Disclaimer: The plot is ours, but the majority of the main characters belong to the imagination of J.K. Rowling. We do not gain any profit from writing this story.
Summary: With the Grimoire in safe hands and James Potter expelled, Severus Snape, Lily Evans, and their friends expected that their remaining time at Hogwarts would be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, the intentions of a few detestable individuals will make their lives more arduous. With the help of a few new friends, they all must join together to fight against the rising tide of evil in the Wizarding World.
A/N: This story is A/U and is NOT canon compliant. If you don't like Sev/Lily fiction, don't read it.
Chapter 13
Severus' face hardened and he narrowed his eyes at Michael. "Sam is wrong. There are none of Dante's informants in our group. I've been friends with them all since first year and we've gone to bat for each other. I know none of them want anything to do with Dante unless it's with his downfall!"
"We've heard Sam's backbone turns to jello when it comes to Dante," Frank stated. "He could just be saying this on Dante's orders, hoping to create division within our group."
"And no, it isn't Pete either if that's what either of you are thinking. He may not be all that strong physically, but I think Dante's knows if he tries to force Pete to spy for him by threatening to withhold his medicine from him, he'll not only bring the wraith of Madam Pomfrey down on him, but Professor McGonagall's as well," Severus said. "I'd rather face a Hungarian Horntail than those two when they've got their dander up!"
"And Dante will face the wraith of all of us if he threatens Pete in any way," Frank added coolly.
Michael held up his hands. "I was just passing on what I heard. I didn't say it was true."
"I'll meet with my friends and see what they say and I'll let you know," Severus nodded and he and Frank left. They first stopped and looked over the railing to make sure neither Dante or Cassidy were in the library before descending to the main floor.
"So, what do you think?" Frank asked once they were outside the library.
"I think you and Remus had better be prepared to sit on Sirius when I tell everybody what Ashdown just told us. You know he's going to want to fly right out the door, find Yalarad, and kick the crap out of him!"
"Maybe we could skip that part of it for now," Frank suggested. "Or else Remus, me, and Pete will probably have to sit on him all night! You know how long it takes Sirius to cool off."
Severus shook his head. "No I promised you all that I would always be honest with you and I keep my promises."
"Lily and Emily might have to sit on Jane, too, since she hasn't been all that enthusiastic about us being allies with the United, either," Frank muttered.
"We're going to take a vote on it, but everybody will have their say before we do."
"What happens if more people vote to stay clear of the United than vote to work with them?"
"I'll have to accept it and tell Michael and Sebastian it's a no go."
"Then I'm sure we'll all end up with strained necks from having to be constantly watching our backsides," Frank replied.
"We'll just have to keep casting the Boomerang Charm on ourselves and hope for the best."
After dinner, the friends met in their secret room in the dungeon. Clive brought them pumpkin juice, crisps and dip, and cookies. "They's will fill again until you's is filled up."
"That's never in Sirius' case," Remus joked.
"Thanks, Clive," Severus said. Clive nodded and popped back out.
"So, how did the meeting with Ashdown go?" Tav asked.
"Pretty good," Severus said. "When I told Michael what Bartholomew had told me, Dorian, and Tav about recruiting Sam's family members, he thought it was a good idea and suggested we try and talk to Dante's younger sister, Dee Dee, who's in Slytherin."
"She's a year mate of mine," Reg said. "And that's a good idea. I don't think Dante would ever suspect his own sister."
"He also said to forget about their younger brother, John, since he apparently thinks Dante is the second coming of Merlin," Frank added.
"Jane and I can try talking to Dee Dee and see how she feels," Emily volunteered. "I think it would work better than if we all converge on her."
"Alice and I are willing to help you," Lily offered.
"Thanks, but the I think this first meeting should be just Dee Dee, Emily and me," Jane said. "But if she isn't convinced, we'll call you and Alice in and you can tell her about some of the things Dante's done."
"Okay," Lily agreed.
"Sounds like a plan," Severus said. He frowned then and said, "There is one more thing. I think Dante suspects we're trying to ally with the United against him. Just before our meeting with Michael, he said Sam pulled him aside and told him somebody in this group was spying for Dante."
Sirius rose and yelled, "What?"
"Calm down, Sirius, and let Sev finish," Remus urged.
