A/N- Sorry – I know I apologise for late updates every chapter but I really cannot help it! Anyway, please review this chapter and I hope you enjoy it – about time to bring in a new character!

Chapter 16 – Patricia Peace

"What's wrong with Professor Lupin?" demanded Harry as Madame Pomfrey arrived back in the kitchen.

"I am not at liberty to say that," was the short reply.

"Will he recover before Monday?" Dumbledore asked.

"It depends on whether he follows the strict instructions I've given him," Pomfrey frowned.

"What's wrong with him?" repeated Harry crossly.

"It is not up to me as to what you are told and what you are not."

"Then who can tell me?" Harry looked round desperately.

"It is not too serious, Potter, so don't worry too much – but that really is all I can say on the matter."

"I'm sure Remus will stick to instructions if we make a few idle threats…" Dumbledore smiled mischievously, a troublesome glint in his eyes.

"Molly, when is Patricia arriving?" Mr. Weasley asked his wife.

"Any minute; she had a meeting on damage from the protest. Apparently, all witches and wizards who work for the Ministry have been given a silver dagger by Fudge to carry with them at all times in case Voldemort's werewolves decide to attack in a less obvious manner,"

"Huh, I'll be getting one of those on Monday and it will be going straight to the bottom of my bedside trunk!"

"Arthur, you must carry it!" Molly exclaimed, "Not all werewolves are as friendly as Remus and a lot of them now work for the enemy – and Remus will understand. He knows these measures must be taken and he won't think any less of you if you keep it about your person."

"I suppose…but it just doesn't feel right to be carrying something which you know could kill one of your closest friends…" Mr. Weasley shifted uncomfortably.

"A wand can kill someone."

"But only if you want it to! This is different!"

"Arthur, you are being ridiculous," Mrs. Weasley scoffed at her husband.

"Am I? We can't risk any of the Order. Two words from you-know-who and anyone of us could drop down dead! We have to look out for each other now – no more attempting to do things by ourselves," he was beginning to sound slightly mad. A loud knock on the door sounded and Mrs. Weasley hurried off to answer it. She walked back into the room with another woman.

"Everyone, this is Patricia Peace, my cousin,"

"I hope I can be of service to your cause," Patricia spoke. She was a little taller than Molly Weasley with faded red hair and hazel eyes. Her hair was cut into a cropped style but seemed to flare out hopelessly in wild curls. Harry guessed that she was about fifty years old.

"So, what's going on at the Ministry? Are they telling you to kill werewolves, because if you're with them then you are not welcome here," Harry almost snarled.

"My, my, who are you?"

"Patricia," Mrs. Weasley spoke a little nervously, "this is Harry Potter and the young lady next to him is Hermione Granger."

"Ah, I see – and there's Ronald and Ginevra! Oh, and Fred and George – hello Charlie! Where are dear Bill and Percy?"

"Percy and I are not on speaking terms," Mr. Weasley replied shortly, "and Bill…was given the Dementor's kiss at the protest…"

"Oh, my Goodness! I am so sorry…you didn't lose anyone else, did you? Not from…uh, poison or anything?"

"No…why?"

"I may have accidentally shot down one of your Order members with a poison dart, which contained a small around of tranquiliser as well. Of course, this was before I realised that they were protecting the Minister, not attacking him."

"I wondered where the poison came from," Madame Pomfrey clicked her fingers in realisation, "it was an extremely complex recipe!"

"I made it myself," blushed Patricia sheepishly.

"Do we know how many died, Patty?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Three Ministry workers were killed by werewolves, two of Voldemort's werewolves mistakenly got the Dementor's Kiss after the Dementor's mistaking him for your lycanthropic friend, three of his werewolves died from curses, seven were arrested, and I'm afraid forty-nine escaped. And one Ministry worker, along with Bill now, received the Dementor's Kiss. The Ministry now wants an updated list of werewolves on our side before they end up coming to arrest young Mr. Lupin," she paused, "speaking of which, where is he? The poison didn't kill him or anything did it?"

"No, thank goodness – luckily, I had prepared an antidote for poison and I combined it with purging potion and a few other herbs. The tranquiliser will wear off on its own,"

"I will apologise when I next see him," sighed Patricia.

"I think I'll go to bed now," Harry said, standing up.

"But it's only five-thirty," scoffed Ron, but quieting instantly when he caught Harry's wink at him.

"Nice to meet you, Miss. Peace – and sorry if I seemed rude at first," Harry waved as he made to leave.

"Please, dear, call me Patricia," she called after him.

"Sssh, we don't want to wake him if he's asleep,"

"Then why are we even here?"

"Because I want to know what's-"

"Harry Potter, get back to your room right now! And you, Ronald Weasley," Mr. Weasley barred their way into the room. "I apparated up here to make sure you weren't disturbing your professor or defying your orders."

