AN: I am so late! I am so sorry. Life has been a bit too much lately, and I am struggling with all of my stories. For now, everything is on a hiatus. I am so sorry, but I have too much on my plate and I need a break. I am so sorry.

I own nothing, and I never will.

Giada Draven, out!

McGonagall was flustered, her hair falling out of her hurried bun, and her robe clumsily wrapped around herself. Albus had told her that he sent a letter to Harry, and that it was time to evacuate anyone not needed. He seemed to think this included her. The tough Scotswoman had refused, saying that she would fight and help protect one of her favorite students, but Albus just dismissed her and told her that this was not her fight. The nerve!

So, it was with great difficulty that she set off, gathering the teachers who were still preparing class schedules and lesson plans. When they asked, she said that Albus was being an idiot, and that she would tell them when she knew for sure. That was her ticket to being alone. So, now, here she stood in a state of undress that would normally be unthinkable for her, and she was waiting. For what was uncertain, but she just knew that something was about to happen.

So, it was this sight, of a flushed McGonagall, that greeted the creeps when they stepped out of Potionem's portal. And boy was the student among them surprised. "Professor, what are you doing here? Professor Dumbledore said there wouldn't be any humans left."

Sally bounced off of LJ's shoulders, coming up behind Potionem and hiding behind his leg enough to seem like a true child. "Potionem, who's this? Is she nice?"

He nodded and lifted her up so that she naturally moved to sit on his shoulders. "Sally, this is my head of house: Professor McGonagall. She always makes sure that I'm doing great. Professor, this is Sally." The ghost smiled brightly, jumping off of him with no hesitation to walk over to the Scotswoman.

She held out her hand, pretending to be all proper. The professor smiled and squatted slowly, taking the small hand in her's. Then, LJ walked up behind her and placed his inhumanly long-fingered hand on her shoulder. "I'm Laughing Jack, but most just call me LJ." He grinned, showing off the near shark tooth smile.

"Minnie!" exclaimed Sirius. "I guess you ought to know that I'm Jeff the Killer." He went over and hugged her, before grabbing BEN by the hand and forcing him over. "This is BEN Drowned, my boyfriend." Throwing his arm around the now blushing creep, he pulled them both over so that he could proudly show off to his ex-head of house.

Said person smiled genially, before turning to the obvious leader of the group. "Harry, would you care telling me why you're here? Albus has decided, I was not needed, but I managed to stay without his knowledge." She winked at him, indicating that she had used some of that innate cunning to trick people into letting her stay.

Ignoring Sirius's shout of, 'Go Minnie!', Potionem pulled her gently away from the group, telling the others to meet him at Dumbledore's office and that he would catch up in a moment, after extracting a promise from Sirius that he would guide them there safely.

"Ask away," he said once they were alone.

"Alright, who are they? It's obvious that they ar'n't human, and I remember hearing about you and Sirius after the Department of Mysteries." Her Scottish brogue was slightly more prominent.

Potionem sighed, before letting Harry take over. "This is going to take a while, so you might as well sit down." It did, indeed, take a while. So long that to avoid being too late to meet Dumbledore they began walking as he got closer to the end of the story.

By the time they reached the moving spiral staircase, riding up and waiting to reach the top, McGonagall was fuming. She told him not to leave the child there! And now look! The poor child had gone through so much, and how no one noticed was a mystery. But she couldn't do anything against Albus, seeing as Harry told her about how much he blamed himself already. She felt terrible, and blamed herself as well. James was like a son to her, and if he wasn't set on being a Quidditch player, and later an Auror to help in the war, she would have taken him as her apprentice and later replacement. Lily as well, since Fillius was helping her along to her Charms mastery before they went into hiding. To never notice that Harry didn't live with his relatives, the effects left behind from their treatment, it felt like she had failed.

Her self-loathing was brought up short when the door opened and showed Albus's office, the creeps scattered about and, in Sally's case, chattering a mile a minute.

Harry went to sit in front of Dumbledore, steepling his fingers as he let Potionem take control. War talks were not for a young personality; even though he hid how childish he was, there were still things he couldn't listen to without breaking down.

So, after many hours of talking, it was decided that word would be sent to Voldemort that Hogwarts wasn't being defended, and that there was only Filch who couldn't fight due to being a squib.