"I don't believe it and I told him so. I think Sam's being used by Dante to try and create a division in our ranks. I don't know of anybody here who would be a rat for Dante!" Severus affirmed.
"When I see Yalarad next time, I'm gonna punch him so hard, his nose will be sticking out of the back of his head!" Sirius threatened.
"That's not going to help, Sirius. All that will do is get you is suspended," Peter pointed out. "And then you'll end up on Dante's shit list."
"I'm already on Dante's shit list," Sirius pointed out. "Any Black is."
"You recall Bartholomew told us that when Dante's around, Sam's backbone takes a leave of absence," Dorian said. "But he's never indulged in low-level tactics like this before."
"Yeah, he never joined in with Pothead either," Tav pointed out.
Caddaric nodded. "He's always stayed with his group of friends and didn't bother anyone else."
"I still don't trust him!" Sirius exclaimed with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Does anybody else have anything they want to say?" Severus asked.
"I think we need to remain on our guards, even though we've offered an olive branch to the United," Irene said. "Alliances require trust and I'm not sure I can give mine right at the moment."
"Fair enough," Severus said. "Let's take a vote on it. All those in favor of continuing to try and ally with the United, raise your hands." He counted the raised hands. "All those in favor of dropping it, raise your hands." Again, Severus counted the raised hands. There was only two Sirius' and Reg's. "The ayes have it," Severus announced. "And that means nobody picks a fight with the United." He looked directly at Sirius.
"Yeah, what if Yally Boy attacks me?" Sirius demanded.
"You report him," Remus responded, "Report him to Professor Schell. I heard he's Sam's godfather and Sam would be humiliated if he found out Sam was deliberately picking fights."
"Remus is right, Sirius," Lily said. She knew that Sirius would listen to Remus even when he wouldn't listen to anybody else.
"I hope you're not expecting me and Siri to just stand by while Yalarad insults our dad to our faces," Reg said.
"If we say both our groups want Dante out and we'll ally to make it happen then we'll look like a bunch of hypocrites if you guys keep fighting with them," Caddaric pointed out. "I know it won't be easy to ignore any taunts about your dad, but just remember it may be Dante's influence you're hearing and not the way Sam really feels."
"I agree with that," Severus said. "I'll contact Michael and tell him a temporary truce is on."
Dorian spoke up. "By the way, I was able to contact my dad about Doherty possibly gambling at Muggle gambling joints. Sluggy was nice enough to let me use his personal floo because I didn't want to owl my dad because of the risk of an owl being caught and checked by certain people. Anyway, my dad said he hadn't heard anything about a gambler winning or losing huge amounts of money, but he's going to check with his CI's to see if they've heard anything."
"CI's?" Peter asked.
"Criminal Informants," Dorian explained. "Every constable and inspector has them. They're criminals that are given immunity from their crimes, like robbery, and they become spies for Scotland Yard and report to them when they hear some big criminal activities are going down. They have to produce and they can't make stuff up or their immunity will be revoked and they'll go to jail."
"Aurors have them, too," Sirius said. "They let the Aurors know what's going on like with that guy claiming he's a dark lord."
"He going to let me know if he finds out anything on Doherty. I told him to use Sluggy's floo rather than an owl."
Tav rolled his eyes. "Are we getting paranoid about Dante or what? That's not going to help things."
"Doesn't hurt to be careful," Dorian said. "Do we really want Dante to know were checking up on his best buddy's gambling habits?"
"He probably does know. He knows all our owls and probably keeps an eye out for them," Alice said.
"I have three letters I've written to Tuney and I'm going to send them off with Guinevere tomorrow. Dante can't keep track of all the owls that come in or go out of here."
"We'll keep low profiles in the meantime," Severus said. "And we'll keep using the Boomerang Charm to protect ourselves."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Rosemerta and Aberforth sat in the Three Broomsticks having a drink. Rosemerta put down her glass of whiskey and asked, "So have you had a visit yet from Hogwarts illustrious head boy yet?"
Aberforth nodded. "He was in right after school started fishing for dirt on the Prince's. I told him to get the hell out and if I caught him in here again, I'd turn him into a toad. I also told everybody in my pub not to talk to him or I'd ban them permanently!"
"Yes, he was doing the same here, but nobody would say a word. Lord Prince has helped a lot of them out of trouble and he either didn't charge them or he accepted something in exchange, like some of their crops."
