Chapter 4: Packing, Shocks and Hogwarts.
"Kids, get a move on!" Sirius shouted from where he was standing at the bottom of the stairs, He sent Lupin, who was standing next to him, a look of exasperation at having to "mother the kids" as he referred to it.
Ron had come up with the rest of the Weasley family so that they all could go to the train station together. Molly had been insistent and no one had been able to persuade her otherwise.
"One minute!" Mia shouted back.from Ron's room, where the late teens were helping him pack. Molly went up the stairs and into the room with a box in her arms.
"Oh, you kids are still here," she told them before she handed Ron the box. "Here you are." Ron took the box with a puzzled look on his face, wondering what his mother had given him. "It's something special."
Ron turned and sat the box on the bed and opened it. He pushed the tissues aside and adopted an expression of horror once he saw what was inside.
"What the hell is this?" Ron demanded as he lifted out the old dress robes. They were some sort of pink colour with other colours mixed in to make some kind of odd pattern. The edges were lined with pink frills and the shirt looked even worse.
"Those are your dress robes," Molly informed her son.
Hermione, Harry and Mia looked at each other in horror. They had assumed that Molly had taken Ron shopping for new robes but it looked like they were wrong.
"Are you kidding me?" Ron demanded. "This is not what they wear at balls!" Ron exclaimed.
"They used to," Molly informed her son stiffly before she left the room. The four kids looked at each other before an idea came to them.
"Shopping trip!" Harry, Mia and Hermione exclaimed as they grabbed Ron and hauled him over to the fireplace. They quickly flooed over to Madam Malkin's for a new set of dress robes for Ron.
All four of them tumbled out of the fireplace into the shop, startling Madam Malkin, who obviously was not expecting customers.
She covered her heart when she realised who the customers were and sighed with relief that it wasn't people who were going to rob the place or anything.
"Kids!" she scolded as she watched them scramble to stand up.
"We need a set of dress robes for Ron," Hermione blurted out and Madam Malkin looked at her, shocked. "Mrs. Weasley got him one of those old fashioned ones!" Understanding dawned on the elder woman's face and she nodded.
"Okay, what kind of robes should Ron have?" she asked.
"Black robes and a light blue shirt," Mia informed the seamstress. The blue will go with his eyes." Madam Malkin's eyed Ron and nodded as she agreed with Mia's explanation.
"If you'll get on the stool I'll measure you, but it will be a while before you will get the robes," she informed them and Harry nodded.
"That's fine, as long he gets them before the ball - we'll be fine," Harry told her and she smiled down at the young man before she moved over to Ron and started measuring him.
Once she had gotten his measurements down, Ron hopped down from the stool and headed over to the gang once more.
"Thank you so much," Ron told them but Hermione waved it off.
"You're our best friend Ron. If we're going to ball, I want us all to have a good time - and you being in those robes your mom bought certainly would stand in the way of that," Hermione informed him.
They all moved back over to the fireplace and flooed back to the house where angry and worried parents were waiting for them.
"Where the hell have you been?" Sirius demanded as the kids came back through the fireplace.
"Sorry," Mia coughed out. She had inhaled some soot when she came out of the fireplace and she shook her head. "Had some emergency shopping to do." Sirius shook his head in frustration and amusement before he gathered their trunks.
"Come on, we need to get you to the station," Sirius told them and he led the way out of the house as everyone followed him.
They piled into the cars as quickly as they could. Harry, Hermione, Ron and Mia were sharing a car that Sirius was driving, while the twins, Ginny, Molly, Arthur and Lupin followed in a car Lupin was driving. They both had been enchanted so that everyone could fit into the car.
When they finally arrived at the train station Sirius and Lupin helped the kids grab their trunks and head over to the barrier that hid the Hogwarts Express.
They passed through the barrier and spotted the train. The kids grinned at each other in excitement before they hurried over to the prefects that were loading the trunks onto the train before rushing back to the parents to say goodbye.
"You kids be careful and don't overstep your mark, please?" Sirius told them, the last bit directed to Mia, who rolled her eyes.
"Dad, relax - I'm not gonna go and kill the teachers off," Mia told her dad, who just smiled down at his daughter.
"I know - just don't bruise their egos too much," Sirius teased back. Mia just rolled her eyes again and laughed while the others shook their heads. The train whistle blew, signalling that it was time for everyone to board or be left behind.
