Hey guys. Reeeeally sorry for the long delay to this story but suffice to say March was a ludicrously busy month in terms of assignments and university work, which kinda drained my motivation to do pretty much anything. But I'm back and I hope to stay back for a while yet, so I give you this new chapter. I hope that you all enjoy the read!

Dance of the Fairies, Flight of the Phoenix

Chapter 26:- Through the Fireplace

"You can't be serious!"

That was perhaps the fifth time that those words had been uttered in just as many minutes, in a private room at 10 Downing Street, and all of them by the same man. The Muggle Prime Minister stared in disbelief at Cornelius Fudge, who was rapidly pacing from one side of the other and forcing his non-magical counterpart to swing his head to follow him, as if watching a tennis match in super slow-motion.

"Deadly serious, I'm afraid," Cornelius nodded. "These… these outlaws, these… aliens… by all accounts they really do come from another world. But I assure you that I am doing all in my power to make sure they are brought down."

"And yet all your power hasn't been capable of doing that to a single one of them?" the Muggle Minister spluttered. "I don't know what you… magical people… are really capable of but I am surprised to hear that, I can tell you!"

"I will have every corner of Wizarding Britain on high alert in the search for them. We will find them and we will put a stop to them but we just need more time."

"Time? People are looking for answers now, Mister Fudge. The phenomenon that broke out in the Cairngorms yesterday… it's swept the nation. And it won't be too long before its sweeping the world. Video footage of a man apparently using some kind of… fire based power to stop an avalanche? There's really no way for you to cover that up, is there?"

"We did our best," Scrimgeour coughed from where he was sitting in the corner. "We were able to implant a false memory into the mind of every Muggle present at the scene so that all they saw was the wall of fire, and none of the other magical feats present at the scene, or the wolves."

"But in the footage you can clearly see that its a man that is causing that fire wall. And there is no way that even you, with all your resources, can wipe the memory of everybody in the country to make them forget that they saw this, and I assure you there is most likely not a single person that has not seen it yet except for those without access to a television. People have begun all kinds of wild speculation! Some people say he's a real life superhero! Some say he's a demon! And others have arrived the the conclusion that he's indeed magical. And I'm sure there are one or two out there who think he's from another universe. And you tell me there are over a dozen more like him out there? Do you know what could happen if the widespread non-magical community were to discover the existence of your own?"

"I am all too aware of the potential consequences," Fudge wheeled around to stare with wide eyes, gesticulating so wildly it looked like his body was spasming out of control. "Believe me, we want to keep the Statute of Secrecy intact even more than you do. All I am asking from you for now is to keep up a pretence of investigating the matter until we can find a convincing cover story."

"I'm not sure you can find a convincing cover story," the Muggle Minister shook his head. "At present the only possible idea I've got in my head was that the man was a scientist that had somehow managed to develop flame powers and sacrificed himself while saving people from that avalanche, but that still sounds like something straight of a comic book! And yet there's already been such an outcry, I'm starting to think many people might believe that one. But just as many other people won't."

"All we need is more time. And I promise you, when they are brought under control we will ensure that they never threaten the Statute of Secrecy again. We will do whatever it takes to see these… terrorists… are neutralised."

"Terrorists is a bit of a harsh term, isn't it?" Scrimgeour coughed, drawing the attention of both men, who swivelled their heads to look at him in tandem.

"They are people who are spreading terror through our entire community, Rufus," Fudge pointed out. "'Terrorist' sounds like quite an apt description to me."

"But Minister… is it really?" Scrimgeour got to his feet. "Are you forgetting one piece of crucial information? Yes, the footage of that boy… Natsu, I believe his name is… has been seen by most of the Muggle populace of the United Kingdom but beyond using insanely strong fire magic… what did they see him do? They saw him save lives, Ministers. They saw him deliberately risk his life, throwing himself into the path of that avalanche, to prevent it from hitting the rest of the people on the mountain. And he succeeded too. There were no casualties that day. None at all."

"…That is a point," the Muggle Minister stated.

"No, it isn't," Fudge shook his head vehemently. "Most certainly not. His comrades were also on that mountain. His fellow Fairy Tail mages. They were the only ones he was trying to save - the rest were just lucky."

"How can you categorically say that, Minister?" Scrimgeour growled boldly. "What do you truly know of these people? Only what that Levy McGarden told you under the influence of a Truth Potion and she was not given the time to tell us everything before she was broken out."

"By mages that wrecked half of our Ministry!"

"By mages that were trying to save their friend! I don't think we should be thinking of these people as enemies, Minister! I think we should take the opportunity to extend the hand of friendship to them."

"Hand of friendship… are you listening to yourself? If you shook hands with these monsters they would probably shatter every bone in your body!"

"Monsters, you say? Minister, the mere fact that they are willing to rescue each other proves that they are not…"

"It proves nothing, Head Auror Scrimgeour," Fudge straightened up to his full height which was not that much. "Look… I am not going to pretend that I know exactly what these Fairy Tail mages are planning, or what they want. All I know is that they are dangerous, destructive and violent. They proved that when they tore our walls to shred and put over two dozen people into Saint Mungo's for treatment for broken bones. And can we forget what happened down in Chagford?"

