I do not own Harry Potter. Charlotte Potter and most of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team members are my OCs.

The Head in the Fireplace

In the early hours of the next morning, Charlie found herself staring at a blank piece of parchment, quill in hand. She supposed she ought to tell Sirius what had occurred, though she wasn't exactly sure how to say it. Such information needed to be hidden in code, since it was getting dangerous to send mail these days.

But then again, she wasn't entirely sure if she should inform her godfather of the pain she received in her scar. Whenever she experienced the odd pain, there was an equal chance of the pain being nothing or signifying something was about to happen. While she felt Sirius ought to know, she also didn't want him to worry.

Pursing her lips, she finally scrawled out a message. She decided to use a codename, for though Sirius had been proven innocent she knew that, under the chance her letter was intercepted, the interest would be heightened if the letter was directly addressed to Sirius Black. Best to keep low-key on the letter front, at least.

Dear Snuffles,

So my first week of school kind of sucked. Here's hoping it gets better. Just wanted to let you know that the thing that happened last summer happened again last night in detention with my new DADA professor, Dolores Umbridge.

Also hoping to see our large friend soon.

Love,
Charlie

Scanning it over multiple times, she decided it was safe to send. But now she needed an owl.

She got up and shuffled down the spiral stairs and stepped outside. She ran a hand through her raven hair, feeling exhaustion creep up on her. She had gotten up early and hadn't gotten much sleep the past week. A trek to the Owlery was something she did not want to make.

Dropping to the floor, she sat beside the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower. 'Harry? You awake?'

'Yeah. What's up?'

'Can you do me a favour? I need to send a letter but I'm too tired to walk all the way down to the Owlery. Can you send it for me?'

'Sure. I'll be up to get your letter soon.'

'I'll be waiting. Thanks, you're the best!'

'I better be.'

Ten minutes later Harry arrived. He arched an eyebrow at his sister, who had bags under her eyes and looked paler than normal. "You do look tired."

"It's been a rough week," she muttered, handing over the letter. "I'm going to sleep some more before seeing if I forgot to do any homework. I probably did."

Harry fingered the envelope. "Does this letter have anything to do with the twinge I felt in my forehead last night?"

Charlie nodded. "Yeah. Don't worry about it. I'm sure it's nothing. I'm working on guarding my emotions from you, but sometimes I get caught by surprise."

The Hufflepuff eyed her. "So…what exactly happened your first night of detention? The night I felt a horrible pain in my right hand?"

Charlie winced. "So you did feel it."

"Kind of hard not to. But you didn't say anything and after that night it stopped, so I didn't think much of it. But since you just said you're working on blocking your feelings from me, I'm wondering if I should have kept experiencing that pain."

Knowing she would have to tell him eventually (those scars were bright and she couldn't keep her hands hidden in her sleeves forever) she extended her right hand. Harry's brown eyes filled with horror when he saw the red words etched into her pale skin.

"She's a monster!"

"You're telling me."

"You haven't told anyone?"

"Well, Ron found out, and I don't know if Hermione noticed or not. She knows about my scar, though."

Harry gaped at his sister. "You can't just let her get away with it!"

"Look, Umbridge is not someone to mess with. If I tell Sirius, he's going to want to do something about it, and I don't want her using her Ministry connections to throw him back in Azkaban or something even worse."

"But…this is twisted! This is disgusting!" cried Harry.

Charlie shrugged. "I've been through worse. This is nothing."

Knowing that this was a matter where she would not budge, Harry gave a reluctant nod. "If you say so. I'll go send the letter. Get some rest. You definitely deserve it."

"Thanks." Charlie smiled gratefully. "If you see Ron on your travels, can you let him know about the scar thing?"

Harry nodded and departed. Charlie headed back inside Ravenclaw Tower and went to her dorm, where she dropped on top of the covers and fell into a sound sleep.

…

She woke up around lunchtime, a bit more energized. With a yawn she stretched, got dressed into her Ravenclaw robes and headed for the Great Hall. She joined Hermione at the Ravenclaw table, where the bushy-haired girl was reading through the Daily Prophet.

