After Harry's trial, which he won, the school term seemed to approach much faster than before. Sirius dreaded the emptiness of the house when all of the students left, and all that would be left was the comings and goings of the Order members. When the only person he could count on as company would be Moony. Not that he didn't love seeing his friend, but he hated the fact that there was always that nagging little thought that the visits were out of obligation rather than an actual desire to see him.

Sirius sighed, trying to clear the doubts and insecurities out of his head with little success. He was restless laying on his bed the night before the kids would be off to Kings Cross. He was unable to calm his mind to sleep for the night and stared up at the heavy velvet canopy above him, one arm resting against his forehead, with a leg hanging out out of the bedsheets to try and cool his stifled body. He tried to cast his mind around for something else to ponder over.

Smirking as he landed on the thought of his cousin, Tonks, who had stopped by for dinner. His poor baby cousin was so woefully obvious in her crush on Remus. She literally was falling all over herself around him, and Remus was so clueless. He assumed that she was just clumsy. As if a professional dark wizard hunter would be successful at her job when she trips on air.

Nymphadora Tonks had only recently started coming around to the house, although Sirius knew she was in the Order long before she finally made it to its headquarters.

It was an odd thing, she hardly had crossed his mind in the years between the last time he saw her as a laughing toddler running around with her hair color changing wildly, but when he did finally see her again he felt the separation keenly in the relief he felt at her presence. He also appreciated the color she brought to the house. He appreciated the laughter as she made ridiculous faces, and the conspicuous giggling between Ginny and Hermione when they watched Tonk's hair flush a darker pink along with her cheeks as she stumbled against a chair when she caught sight of Moony.

Sirius liked when Hermione laughed. It brought out a joyful side to her that often was overlooked in her usual studious manner. It would erupt out of her like a firework blooming in the night sky. Harry and Ron on occasion would stare at her as if she had lost her mind but after a moment they usually ended up joining her. Moments like that made his chest warm and the gratitude that she was his godson's best friend would nearly stagger him. Her endless support and loyalty, her ability to be a grounding force for his impulsiveness, but also the driving force when action truly needs to be taken. Every time a story came up about their adventures, he felt his awe for her increasing.

He sat up, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and looked out the window for a moment allowing his thoughts to linger on the young woman who he had grown close to in the last couple of weeks before he walked over to a few cardboard boxes that were set in a corner of his room. His old belongings that Remus had packed away in storage after he had been sent to Azkaban. He'd been shocked when his friend had shown up with the boxes, figuring that his belongings from before would have been disposed of long ago.

The boxes had stayed in their corner for days, lurking like a particularly shy ghost. He didn't really know why he didn't go through them right away. Perhaps he feared that he wouldn't recognize himself within the contents; that he had changed so drastically that who he had been was fundamentally gone. A ridiculous thought, but he had stopped trying to rationalize his insecurities.

With a deep breath, he prepared to open them. He had something he wanted to find in there. Something he wanted to give to Harry before his trip back to Hogwarts. He stood in front of the boxes trying to get his hands to move. After a moment he huffed at himself in exasperation, dragging his hands over his face only to pause at a small noise that broke the silence of the house.

There was a meow door.

Knowing that Crookshanks was the only cat in the house, he wandered over to the door to llet his ginger furred friend in, but stopped when he heard something besides the cat. He could hear a mostly one sided argument behind the door.

"Crookshanks, let's not bother Sirius right now. He's probably asleep," Hermonie's voice chastised her cat sternly. Sirius just suppressed a laugh when Crookshanks meowed back indignantly and pawed at the door. "Shh! Crookshanks!" she hissed, obviously panicking. Sirius opened the door just in time to see Hermione bending over to pick up the smooshed nosed cat.

She looked up at him with wide eyes. Crookshanks looked at him smugly. And Sirius just pursed his lips in amusement.

"Hey, Kitten," he said leaning against the doorframe as she stood up fully. Looking at the startled, sleep ruffled girl, her hair extra poofy, and her pajama shorts high on her legs, and a gigantic sweatshirt that swamped her frame, he struggled not to laugh. She obviously had just rolled out of bed. She shifted her weight on her bare feet, nervously.

"I'm so sorry, Sirius! I thought Crookshanks just needed some water or the litter box or something, but he herded me over here instead," Her face was flushed in embarrassment.

