Chapter 20

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SIRIUS DIDN'T THINK THAT HE HAD EVER WANTED TO STRANGLE A MAN TO DEATH. And yes, he did take Peter into account.

Cornelius Fudge looked at Dumbledore, all smug and confident as though he had said the smartest thing ever, when in fact, he had not.

Even Dumbledore looked perplexed.

"Viktor Rosier?"

"Indeed."

Sirius was going to kill him. But McGonagall fixed him with a look, freezing him in place.

They were in Dumbledore's office. Again. The Headmaster himself owled Sirius in that very morning when Fudge announced he had found a replacement for Umbridge. McGonagall, as Deputy Headmistress, was summoned. Sirius wasn't too sure how Dumbledore explained his presence, but he was only glad that he was here.

Listening to the Minister's stupidity made Sirius rethink that statement.

Dumbledore removed his crescent-shaped glasses, rubbing his eyes in frustration.

"Are you sure that is wise, Cornelius?"

The man had the audacity to look offended. "Well, of course! He was such a pleasant chap during the Yule Party. In fact, Rosier came to me himself just a few days ago, offering his services. My! How could I refuse?"

Of course, he did, you big imbecile!

"There, there, Albus. Do not fret! I have checked his credentials. The man graduated with seven NEWTs! Seven! All Os!"

"Cornelius. You must know that that isn't what I am concerned about."

The Minister's demeanour changed abruptly. "You better not insinuate what I think you are, Albus. This is the very reason why the Ministry needs to be present in the school, otherwise you will sully today's youth with more of your lies!"

Oh, the fucking irony.

"Cornelius, the man was tried as a Death Eater during the first war. Surely, you understand my concerns."

"And what of your potions master, then? To my knowledge, he too bore the mark of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named? How can we trust your judgement?"

"With all due respect, Minister," started Sirius, ignoring McGonagall's warnings, "but how can we trust yours? You haven't the best track record on the matter, you see?"

Fudge had turned as red as a tomato. "My apologies, Lord Black, but I don't see how your presence is required in the matter of school busi-"

"I am merely here as a concerned parent. So, here I am, expressing my concern."

"That isn't necessary-"

"Your previous lax in judgement ended with my godson's hand being sliced. Forgive me for not trusting you at the moment."

The room lapsed into silence. Fudge was quietly fuming, regarding Sirius as would a petulant child to a stern teacher. Sirius simply smirked in response.

"What do you suggest, then, Lord Black?"

Sirius turned to Dumbledore, addressing him instead. Not because he had any respect for the man, but because doing so would infuriate Fudge even more, and Sirius was nothing if not spiteful.

"I want an Auror stationed at Hogwarts at all times."

"What for?" asked the idiotic politician.

Sirius suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "To ensure your pick doesn't end up being another abusive piece of shit."

Again, everyone went quiet. On his side, McGonagall discreetly cleared his throat, and only because Sirius was her pupil for years that he understood it as rebuttal for his language.

Not his behaviour, but his language.

"And who do you have in mind for the post?"

"Why, who else would I trust other than my very own cousin? Nymphadora Tonks, of course."

"Wonderful idea, Sirius," remarked Dumbledore. "Isn't Cornelius?"

The man in question turned to the Headmaster with his mouth pursed.

"You will accept, won't you?"

It wasn't as though he was left with any other choice.

"Of course," he gritted through his teeth.

"Marvellous!"

Quite, thought Sirius. He was going to have to ensure the kids stayed on alert. Sirius already didn't trust Rosier, and now, even less so.

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"Study what?"

Snape already looked done with him. Any other time, that would have irked Harry. Though, because of the comment Adhara had made on Christmas Day, only one thought surged through his mind at the sight of the man.

He knew my mum...he also knew Aunt Petunia. How come?

"Occlumency, Potter. The magical defence of the mind against external penetration. An obscure branch of magic, but a highly useful one."

That made Harry recoil, instantly bringing him back to reality. Defence against external penetration? But Harry wasn't possessed, right?

"Because the headmaster thinks it a good idea," replied Snape. "You will receive private lessons once a week, but you will not tell anybody what you are doing, least of all the new DADA Professor. You understand?"

They were in the kitchen, at the dining table. Snape and Sirius sat at opposite ends, as though trying to be as far away from each other as possible.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "Who's the new teacher?"

"Viktor Rosier," answered Sirius. He was looking at him, hands folded beneath his chin. "This is my formal warning against him, too, Harry. Be careful with the man, I mean it."

Snape scoffed. "Of course, all you will do is tell the boy to be careful."

"As though you would have better methods in parenting children, Snivelus."

"Does your memory fail you, mutt? Or have you forgotten that I was a secondary school teacher?"

"Some teacher," rebuked Sirius. "Why don't you explain why you are one of your student's greatest fears?"

Both men glared at each other from across the table.

Harry cleared his throat. "Who's going to be teaching me?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "I am."

Without meaning to, Harry's mouth fell open in shock. He thought perhaps he much preferred the idea of being possessed.

(He was joking. Obviously.)

