AN: As always, thanks for all your support!
Monkeyman8290 - Thank you very much! I'm glad you've enjoyed how I'm trying to develop the wizarding world, and I'll try to keep you just as captivated and eager for new chapters.
scrappy8 - Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the debate.
GreengrassRebel - Thanks! The Wizengamot sessions have been fun to write, while yes, being great ways to world-build. Yes, Daddy Greengrass is one of my favorite tools to absolute own the hell out of Fudge.
Mando-Vet - Thanks! Fudge will continue to get owned.
Arctic Wolf Fury - Of course, Madam Umbridge would definitely prefer to dig deep and get better at her job and would never think about retaliation against those who didn't even do anything to her.
stars90 - Fudge is definitely struggling to deal with the Wizengamot right now, and he'll just keep slipping and sliding.
Guest - Thanks! Yeah, Fudge has to be very, very careful, and unfortunately for him, Umbridge is an attack dog that is hard to reign in. His time is definitely coming.
michaelc100 - Thanks! Harry will be paired fairly soon, and my planned pairing is Harry/Katie/Ginny.
Chapter 53Hogwarts felt like some weird political warzone. Classes on Monday had restarted in the second week and it had seemed like the whole year would be hell, but then on Tuesday, by lunch, word had spread that Umbridge was grudgingly letting them do magic, but only to practice the spells that would be on their testing. She was refusing to help anyone practice outside of class, and had sternly said that the spells could not be used without a teacher. Still, it was now clear she would have them occasionally practicing magic in her class, contrary to her initial statements.
That night, an evening copy of the Shadow Chronicle explained why. Umbridge was looking furious as people whispered all about how not only had the Wizengamot come down hard on Fudge, and even Umbridge herself, but they had changed the Decree so that a qualified teacher had to be appointed. It didn't take a genius to read through the lines and see that meant that Umbridge wasn't qualified for the job.
Unfortunately, that was where the good news had ended. A letter from Dora had given them the bad news that Umbridge's blood quill had been given approval, though within reason, and certain lines could no longer be tolerated.
It created this weird sort of war within Hogwarts. On one hand, Umbridge still had a lot of power. As High Inquisitor, she was able to inspect teachers, and with her being watched, she had responded by upping the inspection and was being ruthless to the few teachers who seemed to be intimidated by her.
So far, the only two professors that Harry had heard about that either had particularly poorl results or at least were alarming to him were her inspections of Trelawney and Grubby-Plank. Ron said that Umbridge basically badgered Trelawney and tore her down, and with Grubby-Plank, it was clear that Umbridge was fishing for information on Hagrid and was looking to have him fired if or when he returned.
Some of the inspections had been amusing though. When Umbridge inspected Dumbledore, he in his rather "courteous but I'll do what I want" manner involved her in the lesson, which embarrassed her greatly when she was unable to correctly explain anything on the advanced magical theories they were learning about in the Magical Theory class, and then, for the first time in Harry's memory, Dumbledore demonstrated each theory rather spectacularly, which showcased exactly how powerful and skilled he was, which intimidated Umbridge into leaving the room. Snape was stupidly asked if he had been unsuccessful in acquiring the Defense Against the Dark Arts position, to which he sarcastically replied, "obviously." Harry's favorite though, had to have been McGonagall. She put Umbridge in her place throughout the entire class and in her rather civil, refined way told Umbridge to shut up so that she could teach.
Outside of the inspections though, those not intimidated by Umbridge, mainly the Heads of Houses among a few others, were firmly entrenched against her, ensuring that they were generally around whenever she seemed to be trying to corner a student. Now that she was being watched, she couldn't openly instigate fights with Harry, Angelina, and their friends anymore. Anything beyond their little group was enough grounds for McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout to take a complaint not only to Dumbledore but also to the Wizengamot, so Umbridge was being particularly careful to ambush them whenever they were alone or in their small groups, and did her best to continue dishing out detentions when possible, favoring detentions far more than removing points, though for those able to hold their tongue, they managed to avoid detentions when she could find no real basis to give one.
At this point, almost all of Harry's support group had been forced to use the blood quill at least once, Hermione being the only exception, but Hermione had lost more points in just a few months than she had in probably her entire Hogwarts career, and unlike nearly all the other times, these weren't for valid reasons. Even other students were being forced to use the quill, with the only exceptions seeming to be Slytherin students . . . and rumor said very well connected purebloods outside of Slytherin House.
Harry and his friends were getting pretty good at avoiding her though, and were doing their best to go everywhere in groups, usually with one of their other friends around, like Neville or Lee Jordan. She always had a sour look that promised retribution when she saw them surrounded by other students, or when she swooped in to try and hit them with new punishments only to find Flitwick, Sprout, McGonagall, Vector, Babbling, or Sinestra nearby eyeing her in an almost challenging way.
Overall, it made for a weird dynamic, but Harry saw little that they could do to oppose Umbridge, other than just hoping she'd slip up and make some sort of disparaging remark where others could hear her. Hermione, however, thought differently, as Harry would find out.
"Alright, Katie, let's do it again," Harry said, standing opposite of her and she nodded firmly, and got into a ready stance.
Harry flicked his wand and launched a stinging jinx, and as it approached Katie she slapped the spell away with her wand, and immediately grinned. Harry rapidly fired three more spells and she quickly slapped them all away. He fired four more at varying speeds, trying to trick her up, but she easily swatted them away as well.
"Brilliant, Kat! You've got it! You've really got it down!" Harry exclaimed, and she rushed to him and hugged him exuberantly.
"I really got that down!" Katie echoed enthusiastically. "Oh, bloody hell. Thank you, Harry!"
"Oh, you don't need to thank me," Harry said, blushing slightly. "You did all the work."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Harry, you're the one who insists on spending a large amount of time helping me in our defense time. You already knew how to slap away spells, thanks to Mad-Eye and Dora. You taught me. You are going to take my thank you and like it!"
