𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗬

ACT ONE, CHAPTER FIVE
more detentions, a lot of homework,
trips to the owlery, ron's idiot brother,
and . . . sirius black?

TRIGGER WARNING: blood

IF VENUS THOUGHT the first detention was bad, she was in no way prepared for the second.

Her hand had already bled the first time, so it was only natural that it bled even more when she kept writing blood traitor on the piece of parchment. Not to mention the mountains of homework she had to do on top of the detentions. Barely even two days at Hogwarts and she already wanted to (kind of) go back to Ilvermorny. How tragic.

Deep scars of those two words were left on the back of her hand. It got even worse at their third detention. After two hours, Venus could feel herself getting dizzy. Black spots were entering her vision and she had to keep blinking in order to keep herself awake. However, never would she let Umbridge know. Not in a million years.

"Ah," Umbridge said softly, moving around her desk to examine their hands once she heard a pause in the pointed quill's scratching. "Good. That ought to serve as a reminder to you, oughtn't it? You may leave for tonight."

"Do we still have to come back tomorrow?" Harry asked while grabbing his school bag.

Venus stood up as well, her bag in her right hand. More black spots suddenly entered her vision and she pressed her hands down onto the desk to stabilize herself, almost hissing in pain as the bleeding cuts on her hand stung. She let out a deep breath and looked up to see Umbridge smiling widely at her while Harry was staring at her in concern with his pretty green eyes.

"Oh yes," Umbridge replied. "Yes, I think we can etch the message a little deeper with another evening's work."

Venus didn't know how much deeper the message could possibly go, but nevertheless, she kept her mouth shut and left the room with Harry. She looked down at her hand as they climbed the stairs, her mind spinning. Dried blood along with fresh blood was all over her hand. That just made her mind spin even more. How could Umbridge possibly think this was okay?

She stumbled out of nowhere on the last step, onto the seventh floor where the Gryffindor Tower was. Venus felt Harry wrap an arm around her waist to catch her. In other times her face would've felt very very hot, but right now, she was too dizzy to care.

"You all right, Star?" Harry questioned.

Venus straightened up. "Just a little dizzy, is all. Too much bleeding for two hours."

His eyes darkened. "Let's get you back to the common room."

He kept his arm around her so she wouldn't stumble again as they turned right. However, Harry suddenly stopped, making Venus do so as well.

"Ron?"

Venus looked up. Sure enough, Ron was lurking behind a statue of someone while clutching a broomstick in his hand. He leaped in surprise at the sight of them and tried to hide his broomstick behind his back.

"What are you doing?" Harry inquired.

"Er — nothing. What are you doing?" His eyes then set on Venus. "Woah, V, you all right?"

"Little dizzy," Venus answered. "But don't turn this on me. Uh, why exactly are you hiding here?"

"I'm — I'm hiding from Fred and George, if you must know. They just went past with a bunch of first years, I bet they're testing stuff on them again, I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, can they, not with Hermione there."

Venus' eyebrows knit in thought. He was talking very fast, almost as if he were nervous.

"But what have you got your broom for, you haven't been flying, have you?" Harry urged.

"I — well — well, okay, I'll tell you, but don't laugh, all right?" Ron demanded defensively, turning as red as his hair by the second. "I — I thought I'd tryout for Gryffindor Keeper now I've got a decent broom. There. Go on. Laugh."

"I'm not laughing," Venus responded. She looked over at Harry, though his face was covered by some black spots due to her vision. "Are you?"

Harry shook his head. "It's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play Keeper, are you good?"

"I'm not bad," Ron admitted. "Charlie, Fred, and George always made me Keep for them when they were training during the holidays."

"So you've been practicing tonight?"

"Every evening since Tuesday . . . just on my own, though, I've been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much use it'll be." Ron still looked nervous and anxious. "Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a Prefect."

"I wish I was going to be there," Harry stated bitterly. "But come on, let's get Venus back to the common room."

"Why is she so dizzy, anyways?" Ron asked, but then his eyes trailed down to her left hand that she was trying to conceal underneath the sleeve of her robe. "Venus, what's that on the back of your hand?"

He didn't give her a chance to respond. Ron took her forearm gently and brought the back of her bloody hand up to level with his eyes. There was a pause before he released her and grabbed Harry's hand too. He did the exact same thing before letting go of Harry.

Ron looked positively sick. "I thought you said she was giving you lines?"

Harry hesitated before ultimately telling Ron everything about what Umbridge was doing to them in detention.

"The old hag!" Ron whispered in revolt as they stopped in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady, who was dozing peacefully with her head leaning against her frame. "She's sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!"

"No," Harry refused, tightening his hold on Venus. "I'm not giving her the satisfaction of knowing she's got to me. I can assure you Venus isn't, either."