"Anything good?" she asked, spooning some tomato soup into her bowl.

Hermione shook her head, folding up the newspaper and setting it aside. "Nothing of interest to us," she replied. "You sure slept long."

"Yeah, well, it's been a long week. I sent off a letter to Sirius, by the way," she informed in a low tone.

"About you-know-what?" asked Hermione. When her friend nodded, she wondered, "Were you careful?"

"I made sure that an outsider wouldn't be able to pick anything up from it," assured Charlie.

After they finished eating, they joined with their male friends and went for a walk through the castle. Hermione eyed her friends with a soft frown. "You ought to be working on your homework," she said sternly. "You're quite a bit behind."

Ron waved a hand dismissively. "I'll do it later. Besides, I'm too nervous about Quidditch."

"Congratulations," said Charlie with a warm smile.

Ron blushed. "Thanks. Do you think you could do a bit of practice with me before your team practice?"

"Sure." Charlie nodded. "I'd love to. Harry, you ready for the Quidditch season?"

He shrugged. "I guess so."

"Try not to sound so enthusiastic."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Funny. By the way, Filch cornered me in the Owlery when I was giving Hedwig your letter. He thought I was sending out an order for Dungbombs."

Ron arched an eyebrow. "Why would he think that?"

"I don't know. Why does Filch think everyone is out to get him?"

"Because it's true."

"Fair point."

Charlie shook her head in amusement. "Can I see the newspaper?" she asked Hermione. The girl handed it over and Charlie skimmed through it. She eventually found an article that caught her attention, so small she almost missed it. "No way!"

Her friends halted and looked at her in concern. "What?" asked Ron.

Charlie glanced around to make sure they were alone in the corridor before reading the article aloud.

Ministry Trespasser Apprehended

On the thirty-first of August, Sturgis Podmore, age thirty-eight, stood trial before the Wizengamot for trespassing and attempted robbery at the Ministry of Magic. He was caught by Eric Munch, a night guard who found Podmore when he came to investigate the noise. Munch found Podmore attempting to force his way through a top-security door at one in the morning. Podmore refused to speak in his defense and was sentenced to six months in Azkaban.

"Six months!" cried Harry. "That's way too extreme!"

"It is, but Mr. Fudge isn't going to take anything lightly these days," said Charlie grimly, folding up the newspaper and handing it back to Hermione. "Doing suspicious activity at one in the morning at the Ministry is pretty condemning."

"Think it was Order business?" asked Ron.

Charlie shook her head. "No. He was supposed to see us off, remember? But he never showed up. No one knew what happened to him. I don't think this was of his own accord."

"Yeah! It could have been a trap!" exclaimed Ron. "Some Ministry worker probably lured him there and set him up!"

"It's entirely possible," agreed Hermione.

Though Charlie didn't disagree, that wasn't the particular theory she had been getting at. The article of Podmore's sentencing was new, so she doubted very many people were aware of the man's whereabouts since August thirty-first, including the Order members. There was a very good chance Sturgis Podmore wasn't aware of his actions, thus the reason he refused to defend himself, because he couldn't. How can you prove your innocence when you don't remember anything?

Suspicious, she mused. Suspicious indeed.

She would have thought about the matter all day if she had not promised Ron she would help him with his Keeper abilities. The two walked out into the afternoon sun while Hermione and Harry worked on their homework.

"I'll probably regret leaving my mountain of homework this late, but I need a break," she said as they walked across the grounds to the Quidditch pitch.

"We have plenty of time to do it," said Ron cheerfully. "Plus, you're smart, so it'll take no time!"

Retrieving the necessary ball from the cupboards in the changing room, Charlie returned to the pitch to see Ron already in the air. She hovered up to join them and acted the role of Chaser. She spent the next few hours helping her friend practice, and was rather impressed with his abilities. He blocked the majority of her shots, and got better the longer they practiced.

