Hey Lovelies! Sorry it's been so long it was midterms week, but I'm all done now. This is the sixth chapter and I promise that after this one it will pick up some. This one just sets up a new friendship/teamwork situation and then we get Umbridge... Who all hates Umbridge? That's a rhetorical question everyone hates Umbridge. Happy Reading!
Chapter 6 – The Arrival of One D. Umbridge
Molly, Arthur and Sirius were the only ones left awake when the fireplace in the kitchen of Number Twelve roared to life for the second time that evening. They were surprised when they looked up, to find Albus Dumbledore striding out of it towards them. "Good evening." He greeted them with a kind smile.
"Good evening Professor." Molly smiled back. "Would you like some coffee, or some tea, or something?"
"No thank you Molly dear, I am merely here to collect Harry's things. The decision has been made that he will remain at Hogwarts under Poppy's watch for the rest of the summer."
Sirius froze, his cup halfway to his lips. "You can't be serious?"
Dumbledore turned to the young man, "I am. It seems there were some repercussions of the dementor attack that she wants to monitor more closely." Dumbledore chose the same words that Poppy had given him, and he could tell by looking at Sirius that he didn't really believe them either. "Can you show me where Harry's things are?"
The question was addressed at Sirius, but the man seemed to have become a statue. Arthur stood up from the table, "Harry's things are in Ronald's room. I'll show you the way Headmaster."
"Thank you." He nodded his head in appreciation and followed Arthur out of the room. He spared one last glance at Sirius. The man's grey eyes had seemed to glaze over and he was lost in thought.
Molly watched her husband lead Dumbledore out of the room and then she turned to Sirius. "What is going on here? First Harry is attacked, then he goes running through the fireplace without a single word and the next thing we know Dumbledore is here to collect his things. You don't think he's hurt do you?"
When Sirius didn't respond she tossed the dishtowel that had been resting on her shoulder at him. "Sirius!"
"Huh, hmm, what?" He looked around at her as he came out of his thoughts. "What the hell did you throw this thing at me for?" He picked the towel up and whipped it back at her.
"Because you weren't paying any attention! I asked you if you thought that Harry was alright." She looked at him imploringly and he shrugged.
"I don't know Molly. I really don't know." His mind had been drifting through all of the things that he had observed going on with Harry that day. There was something about him that he couldn't quite get a read on. Something that just wasn't quite right, but he knew better than to say anything. Instead he excused himself from the table and made his way to the library.
When he pushed the door open he wasn't surprised to find the fire was lit in the grate, but he was surprised that he wasn't the only one in here at this hour. "We thought you were asleep." There was a soft smile on his face as he made his way towards her.
She looked up from the book open on her lap. "No. I can't sleep. There is something going on here. Something with Harry and I can't figure it out. Sirius?" Her brown eyes were reflecting warmly in the firelight. "Do you know what's going on?"
He sighed as he came to a stop in front of her. He picked up the book that she had been reading off of her lap and looked at it. "Honestly Hermione, I don't, not yet anyway. But I'm willing to help you look."
She smiled and gestured to the chair across from her own. "Be my guest."
Harry woke up early the next morning in roughly the same position he had fallen asleep in. He had slid down the couch some, and his head was now resting on the armrest, but that wasn't what he found the most shocking when he gained his bearings. There was a weight on his chest that he wasn't accustomed too.
When he opened his eyes he smiled. Minerva was still asleep, with her head on his chest and his shirt caught in her fingers. Her glamor spell had lost some of its affect overnight and she looked like the thirty-five-year-old version of herself. Her hair had come loose and some of it was caught under Harry's arm, which he realized was wrapped around her shoulders, holding her in place.
He felt her shift and stir on his chest and he tried to relax and steady his heartbeat and breathing. Knowing it was probably him that had woken her up. Slowly her eyes fluttered open and she realized where she was. She sat up quickly, both of them wincing slightly as her not quite healed ribs caught.
"Good morning." He smiled a cocky smile at her and she laughed.
"Good morning. I'm afraid I don't even remember falling asleep last night. I'm sorry if you were uncomfortable."
"Nah, I'm alright." He sat up and stretched out, "In fact I think I slept better than I have all summer." Minerva was looking around the room and he watched her for a minute before he spoke again. "You have turned your head in every possible direction, what are you looking for?"
"I'm not looking for anything." She stopped twitching about and focused on him. "I'm listening, for Poppy. It sounds like she is out in the ward. Come on." She stood up off of the couch and offered him her hand. He took her assistance, and when she tried to pull her hand away he brought it up and brushed a gentle kiss over the back of it.
"Good morning."
"You said that already." She pointed out with a smirk.
"I know, but this time I did it properly." She rolled her eyes and pulled her hand away from him. No one would ever accuse Harry Potter of not inheriting his father's charm.
"Let's go." She was shaking her head as she led the way out of Poppy's office and into the main section of the hospital wing. "Good morning Poppy." She called out when she caught sight of her friend changing the sheets on the bed that she had used the day before.
"Good morning Minerva," she looked over the other witch's shoulder, "Good morning Harry." She couldn't help her smile. "How did the two of you sleep?"