"It's alright, Kitten. I was already awake," he said watching relief flood her face. "Want to come in? I was about to go through some old things that Moony brought me." The idea of having Hermione with him for this loosened a knot of anxiety he had about the whole thing.

She looked a little hesitant, her cherry wood eyes casting around him into his room, glancing at the posters and Gryffindor banners stuck on the wall. "Well, alright then." He pushed himself aside so she could enter the room, waving a hand to nonverbally light the gas lamps. He consciously left the door open, for propriety's sake. He went over to the boxes and sat on the floor cross legged and watched as she followed to sit by him, Crookshanks contentedly curling into her lap.

He pulled a box towards them and opened it to reveal books. Hermione, with an interested look, started rifling through them as he opened another box of random odds and ends. Posters and utensils that he had in his apartment, general home goods. Relief flooded him. There wasn't anything that felt foreign. Perhaps a bit forgotten, but definitely nothing that made him feel like he was looking at a stranger's life. He barked out a laugh, suddenly realized the absurdities of his earlier hesitation.

Hermione just looked up at him from a book about building and maintaining motorcycles and cocked an eyebrow at him.

He just shook his head at her before remarking; "I was scared to open these boxes. I'm just realizing how silly that was." Hermione's eyes just softened and crinkled into an understanding smile.

"Is there anything you particularly want to find in here, now?" she asked as she put the book back into the box.

"Yeah actually," he said, perking up to look at her. "My leather jacket and two pocket mirrors."

"Pocket mirrors?" she asked, pulling another box towards her to open.

"Two way mirrors," he said, watching her hair fall forward to obscure her head absentmindedly as she bent over the box. "Me and James used to use them to talk when we were in different detentions." She looked up at him with a look of suppressed humor on her face. Obviously trying to look reproving. He grinned back at her. "I thought Harry might like to have one."

Her face absolutely lit up at that. "Oh, Sirius," she said happily. "Harry will love that!" He felt like he was glowing from the warmth of her approval.

"And maybe Harry can lend it to you on occasion so we can continue reading together?" he asked hopefully and maybe a little shyly. Their library nights had become one of the few comforting things he had here in Grimmauld Place.

Hermione had a look of momentary surprise, before it vanished. "Of course!" she said, reaching over to squeeze his hand. "We could make it a regular thing, perhaps. Maybe?'

He beamed at her and kissed her knuckles in gratitude. "That would be perfect, Kitten." She quickly went back to her task of rummaging through her box, her hair obscuring her face again.

After a few minutes Hermione emerged from her hair again holding a leather biker jacket triumphantly. It was handsomely worn, butter soft, and such a dark brown it was nearly black. Sirius watched as she admired the feel of it with her hands before she handed it to him. For the first time since they started working through the boxes, Sirius felt a choke of emotions.

He smiled down at the jacket, feeling the hum of magic around it. "James got me this. Had it specially made for me when we joined the Order after school," he explained quietly to her. She scooted over to him, careful not to disturb Crookshanks who was snoozing in her lap still and put her head on his shoulder, in her usual way of providing him comfort. He wasn't sad, exactly, in that moment, but he did feel a sort of nostalgic longing. The unfillable hole in his heart throbbed. "He had loads of protective spells put on it and protective runes sewn into it." He flipped the lepel open for her to see the lining. It was stitched with different runes on the inside.

"Algiz; protection. Eihwaz: defence…" She traced two of the runes, trailing off as she studied some of the others peeking through.

"It's what gave me the idea to tattoo runes on myself in Azkaban," he said as she put her hand back on Crookshanks. "It made me feel like James still had my back. When I was there. It helped me stay me against the despair and dementors," She just leaned up to bump her head against his chin, an affectionate gesture of comfort that belonged only to him.

He laughed and threw an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her in a brief hug. "Such a kitten." He stood up and swung the jacket on, testing the fit. He wasn't surprised to see it still wore well. Despite the fact that he was still smaller than he had been before Azkaban, he was slowly gaining back the weight and muscle back. One of the few good things about being stuck in the house was that he spent much of his time eating and exercising in his boredom. The jacket was always a little big on him, James had it made so that he could wear layers under it if he so wished.

He put his hands in the pockets experimentally and was surprised to find something in them. He pulled it out and was shocked to find the mirrors tucked away in them. He showed them to Hermione.

"Well that made things easy," she said, smiling through a yawn.