"Got to you? You can't let her get away with this!"

"I don't know how much power McGonagall's got over her."

"Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!"

"No," Harry voiced flatly.

"Why not?" Ron questioned.

"He's got enough on his mind."

"Well, I reckon you should—"

"Are you going to give me the password or will I have to stay awake all night waiting for you to finish your conversation?" the Fat Lady interrupted loudly, since she had been watching them sleepily.

The next day — after Venus had tried to heal her hand in the bathroom the previous night — seemed as daunting as the last. Venus didn't want to go to another detention. Frankly, she didn't know if she could take any more. Her hand had already bled enough. Judging by how dizzy she was last night, Venus was afraid she might pass out right in Umbridge's office. She definitely didn't want that to happen.

At five that evening, Venus and Harry entered Umbridge's office in hopes that this would be their last detention. The pieces of blank parchment with the pointed black quills beside them laid ready for them on the lace-covered table. Venus let out a deep breath. No. She could do this. She could get through it. She was strong.

"You know what to do, Mr. Potter and Miss Black," Umbridge said, smiling sweetly at them.

Venus picked up the quill. She could vaguely see Harry trying to peer out the window to try and watch the Gryffindor Keeper tryouts, but she focused on her task.

Blood traitor, she wrote.

The cut on her left hand instantly opened. Droplets of blood showed up.

Blood traitor.

The cut became deeper and deeper and began to sting. Venus tried to not clench her fist. That would only make it worse.

Blood traitor.

Blood trickled down her wrist and fell onto the parchment. Venus felt tears prick at the back of her eyes. She didn't want to do this anymore.

Blood traitor.

Blood traitor.

Blood traitor.

Her parchment was now shining with blood from her hand, which was searing with pain. Before she knew it, the dizziness came back. The room around her turned blurry and began to spin. Venus blinked to try and get herself grounded, but it was no use.

"Let's see if you've gotten the message yet, shall we?" Umbridge's soft voice began when it was very dark outside.

She moved towards them. Umbridge examined Venus' hand first, smiling sweetly at her dazed state. She then examined Harry's, but something must've happened, because he tore his arm out of her grip and jumped to his feet.

Umbridge's smile widened. "Yes, it hurts, doesn't it? Well, I think I've made my point, Mr. Potter and Miss Black. You may go."

"Venus," Harry said quietly, poking her shoulder. "Star, we have to go."

He took both of their bags for them and tugged her as gently as he could up from her chair. Black spots — once again — entered her vision. Harry was basically dragging her as he tried to sprint up the steps.

"Harry," Venus pleaded. "Harry, please, I can't go any further."

"Venus, this is only happening because you're letting her get to you—" Harry began.

"My hand is bleeding—"

"We have to get away from her—"

"I can barely see straight—"

"We're so close close to the common room—"

Tears of frustration pooled in her eyes. "Harry!"

The tone of her voice was enough to make him stop on the step he was on. He turned to look at her and instantly frowned. Her body was swaying back and forth like she was about to fall over. He could see her gaze was so far away, and most of all, the tears were shining in her eyes underneath the moonlight. God, he had been so selfish. He was only focused on getting away from Umbridge because she made his scar hurt that he didn't even to stop to think how Venus was doing, since she was already pretty bad yesterday . . .

"Merlin, Star, I'm sorry," he voiced quietly, stepping down to be on the same step she was. "It's okay, we can stop."

"I — I'm so tired," she breathed out, but she accidentally wiped away a tear that had managed to fall with the hand that was bloody, so blood was painted across her cheek. "Ilvermorny . . . Ilvermorny didn't have this—"

"Hogwarts isn't always like this," Harry reassured her. He reached up and gently wiped the blood away with his thumb, making her shiver even in her state. "Promise."

"I miss it," Venus admitted.

"Tell me about it," Harry encouraged, putting his arm around her again as he started to lead them up the stairs. "Tell me everything."

"It's in Massachusetts," Venus explained, noticing they were getting closer to Gryffindor Tower with every second. "State up north of the East coast of the U.S. Four Houses, like here — Horned Serpent, Thunderbird, Pukwudgie, and Wampus. I was in Thunderbird. We . . . we got sorted by getting chosen by one of the statues. A lot of our staff was actually Pukwudgies."

Suddenly, they were in front of the portrait of the Fat Lady. Venus let out a breath of relief and rubbed her eye with her palm to try and get some of her vision back.

"Let's get you inside, yeah?" Harry told her quietly. He looked back at the Fat Lady. "Mumbulus mimbletonia."

She nodded as the portrait swung open. Venus allowed Harry to lead them into the common room, a loud sound instantly greeting them. She closed her eyes shut. God, she had such a headache.

