"Well, at least you know they're very dedicated when it comes to their education," Tonks said. "Should teach them how to be conspiratorial though."

"The last thing Aurora and Harry need to do is get into trouble right now," Remus agreed.

"Thanks for the update," Sirius said.

"Just doin' my job," Mundungus said as he got to his feet. "I'd keep an eye on Potter around your daughter if I was you though."

"Why?" Remus asked.

"Right after they left the pub they was outside having a row," Mundungus said. "Last I saw, she called him an arse and she went back up to the castle."

"Did he go with her?" Tonks asked.

"No. Just waited around for his mates," Mundungus said.

"What were they even arguing about?" Sirius asked.

"Some girl I think," Mundungus said. "She was upset about some girl making flirty eyes with him during their meeting. Chong or something."

"Chang?" Remus asked.

"Chang. Chong. Ching. Whatever," Mundungus said. "I'll be off."

He walked out of the kitchen and Tonks turned to Remus and Sirius.

"Glad we can add casual racism to the list of things to love about Fletcher," she said.

"Always so charming," Sirius replied.

"Speaking of charming, who knew Harry was a jerk," Tonks said.

"We can't really determine if he was being a jerk. We only know what Dung told us he heard," Sirius said.

"I think we can extrapolate that if your girlfriend calls you an 'ass' because she's upset about some girl flirting with you, and you let her walk away instead of trying to apologize, that makes you a jerk," Tonks said.

Sirius frowned. Then he looked over to Remus.

"Thoughts, Remus?" Sirius asked.

"If she said he's being an ass he probably is," Remus said. "But they're also fifteen so who knows."

"She did mention that Harry was a bit irritable these days," Tonks said. "Maybe that's something to do with it." Sirius and Remus both stared at her as if she'd grown a second head. "What?"

"When did she tell you that?" Remus asked.

"She told me in a letter a few days ago," Tonks said. "She writes you every other day. I assume she told you as well."

"She didn't," Remus replied.

"Why would she tell you and not us?" Sirius asked with a frown.

"Well, for starters, I thought she did, and secondly, she probably didn't want to bother you with it. She knows you both like Harry. She probably wants you to continue to like him," Tonks said.

"But didn't you say that she said that we like him too much?" Sirius asked.

Tonks groaned. "Guys, I love you, but I cannot decode every single thing your daughter thinks, says, and does for you. She's fifteen. Most of it is a mystery probably even to her. I mean, you're going to talk to them soon, aren't you?" Sirius nodded. "Just ask them how they're doing. If they're fighting it's going to be obvious when you talk to them anyway."

Sirius nodded. "But do you think she-?"

"Nope. No more tips about your teenage daughter today," Tonks said. "Talk to her. That's the last of my advice. I reached my limit."

Sirius groaned. "Fine. Suppose you'll be leaving me soon then."

"Yes. Unfortunately, it's about time I headed back to the ministry and begin my watch," Tonks said. "And then I will finally go to bed when the sun comes up."

"Be safe," Remus said.

"Always am," Tonks said. "Don't stress about Rory ad Harry. At least not about them dating. There are lots of other things that should stress you out about the two of them. Their secret club for example."


Rory and Harry spent the rest of the afternoon together in the castle. They ate treacle fudge and kissed. They lay in her bed and talked and laughed. It felt normal, and Rory realized things between the two of them hadn't felt normal in a while.

"Our anniversary is coming up," Harry said. They were still in her room, her head on his chest as they lay in her bed. He twisted one of her curls through his fingers.

"I know," she said. "A whole year."

"We should do something," Harry said.

"Don't have many options, aside from this," she said.

"I feel like I should do something special," he said.

"Special?" Rory asked.

He shrugged. "I dunno. At the very least I feel like I need to make up for being shit today. And just shitty in general."

She looked up at him. "You're not shit. You've just had a lot of bad days."

"And it made you have a bad day," Harry said. "I never… I hate that I made you feel like I don't care. Because I love you. Like mad."

Rory laid her head back down on his chest. "I know you do." His fingers continued to wind through her hair. She let her eyes close.

"I'm going to make it up to you," Harry said. "I promise."

Rory pulled herself up the length of his body and kissed him. "Just… be my Harry. That's all I want."