"I certainly can't," the Muggle Minister cried. "An entire population of people wiped out in less than an hour?! That cannot be allowed to happen again. That's got to be the biggest single disaster in British history and I'm not sure how much longer people will bite the freak tornado story."

"Exactly! And who could have done that if not a Fairy Tail mage," Fudge nodded. "The people are terrified and it is our duty to keep them safe. And so long as I am Minister, I want you to keep doing your duty in bringing them in, understand?"

"…Yes, Minister," Scrimgeour scowled, though he was clearly far from happy with the decision. "And what of the Dark Mark that also appeared in the sky above that mountain? Clearly whoever cast is was most likely the one that orchestrated that avalanche in the first place."

"Yes, yes, yes, look into it," Fudge nodded. "But Fairy Tail is to remain the top priority."

"Are you certain, Minister? You don't think… the appearance of the Dark Mark… could signify a larger threat?"

"…Are you suggesting, Scrimgeour, that you are starting to think the He-Know-Must-Not-Be-Named… might have returned?"

"Is it not something we should be concerned about after this?"

"Need I remind you that the Dark Mark was fired into the sky at the Quidditch World Cup final last year as well, before Dumbledore started all this false hysteria? This is not the work of a Dark Lord, this is the work of someone seeking to cause panic, and I want them found certainly. But our most important worry right now is keeping the Statute of Secrecy intact."

"Quite right," the Muggle Minister nodded. "If the people found out that I was aware of such a world and kept it secret from them it could mean the end of my career, and who knows how else they would react. These… extradimensional beings… they need to be contained. I don't know whether the right approach is to imprison them or befriend them, but either way I am relying on you, Mister Fudge, to get the job done."

"And I shall," Fudge nodded. "Good day, Minister."

"Good day, Minister."

Scrimgeour wrinkled his nose as he took a handful of Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace before Cornelius. After the events of the Cairngorms he now firmly believed that the Ministry as a whole was taking the wrong approach to the problem at hand. Fairy Tail was not evil. They didn't deserve to be made into enemies. Clearly they were reckless, stubborn, powerful and possibly half-mad individuals in some cases. And they were definitely causing problems - nobody could deny that.

But the ones he had encountered at least were being unjustly vilified. And the primary reason for that was fear. Fudge was afraid of them. As were most of the Wizengamot, most of the public… and to be honest they had good reasons to. Chagford was now a name that everyone in the country was familiar with… and yet the Fairy Tail mages had insisted they had not been the ones responsible for that… massacre.

But if not them… then who?

The Dark Lord? Maybe… if he really was out there. But even in the old days he had never caused that destruction on such a scale. Though… was it possible that he could have done it in an attempt to frame the Fairy Tail mages? Keep the Ministry's attention on Fairy Tail? But if that was the case then why would someone send the Dark Mark up later that very same day? It made no sense.

One thing Fudge was correct about though - the country as a whole was terrified. And that had to stop.

"Maybe I'll send another patrol down to Devon," he murmured as he entered the fireplace. "See if we can't suss out who was really responsible for that."

Lucy hummed to herself as she hurried downstairs, idly flicking her hair back slightly and doing her very best to ignore the row of severed House Elf heads that she was forced to bypass on the way to the kitchen below. Though she was unable to stop the chill from creeping up her spine when she did so. Gods, this place gave her the creeps. Everywhere she looked there were things that made her mind scream at her to get out! Get out now for she was clearly in the house of a madman or some… twisted Dark Guild member or something.

It was fortunate that the others around her seemed to have settled in quite well or she was sure she would have had nightmares. And Sirius' assertion that he, the owner of the house, hated it even more than she did, had been quite reassuring.

Most of the Order members had headed to work that morning as per usual. But as she entered the kitchen, Lucy chuckled when she noted that Charlie Weasley was still there. And, as had been predicted, he was talking eagerly with Natsu - who seemed to be just as eager to reply.

"Headbutting rocks?" Charlie laughed.

"Yeah," Natsu grinned widely, pounding the top of his head with his fist as if to demonstrate. "I think that one was his favourite form of training. He said the most important thing to learn was the importance of never giving up and whenever I cheated by using magic to break the boulder instead of just my head, he would drop me in the river."

"Hahahaha! Oh, I can't tell you how envious I am of you. Beyond words can say!" Charlie exulted. "I'd give anything to meet this Igneel. Or either of the other two dragons! If I did, I am pretty sure I could die happy."

"Uwa… I hate it when someone uses my name like that," Happy rubbed his forehead with a paw from where he was sitting at the table. "Always makes me imagine them turning into me and then dying with my face… creepy…"

"Oh, Lucy… late morning," Natsu grinned when he saw her enter the room.

