───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Blair was the first to wake up the next morning. She gently removed her arms from Hermione and smiled at the thought that it was Saturday. She dressed up and went out of the dormitory with some parchment. She hesitated before quickly writing a letter to Sirius.

Dear Snuffles,

Hope you're okay, the first week back here's been terrible, I'm really glad it's the weekend. We've got a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She's nearly as nice as your mum. I'm writing because that thing I wrote to you about last summer happened again last night when I was doing a detention with Umbridge. We're all missing our biggest friend, we hope he'll be back soon. Please write back quickly.

Best,

Caelum

Blair smiled at her letter and walked to the Owlery. She thought she had to tell Harry and Ron soon, but she just couldn't find the right time. She took great comfort in the fact that Hermione knew. She didn't have to carry the burden all by herself.

As she entered, Blair waved to Herman. "Herman. Come here, I've got a letter for you." Herman let out a low hoot, stretched his great wings and perched on her shoulder.

Blair whispered to him. "I know this says 'Snuffles' on the outside, but it's for Sirius, okay?" Herman blinked his blue eyes once.

Blair carried him to one of the windows. "Safe flight, 'Man." Herman took off into the sky.

Blair's gaze turned to Hagrid's hut then she saw the horse that only she, Harry and Luna could see. Her eyes widened as she watched the horse soar in a great circle and plunge once more into the trees.

The Owlery door opened behind her. Blair leapt in shock, and turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a letter and a parcel in her hands.

"Hey, Cho."

Cho blushed at the sight of her. "Oh... hi," she said breathlessly. "I didn't think anyone would be up here this early... I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday." She held up the parcel.

"Oh, really? Best wishes to her then." Blair said cheerfully before gesturing to the windows. "Nice day."

"Yeah," said Cho, looking around for a suitable owl. "Good Quidditch conditions. I haven't been out all week, have you?"

"No," said Blair. 

Cho beckoned over one of the barn owls, who put out an obliging leg so that Cho could attach the parcel. "Hey, Blair, has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Blair. "It's my friend Ron Weasley, d'you know him?"

"Yeah. Is he any good?"

"He's good. I didn't see his tryout, though, I was in detention."

Cho looked up, the parcel only half-attached to the owl's legs. "That Umbridge woman's foul," she said in a low voice. "Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how — how — how your parents died. Everyone heard about it, it was all over the school. You were really brave standing up to her like that."

Blair smiled at her. "You believe us?"

Cho finished attaching the parcel to one leg and patted her on the shoulder. "Of course, Blair. I-I'm really sorry about what happened to your parents."

"It's fine, Cho," said Blair, smiling at her. "But seriously, thank you. Thank you for believing us."

The Owlery door opened again. Filch came wheezing into the room. "Aha!" said Filch, taking a flat-footed step toward Blair, hispouchy cheeks trembling with anger. "I've had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!" 

Blair folded her arms and stared at the caretaker."Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?" 

"I have my sources," said Filch in a self-satisfied hiss. "Now handover whatever it is you're sending."

Blair rolled her eyes. "I can't, it's gone." 

"Gone?" said Filch, his face contorting with rage. 

"Gone," said Blair calmly. 

Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a few seconds, thenraked Blair's robes with his eyes. "How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?"

"Because —" 

"I saw her send it," said Cho angrily. 

Filch rounded on her. "You saw her — ?" 

"That's right, I saw her," she said fiercely. 

There was a moment's pause in which Filch glared at Cho and Cho glared right back, then the caretaker turned and shuffled back toward the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back at Blair. "If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb..." He stumped off down the stairs. Mrs. Norris cast a last longing look at the owls and followed him. 

Blair and Cho looked at each other. 

"Thanks, Cho," Blair said, running a hand through her hair. 

"No problem," said Cho, finally fixing the parcel to the barn owl's other leg, her face slightly pink. "You weren't ordering Dungbombs, were you?" 

"No," said Blair. 

"I wonder why he thought you were, then?" Cho said, as she carried the owl to the window. 