"You got it," he said. She kissed him again. His fingers slid into her hair and she leaned into him. She moved to lie atop him and his hands moved from her hair down to her hips.

That was, of course, when her bedroom door opened.

"Oh, jeez. Sorry," Hermione said.

Rory was now sitting beside Harry on the bed.

"Sorry. It's fine," Rory said frantically. How many times were Harry's friends going to walk in on their making out?

"I should've knocked," Hermione said.

"It's your room," Rory said. "I knew you were coming back."

"Yes, but-."

"How about we just pretend that this didn't happen?" Harry asked.

Hermione nodded. "I'd like that. How was the rest of your day?"

"Nice. Quiet," Rory said, letting her head fall onto Harry's shoulder. "He brought me treacle fudge."

"Oh! Speaking of sweets, Harry, Ron got you some jelly snakes," Hermione said. "But he also was eating them on the way back."

"Of course," Harry said. He kissed Rory on the cheek. "I'll see you at dinner."

Rory gave Harry a wave goodbye and he was gone from the room.

"So what did you want to say now that Harry's gone?" Rory asked.

"That obvious I was getting rid of him?" Hermione asked.

"Not to him," Rory replied. "So tell me."

"Why did you leave?" Hermione asked.

"We had a bit of a row," Rory replied.

"About Cho?" Hermione asked.

Rory sighed. "It doesn't matter. We talked it out. He apologized."

"What did he say?" Hermione asked.

"He said Cho was just a friend and that I was overreacting. And I told him that it felt like he was prioritizing her feelings over mine and that I was just uncomfortable with the way she was treating me. And he said he didn't feel like it was a big deal," Rory said.

Hermione frowned.

"What?' Rory asked.

"It's just… That's a real shit thing to say," Hermione said.

"I know. That's why I left," Rory replied.

"Listen, you know Harry's my best friend," she said walking over to Rory's bed. She sat down beside her. "He's not being nice to you."

"What are you talking about?" Rory asked. "I know he's been in a mood with all this, but-."

"Did you tell your dad about detention with Umbridge?" Hermione asked.

"No," Rory replied.

"Because Harry asked you not to?" Hermione asked. "Even though you never ever lie to your dad about things like that?"

"He wants to handle it himself," Rory said.

"But it's not just about him. It's you too," Hermione said. "If I'm being perfectly honest, Rory, if Harry was my boyfriend right now I'd break up with him."

"Hermione!" Rory gasped.

"I know how that sounds, but he's being a jerk to you. I've told him as much. He's being a jerk to everyone, but if you tell him that you want him to tell a girl to stop flirting with him and he argues with you about it, that's just… He's being an asshole honestly. Sometimes I feel like I don't even recognize him," Hermione said. "And it's not like I think he fancies Cho or anything, he's just so angry and combative all the time about everything."

"I know, Hermione," Rory said. "But he's going through a lot right now."

"And you aren't? Isn't it likely that Voldemort is going after you too? People have already been unkind to you since they found out about Sirius and your dad. And on top of that, you keep seeing all these things no one else can see."

"Harry sees-."

"Rory," Hermione said, she put her hands on Rory's shoulders, "he is not being as considerate of you as you are of him."

Rory sighed. "I hear you. But it's fine. We're fine."

"If it's not fine. If he's not fine… Rory, I know he loves you, but he still has to treat you well," Hermione said.

"I know, Mum," Rory said. Hermione rolled her eyes but gave Rory a reassuring smile. "How about you remind Harry of that if you're so worried."

Hermione hugged her. "You're sure things are fine?"

"Yes. He feels horrible and he's not going to let Cho hang around anymore," Rory said. "It's fine."

"All right," Hermione said. "But-."

"I got it," Rory said. "Thank you." She hugged Hermione back. "He has been… Difficult lately."

"I know," Hermione said.

"But I love him so, so much. And I know he loves me too," Rory said. "He just needs to get his head on straight sometimes."


Harry spent Sunday with Rory as well, in the library, carrying her books, helping her finish her assignments, and in general just being the most apologetic, groveling boyfriend could possibly be. Rory laughed and smiled with him, and kissed him behind stacks of books in the library (and even lost five house points from Madam Pince for their canoodling). But Harry was happy to see Rory so happy. He felt like the rocky ground they'd been on Saturday was a distant memory. Everything seemed better.

