Chapter 3: Fudge, Dementors and Hogwarts.
Harry was sitting on a couch with Mia curled into his side, staring off into space. Hermione sat on the other side of Mia and was stroking back her hair as she and Harry exchanged worried looks.
They didn't know how to deal with this quiet, motionless Mia. It was like she had totally shut herself off and it scared Harry and Hermione to death.
"You need to get a hold of Aunt Cissy and Draco and let them know what is going on," Hermione whispered as she leaned into Harry. Harry nodded.
"I know. But what am I supposed to do with Mia? We need her with us," Harry whispered back and Hermione bit her bottom lip. She didn't have an answer and she was terrified. She was so used to seeing Mia as the tough girl who was ready to take on anything, and it broke her heart to see her best friend desolated over the fact that her father had been found out and was now in terrible danger.
The bushy-haired girl couldn't help but throw a glare at the red-haired mother as she stepped into the room. She knew it wasn't logical but she didn't give a damn. It was thanks to Molly Weasley - and her big mouth - that Sirius was now on the run for his life and her best friends were left alone just before they were to head back to Hogwarts.
Everyone had spent the day looking for Sirius while some people stayed behind and contacted the ministry. Molly had tried to mother everyone but it was rebuffed by Harry and Hermione and unnoticed by Mia.
It was nearly night time and they were waiting for the Ministry to come over and try and get answers out of them. Hermione wasn't in the mood for it. She was too worried about Mia and Sirius to want to deal with a couple of Ministry idiots.
The door opened and Arthur walked into the room where everyone was sitting. He saw that Harry, Hermione and Mia occupied the large couch with the still-comatose Mia in the middle. Ron was sitting on the chair next to the couch not really doing much of anything, and Molly was pacing near the fireplace. The twins were sitting at the table with a serious look on their faces, while Percy quietly watched the members of his family with his eyes darting between them and a pensive expression on his face. Ginny was sitting on the chair across from Harry as she tried to gain his attention.
"Harry, Hermione, Mia, this is Cornelius Fudge," Arthur told the kids as he walked in with the same man that Harry and Mia had met back in their second year while hidden under the invisibility cloak.
"It's nice to finally meet you, Mr Potter. Miss Granger, I have heard a lot of good things about you from your teachers," Fudge told them as he removed his purple hat.
"Get on with it," Harry informed him, causing an insulted gasp from Molly Weasley. But he didn't care. His uncle was out there, god knows where, running for his life because of one meddlesome woman couldn't keep her mouth shut.
"Very well," Fudge told them. "Where is Sirius Black?"
"And why should we tell you?" Harry asked, bitterly. "So you can go and collect him before making us watch him be killed?"
"Harry," Hermione reached out and placed her hand on Harry's shoulder, calming him. The young witch knew that Harry was terrified for his uncle but that he couldn't take his temper out on the ministry right now.
"He is a murderer," Fudge told them and Hermione sighed when she felt the muscles tighten under her hand before she turned to Fudge.
"No he isn't," Hermione informed Fudge, causing the elderly man to look at her. "If he was really a murderer, then why did he take Harry away from the Dursleys that Dumbledore left him with - the same people who the Potters stated very clearly in their will that Harry was never to go to if anything were to happen to them?" Hermione asked.
Hermione had been curious as to why Sirius had taken Harry from the Dursleys - she remembered that Mia had told her that if Sirius hadn't taken Harry from the Dursleys, he wouldn't be the same person as he was now.
"What you need to understand is Petunia, Lily's sister, was incredibly jealous of her sister," Sirius told her. They were both in the kitchen, sitting at the table. Both of them had a mug of hot butterbeer. "When Petunia married Vernon, things got worse. Vernon couldn't cope with the idea of magic so he started calling them freaks."
"But, surely they would have taken care of a baby," Hermione protested. Sirius shook his head. He knew that Hermione had a huge heart and wanted to see the good in everyone. It hurt him to damage that innocent outlook.
"When I went to get Harry, he was sitting in the high chair still wearing the same clothes and nappy he had when Hagrid took him up. He had a tin of cold beans in front of him while Petunia was feeding her whale of a son. She told her husband that Harry had to learn to feed himself sooner or later because she wasn't going to do it for him," Sirius explained and Hermione felt her jaw drop and her eyes widen before she covered her mouth.
"That's horrible!" she exclaimed. "How could they do that to a baby!?" Sirius just shrugged.
"Lily knew that Vernon wouldn't be too welcoming to the idea of having a magical child in the house, so she made it pretty clear in their will that Harry was never to go to them. But Dumbledore violated that will and in the process their trust."
