The story of Fred and George's flight to freedom was retold so often over the next few days that they could all tell that it was going to become something of a Hogwarts legend. But the twins's escape had started something like a revolution. Somehow the students were acting bolder, more eager to discard the ridiculous rules that Umbridge had placed on them. That was what led Ellen to her husband's door that Friday afternoon.

Ellen spent the entire weekend after hidden away in Tyki's room. It had been over a month since they had a chance to see each other outside of class and she had missed him like crazy. He had opened the door slowly, like he was expecting Umbridge but instead received an armful of his wife.

She peppered kisses all over his face and took in the scent that was purely him. "I missed you so much."

Tyki yanked her into the room and locked the door with every spell that he knew. "Not as much as I missed you, amor." He kissed her neck softly. "You are sure that I cannot kill her?"

"The Order frowns upon killing," Ellen teased. "But accidents happen every day."

He growled and pulled her into a rough kiss, biting her lip as he moved away. "I love it when you get like this, such a wicked little exorcist."

With a grin he reached down and threw her over his shoulder, smacking her firmly on the bum once. Ellen laughed loudly when he threw her down on the bed in his room. They kissed eagerly for a long time, relishing in just being so close to each other again. She finally pulled away, her face pink and lips swollen. "I have news."

"Hm?" Tyki kissed her distractedly.

Ellen pulled away, nerves suddenly filling her stomach. "Well, you remember how I had some tests run after we saw Alice and Frank?"

"Did the results come in?" His eyes were wide and his grip on her hips tightened slightly.

She took a deep breath and kissed him once more. "I'm not sterile. They said there is severe scarring on my organs, but with a couple potions and some time I'll be able to have children."

Tyki smiled widely and crushed her against his chest. He pulled away slightly to kiss all over her face before trailing down. He pressed kisses all down her neck, between her breasts, and landing at her flat stomach. He kissed her bellybutton before blowing a raspberry on her stomach, Ellen automatically giggling in response.

She kept laughing, growing hysterical with each passing second. Tyki grabbed her face looking concerned but the laughter just would not stop. Her eyes started prickling, a familiar sensation but she thought nothing of it until she felt her face grow strangely wet. Ellen touched her cheek lightly, surprise filling her when her fingertips came back wet.

The tears kept flowing when she finally realized she was crying. Tyki held her tight as she sobbed for the first time she she lost their son. Every sad emotion that she had felt over the last two hundred years just came pouring out. She wept for their son, for the time they lost, for the friends that abandoned her and the friends that she lost. She cried for Harry and the injustice that his life was. She cried for poor Sirius who had lost everything and still managed to stay hopeful. She cried for Remus who deserved far better than what he had been given in life. She cried for Mana who had not been able to resist the call of the Earl, she even cried for poor, bitter Neah.

"Shh," Tyki murmured into her hair. "I've got you, it's alright."

"I…I'm crying." She finally said, looking up at him with wet eyes. "Tyki, I'm crying."

He pulled her close. "I know, menina. Você precisava chorar, meu amor."

The rest of their weekend together was spent in a similar fashion. They allowed themselves to truly feel the raw emotions that they had been ignoring or so long, finally letting those old wounds start to heal. They stayed in his bed and simply talked about everything. The way they would live, the children they were going to have. They talked about how they would finally be happy when Voldemort was gone and how they would make sure that Harry and Sirius knew that they had a family

But like all good things, it had to come to an end and Ellen found herself back in class like nothing had ever happened.

"As you can see," Professor McGonagall told the class while they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, "your O.W.L.s are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory exams in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night. Now, I must warn you that the most stringent Anti-Cheating Charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs, and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbor at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new — headmistress has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely — because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the headmistress's new regime at the school..."

Professor McGonagall gave a tiny sigh. "However, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about."

"Please, Professor," said Hermione, her hand in the air, "when will we find out our results?"

"An owl will be sent to you some time in July," said Professor McGonagall.

Their first exam, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. The rest of the day was filled with students all over studying for the class. Even Ellen, who didn't place much importance in the exams found herself idly reading over an advanced Charms book to see if there was anything that she did not know.

Dinner was a subdued affair that night. Harry and Ron did not talk much, but ate with gusto, having studied hard all day. Hermione on the other hand kept putting down her knife and fork and diving under the table for her bag, from which she would seize a book to check some fact or figure.