Until Monday came and with it Educational Decree Number 24: "By Order of the High Inquisitor of Hogwarts all student organizations, societies, teams, groups, and clubs are henceforth disbanded."

It further detailed that students were not allowed to meet in groups of three or more unless they got permission from Professor Umbridge.

"She has to know," Harry said at breakfast.

"Impossible," Hermione said. "If someone snitched we'd know. Rory jinxed the paper."

"What?" Ron asked.

"I want to make it clear the jinxing was a team effort before I get thrown under the bus for it. But, she's right. If anyone blabbed about the club we'd know," Rory said.

"It doesn't matter," Harry said. "We'll just find a way to meet up anyway. Spread the word."

"Discretely," Rory chimed in, looking to Ron.

"Think I can't be discrete?" Ron asked. Rory raised an eyebrow at him. "Okay. Fair."

"You won't believe this." Angelina Johnson walked up to them. "Gryffindor's Quidditch team has been disbanded because of the new decree."

"What?" they all chimed in at once.

"We have to appeal and apply and blah blah blah. But mind you Slytherin has the all-clear to keep playing," Angelina grumbled.

"Of course," Harry said with a roll of his eyes. He didn't know what he'd do if he didn't get to play Quidditch for two years in a row.

"I'm going to ask Professor Flitwick about choir," Rory said getting up from her seat.

"This woman is a nightmare," Angelina said. "Hopefully McGonagall can talk some sense into her. It'll be a pretty boring season if only Slytherin is allowed to play. Winning by default doesn't earn you much credit."

After breakfast, they settled in History of Magic. He took his usual seat next to Hermione and they listened to Professor Binns's lecture. After about 20 minutes, Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked behind him to Rory.

"It's Hedwig," she said pointing to the window. Everyone looked, and there, just outside the window was Harry's owl, though she looked banged up and was bleeding. Harry jumped to his feet and threw the window open. Hedwig flew into the classroom and landed with a thud on the nearest desk.

Harry didn't waste a moment scooping the owl up and rushing out of the classroom.


"Grubby-Plank thinks someone attacked her," Harry said. He was walking down to potions with Ron and Hermione.

"What did your letter say?" Ron asked.

"Sirius wants to meet tonight, like before," Harry said.

"Do you think it's safe?" Hermione asked.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Harry asked. "No one knows but us."

"Yes, but someone attacked Hedwig. Someone's probably read the letter," she replied.

"But they don't know the time or the place. Or the who even," Harry said.

Hermione frowned. "I still think it's risky. Rory will probably think so as well."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Rory and I don't have to agree on everything all of the time you know?"

"I'm well aware of that," Hermione grumbled.

As they reached the dungeon, they could hear raised voices, none other Malfoy holding court among the Slytherins as usual.

"And my father says your boyfriend'll be shipped off to St. Mungo's soon enough," Malfoy to Rory.

"Piss off, Malfoy," Rory replied.

"You know they've got a whole ward there for loonies whose brains have been addled by magic," Malfoy went on.

And that was when Neville attacked Malfoy. Harry and Ron leaped forward to pull Neville off Malfoy, but Neville was a lot stronger than he looked.

"What's going on here?"

Snape appeared just as they managed to get Neville back. Malfoy was lying disheveled on the ground and leaped to his feet quickly.

"Fifteen points from Gryffindor. We do not tolerate fighting," Snape said, ushering them into the classroom.

Harry gave Neville an encouraging pat on the back as they walked into the classroom.

"How's Hedwig?" Rory asked Harry quickly.

"She's with Grubby-Plank. Someone attacked her," Harry said. "She said she'll be fine."

"That's good," Rory said. "Did you get the letter from her?"

"Sirius. Tonight, like usual," Harry whispered to her.

Rory nodded, but he could see the wheels turning in her head. But then she grabbed his arm.

"We're going to have an interesting class," Rory whispered.

"Why?" Harry asked.

"Hello, Professor."

Rory and Harry turned and saw Umbridge coming through the door.

Harry rolled his eyes.

"Excellent," he said.

He took his seat. He felt worse for Rory being stuck in the classroom with Snape, Malfoy, and Umbridge today.