Hermione just shook her head, unable to comprehend that any parents would refuse to take care of a baby in need. She knew that she was happy, however, that Sirius had taken Harry back when he had the chance.
"And why would he want to kill his best friend? His wife?" Hermione finished off, shaking herself out of her thoughts.
"You're asking questions that only that madman can answer!" Molly exclaimed.
"Uncle Sirius is not a madman!" Harry shot at her, causing Molly to look at him.
"They're right mom," Ron jumped in as he moved over to stand behind the couch, supporting his friends. "Sirius has had all that chance to kill Harry but he never did. He brought Harry up, cared for him as his own and you want to arrest him on no evidence."
"He is a death eater!" Fudge exclaimed.
"No, Lucius Malfoy is a death eater yet he's walking around free like he owns the damn place," Harry shot at Fudge, rendering him speechless. "You just want to arrest someone so you can be seen doing something that you failed to do properly 12 years ago." Harry took a deep breath. "And we're not going to help you. The public deserves to know the truth that the Ministry are a complete bunch of idiots - you didn't even look for me that long before announcing that was I dead because you couldn't handle the responsibility."
"Harry," Ginny started but Harry stood up, picking Mia up with him. Ron hurried around the side of the couch and took Mia from Harry for a minute when he looked to stretch his arms out.
"We're going to bed, we'll see you in the morning," Harry informed them as he took Mia back into his arms and carried her up the stairs with Hermione and Ron following.
"They're right," Fred and George stated together. "Sirius Black hasn't done anything to harm them at all... besides, all death eaters hate muggleborns - why would Sirius let Hermione spend the summer with them or have you forgotten she is a muggleborn?" Fred asked before he and his twin went up the stairs, following the others.
"I must ask you not to pressure Harry anymore," Arthur told Fudge. "He is the boy who lived and is the one who got rid of Voldemort - how he did it is the question none of us have an answer to, and I'd rather not try to figure it out myself or push Harry away from the wizarding world because people keep pressuring him."
"We need answers," Fudge told him and Arthur sighed.
"I'm sorry but I have to agree with my children. There are far too many inconsistencies with the charges against Sirius Black and I will not be part of a group that wishes to try and jail innocent people," Arthur told them before he turned around and headed up the stairs as well, leaving Molly, Ginny, Percy, and Fudge and his escort alone in the sitting room to ponder over what had happened.
Harry placed Mia onto the bed. Her eyes were closed and her breathing was deep and steady telling him that she had finally gone to sleep. Harry couldn't help but close his eyes in welcome relief. He had been worried that Mia wouldn't get any sleep because of everything that had happened today. He turned to look at Ron as he entered the room.
Ron nodded in unspoken understanding. "Don't worry mate. I'll kip in here - the couch is a pullout so I can sleep on it," Ron told him and Harry shot him a smile of thanks. He didn't want Mia alone in case she got a nightmare or woke up and couldn't get back to sleep. He didn't trust anyone from downstairs not to sneak into her room and try and access her mind to get answers.
"Hermione and I will be in my room - I have a feeling that she'll take longer to get to sleep and I don't want her to wake up Mia," Harry whispered to Ron, who just nodded while carefully pulling out the couch so that it didn't make any noise.
Harry made his way into his bedroom and saw that Hermione was still wide-awake. Harry made his way over to the bed and sat down on it, watching as she worked herself up.
"What do you think happened to the charms?" Hermione asked as she paced furiously across Harry's room.
"I don't know. I guess the charms wore off or Uncle Sirius forgot to renew them - he was used to living at home," Harry suggested. Hermione sighed as she came to a stop next to the window and ran her hand through her dark bushy locks.
"What's going to happen to us?" Hermione asked as she looked up at the starry night sky. Harry stood up and he moved over next to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her close to him.
"Nothing. I won't let anything happen to us," Harry promised. Hermione just sighed as she rested the back of her head against his chest and they both stared quietly out the window, hoping that everything would be okay.
Harry blinked when he felt sunlight hitting his eyelids. He slowly opened his eyes and felt a warm body curled up next to him. He looked down and saw that Hermione snuggled into his side, sleeping.
Harry smiled softly as he reached out and brushed back her hair to kiss her forehead before gently climbing out of bed. He stretched languidly before he moved over to the window and saw a lot of people bustling about on the street.
His green eyes narrowed when he saw familiar looking cloaks and he sighed to himself. Aurors were now in the street looking for Sirius. Harry shook his head before he turned around. He grabbed his jeans from where he had slid them off last night and pulled them on before leaving the room.
He walked over to Mia's bedroom and knocked on it twice before eventually entering. He felt his heart clench before he saw that Mia was sitting up on the bed, staring out her window.