Ron was just telling her that she ought to eat a decent meal or she would not sleep that night, when her fork slid from her limp fingers and landed with a loud tinkle on her plate. "Oh, my goodness," she said faintly, staring into the entrance hall. "Is that them? Is that the examiners?"

Through the doors to the Great Hall they could see Umbridge standing with a small group of ancient-looking witches and wizards. Umbridge looked rather nervous.

"Shall we go and have a closer look?" said Ron.

Professor Marchbanks must have been the tiny, stooped witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had been draped in cobwebs; Umbridge was speaking to her very deferentially. Professor Marchbanks seemed to be a little deaf; she was answering Umbridge very loudly considering that they were only a foot apart.

"Journey was fine, journey was fine, we've made it plenty of times before!" she said impatiently. "Now, I haven't heard from Dumbledore lately!" she added, peering around the hall as though hopeful he might suddenly emerge from a broom cupboard. "No idea where he is, I suppose?"

"None at all," said Umbridge, shooting a malevolent look at the four, who were now dawdling around the foot of the stairs as Ron pretended to do up his shoelace. "But I daresay the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough..."

"I doubt it," shouted tiny Professor Marchbanks, "not if Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know...Examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did N.E.W.T.s...Did things with a wand I'd never seen before..."

"Yes...well..." said Professor Umbridge as they dragged their feet up the marble staircase as slowly as they dared, "let me show you to the staffroom...I daresay you'd like a cup of tea after your journey..."

The evening was filled with more studying. All of the fifth years were completely frazzled and found themselves all but mute in their worry about the exams. None of the fifth years talked very much at breakfast next day either. Parvati was practicing incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched, Hermione was rereading Achievement in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred, Ellen was trying to get some of her charms to work wandlessly, and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade.

Once breakfast was over, the fifth and seventh years milled around in the entrance hall while the other students went off to lessons. Then, at half-past nine, they were called forward class by class to reenter the Great Hall. The four House tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them.

When they were all seated and quiet she said, "You may begin," and turned over an enormous hourglass on the desk beside her, on which were also spare quills, ink bottles, and rolls of parchment. Ellen flipped over her paper and laughed to herself. The questions were things that she had learned back when she was just starting to do magic, it was going to be easy…

"Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?" asked Hermione anxiously in the entrance hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper. "I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time — did you put in the countercharm for hiccups? I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much — and on question twentythree —"

"Hermione," said Ron sternly, "we've been through this before...We're not going through every exam afterward, it's bad enough doing them once."

The rest of their exams went by smoothly. While the rest of the fifth years seemed despaired, Ellen honestly couldn't bring herself to care about scores so that was probably her biggest strength throughout. They breezed through Transfiguration and Potions, even Magical Runes wasn't that hard of an exam.

The Astronomy theory exam on Wednesday morning went well enough. They had to wait until evening for their practical Astronomy, so Ellen took the afternoon to sit by the lake with Rhode and skip rocks. When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight, and there was a slight chill in the air.

Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star chart he or she had been given. Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets they were observing. There was no sound except for the adjusting of telescopes and the quiet scratching of quills on parchment.

The exam was going well. She watched slowly as all the lights began to go out in the castle, people finally going to sleep. While she was looking up into her telescope, Ellen heard a distant knock that echoed through the deserted grounds, followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog. Her head shot up.

There were lights on in Hagrid's windows and people were silhouetted against them. The door opened and she distinctly saw six tiny but sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence. She shrugged and pressed her eye again to her telescope, staring up at the moon though she had forgotten to mark its position an hour ago, but as Professor Marchbanks moved on she heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower.

Several of the people around her ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin. Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough. "Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls," he said softly.

Most people returned to their telescopes. She looked to her right. Hermione and Harry were gazing transfixed at Hagrid's. "Ahem — twenty minutes to go," said Professor Tofty.

There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.

"No!" cried Hermione.

But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star charts anymore. Ellen could see the bright red light of Stupefy shooting through the air only to bounce off of Hagrid like it was nothing. She couldn't help herself from grinning; it were those good giant genes in Hagrid that were keeping him safe.

Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, "Be reasonable, Hagrid!" and Hagrid roared, "Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!"

