Dementors in London

Even in the heat, Cheshire Street was lined with people. Shop windows glittered with their sale or new items. People carried their haul from shop to shop as it grew. Most people walked along, except for three teenagers who sat on a bench underneath a sign that read "Moony & Padfoot".

One of the teenagers, a girl with very bushy brown hair that had been pulled into a bun, sat with her nose in a book. Its teal spine was covered in gold runes that matched the rings on her fingers. The soft pink tote bag on her shoulder matched her sneakers. As she was sensible, she wore denim shorts and a white, cotton, short sleeved shirt. Hermione Granger's appearance, despite her book on ancient runes, fit in nicely to on the street.

Beside her was a gangling boy with red hair and hundreds of freckles. His sneakers were very worn out. There was even a hole in the heel of his right one, but he liked them too much to throw them away. He wore a white shirt with a navy blue stripe through it and light blue pants. No one looked twice at Ronald Weasley.

The third teenager had shoved most of her jet-black through her Moony & Padfoot baseball cap. She wore navy blue tank top, torn dark jeans, and her black jacket with several pockets and a very stiff front. Around her bright green eyes, her black eyeliner was smudged where she kept rubbing them whenever she added eyedrops. Siria Potter-Black had not noticed looks, for her attention was on her phone.

"Says he's just got off the bus," Siria told Hermione and Ron. Ron fanned himself with his baseball cap.

"Remind me, why're we having tea with your cousin?" Ron asked.

"Because Sirius is all for reform, so he's pro-Dudley making amends," said Siria. "An' as fun as watching George kick the copier is, I need a break from interning."

"I just don't see why we aren't hexing him on sight," Ron glared through the crowd.

"Dudley is trying to be better, isn't he?" Hermione asked. "Siria's working on forgiving him, we ought to too." Ron crossed his arms and glared fiercer into the crowd of people.

"Got a lot of making up to do," said Ron.

"Is that him?" Ron asked and pointed to someone in the distance. Siria squinted. None of the people she could see looked remotely like her cousin. When the figure Ron pointed to wasn't so far away, Siria pointed him out. "That's who I pointed to," Ron told her. He leaned his head back, over the bench and sighed. "You need new contacts."

"My contacts are fine, thank you," Siria said, "you've just got good eyes." She raised her hand at her cousin and got to her feet. "He's brought Piers Polkiss," Siria groaned as she patted the back of her jeans, like she had been sitting in dirt. She looked to Ron. "Why are you so tall?"

"You're almost as tall as me," he defended.

"In heels," Siria pointed at the tall, thin heels on her boots. She looked from Ron to Piers. He was a scrawny boy with a face like a rat (B1, 23). "That's fine," she told herself. "I could take them both in a fight then, I could take them now."

"You're not here to fight your cousin and his friend," Hermione told her as she put her book away. "It's just tea."

Much to Siria's surprise, it was just tea. Hermione, Ron, and Siria listened, mostly quietly, to Dudley talking about his school life and Piers's occasional addition. They did take a short walk together around Cheshire Street before they parted with Dudley and Piers at the bus stop. Hermione, Ron, and Siria returned to the Moony & Padfoot headquarters building in the early evening.

When Hermione sat down on a bench, Siria plopped down and put her head on Hermione's shoulder. She yawned as Hermione pulled out her book and Ron took a seat. Even though she had left Privet Drive, the nightmares of locked doors and long corridors persisted. Siria was restless every morning and usually spent their lunch break napping. Hermione paid the weight on her shoulder no mind and continued to read her book, while Ron was whisked away by the first person who wanted copies made.

As she startled awake, Siria's head slid from Hermione's shoulder. Hermione let out a sigh of relief and massaged her neck. "Siria, I love you, I really do, but could you fall asleep on Ron next time?" Hermione asked.

"But he's all boney; it's like trying to sleep on a rock," said Siria.

"Fred or George?"

"They're Beaters," said Siria and Hermione just sighed. "I'll figure something out," Siria looked to her watch and tsked. It was nearly nine at night.

"Have you considered that you don't sleep well at night because you sleep so much during the day?"

"I slept for maybe three hours," Siria defended. Hermione stuffed her book in her bag and looked to Siria. Siria rolled her eyes, but followed Hermione to the upstairs office.

All the lights were out. Moonlight sprinkled in from the windows, which had been opened to let the cool night air in. Someone hung all the bolts of fabric on the wall. The floor was so clean that Hermione and Siria could walk without fear of being tangled in something. One of the desks had been pushed into the middle of the room, with a small army of people behind it. On it was a long sheet cake with fifteen candles.

Chloe kicked off Happy Birthday as Siria walked across the floor. Remus turned the lights on when Siria blew out the candles. "I know your birthday isn't for awhile," said Chloe, "but you've all got it off and someone," she shot Sirius and Remus a short look, "has to be here to hold down the office." Chloe pulled Siria in to kiss her forehead. "May you cause more trouble than all your past years combined," she winked to Sirius.

