Although I haven't been correcting much on yours lately, Harry," Hermoine said with a curious glance at Harry.
"Yeah, what's up with that, mate?" Ron asked. "Some days you're spending more time at the library then Hermione!"
"I've been busy," Harry said, avoiding his friends glances. "I had D.A. planning to do, which we've been having more often, and I didn't want to fall behind in my other classes."
"I think it's wonderful you're studying more," Hermione said. "It wouldn't kill you to do the same," Hermione said to Ron.
"She's right, you know," Mrs. Weasley said, interrupting again, this time putting plates of steaming food on the table. "You could do with a little more studying. You have O.W.L.s this year and you don't want to do as poorly as Fred and George, do you?"
"Mum!" Ron whined, as if he'd heard the same speech over and over, which he probably had.
"I'm just saying," she said, backing away. "A little more studying never hurt anyone."
"Some day we should find proof that that isn't true," Ron said to Harry.
"Harry!" Sirius said, walking through the doors, trailing behind Remus. "How are you?" he asked, giving Harry a hug.
"I'm glad to see you," he said with a fond smile. "Hi Professor Lupin."
"Hi Harry. I trust everything's going well?"
"Pretty much," Harry said, glancing briefly at Mrs. Weasley. Sirius and Remus seemed to pick up the hint.
"Hello Hermione, Ron," Lupin said. "How's school been going?"
"It's been interesting," Hermione said with a glance at Harry, which didn't go unnoticed by Sirius or Remus.
"Really? A little too interesting, perhaps," Remus said.
"You should've been more careful," Sirius said to Harry. "I'm all for your defense lessons, seeing as how you're not learning anything useful in class," another glance between the three did go unnoticed, "but not if you're going to be expelled."
"I know," Harry said. "One of the members told on us. Cho said she was trustworthy, so we let her in."
"You really should be more careful about who you trust," Remus said. "Someone perfectly innocent looking will stab you in the back."
"You do remember Pettigrew, right?" Sirius asked with a scowl.
"Of course," Harry said with a frown.
"You're just lucky that things went so well last night, otherwise I have no doubt you'd be expelled," Remus said. "They were just looking for an excuse and you practically handed yourself over."
"I know," Harry said.
"Here's some breakfast," Mrs. Weasley said, shoving two more plates in front of Sirius and Remus. "You two really should eat up," she said with a frown. "You're looking thinner every day."
"I'm sure you'll do your best to fatten us up," Remus said with an affectionate smile.
"Somebody has to," she said, cleaning up the mess she made. "Now, I have some cleaning to be done back at home, so if you'll excuse me I'll be back in time for lunch." Mrs. Weasley promptly left via the fireplace, thankfully leaving the trio alone with Remus and Sirius.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Sirius asked once he was sure no one else was around. No one else from the order had stayed that night and no one was expected anytime soon.
Harry paused only briefly, considering how to bring up the subject when he just decided to be straightforward. Maybe he'd get more answers that way. "Who's Elizabeth Potter?"
Sirius and Remus both froze, looking at Harry with surprised expressions and forgetting about their steaming breakfast.
Remus glanced at Sirius, as if trying to gauge his reaction. Buffy was hardly ever a safe topic to discuss with Sirius. After she had died, no one really talked about her unless Sirius or James brought her up. Either they would become depressed and almost catatonic or they'd become irrationally angry at whoever mentioned her. Remus could only hope that Sirius had gotten over his guilt and anger, but looking in his eyes, he knew that he hadn't. He still loved her and it hurt to remember his lost love, no matter how long ago. It wasn't too surprising, as he had been in Azkaban for most of the time since she died, probably repeatedly reliving that night.
"Who... where... how did you... why do you want to know?" Remus asked for Sirius, afraid of his response.
Harry exchanged a curious look with his friends, noting the startling reactions of the two adults. "Because obviously she's related to me somehow and I want to know who she is. And why no one's ever told me about her before," he finished, a hint of his old anger returning. This was his family and no one had mentioned that he had another living relative. He could have stayed with her instead of the Dursleys all these years.