The next day was hectic and Sirius spent most of the morning just trying to stay out of everyone's way. Redheads were zooming all over the place, gathering bits and bobs that had been left out the night before, Harry could be seen looking for his summer homework for Potions that he had crammed to get done a couple days earlier, and Hermione was busy in the library doing a last minute perusal of the shelves. Sirius had given her permission to borrow whatever she wanted. He avidly avoided Molly. Since the dinner debacle he hadn't felt comfortable around her. He still came to meal times but only spent time in the kitchen when he knew she was elsewhere.

Eventually a few of the other Order members showed up. Sirius opened the door for Mad-eye Moody, who came clunking in on his wooden leg, his magical eye rolling wildly and his mangled nose sniffing the air like he could smell dark magic. Remus came in and tucked his lips in to hold back his amusement at the Weasley tornado that could be seen up the stairs, Tonks followed in after him and unfortunately tripped on the old troll's leg making the portrait of Walburga Black spring open and start screeching.

"STAIN OF MY WOMB, BRINGING FILTHY MUDBLOODS AND HALF-BREEDS INTO MY HOME! HOW DARE YOU HOLD THE NAME OF BLACK."

Sirius and Lupin leapt forward and fought with the curtains, first throwing various spells to shut her up but eventually had to resort to trying to tear them across the frame. Apparently Walburga was particularly angry, having not awakened from behind the swath of heavy velvet in some days.

"I SHOULD HAVE RIPPED YOU FROM MY FLESH AND LET YOU DIE IN THE SEWAGE!"

"Oh shut the hell up you shrivelled up old cow!" Sirius snarled and with one last viscous yank the curtain fell across the portrait and silence fell upon the house again. Both Remus and Sirius panting from the exertion. The Weasleys, Harry and Hermione had all stopped what they were doing to watch the event take place.

"Well, I guess that's the cue to leave," growled Moody, clunking back out the front door to wait for them all to come out. "Nice mother you got there, Black," he called out behind him.

The flurry of people started making progress to head out the door. Trunks were being paraded out and owl cages, and a hissing basket were passed down the stairs. Soon enough they were headed to Kings Cross, an odd group of people with Sirius in his large, black wolf-dog form accompanying them.

"Padfoot, come here!" Laughed Remus as he trotted down the muggle station ahead of them, tail wagging excitedly. Even Padfoot's simpler mind enjoyed the sensation of being somewhere, anywhere, other than Grimmauld Place.

He barked and bound back to the group, circling Remus first, then moving to Hermione, nudging his nose into her free palm giving it an affectionate lick. She laughed and scratched his ears, exactly the way he liked. He walked next to her, enjoying the comforting Christmas scent that wafted off of her with his heightened canine sense of smell.

As they approached the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, Sirius turned away from her and moved to Harry, herding him into a waiting room before transforming back into Sirius. He pulled them deeper inside before he closed the door and locked it. Sitting down on the metal bench, he gestured for Harry to do the same.

"I wanted to give you something before you left," he said, putting his hand into his jacket and pulling out the mirrors. "Your dad and I used to use these to talk. Mostly during detentions when we were separated, or over summers. " He handed Harry the mirror.

Harry grasped the mirror in his hands and looked down at it. He inspected the ordinary looking mirror. It was completely free of embellishments or even any edging to hide its raw sides. He looked up at Sirius curiously. "How does it work?"

"Just say my name, and if I'm holding it you should see me in it," as Sirius said it he held up his mirror and spoke clearly to it as Harry watched. "Harry." He kept the mirror up but glanced over at the boy. "Go on, look at your mirror now," he instructed knowing that his face would show in Harry's mirror.

Harry looked down at it and gasped when he saw Sirius' face. Looking back up excitedly he asked "Does this mean we can talk whenever we want?" He clutched the mirror like it was the most important object he'd ever come across.

"Yep!" Sirius grinned. "Anytime you want, Pup." Harry launched himself into his godfather's arms.

"Thank you, Sirius!" He exclaimed excitedly. Gripping the older man like he didn't want to let go.

Sirius patted his back and ruffled his hair until it stuck up even more wildly than it normally would. When they pulled away, it felt like a bolt to the heart to look at Harry. He already looked remarkably like James, but now with the wide, excited grin on his face and the intentionally messed up hair, they could have passed for twins.

He tucked away the emotion to be felt later and smiled even more broadly at his godson. "Just promise to tell me everything about what's happening at school, okay?" Harry nodded and Sirius pulled him into one final hug before changing back into Padfoot.