Blair shrugged; she was quite as mystified by that as Cho was, though, oddly, it was not bothering her very much at the moment. They left the Owlery together. 

Blair remembered they had Quidditch practice and yelped. "I've got to go, Cho. See you!"

Cho smiled back and said, "Well, I'll... I'll see you around, Blair."

Blair walked on her way to the Great Hall when she caught sight of a fire. Thinking it was Seamus, she rushed to it. She was surprised to see that it was Draco Malfoy with the burning paper in his hands.

"Aguamenti!" Blair quickly said with a wave of her wand. Malfoy's head snapped up, and Blair's eyes widened to see that there were tear tracks on his face.

"Malfoy?" Blair said in a surprised tone.

Malfoy immediately wiped his tears away and glared at Blair. "What is it, Wood?"

Blair was about to say something before she took out a handkerchief from her pocket and handed it to him. "Here."

Draco looked at her with surprise and doubt before taking it and mumbling. "Thanks." Blair leaned on the wall beside him before taking his right hand and pointing her wand at it.

Draco looked at her surprised again. "W-What-"

"Let me." Blair said simply before she focused. She thought of healing the light burns on Draco and smiled widely when she opened her eyes and saw that they were being healed, but her eyes widened slightly when she saw that her hand was suddenly having the same burns she saw on Draco's hand a few minutes ago, but she shook it off, thinking that it was just the scars from Umbridge's detention.

Draco looked from his hand to Blair. "W-What-"

"There. You have a secret. I have a secret. Let's keep it that way, shall we?" Blair said with a wink.

Draco Malfoy looked at her as if he was meeting her for the first time before snorting. Blair soon followed and the two of them burst into laughter. It was as if they forgot the last 4 years for a few moments. When they calmed down, the atmosphere turned awkward. Draco raised his healed hand. "T-Thanks for this."

Blair shrugged. "No problem, Malfoy."

She turned to walk away then suddenly stopped and looked back at Draco with a smile. "Hey, Malfoy. If you need anything... Well, I know we're not really friends, at least yet, and you're quite an arse," Malfoy rolled his eyes at that, "But I know you've got good in you. So, if you need anything, you can come to me."

With that, Blair left and walked to the Quidditch pitch, missing the smile that made its way onto Draco's face. Maybe, amidst all the darkness in Draco Malfoy's life, Blair Wood could be there. She could be the light.

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Before Quidditch practice started, Blair was surprised when she heard the news about Sirius and Sturgis Podmore in the Daily Prophet. Sirius had to be more careful since Lucius Malfoy had his suspicions about him. Then, she remembered her interaction with Draco. Maybe, he was just someone who was misunderstood. Draco Malfoy was probably a victim of his father's wrong choices.

It was odd. Sturgis Podmore, one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix, would try to break into the Ministry of Magic? After not appearing to escort Harry and Blair to King's Cross. Blair listened to all of their suspicions, but thought that maybe it had something to do about something else. Not the Ministry or the Order. But she shook her head. It was just a theory. After all, Voldemort wasn't making his move yet.

Blair was pleased that she finished her homework as she flew around and practiced with Harry and Ron. Ron was guarding the three tall goalposts with Blair and Harry playing Chasers and trying to get the Quaffle past Ron.

Blair was happy that Ron had improved and blocked five of Blair and Harry's attempts. Harry and Ron soon returned to the school to eat lunch, but Blair stayed to practice some more. After a week of detention, she missed Quidditch so dearly. Blair realized that it was time for the real training session and walked to the changing room to change her clothes. Harry and Ron met up with her at the entrance as the three of them entered and saw that all their teammates but Angelina were there.

"All right, Ron?" said George, winking at him.

"Yeah," said Ron, who had become quieter and quieter all the way down to the pitch.

"Ready to show us all up, Ickle Prefect?" said Fred, emerging tousle-haired from the neck of his Quidditch robes, a slightly malicious grin on his face.

"Shut up," said Ron, stony-faced.

"Oh. Olli's robes fit you well, Ronnie. Thought it'd be too small for our little Ronniekins." Blair said teasingly. Ron shoved her playfully.