"Good job," she praised when they settled on the ground.

Ron smiled. "Thanks. Our first actual practice is later tonight, about an hour after your team. Do you want to watch?"

"Sure," she agreed. "I'd love too."

"Okay! Great."

The two went inside the castle, paused by the Great Hall to have some dinner. Charlie ate quickly, sprinted up to her dorm to get changed into the custom-made Ravenclaw Quidditch robes Ron had gifted her a few years ago for Christmas, and booked it back to the pitch.

"Hey, Cho," she greeted the only other one on the field. "Guess we're early."

"I didn't want to be late for our first practice," said Cho, blushing lightly. "I suppose I was a bit too eager."

"Hey, I'm here too, so don't worry about it. I'm crazy excited. I've missed this game."

"Oh, yeah," said Cho in realization. "There wasn't any Quidditch last year because of the Triwizard—" She immediately stopped talking and her hands flew to her mouth, dark eyes widening in horror. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"No, no, it's fine!" said Charlie quickly, ignoring the pang of sadness as Angelina's face flashed through her mind. "It's not a forbidden topic or anything. You don't have to be sorry."

Cho's hands lowered. "I admire you."

Surprised, she stared at her new teammate. "Me?"

Cho nodded. "Cedric and I, we both admire you. I don't think I would have survived, going through what you did. Cedric said he'd be a goner if it had been him chosen."

Charlie rubbed her neck. "Yeah, well, I've had my own brushes with death."

"And I heard about the way you stood up to that horrible Umbridge woman," continued Cho. "I don't think it is fair, the way others are treating you. I want you to know that Cedric and I are behind you, one hundred percent."

Charlie smiled softly. "Thank you. I really appreciate that. Hey, listen, congratulations on making the team. I wish I could have been there for the tryout, but for obvious reason, I couldn't."

"It's fine. I'm excited and nervous." Cho held her broom tightly. "I don't think I'll be as good as Scarlet."

"You won't know that until you try."

"Oh, great! You guys are here!"

The two turned to see their captain making her way towards them. "The others should be here soon, so I guess we should just wait," said Eliza, fingering the Quidditch Captain badge pinned to her robes. "I'll go grab the balls."

Five minutes later, the rest of the team gathered on the pitch. "It's good to be back!" boomed Clancy Stevenson. "I'm ready to get reacquainted with that Bludger."

Aurora Lore, his fellow Beater, snorted. "I don't think your skull can take any more hits."

"I still can't believe Scarlet passed me over as being Captain," grumbled Tommy Nickerson, kicking moodily at the ground.

"I'm sure she put a lot of thought into this decision," soothed Danny Carting, who was a Chaser along with Eliza and Tommy. "It probably wasn't easy for her."

Aurora stared at the grey-eyed teen incredulously. "You can't be serious. There was only one obvious choice."

"Excuse me?" asked Tommy indigently.

"You're a hothead. We'd kill you before the end of the season," informed Aurora.

"And Scarlet wasn't?" snapped Tommy.

"She's scary," said Danny feelingly. "You are not scary."

"He has a point," agreed Clancy. "And I'm impulsive with no mind for strategy. So, since Charlie isn't old enough, Eliza was the best option."

"I'm not so sure about that," muttered Eliza. "I don't have the personality to deal with you lot."

Tommy immediately launched into a counter argument, and Charlie spotted Cho watching them in bemusement. "Yeah, it's always like this," she informed with a grin.

"Tommy, be quiet!" Eliza finally cried. "We're a year out of practice so we have to get to work. Plus, we have to get Cho settled into our routine."

"Right, the new girl." Clancy saluted their newest team member.

"Aye, aye, Captain," said Charlie, mounting her broom and taking off. "Let's see if you guys are still up to snuff."

Tommy smirked, joining the girl in the air with the others following after him. "All right, Big Mouth. Let's do this."

They spent the next couple of hours going through their previously established plays, coming up with new ones, and teaching Cho the dynamics of their team. At the end of the practice, they regrouped on the ground.