"Who told you? How'd you find out?" Sirius asked.
"I'm not saying anything until you tell me who she is," Harry said crossly.
"Was it Snape? It was Snape, wasn't it? The bastard," Sirius growled.
"Who is she?" Harry asked stubbornly.
"It doesn't matter who she is, just forget about her," Sirius said.
"But I want to know!" Harry said. He couldn't believe Sirius of all people was withholding information from him! What was he doing?
"Some things you don't need to know!" Sirius said angrily. Now Remus knew which reaction Sirius was having. Silent depression obviously wasn't setting in.
"When are you going to stop treating me like a kid! I'm fifteen and I've got a right to know! I'm sick and tired of everyone hiding things from me and trying to protect me!" Harry said, not pausing when Hermione tried to put a calming hand on his arm.
"You know, not everything is about you," Sirius snapped. "Amazingly enough, there are other people in the world that don't think about you and how you feel and what you want twenty four hours a day. Other people have problems that don't involve you! Sometimes people don't tell you things to protect you..."
"I don't want to be protected! I want the truth!" Harry interrupted.
"... And other times people don't tell you things because it doesn't have anything to do with you and there's nothing to be done about it," Sirius finished.
"It has everything to do with me!" Harry yelled. "I know she's related to me somehow! Just tell me who she is!"
"James's younger sister," Sirius growled, storming out of the kitchen and slamming the door behind him.
The whole kitchen sat in shocked silence. Whatever the trio had been expecting, it wasn't that, although, that should've been one of their only options. Truth be told, they hadn't really thought too much who she could be, just that she had to be a relation of some kind.
"He loved her, didn't he?" Hermione asked insightfully.
"Still does," Remus said quietly, looking at where his friend left.
"What happened?" Hermione asked, keeping her voice low, as if afraid to talk too loud, breaking the thick silence that had descended with the slamming of the door.
"She died," Remus said, not taking his eyes off the door, causing him to miss the utterly shocked glance between friends.
"What?" Harry asked. "How?"
"Death Eaters," Remus said, glancing down to his plate as he remembered that night once again. "It was her fifteenth birthday, she was two years younger than us, when they attacked the house. Lily had already gone home, her and Buffy were best friends..."
"Buffy?" Harry asked confused.
"It's a nickname she had since she was little, Sirius gave it to her," Remus said. "Anyway, her parents weren't home and James, Sirius, Peter and I were in his room when they just came out of nowhere. We put up a big fight and were getting the upper hand when they took her and ran."
"They took her?" Hermione asked. Maybe she wasn't as dead as they thought... "Why would they take her?"
"I don't know," Remus sighed. "Maybe they were under orders to kill her and they couldn't get close enough so they thought they'd kill her someplace else. Maybe leave the body somewhere as a message; the Potters were a big target of Voldemort for whatever reason."
"They didn't leave the body somewhere?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"No. The Ministry got wind of the amount of magic coming from a house with two students and they sent Aurors down. Since it was during the war, students were allowed to use magic during the summer to learn more spells and to protect themselves. Within reason, of course. By the time they arrived, the fight was almost finished. A couple Aurors followed the escaped Death Eaters but they were too late to save her."
"How do you know?" Harry asked, thinking about Peter Pettigrew's incident and what the map said.
"They brought back her body," Remus said with closed eyes.
The hope Hermione and Harry had been building up was destroyed with those words and confusion began to grow. How was she on the map if she was dead?
"All the Death Eaters were caught and put in Azkaban but it didn't matter. Buffy was dead. I'll never forget that night. The looks on their faces... James and Sirius were destroyed."
"Were they close?" Harry asked.
"Yeah," Remus said. "We all were, except Peter. She never liked Peter." Remus gave a small snort of laughter at the irony. "She's the one that named us the Marauders; we dedicated the Marauders Map to her. Buffy was so upset when she was left alone for two years while we were at Hogwarts. She had grown up with James and Sirius, following them around and being prey to their jokes; although we learned quickly not to get on her bad side. She gave as good as she got.