Harry laughed, but rubbed the back of his head nervously, face still slightly red. "Fine, you're welcome."
Katie beamed, kissed his cheek, and then patted it softly.
"Good, you can learn. I think I'll keep you around."
Harry snorted, but a part of him couldn't help but wish she wasn't just teasing him.
"Oi, break it up you two," Angelina called out, as she, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Alicia entered the room with Astra tagging along behind
Harry blushed deeply when Katie sighed and said dramatically, "I guess we'll stop passionately snogging all over this place now that you're here."
"Wait, what?!" Ron exclaimed looking at them and Katie, Angelina, Ginny, and Alicia laughed, while Hermione snorted.
"I was joking, Ron," Katie said dryly. "Harry was just helping me master that spell slapping trick."
"Oh, Dora helped with that this summer," Angelina said with a nod. "I'm still not sure I have it completely down though."
"We'll work on it more, sis," Harry assured her.
She smiled before she grimaced, and Harry glanced at her in concern, before he wanted to curse a specific someone when he saw blood running down her hand, and a familiar line of words recarved into her hand. He should have realized what had happened with Astra slowly growing angrier and angrier, looking ready to tear out someone's throat . . . a specific someone's throat. She had always been fairly in tune with those closest to Harry, somehow managing to monitor them in some way, but since the blood adoption, she could track Angelina and Dora almost as well as she could Harry, and was quite in tune with their states of mind.
The room shifted from their classroom/training room into a nice common area, where they also stored murtlap essence, one of the few things they found worked to at least sooth the pain, and speed up the healing a bit. Harry quickly got a bowl and poured some of the essence into it before bringing it over to Angelina who eagerly put her hand into the bowl and sighed with relief. Astra rested her head on Katie's lap, the rest of her curled up next to Ginny. On Angelina's other side, away from Harry was Alicia, and Ron and Hermione shared the last couch around a nice fireplace, very reminiscent of the Gryffindor Common Room.
Harry scowled at her hand, knowing she shared the same words he had carved into his own hand, 'I must not tell lies.' Where Harrys were because of his 'lies' about Voldemort. Hers were because 'she wasn't a Potter.' Katie's original words were, 'I will respect my betters,' which Alicia had shared, but now they were being forced to write 'I will behave' which all of them took as a seemingly nice way of saying 'I will know my place'. The horrifying thing was that their original scars had managed to fade, but had reappeared with the new words, and were becoming permanent. Ron, Fred, George, and Ginny hadn't been forced to use the quill enough times to actually scar, but they had been forced to write 'I will not disrespect my heritage.' They figured it was because they were 'purebloods' that they had not been permanently scarred, which only pissed the four Weasleys off even more. Fred had already said he was determined to marry a muggle or muggleborn simply to spite Umbridge.
"She managed to corner me after Potions," Angelina said, to his questioning look. "I told Leash to run along, and I would catch up since I had to talk to Professor Snape. That's what I get for being alone. Of course, she called me Ms. Johnson again, and I didn't respond to her, so she gave me detention for disrespecting a Professor."
"I fucking hate her," Harry muttered.
"Have you thought about just answering to that name?" Hermione asked hesitantly, and Angelina looked at her fiercely.
"Of course not," she snapped. "First, doing so would possibly give her a legal basis to have Kenneth reclaim me, because I'm claiming the 'Johnson' name. Then he'd marry me off as a 'legal' sex slave to Marcus Flint. Fuck no to that fate. Second, I'm not disrespecting my family, especially one I'm fucking proud to be a part of. I don't care how much she wants to try and torture me. I am not Angelina Johnson. Not anymore."
Hermione nodded sheepishly, before she huffed.
"She's an awful woman." said Hermione in a small voice. "Awful. You know, I was just saying to Ron when we ran into Angelina . . . we've got to do something about her."
"I suggested poison." said Ron grimly.
"All for it," Angelina said, nodding at Ron with approval.
"No . . . I mean, something about what a dreadful teacher she is. Even with her allowing magic now, she's a terrible teacher, and she's only grudgingly is allowing the most minimal amount of practice. She's only teaching the bare minimum for the exams. We won't learn how to properly defend ourselves at all from her," said Hermione. "Hell, we'll barely pass our exams with her!"
"Well, I'm not really sure how to help you there, Hermione," Harry admitted. "You can't drop her class like Katie, Alicia, Angelina, Fred, George, and I did. Of course, you're welcome to practice with Kate and I more often. I'm not sure why you're worried though. You may not know everything I know, but you're ready enough for your OWL with a little revision."
"Yeah, Harry's right. We'll be fine. Besides, she's here to stay," Ron said, with a yawn. "Fudge'll make sure of that."
"I wish we could get rid of him too," Alicia muttered.
"Dora and Sirius did say that he's on thin ice right now," Harry said absently. "The Wizengamot wants to keep things running smoothly, but he's pissing people off."
"Well," said Hermione tentatively. "You know, I was thinking today . . . " she shot a slightly nervous look at Harry and then plunged on, "I was thinking that – maybe the time's come when we should just – just do it ourselves."
"Do what ourselves?" said Harry suspiciously, noticing the smirks that appeared on most of his friends' faces.
"Well – learn Defence Against the Dark Arts ourselves," said Hermione.
"Most of us already do," Harry said in confusion.
"Come off it," groaned Ron, looking at her. "You want us to do even more? D'you realize that most of us are behind on homework again and it's only the second week? Anytime that hag catches us alone, it's a guarantee that we fall behind on homework."
"But this is much more important than homework!' said Hermione.
That silenced everyone, as they all stared at her in surprise or goggled at her.
"I didn't think there was anything in the universe more important than homework!" said Ron.