Ron ran towards them with a wide beam, spilling butterbeer down the front of him from the goblet he was holding. "Harry, Venus, I did it, I'm in, I'm Keeper!"

"What?" Harry inquired. "Oh — brilliant!"

"Same as last night?" Ron questioned, nodding his head over to Venus.

"Even worse," Harry responded. "I'm gonna take her upstairs — excuse me—"

They passed a sleeping Hermione in one of the armchairs by the fire. Hermione had told Venus that if any boys tried to get up to the girls' dormitories that the stairs would turn into a slide, but surprisingly, they didn't for Harry. Maybe it was because he was helping Venus. Who knows, but they made it up the stairs.

Venus kind of hated feeling this way — helpless and weak — but she also liked the feeling of Harry's arm around her and the way butterflies were rushing throughout her stomach. Not the time, Venus, she scolded herself as she manuevered them toward her door.

"Um . . . thanks," Venus told him. "Don't know what I would've done if you weren't there. Probably pass out on the stairs."

Harry shrugged. "Let's try not to do it again. These detentions were enough."

"Definitely." Venus glanced back down at her hand and winced. "I should probably go clean these up. Uh, goodnight, Harry."

He smiled. "Goodnight, Venus."

And as Venus went to go fix her hand, she wondered why the reason why she was dizzy now was because of the blood or because of Harry Potter.

╞════════ ༺ ༻ ════════╡

VENUS AWOKE EARLY the next morning. The rest of her dormitory was sleeping — it was Saturday, after all. She was so glad it was the weekend. This first week had felt terribly long.

Quietly, she got ready. She decided to try and found the Owlery to send a letter back to her parents. Venus had already written it, but she had found no time to try and deliver it. Now was the perfect time.

Once she was ready, she descended down the steps into the common room. The rising sun outside was giving the Gryffindor common room a bright glow. She grinned slightly at it — despite yesterday, after admitting she missed Ilvermorny terribly — before she noticed Harry sitting in one of the armchairs by the fire.

"Oh, good morning, Harry," Venus greeted, her face very hot as she remembered the way his arm was around her yesterday.

"Good morning," Harry commented, standing up from the chair. "You're up early."

"I can say the same for you." She held up her letter. "I'm just off the Owlery to send a letter . . . you know, if I actually find it."

"I'm actually going there, too," Harry revealed. "Come on, I'll show you where it is."

They climbed out of the portrait hole in the direction that Venus could only presume was the Owlery.

"I would not go that way if I were you," Nick, the ghost with his head almost completely severed, told them as he drifted through a wall. "Peeves is planning an amusing joke on the next person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor."

"Peeves?" Venus questioned for clarification.

"Our Poltergeist," Harry explained. He looked back to Nick. "Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the person's head?"

"Funnily enough, it does," Nick replied in a bored tone. "Subtlety has never been Peeves' strong point. I'm off to try and find the Bloody Baron . . . he might be able to put a stop to it . . . see you, Harry . . . bye, Venus . . ."

"Yeah, bye," Harry said, nudging Venus towards the left.

Venus waved at Nick before following Harry to the left.

"Who's the Bloody Baron?" Venus inquired.

"Slytherin House ghost," Harry elaborated. "Can't believe you haven't met Peeves, yet — well, it'll be better if you meet him when you're not getting pranked."

"I see." Something then brushed against her ankles, and she saw a very skeletal gray cat slink past her. "Oh, somebody's cat got loose."

"That's Mrs. Norris. She's Filch's cat. He's our caretaker." Mrs. Norris turned lamp-like yellow eyes upon them before disappearing behind a statue. "We're not doing anything wrong."

Harry and Venus walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way. They walked up to the Owlery, which was a very tall circular tower. It had no windows, just openings in the wall — so owls could come and go, duh — and had multiple rafters where the owls could stay. Animal bones littered the straw-covered ground. Venus looked around at all of the owls.

"There you are," Harry announced suddenly. "Get down here, I've got a letter for you."

A gorgeous snowy owl soared down from the ceiling and landed on Harry's shoulder. Venus recalled a name that Hermione told her — Hedwig? Pretty name for an owl. Venus herself searched for Aria as Harry instructed Hedwig where to take his letter. She finally found her in one of the rafters and held out her arm.

"Aria," Venus called. The owl let out a hoot before flying over and landing on her arm. "This is for mom and dad. You know where they are?" She let out another hoot. "All right. Be careful flying."

Her owl then pressed off of her arm and flew out of the window. Venus smiled at Aria and crossed her arms, joining Harry at the window. He looked over at her, grinning and his cheeks flushing red at the way the golden morning glow was making her look so majestic.