"Okay, get on the train - we'll see you soon," Lupin told them as he kissed Hermione and Mia on their foreheads and patted Harry on the shoulder. He joined the other parents in watching the kids board the train and waved back at them in kind. Then he turned to face his best friend only to find that Sirius was staring after the departing train with a pensive look on his face - one that worried the werewolf.
On board, the kids were moving away from the window to find a compartment once the train pulled away from the station
"Hey," Lupin said leadingly as he shook Sirius' shoulder only for Sirius to shake his head as he turned to face his best friend.
"I can't help but have a bad feeling about this year, and I hope that I'm wrong," Sirius told Lupin. Lupin just stared back with his own earlier feelings of dread now coiling in the pit of his stomach and hoped that Sirius was wrong too. He didn't say anything more as they both turned to face the departed train.
Meanwhile, the kids were having fun knowing that they were going back to Hogwarts. Harry, Hermione and Ron had gone ahead to get a compartment while Mia had found Lavender and ended up in a conversation with her.
Mia was making her way down the corridor when she bumped into Cedric and two of his friends.
"Hey Cedric," Mia greeted and Cedric smiled.
"Hey, how was the rest of your break?" Cedric asked and Mia rolled her eyes.
"Hectic - we had to go shopping for dress robes at the last minute," Mia explained. Cedric winced.
"Yeah, I saw that on my list. Mum was so excited when she read that," Cedric told her and Mia laughed.
"My dad freaked when he read it - he couldn't believe that fourteen year olds were going to a ball," Mia told him and Cedric laughed. He could imagine Sirius's reaction toward that, especially when he saw how Sirius had reacted to him when they had first met.
"I can see why but I'm sure everyone else is excited about it," Cedric told her and Mia grinned.
"Hey, I just love a good excuse to party," she flirted at him before she looked behind Cedric and rolled her eyes. "I gotta go, I'll catch you later." She brushed past the boys and headed over to where Hermione was calling her.
Cedric and his two friends watched as Mia continued down the hallway and tilted their heads slightly to follow the way Mia's jeans hugged her behind before a cough broke into their thoughts.
They turned to see Percy standing behind them, looking at them with an arched eyebrow. He had seen the how they were looking at Mia and knew what they were thinking.
"Would you gentlement like to find a compartment?" Percy asked. They boys coughed slightly in embarrassment and made their way down the hallway in compliance.
Percy just watched them go before shaking his head and he continued his patrol of the hallway, making sure that everyone was settled properly.
Cedric found himself sitting in their compartment staring out of the window as he thought about Mia. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her. She was certainly attractive, but it was more than that. There was something about her that just drew him in.
Cedric came out of his thoughts when he felt a thump on his arm and turned to see one of his friends staring at him with an amused expression.
"Where did you go?" He asked, amused, and another laughed.
"Same place Mia Black went," the other informed him. "Did you see how he stared after her when she left?"
"Ha, Ha," Cedric informed them sarcastically and the first male rolled his eyes.
"Liven up Cedric - we're just kidding around," he told her but the second male shook his head.
"I wasn't - that Mia is certainly shaping up nicely. Not to mention fiery. Wonder just how hot she could be in bed," the second male told them.
"Jack…" Cedric started but the first male jumped in.
"I actually like Hermione better - you know what they say... the silent ones are the ones to look out for," he informed them.
"John…" Cedric started again but was cut off.
"Hey, I wouldn't mind if I had either one in my bed," Jack told them with a wriggle of his eyebrows and Cedric rolled his eyes.
"And keep dreaming guys," Cedric informed them and they looked at him. "Hermione is Harry's and you know it. Mia will probably kick both your asses if you go near her."
"We know," Jack informed him with a grin. "But we can still dream." Cedric just rolled his eyes as he turned back to the window.
"So, what is going on with you and Cedric?" Ron asked, curious about witnessing Mia's first indication of flirting with a guy. Mia glanced at him before sighing.
"Oh come on! Not you too!" Mia whined but Ron just held firm. He wanted answers. Mia rolled her eyes after a brief pause. "God, he's just a friend."
"A friend?" Harry jumped in. "Mia, you were holding hands with him when you arrived at the portkey spot and you were flirting with him."