"Me neither," Ginny said in shock, looking at Hermione like she'd grown a second head.
"Did you open the gates of hell, Harry?" Katie asked with a frown, looking at Hermione pensively.
"Maybe she was hit with a confundus charm," Angelina mock wondered, eyeing Hermione.
"We might have to ask her some security questions," Alicia said, eyeing Hermione with mock suspicion.
"Oh, that is quite enough," Hermione said, sounding McGonagallish. "Don't be silly, of course there are more important things than homework," Hermione continued, her face alight with fervor, and Harry felt an ominous feeling seize him. It didn't help that Alicia, Angelina, and Katie were now all grinning. "We need to prepare ourselves for what's out there! We have to learn how to defend ourselves! We can't go a whole year without learning anything in Defense!"
"Hermione, we already do quite a bit by ourselves," Ron said in a defeated voice. "I mean, all right, we can go and look up more jinxes up in the library and we can go through Mad-Eye's mad drills more often, I suppose —"
"No, I agree, we are doing what we can," said Hermione, "but I'm not really talking about us! This school needs a proper teacher. The other students need a proper teacher to show them how to use the spells, and correct them if they're wrong. We all need someone who can teach us how to fight . . . how to survive. This isn't just about us!"
"Who?" Harry asked incredulously. "Mad-Eye, Remus, Sirius, and Dora all either have jobs or duties to the Order."
"I'm not talking about any of them," said Hermione. "Yes, they are too busy with the Order and their careers, and we'd only be able to see any of them during Hogsmeade weekends, and that's not enough."
Harry looked at her in confusion.
"She's talking about the person they taught," Alicia said with a chuckle. "She's talking about you, Harry."
Hermione nodded eagerly. Harry blinked in confusion.
Ron nodded slowly, apparently thinking. "That's an idea," he said.
"It's brilliant," Ginny agreed.
"No one better," Katie said, beaming.
"You've all gone barmy," Harry said. "You want me to teach the school?"
"Those who want to learn," Hermione said with a nod. "We can make it a club and get Professor Flitwick or Professor McGonagall to sponsor us."
"But what good would I really do for the school?" Harry asked with a shake of his head.
"Harry, you already do teach most of us," Angelina said in exasperation. "Sure, it's never been an official position, but you've shown all of us how to use a lot of defensive spells. You've improved all of our dueling abilities. You are currently teaching Kat and Gin how to do elemental magic, and you help Alicia and I as a sounding board for our own elemental studies. Hell, Leash and I run most defensive spells by you before we try them. We're advanced because of you. Now, you'd just be helping others."
"But you lot are different! Elemental magic is different!" Harry protested. "I'm only kind of teaching that, or acting as a sounding board. Besides, I do actually have a Mastery for Shadow Elemental Magic, so I'm at least qualified for that. Defense though, I've helped, but you all have worked with me, studied with me, helped me learn most of those spells while I was learning them. We're all friends or family! It's not the same!"
"Yeah, NEWT, Mastery, and Auror or Curse-Breaker class defensive magic," Katie said with a snort. "You generally picked up a lot of those spells quicker than we did too, despite it being magic Angie or Leash should have already known or would have learned that year and the rest being well beyond even their year. Some of it, we still haven't gotten down, but you have, and just because we're all close doesn't mean others can't learn from you."
"Harry, you're the best in the year at Defence Against the Dark Arts." said Hermione. "Probably the best in Katie's year, Marina Witcher possibly giving you a run for your money, and probably the best in Angelina or Alicia's year."
"She's right," Angelina, Alicia, and Katie all confirmed.
"That doesn't even count what you've done!" Hermione continued.
"What do you mean?" Harry said with a frown. "Besides, who would want to learn from me? I'm a nutter, remember?"
"Harry, you're not usually this dense," Angelina said flatly, looking disappointed in him. "Last I checked, you're the two time Under 16 British Dueling Champion. You kept up with Fleur, who is also a dueling champion, and you can keep up with Dora and Mad-Eye . . . to an extent. You're a fantastic duelist and have a lot to teach everyone. Even many of the people who don't like you generally are not stupid enough to doubt your abilities, and would probably gladly learn from you, even if only to hope they could survive against you if you attack them."
Harry gaped at her.
"I believe you also have patronage and matronage from two major deities because of your abilities, which spread to your proficiency in elemental magic and even the Mind Arts," Alicia added. "Again, those are things people probably would like to learn."
"But that doesn't mean -" Harry tried to protest.
"It certainly wasn't you that saved the Philosopher's Stone from You-Know-Who - first year," Ron said sarcastically.
"But that was mostly luck," Harry said. "I almost died if Dumbledore -"
"The shadow magic you used wasn't luck," Alicia said.
"Well, sure, but -" Harry tried to protest
"Your second year," Ginny said quietly, cutting him off. "You saved my life, killed a basilisk, and destroyed Riddle's diary."
"Without Fawkes and Hades, I would have lost!" Harry protested.
"Your third year -" Katie said firmly, "you learned the patronus charm, and fought off a hundred dementors while subduing a werewolf and a death eater."
"Astra and a whole pack of hellhounds helped me a lot!"
Astra growled at him, and he looked down at his familiar in shock, feeling the disappointment coming from her.
"Well, what about last year? With the Tournament?" Angelina said coolly. "You fought the dragon. No luck with that. You were the best of us in that game of Capture the Flag. You fought off grindylows and saved Fleur in the Black Lake. Pure skill there, and everyone saw it all. You fought those acromantula in the forest, and you survived the maze, and then survived a duel with Voldemort (Ron and Hermione flinched) —"
"You weren't all there," Harry snapped, causing the smirks to vanish from those who had been smirking. "You don't know!"
"Exactly," Alicia said, stopping Harry's anger, cold. "We don't know. Fighting someone like Voldemort (Ron and Hermione flinched again) isn't just memorizing spells and being good at the subject. It's more, and we don't know, but you do."