She watched as gentle Fang tried to defend his owner, only to be struck by a Stunning Spell. The huge dog hit the ground with a resounding thud; all was silent before Hagrid roared in fury and grabbed the man that had stunned his pet. Hagrid threw him what looked like ten, fifteen feet in his anger and when the man hit the ground he did not rise back up. Ellen couldn't stop herself from worrying at that point. Last time she had seen Hagrid that angry had been during a war and it had not ended well at all.

"Look!" squealed Parvati, pointing to where a lone figure was exiting the castle and all but sprinting towards the battle with Hagrid.

"How dare you!" the figure shouted as she ran. "How dare you!"

"It's McGonagall!" whispered Hermione.

"Leave him alone! Alone, I say!" said Professor McGonagall's voice through the darkness. "On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such —"

Ellen shouted in disbelief as she watched four of them shoot Stunners at her old friend. They all seemed to hit her at once, casting an eerie red glow about the woman. The force of the spells lifted her in the air and then dropped her harshly back onto the ground where she did not rise again.

"COWARDS!" bellowed Hagrid, his voice carrying clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. "RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT — AN' THAT —"

"Oh no…" Ellen whimpered. Hagrid swept at two of the attackers. knocking them out cold with a single hit. She watched as he reached down and draped Fang's limp body over his shoulders that were shaking with emotion.

"Get him, get him!" screamed Umbridge.

Hagrid turned and began to flee with the dog still draped across his shoulders. Umbridge attempted to Stun him one last time before he disappeared into the darkness towards the gates.

When the exam finally ended they all forced their telescopes haphazardly back into their holders and dashed back down the spiral staircase. None of the students were going to bed — they were all talking loudly and excitedly at the foot of the stairs about what they had witnessed.

"That evil woman!" gasped Hermione, who seemed to be having difficulty talking due to rage. "Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!"

"She's going to pay for what she's done." Ellen vowed. "What they did to McGonagall was cowardly.."

Once they got back to the common room they were surprised to find it completely full. The commotion outside had woke up several people and they had gotten their friends up in return. The other students who had gotten to the tower before the four of them were in the process of telling everyone what they had seen and heard during their exam.

"But why sack Hagrid now?" asked Angelina Johnson, shaking her head. "It's not like Trelawney, he's been doing much better than usual this year!"

"Umbridge hates anything that isn't completely wizard." Ellen laughed bitterly. "It doesn't matter that he was just an assistant, she would have found any excuse to get rid of him."

"And she thought Hagrid was putting nifflers in her office," piped up Katie Bell.

"Oh blimey," said Lee Jordan, covering his mouth. "It's me's been putting the nifflers in her office, Fred and George left me a couple, I've been levitating them in through her window..."

"She'd have sacked him anyway," said Dean. "He was too close to Dumbledore."

It was nearly four in the morning before the common room cleared. Ellen could barely sleep by the time she got up to her dormitory, too filled with rage to even relax She finally ended falling asleep an hour later, through her dreams were filled with spells and a sense of fear.

Their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until that afternoon. The fifth years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their overturned examination papers. The test was dull and Ellen nearly found herself falling asleep when Harry hit the ground yelling. The Great Hall erupted all around him.

" 'm not going...I don't need the hospital wing...I don't want..." He was gibbering, trying to pull away from Professor Tofty, who was looking at him with much concern, and who had just helped Harry out into the entrance hall while the students all around them stared.

"I'm — I'm fine, sir," Harry stammered, wiping the sweat from his face. "Really...I just fell asleep...Had a nightmare..."

"Pressure of examinations!" said the old wizard sympathetically, patting Harry shakily on the shoulder. "It happens, young man, it happens! Now, a cooling drink of water, and perhaps you will be ready to return to the Great Hall? The examination is nearly over, but you may be able to round off your last answer nicely?"

"Yes," said Harry wildly. "I mean...no...I've done — done as much as I can, I think..."

"Very well, very well," said the old wizard gently. "I shall go and collect your examination paper, and I suggest that you go and have a nice lie down..."

"I'll do that," said Harry, nodding vigorously. "Thanks very much."