"He'll be fine you know. He is Sirius Black," Harry told her as he moved closer to the bed. Mia turned to face him as Harry sat down next to her and she gave him a soft smile.
"I know," she told him. "I'm more worried about how we're going to clear him. I don't want to lose my dad, Harry." Harry shifted up closer and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his body.
"You're not gonna lose him. None of us are. He's tough and we will find some way to get his name cleared," Harry promised her. Mia shot him a teary smile before she closed her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. They both stared out the window, praying that the only man who had been their father would be safe.
There was a knock at the door, startling Ron out of his deep sleep from where he was lying in the pullout bed. He bolted up and looked around before his sleepy eyes landed on Harry and Mia, who were watching him with amusement.
"Morning Ron," Harry greeted. "Nice to see that you're up on the job of being a bodyguard."
"Yeah?" Mia called out through the door and Hermione poked her head into the bedroom. "Hey, come on in, pull up a quilt," Mia told her. Hermione smiled and moved into the room, shutting the door behind her before climbing onto the bed next to Harry.
"Well, isn't this cosy," Ron stated from where he was nice and cosy in his bed - one that he had all to himself - and he wasn't complaining.
"What's up?" Harry asked Hermione, not answering Ron's question.
"Mrs. Weasley says we have to get ready for the train," Hermione told him and Mia sighed.
"Looks like Hogwarts isn't going to wait for anyone," Mia told them and got agreements in return.
They all stood up and went into their original rooms so that they each could get ready for their trip back to school.
Everybody made their way downstairs, dragging their trunks outside of the Leaky Cauldron where two Ministry cars sat, waiting to be loaded. Hermione raised an eyebrow at the cars, confused as to why they were getting to use Ministry cars to go to the train station.
Arthur noticed Hermione's hesitation and said, "The ministry supplied us with cars."
"Yeah, just in case Sirius decided to come back and kill us all," Fred, muttered to Mia, sarcastically.
"Though we wouldn't mind if he did it to Percy, he's been a very strange one lately," George added in.
"How to do mean?" Harry asked, overhearing the conversation. The twins turned to face him.
"He's been keeping an eye on the rest of us, more specifically Mum and Ginny," Fred explained to him. Harry cast his eyes over Fred's shoulder and saw Percy standing there. He was standing off to the side, slightly away from his family as he watched them all stoically.
"Do you have any theory on why he's doing that?" Harry asked and George shook his head.
"No, sorry," George apologised. Harry just shrugged before he turned back to the others. "Let just get in the cars. The sooner we get to Hogwarts, the better, and we can start searching for information that could clear Uncle Sirius' name."
Everyone nodded and they all stepped into the car. Harry was sharing a car with Mia, Hermione, Ron, the twins and Ginny.
"Why are we all in here?" Ginny whined but everyone else just ignored her as they all fought to get comfortable in the suddenly tight space.
"Okay everyone, just stop!" Harry announced, causing everyone to stop squirming around and look at him. Harry sat down in the middle of the seat at the back of the car and pulled Hermione down onto his lap. Then Mia took the seat to Harry's right and Ron took the seat to his left.
The twins and Ginny sat down across from the four and they all got settled.
"Why is Hermione sitting on your lap?" Ginny asked. Harry looked at her.
"Because there isn't enough room," Harry informed her.
"But surely she must be a bit heavy for you. I'm lighter, we could swap," Ginny suggested and Harry snorted.
"No thanks. Besides - I'm used to having Hermione's weight on me," he told her before he turned back to Ron to finish their conversation. Harry was used to having Hermione's weight on him because of training. They all needed to work together to get to high places - because Harry and Draco were taller than the girls, it meant they were the ones to boost the girls up and Harry was paired with Hermione during the process.
Ginny on the other hand thought Harry meant something else. Hermione watched as Ginny's face crumbled with devastation before hardening and turning to look out the window.
Hermione just didn't get Ginny. She knew that Ginny was interested in Harry but she seemed to be taking it further than Harry wanted to. Harry had made it clear that he wasn't interested in her but Ginny didn't seem to be getting the message. She felt a hand on her elbow and turned to see her best friend attracting her attention.
"Leave it alone for now," Mia warned. "We don't need anymore trouble right now. She'll slip up sooner or later." Hermione nodded and they turned back to look out the other window.
They soon arrived at the train station. Everyone hurried out of the cars and grabbed their stuff before rushing through the barrier - they were once again running late thanks to traffic.
Everyone placed their trunks and animals in the baggage area before boarding the train.
"Have a good term!" Molly shouted as she waved to the children. Ron, Ginny, the twins and Percy waved back while Harry led Mia and Hermione down the corridors to get a compartment.
Everyone finally made their way over to a compartment. Ginny was about to step in when Ron lifted his hand.
