Carefully stepping over the bench, the heiress of House Greengrass settled into her place along the Slytherin table. Her back was straight and her head held high while she looked over the Great Hall. By contrast, her best friend dropped into her seat with a groan and propped her head up with her left hand while her right half blindly searched for some food.

Tracey cursed as her fingers dipped into some yoghurt and licked her fingers.

"Very elegant, Tracey." Daphne commented with amusement, not that her face was really showing it. Her fingers carefully measured some sugar to be put into her teacup.

Tracey raised her head slightly, just enough to flip Daphne off before slumping back. "Yeah yeah, Daphy."

Daphne could barely be seen smiling, which was her equivalent of grinning widely, as she leaned over. "That is not the conduct of a young lady. Also, don't call me Daphy."

Tracey chuckled a little. "You know full well that I am not a lady...Daphy."

Daphne raised her right eyebrow at her friend, while Tracey started spooning oak meal into a bowl. "Every woman can be a lady, my friend."

Tracey answered that by sticking out her tongue at Daphne, who smirked slightly. "Okay, maybe not every woman."

It was an old conversation they had many many times over the years. You could say it was a running joke between the two, even though it wasn't really a joke at all. Still, they sat next to each other content with their lot in life. Tracey shot her friend a smile and returned to her oatmeal.

They sat side by side in quiet as they both ate their meal. Neither was pilling their plates with sausage or egg, like some people did. They had learned to not sit near Crabbe while dinner. Daphe didn't turn her head but she could even over a few feet away hear the large teen stuff his face. She flinched when the boy burped loudly but sighed doing nothing.

Crabbe had been cursed quite a bit over the years due to his abysmal manners but nothing had stuck and at some point, people gave up trying. That would be something his future wive would have to beat down, she wasn't the teen's nanny. Still, his grunting was so annoying, she finally sighed, pulled her wand and cast a silencing charm at him under the table. The whole of the Slytherin table sighed a little in relief. Of course, not showing unity to the outside was frowned upon in the house of the snake, but for one she did it without anyone knowing who did it, secondly, everybody was annoyed by the boy and finally, not really anybody would try to anger her. Daphne was way on the top of the totem pole and no one would risk angering her for something like stopping the horrible noises that Crabbe made. Also she had already positioned herself against Malfoys posse before so this wasn't out nowhere.

Instead of concerning herself with those things, she pocketed her wand and looked up as the morning post came in. Daphne paid the owl that brought her the Daily prophet, casting just one glance on the front page. An announcement that Madam Umbridge had been made head of the department of chimneys. The blond snorted. Obviously, Umbridge had fallen from grace. The department's job was to care for the public floo points all around the country, taking care of Ashwinders and minor damages. It was a minor department with little to no influence around the Ministry. In other words, a dead-end for a career and the place someone was put if they turned into a political problem. Good riddance in Daphne's opinion.

She just quickly skimmed the first two pages looking for anything important before handing the paper on to Tracey. Her friend liked reading the sports part and would alert her if something was hidden in the smaller places in the papers. Instead of bothering about the Prophet or thinking about the pink toad, she turned to the regal owl that landed next to her. It was a majestic Eagle-owl, with almost all cream coloured feathers and its name was Morgana. She was her father's owl. Morgana stretched out her leg and graciously some raw meat from her. Daphne had shaken her head when she heard that some muggle-borns fed bacon to their owls. Of course, the animals would take it as they were loyal companions but every self-respecting witch knows that owls eat raw meat. Of course, a dead mouse would be better even but that wouldn't go well with hygiene at the table. So a tiny piece of meat would do, more a token gift than really something to eat. But that wasn't a problem at all. Owls are birds of prey and Daphne would be very careful not to imply to the regal bird that she was incapable to hunt her own food.

The blond girl took the offered letter, not petting the proud animal, who gave her just a simple look before spreading her wings, scattering some of the other owls, who backed away and took off. Daphne didn't watch her cutting a path through the bird, instead placing her thumb on the wax seal that closed the letter in front of her. She felt a slight prick when the seal cut her slightly, drawing a drop of blood. With a hissing sound, the green wax turned into vapour opening the letter. Strictly speaking, blood magic was frowned upon, some of it even forbidden but no one would risk trying to make enemies with the Most Ancient and Noble House of Greengrass due to a piece of mail. And it was the best way to keep the content of their letters safe.