They headed out of the waiting room and met up with the rest of their party who were all carefully crossing into platform 9 ¾. Harry was ushered forward with Mr. Weasley and they casually leaned through the barrier. Sirius made his way back to Hermione, and whined a bit to get her attention. She looked down at him, taking into his morose puppy eyes. She put her hands on either side of his jaws, giving him some scratches and pets, before bending forward and bumping her forehead against his.

"I'll see you soon and owl when I can," she said standing up straight and continuing to scratch behind his ears. He just whined some more, leaning into her hands and licking her wrists. She kept lavishing him with attention until it was her turn to go through the barrier. She dropped down to give him a hug before heading through to the Hogwarts Express.

Sirius just sat and watched them pass through the barrier with Remus and Tonks by his side, wishing more than anything that summer was a few weeks longer.

There was a certain amount of isolation that Sirius used to be accustomed to before this summer occurred. A certain ability to live within his own mind, to keep his own company for long bouts of time. It wasn't necessarily an ability he enjoyed but it kept him from this hounding emptiness he was currently feeling. It was like all the vacant spaces in him had been filled, stretching him fuller than he remembered being able to stretch, and then in their absence left him with more empty space than he started with.

Once the kids were safely aboard the Hogwarts Express, the rest of the guard went their separate ways. Molly and Arthur returned to the Burrow. Moody went wherever Moody goes. Remus accompanied Sirius back to his prison of bad memories, followed closely by Tonks.

Perhaps if they had been able to stick around for an hour or two Sirius wouldn't feel so much like a dog dropped off at the pound, but both Moony and Tonks had to leave right away. So, now here he lay alone, on the couch in the library, a bottle of firewhisky in one hand. It was the same bottle of firewhiskey he had nearly forgotten about since library nights started with Hermione. He marveled at the moment how one little change could make such a huge difference. Just the presence of an understanding ear and someone to hold him close when everything becomes too much.

He had grabbed the bottle instinctively and drank it absently, knowing that getting drunk would just amplify his feelings of abandonment but he didn't know how else to cope. Well, he did know how to cope, but the method of that coping mechanism left that morning with her Christmas scented hair and trunk full of books aboard a scarlet train.

He sat up and put his elbows on his knees, scraping a hand down his face. Looking at the fire he tried to escape his mood, knowing logically he hadn't been abandoned. Harry and Hermione and the others were just at school and he'd see them again during breaks, and Moony and them just had other parts of their lives to attend to but would eventually make their way back.

He stood up and started pacing. It was mid-swig of his bottle when he caught sight of a foreign object on the mantelpiece. He reached forward and grabbed it.

It was a small box of seven short books.

The Chronicles of Narnia

Surprised to see the books there and knowing that Hermione obviously treasured them, given the state of the severely broken, taped together spines peeking out from the box, Sirius was suspicious that they could be so easily left behind. It wasn't until he tipped the books out and an envelope with his name on it fell out with them, did he know for sure that they were left there for him.

Chest feeling significantly lighter, Sirius opened the letter.

Dear Sirius,

I hope you're well. I know it's probably not long since you just saw us, but all the same I hope everything is okay.

I just wanted to say, I'm going to miss reading with you over the term. I'm glad we're going to use Harry's mirror to continue our little book club, even if it isn't going to be quite the same.

I left you the rest of Narnia to get through in your spare time. You can owl me it let me know how you like them. I hope you like them as much as you liked the first one. My personal favorites are Prince Caspian and the Horse and His Boy. The Silver Chair honestly scared me as a child, so I've read it the least.

Sirius looked down at the books and laughed when he noticed that the fourth book looked significantly less worn. Not a strip of tape to be seen on it.

I'm going to suggest to Harry that we Mirror you tonight after everyone goes to bed. Maybe we can come up with a schedule for reading nights when I get my schedule tomorrow, too?

Let me know if you need more books and I'll send some with an owl.

Love,

Hermione

With a gentle smile, Sirius traced her words with his fingers before folding the letter back up. Everything felt brighter all of a sudden, now that he was expecting to be able to talk to Harry and Hermione tonight.

Setting his bottle down he wandered into the kitchen to make himself a pot of peppermint tea. The dimness of the place was forgotten in his sudden good mood. Even Kreature, his vile old house elf, who he could hear muttering nasty things from his cupboard wasn't able to dampen his mood.