"Okay everyone," said Angelina, entering from the Captain's office, already changed. "Let's get to it; Alicia and Fred, if you can just bring the ball crate out for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but I want you to just ignore them, all right?"

When they left the changing room, it was to a storm of catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin Quidditch team and assorted hangers-on, who were grouped halfway up the empty stands and whose voices echoed loudly around the stadium. Blair rolled her eyes when she saw Malfoy was there. When he met eyes with Blair, he looked hesitant before hardening his eyes once more.

"What's that Weasley's riding?" Malfoy called in his sneering drawl. "Why would anyone put a Flying Charm on a moldy old log like that?"

Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy Parkinson guffawed and shrieked with laughter. Ron mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground and Blair followed him, watching his ears turn red from behind. "Ignore them," she said, accelerating to catch up with Ron. "We'll see who's laughing after we play them..."

"Exactly the attitude I want, Blair," said Angelina approvingly, soaring around them with the Quaffle under her arm and slowing to hover on the spot in front of her airborne team. "Okay everyone, we're going to start with some passes just to warm up, the whole team please —"

"Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle anyway?" shrieked Pansy Parkinson from below. "Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?"

Angelina swept her long braided hair out of her face and said calmly, "Spread out, then, and let's see what we can do..." Blair went to the middle of the pitch. Angelina raised the Quaffle with one hand and threw it hard to Blair, who passed to George who passed to Harry, who passed to Ron, who dropped it.

The Slytherins, led by Malfoy, roared and screamed with laughter. Ron, who had pelted toward the ground to catch the Quaffle before it landed, pulled out of the dive untidily, so that he slipped sideways on his broom, and returned to playing height, blushing. Blair saw Fred and George exchange looks, but uncharacteristically neither of them said anything, for which she was grateful.

"Pass it on, Ron," called Angelina, as though nothing had happened. Ron threw the Quaffle to Katie, who passed back to Blair, who passed to George...

"Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?" called Malfoy. "Sure you don't need a lie-down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?"

Fred passed to Blair; she reverse passed to Harry, who had not been expecting it, but caught it in the very tips of his fingers and passed it quickly to Ron, who lunged for it and missed by inches.

"How about you, Wood? I'm surprised the Aurors haven't come and get you yet. You and your violent tendencies."

"Come on now, Ron," said Angelina crossly, as Ron dived for the ground again, chasing the Quaffle. "Pay attention." Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin team were howling with laughter. Blair gripped her broom tighter, not wanting to get a detention again.

"Oi, stop that, will you?" A loud voice from the entrance of the Quidditch pitch said, making everyone stop and look to that person. Blair grinned and waved happily to Cedric who winked back at her before glaring at the Slytherins. "10 points each from Slytherin."

"What?" Malfoy stood up, glaring back at Cedric. "Listen here, Diggory -"

"I don't have to listen to you now, do I? I'm Head Boy." The remark from Cedric made them all shut up and Cedric simply nodded at them before waving again at Blair. "Keep up the good work, lion."

"Thank you, badger." Blair yelled back at him happily to the surprise of her teammate, but she saw how Cedric's cheeks suddenly flushed when he was looking at a certain direction before he turned around and went. Blair looked to where he had been staring a while ago, and to her surprise, it was Harry he was staring at but the Boy Who Lived was busy talking to Ron. It made Blair grin. So Cedric did not like Hermione...

"How do you know Diggory, Blair?" Katie Bell suddenly asked with a dreamy smile on her face. "Don't tell me he likes you." That caught everyone's attention and they started asking too many questions Blair didn't know which one to answer first but it was so absurd for them to think that Cedric liked her. 

"Alright, that's enough, we'll talk later." Angelina intervened, making Blair smile gratefully at her. The Chaser saw Harry and Ron looking at her inquisitively and she mouthed to them. "Later." And they went back into position, but Blair rolled her eyes when she noticed the Slytherins were still there with a newfound fire in their eyes.