"They had been going out for a while and they were pretty serious. When James found out his best friend had secretly been dating his baby sister... he was furious," Remus said with a smile, remembering the chase that ensued. "After they made up, Sirius had to be careful not to let James see him and Buffy together. James was fine with it, to some extent, but he was very protective of her. Sirius had made this beautiful phoenix pendant for her birthday... she had a thing for phoenixes."
"Was she an animagus too?" Harry asked when Remus lapsed into thoughtful silence.
"No," Remus said with a laugh. "James was so adamantly against the idea of even letting her know that we were, let alone letting her try and become one. 'It's too dangerous', he'd say. We probably could have used her help. She was one of the best students in her year, much like you, Hermione, although, she didn't spend quite so much time in the library; we wouldn't let her. Things seemed to come fairly easily to her and she was eager to learn new things, but she always had time to be had time for fun. She was even going to be a Prefect, which horrified James to no end. It was fairly amusing to see him teasing Buffy only to have a Head Boy badge fall out of his Hogwarts letter... "
"Did she play Quidditch?" Ron asked.
"Of course," Remus said. "She wanted to be seeker, her reflexes were amazing, but that was James' position so she was a Chaser. Not that she minded too much; she was one of the best Chasers I've ever seen. With those two Potters on the team, we never lost."
"If she was so well liked, how come we've never heard of her before?" Harry asked.
"Nobody likes to talk about it," Remus said, sobering up again. "Everyone liked her and it was quite a shock when she died. After that day, the Potter family broke apart. Losing a child is never easy and your grandparents were destroyed. Her father dedicated his life to defeating Voldemort and it wasn't long before he too was killed. Her mom died of grief shortly thereafter.
"It wasn't as if James was much help, either. He was too busy with his own vengeance streak. James and Sirius would lock themselves in his room for days at a time, planning some suicidal mission. Luckily I was able to talk some sense into them and when we went back to Hogwarts, life went back to, well, not normal exactly, but good enough for what we'd been through. We never talked about her; it just hurt too much."
"She was in Gryffindor?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Of course," Lupin said with a slight smile. "I have yet to meet a Potter not in Gryffindor. Actually, she once told me, no one else would understand mind you," Lupin whispered, "that the hat almost put her in Slytherin."
"Really?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Yeah, at first I thought she was just playing around, but she looked too upset for it to be a joke. I was almost put into Slytherin myself, seeing as how I'm a 'dark creature' and she wanted reassurance that that didn't make her a bad person. I understood. She said the hat told her she had power and she was afraid. There's no doubt that she was sly and cunning, but she had no intention of doing anything bad to anyone ever. I'm not surprised she was in Gryffindor, and not just because of her family's attachment to that house; she belonged there."
"So she never would've followed Voldemort?" Hermione asked thinking of another way the map could've been right.
"The day Buffy Potter became Voldemort's follower is the day I wouldn't turn into a werewolf under the full moon," Remus said.
"But you never thought Peter would," Harry said, catching on to Hermione's thinking.
"He was weak and cowardly, following whoever would give him power," Remus said. "Buffy had her own power and was strong enough and brave enough not to do something that stupid. She'd never take orders from anyone; it just wasn't her style. She had a good heart."
They sat in thoughtful silence for a while, wondering how on earth Buffy could've been on the map if she hadn't been alive. It didn't make any sense.
"She didn't turn into a ghost, did she?" Hermione asked.
"No," Remus said, looking at the three kids more clearly now. "What are you three up to? What's going on?"
"Nothing, we just want to know if we could see her," Hermione said. "You don't have a picture, do you?"
"No," Remus said, eyeing them carefully. "Where did you say you heard about her from?'
"Snape," Harry said quickly. "He said something vague, you know how he is."