He settled on the couch with his tea and opened Prince Caspian.

"THE ISLAND

"Once there were four children whose names were Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy, and it has been told in another book called The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe how they had a remarkable adventure."

It wasn't the same reading without Hermione there, but it made him feel a lot less alone knowing that she wanted to continue sharing this with him. It made him feel wanted.

The story absorbed him, like nearly everything Hermione gave him to read. He didn't notice the time going by except for the cooling of his tea, which he would magically reheat as needed. It actually startled him when he heard his name being called. Whipping around to look for the voice, before remembering that Harry was supposed to contact him, he pulled out the hand mirror from his pocket and held it up.

Harry's face appeared in the glass. Sirius grinned at him. "Hello, Harry."

Harry grinned back to him. "Sirius!"

"Hold the mirror out, Harry," came Ron's voice. Harry held the mirror out as far as his arm could go and both Ron and Hermione's faces appeared. Their faces were all smooshed into the frame of the mirror, Hermione's curls, large enough to fill out more than her fair share of the mirror's surface, haloed around her and Harry, who was in the middle.

"Hi, Ron, Kitten," he smirked fondly at the two teens. Inwardly laughing at the face Ron made, glancing at Hermione when he heard the nickname. Apparently someone had a jealous crush. Hermione didn't seem to notice, and just launched into telling him about their arrival to Hogwarts.

" ...and our new defence teacher is some woman named Umbridge, I don't have a good feeling about her. She even interrupted Professor Dumbledore's speech! Criticized the school and made it clear in thinly veiled terms that the Ministry is going to be trying to control the school more," Hermione ranted.

"She also looks like a pink toad," snorted Ron, his freckled nose wrinkling up in disgust.

"She was at my hearing! She didn't seem to want to let me off," said Harry, and by the surprised looks on Hermione and Ron's faces, this was the first time they'd heard about that.

"I'm familiar with Umbridge. She drafted an anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for Remus to get a job," Sirius growled, a frown settling on his face. He knew that Dumbledore was capable of a lot of, frankly, questionable decisions, but he knew that Umbridge was not likely to be one. The Ministry was reaching for more control, like Hermione said.

He could see a look of complete disdain cross Hermione's face. She looked ready to storm the Ministry and campaign for werewolf rights. He recalled S.P.E.W and her feelings about civil rights for magical creatures. He also knew about her efforts to acquit Buckbeak back in her third year and how she eventually broke Wizarding law along with Harry, not only to save Buckbeak, but also himself from their unfair ends. She was an uncompromising young woman when it came to doing the right thing.

"That horrible woman…" she muttered under her breath.

"Blimey, I didn't know that," said Ron, shocked. "Why would she do that?"

"Why do some witches and wizards hate muggles?" Asked Sirius, shrugging. The casual gesture did not hide the bite in his voice. "Some people just want power over others." There was silence on both ends after that.

"Well besides the Pink Toad, how has the first day gone," he asked trying to lighten the mood.

"Well Filch has added about 37 new items to the banned list this year," Ron said with a laugh. "At least 25 of them are Fred and George's inventions. They checked right after dinner."

Sirius barked out a laugh. "Let them know I'm proud of them. They can write to me anytime if they need a third opinion on anything." Laughing even more at the indignant face Hermione was making. Somehow knowing she didn't mind as much as she wanted people to believe.

Harry smiled but looked like he had something to say, but didn't look comfortable. Apparently, Hermione caught it too because she suddenly yawned and reached over to shove Ron's shoulder, which sent him out of frame spluttering indignantly.

"We should go to bed. I'm sure Harry and Sirius want to chat a bit longer by themselves," she said matter-of-factly, and stood up dragging Ron with her. "Goodnight, Harry! Goodnight Sirius." Sirius could see them in the background, Hermione already in her sleepwear of over large sweats and a baggy t-shirt, as she shoved Ron up the staircase to the boys dormitory before heading up to the girls.

Harry waited until they both disappeared before looking back at his godfather.

"So, Pup, what is it you wanted to talk about? Everything okay?" Asked Sirius, concern evident in his voice and furrowed eyebrows. What could have happened in one day that could make Harry look so defeated?