"Well, considering everything that happened yesterday I thought I could treat myself to a lie-in," Lucy noted as she sat down at the table nearby. "And you're still talking about Igneel, I see."

"He goes on for hours if you let him," Lisanna snickered.

"Believe me, I know," Lucy smirked back. "Not that that's a bad thing of course. He's an interesting subject."

"You can say that again," Charlie nodded. "I've spent my whole life since leaving school working with dragons and hearing about everything from your world… it really sets my imagination on fire… pun really not intended there, I promise."

"Is your mother okay with you doing that?" Lucy asked. "Wendy told me the dragons of this world are just dangerous animals in comparison to the ones in ours."

"Um… really no offence meant," Wendy bobbed her head from where she was sitting next to Gajeel at the opposite end of the table.

"Really no offence taken," Charlie replied, leaning back in his chair with his hands behind his head. "I've always thought dragons were fascinating creatures. And they are. They may be animals but they are simply fantastic. No question about it. But the idea of dragons talking, teaching magic to humans… it almost sounds absurd, unbelievable… like something out of… well… out of a Fairy Tale, I guess… pun, really, really not intended."

"You have to take the bad with the good though," Gildarts murmured from where he was leaning against the wall at the other end of the room. "Yeah, the dragons in our world are incredible but with intelligence comes the opportunity to be evil. At least in this world, you wouldn't get a dragon like Acnologia."

"…That's true. That guy sounds terrifying," Charlie agreed. "But still… there's a part of me that would quite like to see him."

"You'd change your mind very fast if you did, believe me," Lucy muttered dryly.

"Maybe… but to answer your question, Lucy… no, my mother's not okay with it really. She worries a lot. But then again, that's what she's supposed to do. I'd be honestly offended if she wasn't worried. But hey, its my dream and I'm gonna follow it."

"Sounds good to me," Natsu said wistfully, looking off into space. "My dream is to find Igneel again. And I'm definitely gonna follow that one. Even if I'm trapped in another universe to him now I will find my way back."

"…You love him, don't you?" Charlie breathed.

"He's my Dad," Natsu shrugged, before he then smirked and said, "But when I find him you can bet I won't stop kicking him until he tells me why he left me behind all of a sudden with nothing but the scarf he gave me."

"The scarf? You mean that scarf you're wearing? That was a present from a dragon?!" Charlie sat up to stare at the scale-like garment in wonder. "I wondered why you were still wearing that indoors."

"Yeah, I always wear it. I don't like the way I look when I don't wear it anymore," Natsu laughed.

"It does look weird," Lucy agreed. "He even wears it to bed."

"Hoh? And how would you know that, Lucy?" Evergreen raised a brow teasingly, prompting Lucy to go very red and scream at the top of her lungs:-

"BECAUSE HE KEEPS SLEEPING IN MY DAMN BED WITHOUT ASKING, THAT'S WHY! I end up having to sleep on the floor when he does!"

Evergreen and Lisanna both giggled, while Juvia placed her hands to her face and said, "Aaah, what Juvia wouldn't give to find Gray-sama lying in her bed."

"Ghhn…" Gray coughed up the water he was drinking and slowly moved away from the daydreaming Water Mage.

"Jeez, this conversation got stupid," Gajeel rolled his eyes. "But, you know, I think I'd quite like to see one of the dragons you've got in this world. Check 'em out, see how they compare to Metalicana you know?"

"Well, if we ever have the time for it, you're more than free to come to Romania to see them," Charlie offered. "We've got all the species of dragon in the world living in our reserve there. Mostly Longhorns of course, but we take in all kinds. Horntails, Ironbellies, Vipertooths, Opaleyes, Ridgebacks, Fireballs… the lot."

"Ooh, I like the sound of that last one," Natsu cried.

"I like the sound of the Ironbelly," Gajeel smirked, pounding his own stomach and producing a distinctive clanging noise.

"I've seen an Ironbelly before," Sirius spoke up from the armchair in the corner. "It's the only live dragon I've ever actually clapped eyes on. Though unfortunately it was at Gringott's Bank… you know… when I was still allowed in there."

"Bank?" Gajeel frowned. "Isn't that the place where humans go and put money in this world? Like the one where I stopped a robbery before I found anyone I knew here? Why the heck would there be a dragon at a place like that."

"Ugh," Charlie gagged, his face taking on such a sour expression it was a wonder he didn't vomit on the spot. "It's those goblins. They keep them down there in the vaults, use them as bodyguards for the money. Locking them down with great chains, training them like security trolls to…"

He didn't get any further than that before Natsu suddenly seized him by the front of his robes and hauled him out the chair. The room erupted with gasps as Natsu slammed Charlie bodily against the wall, his teeth clenched into a furious snarl as the veins on his forehead stood out like cords. Charlie's breath was expelled from his lungs as Natsu's pupils dilated so much he looked more like a feral beast than a human.

"What… did… you… say?" he growled. "Dragons… in chains…?"

"Oi, Natsu!" Gray yelled. "The hell are you doing?"

