For those of you in our facebook group - Bubbleybear & Pienuniek's Story Nook - this news will come as no surprise. But I recently lost a very dear friend to cancer who was also an unofficial Pre-Reader for the Under Her Spell Series. Leonie Price, I miss you, so very much but I hope that you are free from pain, wherever you are.

In her honour, I am dedicating this entire book to her. Her enthusiasm helped me continue to write on many days where I felt ... lost. In fact, one of the last emails she sent me was that she wished that these books had been on the big screen; that they were better than the originals. I know it will never happen, but the thought was enough to encourage me. Please keep her in your thoughts as we continue with this story. Cheers.

I'm so glad that I can finally give you the next in the series. Just know I've already read Book Six and have taken my notes. Now ... I can say that I've started to write!

Thanks must go out to my team. My pre-reader Pienuniek and my Beta Alice's White Rabbit. I would be lost without the pair of you, truly.

I don't own Twilight, or Harry Potter, I'd be a richer person if I did. But I do so love to create my own places for them out in the world. No copyright infringement is intended.

See you at the bottom ...

Chapter Twenty-Six ~ Fighting Back

"I'm so glad we decided to come home for Easter this year." Bella groaned as she flopped back on our bed.

"Mmm," I agreed, kneeling at her feet and undoing her shoes. There was something about being home in our bed since I've allowed my desire for my mate. It was doing something to me, and I could barely concentrate on what she was saying.

"Although, I have to say I'm worried about what we're going to walk into when we get back."

"Don't care, Isabella. We'll work it out. We always do." I continued to peel off her socks before sliding my hands up her legs to undo her jeans. Jeans that I'm sure Alice makes especially for her because they seemed to be painted on. They were tight in all the right places. Hugging curves that were beginning to drive me completely crazy. I couldn't help but admire Bella's legs and the softness of her skin as I slowly peeled her jeans off. I could write sonnets about the feel of her. The taste. The smell. The heat against my fingers was one of my favorite things. I didn't notice her underwear at first until I ran my hands back up her legs. They were a stunning blue, small, and lace. "Oh … these are just … Gone shopping lately?"

Bella giggled. "Do you like?" She twisted her body at the hips to show me the fact that they were cheekies. The appreciative purr-growl combo I let out was just this side of feral, causing Bella to smirk. "I think that's a yes."

"Better than a thong."

Bella snickered. "How would you know? I've never worn one."

I had begun unbuttoning the fitted shirt she was wearing, but at those words, my forehead dropped to her stomach as I released a sigh. "If you ever do, please don't tell me. I won't be held responsible for my actions."

"I'll remember that. Now why are you undressing me?"

I grunted. "'Cause I need to."

"Well,"—Bella laid back—"have at it then."

I looked up at her from her stomach to see that she was being cheeky herself. If she thought she was going to get one on me, she had another think coming. I didn't continue to unbutton from the bottom of her shirt, I skipped over some and undid a few from the top before pushing it up and over her head and looping it around enough that it tied her hands together.

"Edward, what?"

"No touching, my girl. I want to be able to touch you unhindered. I need it."

"Oh, God."

The chuckle I let loose was quite dark but, according to Bella's thoughts, was a huge turn on. "He's not going to help you."

Since I was at her feet, I slowly slid my hands back up along her calves, my mouth following. I was going to find every single portion of skin that would elicit a reaction from her. My fingers massaged behind her knees only to receive a sensual moan from Bella. "Didn't know that would get a response," I muttered as I nibbled on her kneecap only to lift her leg high so I could pay the back of her knee some love with my mouth.

Me either, Bella thought as she moaned even louder as her hands slapped down on the bubble lamp we kept on the bedside table. Don't need any interup … ohhh … that feels so goooood. She groaned once more when I reached the fantastically placed piece of skin where her leg met her groin.

I hadn't thought about the rest of the house hearing what we were up to, nor did I care. Some eighty odd years of listening to two, and later three, perfectly mated couples, they deserved paybacks.

I skipped over the place where her mind was begging me to go to ease her suffering. I would save that for last. My hands roamed over her hips, just relishing in the fact that I could touch her the way I'd always hoped I would when it came to loving my mate.

Please, Edward. Please … Bella begged as I sucked on the crease on the other side. Don't make me wait. Love me.

I don't think I could ever deny that request from her. "Always, Bella. I will always love you." I sighed right before taking my first taste. The throaty moan I loved to hear rang out into the room as my tongue circled her clit, and I couldn't help the groan that echoed back to her. Nothing, absolutely nothing, had ever tasted as good as my girl. Not even human blood.

I wasn't sure how long I kept my girl up in our room. I know I kept her on the precipice of her first orgasm for so long that she was weeping with tears as she begged me to let her come. I was so wrapped up in giving her as much pleasure as possible that eventually she begged me to …

Stop, Edward, please. No more … I can't.

