A/N: OMG! I finally manage an update! YEAHH. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: yada yada yada… I don't own Harry Potter. Isn't that sad?
Halia took Alex's hand as they followed the headmistress into the castle. She rushed to lock the main door behind them.
"Up to the common room. Go, now," Professor McGonagall said hurriedly, pushing the couple's backs towards one of the staircases. "I need to have a meeting with the teachers. Don't leave the common room and tell everyone what happened."
Haley and Alex ran up the stairs and up another in silence until they reached Ravenclaw tower. They said the password and entered quietly, still not speaking.
No one was in the common room except Sherry, who was sprawled out in the same chair she was the night before, her legs hanging over the right arm and her head hanging from the left. The bag of green powder she had withdrawn earlier was sitting by the fire, still full.
"Sherry," Haley whispered. "Wake up!" Sherry snored in reply. Haley kicked her shin sharply. She sat up straight.
"Whadda want, I was just sleeping…" she mumbled angrily, rubbing sleep from her eyes.
"Wake up, sleepyhead. We've discovered something," Alex replied, sitting down cross-legged on the fireplace hearth, next to the bag of powder.
"What, what happened?" Sherry asked, suddenly not tired.
Haley sighed, took her seat on Alex's lap, and told the tale that happened in the forest. Sherry sat, opened-mouthed, and listened.
"Oh…my. Oh my God," was all Sherry could say once Haley concluded the part about running out of the forest and losing the twins. "Now we really need to talk to Harry, Hermione, and Ron."
"Do you think they'll be up this early?" Alex asked, gently moving Halia off his lap and onto the rug below the hearth. Wow he's strong, Haley thought distractedly. Alex stood up and stretched.
"Cha, with Luna pregnant, they're all probably up until ten a.m., at least," Sherry replied. She got out of her chair and took the bag of; Haley figured it was, Floo Powder. Silently Sherry looked around the large common room to see if anyone was there; no one was, so she took a pinch out of the bag and threw it into the still-flaming fire.
"Willow Apartments 332, London, England!" she shouted. The fire turned green and swirled around and around until a face appeared there.
It was Hermione. Her eyes looked tired, and her hair tousled, but she still looked pretty in the green light from the fire.
"Y-y-y-yes?" she asked, covering her mouth as she yawned.
"Did we wake you?" Haley asked sympathetically.
"Hell, no," Hermione said. "Luna's been keeping us up for days now. Always complaining about how much she can't sleep. Always waking up screaming that she thinks her water broke. Now Whadda want?"
"Oh. Well… we kind of have a problem over here," Haley said, taking a breath, getting ready to explain the whole story again, but even before the forest part.
"Okay," Hermione said, puzzled. She yawned again.
"Wait… why don't I just explain it to all of you guys in person?" Halia questioned.
"Ooh, no, you won't," it wasn't Hermione; it was Alex. Haley turned around.
"And why not?" she asked.
"All the way to London without getting caught?" he said, baffled by the idea.
"We have floo powder."
"Well… yeah. But I don't want you to go!"
"It's not gonna hurt anything, sweetie. Just for five minutes."
"Well…" Alex started. Haley gave him the puppy face, complete with round green eyes. He looked at her. "Okay. But don't be too long because McGonagall's meeting should be over soon, and she might come up here. I don't want you getting caught."
"Thank you!" Haley exclaimed, kissing him long on the lips. "Okay, get outta the fire Hermione. I'm coming over there…"
She took a larger handful of the floor powder. Hermione was already out of it. "I love you Alex," she said before she threw the handful into the fire and stepped in. "See you soon." She was gone in a whirlwind of warm green fire.
Halia stepped out into Hermione's London flat. Coughing and wiping ash from her cloak (which she still wore from being in the forest), she looked around.
Everyone was in there; the very pregnant Luna, who was up and about, making a large breakfast; Hermione, who was sitting right next to the fire in a chair, her hair in a messy bun on the top of her head; Ron, was wasn't actually awake and was sitting at the kitchen counter with his head on the counter, snoring; Ginny, who was lying on the couch, yawning as she chewed on a granola bar; and Harry, who had just gotten out of his bedroom, in a bathrobe.
"Oh, hello, Halia!" Luna said, turning around and facing the 13-year-old girl. "Would you like some breakfast?"
"Err. Sure… I really don't have a long time though," she said. Luna shrugged it off and went to a cupboard to take a plate out for the food.
"What did you have to t-t-t-tell," Hermione paused and yawned, "us in person?"
"Well, it's a long story," Halia replied, taking a seat at the counter next to the sleeping Ron, as Luna set her plate down. Halia took a bite of one of the omelets on the plate, and started her long story.
By the end, everyone was alert and staring at Haley, including Ron, who had woken up in the middle of the story.
"That's it," Hermione said. "We're going over there. Ronald, you can stay with Luna because she's defiantly not in the condition to go traveling; Ginny and Harry, you're coming with me. We have to talk to the headmistress…" she went over to the closet next to the doorway and took out three coats.