"Right," Remus sighed, buying it for now. "He's just trying to get Sirius worked up again."
"I should probably go apologize," Harry said abashed.
"Later. Right now he needs to cool down and sort through his feelings. More things are coming to him the longer he stays away from Azkaban. Having nothing else to do all day, his thoughts overwhelm him and I'm willing to bet most of them center around her."
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"Anything?" Buffy asked, looking around the map with wide, hopeful eyes. They had found a different locating spell that might lead them to Remus and/or Sirius. If it worked.
"Nothing," Willow said with a sigh. "I don't understand. This should've worked through any magic guarding them. It's a very obsure spell!"
"It's okay," Buffy said softly.
"Maybe they're dead," Anya piped up. "That might be the reason they don't show up ever."
"I don't think that's it," Willow said with a frown and a glance at Buffy.
"They're not dead. They can't be dead. Let's just try again. Give me the book."
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It wasn't until Sunday that Harry got the opportunity to apologize. Hermione made them finish their homework while they were waiting for Sirius to calm down, although most of the time they spent talking about Buffy.
"How is it possible?" Hermione asked, frustrated.
"Maybe it was a fluke," Harry said. "They said they dedicated the map to her, so maybe she has a dot that just wanders the halls sometimes. You know, so they don't forget her."
"I don't know," Hermione said. "I think she's still alive. She'd be about thirty, right?" she asked. "Thirty-one?"
"Something like that, yeah," Harry said. "But I don't think she's alive. They brought back her body. It wasn't like Pettigrew," he said, not wanting to get his hopes up of having other family.
"That's true," Hermione said thoughtfully, "but it is possible to transfigure something to look like a body. It wouldn't be alive, which wouldn't be a problem if you're faking a death."
"If she's not dead, why wouldn't she have come forward earlier?" Harry asked. "Why would she wait sixteen years? Why would I have lived with the Dursleys for so long?"
"Maybe," Hermione said hesitantly, "because Voldemort had her death faked so he could mold her to his liking."
"Don't be ridiculous," Ron said.
"It's just a suggestion," Hermione huffed. "A very plausible suggestion from what evidence we have."
"Professor Lupin said that she would never join Voldemort," Ron said. "Or were you too busy concocting weird theories to pay any attention?"
"It makes sense. She had power, was almost put in Slytherin, and was a little afraid of what she might do. If the Potters were such big enemies against Voldemort, what better way to make them suffer than by turning one of their own against them?"
"No," Harry said. "Voldemort was gone for thirteen years, and not even heard of for ten. What happened to her then?"
"It's possible she stayed at a Death Eater's house," she suggested.
"But with all the raids and trials that went on?" Ron questioned. "I don't think they would've overlooked a dead girl."
"There are ways to conceal things," Hermione said weakly. "I mean, she could've been using Polyjuice potion or something."
"I doubt it," Ron said.
"It was just a theory," Hermione said. "I never said it was true."
"It was a good theory," Harry said. "I just don't want to believe it."
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"Sirius?" Harry called, knocking on his bedroom door where he'd been cooped up for about a day.
"Come in," a voice answered from inside.
Harry hesitantly opened the door and let himself in. He walked forward and saw Sirius feeding and petting Buckbeak in the other room. Upon approaching him, Harry bent down low and then came back up, waiting for Buckbeak to do the same before he walked forward to pet the creature.
"I'm sorry about yesterday," Harry said. "I shouldn't have yelled."
"Remus told you?" Sirius asked quietly.
"Yeah," Harry said, avoiding looking at his godfather. "I'm sorry."
"It happened a long time ago," Sirius said. "I should probably be over it by now."
"I lost my parents and I'm not completely over it and I never really knew them. Plus, I doubt time in Azkaban helps clear your mind," Harry said.
"No, if anything, it made it worse. Some days I'd see nothing but that night, replaying over and over. I can still hear her crying for James."
"You really loved her, didn't you?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. I'm fairly certain she loved me, too," he said.