"Albus must be getting old!" Aberforth exclaimed with a shake of his head. "Or else he's going blind because he can't see what a rat he's chosen. My goats don't like him either so that's a good reason not to trust him because you can fool people, but you can't fool goats."
Rosemerta raised her glass and said, "Here's to your goats."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Lily, with Severus accompanying her, went up to the Owlery the next morning to have Guinevere take her letters to Tuney in Paris. She stroked Guinevere's head and spoke to her as Severus attached the letters to her foot. "I know it's a longer journey than normal, but I know Tuney will let you rest up at her place before you fly back here."
Guinevere nipped Lily's finger, spread her wings and flew out the window. Lily watched until she flew over the Black Lake and out of sight. "I sure do miss Tuney. Christmas seems really far off right now."
"Especially when we thought we were going to have a peaceful year with Potter gone," Severus replied as they came down the stairs from the Owlery.
"Well, maybe this temporary alliance with the United will help with that. After all, Dante will be gone at the end of this year," Lily said. "So we just have do what you said last night, keep a low profile, and keep using the Boomerang Charm."
"That's of course if we can get Sirius to keep a low profile," Severus added.
"Remus, Frank, and Pete know about his tendencies to fly off the handle and they'll be keeping a close eye on him," Lily said
"Let's hope so because we don't want him blowing the whole thing up before it even starts."
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Lisa paced around her dorm room and kicked her trunk in frustration. Why couldn't she get either Mary or Daniel to listen or care about what was happening? They didn't care what the Snape Gang was up to or care that the current defense professor was teaching the class dark magic. All either did was have their heads stuck inside a textbook. They had both become so boring!
She couldn't believe Dumbledore and McGonagall were allowing this defense professor to teach dark magic nor the board of governors, but then she recalled Snivellus' grandfather was a board member and he probably cast some sort of spell over the other board members that makes them think just the regular curriculum was being taught.
Lisa plopped down on her bed that hadn't been made in days. Damn Hogwarts elves were worthless! She stared up at her canopy over her bed, thinking how she could let somebody know what was going on at Hogwarts. If she sent a letter to the Daily Prophet, would they even listen to her? It would probably require a much more powerful voice. Suddenly she remembered James' father. He's certainly listen if she wrote him a letter about what was going on. She got up, rifled through her desk drawer for a piece of expensive parchment, uncorked her ink bottle and sat down at her desk and started to write. She was finished with it quickly.
Dear Lord Potter,
I assume you haven't heard that the new defense professor, Gabriel Schell, is teaching students dark spells. Nobody seems worried about it except me. Even Professor Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall are oblivious to it.
This should not be allowed because students like Snivellus Snape and his friends will be using them on anybody they don't like or want to control, but I can't get anyone to listen to me. You are the only person I can think of that would be willing to question hiring this professor and why he's being allowed to teach dark spells.
Please help before some innocent students gets hurt or worse by this horrible decision made Professor Dumbledore to hire this horrible defense professor. You would be a huge hero to the Wizarding World!
Sincerely,
Miss Lisa Troyer
She folded it carefully, put it in an expensive parchment envelope, and left her room to take it to the Owlery.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Dante was in his Head Boy quarters with his 'War Council' just after dinner had ended.
His council consisted of Cassidy, Athena, and his cousin Sam.
They were all seated at a table, and were discussing certain matters amongst themselves.
"And where are we, with recruiting fresh blood in our little club," Dante asked his council.
"Athena, and myself have been scouting some new talent," Cassidy grinned. "A few names caught our eye."
Athena pulled out several neat and organized pieces of parchment and handed it to Dante.
"Thank you my beloved," He smiled as he winked at Athena.
Cassidy pulled out a crumpled up piece of parchment from his pockets and handed it to Dante
"Erm...thanks Cass," Dante took the paper.
Dante looked over the lists given to him. "These seem to be fine additions to our group." Dante gave the lists to Sam. "What do you think, Sami?"
Sam looked over the notes in silence. His fingers combed through the pieces of parchment as he gave his thoughts aloud. He was looking at Cassidy's list in particular.
"Crap."
Cassidy stiffened in his chair as he glared at Sam.
"Crap, crap, crap, thestral manure, crap, crap, and more crap," Sam plopped Cassidy's list on the table.