(Or was he?)

Harry desperately looked at his godfather, who was already one step ahead of him.

"Absolutely not. Why can't Dumbledore teach him?"

"I suppose because it is a headmaster's privilege to delegate less enjoyable tasks," said Snape silkily. "I assure you I did not beg for the job." He stood up, apparently done with the conversation. "I will expect you at six o'clock on Monday evening, Potter. My office. If anybody asks, you are taking Remedial Potions. Nobody who has seen you in my classes could deny you need them."

Snape turned to leave, pulling his cloak behind him as he went, which did a whooshing motion as a result.

"Wait a moment," called Sirius. He, too, stood up from his chair.

Snape groaned, turning back. He looked up at the roof, sneering. "I am in rather a hurry, Black-"

"I'll get to the point, then." Sirius crossed the kitchen towards the potions Professor.

Harry's godfather was decked in his leather jacket and ripped denim trousers. He shoved his hands into his pockets, staring right at Severus Snape.

"I will be joining you during those sessions."

That was not what anyone expected him to say. Instantly, Snape blanched.

"Absolutely not."

"Why not? I'm a concerned parent. And you're an ex-death eater, laddie, or did you forget?"

Snape's lip curled in anger. "The Headmaster would never agree."

"I would like to see him try and stop me."

They fixed each other with glares. Harry had a feeling the sight was going to be very common from now on.

Snape sighed exasperatedly. "Ensure to not get seen by Rosier."

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"'Ere - it's 'Arry -!"

"If you shout his name again I will curse you into oblivion," warned Tonks, glaring at the conductor. She shoved Ginny and Hermione forward.

Ron climbed onto the Knightbus behind Harry. He looked strangely delighted. "I've always wanted to go on this thing!"

Adhara followed, grumbling and complaining under her breath.

"We could've apparated," she remarked.

Harry shrugged, not particularly caring what mode of transport they used. And part of him knew that Adhara didn't, either. She was mostly annoyed that she had to spend time, crammed into a bus together with Remus. Adhara was still avoiding the man.

She wasn't mad at him. Harry didn't think she actually ever was. But she did take off her anger on Remus and had said things she didn't mean, and now things were awkward between both. Adhara was too much of an hardarse to actually go forward and apologise.

Sirius and Remus followed after Adhara. The girl spared one annoyed look at Harry, and pushed past him to join Ron and the girls.

People pushed and bumped into each other all around, struggling to pick up their items that had fallen when the bus abruptly stopped. Some picked up their chairs and sat back down, throwing a glare at the Tonks' direction.

The woman noticed and smoothly flipped them off.

"Looks like we'll have to split up," said Tonks briskly, looking around for empty chairs. "Fred, George, and Ginny, if you just take those seats at the back ... Remus can stay with you. Everyone else, up!"

Harry could physically feel relief bounce off Adhara. He shook his head.

On the top deck, Harry, Adhara, Hermione and Ron took up the empty seats. Tonks and Sirius held onto the rope and went around the perimeter of the bus. It didn't do much to prevent them from swaying, but they toppled over less than those on the chairs.

"Haz, Adz," called Sirius, "I've got something for you both."

He and Adhara were seated on the front chairs of the deck. They exchanged a look with each other, wondering if the other knew what their godfather was talking about but came up blank.

Sirius pulled out two boxes from the inside pocket of his leather jacket. Merlin knew how he was able to fit that there.

He handed one box to each kid. "Open it."

Harry and Adhara exchanged another look, but eagerly opened their presents.

It was a mirror. A hand-held mirror with intricate floral designs on the handle. And only because of how strange the present was did Harry understand that these weren't normal mirrors.

"They're four-way mirrors." Sirius looked giddy as he explained. "Remus and I have one each. We can use it to call each other. Oh! Kind of like a muggle fellytone!"

"Telephone," corrected Harry.

"Right. Fellytone."

Harry looked at him, and Sirius winked.

"How does it work?" Adhara was asking the important question here.

"All you have to do is look into it and call whoever you want to talk to."

Right away, Harry tried it out. "Adhara Black." And lo and behold, Adhara's face appeared within Harry's mirror, and his on hers.

"Brilliant!"

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A little while later, Sirius and Remus decided to switch places. Adhara glared at her uncle who waved at her as he climbed down. She was only a little glad that Remus decided to stay with Ron and Hermione and shoved Tonks on Harry and her instead.

Tonks examined Harry's mirror. "Nifty."

"Useful."

"Still cool."

She handed it back to Harry, then gestured to Adhara to give her hers.

"It's the same thing."

"I still want to see."

Adhara stared at her, unamused, but that only worked to encourage the woman more. Adhara rolled her eyes and gave in.

"Nifty," Tonks declared once more.

Adhara groaned while Harry laughed. Tonks was obviously annoying her on purpose.

Adhara didn't particularly dislike the auror. Their first meeting had been horrible, to say the least. But she has been trying to win Harry and Adhara over since summer: teasing them and joking with them whenever possible, answering Harry's questions about the Order meetings as honestly as she was allowed to. Not to mention, she kept returning every full moon even though she didn't have to.