"It's just everyone thinks I'm lying about Voldemort," he said, grief coloring his tone. "They think I'm using Cedric's death as a way to get more attention." His green eyes were glassy and Sirius felt the loss of a pair of mislaid eyes that matched those of his godson. Lily had been a beautiful cryer, he remembered. Sometimes she'd use it to her advantage against them; she always knew how to work James and them. Their overprotective natures rebelled at anything that would give her any cause for discomfort, especially when she was pregnant with Harry.

"But, you're not lying, Harry," Sirius reminded him. "And those that matter know it. Everyone else is just scared. They would rather believe you're lying than believe Voldemort is back."

"I know! But, it doesn't make it any easier to handle the stares and the whispers," he said, frustratedly. He brought the mirror closer so it was mostly taken up by his face. "Every year there's something new for them to whisper about, some lie that makes it hard to walk down the halls. I'm used to that, but this...this is the worst of it all because they think that Cedric died because of an accident, when he was murdered."

Sirius quietly studied him.

"It isn't fair. I know it isn't," he said, infecting his voice with as much understanding as he could. "But, you aren't alone. It probably feels like that, but you aren't. Hermione and Ron will back you, be your advocates. Lean on them when you feel like all the world is against you. Talk to me when it gets too much, I'll always be here, Harry. I'll always believe you." He watched Harry through the mirror nod. His overwhelmed vistage made Sirius want to leap through the mirror and hug his godson. More than anything he wished James and Lily were here.

"Get some sleep, Harry. You're going to need it for tomorrow."

Kitten,

Thank you for lending me your books. I finished Prince Caspian in one sitting, only pausing to check my mirror. I was feeling quite desolate when everyone left and it made me feel less alone.

To be honest, the struggles Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy had with coming back to their Kingdom 1300 years in the future, hit hard. To them it had been only a year but so much had happened and all their friends were gone when they came back. I probably related to it too much. I'm beginning to see where you get your insight, love.

I'm assuming you have your timetables now. If you let me know the days and times I'll talk to Harry, so we can continue our book club. I'm interested in what books you have for us to read. At the rate I'm going I'll be done with Narnia by the end of the weekend so any reading material you think I'll enjoy in your absence would be appreciated.

Yours,

Snuffles

Hermione looked over the letter with a small smile during breakfast. It was a smile she hadn't felt herself use since nearly a week ago; the day they came back to school.

There had been a shift in the school that she didn't like. There was general discontent with the Ministry presence, particularly with the way Umbridge was running Defence. She was only teaching the theory without practical application. At the same time most of the students refused to believe that Voldemort was back. So the entire student body was walking this tightrope between believing the Ministry to a fault, but also disappointed in its direct action with them. And all of it came out in the form of ostracizing Harry, and by default, her and Ron.

On top of everything Umbridge had already begun singling people out. Particularly Harry who had detention the first day of class with her. When he came back he had become more reticent than ever. She hoped that he was at least talking to Sirius.

As it was the weekend, she went back up to her dorm room after breakfast and selected a couple of books she thought Sirius would enjoy from her trunk. She thought about picking a third but decided against it seeing as it could become too heavy for a single owl. After carefully wrapping up the books in some brown paper and spelling it to be impervious to water, she sat down at her desk to pen him a reply.

Dear Snuffles,

You're very welcome! I'm sorry we can't be there to keep you company. To be honest, I've been wishing we were back at Grimmauld Place.

I didn't think about Prince Caspian from that perspective, but I can see how it would be particularly poignant to someone who reentered the world from a long absence. I don't think I'm particularly perceptive, Snuffs, I think everyone else just had too much on their minds. I'm sure if I didn't notice first Harry would have caught on, and Professor Lupin would have too.

I think it would be safe to say I can do Friday and Saturday nights, and Wednesday nights. Obviously, I can't promise it won't change once exams get closer but for now I can (and definitely want to) read with you those nights. I don't think my mind has been at peace since the last time I saw you.

Umbridge has been awful. She's already picking on Harry. Although to be fair, Harry has done nothing but provoke her. I wish he would try to fly under the radar (that's a muggle reference, it means to go unnoticed.) I don't have a good feeling about her and she's already sent him to detention once, and ever since he's become more withdrawn. Has he been talking to you? I think I'd feel better if he was at least telling you about it, if not me or Ron.

I've sent you two novels. Dune, is a classic science fiction book, and Sabriel is a fantasy book that was just released this year, but I think you'll enjoy it.

I'm sorry for not owling earlier. Things have been tense.

Keep well. Miss you.

Love,

Hermione.