"Butt out, Ice Face," Gajeel glowered at him, his hand gripping the tabletop unusually hard. "I wanna hear the answer to this."

"Geuugh… its not me that imprisons the dragons," Charlie coughed, sweating slightly as he could feel Natsu's hands literally begin to heat up while holding him, and half-expected them for them to burst into flames at any second. "I hate the idea as much as you do! If it were up to me they'd all be set free!"

Natsu grimaced and dropped Charlie's robes, allowing him to drop to the floor and land unsteadily on his feet.

"Natsu, don't you think that was uncalled for?" Lucy asked, but Charlie raised a hand and interrupted her:-

"No, it's okay. Really it is. Had I been in his shoes I would have a pretty similar reaction. In fact, I did in a way. I mean, I've always known that Gringotts had dragons as guards but… well… it's downright cruel, is what it is. The Goblins that keep them don't seem to have any pity for them whatsoever."

"What are Goblins anyway?" Evergreen asked, her brow furrowing slightly. "Are they the same as in our world - tiny little squirrelly creatures with little pickaxes that attack people by rolling at them?"

"Ha! I wish!" Charlie shook his head. "No, in our world, Goblins are like humans except they're shorter, gnarled-looking, with big noses and clawed fingers. And they're very, very intelligent. But when it comes to gold and money they believe in absolute fairness which is why they have been allowed to control the financing sector of the wider magical world."

"Can we get to the part about the dragons in chains?" Natsu's clenched fist was shaking slightly as if he was physically struggling not to punch something.

"I am," Charlie replied. "One of the things they value most is their security. Which makes sense considering what they're guarding. So they went out and captured dragons from the wild and forced them deep underground into cramped spaces where they couldn't even hope to fully stretch out their wings. They keep them fettered at all times. They blind them so that they cannot see them and attack on sight, and they train them to back away when they hear certain sounds by brutally torturing them, all so that the more wealthy in our society can have some extra security for their vaults."

"That's… that's horrible…" Wendy choked, the corners of her eyes pricking with tears as held her hands over her mouth, as if she was about to vomit.

"Horrible is putting it nicely," Lisanna agreed. "That's… vile! No, worse than that, it's absolutely diabolical!"

"THOSE BASTARDS!" Natsu spun around and slammed his fists into the kitchen table, hard enough to split it clean in two down the middle, and thus forcing Happy to jump off it to avoid tumbling to the floor.

"Natsu…" the cat murmured.

Even the normally standoffish Gajeel had a look of barely masked fury about his intimidating frame. "I've changed my mind," he said. "I thought that I wouldn't want anyone to meet with Acnologia, but all of a sudden I find myself wishing I could take some of these goblin things back to our world and chuck them at the Black Dragon's feet. See them tame that one."

"Why the hell do you even allow them to do that?" Natsu turned back to look at Charlie accusingly, but the Weasley sibling held up his arms in defence.

"Hey, I told you. If it was up to me, all the dragons in Gringotts would be released and allowed to come and live free at my reserve in Romania. But its not my call to make. It's a call no wizard can make. The Goblins have been given exclusive rights to do whatever they want within the walls of Gringotts as long as they keep the Wizarding money safe. They're a very proud race, very quick to anger, very slow to let a grudge drop. If we went in there telling them what they could and couldn't do they could start a rebellion. Again."

"Again?" Juvia asked.

"Yeah, there's been quite a long and bloody history between wizards and goblins," Sirius grimaced. "And it always stems from the same problem - wizards thinking that goblins are inferior to them, while the goblins thinking pretty much the same thing about wizards. The difference is, unbelievably, most wizards actually assume that the goblins also think we're superior and are happy to serve us, much like a House Elf. But they couldn't be more wrong. We already impose so many rules on them, like not letting them have wands for instance. If we told them what they had to do within the walls of their own bank, things would get messy very fast."

"Which means the dragons suffer and there's very little we can do about it," Charlie agreed. "It really churns my stomach. In fact, this topic led to the biggest fight that I ever had with my brother Bill. We didn't speak for almost four months!"

"What happened?" Lisanna asked, wide-eyed. The thought of her falling out so badly with either of her siblings was nothing short of petrifying.

"Bill works for Gringotts," Charlie replied. "Not torturing dragons!" he added quickly when Natsu spun around looking furious and Gajeel gripped his chair arm so hard it splintered beneath his grip. "No, he worked as a Curse Breaker before the Order was resurrected and he came back here to find a more permanent position. But as a Curse Breaker, he could fulfil his own passion for ancient history and tombs and stuff. But I was furious with him at the time. Mad that anyone in my family would ever work for a company that torments my favourite magical creature so horrifically. It led to such a big shouting match between us that it shook the house."

"But you've made up now?" Lucy questioned.

"Yeah… but it took time. But I think I was in the wrong really - I shouldn't have been angry at Bill for that. After all… the Goblins are going to do that whether or not he works alongside them. But as you can imagine… I don't like them very much."