"Harry," Hermione said timidly. "Don't you see? This . . . this is exactly why we need you. We need to know what it's r-really like . . . facing him . . . facing V-Voldemort."
Harry sighed, the remainder of his anger fading at Hermione's first ever saying of Voldemort.
"Harry, this is about trying to help other people survive, so they don't go too soon . . . like Cedric," Angelina said softly, and Harry glanced at her, knowing she of all people except Dora knew just how much Cedric's death affected him.
"Will you think about it?" Hermione asked quietly. "Please?"
Harry nodded glumly, and he watched as Angelina and Alicia both signaled the rest of them to head out, which they did, with both Ginny and Katie giving him side hugs and soft kisses on the cheek as they left, leaving him with the two oldest girls.
"Harry, no matter what decision you make, know that we'll support you," Alicia said quietly.
"But you really should consider this," Angelina finished. "Write or talk to Dora, Sirius, Remus, Mad-Eye, and get their opinions, but I think you'll find they agree with us."
"Alright, Leash, Angie," Harry said wearily. "I'll think about it. I really will."
"Good," both girls said, and then Angelina smirked.
"We could always get on to a different topic, since this one obviously bugs you and you need some time," she said, grinning evilly, and Harry swallowed nervously. Both of his older sisters were devious and when either got that look, he, Sirius, and Remus had learned to be wary.
'What could she bring up that was worse than what they'd just discussed?'
"Oh?" Harry asked.
"Have you planned a date for this upcoming Hogsmede visit yet?" Angelina asked sweetly, and Harry blanched.
"W-what? N-no, of course not," Harry said nervously.
"What do you mean, of course not?" Alicia demanded haughtily, but he could see the mischievous glint in her eye. "Are you telling me that neither Katie nor Ginny are good enough for you?!"
Harry nearly jumped at her accusation, eyes wide.
"O-of course n-not!" Harry blubbered earnestly, wondering how the hell he was going to survive this rollercoaster of emotions. "It's the opposite, really! If anything, they're too good for me!"
"Harry James Potter!" Angelina growled, now looking furious, and Alicia wasn't much better. "Don't you ever let me hear you saying that shit again. Gods knows I fucking love those girls and think they are some of the most wonderful, amazing people on this planet, but so are you, and they are not too good for you. Am I understood?"
"Nobody is too good for you," Alicia said with a steely tone. "Nobody gets to talk badly about you . . . not even you. Understand?"
Harry nodded warily, hoping to de-escalate their anger before they eviscerated him.
"Good," Alicia said, all business-like, her anger seeming to have evaporated, and he marveled at the fluidity of emotions that the women in his life could display. "Now, what's the issue? You can't honestly tell us you don't have massive crushes on both of them."
"You certainly don't spend extra time tutoring Katie in various dueling or defense techniques so that she kisses or hugs you in excitement," Angelina said with a grin.
"Or wake up early religiously to do occlumency and sensing with Ginny," Alicia added, smirking.
"Or tend to sit between the two of them when possible," Angelina added. "Or spend extra time watching them walk away, not at all staring at the sway of their hips . . . or their other assets."
"None of those things whatsoever," Alicia finished with an evil smirk, and Harry blushed.
"Well - er - I -" Harry tried to say, before he huffed, and leaned forward and slumped. "Fine. IlikeGinnyandKatie," he said in a rush.
"Harry, love, show some of that incredible courage you generally have and say it calmly and not like a lunatic," Angelina said dryly, and Harry glared at her, which only got a smirk in return.
"Fine, I like Ginny and Katie, you happy?" Harry demanded.
"Yes," both Alicia and Angelina answered simply, and he groaned.
"Now, what's the problem?" Alicia asked.
"Maybe I don't want to ask either of them out," Harry said stubbornly, and both girls laughed, which only further bruised his already bruised ego.
"Love, this will go much easier if you cut the bullshit," Angelina said mildly, and Harry knew by her term of endearment that she was trying to soften this on him, even if both of them were enjoying teasing him. "You couldn't moon after them everytime one of them kisses your cheek more than you do already."
Harry groaned and leaned back into his chair.
"Fine, I don't know which of them to ask," Harry admitted. "I really like both of them, and I don't know if either are interested in me, and I don't want to possibly ruin two of my best friendships by making things awkward. Plus, with Ginny, things will probably get weird with Ron and the rest of the Weasleys . . . I don't know . . . I guess I'd just wait until it became obvious one of them liked me or . . ."
"Or someone asked one of them out," Angelina asked with amusement, and Harry blushed.
"Coward," Alicia said with a chuckle, and Harry blushed further, slumping even more.
"It's not easy," Harry muttered, and Angelina and Alicia both ruffled his hair fondly.
"No, it's not," Angelina agreed.
"Not normally," Alicia said with a nod. "Still, what happens if they both get asked out?"
"Er -" Harry shrugged, and sighed. "I mean . . . with Voldemort . . . I probably shouldn't be dating anyway - ouch!"
Harry grabbed his arm where Angelina punched him, and he glared at her, before flinching at the angry look on her face.
"Since when do you let Voldemort win?" she asked icily.
"Wha -?" Harry asked.
"You don't get to choose for Katie or Ginny or any girl for that matter in whether they want to take the risk in dating you," Angelina said. "They get to choose. Neither are stupid, neither are weak. They know the risks. We all are at risk being your friend or family. All of us are at risk anyway though because of our blood status or families, and are far better off because we are your friends. We're stronger together, and we always will be. Besides, if you're letting Voldemort dictate your life, then you're letting him win. The Harry I know and love does not let that bastard win."