"Fine thanks." He answered her with a smile. "And good morning to you too."
She nodded to him and fixed her eyes on Minerva, "And how did you sleep?"
"Alright." She wouldn't meet Poppy's eyes, and instead turned to Harry. "Why don't you go down to the Great Hall, I'm sure Dumbledore will have a seat for you."
"You're sure?"
"Yes, I'm sure he doesn't expect you to eat alone."
"I meant about me leaving." He mumbled.
"Oh…" She looked down at her hands for a minute and then up at him, her thumb trailing over the ring on her left hand. She shook her head, "You know what, no. Stay. You are going to feel all of this anyway aren't you?"
He raised his eyebrows and nodded, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "Yeah."
Twenty minutes later the three of them were making their way down to the Great Hall to grab something for breakfast. Poppy had told them that Dumbledore had approved of Harry staying and had gone to collect his things for him last night.
When Minerva stopped off at her rooms to change her clothes they waited in the hall for her. "Madam Pomfrey?"
"Yes Harry?" She turned around to look at him as he and Minerva had been walking behind her.
"Thank you." He was sincere in his tone and she could tell that he really meant it. "For coming to get me last night, when she was sick, if you wouldn't have been taking care of her…"
"She's my best friend Harry. I want to protect her too." He studied the witch for a long moment and then he nodded to her just as Minerva opened the door to her rooms.
She looked back and forth between them, "What's going on out here?"
"Nothing." Harry looked away from Poppy and back to Minerva, "Absolutely nothing. Are you ready?"
"Yeah, come along." She led the little trio off down the corridor towards the Hall. When the doors opened for them they all three could tell that something was different. The rest of the staff wasn't talking and laughing like they normally would have been doing, there was an eerie silence in the grand space.
"What's going on?" Harry whispered.
Both witches shook their heads until Minerva froze mid-movement. She had spotted what was different about the room. The chair the third from the end on the right hand side of the room was no longer empty. In it sat the worst thing that the Ministry could have imposed on Hogwarts. Dolores Umbridge.
Harry followed her eyes across the hall to the tiny, dark-haired woman that was dressed entirely in pink. He looked from her across to Dumbledore and then over to Minerva who was standing at his side, "Is that?"
"Yes." She cut him off with a whisper of her own. "You remember my letter?"
He nodded and Minerva looked across to Poppy. The mediwitch headed away from them towards her seat on the opposite side of the room. Minerva stepped forward and Harry followed in her wake as she made her way up to the head table. He noticed that there was an empty seat on the side of hers. Dumbledore inclined his head to Harry and the young man followed her up to his new spot at the table.
When they were both seated he leaned around in front of her to speak to the Headmaster. "Thank you Professor. For letting me stay and allowing me to sit at the Head table for now."
Dumbledore inclined his head to Harry in acknowledgement, but he neither looked at him nor spoke directly to him. Something that both Harry and Minerva found rather strange, for he was usually very warm towards Harry. The pair exchanged a brief but nervous look before they turned to their breakfast. Both of them quite a good deal hungrier than they had been the previous day.
"Ahem ahem." There was a soft, and yet ominous cough from the far end of the table. Many of the teachers had accepted Harry among them with no questions, but it didn't seem that Umbridge was going to make it without a comment. Even Snape was looking at her like she had lost her mind.
When no one responded to her she coughed again. "Ahem ahem."
Dumbledore leaned forward so that he could see down the table. "Is there something that you needed Dolores?"
"Yes." Harry hated her voice even more when she spoke real words. To his side he saw Minerva roll her eyes. "I was wondering as to why Mr. Potter is here, and why he is sitting up here with the staff?"
"Mr. Potter is here because he was in a dangerous situation that required aftercare and Madam Pomfrey has been looking after him."
"But then why is he not seated with her? Why is he seated so close to you Headmaster?"
Harry was doing his absolute best not to comment on anything that was happening, but it was killing him a little bit. He chanced another look at Minerva, but her eyes were closed, as if she was dreading what Dumbledore was going to say. His gaze was torn away when the Headmaster answered the woman.
"Harry is seated next to his Head of House. I'm sure you can see why that would be the best position for him when he must sit among people he only knows as his teachers. At least they have something in common."
Harry saw Minerva casually slide her hand from the table and hide it in the folds of her robes. They had more in common than even Dumbledore thought.
"Hmm. Well. I will certainly be writing to Cornelius about this. It is a rather intriguing situation Dumbledore."
He merely nodded and turned back to his plate, never once looking at Harry or Minerva. When he swept out of the Great Hall a few minutes later people started to follow suit. Soon they were sitting alone along the middle of the table, the rest of those left far enough away that if they whispered they would not be overheard.
"She's going to be fun." He glanced at her as he grabbed another piece of toast.
"She lives in the Minister's pocket. I want you to remember what I told you. Try and behave yourself Harry." She looked across at him with her stern face. Showing him that she could still very much be the teacher he remembered, even if he got to see past the mask.
"I'll try Professor, but I can't make any promises." He grinned and she shook her head as they watched Umbridge walk out of the Hall. "She really is something."
"Dolores Jane Umbridge." She smirked at him. "A nightmare dressed all in pink."