"Me neither," Natsu was clenching his teeth so hard that it was a wonder he wasn't damaging his own jaw. "I won't forgive them…"

"Natsu…" Lucy murmured.

"We all feel the same way as you, Natsu," Lisanna threw in. "Perhaps not quite as strongly but we do. But I'm sorry to say there's really not a lot we can do about it. Please just… try and relax…"

Natsu glanced across at the white-haired girl before nodding slowly and sitting down in his chair, crossing his arms and glowering into thin air, while Sirius waved his wand and the table sprang back into place. An air of heavy silence filled the room, as everyone present flicked their eyes slowly between the three Dragon Slayers. While Natsu was the most visibly angry, Gajeel had a scowl that made it look like he was trying to burn holes through the wall with his eyes and Wendy was biting her lip and didn't know whether she wanted to cry or glare herself.

"Well… this just got awkward," Sirius noted. "Perhaps we should change the subject."

"Oh, I know what will make you feel better, Natsu!" Happy cried. "Let's try… tickling all the girls in this room!"

Natsu's death glare immediately switched to the expression of an excited schoolchild that had been given a paintbrush! "Great idea! Who's first!?" he leaped to his feet, whereupon Lucy and Wendy screamed and fled the room and practically tackled Levy - who had chosen the wrong moment to come in, Juvia dodged behind Gray grabbed him and yelled, "GRAY-SAMA, SAVE ME!" Lisanna laughed before realising he was serious and ducked under the table and Evergreen rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, you're so immature sometimes," she snorted.

"You're first, Evergreen!" Natsu snickered, advancing towards her with wiggling fingers. The Fairy Mage blinked, startled - she hadn't expected him to dare try it on her!

"No… no, wait… Natsu! Stop! Get… back… stay away from me… No… Kyaaaaaa!"

"Is this really happening?" Sirius asked, staring in disbelief as Juvia and Lisanna both took the opportunity to run past Natsu and escape upstairs while he was busy tickling the daylights out of poor Evergreen. "A moment ago it looked like he was ready to murder a Goblin that walked in the room."

"Natsu's a free spirit," Gildarts replied with a smirk. "They all are really. And really, what shouldn't they be?"

"Oh, I'm not complaining," Sirius laughed. "In fact, it's pretty damn nice to have such a godawful house lightened with such cheerful people. Heck, with you guys around - even I can stomach living here. And believe you me, that is saying something."

"Just be thankful they're reigning themselves in enough not to start destroying things. The Order would need a new Headquarters."

"Yeah. By the way, I'm going to try and talk to Harry through the fireplace again tonight."

"Seriously?" Gildarts raised a brow. "Can't you just send Happy back with a message when he returns to the castle tomorrow?"

"That's not really good enough for me. Harry's my godson. Sometimes, I just need to talk to him face to face. Be there for him, you know? Like I should have been when I was locked up in Azkaban all those years."

Gildarts' jaw tightened slightly and he stared up at the ceiling, his mind stirring up an image of Cana's smiling face pasted across it in his mind's eye.

"Yeah… I know what you mean."

Harry was not in the best of moods. A stark contrast to yesterday when he'd been overjoyed by all the stunts that the twins and their new compatriots were pulling on Umbridge. But then again, it seemed Monday was never going to be his day this year and not just because it was the day where he had all four of the lessons he didn't like.

The news that Mavis had brought that morning, that the two Fairy Tail mages that had emerged in the mountains had been found and brought in was far from enough for him to forget that dream he'd had last night. If anything, it made it worse. Because that, combined with the blaring front page of that morning's Daily Prophet, talking about an avalanche that had gone off in the mountains while the Fairy Tail mages had been present… told him that the dream he'd had last night could not have merely been a dream.

Voldemort really had said those exact words last night. About the avalanche and the Dark Mark… and stepping up his plans.

This time he'd taken the decision not to tell anybody about what he'd seen. After all… what would really be the point? He'd freak most of them out when he really didn't have any useful information to give. He had no idea what any of Voldemort's plans would be. And it would lead to all kinds of awkward questions like, why the heck was Harry having visions of what his own nemesis was getting up to?

Questions that Harry wanted the answers to, but didn't want to worry anyone else with.

Fortunately though, they were prepared for the announcement that all club activities were banned until Umbridge decided to authorise them. Charla's spying had already told them that Umbridge had learned of the meeting at the Hog's Head, and they'd been able to spread the word enough so that nobody acted suspiciously at the news, though when people asked how they'd got it they'd spread the word that Fred and George had overheard something rather than telling them what had actually happened.

Though Harry had not been prepared for Angelina's explosion when she learned that Quidditch was being included in the ban. He hadn't even left the Great Hall yet and he was wondering how much worse his day could get.

And then of course Hedwig, his faithful owl, had arrived in the middle of a History of Magic lesson looking bedraggled, as if she'd been attacked. He had no idea what had happened to her but he was just relieved she was okay.