On his third attempt, Ron caught the Quaffle; perhaps out of relief he passed it on so enthusiastically that it soared straight through Katie's outstretched hands and hit her hard in the face. "Sorry!" Ron groaned, zooming forward to see whether he had done any damage.

"Get back in position, she's fine!" barked Angelina. "But as you're passing to a teammate, do try not to knock her off her broom, won't you? We've got Bludgers for that!" Katie's nose was bleeding. Down below the Slytherins were stamping their feet and jeering. Fred and George converged on Katie.

"Here, take this," Fred told her, handing her something small and purple from out of his pocket. "It'll clear it up in no time."

"All right," called Angelina, "Blair, Katie, let's warm up. Fred, George, go and get your bats and a Bludger; Ron, get up to the goalposts, Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We're going to aim for Ron's goal, obviously."

Blair sighed before she started warming up with Angelina. When Harry, Fred and George were ready, Angelina blew her whistle. Blair flew expertly and caught the Quaffle with one hand. She dodged the Bludger with ease and was about to throw the Quaffle back to Angelina... But too soon, the whistle brought her to a halt again.

"Stop — stop – STOP!" screamed Angelina. "Ron — you're not covering your middle post!"

Ron blushed. "Oh... sorry..."

"You keep shifting around while you're watching the Chasers!" said Angelina. "Either stay in center position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don't drift vaguely off to one side, that's how you let in the last three goals!"

"Sorry..." Ron repeated, his red face shining like a beacon against the bright blue sky.

"And Katie, can't you do something about that nosebleed?"

"It's just getting worse!" said Katie thickly, attempting to stem the flow with her sleeve. Blair looked at Fred, horrorstruck. Fred mouthed a sorry to her.

"Well, let's try again," said Angelina. She was ignoring the Slytherins, who had now set up a chant of "Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers," but there was a certain rigidity about her seat on the broom nevertheless.

This time they had been flying for barely three minutes when Angelina's whistle sounded. Blair flew as fast as she could toward Katie. It was plain that Angelina had stopped training just in time; Katie was now chalk-white and covered in blood. "She needs the hospital wing," said Angelina.

"We'll take her," said Fred. "She — er — might have swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake —"

"Well, there's no point continuing with no Beaters and a Chaser gone," said Angelina glumly, as Fred and George zoomed off toward the castle supporting Katie between them. "Come on, let's go and get changed." The Slytherins continued to chant as they trailed back into the changing rooms.

"How was practice?" asked Hermione rather coolly half an hour later, as Blair, Harry and Ron climbed through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.

"It was —" Harry began.

"Completely lousy," said Ron in a hollow voice, sinking into a chair beside Hermione. She looked up at Blair, who was rubbing her forehead, and her frostiness seemed to melt.

"Well, it was only your first one," she said consolingly, "it's bound to take time to —"

"Who said it was me who made it lousy?" snapped Ron.

"No one," said Hermione, looking taken aback, "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," said Ron angrily and stomped off to the staircase to the boys' dormitories and vanished from sight.

Hermione turned to Blair and Harry. "Was he lousy?"

"No," said Blair and Harry loyally. Hermione raised her eyebrows.

"Well, I suppose he could've played better," Harry muttered, "but it was only the first training session, like you said..." Blair just let out a sigh and sunk into her chair more. 

───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Blair spent the whole Sunday in the common room, finishing up some homework she missed. She was currently doing her homework with Harry and Ron after telling them that she and Cedric just met in the library and somehow became friends. They thought of asking Hermione for help, but she was busy knitting. At half-past eleven, Hermione wandered over to them, yawning. "Nearly done?"

"No," said Ron shortly. Blair punched him in the shoulder lightly.

"Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto," she said, pointing over Blair's shoulder at a line in her Astronomy essay then looking at Ron's, "and it's Io that's got the volcanos."

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

"Sorry, I only —"

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

"Oi, that's enough, you two. Thanks, Mione." Blair said with an exasperated sigh. It was silent for a few moments before Hermione spoke up again.

"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. Blair, Harry and Ron all looked over. There was a screech owl at the window.

"Isn't that Hermes?" said Hermione, sounding amazed.