But it was clear that Snape was going to get the worst of Umbridge's slack today.

"I wonder whether it is advisable to teach them to make a potion such as the Strengthening Solution," Umbridge said. "I think the Ministry might prefer it be removed from the syllabus."

Snape put up with a lot, but one of the things he didn't tolerate was being questioned.

"I have been teaching this potion in this class for well over a decade," Snape said.

Umbridge gave him a smile. "Well, things change, don't they?"

Snape looked infuriated. Harry was torn between his delight at seeing Snape upset and his absolute loathing of Umbridge.

Once Snape got everyone started and moved around the classroom observing, Umbridge began to inundate him with questions.

"I noticed in your record that you've applied for the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts multiple times. Is that correct?" Umbridge asked.

"Yes," Snape said.

"But Dumbledore has repeatedly rejected your application?" Umbridge asked.

"Obviously," Snape drawled.

"And why is that?" Umbridge went on.

"You would have to ask Professor Dumbledore," Snape said, clearly trying not to throttle the woman.

"Perhaps I will," Umbridge said.


"I can't focus," Harry grumbled. He was with Rory working on their potions essay. Fred and George were testing their skiving snack boxes which meant that Hermione was scolding them as students excitedly observed their peers' reactions to their concoctions.

"Do you want to go up to my room?" Rory offered.

"That never ends well. For our homework at least," Harry said dipping his quill in ink.

Rory blushed. "I was suggesting we actually do homework this time. And you're not getting anything done right now if we do end up distracted."

"It's fine," Harry said firmly.

Rory nodded stiffly and went back to her own assignment.

Harry sighed and sat his quill down. He looked up at Rory. "Sorry. I'm just in a bad mood. With Quidditch and Hedwig and everything else."

"I know," Rory said. She was not a stranger to mood swings, but Harry definitely gave her a run for her money.

From the other side of the room there was a loud belch and then the sound of someone vomiting onto the floor. Rory shuddered.

"On second thought, not being in here right now sounds divine," Harry said.

They picked up their things and went up to Rory's dorm. They sat on her bed and got back to their potions essay for a while.

"You made a face earlier when I told you about Sirius's letter," Harry said.

Rory nodded. "I'm just worried someone knows about the meeting now. But he's going to show up either way, isn't he? I'm honestly surprised he didn't completely ignore us and turn up at Hogsmeade last weekend."

"McGonagall said that the communications here are being watched," Harry said. "You really think they're reading my letters?"

"The order was worried about them intercepting our letters during the summer," Rory said. "I'd think the Ministry has an even better reason to look through your mail than Voldemort does honestly."

Harry sighed. "Can't just be normal can it?"

Rory shook her head. "Afraid not, Lovey."

"Except you. You've been pretty normal since school started," Harry said.

"What part of being a seer makes me the slightest bit normal?" she asked. "My predictions just aren't as exciting as they were last year since you're not getting attacked by dragons or mermaids this year."

"Point taken," Harry chuckled.

"And I've gotten better about only seeing things when I want to. Firenze and Trelawney were right about practicing and writing things down," Rory said.

"I'll probably actually read our divination text tonight. I feel obligated to after Trelawney literally threw the book at me," Harry said.

Trelawney was having a tough time. Umbridge put her on probation and she was not taking the news well. But Rory already knew Trelawney wasn't going to last. She knew that soon enough Trelawney was going to lose her job. Rory was one of the only students who could vouch for Trelawney and how she was actually kind of good at her job sometimes. But Rory was the last person who was going to be listened to by Umbridge, and Rory wanted as little to do with that woman as possible.

"I am worried though, about tonight," Rory said. "I feel like Umbridge is lurking around somewhere."

"How could she know? Even if she read the letter?" Harry asked.

Rory shrugged. "I dunno. It just always adds a layer of complication when you toss Sirius into the equation."

"Sirius is known to be a bit reckless," Harry said.

"Coming from you that sounds a bit like the pot calling the kettle black," Rory said.

"Or the Potter calling the Black reckless," Harry said. Rory laughed. Harry beamed at her. "There's really nothing better than seeing you smile, you know? Always cheers me up."

Rory blushed. "Well, lucky for you, you're quite good at making me smile."