"I bet Mum put you up to this," muttered Ron.

"Her or Madame Pomfrey," added Harry.

"For your information, neither of them put me up to this…it was Mad-Eye Moody. He could see you two creeping up the stairs, although he was generous enough to mention it in the briefest and quietest of words and only to me."

"Not fair," protested Harry as he and Ron were ushered back down the stairs and into their room.

"Sheesh, I think there's more to this whole protest thing than what they're telling us," Ron flopped onto his bed. Harry smiled; pondering the situation as he absent-mindedly stroked Snuffle's head and tickled him behind the ears.

"Maybe we need to ask Fred and George what's going on when they get back up here. They're still down in the kitchen."

"They won't have been told much more than we have – Mum knows they'll just pass it on."

"Good point – we'll just have to wait until Monday and see if Lupin's in school or not."

"Yeah," grunted Ron, flicking through an old leather-bound book on how to train dogs to sniff out magical poisons and let you know what they are with a series of different barks. Moody had given it to them a long time ago and Ron liked to flick through it every so often. Suddenly, with a resounding 'crack', the twins apparated into Ron and Harry's room, having been banished from the kitchen and so satisfied their need to eavesdrop by listening to the conversation passing between Ron and Harry.

"Can't help but feel sorry for the poor bloke though – so me and Fred have concocted a plan,"

"What did you do?" Ron asked, almost wetting himself with excitement and throwing his book aside.

"We've prepared a few little treats for the Order – if they're…um, distracted…then Mr. Moony can get a break from listening to my Mother's lectures."

"ARGH!" came a voice from downstairs.

"Ballooning Bakewells," the twins grinned at each other, and the four boys raced downstairs.

Sure enough, when all the children arrived downstairs, all the adults were floating around in the air, except for Madame Pomfrey (who had just left) and Dumbledore (who was sat in the corner).

"Silencio!" George bellowed, and all of the angry mutters and shouts died.

"Weasel to Moony," Fred whispered into the end of an extendable ear, "the coast is clear."

"What happened? I hear screaming and then everything went silent," Lupin asked as he arrived on the scene, looking like death-warmed up but grinning nonetheless. Mrs. Weasley had gone red in the face and was pointing frantically at Lupin, although what would have been her shouting was silent due to the silencing charm!

"What's that, Mum? We can't hear you," Ron laughed.

"However amusing this may seem and however good your intentions were," said Dumbledore from the corner, peering over the top of his half-moon glasses, "I would like you to reverse the silencing charm this minute and then receive your punishments with good grace. Remus, you should not be up and about yet so I suggest you go back to your room and follow your instructions."

"Poor Professor Lupin looked awful didn't he?" Ron hissed to Harry once their Defence teacher had left the room.

"In future, I would advise you not to pull any more stunts like that unless you want to be strung up by your toes and dangled out of a window for a day," Tonks scolded, slightly red in the face.

"And you knew Remus was not supposed to be up and yet you still proceeded to carry out this little trick!" screeched Mrs. Weasley indignantly.

"Sorry I got you into all this trouble," apologised Lupin that night as he paced around his room. The twins, Harry and Ron had decided to pay their teacher a secret visit once everyone was asleep.

"Nah, we're used to being in trouble," Fred laughed.

"Yeah, it's no biggie," George added.

"Will you be back in school tomorrow?" asked Harry.

"If I get my way then yes…otherwise you will be taught by Professor Trelawney or by Severus, depending on which has a free lesson."

"NO! You have to be there!" Ron's head snapped up at the mention of his two worst teachers.

"I'll try my best," chuckled Lupin, seeming satisfied with the look of shock on everyone's faces at the mention of Snape and Trelawney. The laughter stopped as they heard a clunking noise coming down the corridor. Mood was on his way to check where they were. Fred and George gave the others a short wave before disapparating, leaving Lupin, Harry and Ron to face Moody's wrath.

"What is going on in here, Lupin? I didn't authorise a party," Moody snarled as he entered the room, "Potter and Weasley should be in their room, especially with school tomorrow, and no-one gave you permission to be out of bed, Remus!"

"I was merely explaining a homework I set last week and it's in for tomorrow – these two wanted to check something with me."

"At eleven-thirty at night?"

"Well, it is in for tomorrow and they want good marks."

"You won't be in tomorrow so it looks like they have an extension. If I get my way then you will be staying here for at least another week."

"Then I'll have to make sure you don't get your way then, Alastor," remarked Lupin dryly. Smirking, Harry and Ron left the two men to their quarrels and snuck back to their room.

"I told you before Christmas that we would be starting Dark Creatures this term," Lupin addressed the class in a matter-of-fact manner, "and we are due to summarise the Dark Creatures we will be studying over the term in these lessons. Quills and parchment out please."

"I can't believe this – I have to go and see McGonagall in a really important Defence lesson!" Hermione panicked.