"Nice job, guys. You did really well," said Eliza, looking visibly relieved. "Cho, you're a great Keeper."

Cho blushed. "Thank you."

"I'll let you guys know when the next practice is," said Eliza. "That's all for tonight."

The group trooped back to the castle, brooms dragging behind them. Charlie glanced at Cho. "So, what did you think?"

"It was great!" said Cho with a bright smile. "I'm glad I decided to try out."

Charlie smiled. "Me too."

She entered the castle and went up to her dorm. The fifteen-year-old quickly got dressed into a pair of jeans, a shirt and her regular robes before doing as much homework as she could in fifty minutes before stopping and heading off to see Ron's practice.

When she reached the pitch, it was to see the Gryffindors gathered on the field and the Slytherin team in the stands, with an assortment of their friends. She ignored the jeering coming from the Snakes and took a spot in the lower stands. She spotted Ron, who was pale and looked rather nervous.

"Oi!" called Fred, noticing her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm creeping your practice!" she returned. "Problem?"

George snorted. "With you, no. But there's about twenty others I'd like to give the boot."

"Just ignore them," muttered Alicia. "Everyone, in the air. We're getting started."

"What's that Weasley is riding?" called Draco, sitting between Pansy and Goyle in the stands on the other of the pitch. "Firewood?"

Charlie winced. This isn't going to go well, she thought grimly, watching in concern as Ron glowered at the handle of his broomstick, lips in a tight line.

It was then she noticed an unfamiliar girl in the ranks of the team. She had long dark blonde hair, hazel eyes and a freckled face. Stomach sinking, she realized that the new girl was taking the place of Angelina as Chaser.

The Slytherins jeered and roared, which threw Ron off of his game. Heckles erupted every time the ginger dropped the Quaffle and when his dives were sloppy. The Gryffindors were doing their best to ignore them, and though Charlie wanted to stand up for her friend, she was outnumbered twenty to one, and the Slytherins weren't known for playing fair. Even if the Gryffindor team joined in, it would still be a messy fight that she'd rather not happen.

On his third attempt, Ron managed to catch the Quaffle. Relieved and rather enthused, he chucked the ball at Katie. But it sailed through her outstretched arms and smacked her in the face. Charlie flinched as the Slytherins howled.

"Sorry!" called Ron, face a deep red.

Alicia ran a hand down the side of her face. "Try to pay attention, okay?" she asked in exasperation. "Katie, you okay?"

Fred and George flew over to the girl. Fred handed her a small purple square. "This should help," he said. Katie took it and quickly ate it.

They continued going through their practice, but the Slytherins were relentless. Their insults increased in volume, and Ron grew worse with every toss that was thrown his way. Alicia was reaching the end of her rope and Katie's bleeding nose just got worse.

"It's not stopping!" she shrieked thickly, pressed her sleeve against her nose.

Charlie flicked her gaze over to the twins, who were exchanging concerned glances. Fred reached inside his pocket and pulled out another purple square. He studied it for a moment before his eyes grew wide with horror.

Okay…so maybe those Snackboxes aren't necessarily the best idea, she thought.

The Slytherins began a chant of "Gryffindors are losers" and five minutes later the practice was called to an end. Katie was white and covered in blood, being supported by the twins.

"Our fault," said George apologetically. "We accidently gave her a Blood Blisterpod."

"Then I guess practice is over," sighed Alicia. "Everyone get changed."

Charlie climbed over the barrier and dropped onto the pitch, following after the Gryffindor team. She gave a soft scowl as the Slytherins continued their jeering, and it didn't help when Pansy hollered over the crowd, "Potter! Your scar hurting you again?"

Glaring at the ground, Charlie walked firmly past the group of Slytherins to wait for her best friend. When he walked out of the changeroom ten minutes later, it was with a miserable expression. Charlie set a consoling hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," he muttered as they started the walk for the castle, taking the long way as to avoid the Slytherins. "I'm the one who sucked."

