"Well," Cornelius Fudge smiled evilly, rubbing his hands together as he stared at the two people in the doorway. Harry shot him a look of deepest loathing, freeing himself from Umbridge's vice like-grip in a futile attempt at dignity. Fudge grinned even more foully as he turned to face Dumbledore. "Well, well, well."
———
The appearance of Educational Decree Number Twenty-eight around the school in the morning did nothing to dispell talk of how Albus Dumbledore had overcome the Minister of Magic, his Junior Assistant, two Aurors and the Omnipresent Toad herself, and achieved the impossible feat of leaving Hogwarts with neither hide nor hair. In fact, it's presence on the noticeboards only added fuel to the fire, with students fidgeting and whispering impatiently all the way through the morning classes, itching to know of any updates. Rumours flew about like paper planes as they exchanged theories about the previous night's events with their friends, murmuring and hissing to anyone who would listen. So as Harry entered the Great Hall for lunch, he found himself thoroughly unsurprised to see that more people were talking rather than eating, occasionally shooting glares at the Headmaster's Chair where Umbridge sat sipping pleasantly from a pink teacup.
He slumped onto the benches with Ron and Hermione beside him, pushing food around his plate as a tawny owl landed in front of them with a newspaper tied to its leg. Hermione untied it and paid the owl, unfolding the Evening Prophet to reveal a large picture of Umbridge covering most of the front page, a short passage detailing Dumbledore's escape the day before and the Decree announcing the High Inquisitor's promotion to Headmistress printed under it. Around her, more people were unrolling newspapers as well, most of them groaning and discarding it upon seeing the headline. She frowned, taking a sip of pumpkin juice as Neville sat downheartedly near them, Ginny trying to cheer him up but only earning a few half-hearted smiles in return.
"Strange," Hermione commented as Ron eyed the headline ('Dolores Umbridge Appointed Hogwarts Headmistress') over her shoulder.
"What's strange?" he asked, absentmindedly picking his goblet of orange juice just as the owl bent over it to take a sip. "They already printed this in the morning paper."
"Exactly," she said, flattening the newspaper onto the table. She paused to squint at it before adding scathingly, "Never mind. I think they're trying to divert attention from this: 'Lucius Malfoy Rewelcomed on Hogwarts Board of Governors.'"
"What?" Harry choked through a bite of toast, alarmed.
Unfazed, Hermione pointed to a miniscule picture of the eldest Malfoy in a corner, stuffed next to an article about a newly discovered species of singing cacti in Africa and read solemnly, "After the sacking of Albus Dumbledore in a scuffle at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry last night, Minister Cornelius Fudge appointed High Inquisitor Dolores Umbridge as acting Headmistress, much to the approval of parents from all around England.
In a surprise move to 'rid the school of incompetent workers', Madame Umbridge initiated an investigation into the Hogwarts Board of Governors this morning and, in her first act as Headmistress, sacked senior member Cadmus Forrest over charges of bribery and corruption at noon. Forrest, who had been working for the school for over forty years before his removal, left without protest, expressing that he would 'rather not work with foul-minded toads anyway' (See page 20 for more details).
As his replacement, Headmistress Umbridge re-appointed Lucius Malfoy to work for the Board with the approval of Minister Fudge. According to Mr. Malfoy, Hogwarts has 'long suffered from negligence and a decrease in educational standards due to an unacceptable lack of control, poor leadership, and mismanagement.' He expressed particular concern about appointments to the Care of Magical Creatures post (See page 13 for more details) and the Prefect system, saying that it had been severely overlooked even when he'd studied at the school, having had many encounters with Prefects who had abused their powers before becoming one himself in an attempt to change it.
'I am enthused about the changes Headmistress Umbridge shall bring to Hogwarts,' says Mr. Malfoy. 'We have already had in-depth discussions over the school's many problems and have produced efficient solutions for them. It is, I must admit, about time that us parents finally received a say in what our children learn.'"
Hermione looked outraged at the article. Ron's ears had gone red and he glanced worriedly at Ginny, who was sitting nearby and had gone still and stony faced, hand clenched tightly around her fork.
Harry stared sinisterly at Umbridge as she ate merrily at the front of the Hall, trying to stem the disgust and hatred building inside him. A few years ago, he wouldn't have been able to name a teacher he hated more than Snape but now, there was no doubt in him as to who the stronger contender was. He glared at Umbridge one last time before they left the Great Hall, Ginny rushing ahead of them with a determined stance, her mane of red haired swaying boldly in her wake. For the second time in his life, Harry found himself seriously questioning whether or not to stay at Hogwarts, the first time being when he'd considered running away in the weeks after his name had come out of the Goblet of Fire the year prior. His answer however, remained the same.
