Tonks did not want to be at Hogwarts. She could think of a million other things she would rather be doing that would be infinitely more productive. But, not only did Umbridge want to show off what an incredible job she was doing at Hogwarts, Fudge wanted to show how well things were going for him as well.
This meant showing off his favorite Aurors: Kingsley, the lead Auror on the Sirius Black investigation, and a virtual shoo-in for leading the department in a few year's time. And Tonks, the youngest and newest member of the department, but the one who had pulled Levi Goldfinch out of hiding and Kingsley's diligent protege.
With all of the chaos that had erupted inside of Hogwarts the last few years, Fudge wanted people to know the safety of its children was of the utmost priority. Having two of the ministry's best Aurors give the school the safety seal of approval, he felt, would go a long way.
Tonks and Kingsley knew that Harry Potter (and possibly Aurora at this point if she was being honest) were the main reason danger flew to Hogwarts like a beacon in the darkness, but there would be no convincing Fudge of that.
"Naturally, I have classes to attend to," Umbridge said. They'd gathered in her office. Tonks didn't comment on the fact that this was still the Defense Against the Dark Arts office and the Headmaster's office. "But I'll have some of my most trusted students to show you around to see all of the improvements we've made."
"Splendid, Dolores. I'm excited to see what changes you've made in Dumbledore's absence," Fudge said.
Tonks and Kingsley exchanged a glance. It was going to be interesting to see things firsthand.
"Potter and his friends haven't been giving you any trouble I trust?" Fudge asked.
"Blessedly they spent their Easter holiday at home, but they seemed to have figured out their place before they left," Umbridge said. "Without Dumbledore around I find it unlikely to have any trouble out of them."
Tonks knew that nothing could be further from the truth and was still anxious about Aurora's choir concert that evening, but she promised that it was going to be a small act of rebellion that might land her in detention but wouldn't otherwise cause trouble.
The students that showed them around the school were all Slytherin and all of them wore one of Umbridge's shiny Inquisitorial Squad badges. On the surface, everything seemed fine, but there were definitely signs that things were not as under control as Umbridge would have liked.
Students tended to only perk up when they realized a member of the Inquisitorial Squad was in their midst, and as soon they were no longer being watched they didn't seem to take them very seriously at all. Fudge also got a lot of curious looks as he walked through the hall. Some were curious, others were amused. Very few seemed to pay any mind to the fact that he was the minister at all.
They observed a few classes. Notably, Defense Against the Dark Arts, with fifth-year Gryffindor and Slytherin. Umbridge did her best to be engaging, at least Tonks assumed she was going for engaging, but almost no one would bite. When they did, it was only the Slytherin students.
The class was, in Tonks' opinion, abysmal. It wasn't even that the students were bored, but Tonks knew from her own training as an Auror, that this kind of instruction would give you a bunch of docile, non-combative wizards, but if they were hoping to train any new Aurors for the future, this kind of instruction was not going to be helpful.
She made a mental note to mention to the others later that perhaps it was justifiable that they formed their secret club. They were really doing their classmates a favor.
When dinner finally came around, Tonks and Kingsley were both ready for the day to be over. On the last leg of their evening, they'd been escorted to dinner by none other than Draco Malfoy himself. The minister fawned over him and spoke so highly of Lucius and all of his work on the school board and how he hoped that Draco would follow in his father's footsteps.
"You're a close relation of Mister Malfoy aren't you, Auror Tonks?" Umbridge asked.
Tonks nodded as she swallowed a mouth full of food. "He's my first cousin."
"Yes, Narcissa Malfoy's sister is your mother if I recall correctly," Fudge said.
Tonks nodded. "Yes. They're not close." That was a polite way of saying they were wildly estranged.
"I hear your mother was close with Sirius Black once upon a time. Is that why you've taken such a keen interest in his daughter? I know the two of you correspond," Umbridge said. Her tone was sweet but dripped with poison.
Tonks was not interested in having this conversation, and she got a sinking suspicion that Umbridge was trying to find some roundabout way of threatening Aurora to keep her in line. Thankfully, Tonks wasn't an idiot. Andromeda Tonks had taught her very well how to handle people like Dolores Umbridge.
"Yes. My mother has some lingering regrets about not taking her in after Black was sent to prison. She thought it might help if I kept in touch with Aurora. Help keep her on the straight and narrow," Tonks said.
"Probably for the best that someone keeps an eye on her," Umbridge said. "It's too bad she and Mister Malfoy seem to detest each other. Such a wonderful family your aunt married into. Your mother married a muggleborn didn't she?"