"Beautiful day," Venus stated. "Bet you're excited for Quidditch later."

Harry snapped out of his trance at the mention of Quidditch. "Did they have Quidditch at Ilvermorny?"

"Oh, yeah. You'd catch me in the stands all the time."

The Owlery door then opened behind them. Venus and Harry turned to see Penelope Lestrange standing there, holding a package with a letter tied to it in her hands.

"Oh, hey, Potter," Penelope greeted. She nodded to Venus. "Black."

"Good morning, Penelope," Venus replied.

"Didn't think anyone would be up here this early," Penelope revealed, walking further into the Owlery. "I wanted to get up here before I could hear Pansy shriek over something Draco said or yell at me again. She's been acting extra bitchy lately, not sure why . . ."

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Isn't Parkinson, like, obsessed with Malfoy?"

"More like a deep infatuation." She looked around the room before her eyes settled on an owl. "Annabeth, come." The owl flew down and extended its leg, clearly noticing her package. "This is for Nymphadora — just some Hogwarts treats she wanted me to get her. Have a safe flight."

Her owl took off through the window. They all watched her for a moment.

"So, I heard Gryffindor Keeper tryouts were yesterday," Penelope continued. "You know, with Wood gone, it was probably hard for Johnson to replace him."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but Ron got it."

"Weasley?" Penelope repeated. "Good for him. Tell him I say congratulations the next time you see him, will you?"

"Will do, Lestrange. I just wish I had gotten to see his tryout. Venus and I were in detention with Umbridge."

Penelope made a noise of disgust. "That woman seems like such a bitch. She seems to favor Slytherins because she probably was one herself, but the fact that they put both of you in detention for speaking the truth?" She scoffed. "Like, come on."

"Hey, you stood up to her, too," Venus insisted. "That was brave of you, Penelope."

"Thanks, Black. I was also just speaking the truth. It's seriously only a matter of time until my mother somehow manages to break out of Azkaban, and a theory isn't going to be very beneficial when that happens."

Suddenly, the Owlery door opened again. An old man with hunched shoulders, a pasty and pouchy face, pale and bulging eyes, sunken and veined cheeks, and gray crazy hair came barging into the room. Venus blinked in surprise as she watched him wheeze. It was obvious he had just run here. Mrs. Norris — the cat from earlier — then came in trotting at his heels. Venus connected the dots for once. This was Filch.

"Aha!" Filch shouted, taking a step towards Harry. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!"

Harry crossed his arms. "Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?"

"I have my sources. Now hand over whatever it is you're sending."

"I can't, it's gone."

"Gone?"

"Gone," Harry echoed calmly.

Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a couple of seconds, and then settled his eyes on Harry's robes. "How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?"

"Because—"

"Venus and I both saw him send it," Penelope cut in.

Filch glanced in between Venus and Penelope. "You saw him—?"

Venus gestured to Penelope. "That's what she just said."

There was a moment where Filch glared at both Venus and Penelope. Both of them sent harsh glares back. Filch then shuffled back towards the door and put his hand on the doorknob.

Filch glanced back at Harry. "If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb . . ."

He stalked off down the stairs. Mrs. Norris gave one last longing to the owls and followed after him.

"Thanks," Harry stated.

"Don't worry about it," Penelope replied. "I deal with so much bullshit on the daily that he's not a problem."

Venus looked over at Harry. "Were those Dungbombs in that envelope you had?"

Harry smirked at her, making infuriating butterflies erupt in her stomach. "Me? Never."

He pushed himself off the wall and walked out of the Owlery. Venus scoffed and shook her head, a ghost of a smile on her face as she trailed after him, Penelope coming as well.

"So, Black, how are you liking Hogwarts so far?" Penelope inquired as they walked through the corridors.

Venus shrugged. "It's all right. I mean, it's a big change from Ilvermorny."

"I bet. America to Britain must be quite the jump."

"It is. Half of the time, I don't even know what anyone's talking about. Like, what is a prat?"

"We'll get you adjusted to here," Harry reassured her, all of them turning into the entrance hall that Venus recognized as the place where the Great Hall was. "Just promise me you won't lose your American smile."

Venus smiled. "Oh, that will never change."

The three of them entered the Great Hall. Penelope instantly got called to the Slytherin table by Draco Malfoy — her responding with holy shit, can't you leave me alone for once — while Venus and Harry sat down with Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table. Venus didn't see Charlotte and Elijah yet, but she assumed they were somewhere in the castle.

"Morning," Harry told Ron and Hermione. "Oh, Ron, Lestrange says congratulations on getting Keeper."

Ron's face turned red. "Really?" He glanced back at the Slytherin table for a moment before looking back to them, his face even more red if that was possible. "Oh, uh, she's pretty . . . nice." He cleared his throat. "Pretty nice."