"One more, my girl. One more and you can sleep," I murmured as I languidly licked her from one end to the other. Every inch of my girl tasted delicious, and I'm not sure I would ever get enough of her.

"No … no … oh my god …" Bella groaned as her release creeped up on her. It was massive, so much so that she bowed off the bed with the force of it. She was so sensitive as she laid there, panting, that I could feel little tremors and shocks rolling through her body.

"Okay, baby?" Bella released one large, body shuddering sigh before relaxing back on the bed. "Was it too much? Should I have stopped?"

No, Bella snorted in her mind as she lazily turned to look at me. That was—without a doubt—the most intense pleasure you've ever given me. Her eyes travelled from my head, down to where my hand was lazily moving over my very painful erection under my pants. I hadn't even realized I was doing it until her thoughts zeroed in on how sexy she thought it was. Want some help with that?

I moaned at the image in her mind. "God, yes. But only if you're …"

"Stand, Edward."

I don't think I had ever moved so fast. I was up off the bed and naked by the time Bella had thought about moving. I watched as my little seductress slowly sat up, pushing her knees together and curling her legs out to either side of her. It seemed that she began to move in slow motion because as she leaned forward to place her hands on the bed, her breasts pushed together, and it took—what felt like—forever for her to rise onto her knees and start crawling toward me.

"Uh uh, Edward. Hands off. That's for me to touch," Bella chastised me for beginning to jack off. I hadn't even realized I was stroking my cock once more.

"Oh god," I groaned as Bella came to the end of the bed and crawled her way off, only to make her way to kneel at my feet. "Where?"

Where did I get the idea for this? I nodded to her question. You know that girls talk. And some of the girls in the dormitories say this is a fantasy for most boys. Is it one for you?

"You have no idea," I said as I reached out to run a finger down the side of Bella's face only to curl a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Then I want you to enjoy it. I want you to tell me your fantasies. You can see mine, and I have no doubt you would act them out with me. I want to do the same for you."

"Oh … okay, Bella," I stuttered as Bella reached for me. Her small hand wrapped around the base of my cock only to pull the tip to her waiting mouth and tongue. The noise I released could only have been described as pornographic, but my god, I'd never get enough of my girl giving me head.

Bella's hands released me momentarily only to grab ahold of my hands to place them on her head, and in her hair. Now, Edward. Fuck my mouth.

With another groan, I began moving slowly in Bella's mouth. She'd given me head a lot … and I mean a lot … but never like this. To say that I had never fantasized about it would be an understatement though. And to look down and see her big brown eyes staring up at me while her pouty lips were wrapped sinfully around my cock … yeah, there was no bigger turn on. "O-okay, Bella?"

Yes. God, yes. To see you like this … there are no words. But, Edward, fuck my mouth the way you want to.

I growled. I couldn't help it. I was turned on beyond belief from everything that I'd done to Bella, and now she was giving me this. I didn't ask any more questions. I just took. I started to move more vigorously, thrusting harder, and farther. The more I seemed to enjoy myself, the more Bella reveled in the fact that she could do this to me. That we would be able to pleasure each other like this for the rest of forever.

"Yes, Bella, yes. Oh god. Forever," I cried out as I released deep into her mouth. In fact, I was so deep that I could feel her throat swallow around the tip of my cock, causing an uncontrollable shiver to vibrate through me.

I watched, unable to move anything, as Bella cleaned me up before standing from the floor. "C'mon, Edward, into bed."

I followed obediently. Rendered completely useless by my stunning mate and climbed into bed with her. The only movement I made without guidance was to pull her into me with her head resting on my chest.

"Was that too much?"

I snorted. Loudly. "Hell, no. That was the single hottest thing you've ever done to me. And everything you've done to me has been hot."

Bella giggled and curled into me more. "Good to know." She let out a yawn.

"Get some sleep. Tomorrow is Good Friday, and I believe everyone will be here for dinner."

~*~UHS~*~

I let Bella sleep in the following morning. So far, our new school year had been anything but relaxing, and I wanted to give her some time to catch up on some sleep that she'd been missing. Hermione and Gabrielle were still sleeping as well, but it seemed that Fleur was already up and was starting breakfast with Kreacher in the kitchen.

I walked into the kitchen to see that they were working well together. "Anything I can do to help?" I asked, causing Fleur to jump. I couldn't help but snicker. "Sorry, Fleur. Didn't you hear me coming?"

Fleur shook her head. "No, sorry. I've been in my head since I woke up. I was hoping that cooking would help, but obviously not."

"Anything you wanna talk about?" I reached out for the bowl of eggs that she had finished cracking and began to whisk them.

At first, Fleur shook her head before she shrugged. I smelled the tears before she nodded slightly. I was around the island and had her in my arms before the first tear fell. Kreacher looked at me over the top of Fleur's head but tipped his in the direction of the family room. I nodded and steered Fleur over to the lounge.

When Fleur had stopped crying, I passed her a tissue. "What's going on?"