"Okay!" Mia exclaimed as she threw her hands up in surrender before taking a deep breath. "God, Cedric and I are just flirting partners - we flirt every now and then. It's not such a big deal."
"Mia…" Ron started but Mia jumped in.
"I'm not gonna run off, elope with him and have babies - I'm just having fun! When Voldemort comes back, I hardly think I'm gonna have a lot of time for relationships, remember?" Mia asked and both boys backed down.
Harry understood where Mia was coming from and nodded in resignation while Ron just sighed and ran a hand through his red locks.
"Look, we're just being protective of you - that's our job. You're protective of us, and we're protective of you," Ron told her and Mia smiled as she squeezed Ron's arm.
"And I love you guys for it but could you just lay off my love life please - I don't bug you about yours," Mia reminded.
"No, you just bet on ours," Harry informed her and Mia chuckled in amusement while Hermione just smiled at the gang, obviously amused.
"Wanna jump in here any time soon?" Mia asked and Hermione laughed.
"Nah, I'm having too much fun just watching you guys," Hermione assured them as Crookshanks jumped up onto her lap and curled himself up into a ball. Hermione ran her hand through his fur as they all talked about the Quidditch match and what they could expect next about the new DADA teacher.
"Who do you think it'll be?" Ron asked and Harry shrugged.
"Uncle Lupin wasn't sure who it would be. Apparently Dumbledore has been keeping his mouth shut on the topic but there is something he did hear," Harry told them and Ron leaned in, interested. "A new kid is arriving at school - apparently McGonagall threw a fit about having a new kid come in with all the troubles that have been happening and she doesn't want to tempt fate."
"Lovely, does anyone know who the new kid is or where he's from?" Ron asked and Mia shook her head.
"Nope, all we know is that it's a he," Mia told him and Ron nodded in understanding.
"Great, what about the Death Eaters - any more news on that?" Ron asked and Hermione shook her head negatively.
"No, the Ministry has nothing more to go on - despite all the dead bodies that were found," Hermione informed him, a bit annoyed.
"How do you mean?" Ron asked. He rarely read the Daily Prophet because it didn't really talk about Quidditch anymore, so there wasn't a lot of interest for him there.
"The Minister said that the death eaters who were killed the were the same ones who claimed they were under the Imperious Curse - they believe that it had happened again and they were victims of a mindless accident," Mia mocked out. "Sooner or later, maybe the Ministry will realize that the Imperious Curse wears off because the mind slowly builds a resistance to it. Of course they were liars, but the Ministry is blind - as usual."
"You can hardly blame them," Harry told her and Mia shrugged.
"I can if I want - it's because of them Voldemort was allowed to rise in the first place. If they actually would take responsibility these days, none of this would be happening," Mia reminded Harry, who just sighed. He knew Mia was right but the world didn't see it that way.
"With you on the war path - they'll have to accept it sooner or later," Ron informed her with a cheeky grin only to get an eye roll in return as they all settled back and relaxed on the rest of the ride to Hogwarts.
After pulling into the station, they made their way into the Great Hall and settled down to watch the first years get sorted. After the normal procession without any real surprises, they turned to face Dumbledore as he stood to address the students.
"We have a new student joining us today," Dumbledore announced and they all turned to face the door to see a tall dark haired male step into the room. A majority of the girls sighed when they saw him.
He wore a plain black robe. His dark hair was spiked up; giving the air of a devil may care attitude.
"He's hot!" Lavender stated to Mia while keeping an eye on the new kid before she cupped her chin and rested her elbow on the table. "Wonder how he'd be in bed."
"Lav!?" Mia scolded before shooting her a teasing grin. "Shouldn't you at least go with kissing first?" Lavender just grinned back.
"Everyone, this is Hunter Wolf," Dumbledore introduced.
"Hunter, hm?" Parvati stated with a lick of her lips. "I sure wouldn't mind being the prey of that predator."
"God!" Mia rolled her eyes at the blatant lust from the girls before she eyed the boy and frowned slightly. There was something about this new guy that had her on edge - she had a feeling that she had met him before but couldn't place where.
The boy sat down on the stool to be sorted before McGonagall walked over to him and placed the hat on his head. The hat mulled over its decision before finally settling on one.
"Slytherin!" the hat shouted. The girls over second year cheered as Hunter made his way over to their table while Lavender fanned herself.