"Oh, yeah?" Venus teased.

"Shut up, Venus." He then turned his attention to Harry. "Listen . . . you don't fancy going out a bit earlier with me, do you? Just to — er — give me some practice before training? So I can, you know, get my eye in a bit . . ."

"Yeah, okay," Harry agreed.

"Look, I don't think you should, you're both really behind on homework as it—" Hermione began seriously.

However, she broke off. The morning post was now arriving. As usual, the screech owl holding a copy of the Daily Prophet in its beak was soaring towards her. It landed close to the sugar bowl and held out a leg. Hermione put a Knut into its leather pouch, took the newspaper, and scanned the front page critically as the owl took off again.

"Anything interesting?" Ron questioned.

Hermione sighed. "No, just some guff about the bass player in the Weird Sisters getting married . . ." She opened the paper and disappeared behind it. However, she spoke up just a few seconds later. "Wait a moment. Oh no . . . Sirius!"

"What's happened?" Harry demanded.

He snatched the paper so violently that he ripped it down the middle. Him and Hermione were both holding half of the newspaper.

"Sirius?" Venus repeated. "You mean, like, Sirius Black? The murderer?"

"He's not a murderer!" Harry snapped.

"Harry!" Hermione scolded as Venus recoiled. "She's only moved here a month ago — she doesn't know anything—"

"Then why'd you say his name?"

"I wasn't thinking—"

"I'm still right here," Venus spoke up.

"Not right now," the two of them chorused, turning back to each other to presumably bicker.

Ron rolled his eyes and leaned forwards to get closer to Venus, lowering his voice. "Sirius Black is innocent, he's Harry's godfather, there's an organization formed to fight against You-Know-Who, and headquarters is at the house he's hiding out at."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Ron!"

"What? We can trust her. Plus, her last name is Black. Doesn't that mean she's kind of related to him? And she's a lot like him. Venus is one of the good guys, Hermione. I'm not worried about her."

"Fine," Hermione stated before looking back to her newspaper. "Anyways . . . The Ministry of Magic has received a tip-off from a reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass murderer . . . blah blah blah . . . is currently hiding in London!"

"Lucius Malfoy, I'll bet anything," Harry voiced furiously. "He did recognize Sirius on the platform . . ."

"What?" Ron inquired, clearly alarmed. "You didn't say—"

"Shh!" Harry and Hermione scolded.

Venus blinked. "I am so lost."

". . . Ministry warns Wizarding community that Black is very dangerous . . . killed thirteen people . . . broke out of Azkaban . . . the usual rubbish," Hermione concluded, laying down her half of the paper and looking fearfully at Venus, Ron, and Harry. "Well, he just won't be able to leave the house again, that's all. Dumbledore did warn him not to."

Harry suddenly flattened his half of the newspaper, which was showing a sale advertisement for Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. "Hey! Look at this!"

"I've got all the robes I want," Ron told him.

"No, look . . . this little piece here . . ."

Venus — still very confused — bent closer to read it with Ron and Hermione. The piece was barely an inch long and placed at the bottom of a column.

TRESSPASS AT MINISTRY
Sturgis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum
Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the
Wizengamot charged with trespass and attempted
robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31st August.
Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watch-
wizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to
force his way through a top-security door at one
o'clock in the morning. Podmore, who refused to
speak in his own defense, was convicted on both
charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban.

"Sturgis Podmore?" Ron read slowly. "But he's that bloke who looks like his head's been thatched, isn't he? He's one of the Ord—"

"Ron, shh!" Hermione exclaimed, looking terrified as she glanced around them.

"Six months in Azkaban!" Harry whispered in shock. "Just for trying to get through a door!"

Venus tilted her head. "But why was he at the Ministry at one in the morning? Maybe mom and dad know something about it . . ."

"D'you reckon he was doing something for the Order?" Ron muttered.

"Wait a moment . . ." Harry trailed off. "Sturgis was supposed to come and see us off, remember?"

Venus looked at him in confusion. "Okay, y'all have to explain this to me because this is too much right now."

They ignored her.

"Yeah, he was supposed to be part of our guard going to King's Cross, remember?" Harry continued. "And Moody was all annoyed because he didn't turn up, so that doesn't seem like he was supposed to be on a job for them, does it?"

"Well, maybe they didn't expect him to get caught," Hermione responded.

"It could be a frame-up!" Ron revealed excitedly. "No — listen! The Ministry suspects he's one of Dumbledore's lot so — I dunno — they lured him to the Ministry, and he wasn't trying to get through a door at all! Maybe they've just made something up to get him!"