"Zee last few days have been hard." Fleur glared at me slightly when I snickered because it seemed that her French accent came back when she was upset. I smiled impishly but waved at her to continue. "Bill has been … how you say … distracted, absent." She sniffled again. "Even hiz letterz have been short. Not like how he uzually iz."

I couldn't help but frown in sympathy. "What do you think is wrong?"

"I do not know." She looked up at me sharply. "You don't zink he haz found someone else, do you?"

"Fleur," I reprimanded her. "The connection works both ways. Do you still feel it there?" Fleur nodded with a small shame-filled look. "Then trust that. Bill would never do that to you. Much like you would never do that to him. Do not doubt your bond, okay?" I finished gently.

Fleur was nodding, but I could see she was still troubled. She had calmed down some, and as such, her accent was fading away again. "Why do you think he's been distracted?"

Bill had written to me a week or so ago asking for some advice. Apparently, I've been touted as the romance king among our friends and family—not that I knew that—and he wanted to ask for help.

I was trying to hide a smile, but it seemed I wasn't quick enough because Fleur caught me. "What do you know?"

With as much innocence as I could muster, I held my hand to my chest. "Me? I know nothing!"

It was with that comment that we realized we weren't alone because a rather feminine snort came from the staircase behind us. "Now we know that's not true," Bella sang as she walked around and sat down on my lap. "You always know more about what's going on."

"Do not," I argued, wrapping my arms around Bella's waist and kissing her cheek.

"Do so."

"Do not."

Bella smirked at me. "Do so. It's the advantage of mind reading." She slapped her hand over my mouth when I went to argue with her again. "Just say 'yes, dear' and agree with me."

Fleur cracked up at Bella's comment and again when Bella removed her hand because my mouth was dropped open in shock. "I can't believe you said that to me."

"You're in a relationship now. You'll never be right. Accept it and move on." Bella shrugged. She pulled innocent off much better than I did.

"Hmph. You've been getting too much advice from Rose."

Bella stood up, laughing, and made her way to the kitchen. "That was actually Mum."

My mouth was, once again, on the floor, causing Fleur to break out into more loud laughter. But we'd gotten the desired effect. Fleur wasn't worried about Bill anymore, and she was happy once more.

~*~UHS~*~

By three o'clock that afternoon, our house was full once more. Everyone was there. From Emmett, Rose, and Neville, to Sirius, Shane, and Harry. We also had the Weasley family, including Ed and his girlfriend Cherry, and Luna, Phil, and Newt with his wife Tina. But it wasn't just them who had arrived. Remus had come with Dora. Opi had also come, bringing with him Moody and Izeldor. We had an absolute houseful. Unfortunately, Lucius had put his foot down and demanded that Draco be home for the break, so we wouldn't be able to have him with us.

All of the children—Emmett, Jasper, and me included—had participated in the biggest Easter egg hunt that Esme could have managed. Eggs were hidden everywhere. Even Cortesia had been involved by hiding eggs in her mane. Esme had even managed to put them in trees and on the roof. It had taken all of us kids almost until dinnertime to find the 1000 eggs she had hidden. It was the most ridiculous number of eggs I had ever seen. We were going to have to give some away.

I think that was the point though because Emmett had already decided to donate seventy-five percent of his to the kids in the Middle Home. He knew they didn't have a lot, even though the witches, wizards, and squibs did what they could for them. In fact, a lot of our older clothes and muggle items had already been donated to the Middle Home.

Well, those that Esme could get away from Bella anyway. She was determined to experiment on a lot of our electrical items. Bella wanted to see what she could convert to the wizarding world.

Esme had also decided that even though we could extend the dining room to accommodate everyone that we should have dinner outside. After lunch, she had sent me over to the Weasleys to borrow their gazebo to set up outside. Once again, I was in awe of magic as Emmett and I set it up. Outside, it was no bigger than a six by three gazebo, but once you walked through the doorway, the gazebo extended by nearly a school oval.

Even Emmett had been impressed. "We really need to get one of these," he'd said as he carried the chairs I'd conjured inside and set up. I totally agreed with him.

What had once seemed like a large empty tent was now noisy and filled with laughter and love. Even Ron seemed to be enjoying himself just a little bit.

Dinner had been a wonderful meal that consisted of different white meats from fish to chicken, as well as something that Molly brought—that I wasn't sure I wanted the name of but was delicious none-the-less. We had vegetables, gravy, a cheese sauce, and mint sauce as well as a plethora of wines and other alcoholic beverages.

Talk of Umbridge, Fudge, Voldemort, and even the fight against him had been put aside for one night so we could enjoy the simple bit of normalcy we'd been given.

I smirked into Bella's hair as Bill, who was sitting next to me, stood from his place and tapped the goblet in front of him. The advice that I'd given him was to do what he knew Fleur would love. He knew his girl better than anyone.

Slowly, chatter around the table came to a stop, and everyone turned in Bill's direction.