"A hot guy in Slytherin - that means he's one bad boy," Lavender informed them causing Hermione to choke on her drink, giggling.
"Sorry," Hermione told them when she calmed down before turning her face away from Harry and concentrated on Dumbledore as he stood up once more.
"Now that everyone has been sorted, a few more announcements. We have a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher but he had been delayed and is not yet here," Dumbledore informed them. "And I have news - Quidditch has been cancelled because something else will be taking its place this year."
There was uproar from all the Quidditch teams but Dumbledore raised his hands, silencing them. "Everything will be revealed in time; please calm down." Once the general murmur had died down, Dumbledore continued. "Hogwarts will be hosting a great event. Visitors will be coming to Hogwarts, so I trust that its students will be on their best behaviour."
He scanned his eyes over the children before clapping his hands and giving them a bright smile. "With that said, I have just a few other things to mention. Mr. Filch has added more things to 'Not Allowed' rules, so please take care and read about them on the list on his door. The Forbidden Forest, as always, is out of bounds. Now - Dinner!"
The food appeared on the tables and everyone leapt into action as they filled their plates.
"So, who do you think the DADA teacher is and why are they so late?" Fred asked as he leaned in to grab a roll.
"I suppose we'll find out soon," Hermione told them only for everyone to jump when lightening crashed outside right next to the school.
"That was way too close," Mia told them as she eyed the window. "Guess something major is going to happen."
The Great Hall doors slammed open, causing the first years to scream and the older ones to jump again as their heads spun around to face the intruder.
The figure was very disfigured. The face was gnarly and wrinkled; obviously the person had been through a quite of a lot battles. He was walking on a peg leg and he had an eye patch over his forehead.
He made his way through the Great Hall with everyone staring at him. Dumbledore stood up with a proud smile clear on his face as the intruder moved closer to him.
"Alastor Moody?" The Twins, Ron, Harry and Mia whispered together at the same time, shocked.
"Alastor Moody?" Hermione asked, confused and Harry turned to her.
"He used to work at the Ministry - I'm pretty sure that he still does in secret - and he made a living out of catching wizards who used the dark arts. He was a major fighter in the first war with Voldemort. Officially he's retired from the Ministry and he's absolutely paranoid - convinced that the dark arts were growing bigger and all that," Harry explained. Hermione looked at the man, who was now shaking hands with Dumbledore.
"I wonder how Dumbledore convinced him to come up to Hogwarts to teach," Hermione murmured.
Dumbledore turned back to the students.
"Students - I would like to introduce you to your new Defence Against The Dark Arts teacher - Alastor Moody!" Dumbledore introduced him and everyone hesitantly clapped for the new teacher while Moody took a sip from his silver flask.
"What do you suppose he's drinking?" Seamus asked as he leaned into Harry, who shook his head.
"I doubt its pumpkin juice," Harry remarked and everyone turned back to their dinner as Parvati leaned over this time.
"So, Mia, how hot do you think the new boy is?" she asked Mia, who looked at her before looking at Hunter and shrugging.
"Seems alright to me," Mia informed her. Lavender's jaw dropped at Mia's obvious brush off.
"Oh come on! That boy is fine," Lavender informed Mia as she looked at Hunter, who was talking to one of his new housemates. "Damn, I wouldn't kick him out of bed."
"Lav," Mia started but Lavender just cupped Mia's chin and forced her to look at Hunter.
"Are you telling me that he's not at least a little bit hot on your radar?" Lavender demanded.
Mia sighed as she again looked toward Hunter and eyed him. She had to admit that Lavender and Parvati were right. The guy was hot - with the spiked hair and the grin he shot at his house mate along with a relaxed and confident attitude and the dark brown eyes - there was no girl that wouldn't fall for him.
"Lav," Mia started as she pulled her chin away from Lavender's grip. "Yes, I admit the guy is hot but come on - that is a classic case of a bad boy, and I'm not interested in bad boys because all they want is one thing. And once they get it they lose interest and move on to someone else."
"So?" Parvati demanded, not getting what Mia was getting worked up about and Mia rolled her eyes.
"So, I'd rather not waste my time with men who obviously are only interested in me for one thing when I could have a relationship with someone who actually wants me for me," Mia informed the girls.
"Oh come on - you don't need to give them what they want, just string them along while having fun," Parvati told her and Mia snorted.