Dear Daphne,

I hope you are well and excited to visit Hogsmead once more.

I for one am healthy. Please pass along that I don't overwork myself right now to your sister.

Daphne made a mental note to do so. She knew that Astoria was worried their father worked too much and had made her thoughts known. It was pleasing to see her sister spreading her wings a little bit. She was a shy girl after all.

I must inform you, that Tiberius Nott has reached out to me, trying to get me to agree to a marriage proposal. I of course declined. Let it be known, should I change my mind in this regard without a cleansing, that I was influenced into doing so.

The blond girl stopped reading. This was somewhat surprising. Not that her father made notice of his intention not to marry her off and the safety measure of writing this down. Daphne had a bunch of those letters, where her father stated that he intended not to marry her off to Malfoy, Flint, Crabbe, McMillian, Slughorn (the nephew of the former potions master) and some more. Also some about Astoria. Her sister had her own stack of similar letters. Probably she would get one too tomorrow. It was a safety measure. If he would change his mind, Daphne could contest his decision in court. Still, it had been quite some time that she got one of these letters. The last one had been about Malfoy in the summer, handed to her by her father the day after they came home from their stay at Grimmauld Place.

The blond looked over at Theodore Nott. The blond boy was reading his own letters. The moment she looked at him, by coincidence he threw down the piece of parchment, before glaring down the table at her. So apparently Tiberius Nott had acted on his son's wishes and now had told him he was shut down. Hopefully, he wouldn't throw a temper tantrum as Malfoy had done. That would be annoying. Not that she was overly worried. For one, Nott wasn't a powerful wizard. He wasn't as bad as Longbottom was or at least all thought Longbottom was but still he was not strong. Also the House Nott wasn't well connected at the moment. Tiberius Nott's stint as a henchman for the Dark Lord had alienated him from most and Nott didn't have the Black vaults to buy is way back into favor like Malfoy had done. But other than that, Daphne was confident in her own capability should the boy do something so stupid as to attack her. Since summer she had gotten pretty good with defensive spells, thanks to her work with Harry. And he wasn't abysmal in potions any more. So she could hold her own if

To answer your question about Silverhand, the goblins seem to have booted him out.

The rest of the letter was answers to questions she had to send her father in her last letter, keeping up with the family situation. Her reading was interrupted when she felt something in her mind, making her look up. Just in time, she saw a black form flying right towards her across the hall and she stretched out her hand for Dawn to land inside. The black phoenix landed with battering wings, already chirping at her. A soft smile formed on Daphne's lips. She couldn't deny it, the small black phoenix always made her smile no matter how much she tried to stop herself. She was just so lovely and the warmth that she felt when the bird was near was too comforting. Yes, she knew that was the bond she had with the mystical creature at work but it didn't matter. She was just happy she stumbled into the wrong room half a year ago. Her eyes trailed up and watched Lord Peverell who was standing near the Gryffindor table, talking with Susan Bones. While she looked, Harry raised his head and looked over, green eyes under unruly black hair and smiled. Daphne very carefully controlled her own features not to blush when she thought about Harry shirtless. He wasn't the most handsome guy in their year, no that title went to Zabini. But then again, there was the rumour that Blaise grandmother was a Veela, so that was hardly fair. But even so, Harry was a good looking guy. Not overly sexy but far from ugly. And he had a body from all that Quidditch. Not important, because Daphne wasn't that shallow but still she-

"Daphne?" Tracey pulled her from her thoughts.

"Yes?" Careful to keep watching for a moment, so she wouldn't look caught when looking away, she slowly turned her head. "What is it?"

Tracey grinned at her with this damn smirk, she knew exactly what was going on. "Do you want me to place some butter on Peverell before you try to devour him with your eyes?"

Not Daphne wasn't able to control the blush and a light red dusted her cheeks. "Of course not. I was just checking if he was in the room, in case Dawn would get nervous." She looked down at the phoenix.

Dawn blinked at her with her large golden eyes and Daphne was sure that the phoenix knew full well what she had just said. Daphne gave her an apologetic smile and rubbed her breast. Daphne cooed and seemed to not care that she was used as a defence.

Instead of reacting, Daphne turned her head back to her father's letter. "Don't be silly Tracey." While she held the letter with one hand, her other was busy scratching Dawn's tummy. The small phoenix stayed with her for about two minutes before she twisted under her hand, spreading her wings and flew off. Daphne's eyes turned from the parchment again and followed the small bird that dived at the bushy-haired Granger who had just come through the doors of the Great Hall.