But it had been pretty gratifying to look up from his work during Potions and Divination, both of which had Umbridge filling out her role as High Inquisitor by inspecting the teachers, to see the squat little eyesore staring at the door and the window as if expecting something huge and hairy to come burst through it at any moment. And the same could be said of Umbridge's own lesson. She continued to force them to read Defensive Magical Theory - the single dreariest piece of literature he'd ever read (even more so than the History books, at least they were interesting even if Binns wasn't) but she flinched whenever someone turned the page.

It actually became a game without words in the class to see which one of them could make her jump the most without making it seem like they were trying to scare her. Victory went, surprisingly, to Lavender Brown who sneezed so violently when Umbridge walked past her that the dumpy woman actually fell over. It was quite hard not to give Lavender a round of applause for that.

But all the terrified Umbridge in the world could not stop the gnawing Harry felt in his gut every time his thoughts turned to last night's dream, and its many potential questions and implications.

The one spark that kept him going through it all was the message from Sirius. Today, same time, same place. A message that told Harry without words that they were due for another midnight chat in the fireplace.

Should he tell Sirius?

Yes… he decided he should… He had to tell someone and he was a little reluctant to take this to Dumbledore considering how dismissive Dumbledore had been last time. Not to mention he was still quite peeved that Dumbledore had not told him about Fairy Tail, although even he admitted to himself that that one was unfair since actually nobody had told him. And yet it didn't stop him from thinking it.

After chugging through an Potions essay that made him want to beat his brains out against the desk, eventually it was just him, Ron and Hermione left in the common room. Except for Charla… and Crookshanks. The former of which was getting increasingly irritated with the latter, as Crookshanks kept moving over to her and sitting extremely close to her, no matter how many times she moved away.

"What is this guy's problem?" she muttered, able to speak now that nobody in the room assumed she was an ordinary cat. "He won't leave me alone."

"Could it be, Hermione?" Ron snickered and clasped his hands together and raised the pitch of his voice slightly as he mock-cooed. "Is Crookshanks in looooooove?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Ron," Hermione rolled her eyes. "He's a male cat. When it comes to cats its the females that try and get the attention of the males, not the other way around. So he wouldn't be interested in… unless… you're not in heat are you, Charla?"

"…IN HEAT!" Charla squealed shaking her paw angrily before she was hushed by all three of the humans. Simmering slightly, Charla muttered. "Of course I'm not in heat. I don't even think I'm old enough for that. And even if I was, I certainly wouldn't be interested in a regular cat that way."

"Okay, I'm sorry. I was only asking. I really don't know anything much about your race."

"And that must really kill you, huh?" Ron smirked.

Hermione rolled her eyes but faltering and blushing. "Maybe a little…"

"Ugh," Charla ran a paw over her face. "I swear… if he starts bringing me fish… I will make someone turn him into one."

"Am I interrupting something?" said a voice from the fireplace.

"Sirius!" Harry grinned in delight, instantly vaulting out of the armchair to kneel in front of the fireplace, where the others joined him. "It's great to see you again!"

"I could say the same," Sirius' ashen head nodded. "Ah, you've got Charla with you. That's good. Happy's here with us at Grimmauld Place right now. He says that he's coming back to the school tomorrow to continue his spy duties. He just wanted to stay an extra day so he could catch up with his friend, Natsu."

"I cannot say I blame him," Charla said. "Are Natsu and Lucy doing good?"

"They appear to be settling in well. In fact, I was just talking with Lucy about…"

"Oooooh! This is so cool!" a voice interrupted as a second head appeared in the fireplace next to Sirius' own, startling the three Gryffindors. "Talking through fire! Why have we never invented this in our world! Oh, hello Charla!"

"Natsu," the white Exceed smiled. "I might have known you'd butt in. It's good to see you."

"You too. Hey, Sirius, what would happen if I ate this fire right now?"

"Er… I'm pretty sure we'd lose the connection," Sirius replied, slightly bemused.

"Wait, if you're the fire guy, then you must be the one that stopped that avalanche yesterday!" Ron said.

"Ah, that was no sweat. Ooh, what would happen if I do this? Karyuu no…"

"Whoa, hold on a second!" Sirius cried, but too late.

"Hoooukooooouuuu…" Natsu cried, and Sirius' head instantly vanished from the fire as a small blast of flame was expelled into the Gryffindor Common Room out of Natsu's mouth. Harry and Ron instantly fell backwards to avoid getting roasted, before Natsu's head was abruptly whisked out of sight and the fire stopped. The Exceed and the three students were left staring non-plussed at the fireplace before Sirius' head re-appeared, looking decidedly deadpan.

"Sorry about that…" he muttered. "Gildarts pulled him out the fireplace by his ankle and threw him into the wall… it's left a Natsu-sized dent in it that we'll have to fix later."

"What? Is he okay?" Hermione gasped.

"He's fine… a bit stunned but no worse for wear. It seems these Fairy Tail mages are made of stern stuff… I'm pretty sure half the bones in my body would have broken if that had happened to me. Anyway… what did happen? He caused an blast of fire all around him in the fireplace on this end."