"Crap?!" Cassidy was redder than a strawberry. "That's what you'll be eating when I'm through with you!"
Assist began to get up out of his seat before Dante stopped him.
"Cass!"
Doherty looked at his best friend.
"Sam's entitled to his opinion, so let's hear him out."
Cassidy scowled at Sam before returning to his seat. Dante looked at Sam, "Why do you think that Cass's picks are not up to snuff?"
"Not one single name on this list is capable of thinking creatively. He's got Troyer and MacTavish on this list, and frankly they are both morons!"
Sam looked at Athena's list of names, "Now Athena has a couple of names I wouldn't mind seeing in The United, but there are also a few... undesirables on this list as well."
Athena was a bit perturbed at what Sam said, "Who exactly?"
"Well, I will say, not undesirable in the broad sense of the term, but undesirable in Dante's sense."
That piqued Dante's interest, "Who's the name?"
"It's Peter Pettigrew."
Cassidy guffawed, "Pettigrew?! That nobody?!"
Dante gave a surprised look at his beloved, "Athena?"
Athena raised her hands up, "Look I know it's the most surprising pick, but I've done my research on him. He's unassuming, and quiet, but he's also smart, and learns quickly." Athena locked her fingers together and placed them under her chin, "We'd be fools to not at least reach out."
Sam agreed with Athena, "Athena has a point Dante, we should at least try. He was the top seed for 'The Third Year Dueling Tournament.'"
"Only because you didn't participate," Dante grinned. "Why was that again? You were protesting something?"
Sam frowned, "I was in Fourth Year DADA, I knew the material well, and I went up to Professor Gold and asked to be placed into the Fourth Year Brackets, but he refused. So, I sat out of the tournament."
"Makes sense," Dante said, he stretched his arms as he was in his seat. "Rather than make a fuss, use civil disobedience to your advantage."
Cassidy picked at his teeth before addressing Dante, "Speaking of disobedience, let me ask you something. What the fuck are we waiting for?"
"How's that?"
"With Snivellus and those other rejects, what are we waiting for? They already got a leg over us with them stranding us at the Hogwarts Express! Let's gather everyone up and wallop the piss out of them!"
Sam frowned softly at that. He had no real beef with Snape, and as each day passed his anger towards his former best friend and his little brother waned. It was Orion Black who he was furious with. He deserved his ire, not his kids.
"We are waiting for them to fire the first shot, Cass," Dante explained. "And we are waiting for it to happen in public where everyone can see. So that way we can flip it in our favor."
Cassidy crossed his arms, "I bet the Slytherins will be happy to see that."
"Who gives a shite what those snakes think?" Dante snarled, "Of course they'd love to see me brought down a peg or two, but of course I'm thinking ahead. Obviously, public opinion will sway on Snivellus and his friends just a tad after that happens. Only a little bit, but that will be all I need."
Athena grinned, "Dumbledore will be quick to denounce the act, obviously. The majority of the Gryffindors will do the same."
Cassidy chuckled deviously, "Then you have to ham it up to the Hufflepuffs and tug on their heartstrings a bit to get them on your side."
Sam didn't like where this whole conversation was going.
Dante smiled, "That just leaves Ravenclaw. Athena will rouse the support of those who give a care to our side. Soon Snivellus and his friends will be more or less ostracized. Then comes the second act, divide and conquer!"
Sam really didn't like the sound of that. "Dante, what's the endgame here? You never told me."
Dante looked over at his cousin and smiled, making Sam uncomfortable. "That's a secret, but one I'll divulge a bit later." He motioned at the clock, it was nearing curfew. "You better head back to Gryffindor house."
"Right, goodnight guys. I'll see you tomorrow." Sam hesitantly got his things and went back to his dorm.
"Night," Dante said.
"Goodnight Sam," Athena warmly smiled as she gave her farewells to Sam.
Cassidy scoffed, "Yeah, whatever."
Sam left the three to themselves.
Cassidy leaned forward, "I don't like how Sam has been so apathetic at these last few meetings."
Athena brushed Cassidy off, "Lay off him. He's settling back into the swing of things. It's normal for him to be a bit out of it."
"Athena's got a point Cass, besides it's not Snape he's after, its Orion Black. However I have noticed him getting less and less confrontational with the Black Brothers."