Tonks smiled and nodded. "Yes, she did. And my other aunt married a deatheater and most of my days trying to find out where she is so she doesn't murder anyone now that she's escaped from Azkaban." Umbridge paled, but Tonks didn't flinch, pausing only to take a drink from her water glass. "It's not so much about family as it's about the choices we make. And I'm pretty certain my mother is proud of the family she chose."
"You're already accomplished as an Auror; quite a lot to be proud of," Kingsley said.
Tonks flashed him a smile. "Thank you, Kingsley."
Flitwick began to gather the choir at the front of the hall. Aurora gave her a quick smile as she fell in line with her fellow students.
"Well, let's hope your young relative continues to make better choices," Umbridge said. "Wouldn't want her going astray like her father."
"Certainly not," Tonks said.
It was really Umbridge's own fault that Aurora didn't tolerate her. McGonagall, Flitwick, and even Snape occasionally, commented that she was remarkably like Remus: thoughtful, intelligent, studious, well-mannered, and in possession of a strong moral compass. Unfortunately, she was still related to Sirius and, depending on her mood, would happily be troublesome, rebellious, and intentionally obnoxious if she thought it was going to make the other party angry, or even if she just thought it was funny.
It was a volatile combination, one that made her calculating and precise in her marauding.
And it was for that same reason, Tonks was holding her breath even after Aurora promised that she was going to behave.
Umbridge commented earlier that she'd heard their rehearsal this afternoon and that the minister was in for a treat. If Aurora's evasiveness when being questioned about the concert was any indication, that was certain to be true.
Umbridge got to her feet and the room went utterly still.
"Thank you to all of our students who visited with the Minister today. Each and every one of you was sure to put your best foot forward and show just how much this school has grown in the short time that we've introduced so many improvements," Umbridge said.
There was half-hearted applause and a lot of eye-rolls. Notably, Aurora's friends at the Gryffindor table didn't seem to be listening to a word she was saying. This day had clearly gone according to plan under threat of punishment, and with students like Draco Malfoy running around enforcing her rules, it was unlikely anyone would be stepping out of line.
"As a final treat for our guests today, Professor Flitwick and the Hogwarts choir have prepared a selection of classic wizarding songs that showcase the values and talents of each of our houses and our school as a whole," Umbridge said.
She took a seat and there was another round of applause, slightly more enthused than before.
Flitwick raised a hand and counted the choir in. They started in unison singing the Hogwarts school song. It was jarring to hear it sung to the same tune and sung well at that. Umbridge and Fudge both seemed utterly delighted the entire song, and even Tonks was impressed with how well they'd done. When they were finished, Umbridge applauded, looking triumphant. She glanced over at Fudge who seemed jubilant as well.
But Tonks saw it. And Kingsley seemed to notice it as well. The quick glances that the choir students exchanged. The subtle nods. The mischievous grins.
Kingsley let out a deep breath, bracing himself for whatever was coming. Flitwick held up a hand. A dark-skinned girl wearing Gryffindor robes started to sing. Flitwick seemed confused. Umbridge registered this confusion and probably realized that this was not a sing she'd heard them sing earlier at their rehearsal.
And then the Hogwarts choir unleashed utter chaos into the Great Hall.
Rory was admittedly nervous about the choir performance that evening, especially since, according to Harry, Umbridge had popped in during his career advice session and McGonagall had absolutely taken her to task for criticizing Harry's desire to be an Auror. Even with Fudge there, Umbridge was sure to be on the lookout for a reason to punish him or any affiliated with him.
"What if she does try to expel us," Rory said.
"She can't kick all of you out," Matilda assured her. "Besides, I took care of it."
"Took care of it?" Rory asked.
Matilda nodded. "If it looks like Umbridge might pop off, the concert will get shut down and Umbridge won't even be worried about you singing a few unapproved songs."
"What do you—."
Matilda shushed her. "Remember how you told me you weren't telling what you were up to because you needed it to look convincing in case you ran into trouble? It's the same thing."
"She won't tell me either," Neville said. "Hopefully whatever nonsense she's up to won't be necessary."
Rory shrugged. "I guess we'll see how big of a scene she's willing to make in front of the minister."
Ara came by and tapped Rory on the shoulder.
"Ready?" she asked.
Rory nodded and got up from her seat. She gave Tonks the briefest smile as she joined her friends at the front of the hall.
"I'm kind of excited," Susan whispered.