He's so nervous, Bella noted, looking at Bill. His hands are shaking. His breathing is faster than normal, and I can smell the sweat building … Merlin! He's proposing! Bella's internal squeal made me wince, but I couldn't help the quiet chuckle I buried in her hair. I nodded softly against her head, letting Bella know she was right.

"Thank you, everyone. I just want to take a moment of this night to say something," Bill began.

Some of the women had figured out what was happening, namely Rose, Alice, and Esme—although Alice had seen it coming—and gave Bill their undivided attention. The others weren't quite there yet.

Bill turned to Fleur and helped her into a standing position. "Fleur, you came into my life when things had started to turn dark. I hadn't been looking for love. In fact, it was so far from my mind, considering everything that was going on. Although, to be honest, I thought I would be the family's eternal bachelor." Bill smiled as there were snickers from around the table.

Fleur, however, was slowly starting to put things together. Bill's behavior with his shorter attention span. Her right hand—which wasn't being held by Bill—slowly came up to cover her mouth as Bill began to lower himself to one knee.

Ignoring all the gasps from around the table, Bill continued. "You have lit up my life, showing me the colors I had been missing. Giving the world a brightness I had never seen before. I, now, take the time to smell the roses and enjoy the crisp scent. You've taught me to enjoy what we have, and I want you to continue teaching me.

"Fleur, I love you with every fiber of my being. Will you do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my wife?" In Bill's right hand, he had a beautiful engagement ring. It was large, larger than I would pick for Bella, but seemed perfect for Fleur.

With a sob, a nod, and an almost shouted "yes", Fleur launched herself at Bill. Cheers rent the air as everyone we considered family shouted their congratulations to the newly engaged couple.

It was Bella's thoughts that captured my attention as she was hugging Fleur and Bill. I hope Edward doesn't make our engagement a spectacle. I love our family, but I want it just for us.

I didn't let on that I'd heard that thought, but Bella would get her wish. When I proposed, it would be just the two of us.

"Kreacher, champagne!" Esme called out above the noise. "Let's celebrate!"

With a click of his fingers, all the adults had a goblet of champagne while those under eighteen had what looked like sparkling grape juice but was the wizarding world equivalent.

Carlisle stood at his place at the head of the table and held his goblet aloft. We all stood and joined him. "My wife"—Carlisle smiled down at Esme—"shared a quote of Dumbledore's with me. It has stuck with me ever since and feels particularly fitting, given the circumstances. 'Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one remembers to turn on the light.' Bill, Fleur, you have just turned on the light in our darkest of times. Your engagement and wedding will be a light that we can use to endure the darkness that is coming.

"May your life, love, and marriage be as wonderful and fulfilling as mine has been to Esme. Congratulations to the happy couple! To Bill and Fleur!"

"To Bill and Fleur. Congratulations!" Everyone shouted, clinking their goblets together.

~*~UHS~*~

I had expected Bella to be right there in the middle of planning Bill and Fleur's wedding, just like Alice, Rose, Esme, and even Gabrielle and Hermione. And as such, I had been enjoying playing the piano in our suite while Bella visited—what had been dubbed this morning—the planning room AKA our formal living room. Overnight, Alice had had all manner of bridal magazines shipped via the floo network to our house, and she had arrived this morning with even more.

Bella had gone down to say hello to Rose and Alice, offer another quieter congratulations to Fleur, only to turn around and come back upstairs.

"Not joining in, sweet girl?" I asked as I morphed into the song I had written for Bella.

Bella shook her head so fast I thought she was going to hurt herself. "No way," she said as she laid across our bed on her stomach so she could watch me play. "I don't want to have anything to do with that mess down there. I saw everything from dresses, to food, to locations. It's all so overwhelming."

"What about when we get married? Will you do it then?" I asked quietly.

We heard the volume drop down to a dull roar when I voiced that question. It seemed that the others had noticed her preoccupation in the dining room. Bella smirked and reached for the bubble lamp. Alice's whine was cut off mid-complaint when the bubble descended in our room.

"When we get married, it's already been planned. I have everything chosen from the setting to the dress to how. I've known for a long time that you're my mate, Edward, and as such, I've had plenty of time to plan."

I smiled. "Really, Bella? Care to share?"

"Sure," Bella agreed, eagerly reaching into her bedside table drawer to pull out one of the many notebooks she kept in there. "The only thing you won't see is the dress. That's in a completely different notebook."

I laid down on the bed next to Bella and waited for her to open the book. "Are you sure these ideas are relevant? Were they planned by five-year-old Bella?"

"Some of them were ideas I had as a child but have since become refined as we got to know each other and as I've grown. Let me know if there's anything you wish to be changed."

"Don't you want my help?"

Bella kissed me gently. "I will need your help." She pointed down the stairs. "I don't want that mess when we start planning. I want you to be able to help me keep as close to these ideas as possible." Bella paused once more. "And I want you to plan the honeymoon. Keep it secret, tell me, whatever you like. Just plan it."

This time, I kissed Bella a little harder than she'd kissed me before pulling back to look at her notebook. "You got it."