"Now, I can easily say that telling Katie or Ginny that you fancy them will not destroy your friendship," Alicia said, and smiled mischievously. "If that was enough to destroy your friendship, then you didn't have much of one to begin with. Whether your friendship can survive a breakup is a different story, but if fear is the only reason you're not asking either of them out, then you need to get over it. Same with Ginny in regards to the other Weasleys. She's her own person, and it's up to her. If Ron or the twins can't handle you dating her, then they really just want to control her, and that's not right either, and maybe they're not the people we thought they were."
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered, his face red.
"Hey, you've got older sisters to help," Angelina said in a comforting manner. "We can at least help stop you making all the same stupid mistakes boys your age usually make. Look at Ron for that matter. He clearly likes Hermione, but Merlin forbid he actually ask the girl out or pays her any sort of compliment to help make things easier. Granted, she's not much better. She likes him, but hasn't done anything about it."
"Well, what about you two?" Harry muttered, trying to turn it on the two girls.
"I'm dating the boy I like," Angelina retorted, "and technically, I made the first move, since his brother asked me out," she finished with a smug grin.
"And I'm snogging Jennifer Smythe," Alicia said, with a grin. "I also made the first move."
"You're what?" Harry asked, looking at her in shock, and she smirked.
"What? She's cute," Alicia said with a shrug. "I doubt it will go anywhere, she's far too flighty, but it's fun for now."
"When did this happen?" Harry asked.
"Recently," Alicia admitted. "Started last week on that first day back. We'd been writing to each other over the summer. We've met up three times now . . . though those fucking detentions did not help me there."
"Bloody hell," Harry said, with a sigh. "No leg to stand on, huh?"
"Nope," both girls said with a grin.
"Bloody hell," Harry said again, and the two girls laughed.
"Just think about it, Harry," Angelina said. "You could also talk to them and see where it goes. They both flirt with you enough . . . which, I'll give you a hint, tends to me that they like you."
"Bloody hell."
Angelina grinned, and vanished the bowl of murtlap essence, before the two older girls both wrapped their arms around Harry.
"What would you do without us?" Alicia asked.
"Accomplish absolutely nothing and waste away my life," Harry said dryly.
Both girls laughed.
"Glad to know you understand the gravity of our worth," Angelina said.
Harry sighed.
"You're both infuriating, you know that, right?" Harry asked, and both girls laughed, and Harry chuckled, "but I do love you both."
"We love you too, little brother," Alicia said, with a grin.
**HP**
"I feel like we need to be doing more," Dora complained lowly, while they were waiting for Dumbledore to arrive so that the Order meeting could commence
"We're stretched thin as it is," Arthur pointed out.
"We're stretched thin protecting things that arguably don't need protecting," Dora pointed out. "We're protecting the Department of Mysteries, but unlike Voldemort (a portion of the room flinched), we know that only Harry and Voldemort himself can remove what he wants, and he's not going to waltz in and take it, at least not yet. I say we let a few Death Eaters try to grab it, and enjoy observing what those protections will do to them."
"Tonks!" Molly said in shock.
"She's not wrong," Sirius said gruffly. "We didn't sway any giants, and haven't heard from Hagrid in a while. Sure, his last message was that he was fine, but that was some time ago. Remus isn't making much headway with the werewolves thanks to the Ministry and Greyback. We can't do jack shit about the Ministry, but we could try and take care of Greyback and we could let the prophecy thin the herd a bit."
"We're not murderers," Elphias Doge said angrily.
"Is it really murder to kill a man who's killed dozens, and deliberately attacks children?" Sirius asked mildly. "Greyback is allowed to be killed on sight, if need be, per the Ministry's own directive. The Beast Division is just not great at actually tracking him, since none of them want to risk their lives dealing with him. We might have more success though now that he's actively out recruiting for Voldemort, and that would remove a valuable pawn away from Voldemort. As for the Death Eaters? Well, we're not killing them either. They'll be the ones trying to steal and paying the consequences for that infraction. We're just not stopping them. They're adults. They've made their choice."
"We don't need to kill to fight this war," Arthur said.
"But it is a war," Rick said mildly. "People die in war. I'd rather it be some of them instead of us. Last time was so bad because the Death Eaters would throw unforgivables and we'd throw stunners. Then the bastards would break out and we'd just be down good people. As much as I didn't like Crouch, him giving the Aurors the power to fight back with lethality at least made the Death Eaters more wary."
"To be fair, in Greyback's case, us Auror members of the Order could take care of him," Frank said. "We could arrest him, but we also do have the legal right to not take him alive. Voldemort will break into Azkaban. It's only a matter of time."
"The whole point of the Order is that we are going against the law because we know it's the right thing to do. I'd prefer that monster be put in the ground," Alice agreed.
"Where does it stop though?" Dedalus asked. "How long before we're suggesting attacking the homes of Death Eaters?"
"Maybe we should be thinking about that," Mad-Eye said grimly. "We know they're going to do it to us once they come into the open. Unlike last time, we do know who some of them are."
"But what about their families?" Molly asked, her eyes narrowed.
"What about them?" Mad-Eye said. "We don't need to kill anyone who isn't a Death Eater. Stun them and leave."
"And how long before the Ministry is pinning those deaths on us and young Harry?" Dumbledore's voice said, and they turned to see him standing in the doorway. "While taking a life is not something to be taken lightly, I can agree that to win this war may require it, however, if we take lives now, we will be arrested and will be of no help to the war once it begins in earnest. However, I will concede that Greyback is someone that could be taken out without any fear of reprisal. That is something we can discuss tonight."
Dora had to at least concede that point to Dumbledore. Especially with the Ministry out to get them, it wouldn't be long before they were all charged, regardless of whether they did it or not. Hell, they were probably lucky that Voldemort hadn't started killing anyone otherwise they probably would have been arrested for those deaths. Still, Dora felt like they should be doing more.