Cassidy shrugged, "You think he's losing interest?"
"In seeing justice done? Of course not, but I am concerned that that fire and animosity he had a couple of weeks ago is dying down."
Athena sat beside Dante, "What are you going to do about that?"
Dante thought to himself, "I don't want to manipulate anything unless I have to. Let's just give it a few weeks. If nothing happens, well. We'll make something happen."
Cassidy just remembered something, "Oh yeah, that reminds me. Those guys came back to me after I spoke to them again." He took out another crumpled piece of parchment and handed it to Dante. "This is the bottom dollar offer that they will agree to if we make this deal."
Dante looked at the deal written in the parchment. The handwriting was so terrible he couldn't almost make it out. "Oh what the Hell?"
"Is it terrible," Athena asked him.
"Well in a sense, but...I can live with that," He looked at Cassidy. "Go ahead and tell them it's a deal, but they'd better be able to keep to our demands."
Cassidy shook his head. Dante felt vibrations from his wand and took it out.
"What is it?" Athena looked a bit confused.
"Shh, give me a second. It's one of my little birdies. A special birdie as a matter of fact," Dante smiled, as he held the tip of his wand to his ear, and closed his eyes.
Athena and Cassidy could sit quietly in a shared befuddlement as they watched Dante listen to his wand, of all things.
"He thinks he's clever," Dante muttered to himself. He chuckled under his breath.
"What's he doing Athie?" Doherty asked as he leaned over to speak with Athena.
"I have no idea," Athena looked at her fiance. "I've never seen any sort of spell that involves listening to your wand before."
Dante opened his eyes, and grinned.
"So...what did you hear?" Cassidy asked his friend, "Anything interesting?"
"Oh a bunch of stuff. My little mole did their job."
Cassidy grinned, "Well come on! Don't leave us in the dark!"
"In the dark is where I have to keep you I'm afraid." Dante frowned jokingly, "Don't you worry Cass, you won't be there for long."
Dante got up and stretched his tired old bones, "But that's enough for one day. I think it's time we get to bed."
Cassidy Doherty grinned, "Yeah all right. I'll leave you two lovebirds be. Sweet dreams." He left Dante and Athena alone in The Head Boy's quarters.
Dante gave his betrothed a grin, "Can you stay the night? He asked with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.
Athena chuckled, "You know my rule, Danny Boy."
Dante playfully groaned, "No funny stuff on a school night. You are such a Ravenclaw!" He wrapped his arms around her waist and pressed his lips against the side of her neck and kissed her just below her ear. "But that's why I love you."
Athena managed to suppress a soft moan as she put her hand on his chest and playfully pushed her betrothed away. "Goodnight, Dante." Before she left Athena gave him a long kiss goodnight.
Dante kissed Athena back, relishing each moment as if it was their last. "Goodnight my Goddess," He used his nickname for her as they parted ways.
Athena went back to her Head Girl's Quarters as Dante went upstairs to retire for the evening.
His bedroom was adorned in the Gryffindor colors of Red and Gold. An ornate oak desk lay in the corner with a large duffle bag laying on top of it.
As Dante was getting ready for bed, a rapping was heard on his window.
He looked and saw an owl nearly as black as the night at his windowsill. Dante recognized it as the owl of his sponsor, and it has a letter in it's beak. He rushed over the window to let the owl inside.
The black owl flew over to Dante's desk where it deposited the letter onto his duffle bag.
Dante went over to the letter, and opened it with haste. He had written to his sponsor asking about information on each and every single one of Snivellus' friends and their families. Whatever skeletons they had in their closets he wanted to know, and his sponsor delivered.
Dante smiled as he held this newfound information in his hands. He smiled, he could almost taste the flavor of revenge. It was nearly in his grasp, Marius Prince would fall, but not before his house fell along with everything he held dear fell as well.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Severus was down in his room that he shared with Bartholomew.
Bartholomew was laying on his bed as he was drinking a cup of chamomile tea and reading a novel. Severus counted eight different books he watched Bartholomew read over the course of living with him.
He was at his desk working on his Herbology homework. Severus was a bit distracted for that exchange with Doherty the other day was still fresh in his mind.
What exactly was the Grey Cloak, and why did it infuriate Black Donal so much?
He wanted to ask Black Donal about it, or perhaps write a letter to his grandparents and ask if they knew.