"Sorry Ginny, there's not enough room for all of us. Why don't you go and sit with your friends?" Ron told her before he turned back away from her and entered the compartment.
Ginny just glared at Ron's back before she stomped off in the opposite direction. Everyone else made their way into the compartment and saw a young man sleeping in the corner. His robes were quite old and ragged. Harry couldn't help but eye the sleeping man curiously. He had a nagging feeling that he recognised the person but couldn't place him.
"Who do you think he is?" Ron whispered to Harry.
"RJL - I suspect he is the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher," Hermione informed them, matter of factly, causing Ron to look at her, scared.
"How do you know that?" he demanded before turning slightly wild eyes to Harry. "How does she know that?" Harry just smiled at Ron as he sat down next to Hermione while Ron and Mia took the other side of the compartment.
Ron was sitting next to the window while Mia was sitting closer to the door, waiting for the trolley to come along. Hermione was directly across from Mia next to the door while Harry was sitting in the middle between Hermione and the teacher.
"It says on his suitcase," Hermione intimated and Ron's eyes sought it out before spotting the engraving by the handle. The tip of his ears turned slightly pink with embarrassment.
"Oh," he muttered sheepishly, while Mia rolled her eyes in amusement.
"You can't blame Ron for being a little scared - you do have a habit of knowing things before anyone else," Harry teased Hermione, causing her to blush before she elbowed Harry in the side, causing Ron and Mia to stifled their chuckles, mindful of the young man who slept across from them.
"What do you think the ministry will be doing? I mean, they gave us cars to drive us to the train station," Ron told them and Mia shook her head.
"They are determined to bring him to justice for what they think he did. We need to find a way to capture the real person who did it and bring them forward," Hermione told them.
"But how?" Ron asked. "Peter has been declared dead remember, the ministry said that Sirius killed him."
"Yes, we know but Peter wouldn't kill himself off, no way," Harry told him. "He's biding his time. All we need to do is keep an eye out and an ear to the ground for any information that could possibly help us."
"That should be easy considering we're at school," Ron sarcastically told them and Mia sat up a little straighter.
"Maybe it is," Mia told them, causing them to look at the black haired girl. "Let me think it through first but I think I have an idea." A short rap at the door interrupted them and they turned to see the trolley lady standing at the doorway with a load full of sweets and snacks.
"Do you want anything off the trolley dears?" Mary the trolley lady asked.
"Yes please," Harry told her before looking at the rest. "Don't worry, I'm paying. So pick whatever you want."
"Thanks mate," Ron told him as all four of them stood up and looked through the category of sweets.
"What about the professor?" Hermione fretted slightly and Mary smiled at the young woman.
"Don't worry about him dear. He knows where I am if he gets hungry after he wakes," Mary soothed the young woman.
Hermione just smiled up at her before picking out a couple of sugar-free lollipops. Mia picked some red liquorice and a couple of regular lollipops. Harry and Ron had each grabbed a couple handfuls of sweets, proclaiming that it was ages until the feast was to start and they didn't want to starve.
Mary had just smiled affectionately at the young men before she took Harry's money and moved on to the next compartment.
The boys settled themselves back down on the small comfortable benches and started tucking into their snacks. Meanwhile they all started to talk about what they could be facing at Hogwarts.
"Do you think that Snape has left this time?" Ron asked almost hopefully while Mia snorted.
"Sorry, but I think we're gonna be stuck with Snape for the rest of our school years," Mia told him and Ron deflated.
"Guess it was too much to ask for," Ron told them before he eyed the new professor thoughtfully. "Snape is gonna be hopping mad when he finds out that he missed out on the Defence Against the Dark Arts position again."
"Why do you think Dumbledore is refusing to give him the position?" Hermione asked, curious to the old wizard's reason. "I mean... our first-year professor was possessed and our second year teacher was a fraud. He has no problem letting Snape in on conversations he has with Harry yet he has problems giving the position to Snape."
"Maybe because it's rumoured that Snape is a Death eater," Harry told her. Hermione looked at him. "Sirius says that Snape is a double spy - he spied on Voldemort and reported back to us, and vice versa to Voldemort."
"Hm, maybe he was worried that Voldemort would tell Snape to do certain things in classes... like, give us assignments that Voldemort could use later in the future against us?" Ron suggested.
"But Voldemort is dead - well floating about basically - so there is no reason for Dumbledore not to give Snape the job now," Mia pointed out.
"Maybe he knows that Voldemort isn't going to stay dead forever and doesn't want to give him the temptation?" Hermione asked. "I mean, when Voldemort does come back, Snape would find himself caught in a bind between Voldemort and Dumbledore - and in the process could end up exposing his double spy stature."