"Do you know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were true," Hermione admitted, meanwhile Harry looked doubtful and Venus was just racking her brain to try and connect the dots. She folded up her half of the newspaper thoughtfully. "Right, well, I think we should tackle that essay for Sprout on Self-Fertilizing Shrubs first, and if we're lucky we'll be able to start McGonagall's Inanimatus Conjurus before lunch . . ."

It was honestly dreadful thinking about the amount of homework they had to do. However, Hermione and Venus — stopping to say hi to Charlotte and Elijah in the hallway separate times, who both admitted they had homework to do as well — managed to get most of their homework done during the morning and a little bit after lunch. Hermione thankfully helped Venus a little due to her detentions causing a halt in her homework schedule. She had also explained a little to Venus about Sirius and the Order of the Phoenix — which Venus could've sworn her parents were a part of, they had mentioned something to each other called the Order this summer . . .

Finally, a little while later, Ron and Harry climbed back through the portrait hole as Venus and Hermione sat down by the fire. Venus felt her face turn hot at the sight of Harry in part of his Quidditch uniform — No, Venus, she scolded herself. Not right now.

"How was practice?" Hermione asked.

"It was—" Harry began.

"Completely lousy," Ron finished in a hollow voice, sinking down into the chair beside Hermione while Harry sat on the arm of the chair Venus was using.

"Well, it was only your first one," Hermione reassured him. "It's bound to take time to—"

"Who said it was me who made it lousy?"

"No one, I thought—"

"You thought I was bound to be rubbish?"

"No, of course I didn't! Look, you said it was lousy so I just—"

"I'm going to get started on some homework."

Ron angrily stomped off to the staircase to the boys' dormitories and completely vanished from sight. Venus frowned.

Venus looked up at Harry. "What happened out there?"

"The Slytherins," Harry answered. "They were making fun of him. Penelope tried to stop them, which I'm sure he appreciated, but . . . I suppose he could've played better, but it was only the first training session, like Hermione said . . ."

Sunday was an even better day. Venus had a picnic by the Black Lake with Charlotte and Elijah since they were all finished with their homework — thank God. It was a little hard to try and coax Elijah from the Ravenclaw Tower, but knowing Scotland, it would just be rainy and gray again for a while. So they sat underneath the sunshine and enjoyed their weekend before classes would ultimately start up again the next day.

Finally, when it started to get a little dark, Venus went back to Gryffindor Tower. She sat down and had a very animated conversation with Hermione and Ginny while Harry and Ron continued their homework at the chairs by the fire. It was about eleven thirty when Ginny said she was going to bed, so Venus and Hermione made their way to the two boys.

Hermione yawned. "Nearly done?"

"No," Ron stated shortly as Venus sat down on the arm of the chair Harry was sitting in, making him grin up at her.

"Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto," Hermione corrected, pointing at a line in Ron's astronomy essay over his shoulder. "And it's Io that's got the volcanoes."

"Thanks," Ron snarled, scratching out the sentences.

"Sorry, I only—"

"Yeah, well, if you've just come over here to criticize—"

"Ron—"

"I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Hermione, I'm up to my neck in it here—"

"No — look!" Hermione was pointing to the nearest window. Venus followed to see a handsome screech owl standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room at Ron. "Isn't that Hermes?"

"Hermes?" Venus questioned.

"Ron's brother's owl," Harry told her quietly. "Percy, well . . . he kind of left the Weasley family because he found the Ministry was more important."

"Gross."

"Yeah, tell me about it."

"Blimey, it is!" Ron exclaimed, throwing his quill down and standing up. "What's Percy writing to me for?"

He walked to the window and opened it. Hermes the owl flew inside, landed on Ron's essay, and held out a leg which had a letter attached to it. Ron took the letter and Hermes left, leaving inky footprints on Ron's drawing of a moon.

"That's definitely Percy's handwriting," Ron confirmed. He sunk back into his chair and stared on the words outside of the scroll — To Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor House, Hogwarts. Ron looked up at the the other three. "What d'you reckon?"

Venus raised her hands in surrender. "Do not ask me. I don't even know what's going on most of the time."

"Open it!" Hermione encouraged, Harry nodding in agreement.

Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. However, he scowled more and more as he continued to read. He looked absolutely disgusted when he had finished reading. Ron thrust the letter to Harry, and Venus and Hermione peered over his shoulders to read.