A knock on his door broke his train of thought.
Black Donal peaked his head inside, "Severus, Sebastian Holmes is here. He wished to speak with you, he says that it's urgent."
"Send him in," Severus stood up.
Bartholomew got up as well, he put the now empty cup of tea on his nightstand, "I wonder what it could be about."
Sebastian rushed inside, "Severus, Bart. Listen, I got news!"
"It must be important to tell me before bed. Out with it man, what?" Severus leaned in to hear what Sebastian was going to divulge.
"I just heard this from Sam as I was leaving our clubhouse," Sebastian started.
Severus had to bite his cheek from saying something smarmy, and let Sebastian continue.
"Sam confided in me about what Dante is planning," Sebastian spoke.
Severus leaned in closer, his attention was given to Sebastian fully at that point.
Bartholomew was also intrigued at what Sebastian was telling them.
"Sam was at a meeting with Dante, Athena, and Doherty. Some sort of inner circle meeting," Sebastian said.
"What?!" Bartholomew was surprised, "And nobody told me?! I'm supposed to be in those meetings!"
Severus glanced at Bartholomew, "Well it looks like Dante's trying to force you out!"
Bartholomew muttered some profanities under his breath as Sebastian continued.
"Dante is basically waiting for you or for one of your friends to provoke him, or one of The United in front of the entire school body."
Severus knew exactly where Sebastian was going with this, "He wants justification for what he has planned for us."
"And what better way to get it than with someone from your group firing the first shot. That way Dante can play the victim card, and cry wolf to Dumbledore to put the squeeze on you!" Bartholomew groaned. He ran a hand through his bushy hair, "Did Sam tell you when this was going to happen?"
"No, he said that Dante was going to wait for it to happen naturally."
Severus was thinking, "So if we were to just keep to ourselves, ignore him, and not get embroiled in a situation where something like that can happen We could get away without a conflict occurring!"
Bartholomew grimaced, "Well more so, you might get a few months without any conflict. By at which time Dante might just try and manipulate something himself."
"At that point, he could very well be the aggressor. If something's going to go down, you might as well have the upper hand. Rather than no hand at all," Sebastian started.
"Right, I'll be sure to tell everyone about this in the morning. Now that we know the plan, well be able to change our tactics accordingly." Severus looked at Sebastian and put his hand on his shoulder. "Thank you."
"No problem, anything to take that smugpot down a peg or two!" Sebastian grinned.
Severus smiled as Bartholomew could only sigh as Sebastian left them in their room.
"Well so long as your lot doesn't give Dante a reason to retaliate, I dare say that you may get out of the year fully intact," Bartholomew joked.
"Careful Bart don't jinx us now," Severus retorted.
~*~* Page Break ~*~*
Petunia had returned to her apartment after spending the day going to fashion runway shows, featuring the newest designs. Some of the designs were colorful and bold, but she wasn't sure they were right for the customers that frequented the Manchester boutique.
The first thing she saw after locking the door and going into her bedroom was Guinevere sitting on the windowsill outside her window. Petunia opened the window and let her fly in. She landed on the back of a chair and held out her foot to Petunia. She took the letters off of Guinevere and went into her small kitchen, made herself a cup of tea, kicked off her heels, and read Lily's letters. Guinevere, meanwhile, tucked her head under her wing and went to sleep. After she read the last letter, she threw it down and got up angrily. What on earth was going on in that school anyway? First, it was James Potter and Sirius Black causing trouble for everyone and now it's this head boy, Dante and his sidekick, Cassidy. She was especially alarmed by Lily's account of hers and Alice's confrontation with Dante and the fact that this Cassidy had followed them afterwards.
She put her heels back on, put on her light fall coat, and grabbed her purse. She took out the address of the Paris version of Diagon Alley, that Salem had written down for her. It was called, Merveille de la Magie. "I'll be back in a bit," she called to Guinevere. She went downstairs and outside and waved down a taxi. Her French had improved tremendously since her first visit and she was able to make herself understood with no problem. She gave the address to the cab driver. When they arrived she paid her fare and then stopped for a moment and recalled what Salem had shown her when they had visited. Unlike Diagon Alley, it wasn't hidden and shut off from the non-magical people. She walked towards the restaurant, she recalled Salem taking her to that likely had a floo she could use. Entering and inquiring inside, she was escorted by the owner to a large fireplace and offered a china dish of floo powder. She took a pinch, stepped into the fireplace and said clearly, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Lily and Alice were talking softly at the Gryffindor table when the floo in the Great Hall sounded loudly. Everybody, both professors and students, looked up in surprise as Petunia stepped out.