"Yeah, we got some through this end too," Harry coughed. "But why the hell did he do that? We could have been fried!"

"Well… from I know… it seems Natsu is not prone to thinking things through. The other new recruit, Lucy… she seems to have her head on a lot straighter. But anyway, back to the actual purpose of this discussion… this secret Defence Against the Dark Arts thing you're doing."

"You know, huh?" said Harry. "I wondered if one of them would tell you."

"Well, them and Mundungus. He was in that bar too. Which, by the way, was not the best choice of meeting place, but to be honest I'm quite glad you chose it. It allowed you to meet Fairy Tail. And if you hadn't done that, we would not have been able to learn of the discovery of the Fairy Sphere in the mountains from Umbridge. And it additionally alleviated me of having to keep our coalition from you. I'm sorry, Harry," Sirius gave him a lop-sided grin. "I really don't like keeping things from you, you know."

"It's… it's okay… I understand. But… what do you think?"

"Oh, I absolutely love it! I was thrilled when I learned you were taking matters into your own hands. Which is more than I can say for your mother, Ron. She pitched a fit."

"I figured she might," Ron murmured. "I was kinda hoping she wouldn't find out."

"Just shows she cares, Ron. She gave me quite a long message to give to you about how doing something like this could ruin your entire future, how it would certainly get you kicked out the school and how you're too young to be worrying about fighting Voldemort anyway. Typical worrying mother stuff. Might sound like fretting but, I'll be honest, I wish my mother had given enough damns to be concerned about me. But the point is, she told me to urge all three of you not to go ahead with the plan. Though I will completely override her and say you should definitely go for it!"

Harry felt some of his worries ease. For some reason it was always a relief to know that Sirius was backing him up. Maybe it was because Sirius was pretty reckless anyway and if he thought something was too risky then it really, really was.

"Thanks, Sirius," he grinned - his first full and genuine smile of the day.

"You should know I am immensely proud of you," Sirius let out a laugh that was almost a bark. "For sticking it to that old hag. You'd be doing your father proud too."

"Well, that's not the only thing we've been doing," Charla noted. "Lily's been giving Miss Umbridge quite a few frights."

"Oh? Do tell."

Harry was quick to outline the plan to lower Umbridge's authority within the school by using Pantherlily as a phantom werewolf to terrify her and Sirius almost fell face first into the cinders, he was laughing so hard.

"Using her fear against her like that!" he cackled. "Oh, just wait until I tell Remus about this! I dunno how he'll react to something like this but I bet even he'll be amused. That woman's messed with werewolves enough. Having them figuratively bite her in the bum is beyond appropriate."

"Yeah but… I've been thinking," Hermione said worriedly. "What if this makes her fiercer in her persecution of werewolves after all of this?"

"…Yikes, I hadn't thought about that," Ron paled. "You don't think that's a possibility, do you?"

"Pfft, I wouldn't worry about it too much," Sirius snorted. "After all, if the plan works, it's not just her influence in the school that will end up dropping, but her influence overall. But… ahahaha… I'm sorry I can't stop chuckling. That really is absolutely priceless. Ooh, what I wouldn't give to see the look on her face when…AGH!"

Harry reeled back in horror, as did the others as suddenly a hand seemed to appear in the fireplace, lunging out of nowhere and seizing Sirius by his hair. Sirius yelled and seemed to try and pull backwards but the hand tugged back hard… and it was a very familiar hand… stubby fingers… ugly rings…

"Sirius!" cried Harry as Umbridge's hand tugged on him extra hard and suddenly both it and Sirius disappeared in a flash of green light. "Sirius…! SIRIUS!"

Sirius thrashed and kicked, his world seeming to have become a total windmill. He could smell Floo Powder and in the sudden maelstrom of flashing colours around him he could tell that whoever had grabbed him had used an extra dose of Floo Powder to haul his whole body magically into the fireplace, a feat that would have been very hard to do with physical strength alone especially since he'd been gripping the edges of the fireplace on the other side. But he'd been pulled in anyway, as if someone had grabbed him an Apparated, and he was being whisked along to wherever the hand had originated from.

Floo Powder journeys were rapid - almost instantaneous. The moment he felt his body leave Grimmauld Place he knew he'd have a matter of seconds to break free before he was pulled to his destination. So he thrashed and kicked for all he was worth, seizing the wrist of the hand he could still feel in his hair with both of his own hands and heaving, breaking it free before he lunged sideways, pitching himself headfirst into the wall of the Floo whirlwind…

…and tumbling out through a grate into the middle of what looked like someone's sitting room.

"Gah… ugh…" he grunted as he levered himself up onto his hands and knees, reaching a hand up to rub his head where the hand had been gripping him by the hair while he looked around. The floor beneath him was strewn with ash, but fortunately it didn't seem as though there was anybody here. Wizard or Muggle, that would have been difficult to explain.