"Finally that damn bird is gone." Someone murmured a few seats down. Daphne could almost feel her hairs bristle a little bit when anger rushed through her system.

She slowly turned her head, looking down the table at one of the second years who had said that.

"Be careful what you say, Freeton, you might be heard by someone." She almost hissed out. They stared at each other for a little moment, squaring their wills against each other. In the end, Daphne won. The younger boy had the decency to blush hard and dug his head lowly. Nodding to herself, Daphne tried again to finish reading the letter from her father, when Tracey nudged her with her elbow.

"Dear Merlin, what now?" Daphne murmured out quietly. Her friend just pointed in front of her.

"You have another owl." She said, pointing at a common barn owl, that was sitting there. In fact, this seemed to be one of the school owls, holding it's leg out to her in an almost bored kind of way. Given that owls could look bored of course.

Daphne frowned, casting a short detection charm before taking the letter. Was this some student again asking her out to the weekend? It happened quite a few times over the years, no matter how firmly she crushed it down. Today she would go with her sister and Tracey. Probably this was something like that again. She felt the parchment under her fingers. It was of high quality, so the letter was from someone with money. Since her charms had been negative the blond girl opened the letter.

Inside, there was just one sentences, formed by cut out Prophet snippets.

"Don't go to Hogsmead today. Danger!"

There was nothing else. It wasn't signed or showed anything else on this. What by Merlin was this supposed to mean?

The black-haired boy stretched his back as he walked out of the front entrance to the school. He pulled his scarf closer around his neck. It was warmer than a few weeks ago but still, it was pretty damn cold. Next to him, Hermione was rubbing her glove covered hands together. On his other side, Susan sneaked her arm around her girlfriend's waist, grinning like a loon under the yellow hat she wore. It clashed strongly with her electric blue hair. Neville trailed behind them. They walked down the stairs to the carriage that was parked in front. Harry opened the door, letting everybody in before following. He, Hermione and Neville took one side while Susan and Akiko took the other bench. Our boy who lived eyed the Japanese girl. He didn't have a lot of time to talk to her really over the last couple of months. Mostly just related to the Tournament and nothing more. He had not really an opinion about her, given that, but he also wanted to know more about her. She was the girlfriend of one of her friends after all, so it would be nice.

"Sooooo, Akiko, mind telling us a little about you?" He finally spoke, while rubbing Dawn's little feet. The phoenix cooed at him, nipping at his glove covered thumb.

The girl raised her brown eyes, looking at him. Her face showed little emotion, as she eyed him up and down like she was assessing him. A year ago that would have made him nervous but it was done so much now, by Daphne, Andromeda and Narcissa, he got used to it by now.

"I'm Musashi Akiko, I'm a seventh year in Mahoutokoro and I am the champion of my school." She closed her mouth, saying nothing more, while Harry frowned a little. Only Susan sighed then, nudging her slightly.

"Come on, Kiko, these are my friends." She mumbled to her, looking a little embarrassed.

The girls stern face broke for a moment, while she eyed her own love, the passive features melting into adoration. With a final sigh, she nodded.

"Okay, fine. I come from an old clan, the Musashi-Clan. My father is the patriarch and I have two older brothers. So I worked extra hard to be noticed by otousama. I hope this tournament will finally be the big thing." Taking more of a calming breath, she continued. "My family places great emphasis on martial arts and war magic. But I am not interested or talented in that field really. I prefer illusions over it. I want to be a dancer."

Susan smiled widely and run her finger along with her girlfriend's jawline. "And you are amazing at it." "Thank you, Aoi." Susan leaned over, kissing her girlfriend while the rest of the carriage tried looking everywhere but to them. But the Japanese girl pulled back quickly after just a moment.

"Not here Aoi." She spoke softly, making Susan pout a little bit. Akiko turned back to the others. "Aoi told me all about you. I take it, you like to read?" Her face was turned to Hermione, who's eyes turned bright at just the idea of talking about someone who learned on a different school than she did. In seconds the two were discussing some form of transfiguration. Harry smiled watching his best friend being so herself when he caught Susan's eyes. She had somewhat of a sad expression on her face while watching her girlfriend. Storing that information in his mind for later, Harry leaned back and just enjoyed watching his friends interact with each other. The black phoenix in his lap started purring like a comfortable cat, vibrating through his thighs.