"Tuney…" Lily said starting to get up, but Alice pulled her back down.
From her expression, it was obvious she was surprised that she'd actually ended up at Hogwarts. She stormed around to the front of the head table and fixed her angry gaze on Dumbledore. "What on earth were you thinking appointing that malignant cancer of a head boy?" She demanded, motioning at the Gryffindor table. "Surely, you had much better candidates to choose from than him? You're supposed to be the headmaster here, but you act as if you have no more power than one of those elves you keep in slavery!"
"Now just a moment, Miss..?" Dumbledore said getting up.
"Evans...Petunia Evans."
"Miss Evans, you know nothing about Hogwarts or about why I chose Mr. Yalarad to be head boy."
"It's same reason I imagine you would have chosen that berk, James Potter, because you want power and you figure the best way to get it is by cozying up to powerful people and putting their kids in lucrative positions." She raked her eyes over the rest of the professors. "And you lot! Exactly who are the teachers here and who are the students? You don't seem to know that the way you're letting this idiot run wild like he owns the place! When you figure it out, kindly let me know."
Petunia turned to leave and found her way blocked by Dante and Cassidy. Athena rose, but another of the seventh year girls, who disliked both her and Dante, had cast a slipping charm on the soles of her shoes so every time she tried to stand, her feet slid out from under her and she ended up plopping back down on the bench.
"Kindly get out of my way and let me leave," Petunia said, attempting to get around them.
Dante put his hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You've insulted me and I have the right to respond to your accusations."
"Take your hand off my shoulder while you doing it," Petunia said icily.
But instead he tightened his grip on Petunia's shoulder, causing her to wince. "I'll ask you one last time to remove your hand from my shoulder or else!"
"Or else what?" Dante said with a smirk, taunting Petunia.
"Uh oh," Lily said. "Bad move."
"Or else this!" Petunia said, rearing back, punching Dante, and breaking his nose. Blood gushed out of it.
"Dante!" Athena screamed. She tried to get up again, but this time when her feet slipped, she missed the bench and lay sprawled on the floor.
Cassidy rushed in and grabbed Petunia, but she stamped on his instep with her high heel which caused him to howl loudly and let go of her. She shoved him aside. "All you sitting up there should truly be ashamed of yourselves, allowing this kind of crap to go on!" She stormed back towards the floo, but Lily ran up and stopped her. "Tuney, come with me so Madam Pomfrey can look at your hand," Lily said, leading Petunia out of the Great Hall.
The Slytherins stood up clapping and cheering Petunia as she and Lily left.
"What kind of school is this?" Petunia muttered. "Allowing a bully like that to be in a position of power over other students?"
They entered the Infirmary. "Madam Pomfrey?" Lily called.
Madam Pomfrey came out of her office. "Yes, Miss Evans?"
"Could you please take a look at my sister's hand?"
"Of course," Poppy replied. She took out her wand and Petunia held out right hand that was beginning to swell and showed signs of bruising. Poppy examined it carefully. "There doesn't seem to be anything broken," She tapped Petunia's hand with her wand and said, "Episkey."
The swelling went away immediately. "Wow!" Petunia said. "That feels a lot better. Thank you."
You're welcome, Miss Evans." Madam Pomfrey left for a few seconds then returned with a small jar and gave it to Petunia. "Put this cream on your hand tonight and all the bruising will be gone by tomorrow morning."
"That's good to know since I don't want Madam Bellefleur to start wondering what I'm doing in my spare time."
"Can Tuney use your floo to get back to Paris?"
Madam Pomfrey nodded. She wondered what exactly had happened, but she was certain either Horace or Pomona would tell her.
Petunia gave Lily a tight hug. "If Dumbledore tries to give you detention for this or that creep Dante tries anything, you send an owl to Lord Prince and let him deal with it."
"I will," Lily promised.
"I'll see you at Christmas then," Petunia stepped into the floo, threw down the floo powder, said something in French and then disappeared in the green flames.
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