For the next little while, Bella and I poured over the notebook she had been adding to since she was about seven or eight. It was something I hadn't known about. How she had kept it hidden from me was a mystery. Although, looking at the bubble lamp, maybe it wasn't. There were some days when she wanted privacy, even from me, and she would come up to our room and turn the lamp on. Those were days where I did things for myself. Because even though we were a couple, we did enjoy our own pursuits and doing things by ourselves. This must have been one of those things Bella enjoyed.

Bella had everything in that notebook. But what she had planned was simple, beautiful, and elegant. I couldn't find a single thing wrong with those things she had decided except … "Do I have to wear tails?"

"Don't you like them?" Bella snickered.

"They always remind me of the people who ride equestrian competitions in the muggle world. Ugh." I flopped dramatically onto my back just to hear Bella's giggle. I was rewarded for my efforts.

Instead of answering, Bella just turned the page. "This is what I was really thinking. I just threw that in there to see what your reaction would be."

I rolled back over to see what she had really planned. The combination of the bridesmaid dresses, the groomsmen's suits, plus my own would look stunning together. "This is really good, Bella. I love all these ideas. If these ideas are as good as this, I can only imagine what your dress will look like."

"I'm sure you will love it." Bella smiled.

I kissed her hard and deep. "Of that, I have no doubt. Do you have another one of these notebooks?"

"Sure." Bella climbed over me to reach her bedside table again. "What do you need it for?"

"Well, I need to have somewhere to plan our honeymoon." I smiled at the beaming one she gave me. "How long will we be on this honeymoon of ours?"

"That depends," Bella whispered.

"On what?" I matched her tone.

"When you plan on proposing and when we get married."

I smiled. Bella's thoughts—which had opened to me; she had closed them while we were talking about our wedding—revealed that it was sneaky and very sexy. "Gotcha." I leaned forward to croon in her ear. "Then you better think about what to pack for three or four weeks, beautiful. But just remember you won't be in some of it for very long."

"No fair," Bella whined as I stood from the bed and walked to the sitting area. "Where are you going?"

I held up the notebook. "I've got a honeymoon to plan."

"Now?"

I made a show of sitting down and opening the notebook, drawing out the suspense. Just as Bella was about to give up and turn off the lamp, I growled and launched at her. She giggled and tried to roll away from me, but I caged her underneath me. Her back to my front.

"No," I growled. "Not now. Now, I need to devour you."

"Oh god."

I snickered darkly, nibbling the back of her neck. "What have I told you? God's not here. Just Edward."

"Ugh …"

~*~UHS~*~

We were all subdued on the ride back to Hogwarts. Even Fleur seemed to have come down from the heights of her emotional rollercoaster of a weekend. We weren't the only ones wondering what we would be walking into once we got back. The whole train, those who had gone home at least, was all worried.

It made for a tense train full of children who were snapping at each other. It was like we had never left Hogwarts for the break at all. I could only imagine what the ones at the school had gone through.

All was quiet, however, once we reached Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall met us in the foyer and directed us to the Great Hall for dinner. What surprised us was that every single student who had been at Hogwarts over the break was dressed in pristine uniforms. Their shirts were pressed and tucked in, and they were wearing shoes you could see your reflection in. Ties were tied and held in place by a tie pin, and they were wearing their black pointed hats.

"What the hell did we miss?" Harry hissed from behind me.

I shook my head. "I have no idea." I tapped the side of my head, so the others knew that nobody was thinking on it. "But I have no doubt we're about to find out." I pointed to the front where Umbridge was standing tall and proud. Her head was held so high that we could almost see up her large nose.

All of us took our seats in the quietest manner possible. There was not one word being spoken among the student population. Even Jasper, Hagrid, and the other teachers were reserved.

"Welcome back, everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter break. Now, however, school is back in session. We are in the rundown to finals, and I want you all to flourish, passing with top marks," Umbridge began. Her voice already grating on my sensitive hearing.

Bella snorted softly. That won't happen with defense class. Those students who have listened to her are going to fail spectacularly.

I snickered. "Only those who are following her word religiously are going to fail. All of them in her very own house."

Good.

"There have been some changes while you were away. Educational decree number twenty-eight was passed over the weekend." Umbridge rolled out a piece of parchment that looked like the others hanging in our common room. "Educational Decree number Twenty-Eight … Deloris Jane Umbridge, High Inquisitor, has replaced Albus Dumbledore as Head of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As such …" Umbridge was interrupted by a rather loud set of groans coming from all the students who had gone home. Umbridge glared at us until the noise had stopped. "As such, there are some new rules in place."

Umbridge rolled up the newest educational decree before reaching into her ever-present little pink bag and pulling out another rolled-up parchment.

"At all times: boys and girls must be eight inches apart."

Yeah right. Just try to stop us. Bella smiled at me over her shoulder. I smirked and leaned in to kiss her nose as Umbridge continued.