"Don't worry, Hermione – Harry will lend you his notes to copy, won't you?"

"Yes, Professor,"

"Now, off you go,"

"Thanks, Harry," Hermione whispered as she left the room.

"Anyway," Lupin continued, "our first two lessons will be on vampires. The next four on Gargoyles, gremlins and various other topics. The next three will be on werewolves and the next one on giants. We'll see how we go from there. Yes, Neville?"

"Do we actually get to do practical stuff in these lessons?" Neville asked nervously.

"There will be some small demonstrations using some smaller creatures but no larger animals will be brought into lessons. I cannot do anything which may risk your health and safety or get me fired," Lupin warned the class, laughing a little as he noted how many disappointed faces there were in front of him. They hadn't seriously been expecting him to give them a practical lesson using a real vampire, had they?

After Defence Against the Dark Arts, they were doomed to suffer yet another tedious Potions lesson with Snape.

"Today's lesson will be answering questions from a book," Snape bellowed as he charged into the classroom, black robes billowing out behind him in their usual fashion and his greasy hair plastered to his pallid face. The class groaned as they were given textbooks and ordered to work in total silence.

"Damn, I can't find my quill," Ron grumbled.

"Mr. Weasley, you will go and fetch one from Divination. Professor Trelawney ordered a large supply after predicting that nobody would bring them to her third-year class. And I shall take ten points from Gryffindor for your severe lack of organisational skills."

"Yes, sir," Ron sighed, shuffling out of the room.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione inquired casually, "What's happening about the NEWT exams?"

"Excuse me?"

"You only take the best…" Hermione crumbled under Snape's vicious glare.

"I will only put the best into the exam, but the Ministry requires that you all learn all the material required, due to certain…circumstances…" Snape answered, looking instantly back down to the parchment on his desk.

History of Magic seemed to pass even slower than Potions had and Harry spent most of his time staring out of the window and not listening to a single thing that Professor Binns was saying. When the lesson finally ended, he was only too glad to shove his books hurriedly into his bag and make a run for it, only to realise moments later that his next lesson was Divination with Professor Sybil Trelawney!

"Gaze through the mist to discover the reflections of your futures," Trelawney's misty voice drifted through the classroom. The majority of the class seemed to be half-asleep or attempting their Potions homework in a last desperate bid to stay awake.

"Ugh, I wish someone would rescue us from this madness!" Ron groaned sleepily as he yawned for the fifth time in ten minutes.

"Yeah, but any hope of that happening is non-existent – Trelawney would only keep them in here for the rest of the day to discuss the gory details that will be involves in a no doubt premature death!"

"Yeah…lucky Hermione with her extra subjects!" scowled Ron.

"No…" Trelawney's eyes widened as she gazed into Harry's crystal ball.

"Ok, how am I going to die this time?" sighed Harry quietly, looking thoroughly bored.

"Not you…someone you know…not a fellow student – I must warn them never to speak to you again… and never to eat Frog's legs!" she added the last part somewhat nervously after seeing that the whole class was watching them.

"Who is it?" Harry pretended to be concerned, before adding to Ron in an undertone, "I want to warn them first!" he and Ron sniggered.

"Do not mock me, boy," Trelawney commented darkly, "the right-hand of the Dark Lord can reach far and will prevail over the inhuman part within that causes the fatal weakness."

"What do you think she was talking about earlier?" Ron asked after the lesson.

"I don't know for sure…the hand of the Dark Lord…you don't suppose she's referring to Pettigrew, do you?"

"How would she know about that though? Harry, mate, you're getting paranoid! She probably just overheard something from Dumbledore and wanted to worry you. All the teachers are looking out for the students so he won't dare come after you. Besides, all the teachers know what Pettigrew looks like – he's an Animagus and he has a silver hand. He isn't too hard to miss."

"And who's looking out for the teachers?" Harry whirled round, "and the adults in the Order, what about them? I'm not the only one Pettigrew is after, you know!"

"Everyone's looking out for each other. We all just have to pitch in and not do anything rash – we have to take this seriously," Ron paused, horrified, "did that just come out of my mouth? Fred and George would kill me!"

"I won't say anything if you don't," Harry laughed.

"You look sly and creepy and I don't trust that smirk on your face…"

"Sorry – just storing this conversation in my head for blackmailing purposes!"

"Charming…"

"Aren't I just? Come on – we only have Care of Magical Creatures left and then we can relax."

"Patricia wishes to speak to Harry," Dumbledore told Hagrid halfway through the lesson.

"O' course, professor," Hagrid frowned, "Harry, yeh have to go with Professor Dumbledore."

"Good afternoon, Harry," Patricia inclined her head a little in greeting to him.

"Good afternoon, Miss. Peace."