"You could be right," Harry told them all. "But we're not gonna get any further by discussing it here."
The train started shuddering before it slowed down to a halt. Harry stood up, opened the compartment, and looked around only to see that the students were doing the same thing. All of them looked confused too.
Harry sat back down on the bench next to Hermione once more as he looked toward Mia and Ron.
"Why are we stopping?" Ron demanded.
"We can't be near Hogwarts already," Hermione told them as Mia leaned over Ron to look outside.
"Not unless Hogwarts has moved," Mia informed them. "We're on the bridge." She settled back into her seat before a slight shiver came over her. "God, is it just me or is it suddenly colder?"
"I think something is moving out there," Ron told them.
"What do you think it is?" Mia asked as she and Ron moved closer to the window. Hermione started to shiver next to Harry and her breath became noticeable in the cooling air.
"Oh shit," Ron muttered as he watched as the window began to ice over. "This is not a good sign."
There was a rattling sound coming from outside the compartment. Mia lunged at the door and pulled down the lever to lock it into place before she settled back down and looked at the others with fear shining brightly in her eyes.
"Just to be on the safe side," Mia told them. "We don't know what we're facing so we don't know how to fight them." Everyone nodded in agreement.
Soon a black shadow appeared against the door. Everyone turned to look at it while Harry grabbed Hermione and swapped places with her so she was away from the danger. The door handle started to turn slightly, causing Harry and Mia to shoot a startled look towards each other; the door only locked from the inside so that there couldn't be any interrupting for people who were in a meeting. How it was opening now was puzzling.
The door slowly opened and a bony hand slid inside, causing Harry to push Hermione back as Mia and Ron scooted closer to the window. The black hooded figure slipped its head around and looked at each person in turn before its head looked straight at Harry.
Harry felt like he was drowning and was fighting against his growing weakness when a female scream sounded through his head.
"NO! Leave him alone!" a female voice shouted before she let out a scream as Harry fell backward into the growing darkness.
"Harry," a female voice called. Harry slowly opened his eyes and found himself staring into Hermione's worried brown orbs.
"Hermione," he whispered back and he saw relief flood into Hermione.
"Are you okay?" she asked. "You just passed out and started moving around like you were having a fit." Harry shook his head and felt sluggish.
"I don't feel so good," Harry admitted as Hermione helped him sit up properly. Ron and Mia were standing and helping Harry into an upright position. "What happened?"
"A Dementor came in. It took one look at you and started breathing really heavily, like it was taking in gulps of air. Your eyes just rolled up into the back of your head and you started thrashing around," Mia explained.
"Here," a male voice and a loud snapping sound made them all jump. They all turned to see the man who had been sleeping in the corner now wide-awake. He was breaking up a bar of chocolate. He leaned over to Harry and passed him a large piece.
Harry took it as the man stood up. "Eat the chocolate, it'll make you feel better. I need to have a word with the conductor and make sure that everyone else is okay. I'll be back soon." With that, he walked out of the compartment.
"How the hell did a Dementor get on the train?" Harry asked, not once looking at the chocolate.
"No one knows - I think they were looking for Sirius because the man stood up, waved his wand and said that no one was hiding Sirius Black here. There was a bright white light and the Dementor screeched and fled pretty fast," Ron explained.
"Who screamed?" Harry asked. Mia, Hermione and Ron looked at each other, confused, before Hermione turned towards Harry once more.
"Harry, none of us screamed," Hermione told him and Harry frowned.
"I heard a female screaming," Harry told her and understanding lit up in Mia's blue eyes.
"Aunt Lily," Mia told them and Harry looked at her. "You heard your mum before she died. The reason why no one else was affected as much as you were because they didn't have the trauma of seeing their parent killed in front of them. You had buried it down deep and the Dementors brought it up," Mia explained and Harry sighed.
"Great," Harry muttered.
The doors opened once more, causing the teenagers to jump and then relax when the man came back in.
"Eat it Harry. I haven't poisoned it you know," the man teased slightly, noticing that Harry still had the block of chocolate in his hand. Harry chuckled nervously.
"Sorry," Harry told him before he frowned slightly. The man made his way back over to his usual seat. "Do I know you?" Harry asked and the man looked at him, startled.
"I'm Remus Lupin," Remus started. "I'm the new…"
"Moony!" Mia and Harry exclaimed together, causing Remus to stare at them both. "Unbelievable!" Mia exclaimed.
"Tell me about it!" Harry stated. "We were talking about you this summer and now you're our teacher!"
"You were talking about me this summer?" Remus asked and Mia nodded.