The ride ended rather quickly after that as the carriage rolled into Hogsmead. They got out, watching the sleepy little town that laid before them. "So, what does everybody want to do?" Harry asked into the crowd, smiling. The others looked at him in a strange way.

"Well, Akiko and I will head off to...well I will not tell you." Susan laughed, winking at him once.

"Neville and I wanted to head to the book store, you can come with us of course but..."Neville trailed off, but his face turned a little red as he turned searching for help with Hermione.

She in turn also turned a little red, blushing and it took Harry a moment until he understood. Oh. OH! Right.

"I see. No problem. I will go with Padfoot, he should be around here and..." He trailed off as he saw the big black dog coming out of an alley, tongue loling out of his mouth.

Harry grinned. "See, everybody is taken care of. How about we meet up at the Broomsticks in two hours?" A chorus of agreement came back and quickly his friends bustled off and away, leaving Harry behind. He smiled after them with a little bit of sadness. Dawn thrilled shortly, rubbing her head against the side of his head.

"Everybody else busy I take it?" Asked a voice from the side. Sirius put his arm around Harry's shoulders, hugging him to his side. The man had snug up on him and changed back.

"Hey, Pads. Yeah, everybody is doing something. But it is okay. Susan is Susan, and I get this feeling about Hermione and Neville."

Sirius barked out a laugh, rubbing Dawn under her beak. "That those two are falling for the other? Yeah, you are right. That is pretty obvious in my opinion."

Harry smiled and they started walking into the village. "I am happy for them. I mean if it works out. I...I just noticed now, so I haven't thought about it yet."

Rubbing his upper arm, his godfather smiled. "I know. It is a weird feeling knowing that your best friend is dating. When your parents got together, I had no idea what to do with my time suddenly. But then again I was very happy for the both of them sooooo I did other things too. Helped me too, growing a little bit apart from them."

Harry smiled before frowning. "Didn't you tell me that you and Pet...that you tried to disguise yourself and spy on my parents first date?"

Sirius laughed, ignoring the short stumble in the middle of the boy's sentence. "Might have. But that was at the start, later I backed off."

Sniggering, while still walking, the black-haired boy shook his head. "Remus told me you spent about 4 nights a week at our old home every week."

His laughter was bark like as the tall black-haired man threw his head back. "Might have. But for me, that was backing off. I would have been there every night if I could. But I guess Lils would have cursed me even more if I did that. I mean she was annoyed by me to no end."

Laughing, the younger shook his head, as they moved past the Quidditch shop. He thought about going in there, but then again it made him feel weird. So he ignored it as they moved on. Sirius kept telling him about his parents and Harry answered. Slowly he had over the last couple of months of stories felt like he got to know his parents after all. Remus and Sirius told him so many stories that they weren't just the one that Harry looked like and the one he got his eyes from. They were people, with personalities and hobbies, things they loved and the things they hated. He knew now that his father was an excellent cook but wouldn't notice dust for the life of him. His mom had a real green thumb but on the other hand, her drawing skills were lacking. So they walked and talked, laughing and were having fun. Sure Harry was sad not to spend time with his friends but spending time with his godfather was just as good to him. Dawn had taken to flying around and they drew quite a few eyes. The tall, well looking Lord with his famous godson and black phoenix circling them all.

Suddenly, Sirius stopped in his retelling of the one time Harry's father had gotten completely wasted and Sirius and Remus, Peter was not named, tried to get him back into the Gryffindor common room while he was stuck in his Prongs form. He then waved his hand over his head.

"Aunt Minnie!" Sirius called out. A short distance down the road, Minerva McGonagall turned her head and if her gaze could kill, Sirius would have keeled over. The two members of house Black quickly made their way over.

"Lord Black, what makes you think it would be a good idea calling me that in front of half of the students off the school." Given all around them, students were eyeing the meeting and quite a few hushed "Aunt Minnie"'s could be heard.

Sirius laughed shaking his head. "Oh, you love it and you know you do."

Squinting her eyes, Minerva didn't answer the statement instead turning to Harry. "Good morning Lord Peverell, Dawn. I hope you are well." She nodded once to the black phoenix.

Harry straightened his back, nodding. "Thank you, Headmistress. Yes, we are well. I take it, you too?" He got a nod in return. "What are you doing out here, Professor?"