"Children must be in school uniform, with their shirts tucked in, and your ties must be on and tied properly." Many mouths had dropped open, but it was Fleur, Bella, and me whom Umbridge looked at next. "Edward Masen, Isabella Swan, and Fleur Delacour will be excluded from all lessons going forward."

Fleur and Bella frowned, but I spoke up, capturing everyone's attention. "Why not just expel us then?"

Umbridge positively glared at us, me especially, before gruffly saying, "Because I cannot expel you for anything that came before today. Professor Dumbledore excused it all. But beware, I will not be as forgiving."

In other words, we need to stay off her radar, Bella thought.

"And no doubt she'll make that as hard as possible," I murmured.

Definitely.

Umbridge went through a few more new rules before declaring the meal started without much fanfare. I'd never heard the Great Hall so quiet before. The children ate without discussing anything, including what had happened over the break.

We were all quiet until we'd made our way to our common rooms. The moment Hermione stepped over the knee knocker, she spun to walk backward. "You two are going to be under intense scrutiny the rest of this year. What are you going to do for lessons?"

Before I could answer, there was a tap-tap-tapping noise coming from the window. We all turned in that direction to see that Athan was there with Saffy as well. Athan was the one trying to get our attention. Bella scrambled into my corner to open the window, letting in our feathered friends.

Saffy flew into Bella's arms where all the girls cooed over the little blue owl. She had grown—somewhat—in the five years that we'd had her, but she was still quite a bit smaller than the other owls the family owned. As such, the girls tended to mother her. A lot. Not that Saffy didn't love it.

With a disgruntled huff because Bella didn't pay him any attention, Athan hopped through the window and stood regally—and put out—on one of the perches on my desk. I rolled my eyes as I made my way toward the leg he held out. "She loves you too. You know that, Athan. Besides, you're my owl."

She gives better pats. All warm and fuzzy.

I snorted, unrolling the parchment. "That's because she's a Veela. She's warm to the touch because she has flowing blood. And she also channels her Veela powers into interacting with animals. That's why Bella's pats are better. She's not just warm and fuzzy."

Maybe not to you, Edward. I don't want to be warm and fuzzy for you, Bella thought as she snickered. Everyone broke out into laughter at my comment and the look Bella tossed my direction.

This was not an uncommon conversation between Athan and me. He loved me. But he adored Bella. It was quite the conundrum. "There's a time and a place for warm and fuzzy, Bella, and you know it."

"Ugh." Groans broke out around the common room. "Stop flirting with her!" several of the boys' voices rang out.

I couldn't help but laugh. As Bella and I had grown more comfortable in our sexual relationship, our banter had taken on a more suggestive tone. We still bantered as we normally did, but sometimes—like now—the undertone was that much … more. It wasn't that I was flirting with Bella, or the fact that it was sexual, it was because these were things the girls lived to hear, and the boys just couldn't deliver like I could.

I rolled my eyes. At least, that's what I was told and one of the many reasons I had been dubbed the king of romance. Apparently. I looked down at the parchment as I unrolled it only to see that it was from Opi. He was writing to tell us that he had heard about what had happened at dinner.

"Opi already knows, Bella," I said, causing laughter and chatter to come to a stop.

Bella spun around to look at me, her mouth agape. "How?" She reached for the letter, reading over it.

I shrugged. "I have no idea. Opi has eyes and ears everywhere. I'm sure someone, or something, would have told him. We better let Fleur know."

Bella nodded and turned around to my desk to send a note to Fleur with Saffy.

"Gotta let Fleur know what?" Hermione asked as she looked over Bella's shoulder.

Bella hummed as she wrote. "Opi is changing the location of our lessons from our usual classroom to the Room of Requirement."

"Does it say why?"

"Nope. But I'm sure he'll explain it."

I nodded. "I have no doubt. For now, you all should get a good night's sleep. Umbridge is going to be in fine form tomorrow."

With nods and agreements, our friends said various versions of goodnight before they all began traipsing up the stairs toward the dorms.

"You should sleep too, my girl."

"I will." Bella stepped up in front of me only to stand on her tiptoes and wrap her arms around my neck. "But I wanted a kiss first before I climb into the trunk."

I wrapped my arms around her waist only to slide my hands over her hips to grip her voluptuous ass. "Just a kiss?"

"Hell no, but you'll have to join me in the trunk if you want more."

"Lead the way, beautiful."

~*~UHS~*~

The next morning started early for some of the children at Hogwarts. I pursed my lips as I listened to the movement going on in the common room. Specifically, the decisions coming from Fred and George.

What's that face for? Bella asked as she rested her head on her hands, which she had placed on my chest. You hearing things?

"Mmhmm," I hummed pulling her closer. "Fred and George have some interesting ideas."

Bella snorted softly. When don't they? Who are they going up against?

I rolled, wrapping both arms around Bella and pulling her closer. "Who do you think?"