"Yeah, you have no idea how many times we've tried to get dad to send a owl to you and explain everything. He's sorry by the way that he couldn't tell you anything. Aunt Lily and Uncle James made him promise because none of them were sure who the betrayer was. Dad was adamant that it wasn't you and that you could be trusted but Aunt Lily was terrified you know," Mia explained.
"Mia?" Remus asked as it suddenly clicked into place. "Oh my god. The last time I saw you, you were still a baby."
"Funny how the years can go by," Mia told him. "You have no idea how much Harry and I wanted to meet you but Dad was scared that you would turn him in if he had contacted you."
"I probably would have," Remus admitted. "But I do wish that the old dog had contacted me."
"Is it true that you're a werewolf?" Hermione asked suddenly, and Remus looked at her before smirking.
"How did you know?" Remus asked and Hermione blushed.
"Sirius told me about you - he explained that it was why he and James became animagi. Because you were a werewolf and to keep you company," Hermione explained.
"You've met Sirius?" Remus asked.
"Hermione has been spending the summer with us - we've tried to get Ron invited too but you can guess that Mrs. Weasley is kinda overprotective," Harry explained and Ron rolled his eyes.
"That's an understatement," Ron informed Harry before he looked at Remus. "How did you get bitten? I mean, were you a kid at the time?"
"Yeah, I was bitten by another werewolf. I was lucky that I was even accepted into Hogwarts but Dumbledore was understanding of my condition and Madam Pomfrey made me this potion that helped me to stay calm during my changes," Remus explained.
"Wolfbane," Hermione breathed out. "That's why Sirius wanted me to work on that potion; he said that I might need to know how to brew it someday. I think he was hoping that one of these days he would get himself cleared and you could come and live with them."
"He did?" Remus asked and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, he even has the room done up and a cage in the basement - when Mia and I first asked him about it, he said that that he hoped that an old friend would be able to come home soon," Harry explained.
Remus just turned to stare out of the window as a wave of sadness crossed his face. Harry looked at Mia and understanding dawned between them.
"So, did the conductor say why he stopped the train?" Hermione asked, changing the subject. Remus turned to face her.
"Apparently the ministry had told him to stop the train here so it could be searched," Remus explained and Ron rubbed his forehead.
"This is getting ridiculous," Ron muttered. "All they are doing is annoying the students, especially our house mates."
"Speak for yourself," Hermione remarked. "Mia and I have Lavender and Parvati - do you think they're going to be happy when they find out that Sirius is now on the run?"
"Wait a minute, are you telling me that your housemates have no problems with Sirius?" Remus interrupted, causing the kids to look at him.
"Yeah," Ron told him. "Harry and Mia explained to us that Sirius isn't the evil man that everyone had painted him to be, and they gave us good reasons for why Sirius would go after Peter. Plus why he would swap secret keepers."
"And add in the fact that Sirius is not training me to be the next dark lord and that I try my best to make sure that Voldemort is not able to come back, and they're on our side," Harry informed him, dryly.
Remus chuckled. "Good points." He sighed. "I wish that I hadn't lost contact with him now."
"Don't worry," Mia told him as she patted his arm. "You're still our uncle and I have a feeling that Dad will be cleared soon. So you'll be able to walk into the school together once more as free men."
"And she says she hates divination," Ron whispered to Harry, who covered his snickers.
"I heard that," a warning tone came from Mia, who shot a glare at the boys, causing them to straighten up and put on their best innocent expressions.
"Oh, that just says you're guilty," Hermione scolded them. "Stop trying to look so innocent!" Remus smiled them, enjoying their banter as the train continued its journey to Hogwarts.
Once the train finally arrived, everyone rushed his or her way over to the castle. It was pouring down rain and there was plenty of thunder and lightning, startling the girls because it seemed to be growing closer. Hermione was fretting over the first years because they were travelling by boat.
"I sure hope they will be okay. The lake has to be turbulent," Hermione told Harry. Harry just gripped her hand tighter, trying to reassure her as they made their way up the stairs to enter Hogwarts and get dry.
A blue blur came out of nowhere and landed at Harry's feet, sending a spray of freezing cold water through his trainers. A red blur came out of nowhere and hit a small first year on his back, re-soaking his robes.
"Oh hell, water balloons," Ron groaned out. There was a hurried tapping noise and then a loud female voice shouting.
"PEEVES! STOP THAT THIS INSTANT!" McGonagall made her way over to the students only for her heels to slip on a wet patch. McGonagall's hands flared as she tried to grab onto something to hold her up when a hand shot out and took hold of her robes and straightened her up.
McGonagall let out a small sigh of relief before she looked at the person who caught her and smiled at the young woman.
"Thank you Miss Black," McGonagall told her and Mia nodded as she watched their head of the house go storming after Peeves. "Peeves get back down here!"