———
"Does this remind you of something?" Tonks shoved a photograph in front of Sirius, frowning intently at it as he sat at the dining table with a mug of dark coffee in hand. He stared at it, eyebrows furrowing slightly and eyes raking in the details of the picture: dead tree leaves rustled in front of an eerie Victorian mansion, some blurry and others needle sharp in detail with branching wrinkly veins, the photograph's lack of colour enhancing its creepiness. Inky smudges covered the bottom, a wavy number 1 ghosting away on one side, as if someone had written down the address before deciding it would be better not to and rubbed it off.
"Looks familiar," he finally concluded, stirring the dark brew consistently. "Where did you get it?"
Tonks hesitated uncertainly before answering.
"I found it under the door of your brother's room this morning. Is it family property?"
"Hmm," Sirius pondered, scratching his head as he tried to remember where he had last seen the house. It definitely was family property, reminding him of a vague Halloween spent at some cousin's before he'd started Hogwarts, although he couldn't remember whose house it had been. Had it been Aunt Elladora's? Or perhaps Aunt Lucretia's? Had Aunt Lucretia even owned a mansion or had she moved in to Uncle Ignatius's after their marriage? Or was it Uncle Cygnus's, seeing as the man had always been a bit of an antique-obsessed sadist? Or maybe he was thinking about the wrong generation and the house had been Great Aunt Callidora's or someone else's entirely. Sirius wracked his mind but couldn't recall anything useful, mostly just conjuring memories of overly large and heavy cloaks in ugly wrapping paper, awkward 'thank you's and chasing Regulus around the beach near their father's summer house, mainly to get away from their argument-addicted family and occasionally tripping over seaweed and rocks.
"It's family property, alright, but I dunno whose," he admitted, returning the picture to Tonks, who continued squinting confusedly at it. "I think it belonged to one of my Aunts, Elladora maybe. You can check the family pictures upstairs if you want, but I'm pretty sure Kreacher stuffed them away somewhere." He scowled at the thought, wondering where the elf had sneaked off to before deciding that the house was better off without him anyway and burying the thought with caffeine.
"It just looks ... off. I can't remember it but it doesn't feel like something I've never seen before either."
"Weird," Sirius commented, shrugging his shoulders when she raised an eyebrow at him as if to say, 'Really?' "You'd feel this way too if every Christmas you had till age twelve was spent at a different person's house," he raised his hands in a surrendering gesture. "I'm not sure I even know most of their names."
"Well, guess I can't blame you then. I never had the full Black family experience like you did, anyway."
Sirius snorted. "Consider yourself lucky."
"I'll take your word for it," Tonks grinned, pocketing the photo to investigate later. "Remus will be here in a while, by the way. Poor chap's probably exhausted from last night's watch."
"Still better than the load of dung I'm in," Sirius mumbled as Tonks left, stumbling over nothing whatsoever as she climbed the staircase and made for the front door. He thwacked his forehead when his Mum's demonic screeching slashed the silence to shreds, groaning at the distant "Sorry!" following it before the sound of the front door closing (barely) reached his ears.
"This is not what I broke out of Azkaban for!" he yelled to the empty house and stomped up the stairs, wishing he could melt the portrait's face off.
It was only an hour later when Remus arrived that Sirius finally stopped brooding in the kitchen, grinning when the tired man reached the end of the creaky staircase and collapsed into the chair closest to him.
"You look terrible," Sirius said brightly, gratefully taking the Daily Prophet from him and began scanning it.
"I've looked better," Remus admitted, closing his eyes and rubbing his forehead sleepily.
"Need some tea?" he asked, rolling his eyes at an article about the Inquisitorial Squad's introduction at Hogwarts and how beneficial it would be, according to Lucius Malfoy, no less.
"Of course," Remus answered. "Add a pinch of something stronger, will you?"
"Alright," Sirius nodded, getting up. "It's Easter, after all," he added, as if it mattered. Within a few minutes, a steamy cup found itself in front of Remus, black porcelain with white carvings of wind patterns covering it, whirling and swishing around with each sip.
"Fancy," he said, thanking Sirius and sitting up, eyeing the cup impressively. Sirius shrugged.
"Uncle Cygnus traded the set with my Mum for some Acromantula venom."
"There's Acromantula venom here?" Remus took another sip, looking around as if expecting to see some leaking through the roof.
"And more," Sirius smiled dryly. The other man raised his eyebrows and he sighed.