Harry all but sprinted out of the exam and there was nothing that Ellen could do to stop him. She didn't fill out another question on the exam, and the moment it was over she, Ron, and Hermione went out looking for him. It was their luck that he came sprinting down the corridor moments later.

"Harry!" said Hermione at once, looking very frightened. "What happened? Are you all right? Are you ill?"

"Where have you been?" demanded Ron.

"Come with me," Harry said quickly. "Come on, I've got to tell you something..." He led them along the first-floor corridor, peering through doorways, and at last found an empty classroom into which he dived, closing the door behind them the moment they were inside and leaning against it, facing them. "Voldemort's got Sirius."

"What?" Ellen shrieked, panic filling her. "How do you know?"

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."

"But — but where? How?" said Hermione, whose face was white.

"I dunno how," said Harry. "But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls, and they're at the end of row ninety-seven...He's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there...He's torturing him...Says he'll end by killing him..."

"How're we going to get there?" he asked them. Ellen felt herself disconnect from her body. Pure horror was flooding every sense that she had and she could barely hear what they were saying over the rushing in her ears. She listened numbly as they argued back and forth about the entire thing. Hermione was insistent that they not go but Harry was trying to rush straight to the Ministry. There was a flurry flurry of movement in the back of her mind, the rustling of chains echoing about. Neah was stirring and she didn't have enough strength to stop him.

Ellen continued to stare at the ground until Hermione touched her arm lightly. She looked around, noting that Ginny, Luna, and Neville had appeared at one point in the conversation.

"Ellen?" Hermione asked softly. "Are you okay?"

"If they hurt a single hair on Sirius's head, I'll kill them."

Before they could respond to the promise she made, Harry came tearing down the corridor. "Got it," he panted. "Ready to go, then?"

"All right," whispered Hermione as a gang of loud sixth years passed them. "So Ron — you go and head Umbridge off...Ginny, Luna, if you can start moving people out of the corridor…Harry, Ellen, and I will get the cloak on and wait until the coast is clear..."

Ron strode away, his bright red hair visible right to the end of the passage. Meanwhile, Ginny's equally vivid head bobbed between the jostling students surrounding them in the other direction, trailed by Luna's blonde one.

"Get over here," muttered Hermione, tugging at Harry's wrist and pulling him back. "Are — are you sure you're okay, Harry? You're still very pale..."

"I'm fine," he said shortly, tugging the Invisibility Cloak from out of his bag.

"Here," he said. He threw the Invisibility Cloak over both of them and they stood listening carefully over the Latin mumblings of the bust in front of them.

"You can't come down here!" Ginny was calling to the crowd. "No, sorry, you're going to have to go round by the swiveling staircase, someone's let off Garroting Gas just along here —" They could hear people complaining; one surly voice said, "I can't see no gas..."

"That's because it's colorless," said Ginny in a convincingly exasperated voice, "but if you want to walk through it, carry on, then we'll have your body as proof for the next idiot who didn't believe us..."

Slowly the crowd thinned. The news about the Garroting Gas seemed to have spread — people were not coming this way anymore. When at last the surrounding area was quite clear, Hermione said quietly, "I think that's as good as we're going to get, Harry — come on, let's do it."

Together they moved forward, covered by the cloak. Luna was standing with her back to them at the far end of the corridor. As they passed Ginny, Hermione whispered, "Good one...don't forget the signal..."

"What's the signal?" muttered Harry, as they approached Umbridge's door. "A loud chorus of 'Weasley Is Our King' if they see Umbridge coming," replied Hermione, as Harry inserted the blade of Sirius's knife in the crack between door and wall.

The lock clicked open, and they entered the office. The garish kittens were basking in the late afternoon sunshine warming their plates, but otherwise the office was as still and empty as last time. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought she might have added extra security after the second niffler..."

They pulled off the cloak. Hermione hurried over to the window and stood out of sight, peering down into the grounds with her wand out. Ellen stood behind the door with her wand raised, ready to hex anyone who came in. Harry dashed over to the fireplace, seized the pot of Floo powder, and threw a pinch into the grate, causing emerald flames to burst into life there. He knelt down quickly, thrust his head into the dancing fire, and cried, "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!"

Você precisava chorar, meu amor = You deserve to cry, my love

Sorry, this is a filler chapter but next chapter is 10,000 words and then it's the final chapter! We're almost done!