"Sorry honey - they always get what they want. They know how to seduce you easily and then you're on your back and they've taken it before you even realise it," Mia informed them, causing everyone to look at her.
"And just how do you know that?" Harry asked dangerously and Mia rolled her eyes.
"I've seen it happen way too many times," Mia informed her brother. "Don't worry, it has never happened to me and it's not going to happen to me."
"Okay," Harry told her, pleased, and turned back to his food. Hermione on the other hand, kept a close eye on Mia - there was something going on with Mia and the new guy, despite the fact that he had just arrived today. She needed to find out what was going on with her best friend.
"Looks like this year is going to be interesting after all," Ron stated and everyone snorted into their food while Hermione and Mia rolled their eyes. They shook their heads and shared amused smiles.
Soon dinner was over and the perfects were taking the first years up to their common rooms. Harry, Hermione, Mia and Ron were walking at a lazy pace, just enjoying their first night back.
"How do you think the year will end?" Ron asked curiously and Mia shrugged.
"Well, Moody will leave - definitely, the way things have been going, as there's no reason for the DADA curse to end," Mia told him.
"Let's just hope that nothing dangerous will happen this time and we can get through the year just fine," Harry told them.
"Bed time guys," Percy informed them as he walked up behind them but Mia stopped.
"Hey, I need to have a talk with you mister," Mia informed him. Percy just looked at her before walking away and putting some speed in to his steps. "Oh, you're not getting away from me that that easily!" Mia called after him and started to chase after him.
"Does anyone want to tell me why Mia is chasing after Percy?" Ron asked and Hermione grinned as she looked at Ron.
"She's fed up with Percy being secretive and watching us, so she decided that she'll get his take on everything that's happening. But Percy has told us that he needed more time to gather more evidence. You know Mia, though - she's like a bulldog clinging onto a bone," Hermione told Ron, who snickered at her description of Mia.
They reached the portrait and Seamus hid behind Harry. Harry turned his head in confusion and Seamus rolled his eyes.
"I don't want her to start singing again," Seamus told him and Harry smirked, rolling his eyes in amusement as he turned back to the front and once again faced the Fat Lady.
"Password?" The Fat Lady asked.
"Balderdash," Harry informed her and she smiled.
"Correct," she informed him before opening the passageway and everyone walked in and started to head up to their beds.
"Do you think Mia will get back in time?" Ron asked curiously and Hermione grinned.
"It depends on how long she'll be chasing Percy for and how long it will take her to get the information," Hermione informed him before she turned to the first years. "First years," the first years turned to her. "If the girls will follow me and the boys follow Harry, we'll take you up to your dorm rooms."
"How long do you think it'll take for Mia to break Percy?" Ron asked Harry, who shrugged.
"It depends on how tough your brother will be - if he is determined to get more evidence first, she might not be able to break him but if she presses his buttons enough, he'll crumble," Harry told him, thinking back to all the times Mia could wrap him, Draco and the family around her pinkie when she wanted something.
"Boys," Hermione cut in and they looked at her. "Can you take the first year boys up to their room, please? And do keep the noise down!" she pinned them a glare before leading the girls up the stairs while Ron and Harry lead the boys away.
"So, are you still sure you want to date her?" Ron asked Harry, who just shot him a smirk.
"Why not?" Harry asked. "She's more than enough woman for me." Ron coughed out what sounded like 'Whipped' to the younger boys, causing them to giggle as the elder boys brought them to their dormitory and opened the door and allowed them to go in.
"If you have any problems, just ask one of us - don't worry if you have a nightmare or feel a little homesick. Someone will be downstairs if you want to talk," Harry assured them and the boys nodded before Harry closed the door, leaving them alone.
Harry and Ron made their way up to their own room and they grinned when they saw the rest of the boys were already in the room, bouncing about.
"Oi, guys!" Ron called out and they looked at him. "Let's not make too much noise this time. I still haven't gotten over the curse that Hermione used on us last year!"
All the boys shuddered as they remembered that. Hermione had cast a spell on them that gave them a hangover the next morning and got all the girls to make as much noise as they could just to prolong the boys' agony even more.
Harry grinned as he watched everyone settle down before grabbing his pyjamas and settled in his bed as he watched the others exchange stories of what they had done over the summer.
Harry couldn't help the sense of peace that washed over his body. He was home again.
TBC