That night, when Harry, Ron and Hermione walked to the Gryffindor common room after dinner, they waited until everyone was gone and then Hermione grabbed a fistful of Floo powder and threw it into the flames. "12, Grimmauld Place!"
Harry knelt near the fireplace. "Sirius? Sirius, are you there?"
Nymphadora Tonks came to answer the Floo call. "Wotcher, Harry! What's going on? Is there trouble at Hogwarts?"
"No, nothing like that. Actually, I wanted to talk to Sirius about something I heard at school."
"We were all having dinner. Remus, Kingsley and Mad-Eye are here too. I'll go call him. SIIIIRIUUUUUUUSSSSS!" she yelled behind her.
"What? I swear, if you've knocked over the umbrella stand again-"
"No, it's Harry!"
"Is he alright?" said Sirius, walking towards the fireplace.
"Hi, Sirius!" said Harry brightly. Hermione and Ron knelt down near the fireplace with Harry.
"Harry! Ron! Hermione! What's up?" said Sirius brightly.
"Actually, Sirius, we heard something at school today, and we wanted to ask you in case you know, I mean, he was a Black, so-" started Hermione.
Sirius was interested now. "Who?"
"Well, it was someone called Regulus Black-" said Ron.
Sirius's gaze darkened. "He was my brother."
"What?" they all said in unison.
"Sirius, I didn't even know you had a brother!" said Harry.
Hermione had also picked up on something else. "Was you brother?"
"He used to be a Death Eater, but then he got cold feet and left. Killed by Voldemort. Or on Voldemort's orders. I really doubt that he was important enough to be killed by Voldemort himself." said Sirius quietly.
"I'm sorry," said Harry. Ron and Hermione were both shocked.
"Well, he wasn't that great of a brother," said Sirius casually, but all three could see that he was sad.
"Can't have been worse than Dudley," muttered Harry.
Sirius picked that up. "What? Why? Don't you like your relatives?" All three fifth-years exchanged looks.
"Er…not really. We don't exactly…get along." said Harry.
"That's an understatement!" said Ron. "Before second year, when me and Fred and George went to - er - rescue him, there were bars on his window."
"WHAT?" Sirius exploded.
"Er…" said Harry. "Wait, I've got another question."
"This isn't over, Harry," said Sirius darkly.
"Er - um - yeah, but, well, your brother, Regulus, er…was he good at Defense Against the Dark Arts?" asked Harry.
"Why?" asked Sirius curiously.
"Well, we heard Professor Dumbledore telling Professor McGonagall that Regulus Black or Bellatrix Lestrange would have made good Defense teachers, but they were both Death Eaters, right?" said Hermione.
"Yes, but they both did have an affinity for the Dark Arts - and teaching. Well, they definitely would've been well qualified," said Sirius.
"He said that you and Remus would have been good choices, too," said Ron.
Sirius grinned. "Well, Remus evidently was. But me…nah, I'm not that mature yet. I would probably be getting into detention every day for playing pranks on the students!"
They all had a good laugh. "It's true!" called Remus Lupin from somewhere behind Sirius.
"It's not like you were any better! Everyone knows that you were the mastermind behind everything!" said Sirius over his shoulder.
"What? No way! That's so not true!"
The trio and Marauders talked for a little while more and then bade each other a good night and headed back up to their rooms or respective dormitories.
Little did they know, another interview was taking place at the same time in another part of the castle.
On a surprisingly short notice, Albus Dumbledore had finally received another contender for the spot of DADA teacher. An owl had reached him that evening, and the interviewee was set to arrive through the Floo any minute.
The flames in the Headmaster's fireplace turned bright green and a woman with curly dark brown hair in a ponytail and bright green robes stepped out of the fireplace.
"Hello, Professor Dumbledore!" she said cheerfully. Personally, Dumbledore thought that her voice sounded familiar.
"Hello. Miss Bella White?"
"Yes. I trust you received my qualifications?"
"Yes, and I find them satisfyingly…er…qualified." They both chuckled. "So, let's get down to business," he continued. "What teaching strategies do you plan to implement?"
"Lots of hands-on engagement, teacher-student interactions and individual attention for every student, engaging class activities, pop quizzes - you know, the like." said Miss White, grinning.
"That sounds in order. Do you have any references?" asked the headmaster.
"Yes. Shall I place a mirror call?"
"Very well."
"Verslavie Devinette!" she called into her mirror.
"Hello?" said the man in the mirror with a slight French accent. He had dark, wavy hair, and looked rather old - but nowhere as old as Dumbledore. "Ah, Miss Bella. This is for the reference?" For the next ten minutes, Mr. Devinette described Bella White's work ethics and teaching style at his private tutoring company.
"This all seems to be very well," said Dumbledore. "Miss White, or Professor White, as we shall call you now, you seem fit for the job. Be warned, their previous Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was rather…er….oh, well, there's no other way to say this. A foul, loathsome, evil little cockroach."
Bella snorted. "Don't worry, sir, I'll take care of it and bring the students up to the adequate level…perhaps even a little extra."
"I shall notify the school of your arrival tomorrow morning, at breakfast. Here is your schedule. In case you require any textbooks, let me know and I'll order them for you and collect the price for each student's book from the previous textbooks. We can easily sell them to a secondhand store." Professor White thought she heard Dumbledore mutter something like "Those books were useless anyway," under his breath.
"You can take over the current DADA teacher's quarters. They - er - need to be a little unfurnished." Dumbledore winced.
Bella just grinned. "Leave it to me. I shall enjoy it. I will ensure that all property is returned unharmed to the owner. Out of curiosity, who is this teacher?"
"Umbridge," sighed Dumbledore.
"What?" said Bella. "You picked her?"
"I didn't," said Dumbledore. "It was the Ministry's decision."
Professor White just rolled her eyes.
(A/N: Have you figured out who Bella White and Verslavie Devinette are yet? In Hermione's own words, anyone would be better than Umbridge. Siriusly =D In case you haven't, wait for the next chapter!)