Minerva sighed, looking around. "Patroling. Given the current situation, most of the staff is walking the village. But we can't keep the students holed up in the castle the entire time, so security is tight. Some aurors are also here, thanks to Madam Bones."

Sirius, who had stopped laughing, nodded grimly. "Yeah, Melia is not happy at the moment. The force is pretty lacking at the moment and there are no clues where that damn bastard is hiding."

Minerva frowned a little. "Lord Black, please your language. But yes, that man is a damn bastard." She then raised her head high. "But we will not bow down and let him destroy us. "

"I will also keep an eye out for something out of the order. Don't you worry, Minerva. They would be stupid to try something here."

McGonagall nodded, then sighed. She suddenly looked a lot older. "I know but then again, I feel like we need Albus. If he was here, I wouldn't worry." Her hand was gliding into her pocket, grasping the item that was placed in there. Sirius nodded, stepping closer and placing a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

"You are doing a fine job, Minnie. I have absolute confidence in you."

The professor didn't look convinced. "At least one of us. I feel always like I am just an imposter, taking up the place until someone notices how unqualified I am."

The black-haired man gave her a soft smile. "I feel the same with the Lord title. I think it is human to feel out of our depth. But you have a good staff, you have run that school for years and Hogwarts wards are so ancient no one will be able to breach those. So no need to worry really. But I know you, so I will say, no need to worry too much."

Minerva smiled. "Thank you, Sirius." Then she stepped back. "But don't let me stop you. Enjoy your day you three." She smiled again and it was a little more convincing to the two members of House Black. The two bid their goodbyes and walked on.

"I'm a little worried about her." Sirius stated as they walked on. "The pressure seems to be getting to her. I have never seen Minnie so uncertain."

The black-haired boy next to him hummed in agreement, while Dawn had settled down on his shoulder, tussling his hair with her beak. "I know what you mean. But Dumbledore has left some pretty big shoes behind to fill, so I guess it was to be expected."

His godfather made an agreeing sound. "You are probably right. I mean she isn't worrying about nothing. Voldi is out there and he is dangerous after all. I will see what I can do to help her."

"You are a good guy, Pads, you know that right?"

That returned the grin to his godfathers face. "Well of course I know that. The best there is. All my friends are happy to have me and all who are not my friends are jealous of those who are. Of course, I am a good guy."

Nudging him while walking Harry laughed a little. "You really are a humble guy arent's you, oh dear godfather of mine?"

Smirking, Sirius shook his head. "I think that is the first time in my life someone called me humble at all."

"First time for everything, am I right?"

"That is true. man what a week, first Remus suddenly tells me he has a girlfriend and then I get called humble and-"

Harry almost tripped over his feet. "Wait what?"

The black-haired man kept walking. "That was ten seconds ago, you just called me humble, Prongslet. Try keeping up."

Speeding up, the boy caught up with his godfather, who was grinning widely. "You know I didn't mean that. Remus has a girlfriend?"

Sirius stopped for short, standing in front of Zonkos, obviously thinking about buying something. "What? Oh yes, he told me three days ago." The tall man mustered the most bored and uninterested voice he could while trying to keep his grin in. The boy moved up, nudging him.

"Cut it out Pats, tell me!"

Raising his eyebrow, Sirius looked down at the young teen. "Much eager aren't we? But then, I get it I am giddy myself. Yeah, three days ago, Remus said he couldn't come by this evening when I asked. And the good friend that I am, I prodded and poked at him for about an hour until he, very begrudgingly I might add, told me he had a date. Of course, being who I am, that started a nice conversation or in this case the hardest case of getting information out of someone I ever did. Apparently, there is this little muggle book shop, a little down the road from the flat Remus rented. They have been going out since before Christmas apparently and he didn't tell me at all! I could have helped along, spied on them, made fun of him or-"

"Boy and I wonder why Remus didn't tell you. But I am glad he found someone. Does." Harry looked around. "Does she know?"

Frowning, Sirius leaned closer. "About magic or about...you know? From what I have gathered, neither. But then again this is Rem we are talking about, it might take him years to work up the courage to tell her about either of these things." They rounded the next corner and blinked both for a moment.

Right in front of them was a group of three people. Daphne Greengrass, who had a look of a little annoyance on her face, her sister and Hagrid, the second once talking a mile a minute, while Daphne stood to the side and tried her best not to look like she was about to commit murder. Her eyes lid up when she saw Sirius and Harry come around the corner.