Dear Ron,
     I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister of Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts Prefect.
I was most pleasantly surprised when I heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the "Fred and George" route, rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.
     But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully you will be able to read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions.
     From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a Prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternization with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this — no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favorite — but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different — and probably more accurate — view of Potter's behavior. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing — and see if you can spot yours truly!
Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school too. As you must be aware, given that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got off on a mere technicality if you ask me and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt.
     It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter — I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent — but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behavior that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a really delightful woman, who I know will be only too happy to advise you.
     This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that so far Professor Umbridge is encountering very little cooperation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week — again, see the Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this — a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now may be very well placed for Head Boyship in a couple of years!
I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticize our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore (if you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders). I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people — the Minister really could not be more gracious to me — and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realize how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.
     Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming Prefect.
     Your brother,
                                 Percy

Venus raised an eyebrow at it. Dolores Umbridge, a delightful woman? Yeah, so delightful she decided to cut Venus' hand open and make her bleed for standing up for something she believed in.

Harry looked up at Ron. "Well, if you want to — er — what is it?" He glanced down at Percy's letter. "Oh yeah — sever ties with me, I swear I won't get violent."

"Give it back," Ron ordered, and Harry obliged. "He is—" he tore the letter in half "—the world's—" he tore it into quarters "—biggest—" he tore it into eighths "—git."

Venus nodded while he threw the pieces in the fire. "Preach."

Ron then pulled his astronomy essay back towards him. "Come on, we've got to get this finished some time before dawn."

"Oh, give them here," Hermione urged.

"What?"

"Give them to me, I'll look through them and correct them."

Venus nudged Harry. "You can give me yours. I'll help, Hermione."

Harry sat up straighter. "You're for real?"

"Are you serious?" Ron inquired. "Ah, Hermione, Venus, you're lifesavers. What can I—?"

"What you can say is, We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again," Hermione voiced, her and Venus holding out their hands for the essays.

"Thanks a million, Star," Harry said weakly, handing her his essay and sinking back into his armchair while rubbing his eyes.

Venus sat down on the floor in front of Harry's chair and placed his essay onto the table. Her and Hermione opened their textbooks and began to correct any mistakes Harry or Ron had made. Overall, Harry's essay had been pretty good, but Venus was kind of tired now, considering it was well past midnight. It was only the four of them and Crookshanks in the common room and the only sound was the scratching of Venus and Hermione's quills.

"Okay, write that down," Hermione instructed to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet of her own writing back to Ron. "And then copy out this conclusion that I've written for you."

"Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met," Ron revealed weakly. "And if I'm ever rude to you again—"

"—I'll know you're back to normal."

Venus looked up from her parchment. "Harry, yours is fine except for the part at the end. Uh, you must've misheard something, because if Europa was covered in mice instead of ice, I would have a lot of questions."

Harry suddenly slid off his chair and landed on his knees beside Venus.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you that shocked that one of Jupiter's moons is icy, not micey?"

Harry shook his head. "I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire."

Venus blinked. "Oh?"

"Sirius's head?" Hermione repeated. "You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too — Sirius!"

She gasped as she gazed into the fire. Venus turned and her eyes widened. Sure enough, a head with a handsome yet tired face and long dark hair was sitting right in the fire.

"Does this happen often?" Venus questioned.

Nobody answered her.

"I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared," Sirius admitted. "I've been checking every hour."

"You've been popping into the fire every hour?" Harry asked, laughing slightly.

"Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear yet."

"But what if you'd been seen?" Hermione worried.

"Well, I think a girl — first year by the look of her — might've got a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry," Sirius said hastily since Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth. "I was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she just thought I was an oddly shaped log or something."

"But Sirius, this is taking an awful risk—"

"You sound like Molly. This was the only way I could come up with of answering Harry's letter without resorting to a code — and codes are breakable."

"Oh my God," Venus replied, turning to Harry. "That was the letter you were sending yesterday?"

Hermione stared at her. "You saw Harry send a letter to Sirius yesterday?"

"I didn't know it was to him!" Venus insisted. "Plus I had to send my own letter and then Penelope came and then Filch—"

"Wait," Sirius interrupted. "I'm sorry, who are you?"

Venus offered him a small smile. "Venus Black, Gryffindor, transfer student from Ilvermorny. Don't worry, I already know everything. Your secret's safe with me."

"Little Venus? Daughter of Mary and Atlas?" Venus nodded. "I remember when you were born. Well . . . uh, I'm glad you know I'm innocent."

"You didn't say you'd written to Sirius!" Hermione accused Harry once their conversation stopped.

"I forgot," Harry responded. "Don't look at me like that, Hermione, there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?"

Sirius smiled. "No, it was very good. Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed — your scar."

"What about—?" Ron began.

"We'll tell you afterward, go on, Sirius," Hermione interjected.

"Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts, but we don't think it's anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?" Sirius questioned.

"Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion," Harry answered. "So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention."

"Well, now he's back it's bound to hurt more often."

"So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with her?"