"I think we could get Scrimgeor to assign you to a team to get Greyback," Savage said thoughtfully. "Kingsley, Alexis, or I can talk about one of our informants mentioning his movement in the country. Then we can recommend you get directed to take a team to track him down. Fudge would see that as a win-win. Either you get Greyback or he gets you and you're no longer a problem."
"The question is whether he gives Tonks a team," Kingsley said grimly. "Greyback is only partially our jurisdiction. Enough evidence of him being in the country could sway it, but it'll still be close. Fudge might argue you don't need a team since you should work with the werewolf capture unit."
"It doesn't really matter if he gives me a team," Dora said. "We'll just use Order members if I get stiffed on Aurors."
"She's got a good point," Sirius said with a nod. "If anything we should hope we're right and they don't give her a team. If she brings Greyback in 'single handedly' it will give her some clout in the department and even in the Ministry."
"Might at least make it harder for Scrimgeor and Robards to railroad me," Dora muttered.
"It's risky, but I agree that removing Greyback from the board could help sway more werewolves away from Voldemort," Dumbledore said. "Alastor, Nymphadora, and Remus can head up that team."
The three members nodded in agreement.
"Now, Mundungus, please brief us on who the Death Eaters have been working with in the criminal underworld, and what they are trying to acquire . . ."
**HP**
"This is never going to work if you keep putting Harry Potter before me!"
Angelina heard the words spoken angrily and froze, recognizing the voice. She inched forward slowly, moving a tapestry slightly to peek down one of the more commonly known secret passages, but still a great place for alone time with a significant other, or a place to have a discussion . . . when you weren't being loud enough for everyone to hear.
Alicia and Jennifer Smythe were glaring at each other. Alicia had been right. It probably wasn't going to go anywhere, but Angelina highly doubted that Alicia saw it ending this early. However, Angelina was pretty sure that Jennifer had just said the first words of a conversation that was going to end their little budding relationship.
"We've been 'together' for only three weeks, which were the first three weeks of school. In what way have I put Harry first?" Alicia asked, with a definite bite to her tone.
"You keep backing his ludicrous claims about You-Know-Who!" Jennifer retorted. "And that's gotten you in detention. Plus, you hang out with him way too much! I'm your girlfriend, he's just your teammate, and you got your glory from him in the Tournament last year. There's nothing wrong with you cutting ties with him! You and him are nothing!"
Angelina glared, herself, but then winced seeing Alicia's jaw clench, and Angelina knew that her normally kind and happy friend was about to rip this girl a new one.
"So, your problem is that I'm still friends with Harry," Alicia said in a clipped tone. "Despite our letters over the summer, where I told you what he means to me, where I told you how close we were. You were just feigning interest, faking being supportive, and lying to me."
"Well, I thought you'd realize how dangerous and insane he is! I figured you'd come to your senses!" Jennifer spat. "Merlin, you almost died because of him!"
"He saved my life that night!" Alicia shouted back. "Besides, he didn't do anything! How the hell is it his fault that the Ministry sent dementors after him?!"
"They didn't send dementors after him," Jennifer said with disdain. "Please, why would they bother?"
"Who else can control seventeen fucking dementors? Harry doesn't live anywhere near Azkaban," Alicia responded in disbelief. "They're even investigating what happened! It was either the Ministry or it was Voldemot!"
Jennifer winced horribly and gazed at Alicia in horror.
"Why the hell would you believe that boy's insane claims?!" Jennifer said angrily. "Why would you prefer to spend time with someone like him rather than me?"
"Because he's family," Alicia responded fiercely. "Harry's claims are not ludicrous. They are the truth and someday you all will be forced to see that and will have to beg him for his forgiveness for the misery you have all tried to subject him to. On that day, I hope he tells every last one of you to fuck off. I will back Harry now, tomorrow, and the rest of my fucking life. He is NOT just my teammate. He is NOT someone I will EVER cut ties to!" Alicia's energy was sparking slightly and Jennifer was staring at her mouth agape, her eyes a little fearful. "He is one of the most wonderful, incredible people I have ever met and has been nothing but kind, supportive, and loving to me. He has always had my back. ALWAYS! He is the little brother I always wanted. He is NOT nothing. He is one of the best things in my life, and anyone who wants me to cut ties with him won't be in my life in any manner. We were nothing. We've spent a handful of days together and written a handful of letters. I never even considered you my girlfriend. We hadn't gotten that far yet, and you know what? Now we never will. Bye Jen. I enjoyed our correspondence, or at least I thought I did, but clearly you were just lying through your teeth, so clearly I never really knew you. Have a nice life."
With that, Alicia turned and stormed off, back in the direction from where Angelina quickly ducked back into the main corridor, thinking about running off to try and let Alicia come to her later, if she wanted to, or wishing she had Harry's cloak, but she finally resigned herself to knowing there was no pretending.
Alicia swung around the corner and nodded at her, not at all looking surprised that she was there.
"Come on, Lina," Alicia said, her voice still filled with anger.
Angleina nodded and quickly fell in step with her first 'sister' who was marching with a purposeful step.
"I'm sorry, Ali," Angelina said, sympathetically.
"I'm not," Alicia said bitterly, and Angelina shot her a skeptical look.
"Yes, you are," Angelina said.
"Not if she's one of those idiots who is willing to badmouth Harry and back the fucking Ministry," Alicia spat. "I should have known with how she wouldn't always respond to things I wrote about dealing with Harry, and she didn't seem to care about what he meant to me last year, but I just thought that maybe she was just interested in me, and didn't care one way or another about Harry," Alicia finished a bit more quietly.
"I'd say she was, Ali," Angelina said softly. "She clearly wanted to be with you . . . but she didn't truly know you."
"Well, if she wanted to date me for a while, she failed," Alicia said. "If she was just looking for a girl to snog and fool around with, I guess she got what she wanted from me," Alicia finished bitterly, and her anger was starting to fade, which meant tears were starting to flow.