"Lord Black Lord Peverell." She called out, moving as quickly as good etiquette would allow her to meet up with them.

"Ah, Heiress Greengrass good day to you." Sirius said with a smile. "Thank you, Lord Black."

The man waved her off. "As I told you before, please call me Sirius."

Daphne almost sighed. "If you insist."

Smiling, Sirius nodded. "Of course I do. Hagrid, good to see you, man." Sirius moved past Daphne and gave the large man a hug. Well, he tried getting his arms around him.

The large man smiled widely behind the thick brush of a beard and padded lightly on Sirius back. Sirius winced as he received these "light" pads. "Sirius! 'ow are yea? Did yea fix the bike up?"

The two started talking animatedly about Sirius motorcycle, while Astoria came over to the other teen.

"Good day Miss Greengrass," Harry said with a slight bow. Astoria snorted, nodding. "Thanks, Harry. Can we please not? It's Hogsmead weekend after all."

"Astoria." Her blond sister said with a warning tone, but the black-haired boy waved it off.

"It's okay Daphne. I told her to call me Harry at the ball. Astoria how are you? didn't know you two would be here together."

Shrugging in a way that made her sister frown, Astoria smiled. "Yeah, Daphne and I came here together because...well you know why. Upstanding ladies don't go somewhere without proper chaperone and all that stuff." She shot her sister a stinkeye that was answered with an angered twist of her lip. "Also Daphne had gotten this letter this morning and now she is like a mother dragon."

"Astroia!" Daphne hissed a second time, this time with a slight blush on her cheeks.

Harry smiled at the blond, folding his hands in front of him. "Well, I think that it is really nice of your sister to look out for you, Astoria." The shorter brunette shrugged again, turning her head to the side and looking into a shop, wandering off to the window.

"Please excuse my sister. She sometimes lacks the proper conduct needed for a lady." Daphne spoke while catching Dawn. The black phoenix had kept to Harry's shoulder but now launched itself into her arms with purrs and coos.

"No problem. You know I am not big on all that anyways. So no harm is done." Daphne hummed in agreement and for a moment they just stood together.

"She said you got a letter? Mind if I ask?" The boy said formally, while Daphne brushed through black feathers. Dawn had rolled on her back in Daphne's hands and demanded belly scratches.

"Not at all. It was more of a note than a letter. A warning not to come here today." The girl didn't look at him but instead at the blackbird in her hands.

"Any idea who send it?" The inquiry was met with a headshake.

"Not the slightest. It was composed out of newspaper clippings. So no. Still, I am a little worried."

Harry frowned reaching up and rubbing Dawn's head. He knew he stood pretty close but something made him do this.

"Then why are you here? Why not back at school?"

Daphne looked up at him with her deep dark green eyes and raised one eyebrow." I am Daphne Greengrass. I don't hide away, just because someone sends me some note via school owl."

Harry nodded. "Fair point. Would accompany me and Sirius to the Three Broomsticks? We get together with some of my friends eating lunch."

The blond started shaking her head. "We wouldn't want to impose."

At that Harry just smiled. "You are not, I am offering." That got him a small real smile in return.

"Then I would like that."

Harry looked over her shoulder and caught Sirius's eyes. With a nod to the Inn, he made his intentions clear. Sirius nodded in return, bid his farewell to Hagrid and walked over to collect Astoria. Harry and Daphne walked side by side in the direction of the inn.

Holding the door for the girl, like the training Narcissa had given him suggested, Harry was almost hit with the wall of smell, warmth and conversations that crashed over him. The Inn was looking like it always did. Dark wooden tables were littered around the room, with benches made from the same material alongside. Along the white painted walls, nooks made with leather benches lined up. The galleries overhead moved like the stairs in Hogwarts back and forth. The three broomsticks were fully packed, only a few tables were still free. Everywhere students sat, talked, drank and ate. It was warm and homely and Madam Rosmerta was bustling about, taking orders and serving food.

In one corner there was a big table, where Hermione and Neville were sitting. The two looked a little flushed and smiled at each other. Their hands were lying on the tabletop and their fingers were linked. A small smile appeared on Harry's face. That worked out quickly. His friends hadn't noticed him yet. Offering his arm to Daphne, Harry moved around the tables, careful not to bump into someone.