"You don't suck. You were great at practice. You just let the Slytherins get to you. That's what made you nervous."

Ron eyed her uncertainly. "You think that's it? It's not me?"

"It's not you," confirmed Charlie, and she was sincere. She knew Ron had the skills to be a great Keeper, but his own self-confidence and doubts hindered his abilities. It didn't help that the Slytherins took advantage of this. "You just have to tune them out."

The redhead nodded slowly. "Maybe…maybe you're right. I'll do better next time."

"I'm sure you will."

So long as no Slytherins happened to be around, anyway.

…

The following Sunday was spent doing homework in the library, only taking breaks to eat. Hermione read a book while her three friends finished their lingering assignments. Ron had informed them of his horrible practice, and he was grateful for the support they immediately gave him.

"You really ought to have finished that earlier," said Hermione, taking a moment to flick her gaze from her current page to stare at her friends.

Ron snorted. "You've said that a dozen times already. We know. We get it."

"I've only got a paragraph left to write for this Transfiguration essay," protested Charlie, green eyes glued to her textbook.

Ron groaned. "I haven't even started that one yet."

"Can you do me a favour and go through my Astronomy essay?" asked Harry, sliding his roll of parchment towards the bushy-haired girl.

Hermione set her book aside and edited the essay, making corrections here and there. Charlie took a break from writing her conclusion to help Ron finish his History of Magic homework and get him started on Transfiguration.

"It's a plot," muttered Ron as he flipped through his Transfiguration textbook. "They're trying to kill us with homework."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course. It's not like this is a school or anything." She glanced over Ron's shoulder and frowned. "That owl. Isn't that Hermes?"

Eyes wide, the teen twisted around to stare at the window. "Blimey, it is."

He opened the window to let the owl inside. He took the letter and the handsome screech owl departed immediately. The ginger slowly unfurled the scroll and stared at the writing. "It's Percy, all right."

"You gonna read it?" asked Harry.

"Guess I better. Could be an emergency."

He read through the letter, and a scowl grew across his face with each passing paragraph. Disgusted, he shoved it across the table, and his three friends crowded over it so they could see what it said.

It was a long letter, starting with Percy's congratulations to Ron for his new prefect status. It then warned him to stay away from Charlotte, for he believed it was dangerous for his brother to keep associating with her. He felt that the views of the Minister were accurate, and that Dumbledore wouldn't be in the Ministry's favour for much longer. He also urged Ron to speak with Umbridge if he thought she would react violently to his severing ties with her. He went on to say how Ron's allegiance should be with Umbridge, and that their parents were mistaken in believing in Dumbledore.

"I mean, I think he means well," tried Charlie. "He's just trying to protect you. And I promise I won't get violent if you want to run in the other direction."

Ron's dark expression did not waver at her attempt of a joke. "He's a prat," he hissed, snagging the letter and tearing into small pieces. "A horrible, horrible, prat!"

"Don't worry about it," soothed Charlie. "I know he'll come around eventually. Let's just finish our homework."

When the sky grew dark, Charlie and Hermione agreed to look over the work of their male friends and make any corrections.

"You lot, it's time to leave!" barked Madam Pince a few hours later, stomping over to their table. "It's midnight! Don't you ever sleep?"

Blinking, the four looked outside and discovered that it was indeed very dark out, with glinting silver stars. They had completely lost track of time.

"We're so sorry!" exclaimed Hermione, jumping up and frantically giving Ron his essay back. "We'll leave at once!"

The library was supposed to close a few hours ago, and Charlie was grateful that the librarian allotted them an extra time for work. "Thanks," she said softly, shoving her books into her bag.

Pince huffed. "It's not like I have anywhere to be. But this was a one-time thing, understand? You looked so overrun with work it was a rather pathetic sight."

She stormed off with that, and Ron shook his head. "She probably let us stay longer because we're her best customers," he muttered.