"Really?" Rory asked. Susan nodded eagerly. If Susan was excited, then why shouldn't Rory be? Besides, if this was going to earn her a ticket out of school, she might as well enjoy every moment of it.
Umbridge gave her introduction and Flitwick raised his hand.
They'd decided to start with the school song, and that hadn't changed. "Lull her into a false sense of comfort," Stephen had said.
When they were finished they all exchanged glances, as if asking if they were all really going to do this. Rory was all in.
As soon as Ara started in on "Brave" everyone else was too. They'd also decided it would put an undo target on Rory's back to take the solo for Brave and Ara was more than happy to take one for the team. Besides, there was more to come.
Stephen and Ara weren't having their mail checked, and despite her brief stint in the DA, Susan wasn't on anyone's radar. It'd made it incredibly easy to get the contraband sheet music into Hogwarts during the break.
Brave was innocuous enough. It was muggle music, sure, but it was a good song, it was a clean song. Ara had picked the net song: "Wannabe" by Spice Girls because "One day we're going to learn about them in Muggle Studies because the Spice Girls are a staple of British culture."
By now Flitwick had given up. They'd gone off script, sure, but the songs they'd chosen so far were safe enough, especially since Spice Girls was indecipherable to most of their present company.
Little Mix's "Black Magic" was where they started to venture into more dangerous territory. Rory was surprised they got through the whole song without Umbridge shutting them down. But a quick glance over Rory's shoulder and they could see Umbridge was seething. She didn't dare look at Tonks and risk her breaking whatever poker face she had to be wearing currently.
Rory was certain they weren't going to make it to their final song after their penultimate song. It skirted the line, but Rory knew how to make any ABBA song hit exactly the way it was supposed to. Even singing "Honey, Honey" sent everyone into a frenzy
When they were finished, the room was in chaos. Flitwick and Umbridge were standing at the table having a very intense whispered argument. But they had one song left. And no one had stopped them yet. In the chaos, Rory almost didn't see Fred and George sneak from the Great Hall. A quick glance at Matilda, who winked at her, was the only signal Rory needed to know that whatever contingency plan she'd thought up had been put into effect. And they'd need it.
"Alright, gang, if we're all going to end up in detention, might as well go out with a bang," Ara said encouragingly.
Everyone else seemed to agree, so they went on to finish with a choral arrangement of Divynls' "I Touch Myself."
This time they did not get to finish the song.
"That's quite enough!" she shouted. "All students will return to their dormitories immediately!"
Uproarious laughter had broken out in the Great Hall. The choir had stopped, but it was likely no one had heard her over the general noise in the room.
She stomped down from the table and her eyes landed on Rory. She marched over and grabbed her arm, squeezing tightly.
"You did this," she growled.
Rory tried to wrench out her painful, tightening grip. She could see the rage in Umbridge's eyes and, for a second, Rory suspected she might've taken things too far.
"Excuse me!"
Rory and Umbridge looked over and Tonks stood there, looking intensely at Umbridge who quickly released Rory. Before Tonks could further chastise the woman, a loud explosion could be heard out in the corridor, ushering a silence over the room.
"What did you do?" Umbridge hissed.
Rory shook her head and Umbridge seemed to believe her, seeing Rory's genuine confusion.
Umbridge looked like she was ready to say something to Tonks, but she and Kingsley were already gone and moving towards the doors at the rear of the Great Hall.
There was another explosion and then another and another. No. Not explosions. Fireworks. They grew in quantity and intensity, visible now in bright explosions of colors and shapes.
Umbridge shoved past Tonks and Kingsley, determined to find the cause, and this was exactly the wrong move because a moment later, she found herself on the ground as a large, enchanted dragon burst through the doors of the Great Hall. Everyone ducked and marveled at the rather excellent charm work and magnificent display of fireworks. There were cheers as Fred and George Weasley flew into the room on their brooms, setting off more fireworks above everyone's heads.
Frazzled and beyond furious Umbridge was on her feet. Peeves had appeared and was heckling Umbridge with every single ounce of his being. Umbridge was screaming at the twins, shouting about "expulsion" and a long string of other things that Molly Weasley was not going to be happy about.
Fred and George seemed unbothered though. The last words they said said were "Give her hell from us, Peeves!"
Peeves gave them a salute and the twins zoomed from the Great Hall. Everyone rushed to the entrance hall and watched the Weasleys fly off through the castle doors until their figures disappeared beyond the horizon.
"She's definitely getting expelled," Ron said.