Angelina surged forward and wrapped her in a hug.
"Let's go get you some ice cream and we can bad mouth her all night," Angelina said with an attempt at levity, and Alicia smiled slightly, though tears were still flowing, and Angelina saw through her pained expression.
"You know what she said means nothing," Angelina said, knowing what really was bothering Alicia.
"I know," Alicia said absently, with a sniff.
"No, I think you're letting it bother you more than it should," Angelina said flatly.
Alicia shrugged, trying to wipe away her tears. "She's not completely wrong. To a lot of people, Harry and I are nothing. Just friends. Sure, most people would think we're very close friends, unlike that dumb bint, but still . . . nobody sees me as really his family."
"Bullshit," Angelina said angrily. "Bullshit, and you know it. Harry fucking loves you. Do you know how many people he's actually said that to? It isn't fucking very many, but he's said it to you because he fucking loves you. He sees you as his family. Dora does. I do. Sirius and Remus do. You may not be blood adopted like Dora and I, but you're still his older sister. You go try and convince him otherwise."
Alicia gave a watery chuckle. "I guess it's a good thing we had that talk about him asking Katie and/or Ginny out before this. Though, this does make me wish I was straight. I could have snatched Harry up myself a year ago."
Angelina snorted.
"Katie would fight you for him."
"Katie's beautiful too. Damn shame I can only see the adorable little sister I know and love when I look at her," Alicia said, smiling slightly. "Could have snatched her up too."
Angelina snorted.
"Can - can we invite Harry to ice cream?" Alicia asked softly, but hopefully. "We don't even have to tell him what happened . . . I just know seeing him will make me feel better. Maybe Katie too? My original Hogwarts siblings. Can we do that?"
"Of course, love," Angelina said, and she pulled out her wand and shot out a communication patronus, just like Dora had taught her.
They made their way to the kitchens, Angelina still hugging a slightly tearful Alicia.
"Bet you Harry comes running," Anglinea said. "Bet Katie's right on his tail too."
Alicia chuckled softly. "Do I look like a sucker?" She sighed. "I know he'll come running based on whatever you said. It's what makes him so wonderful. Katie too."
Sure enough, Harry came running around the corner Katie hot on his tail, both looking a mixture of worried and furious and then they saw them and both their expressions lightened.
"Angie, Leash, what happened?" Harry said, a bit breathless.
Alicia just walked over and hugged him fiercely. He shot Angelina a confused look and she shook her head, so Harry quickly wrapped his arms around Alicia and hugged her back.
Katie took one look and her face fell sadly before she glanced at Angelina, who shook her head slowly, and Katie frowned.
"I'm really confused," Harry said, and Alicia and Angelina both chuckled.
"Pretty standard, Har," Alicia said, pulling back and smiling at him.
"Well, if my sisters were more forthcoming, maybe I wouldn't be confused," Harry retorted and Alicia beamed, and Angelina grinned knowing Harry had just proved her point.
"Alright, let's get in the kitchens," Angelina said. "It's time for some ice cream. Harry, Katie, you are going to let Ali be a bit clingy tonight, and you're both going to promise to not do anything rash after all the complaining Alicia is going to do."
"Taking all the fun out of revenge," Katie muttered.
"How can I promise I won't do anything rash if I don't know what's going on?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Because if you do something rash, Ali will cry, and you don't want Ali to cry," Angelina said mischievously.
"Okay, that is not fair," Harry said, crossing his arms and glaring at Angelina.
"All's fair in love in war," Alicia said with a giggle, wiping away the rest of her tears. "You don't want me to cry, do you Harry?" she gave him a sad, soulful look, and hugged his side, and he squirmed.
"Gods, okay! No, I don't want you to cry. Of course I don't," Harry said, looking at her. "Please, I won't do anything rash, just stop giving me that look!"
"Oh, Harry," Angelina said, moving to Alicia's other side, and wrapping her arm around her shoulders. Katie quickly took Harry's other side, joining the cuddle group. "You're too easy, love."
"But we love you for it," Alicia said with a grin, wrapping her arm around Harry's waist and he just grumbled as the three laughing girls walked him the rest of the way to the kitchens.
**HP**
Eldest Sister - she who is rightly feared,
I promised I wouldn't do anything rash, and Angelina managed to head me off on asking the twins to get revenge for me. Never thought I'd see that day that George and Fred would both look at me in fear and tell me that they were not going to prank someone for me. Angelina is scary. They both said she's gotten even scarier since we adopted her, so I blame you for that. However, since you are obviously the eldest, the smartest, and the most protective of sisters, I ask for your aid. Our sister Alicia has been wronged, and I feel letting the perpetrator off without so much as a single little prank is far too light a sentence for her infraction since the villain had the audacity to try and make her doubt how much we love her and that we are family. Surely you agree this deserves a response?
Please help me, oh mighty one, for if you don't, then I will have to go to the dogfather, and you know he will take things too far. If I have to, I will though. Nobody messes with our family.
Love
Your favorite brother
P.S.
Good hunting. That bastard deserves whatever you do to him, but be careful!
P.P.S.
Angelina and I also can't wait to come home for the holidays. Maybe we can invite the Spinnets, Bells, and Weasleys over to Shadow Hold this year? Might also help convince Mrs. Weasley that our home is safe.
**HP**
Dearest brother,
You are wise to admire and acknowledge my might. Of course, I have indeed taught our dearest Angelina the art of fear, and she continues to improve, but she is still but a padawan. While the middle children might be willing to turn the other cheek, I must concede to you, noble youngest brother, that this does deserve some form of recompense for the slight done to sweet Alicia. The dogfather would indeed take things too far, but I am far too skilled to do such a thing. Send the name of she who dares try to take our sister from us and I will do what must be done.