"Oh, so that's why you were so freaked out," Venus noticed. "Your scar hurt."

Harry nodded. "Voldemort and I are connected in a way. It just hurt really bad when Umbridge touched me that last night."

"I doubt it," Sirius replied. "I know her by reputation and I'm sure she's no Death Eater—"

"She's foul enough to be one."

"Yes, but the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters. I know she's a nasty piece of work, though — you should hear Remus talk about her."

"Does Lupin know her?" Harry inquired quickly.

"No, but she drafted a bit of anti-Werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for him to get a job," Sirius explained.

Venus frowned. "Why is she so against Werewolves? Also, who's this Remus Lupin guy?"

"One of my best friends and their old Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Also happens to be a Werewolf. But Umbridge . . . she's scared of them, I expect. Apparently she loathes part-humans; she campaigned to have Merpeople rounded up and tagged last year too. Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting Merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose—"

"Sirius!" Hermione scolded.

Harry leaned closer to Venus before she could ask. "Sirius' really old prejudiced House-Elf."

"Honestly, if you made a bit of an effort with Kreacher I'm sure he'd respond, after all, you are the only member of his family he's got left, and Professor Dumbledore said—"

"So what are Umbridge's lessons like?" Sirius interjected. "Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?"

"No," Harry responded. "She's not letting us use magic at all!"

"All we do is read the stupid textbook," Ron added.

"Ah, well, that figures," Sirius stated. "Our information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat."

"Trained in combat?" Harry repeated incredulously. "What does he think we're doing here, forming some sort of wizard army?"

"That's exactly what he thinks you're doing, or rather, that's exactly what he's afraid Dumbledore's doing — forming his own private army, with which he will be able to take on the Ministry of Magic."

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, including all the stuff that Luna Lovegood comes out with," Ron admitted.

"Hey, leave her alone," Venus protested.

"So we're being prevented from learning Defense Against the Dark Arts because Fudge is scared we'll use spells against the Ministry?" Hermione concluded, looking very furious.

"Yep," Sirius replied. "Fudge thinks Dumbledore will stop at nothing to seize power. He's getting more paranoid about Dumbledore by the day. It's a matter of time before he has Dumbledore arrested on some trumped-up charge."

"D'you know if there's going to be anything about Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet tomorrow?" Harry questioned. "Only Ron's brother Percy reckons there will be—"

"I don't know, I haven't seen anyone from the Order all weekend, they're all busy. It's just been Kreacher and me here . . ."

"So you haven't had any news about Hagrid, either?"

"Ah . . . well, he was supposed to be back by now, no one's sure what's happened to him." Sirius then noticed their stricken faces, except Venus, who had never met Hagrid. "But Dumbledore's not worried, so don't you three get yourselves in a state; I'm sure Hagrid's fine."

"But if he was supposed to be back by now . . ." Hermione trailed off in a small voice.

"Madame Maxime was with him, we've been in touch with her and she says they got separated on the journey home — but there's nothing to suggest he's hurt or — well, nothing to suggest he's not perfectly okay."

Harry still looked worried. Venus placed her hand on his shoulder and gave it a comforting squeeze. He sent her a gracious smile.

"Listen, don't go asking too many questions about Hagrid, it'll just draw even more attention to the fact that he's not back, and I know Dumbledore doesn't want that," Sirius instructed. "Hagrid's tough, he'll be okay. When's your next Hogsmeade weekend anyway? I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn't we? I thought I could—"

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted together, making Venus jump.

"Sirius, didn't you see the Daily Prophet?" Hermione asked anxiously.

He grinned. "Oh that, they're always guessing where I am, they haven't really got a clue—"

"Yeah, but we think this time they have," Harry cut in. "Something Malfoy said on the train made us think he knew it was you, and his father was on the platform, Sirius — you know, Lucius Malfoy — so don't come up here, whatever you do, if Malfoy recognizes you again—"

"All right, all right, I've got the point." Sirius looked very displeased. "Just an idea, thought you might like to get together—"

"I would, I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban!" Harry insisted.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at Harry. "You're less like your father than I thought. The risk would've been what made it fun for James."

"Look—"

"Well, I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs. I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?"

There was a tiny pop, and the place where Sirius' head had been turned back into a flickering flame.

Ron was the first one to speak up. "That wasn't very fair, was it? Just thinking you're exactly like James? It's like people thinking Penelope is exactly like Bellatrix."

Nobody responded to him, but Venus smiled to herself. Ron Weasley liked Penelope Lestrange . . . man, who would've thought that would be possible?

» • » ✧ « • «

long chapter again oopsies

ANYWAYS hey happy thursday I leave for my annual beach vacation in two days <3

also I just submitted like five books to the watty's BYE