"Patricia – call me Patricia, dear,"

"Sorry,"

"No need to apologise for being polite," Patricia's face broke into a smile, "how are you faring?"

"I'm fine thanks – apparently you needed to speak to me,"

"I do; you are extremely close to the Weasley family, are you not?"

"I'm best mates with Ron and they've always been like family to me, so yeah,"

"Yes, Molly has often mentioned you to me in conversation. I'm her cousin, you know. But that is beside the point; how is Ronald coping?"

"As well as can be expected considering he just lost a brother," Harry replied.

"I wish to know because Molly and Arthur are not well. Molly is becoming thinner and paler each day that passes. Arthur is getting into trouble at work and caused a major commotion this morning when he threw the silver dagger and embedded it in Fudge's desk in protest to carrying it at all times."

"Good for him," Harry muttered.

"Not when it nearly lost him his job," Patricia scolded him firmly, "I wanted to know if Ronald or Ginevra needed any kind of counselling – I am a trained counsellor, you know,"

"They're both fine,"

"What about the twins?"

"Don't see them – they're not at school any more."

"Alastor Moody?" Patricia began running through the Order.

"Don't know,"

"Severus Snape?"

"As slimy as ever…" Harry mumbled sourly.

"Remus Lupin?"

"Fine,"

"I still owe him an apology," Patricia frowned, "anyway-"

"Look, I know your intentions are good but everyone here is fine so I suggest you concentrate your efforts on Mr. and Mrs. Weasley," Harry took several long, deep breaths to try and control his fiery temper, which was currently bubbling up inside him and threatening to boil over.

"I shall – thank you for your time," Patricia's manner became brisk and formal, "goodbye Mr. Potter – I am going to make my peace with Remus now."

"Goodbye, Patricia,"

"It's Miss. Peace to you," Patricia sniffed pompously before she left in a rush. Dumbledore surveyed him in silence for a few seconds.

"Go back to your lesson now, Harry."

"Yes, Professor," Harry sighed, Phew, glad that's over, although I'm sure Professor Lupin will need counselling after having to endure an apology from the likes of Patricia Peace…oh well, if he isn't in lessons tomorrow then I'll know what happened to him. How can Patricia be related to someone as nice as Molly Weasley! Harry thought as he practically flew back to his lesson.

"Good morning, class," Patricia greeted the class in lesson two on Tuesday, "I am Patricia Peace and you may call me Miss. Peace," she looked meaningfully down her nose at Harry, "I am taking your Herbology lessons for the next couple of weeks as Professor Sprout is, sadly, unwell."

"Oh great," scowled Harry bitterly.

"Keep your comments to yourself please, Mr. Potter."

"No…" he muttered defiantly.

"Pardon?"

"Sorry, Miss. Peace, but I am entitled to an opinion."

"Indeed you are, my dear boy. Now, shall we continue with the lesson?"

"I hope we have better luck with teachers at Duelling club today," Harry thought aloud as he, Ron and Hermione headed to the Great Hall. The tables had been cleared to the side except for one long table down the middle of the hall for the duellers to stand on in demonstrations.

"Good afternoon, everyone – no doubt some of you already know me but I shall introduce myself anyway – I am Patricia peace and you can call me Miss. Peace. I will be taking this club today along with several other members of staff."

"Oh no…" Ron moaned, "Snape's here…"

"And Lupin too, by the looks of it," Hermione pointed to the Defence professor, who had just entered the room and was now stood with McGonagall and Flitwick.

"The teachers will be doing demonstrations with the students and also will be going round to help individuals as we go," Patricia explained, motioning to Snape, who stepped up onto the table, "any volunteers to challenge Professor Snape?"

"Go on, Harry," urged Neville Longbottom from where he was standing.

"Mr. Potter? Good, good, step up here, lad,"

"But I didn't-" Harry protested as he found himself stood opposite Snape.

"Professor Snape will go easy on you. Just give it your best shot."

"Wands at the ready," Flitwick squeaked. As he faced Snape, Harry felt like forgetting magic and just punching him for all the things he'd said and done to everyone Harry knew and cared for. But he fond himself walking back to the end of the table and turning round and getting into a starting position.

"3…2…1…" Patricia counted.

"Expelliarmus!" Snape bellowed, causing Harry's wand to fly out of his hands and knocking an unprepared Harry off his feet. Recovering quickly, Harry dived for his wand,

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he screeched.

"Protego!" Snape blocked the attack, "Impedimenta!"

"STOP!" Patricia yelled as Harry was thrown off his feet once more, "this is the perfect example of how quick and skilled you must be to go into battle. Now, get into threes and practice counting and quickly disarming your opponent. Two duellers and one umpire."

"Not as good as you make out to be, eh Potter?" Snape smirked as he passed Harry, Malfoy sauntering along not far behind him with a smug grin on his face.

A/N- There ya go! Please review and make me very happy!