George squished himself into the seat beside Siria and dropped a small box into her lap. She eyed it then Fred, who nodded. "You'll be around for it," Siria reminded him. "Chloe is giving all of us it off."

"You'll want this now," said George. He clicked his tongue twice, in a playful manner, and went to talk with Fred and Cassius.

"Open it," Ron told her and scooted over to see better. Siria opened the little paper box. A small silver ring fell into her palm. It was accented with little crystals of green, silver, red, and gold. Siria slid it on and raised it to Fred and George, who raised their glasses. Cassius raised his hand to show her a similar ring made of gold.

Hermione took Siria's hand to look at the ring. She squinted at it, then the twins.

"If you want one, just ask," said Ron.

"I don't," said Hermione as examined the ring closer. "I want to know what they did to it."

"They gave Cas one, so nothing too bad?" Siria hoped. Hermione hummed, but let go. Siria tugged on the ring to removed it, but it tightened. She gritted her teeth at George. "It's stuck."

"Well, that's more harmless than I thought it would be— after what I heard about those snack boxes, even you couldn't talk me into accepting something from them," Hermione said then took another sip of her drink. Siria looked to Ron, who shook his head to tell Siria she didn't want to know.

Cedric came and sat down beside Siria. "Maddy and Patricia wanted to come," he said, "but Alice isn't doing well today."

"She should have interned," said Ron. "What?" He asked Hermione at the look she gave him. "It would get her out of the house, wouldn't it? I know she need time and all, but being alone is just going to make her more lonely."

"Ron," Hermione hissed, "her dad is a you-know-what. She's allowed to be lonely." Siria looked to Cedric.

"How's your girlfriend?" Siria asked. Ron spat his drink onto his jeans and coughed. Cedric's face flushed and he raised his glass to hide it. "That bad?" Siria asked. "Well, at least you've got one?" Siria shrugged and looked to Hermione, who pinched the bridge of her nose.

"They broke up," Ron mouthed to Siria, "right before you arrived."

"Oh? Sorry," Siria told Cedric. "Short summer love then?" Hermione stifled a groan.

"Dad!" Siria called quickly, to get her foot out of her mouth, "can we stay up and watch The Princess Bride tonight?"

"Oh!" Chloe slapped Remus's shoulder. "I love that movie. It's been too long— we totally should."

"No," Sirius shook his head and looked to his watch. "It's, er, awfully late and Siria's still growing— needs sleep." Siria mouthed wordlessly to her father.

"Still growing?" Ron lipped to Siria and Hermione. "Still growing?"

"Sorry, Chloe," said Remus, "but they have a long day ahead of them."

"We haven't hung out since you got that flat," Chloe sighed. "I think you forget how hard it is to meet people that don't treat me—" she realized how much her voice carried in the silence of the room after Siria's call for a movie. "—like the boss."

Cold shot through the office as if a rush of wind finally arrived. Even in her jacket, Siria felt doused in cold water. Chloe reached to close a window, as the lights went out. "Power outages?" She laughed, but Siria heard the faint screams of her mother. Her cup fell from her hand.

Remus rushed for Chloe. He pulled her from the window as Sirius reached for his wand and three hovering, hooded figures fell into sight. Colin and Dennis rushed to Siria's side, as she stood up and stepped between the dementor's path and her friends. Light erupted from the tip of Sirius's wand.

Mammoth sized dogs made of clustered stars, connected by thin, glowing blue lights of joy, formed from the light. They leapt over Remus and Chloe. One dog bit into a dementor's cloak, dragged it around like a toy, then released it. The two others tackled their dementors and snarled. Siria raised her wand as a fourth swept past its three downed comrades. Her knees weakened under her and Ron grabbed onto Siria's shoulder.

"Don't!" Sirius shouted to her. One of Sirius's Patronus rounded on the fourth. Siria squeezed her eyes shut. "Take me!" Siria heard her mother beg Voldemort to let Siria live. Ron's hand vanished from her. She felt the pull of the dementor as the world darkened. Another of Sirius's Patronus dogs grabbed the cloak of the fourth.

WHAM!

Ron slammed a chair into the floor between Siria and the fourth dementor, which startled back enough that the Patronus gained footing. There was a flash, then several behind Siria as the Patronus threw the Dementor through the window it entered from. Ron shoved a handful of cake into Siria's mouth. She opened her mouth to protest, but the moment the chocolate cream melted on her tongue Siria was grateful for it.

Siria slammed a window behind the final dementor shut. Cassius, Fred, George, Hermione, and Ron closed the closest ones. Sirius thrust a plate of cake into Remus's hands. "It's okay— Chloe, we're here. You need to try and eat," Remus cooed as she stroked Chloe's trembling body. She held her head in her hands as she shook and apologized. Cedric and Ginny closed the other windows. Fred slid pieces of cake onto plates. George made sure than Colin, Dennis, and Ginny got theirs first.

"Chloe is a Squib, not a Muggle," Sirius told them while Remus helped Chloe steady herself. She pushed the plate of cake away.