The four packed up and left the library. They soon went their separate ways and the two girls entered their Ravenclaw common room. Charlie dropped onto a couch and let out a heavy sigh. "Okay, better homework habits are needed."

Hermione took a seat in an armchair. "Well, it didn't help that Umbridge kept you in detention so late."

Charlie glanced at the fireplace to see if the fire was still going and gave a double-take. She got up and crouched down near the hearth, eyes wide. Hermione stared at her in bewilderment. "What are you doing?"

"I think I saw Sirius' head in the fireplace," she replied.

"You must be seeing things—ah!"

For there was Sirius' head, floating in the flames. Hermione got down beside her best friend. "What are you doing?" she whispered.

"I wanted to speak with Charlie," said Sirius. "It's about time you came back. I've been checking in every hour. Where were you?"

"Working in the library with the boys," answered Charlie. "Are you sure you should be doing this? Can't you send me a letter or something?"

"The answer I have for you can't be put in a letter," informed Sirius. "About your scar, we don't think it's anything to worry about."

"I thought as much," said Charlie. "But I figured you would probably want to know anyway. He probably just got angry while I was in detention."

"Plus, he's also back, so it will probably start hurting more," added Sirius. "You don't think it has anything to do with that Umbridge woman, do you?"

"No," said Charlie honestly. "She's just a horrible person, but I don't think she's in league with him in any way."

Sirius nodded in approval. "Very good observation. She's just nasty. Remus goes on about her."

Charlie frowned. "Does he know her?"

"Not personally, no. But she's responsible for all the anti-werewolf legislation. Made it near impossible for him to get a job, but it helped with Dumbledore's influence. Don't know how that's going to work now, though. But it's not just werewolves. She tried to convince Fudge to tag all the merpeople."

"That's ridiculous," muttered Hermione. "There's nothing wrong with half-breeds."

"Try telling her that," snorted Sirius. "So, is she training you to kill them all?"

"No. All we ever do is read the textbook," replied Hermione.

"Thought as much. We got word that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"You have to be kidding me!" exclaimed Charlie.

"Afraid not. He thinks Dumbledore will use you as his private army to attack the Ministry."

Charlie put her hands on her hips. "He needs to see a therapist or something."

Sirius burst into laughter. "Yes, perhaps so."

"So we can't use any spells because of Fudge's idiotic fear," said Hermione furiously. "That's not fair!"

"It's not, but there's nothing we can do," said Sirius.

"What about Hagrid?" asked Charlie.

"Oh. Well, he was supposed to be back by now, we're not quite sure what happened, but don't worry. Dumbledore thinks they just got held up or something."

"They?" echoed Hermione, brow furrowed.

"Madame Maxime went with him."

"So they're both missing?" asked the raven-haired girl in concern.

"That's the thing. They got separated on the journey home, and she's fine. She's back at Beauxbatons. We've been in contact with her and she's not sure what happened to him. But don't worry."

"Okay," said Charlie slowly, not entirely comforted.

Seeing that they were unhappy about the news of Hagrid, Sirius tried to cheer them up. "When is your next Hogsmeade trip? I can come visit."

"Uh…I don't actually know." Charlie rubbed her forehead. "It's been a crazy week."

"I bet it has," said Sirius in amusement. But then his face turned serious. "But listen, I know what you're trying to do, and I don't blame you, but you need to be careful. You don't need Umbridge coming after you."

"You heard about my outburst, then?" asked Charlie.

"Yeah. Dumbledore told us."

"I'll do my best. But I'm not promising anything."

"That's as much as I expected," said Sirius with a grin. "All right, I should let you girls get to bed. We'll talk later."

"Bye, Sirius!" the two chorused, and his head disappeared from the flames.

"He really shouldn't be doing that," muttered Hermione as they headed for bed. "It won't be good if he gets caught by another student. It looks suspicious."

"You try telling Sirius that. See if he'll stop," said Charlie.

Hermione smirked. "There wouldn't be a point. He's as stubborn as you are and won't listen."

"Excuse me? I—all right, fine. You're right."

"I always am."