Not sure taking Umbridge on is the best idea. She could have them expelled, Bella thought as she snuggled closer, tucking her head under my chin, her nose against the side of my neck.

"Their ideas have merit, and if they play it right, she might not know it was them. But some of them …"

Some of them will place them firmly in the firing line.

"They will. They aren't concerned. They have enough education for what they want to do, but it will piss off Molly something shocking." I squeezed her against me.

Bella sighed. It was a large breath in before she released it in a gush. "Molly needs to let them lead their own lives. Yes, they need to be held liable for their actions, but they need to do what they want."

I nodded, breathing her in. She was right. Molly had to step back.

"Are you going to tell them to stop?"

I shook my head softly. "No. I think it will be the distraction we all need. I also think they won't be the only ones."

"No?" Bella breathed.

"Uh uh. I have a feeling Umbridge is in for hell 'til the end of the year. And it won't be from just the students."

Bella giggled. "Then I guess we'll just have to let it play out." She relaxed back into my arms. "We need to get up and find Opi in the Room of Requirement."

"After breakfast." I smacked Bella on the ass before letting her climb out of bed. "Let's get the day started."

With another giggle, Bella climbed out of bed to get ready. Things were going to be interesting, that was for sure.

~*~UHS~*~

The Great Hall was quiet as we sat down for breakfast. There seemed to be a dark cloud hovering over the residents of Hogwarts. The students whispered almost too quiet to hear. The teachers didn't look up from their plates to even acknowledge one another. And Hagrid didn't even come in for breakfast.

Even Bella and I were quiet but for an entirely different reason. We'd been watching Professor Umbridge as she sat at the table for the teachers, directly in the middle, with her nose in the air like she was the Queen of England. She seemed to enjoy lording over all the staff and students, and when her beady glare reached a group of whispering students, they were quick to stop talking and look away.

If Umbridge continues being the headmistress next year, how many of these students do you think will come back?

"Not many," I whispered in reply. "Although, if the Daily Prophet keeps spouting their bullshit and making her seem like the second coming of God, then they may have to come whether they want to or not."

Bella nodded, sipping the last bit of her coffee. That's true. Most of the older generation still believe that gossip rag.

"But not all." I popped the last bite of toast into my mouth. "C'mon, let's go meet Opi."

Okay, Bella answered as we stood from the table, garnering Umbridge's attention. The woman had the audacity to glare down at us as if we were the ones who shouldn't be here. I couldn't help the almost silent chuckle when her glare dropped because Bella was glaring back. My amusement didn't go unnoticed, but Umbridge didn't glare again; instead, she stood from her seat and walked around the table to the teachers' exit.

Bella and I made our way down the aisle and out of the grand doors only to run into Fleur, who was waiting for us. "Seems to me that you two are rather unwanted."

"That's not a surprise," Bella murmured. "She's wanted us out since she started this year, possibly even before that."

"What does that make her?"

I smiled. "The term racist has been thrown around. Although in the wizarding world, it has a completely different meaning. I'd probably also call her specist."

Bella giggled while Fleur frowned. "Specist?"

"She doesn't like other species. Essentially, the same as racist—as in not liking different races of people—only she …"

"Doesn't like the different species of magical creatures." Fleur nodded. "Either fits her." We looked around to see that the rest of the students were leaving for their first classes. "Time to go."

Keeping quiet, Bella and I followed Fleur as she led the way up the stairs toward the seventh floor. Some of our friends joined us before leaving for their own classrooms, but for the most part, we were left to ourselves.

Fleur checked the hallway before she opened the door to the Room of Requirement. The door opened to a classroom. One that looked like the defense classroom we had when Remus was our teacher. Fun and engaging.

"Where do you think he is? Shouldn't he be here?" Fleur asked, looking around.

Bella was exploring the paintings hanging high on the wall. "He may have needed the room opened before he could come in here …" Bella paused as one of the paintings—of a beautiful path with flowers up and down the sides—swung open to reveal Opi. "Opi!" Bella squealed. "So good to see you."

"You as well, Miss Bella," Opi said with a nod. He nimbly leapt down from the doorway behind the painting. The drop was quite a distance, about six feet or so, and landed on his feet.

I expected the painting to swing closed after Opi had landed but instead another face appeared. "Hey, guys … oh!" Remus was coming in behind Opi, but he obviously hadn't been told about the drop. Remus morphed into his animagus form partway through the fall only to land on his feet and change back. "Hey, Moody, look out for that first step …" Moody fell through the hole, landing on his back with an oomph. "It's a doozy."

"Hmph," Moody grumbled as Bella and Fleur broke out into giggles. "Coulda been a little quicker on the warning, Lupin." Moody waved his wand as he stood and a set of stairs appeared so that the last member of the group could walk down without hurting himself.

"Thank you, Alistair. Very much appreciated."

"Newt!" Bella laughed, launching herself at the old man, only to turn around to hug Moody and Remus. "What are you guys doing here?"