"No she's not," Matilda said dismissively. "A couple of dirty songs is nothing in comparison to all of the fireworks. Not to mention the swamp."
Fred and George had caused quite the diversion during the choir concert. The fireworks were enough for Umbridge to toss them out, but a corridor on the 4th floor had been converted entirely into a swamp, something they'd clearly been working on before they even knew they'd need to get Rory and the choir out of a jam.
"Why isn't she back yet then?" Ron asked motioning towards the door.
They were sitting in the common room. It'd been an hour since the twins had gone and everyone was sent back to their rooms and she still wasn't back yet.
Harry was trying not to be worried, but she was a favorite target of Umbridge's, and the stunt the choir had pulled, while definitely something that sounded like Rory's idea, was not actually orchestrated by her.
"Tonks is probably yelling at her," Matilda said. "Don't fret."
The common room door opened. Rory and Ara both walked in, both of them laughing. The room broke into applause. The girls gave a deep, dramatic bow. Relief flooded Harry's bones.
The girls went their separate ways, Rory joining them at the far end of the common room.
"Not only do I not have detention, but we only lost 15 house points," Rory said. "Umbridge was so furious about the fireworks and the twins breaking into her office to steal their brooms, and then having to help Fudge wade through a literal swamp to get to her office, our shenanigans seemed like nothing in comparison."
"I still can't believe you did that," Hermione said shaking her head. "You couldn't see Umbridge's face, but she looked like you were all very nearly on your way to getting expelled yourself."
Harry had seen that too. And now he saw a reddening bruise on the upper part of her arm where Umbridge had grabbed her and only let go when Tonks had intervened. Rory didn't seem to be paying any mind to it.
"But I didn't," Rory said. "Not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Do think I'll probably keep my head down for the rest of the year. And also the choir's been disbanded, obviously. Even Flitwick had a good scream at us, but you could tell he was kind of proud of us, and the twins. He kept commenting on how well done the fireworks and the swamp were."
"Tell me what your dad says when he yells at you," Neville said. "I'd like to cosign on his complaints."
"I think it was great," Matilda said, squeezing Rory.
Honestly, Harry did too. He just didn't know how to tell her that.
"Someone please tell me Fred and George were already planning to make a grand exit before they heard about the concert," Rory said.
"They've always got chaos in the works," Ginny assured her.
Hermione sighed. "I need to go to bed.
"Suppose I'll join you," Matilda said. "Please tell me all the things she said to you when you come up."
Rory nodded. Harry was about to say his goodnights too, but Rory tugged his sleeve.
"Can I have a word before you go to bed?" she asked casually.
Harry nodded, and that seemed to be the cue everyone needed before heading upstairs.
"You look relieved. Were you that convinced I was going to get expelled?" Rory asked him.
"Ron was," Harry said. "Wasn't worried until your finale. Think your dad will be angry?"
"I think my dad will be livid beyond words until he hears about the twins," Rory said. "Pretty thankful not to be a Weasley right about now."
"Definitely wouldn't want to be on the other end of whatever Fred and George are about to get," Harry said.
"They left you something in your room," Rory said. "Or I assume so. I didn't see it hanging in Umbridge's office anymore."
Harry brightened. It hadn't occurred to him that in breaking out their own brooms, Fred and George would've managed to get his own too.
"Thanks," Harry said. "For telling me."
She shrugged and brushed a lock of her hair from her face.
"Anyway, what I wanted to talk to you about was actually those 'private lessons' we discussed," Rory said.
Right. Occlumency. He'd nearly forgotten. "I know a place we can meet and it can be the same time you'd usually meet with Snape so no one would wonder where you are."
"What about you?" Harry asked.
Rory shrugged. "Let them wonder. We can keep this between us for now. Unless you want to tell the others."
"I don't need the lecture," Harry scoffed. "This arrangement, I guess, will be fine."
"If that's what you want," Rory said. "I've never done anything like this before, so I just want to make sure we're both on the same page about it. Whatever you want to say or not say is fine by me."
Harry nodded.
"Rory."
They turned and Neville was standing there.
"Can I steal you away?" he asked.
"Of course," Rory said. "Goodnight, Harry."
"Goodnight," he said. "By the way."
She blinked at him. Her gray eyes practically pierced a hole in him.
"You were brilliant tonight," Harry said.
She smiled at him, waved goodnight, and followed Neville upstairs.
Harry hoped desperately that he would stop feeling like his heart was going to beat out of his chest whenever he talked to Rory. Or that maybe he'd be able to act on what he was feeling.