"Why don't we just get rid of Peeves?" Harry whispered to Mia.
"Because I need him for my plans for Hogwarts," Mia reminded Harry in a whisper.
"Okay everyone, let's hurry into the Great Hall - and please mind your steps!" Percy called out as he led everyone into the castle as quickly as possible to get away from Peeves and his water bombs.
Soon the Great Hall doors came into view. Harry and Hermione were about to make their way inside when they caught sight of McGonagall looking like the worse for wear. Quite a few strands of hair were out of place due to her rushing about after Peeves and her cheeks were slightly flushed red due to her annoyance at the ghost.
Once the elderly woman had caught her breath, she straightened up until she looked more like her normal self before she caught sight of Harry and Hermione.
"Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, come with me please," McGonagall told them. Harry and Hermione shared a look before they followed their head of house. She led them up to her office. She allowed them to step through and they saw that the hospital nurse was in the office.
"Mr. Potter, the term hasn't even started and I already have to see you," Madam Pomfrey scolded him and Harry grinned as he shrugged at the nurse.
"What can I say? I just love your bedside manner," he teased. Madam Pomfrey just sent him a glare. It wasn't as effective as it could have been though because a hint of a smile was tugging at the corner of her lips.
"What happened?" she asked.
"Dementors," Harry explained and she nodded. She looked the young man over to make sure there were no lasting effects. "Professor Lupin gave me some chocolate to get over the incident."
"Good," Madam Pomfrey told him before she finally pulled away from him. "There are no lasting effects that I can see so you are free to go. Do not let me see you in the Hospital Wing anymore due to those foul things." Harry nodded.
"Okay Mr. Potter. Can you wait outside, I wish to speak to Miss Granger," Professor McGonagall told him. Harry gave a short nod before he left the office with Madam Pomfrey, who stalked off to her hospital wing muttering about the ministry being stupid and how could Dumbledore let them place Dementors around the school.
Harry just smiled fondly as he slipped his hands into his trouser pockets and leaned against the wall next to the office door. He knew that everyone would think that Madam Pomfrey was just being fussy, but he knew that the woman was very protective when it came to children in Hospital wing, especially when it came to intentional attacks like the whole ordeal with the Chamber of Secrets back in second year.
The door next to Harry opened and he turned to see Hermione and McGonagall stepping out of the office. Harry noticed that Hermione was slipping something gold under her jumper. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.
"Okay, now that's over - let's head back down to the Great Hall for the feast," McGonagall told them as she led the way with Harry and Hermione following her. Hermione moved in closer and wrapped an arm around Harry's elbow.
McGonagall opened the door and they stepped through. Harry and Hermione made their way over to the Gryffindor Table and sat down in their usual spot.
"Oh, we've missed the sorting," Hermione whispered to Harry, who nodded back as they tucked into the feast.
"How come McGonagall wanted you?" Mia asked as she took a sip from her pumpkin juice.
"Madam Pomfrey was waiting for me. She wanted to make sure that there weren't any lasting effects from the Dementors," Harry explained.
"And McGonagall wanted to speak to me about my classes," Hermione explained as the dishes started disappearing and Dumbledore stood up, attracting everyone's attention to the Head Table.
"Students, I wish to welcome you all back to Hogwarts. First is that the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher is Professor Lupin," Lupin stood up and waved to the students, who clapped. He sat back down again. "Second, I would advise you all to stay away from the forbidden forest." Dumbledore's face grew grave as he told them the next news. "I wish to let you all know that Hogwarts will be playing host to the Azkaban guards, the Dementors," Dumbledore told them. There were mutterings and whisperers everywhere. "I must ask you not to provoke them as they will not show you any mercy - take care around them and give them no reason to harm you."
"I can't believe that Dumbledore is allowing those horrible things near the school," Hermione told them as they made their way out of the Great Hall.
"I don't think he had a choice," Fred told them. "Did you see how furious he looked at the thought of them being near the school? I bet that Fudge forced his policies on him."
"Dad did say that Dumbledore threw a fit and told Fudge that he was the headmaster of the school. In the end they had to compromise. The Dementors are not allowed to cross onto school grounds while he is still headmaster because he fears for the safety of the students," George added in.
"I had thought that Dumbledore wanted Dad to be captured, but it now it seems like he is divided between helping us and trying to control us," Mia spoke up, curious to the reasons behind the Headmaster's actions. Ron leaned into her.
"The twins and I have a theory," Ron told her and they all looked at him. "We think that Dumbledore is trying to protect Harry the best way he can, and blood protection is very powerful. That's why he wants Harry to live at the Dursleys' - because the Death Eaters are still out there - but at the same time, he is fighting against it because he can see how well brought-up you and Harry are and has to admit that Sirius can't have been all that bad."