"Sorry," Chloe apologized a little louder than her other ones. She focused on the ground before her shoes. "Don't know what came over me."

"Chloe," Sirius placed a hand over Remus's, on Chloe's shoulder.

"Right— right," Chloe nodded. "I'm a— I'm a 'Squib', not— not a Muggle."

"No," Sirius pointed to the slice of cake, "please."

Crack.

Ron was the one to peer into the parking lot. He huffed a sigh. "Looks like the O.W.'s are here, anyway," said Ron.

"It'll be fine." Sirius told them. He withdrew his phone and started a call. "Come on, all of you. Let's go."

"OW's?" Siria asked.

"The Ordinary Wizarding Police," Ron whispered. "They're like, in charge of the International Statute of Secrecy and stuff, but, if Chloe's a Squib, I don't know why they'd bother."

Chloe, with Remus's arm around her shoulder and the plate of cake finally in her hands, loaded into the elevator with Sirius, Hermione, Ron, Siria and Cedric. Cassius, Colin, Dennis, Fred, George, and Ginny waited for its return. The elevator down had never been so slow. Hermione took Siria's hand and nodded. Siria let go of her jacket, where her wand had been. She reached for Ron's hand while she and her heart sank lower with the elevator.

This was why she had hardly been allowed outside. This was why she was back before nightfall every day. It was why Cassius was only ever at Grimmauld Place or Moony & Padfoot. She tightened her grip on her best friends' hands. Was it just a matter of time?

"Voldemort?" Siria's exhausted voice drew over the hum of the elevator. Chloe startled.

"The, uh," Chloe dropped her voice to Remus. "You know." Siria sighed.

"Is there anyone else we know that knows Voldemort killed Lily and James Potter?" Siria asked.

"Siria," said Hermione, "more of the wizarding world knows that Voldemort—" Hermione stiffened at the name, "—killed your parents than about q-analogs." Ron and Siria gave the other a sideways glance that confirmed neither of them knew what a "q-analog" was.

Pointed wands greeted them when the elevator doors opened. Chloe rose to her full height, which, in her heels, was taller than any of them. "Excuse me, but you need to fill out a request form to bring your wands in," Chloe said as if the two Ordinary Wizarding Policemen held a regularly restricted item. The man and woman shared a glance, but lowered their wands while the party stepped out of the elevator.

"Mr. Black," the portly gentleman with mop of salt and pepper hair began, "we got word you used magic in front of a Muggle, but," he gestured to Chloe with his wand. Chloe gasped, as if she'd been called a nasty swear word.

"Excuse you!" She shouted, "I'm a Squib!" Chloe crossed her arms and looked to Remus with outrage on her face. "Can you believe him?"

"I, er," the woman with short white hair paused, "I trust you can provide proof of lineage?"

"We can," said Sirius.

"Then, that'll be," the man stared at his partner, "MacMillan in Heritage?"

"You can expect a letter for a meeting with him or with Bones, in Magical Law Enforcement," the witch sighed and put her wand away. "Honestly, though, what is with the Anti-Apparition? Do you have a warrant?"

"I do," said Sirius.

"You'll need to bring that too then," her hazel eyes ran over Sirius like his slacks would confess something else.

As the pair of Ordinary Wizarding Police stepped out, the elevator opened. Cassius hugged Siria from behind with the feel he thought she would not have been there. Siria patted his arm. She raised an eyebrow at Sirius, which told him that he had quite a bit of explaining to do.

"Ho—" Chloe silenced herself while she stared into the magically larger on the inside van. Her perfectly mascaraed eyes made Siria trace over the makeup under her own. Chloe cleared her throat and slid into the middle of the long bench that made the front of the van. Remus had added enough room to the van for everyone to fit in comfortably. Hermione sat right behind him, with Siria beside her.

"Where do we live?" Sirius asked Siria, as Remus pulled out of the parking lot.

"A flat on—" Siria started. Her father nodded in Chloe's direction. "Oh!" Siria's bright green eyes gleamed like the wet road in the street lights. "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place."

"Sirius!" Hermione gasped. "What would Dumbledore say?"

"Dumbledore hired Filch— he can't really judge us on which Squibs we love," Siria gave Chloe's shoulder a small squeeze. "Tell you what though, I would have been way more lively when you picked me up, if I'd known I could talk about Hogwarts."

"Well," Chloe shot Sirius then Remus a look, "being a Squib is a touchy subject, isn't it?"

"Oh," Siria leaned back in her chair. She and Hermione turned to Ron, who shrugged.

"I mean, most people think it's funny," he reminded them.

When they stepped out of the van at Number Twelve, Chloe glared at Sirius. "This is your old place," said Chloe. She stood on the doorstep and examined the building like she had never seen anything so amazing. "I— I stopped by here, you know, but…" Chloe patted the wall to make sure it was real. "It wasn't here?" She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.

"We've got a long night ahead of us," Remus reminded her and knocked the door with his wand. There was a series of clicks before it opened.

"Finally!" Mrs. Weasley shouted at them. "You won't believe the owls we've gotten."