"Ah jeez," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet and brushing off copious amounts of ash. "The heck happened there anyway?"

But he didn't need someone to answer. He could already guess. Somehow, Umbridge must have known something was going to go down and tried to pull him through the fireplace to her. Perhaps she hoped to take him prisoner and grab all the glory of capturing Sirius Black… but more importantly… did she now know that he and Harry had some sort of connection with each other?

Almost definitely. But she wouldn't have any verifiable proof to back it up. Memories could be tampered with and Veritaserum could be resisted if you knew how, which meant neither of them counted as evidence in a court of law.

That, at least, was somewhat relieving.

But… what was he supposed to do now?

He briefly checked around for Floo Powder to take him back to Grimmauld Place but there was none. This was probably a Muggle house if that was the case. And he didn't have his wand with him! He'd left it on the table while talking to Harry, meaning that he couldn't just Apparate back either, or create a Portkey! And there would be no hope of rescue through the fireplace, the others would have no way of telling where he'd come out. Fortunately though, neither would Umbridge.

He was stuck… wandless… on the run… just like he had been for the previous two years. He'd only been able to get his new one recently when he'd joined the Order, using Polyjuice Potion provided by Snape to masquerade as Remus and visit Ollivander's Wand Shop. But now, he was back to square one. He even had no hippogriff to ride on again.

But… he still had one thing on his side. The same thing that had been on his side through that entire first year. He morphed into a dog and trotted off through the house. The doors were locked so he forced an exit by crashing his way through a window. He felt a bit sorry for the owner of the house but with any luck they'd just think it was kids.

So… where was he? That was the question… and how would he get back.

Well… he was definitely in a city - that much was obvious. And despite the late hour there were still quite a few cars on the roads and more than a few pedestrians wandering around. Sirius kept to the shadows, slinking his lithe, canine body around the corners and padding down the streets, dodging across roads like a fox in search of a helpful signpost that could tell him where he was. He feverishly hoped that he was still in London… at least then he could get back to the Order quickly enough…

Ha… oh the irony. Now he was out of the house he was trying to get back to that dreary sinkhole of a building as quickly as possible.

But then… he saw a sign that made his heart sink.

One that read 'University of Central Lancashire.'

To be honest, he was not entirely certain where that was but it definitely wasn't London, or anywhere that close to it…

…Did this mean that he was going to have to walk his way all the way back?

Ugh… this was a freaking nightmare and no mistake. But he had to get a move on if that was the case. Harry was probably freaking out right now, and Sirius couldn't stand for that. He needed to reassure his godson that he was alright!

But, just as he was about to move on, a loud cheering noise across the road drew his attention briefly and he saw a large crowd of people gathered outside a well-lit pub and raising their fists into the air. Students of the university maybe… well, what did that matter? It was no concern of his. And yet his keen ears picked up the conversation they were having easily.

"You're absolutely sure?" a man's voice said. "You're not just pulling my leg, are you?"

"Aah, come on," replied a woman's voice, which slurred just enough to tell Sirius the woman was inebriated. "Have a little faith, boy. Trust me, you'll definitely do well in the test. The tarot doesn't lie."

"Still sounds like a bunch of crap to me," the boy said.

"Oh, believe me man, it isn't." another guy cried. "I thought something similar last week, but Cana predicted the scores of the weekend's football match exactly. I won over five-hundred pounds on the bet."

'Cana?' Sirius head shot up.

"And she told me that I'd have my first kiss with my girlfriend around five in the afternoon last Thursday and she was right on the money," another guy agreed.

"And she told me exactly where I'd dropped the keys to my apartment!" said another female voice.

By this point Sirius had crossed the road, and was trying to find an angle where he could see through the crowd. And sure enough, sitting at a table surrounded by amazed students and other pubcrawleres was a woman with long wavy dark brown hair, wearing a green shirt with orange trimmings, a mauve skirt, red stockings and brown boots. She was leaning back in her chair looking quite pleased with herself, her face red and her smile broad and slightly goofy as she laughed and patted the shoulder of the man sitting next to her.

"Don't worry about it," Cana Alberona smiled. "You'll ace the test and be able to proudly take the results back to your family. Now, who's next," she picked up a card. "I can do this all night."

"Cana, I think that'll be enough for now," said another rich, female voice and the crowd parted slightly as another woman walked through them towards the table. Sirius locked eyes on this new woman, who was wearing a simple white shirt over a blue skirt and long deep red hair that flowed down to her mid-back.

Very red hair…

You could say… scarlet.

"Don't you think we should be going back to the hotel?" the woman asked.

"Aaaw, come on, just one more," Cana pouted. "Go on, Erza, please."

Erza! Could it be…?

Yes… there! On the redhead's arm. Sirius could see it, emblazoned in blue for all to see.

The mark of Fairy Tail!

"We need to get a good night's sleep, Cana," Erza Scarlet replied. "After all, we have a long way to go tomorrow and I want us to be ready for anything."