"Plus, everyone believes that Sirius was the secret keeper for your parents and, well, you know, everyone wants to believe the worst about someone," Fred told Harry, who nodded his understanding as he thought back to his second year.
"Why can't they accept the possibility that James and Lily had swapped secret keepers in the end?" Hermione asked.
"Because it's unthinkable to them that you would swap a secret keeper straight before you go into hiding. If you swapped around your best friend for someone else, what does that say?" George explained to the curious girl.
"Told you this world sucks," Mia informed Harry, who laughed while the twins rolled their eyes. Ron shook his head at Mia.
"I know you don't like this world but it has been like this for centuries - the purebloods are find change hard because they like the way things are," Ron explained to her.
"I'm sorry," Mia apologised. "But I find it hard that they can accept that raping muggleborn women just because they are muggleborns acceptable. That every single person who has been bitten by a werewolf can be classed as dark creatures. That all purebloods are more powerful than anyone else."
"There lies the rub," Harry told her. "They don't want to believe that a muggleborn or a half blood can be more powerful than them. They want to believe that purebloods are superior to anyone else."
"We know that's not true," Fred jumped in, defending his family. "The muggle world - while the Wizarding world doesn't want to believe it - is ahead of us in certain areas. Take cancer, for example. The Wizarding world doesn't know as much about it as they do."
"That's the reason why dad loves them so much," George dryly informed Mia. "It's because they have the means to get along without magic. They actually look at evidence before arresting someone and try and get justice - while they don't always get it, they at least gave them a fair trial. In this world, there have been cases where people are tried and hung before they even get a trial or just get sent to Azkaban without a trial at all."
"Lovely world we agreed to come to, isn't it?" Mia asked, sarcasm colouring her voice.
"And to think that Voldemort wants to keep only purebloods," Harry remarked sarcastically. Hermione covered her mouth to muffle her laughter as they finally reached the steps that would lead them to their house. Seamus ran ahead of everyone in an attempt to open the portrait. He arrived and saw that the painting of the Fat Lady was holding a wine glass goblet in her hand while singing.
"Fortuna Major," Seamus told her only to be ignored. "Fortuna Major," Seamus repeated.
"Just a minute," the Fat Lady told him before she started singing again. Seamus arched an eyebrow at the sight before he turned around and saw the rest of the Gryffindor walking up.
"She's not letting me in," Seamus told them and Harry looked at the Fat Lady.
"Fortuna Major," Harry told her and the Fat Lady held up her hand.
"Just a minute!" she told them before she started to sing again. Her voice started screeching, causing everyone nearby to cover their ears before she smashed the glass into the wall and let out a breathless gasp. "And it was just my voice!" she breathed out.
"Fortuna Major!" Harry repeated and she scowled.
"Fine, go on then," she told him as she opened the passageway and let them through.
"Every frigging year she does that and she can't even sing," Seamus and Harry stated at the same time, causing giggles from the girls surrounding them.
"Great start of the school term," Mia whispered to Hermione, who shot her a look filled with mirth before she turned back to face Harry.
"It's late. Lets all go to bed... and boys," Hermione called out, causing Ron, Dean, Seamus and Neville to look at her. "Do not make too much noise this time. I don't want to get out of my warm bed just to hex you." With that, Hermione made her way up the stairs with Lavender and Parvati, who were giggling. Mia shrugged at Harry.
"What can I say, I must be rubbing off on her," Mia told him only to dash up the stairs as Harry grabbed a cushion and threw it at her, missing her by inches. "See you in the morning!" and she ran up the stairs to catch up with the rest.
"First years," Percy called out and the first years looked at him. "Boys dormitories are up to your right, girls, you're to the left."
"Girls, over here," they heard Hermione call out. She had come back downstairs to make sure that the first year's girls got to their room. The girls made their way over to her while Harry called over the boys and led them up to their room.
Later Hermione and Mia were lying in their beds as they both stared at the ceiling. It was nearly midnight, but neither girl could sleep. Hermione closed her eyes before she let out a long sigh, then opened them once more.
"What do you think will happen this year?" Hermione asked as she turned on her side to look at Mia in the darkness. Mia shook her head.
"I have no idea," Mia whispered back and both girls lapsed into silence, each hoping that Sirius was okay wherever he was.
Meanwhile, a large black dog climbed down a small hill to stand near a large body of water. Hogwarts was just across the lake. The dog sat down and stared across the motionless water at Hogwarts for a long time.
TBC
By the way, I made up the Trolley lady's name because it sounds stupid typing trolley lady all the time.
Hope you liked it.