Love,
Your first sister
P.S.
I think Christmas with the whole extended family at Shadow Hold is a brilliant idea. I miss you and Angelina so much, and can't wait for you both to be home. Bringing my other adoptive sisters along would make things perfect.
**HP**
"We could just try and break her out," Dora said, and Sirius sighed.
"I've thought about it, but I just see so many things going wrong," Sirius said. "One, we could get caught. Two, she'd be a wanted woman, and there wouldn't be a lot of ways for us to 'prove' her innocence later. Add in that we'll be reverting her mind back to before the ritual and it'll be hard enough to convince her that everything we say is true, let alone convince her to stay basically imprisoned in our home."
Dora groaned.
"That's all true," she said, angrily. "Fudge needs to go. If we can get someone else in, we should be able to get her out . . . and we need to do that before Voldemort breaks them all out of Azkaban."
"Fudge does need to go," Sirius agreed. "I don't want to, but we could just try and reveal the whole situation to the Wizengamot to force the issue with Fudge."
"But then Malfoy and his lot could garner enough votes for us to have to reveal the actual spell formulae for the ritual," Dora said with a shiver. "That is something we don't want Voldemort and his ilk getting their hands on."
"No, we don't," Sirius said with a sigh. "We'll just have to wait for Fudge to either get voted out or wait for him to become so desperate to appease us that he'll do anything. His time is coming soon; I can feel it."
"Fucking Fudge," Dora swore bitterly.
Sirius nodded in agreement before Dora sighed.
"I might as well go finish up that lovely prank that Harry asked me to do," she said, and Sirius scowled.
"My own godson went to my cousin for a prank," Sirius moaned. "I'll never live down the shame."
"He doesn't want the girl permanently scarred," Dora said dryly. "He came to the right person!"
"Bah, he has just earned a different kind of focus from me for that blasphemy."
Dora chuckled. "Prank war?"
"Indeed!" Sirius said with a grin. "Besides, he could use a little laughter. In fact, I think we make this a family affair."
"You, me, Remus, Harry, and Angelina?" Dora said.
"Of course, but let's throw in Alicia, Jamie, Katie, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and the twins," Sirius said.
"Hermione will hate that," Dora said with a laugh. "The rest of them though? Sure, let's do it. In fact, throw Mad-Eye into the mix."
"You and I are probably the only ones who have a hope of getting him," Sirius scoffed. "The kiddos are restricted to the mail. It's not very fair with that eye of his."
"Ah, but it'll be a good challenge," Dora said eagerly. "Perhaps they'll surprise us too."
"Alright, cousin," Sirius said with a feral grin. "Let's send out a formal declaration of war and get this party started!"
"'Bonjour! Tonks?" a voice rang out and Dora grinned.
"We almost missed one," Dora said, with a mischievous smirk. "Add Fleur to our list."
"Indeed I will," Sirius said with a sanctimonious nod, and Dora walked out to where the beautiful part-Veela was glancing around, having just entered their home.
She was dressed casually, wearing jeans and a simple T-shirt, and yet still a complete smoke show.
"Hey Fleur," Dora said, and Fleur's eyes brightened as she moved forward.
Dora happily hugged the girl, who had become a fast friend. It had started with her wanting to visit Harry and even Angelina after moving here for her job, but had developed into a close friendship between the two of them, especially with both Harry and Angelina at school.
Considering several of Dora's friends were generally not speaking to her currently, some were just busy with life and others were out of contact for other various reasons, Fleur was a welcome change to Dora's life, and was at the Potter-Black home at least once a week and often met her for lunch another time or two a week.
Dora had introduced her to several of her other close friends, hoping to help the French beauty find some people in her new home, and she had hit it off with most of them and was now even the one to usually force them all to hang out more often.
She and Bill had even done several double dates with Dora and Remus, and even a few group dates with Sirius and Alexis, Kingsley and Hestia, and Savage and Siobhan. It was something they all enjoyed, especially since most of them needed to blow off steam from the Ministry.
"What brings you here?" Dora asked.
"Well, I want to steel you away for ze rest of ze day," Fleur said with a smile. "I was zhinking lunch and some shopping."
"Just us?" Dora asked.
"Non," Fleur said. "I zhought zhat you could 'elp me kidnap Penny from her lab."
Dora grinned.
"Oh, I'm definitely game to do that."
Fleur giggled. "Zhat poor girl needs to get out more."
"And of course we're the saints that will liberate her," Dora agreed with a laugh.
**HP**
Dora,
Our brother crossed a line when he wrote to you. He promised not to do anything rash, and contacting our Auror big sister on my behalf was rash . . . even if I did appreciate the letter from you. I don't think he intended for you to prank me with a beautification charm though, but the point got across, especially when Jen was hit with the opposite. Not sure how you timed those out to happening at the same time, but your point was made. Regardless, while our brother had good intentions . . . and I did enjoy the results . . . a price must be paid. Your declaration of war was noted, but before that, I wish to collaborate on a prank on Harry . . . something to show him we love him.
After that we can return to this war that you and Sirius cooked up. I look forward to seeing your retaliation for my initial strike.
Dora snorted, having finally managed to get the hair growing hex under control. Dora's hair had grown in all directions, covering her face, causing her to spit hair out of her mouth and had made it all the way down to her knees before she got it under control.
I already wrote to mum and Jamie, and I have no doubts they will be all for coming to Shadow Hold for Christmas. I can't wait to see you.
Love,
Alicia
"Not bad, little sister," Dora said with a chuckle. "Simple, but effective. A joint prank sounds like a marvelous idea, and then I'll tie it along with two individual ones . . . I think a certain hellhound will help me out."
Dora grinned. Work might suck, and she had a very dangerous werewolf to track down, but at least she had some fun to look forward to with her family.