"Hey, you two." The boy greeted his friends as her gotten to them finally. Both snapped their heads around and quickly pulled their linked hands apart. Red crept over their faces and Harry felt Daphne's grip on his elbow tightening a little.

"H-Hey Harry, H-Heiress Gre-eengrass. Didn't see y-you there." Neville stammered out, his eyes wide and in a little bit of panic. For just a moment, the black-haired boy thought about teasing them but thought that was too cruel.

"I hope you don't mind Daphne and her sister joining us. We met on the streets and..."

Hermione who had caught herself about now shook her head. "Of course we don't mind. Please, sit." She offered the place next to her. Harry, remembering his training took Daphne's coat and took off his own jacket, before leaning on the table.

"I will just go to the restroom. Tell Sirius when he gets here, so he doesn't worry?"

"No problem, Harry." Hermione smiled and then turned to Daphne starting a conversation about some homework from the last week.

Grinning to himself, Harry moved down the room, evading the tablet full of drinks that Rosmerta carried. Feeling the weight of Dawn on his shoulder he left the room and duck into the side corridor where the restrooms were. It got quieter already, not being in the main room. The corridor was a little bit dark in the front. At the back was a window, with milky glasses between lead trimmings. The walls were half covered in the same dark wooden boards that were the floor and paintings of hills and Forrest. To his surprise, he almost tumbled into someone who was standing there leaned against the wall. Blue hair under a yellow hat gave the identity away quite easily.

"Wow, Susan, you almost gave me a heart attack." The black-haired boy said, clutching his chest.

Laughing, Susan slapped his shoulder and shook her head.

"What are you doing here? Why are you standing here in the dark alone?" He then asked, frowning a little.

Susan's laughter died a little down and she shrugged a little, strange distant look on her face. "I'm waiting for Akiko, she is in there." Her thumb pointed at the door to the woman's restroom.

Stepping a little closer and lowering his voice, the boy asked. "Is everything okay? You seem strange as of late."

The bluenette looked surprised at him, before nodding a little sad. "Yeah, its...well Akiko's father."

Now really frowning, Harry waved her to the side so they would be out of the way of everybody who came through. "What do you mean?"

Taking a deep breath the heiress of the noble House of Bones looked to the ceiling while stemming her hands into her hips. "This is...boy this is...well. Her dad puts a lot of pressure on her. Like a ton of it. To be the best and even that is not good enough for him. And now with me..."

Crossing his arms, Harry leaned against the wall. "What about you?"

Giving him a pitiful look, Susan tilted her head to the side. "Her father doesn't approve of her being...well a witches witch. Like really not. He had sent her a letter yesterday, telling her to "end this shameful behaviour, before she would disgrace the entire family even further."

Harry blinked, totally caught on the wrong foot. "Oh...And...uhm. What does she think about it?"

Susan looked suddenly very vulnerable. "Boy, I don't know. She is more withdrawn and I don't know. It is hard to tell at the moment. I worry that I might lose her to this you know an-"

Her next words were drowned out when a sudden and very loud explosion rocked the entire building, followed by two more.

"What the hell?" Harry exclaimed, rushing to the wind that was at the end of the corridor. You couldn't see much as it was milky, but he could see the green light that appeared on the sky half-covered by smoke rising up into the clouds.

Formed by the clouds themselves and green light, a gruesome skull was opening it's mouth and a large snake made from green mist shout out of it like a horrifying tongue.

Harry blinked for a moment before he cursed. "Tom!"

So this chapter is done. Sorry again for the long time. I think once a month is realistic at the moment.

So yeah, this chapter was set up for the next one mostly, placing a lot of building blocks and a lot of who is where and so on. But also I wanted that some things happen of camera. Not everything needs to be shown in detail, like Remus finding someone. I have long thought about Remus/Narcissa. It would align with their charakters in this story and what role they take but it just felt wrong. There is a limit to what Narcissa could accept and Werewolf wouldn't be in it. So no Remus/Narcissa. She will in fact most likely stay alone. Not because I hate her or anything but she is enough for herself in my point of view. Also she comes from a horrible relationship one year is not enough to undo the shit that Lucius did so to speak.

Lastly Susans part came to me suddenly but I thought this should be in it. I wish society would be at the spot where it is not important what sex someone likes but it isn't and it wasn't during the time in which HP is taking place either. So yeah, there is trouble in that.

Next up: Battle for Hogsmead.