"Third floor. First cabinet on the left in the hallway. Big flask shaped like a kidney."
"Thanks," Remus smiled, only to have it slide off his face a second later. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask you something," he began, blowing lightly at the steam rising from his teacup. "You never mentioned Dumbledore's plan to -"
"Get rid of the Umbridge woman?" Sirius finished, leaning his chair on its hind legs.
"Yeah."
"Well, I'd say it was a pretty good plan," Sirius said, struggling to sound casual. "If he'd only acted on it earlier." The curiousity in Remus's expression increased. He paused glumly before continuing in a flat voice. "He wanted to contact Augusta Longbottom, said she could raise an alarm through the Wizarding Wireless," Sirius informed, blowing a strand of hair from his face. Remus nodded thoughtfully.
"That was a good plan. She's quite influential. I think parents would've demanded an investigation into the case at least."
There was a short silence, then -
"Why didn't he do it?"
"You think I know?" Sirius snapped, letting his chair clatter back on all four legs, unable to keep his calm demeanour any longer. "I kept telling him every meeting that he ought to follow up on it but no! He had important matters to attend to!" Remus appeared momentarily surprised by his outburst but the well-composed voice of reason Sirius had learned to expect over the years returned in a blink.
"Then he probably did," he sighed wearily. Sirius tried to protest but was cut off. "I'm not saying he had more important things to do than ensure his students' safety, Padfoot, but he was most likely preoccupied, probably with other just as important tasks."
Sirius was about to argue but re-evaluated his stance at Remus's facial expression, looking at Sirius as if he was a child who still wasn't convinced that there was no such thing as a left sock and a right sock. He huffed and folded his arms. "Whatever, Moony, it's too late anyway, now that she's Headmistress." Remus watched him glare coldly at nothing in particular, gaze analytical as he attempted to assess the situation.
"I'm guessing you want to talk to Harry?" he tried after a while, voice cautious. The effect of his words was instantaneous. Sirius deflated, defiant bearings gone and steely eyes staring dully at the floor.
"I just want to know if he's alright," he mumbled.
"And the house -"
"Isn't helping, yeah," Sirius admitted dejectedly. "But there's not much I can do, is there?"
Remus stayed quiet. The two friends sat in silence, one absently drinking tea while the other slouched in his chair. Although he tried to ignore it, Sirius couldn't help but feel James's absence more prominently than ever now and he suspected that Remus was thinking the same thing. Their friend was gone and it showed, not just in obvious things like the graveyard where he was buried or the son he'd never got to raise but also in the silences that often stretched thin between him and Remus, in the way he'd instantly recognise a habit or quirk Harry shared with James or in the decreasing frequency of their deer jokes and werewolf puns.
James was gone and their friendship was almost strained, two betrayals, countless deaths, and a war weighing down the string tying what remained of the great creators of the Marauder's Map, fraying it by the second even as they silently begged it to stay woven.
He knew that calling it 'forced' would be a lie; he'd die for Remus if it came to that and he knew that Remus would do the same and yet, he found himself wondering if their cherished friendship would survive another war. All of a sudden, Remus looked up and glared at him.
"Shame on you, Padfoot," he scolded, crossing his arms. "After all I've done, all the points we've lost together, all the lies I told on your behalf, this is what I get in return?"
Sirius stared at him incredulously before realisation hit him and he groaned.
"Ugh, I keep forgetting you're half decent at Legilimency," he voiced the thought this time, knowing that trying to keep it to himself would be pointless, his doubts about their friendship somewhat quelled. Remus shrugged in response, a discreet smile tugging at his lips.
"Twelve years alone and a public library membership does that to a person." He finished the last dredges of his tea, got to his feet and announced, "I'm taking a nap."
"You just had tea," Sirius countered.
"Tired," Remus said shortly, heading for the stairs. "Wake me up when something happens."
"Okay, see you in about a decade."
The kitchen door closed and Sirius sat lamely for a moment before exhaling dramatically. Almost on a whim and more to distract himself than anything else, he pulled out the two-way mirror from his pocket and placed it on the table, wondering why Harry hadn't called once. Was he okay? Were his lessons with Snape going well? Was he still getting into detentions with Umbridge? Was he so absorbed in O.W.L studies that he barely got time for anything else? Or did he get bludgeoned in the head by a rogue Bludger while doing homework in his dorm room? Seeing as he went to Hogwarts, Sirius didn't think the possibility was unreasonable enough to rule out.
"Bah," he mumbled sourly, guessing that he, like Remus, would just have to wait for something to happen. Given his life so far, it usually did after all.
———