"You never thought about going out with anyone else?" Harry asked.
"No. We only had a year left at Hogwarts and then James and Lily got married. The threat from Voldemort was still strong and I wasn't in the mood to lose someone else. And then Halloween came and I got shipped off to Azkaban. I didn't really meet the nicest girls in there and I can tell you there aren't many women that want to date an escaped murderer. Plus, I kind of felt like I would be cheating on her, even though she was gone. A part of me just didn't want to believe it. I think that part still doesn't.
"I wish you could've met her," Sirius added after a moment of silence. "You would've liked her. You're like her in quite a few ways, especially since she was under the influences of James and Lily. She was impulsive and fun like James, but she was smart and imaginative like Lily. She had a way with words that was uniquely her own."
"She sounds nice," Harry said quietly, still petting Buckbeak.
"She was the best," Sirius answered.
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"She's a menace!" Umbridge screeched at Fudge Sunday evening. "Look at what she's doing! She's playing with your head! She's been doing it for months now!"
"She is doing no such thing, and I won't let you go back to work until you've gotten a grip on yourself," Fudge said.
"That's just what she wants, don't you see? She's controlling you!" Umbridge cried.
"That's enough," Fudge said.
"No! Just listen to me! Do you even know who she is? Where she came from before this? No one has heard of a Sarah Fox. She doesn't seem to exist and she certainly didn't work at the ministry before. In any department," Umbridge said.
"What?" Fudge asked, his mind becoming a little clearer.
"She's controlling you somehow; she never registered her wand, the guard barely remembers her, and she went up against the Malfoys! You would never let her do that unless she's been controlling you, getting what she wants."
"You've really been researching this haven't you?" Fudge asked.
"Yes, well, I've been out of a job the last two days; there's not much more for me to do except to bring the bitch down," Umbridge said. "She's ruining all our plans for Hogwarts, or haven't you noticed? We had Mr. Potter cornered and he was going to be expelled, and then she comes along. Every scrape he's gotten himself into, she's been there to brush it all away on some technicality or something. We're loosing our grip on the school and the situation! She must be stopped."
"Why didn't I see it before?!" Fudge said angrily to himself.
"She's been controlling you, sir," Umbridge repeated.
"Controlling the Minister of Magic. Even Dumbledore can't get her out of this scrape! She's going to have a lifetime sentence in Azkaban for this and I'll have to make sure Dumbledore goes in with her; it seems as though he's been behind this attack on me the whole time. Then you can have control of the school and the Potter problem will be solved quickly, I'm sure," Fudge said with a glance at Umbridge.
"Excellent, Minister. What's our course of action?"
"We must catch her unawares and do it in front of quite a few people so she can't get away. Accusing her and Dumbledore with plenty of witnesses around."
"Tomorrow at dinner?" Umbridge suggested viciously.
"Perfect. I want dementors waiting outside, but don't let them in. Merlin knows I don't want them around me, and I'm sure Dumbledore will be able to do something if they're in his precious school. I'll have fifteen Aurors walk in with me. Don't go to Hogwarts tomorrow; keep acting like nothing has changed. You're still out of a job. Hopefully she'll be blissfully unaware when we blast through the doors."
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"Are you all ready to go?" Sirius asked the three kids.
"Yeah," Harry said. He didn't want to go. Sure he wanted to go back to Hogwarts, but he felt bad about leaving Sirius again. Fortunately Remus had been staying with him. Ever since some mission he went on, Remus had been restricted to the house with Sirius. Perhaps it was for his own safety, but perhaps Dumbledore had wizened up and realized Sirius couldn't be cooped up in a house for too long. He was the trouble making type, not the sit still and do what your told type.
"Don't do anything too stupid," Sirius said. "Your mum would kill me if she knew you got expelled."
"I'll try my best," Harry said with a smile.
"Be careful," Remus said as the kids grabbed onto the portkey that would take them back to Hogwarts.
"Of course," Harry said with a cheeky grin before they disappeared.