"Blimey, it is!" said Ron quietly, throwing down his quill and getting to his feet. "What's Percy writing to me for?" He crossed to the window and opened it; Hermes flew inside, landed upon Ron's essay, and held out a leg to which a letter was attached. Ron took it off and the owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across Ron's drawing of the moon Io.

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

"Open it!" said Hermione eagerly. Blair and Harry nodded.

Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. The farther down the parchment his eyes traveled, the more pronounced became his scowl. When he had finished reading, he looked disgusted. He thrust the letter at Blair, Harry and Hermione, who leaned toward each other to read it together:

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 Blair Wood and 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 and that girl. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this — no doubt you will say that Wood and Potter have always been Dumbledore's favorites — 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 Wood and Potter's behaviors. 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 Wood and 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 them to court, Wood and Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and they did not come out of it looking too good. They got off on a mere technicality if you ask me and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of their guilt. It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Wood and Potter — I know that Potter can be unbalanced and aggressive, while Wood can be arrogant and violent — but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in their 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 Blair Wood and Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.

Your brother, 

Percy

"Well," Harry said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, "if you want to — er — what is it?" (He checked Percy's letter.) "Oh yeah — 'sever ties' with me, I swear I won't get aggresive."

"Don't worry, Ron. I won't get violent either. Arrogant, maybe? But not violent." Blair said lightly.

"Give it back," said Ron, holding out his hand. "He is —" Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half, "the world's" — he tore it into quarters — "biggest" — he tore it into eighths — "git." He threw the pieces into the fire.

"You're amazing, Ronnie. Come on. We got to finish this." Blair said cheerfully. Harry and Ron chuckled before pulling their essays to them. 

Hermione was looking at Blair with an odd expression on her face. "Oh, give them here," she said abruptly.

"What?" said Blair.

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

"Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you're a lifesaver," said Blair, "what can I — ?"

"What you can say is, 'We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again,' " she said, holding out both hands for their essays, but she looked slightly amused all the same.

"Thanks a million, Hermione," said Harry weakly.

"Yeah, thanks." Ron said cheerfully.

It was now past midnight and the common room was deserted but for the three of them and Crookshanks. The only sound was that of Hermione's quill scratching out sentences here and there on their essays and the ruffle of pages as she checked various facts in the reference books strewn across the table.

Blair thought of it. Though she was the least closest to Percy, Percy was still one of her friends growing up. Sure, he was always a bit stuck up but he was always kind to Blair. It hurt her that Seamus and Percy, who were her friends, didn't believe her though she didn't really expect much from Percy. Then, she thought this was what Sirius must have felt for 12 years. No one, not even his best friends, knew that he was innocent. They all thought he killed his best friends that he would risk his life for before he would die. Then, Blair's eyes widened as she looked at the fire. Was it a coincidence? 

"Okay, write those down," Hermione said to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own writing back to him, "and then copy out these conclusions that I've written for you."

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

"— I'll know you're back to normal," said Hermione. "Blair, yours is okay except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, Europa's covered in ice, not mice — Blair?" Blair was now crouching and gazing into the flames.

"Er — Blair?" said Ron uncertainly. "Why are you down there?"

"Because I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire," said Blair. Blair wasn't so sure because it vanished so quickly, but she was sure she saw it.

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

Blair chuckled. Harry grinned. Hermione gasped, gazing at the fire; Ron dropped his quill. There in the middle of the dancing flames sat Sirius's head, long dark hair falling around his grinning face. "I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared," he said. "I've been checking every hour."

"You've been popping into the fire every hour?" Blair said, half laughing.

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

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

"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, as 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 —" Hermione began.

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

At the mention of Blair's letter, Harry, Hermione and Ron had turned to stare at her.

"You didn't say you'd written to Sirius!" said Harry accusingly.

"Sorry, I forgot," said Blair. Her encounters with the horse, Cho and Malfoy had driven it out of her mind.

Blair sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry, Harry. There was just too much that happened. And don't worry, Mione," she added at the frown on Hermione's face, "there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?"