"Here… we probably will be going outside. Hail, go back to the common room and tell whoever's in there that I'm coming."
Halia gaped. Her sister was coming to Hogwarts? WHY? She opened her mouth, about to protest, but her sister pulled her off her kitchen stool, pushed her into the fireplace hearth and threw a handful of Floo powder from the kitchen counter into the fire itself.
"Her-" Hermione started, but was cut of because Harry had opened the fireplace doors and pushed her into it. The swirling of the fire resumed and two seconds later Haley fell out onto the hearth of the fireplace in the Ravenclaw common room. She coughed hard; that sudden push into the fire hadn't been very nice. She rubbed at her eyes, which had gotten a bit of ash in them.
"Haley, Haley what happened?" it was Alex's voice. He tilted her head up because it was facing the floor; now it was looking straight at his face.
"They're coming here," Haley said, coughing again. "Harry pushed me straight into the fire…"
Standing up, she said, "They should be here in a few seconds. They have to see the headmistress."
"But… why?" Sherry asked, and Haley was about to answer when the fire turned a bright green and Harry walked out of it.
"Hello again. Sherry," he hugged his little sister and kissed her head. She blushed. "Haley… it seems like I just saw you two seconds ago. And who's your little friend?"
It was Haley's turn to blush. He was looking at Alex, sizing him over. Haley was about to answer this question, when there was another flash of green light and Hermione stepped out onto the hearth, her shirt covered in ash. She wiped the ash off and set down the two coats she was holding in her arm. She gave a little wave to Sherry. Sherry grinned and waved back.
"Okay. Is Professor McGonagall in the same old office?" Hermione asked to no one in particular.
"Yes, yes. I'll … bring you over there," Haley said hurriedly, attempting to push Hermione out of the common room before she noticed Alex. Harry shook his head and nudged Haley. She looked at him for a second. He mouthed "your boyfriend, is he?" to her.
She pursed her lips, and stopped trying to push Hermione out of the portrait hole. Putting her hands on her hips, she said, "Yes, Harry, he is my boyfriend. So shut up." Realizing what she just said, she flung her hand over her mouth.
Hermione glanced at the only younger boy in the room; Alex. He was standing there, smiling his green-braced smile, blush creeping up his cheek.
"Heh… um, this is my sister and her… best friend Harry. See you've met. Okay let's go," Haley tried to cover it, but Hermione was already distracted and had walked over to Alex. Harry took his place on the other side of him. He was surrounded.
"So, what's your name?" Harry started. Alex mumbled it. "Alex… what's your background? How did you get to Hogwarts? How many girlfriends have you had?" Harry started firing off many questions at the third year. Finally Hermione made him stop and kicked his shin.
"Kay, let's go…" Haley said. Harry and Hermione actually listened, and followed Haley out of the common room portrait. Sherry and Alex followed behind, not wanting to be left alone.
They got to the staff room, which all five thought was where McGonagall would be. Harry knocked softly on the door; it opened two seconds later. Professor McGonagall was standing there.
"Harry Potter, Hermione Granger! How did you get here?" she asked.
"Not the point," Hermione replied.
"Defiantly. We're here to help the Anna Gryffindor problem. We know all about her…"
"You do? Well then what are you doing out there? You three, Edgecombe, Granger, Potter; go back to the common room. You don't need to know about this problem," McGonagall said sternly. Halia signed and beckoned the other two around the corner.
"Shh. We'll listen in, just wait till the door closes!" she whispered. They heard the door click; sneaking along the corridor, they stopped at the gargoyle outside of the staff room and took their places on the floor along the crack of the door.
"…Ginny should be here soon, she had to find the Gryffindor file in the Ministry, back from last year when I was working on it with my mentor," came Hermione's voice.
"But do you know anything about here without the files?" one of the teachers asked.
"Oh, yes. Scarcely, though. It was last year and we haven't heard much about her. All we knew was she was somewhere in Scotland. We knew wrong, though. Oh! There's Ginny with the files now!" Hermione replied. Apparently Ginny had just appeared in the fire.
"Sorry, it took me a while to even get to the ministry with Luna begging me to stay… Okay anyways. Here are the files," came the breathless voice of Ginny. The three teenagers outside of the door heard silence next, except for the rustle of parchments as the file was being shifted through.
A scream erupted, followed by "oh my God," from Harry. Haley watched shadows in the light under the door, then the knob being turned. She quickly got up and ran out of the way.
"Okay, everyone search the castle. You-go to the dorms and tell everyone what has happened. Hermione and Harry, you come with me. GRANGER, EDGECOMBE, POTTER! DO YOU WANT A DETENTION? GET OUT OF HERE NOW!" McGonagall shouted, spotting the three standing at corner of the corridor. Haley immediately turned around and ran up the nearest staircase… not to the common room; it was the way to the shortcut to the grounds.
A/N: cliffy. Duh. I'll get chapter twelve out ASAP.