There were chuckles throughout the room at Bella's enthusiasm. She always had a way of making things better. Opi flicked his wand, bringing some chairs to the front of the room for the others to sit on as he indicated for Fleur, Bella, and me to take a seat at the desks.

"I thought since Umbridge was being rather difficult"—Opi paused for the snickers that his statement caused before he continued—"that I could use some help keeping up with the schoolwork you guys want to do. Fleur is playing catch up with some of it, and you two want to—essentially—skip sixth year and head into seventh next year."

"Without actually being in the classes," Bella said quietly. "Besides, we're not skipping sixth year, just completing it at the same time as we do seventh."

Newt leaned forward. "Wouldn't it just be easier to test for sixth year now, this year, and do seventh next year?"

Bella and I were already shaking our heads before he finished asking the question, but I answered it anyway. "We're already having a hard enough time completing fifth year with Umbridge at the helm. Could you imagine the conniption fit she'd have if we were testing for fifth and sixth year now?"

There had been several mouths that opened to argue, but once I stated our reasonings, they all snapped closed. Opi nodded just once. "Okay then. I have created timetables and workloads for Bella and Edward because they've been with me longer, and I know their knowledge." We nodded in agreement. "Fleur, because you haven't been working with me as long, I'd like to go over what you know and see what gaps we need to fill, if you don't mind? Then I'll design a lesson plan for the rest of the year."

"Sure, Opi."

"Now as for this band of louses behind me." Opi pointed over his shoulder causing the other three men to scoff at him. "I decided that the workload was too much for just me. Plus, we all have our areas of expertise. We've worked out a timetable so that you'll have a minimum three lessons per day with eleven subjects to cover. That also gives us a day for either catch up or other lessons you might need."

"Or a research project," Moody stated gruffly.

Opi nodded again. "Or time for a research project. There might be something we have in mind."

"Sounds good," Bella said as she looked around at all our teachers. "So, who's teaching what?"

"There was a large debate on this very subject." Remus laughed. "We had several conversations about who was gonna take what. Although, I knew I couldn't teach as many as the others because I have the paper to run."

The men around us chuckled, even Moody. But it was Newt who sat up straighter. "Remus will be taking defense and muggle studies as he's the only one to have lived in the muggle world for any length of time."

"Although, I have a feeling Bella will teach me a thing or two," Remus laughed as Bella nodded, then shrugged.

Newt continued. "Alistair will be taking Transfiguration, Arithmancy, and Runes."

"Why those three?" Fleur asked.

"Because Transfiguration uses a lot of math, as does Arithmancy," I answered her. "But I'm not sure why Moody's taking Runes."

"Because nobody else wanted to do it," the man in question grumbled, causing several snickers to erupt.

With a smirk in Moody's direction, Newt looked back at us. "Opi will be continuing with Potions, Herbology, and History of Magic. While I'm going to be teaching Care of Magical Creatures, Charms, and Astronomy."

Bella tilted her head at Newt. "I get Care of Magical Creatures and Charms, but why do you get to stay out late to teach us Astronomy? Why isn't one of the others?"

"I like Astronomy, plus I'm a night owl, so it suits me fine. Any other questions?"

When the three of us shook our heads, the real work started. Fleur sat down with Opi and Newt to get started on her knowledge of magic while Remus worked through the Muggle Studies guide with Bella. Moody left me to my own devices and went to inspect the set of stairs he had conjured. He hadn't thought he'd made the spell that powerful, but apparently, they were here to stay.

Over the course of the morning, we helped Newt and Opi test Fleur on her magical knowledge before stopping just before lunch.

"We've made good progress, Fleur," Opi commented as we were packing up our books and pens to head out. "After lunch, we'll continue through some more subjects so that we can really get started tomorrow. Go on, get out of here for a bit."

Bella, Fleur, and I had just made it to the door when a large pop, bang, and gurgle sounded throughout the castle. It was so loud that it reverberated through the walls, causing them to shake while dust fell from the ceiling.

We all paused and looked around at each other.

"Edward?" Opi asked as he looked at the ceiling as more dust fell.

I listened, using my extra senses, to pinpoint what had happened and couldn't help rolling my eyes. "I'll be completely surprised if Fred and George make it through this year without being expelled."

Newt laughed. "You'll have to tell us all about it after lunch. Take the girls and go see."

I nodded, listening to make sure there was nobody in the corridor, before pulling the door open.

"Where are we going, Edward?" Bella asked once I led her and Fleur in the opposite direction of the grand staircase.

I chuckled a little. "We're going to take the secret passageway at the end of this corridor over to the other side of the castle. I want to see this prank of Fred and George's in person. I have a feeling they may be suspended if Umbridge ever finds out it was them."

Fleur shook her head. She knew her future brothers-in-law were troublemakers. "Well, this should be interesting."

I couldn't help but snicker. "It will be something, that's for sure."

~*~UHS~*~

Seems like Umbridge is flexing her newly found power. How do you think that will work out for her?

See you in a fortnight!