"No, it was very good," said Sirius, smiling. "Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed — your scars, Blair, Harry." Blair told Sirius about her scar when they were in 12 Grimmauld Place.

"What about — ?" Ron began.

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

"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?"

"Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion," said Blair, ignoring, as usual, Ron and Hermione's winces. "So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention. Harry's scar didn't hurt though at that time."

"Well, I'm not really sure since we were playing Quidditch. If it did hurt, I would have thought it was just one of the Bludgers or something like that." Harry frowned.

"Well, now he's back it's bound to hurt more often, and about Harry's scar, try asking Dumbledore." said Sirius.

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

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

"She's foul enough to be one," said Blair darkly and Harry, Ron and Hermione nodded vigorously in agreement.

Hermione scoffed. "I mean, look at Blair's hand!"

There was silence. All heads turned to Blair. Blair's eyes widened.

Hermione let out a gasp. "Blair, I-I'm so sorry."

"Blair?" Sirius said in a warning tone. Blair took off her Quidditch glove which had been wearing to hide it and showed them her right hand.

Harry took her hand, his voice shaking. "You said she was making you writing lines."

Ron frowned at her. "Why are we learning about this now?"

Sirius let out a growl. "That foul toad."

Blair looked down. "You've got lots on your mind, already. I don't want to add up to your problems. Let's talk later, Harry, Ron." She added upon seeing them open their mouths. She turned back to Sirius, who smiled sadly before continuing.

"Well, the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters," said Sirius with a wry smile. "I know she's a nasty piece of work, though — you should hear Remmy talk about her."

"Does Lupin know her?" asked Harry quickly.

"No," said Sirius, "but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago that makes it almost impossible for him to get a job. Remmy's been staying here."

"What's she got against werewolves?" said Hermione angrily.

"Scared of them, I expect," said Sirius, smiling at her indignation. "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 —" 

Ron laughed but Hermione looked upset. "Sirius!" she said reproachfully. "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 interrupted. "Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?"

"No," said Harry, ignoring Hermione's affronted look at being cut off in her defense of Kreacher. "She's not letting us use magic at all!"

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

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

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

"That's exactly what he thinks you're doing," said Sirius, "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."

There was a pause at this, then Ron said, "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."

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

"Yep," said Sirius. "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."

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

"I don't know," said Sirius, "I haven't seen anyone from the Order besides Remmy all weekend, they're all busy. It's just been Kreacher and me here..." There was a definite note of bitterness in Sirius's voice.

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

"Ah..." said Sirius, "well, he was supposed to be back by now, no one's sure what's happened to him." Then, seeing their stricken faces, he added quickly, "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..." said Hermione in a small, worried 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." Unconvinced, Blair, Harry, Ron, and Hermione exchanged worried looks.

"Listen, don't go asking too many questions about Hagrid," said Sirius hastily, "it'll just draw even more attention to the fact that he's not back, and I know Dumbledore doesn't want that. Hagrid's tough, he'll be okay."

And when they did not appear cheered by this, Sirius added, "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!" said Blair, Harry and Hermione together, very loudly.

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

"Oh that," said Sirius, grinning, "they're always guessing where I am, they haven't really got a clue —"

"Yeah, but we think this time they have," said Harry. "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," said Sirius. He looked most displeased. "Just an idea, thought you might like to get together —"

"Uncle Padfoot, we'd like to, but we just don't want to see you back in Azkaban," Blair said softly.

There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the fire at Blair and Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes. "You're less like your fathers than I thought," he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. "The risk would've been what made it fun for Blake and James."

"Look —"

"Well, I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs," said Sirius, but Blair was sure he was lying. "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's head had been was flickering flame once more.

Blair sighed and turned to the two unamused boys. She told them everything about the week of detentions she had with Umbridge. Although horrified, Harry and Ron pulled her into a tight hug and told her to tell them whenever something like that happens again. 

Blair smiled widely and hugged them back with Hermione smiling softly at them. She may not have Seamus, Percy and the rest of the world by her side, but she still had lots of people who loved and believed her, and that was enough. That was all Blair needed.

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