Adhara supposed that Tonks' presence wasn't always irritating.

The auror handed Adhara's mirror back to her. She stretched her arms suddenly, yawning. "Well, I'm beat. I'm gonna go mess around with the twins downstairs for a bit. You two wouldn't mind staying with Remus, right?"

She looked directly at Adhara as she said that, smirking slightly.

Nevermind, Adhara hated the woman. Tonks could die in a ditch for all she cared.

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"Adhi, do you see him, too?"

"Unfortunately."

The Great Hall was filled with applause as Professor Dumbledore finished introducing the new Defence Professor and High Inquisitor.

Adhara slowly clapped along with everyone else, but her narrowed eyes were strained on the smiling Viktor Rosier.

Millie, who was clapping beside her, groaned. "Oh, we are so fucked."

In any other circumstances, Adhara would agree. But there was another person at the teachers' table that caught her attention.

Rosier sat back down, and Dumbledore, at the podium, gestured to the student body to quiet down.

"And now, I would like to introduce Auror Tonks. She is not here to teach, but to keep an eye on the school. After recent events regarding a particular professor, the Ministry thought it wise to keep a presence inside the school for the students' protection."

Students fell into another round of applause. What bullshit. There was no way Fudge would be okay with this. It had blackmail written all over. It had Sirius Black written all over.

Adhara searched the crowd for her brother and found him looking for her, too.

Whatever it was, Adhara knew one thing for sure. Viktor Rosier was trouble.

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Harry paused outside the door, already dreading the whole thing. He could hear faint voices on the other side of the door, or perhaps he should say that he could hear faint shouting. Honestly, Harry should've known that the interaction he saw at Grimmauld Place the other day was only a glimpse into what was to come.

Well. At least Sirius would be here to deal with Snape for him.

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"The usual rules do not seem to apply to you, Potter. The curse that failed to kill you seems to have forged some kind of connection between you and the Dark Lord. The evidence suggests that at times, when your mind is most relaxed and vulnerable - when you are asleep, for instance - you are sharing the Dark Lord's thoughts and emotions. The headmaster thinks it inadvisable for this to continue. He wishes me to teach you how to close your mind to the Dark Lord."

Harry visibly blanched. He still hadn't recovered from the whiplash he got when Snape informed him that Voldemort could fucking read minds. And now the man was informing him that there was some sort of link between Harry and Voldemort?

Sirius was hovering. He has retorted every time Snape had been difficult and unfair, but now even he looked quite pensive. Though, the lack of reaction meant that the man was already aware of this fact.

Just another thing they decided not to inform Harry about.

Snape then went on to explain that though Voldemort had been unaware of the link so far, Dumbledore had reason to believe that he may have found out. And that he could now use it to his advantage.

What led Dumbledore to believe however was apparently unimportant, and Harry had no business knowing.

Harry had half a mind to simply just get up and leave.

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"How did it go?" asked Hermione, later at the library.

It was great. An entire session of Snape belittling him, listening to him and Sirius fight, and then ending with relentless comparison of Harry to his dad, the fucking cherry on top. It was great.

"I'd rather pay a visit to fucking Lockhart."

At least, he figured out that the corridor and door that he had been dreaming about was none other than the Department of Mysteries.

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Pain shot through his forehead, making Harry's vision go white. Something cold and heavy settled in his chest as loud and exuberant laughter erupted in Harry's ears. It was a demented and strident sound, it made the sharp pain travel all around his head, like a crack on an icy lake that spread out at the slightest touch. Harry felt like he was going to fall in and drown.

Ron appeared in front of him as his vision cleared out. He looked concerned, brows knitted together. He kneeled down next to Harry.

"What happened?"

Harry sat up, the cold and heavy feeling - that Harry pinpointed as happiness, though not his own, which was why it didn't feel right - dissipating slowly. He searched for something to hold, something to ground him, and Ron wordlessly gave him his arm.

"I don't - I dunno...he's happy. He's...he's very happy..."

"...You-Know-Who?"

"Something good's happened," mumbled Harry. He was practically trembling in Ron's arms, which seemed to happen whenever he got one of Voldemort's visions.

Harry wondered if Voldemort was catching on to the fact that Harry and he shared visions sometimes, even emotions. The thought came and left quickly, as the idea of the man being happy about something sent a chill down Harry's spine.

He wondered what could have happened.

"Hermione told me to come and check on you," explained Ron. "She says your defences will be low at the moment, after Snape's been fiddling around with your mind...Still, I suppose it'll help in the long run, won't it?"

Harry nodded.

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Adhara and Millicent joined their friends late that morning at the Gryffindor table. The Great Hall was unusually quiet. And even the trio looked stricken when they joined them, face white in what looked like fear.

Adhara narrowed her eyes. "What happened?"

Harry looked at her, eyes blown wide open.

"Why are you reading the Prophet?" asked Millicent, making Adhara notice the newspaper in Hermione's hand for the first time.

Ron was the one who explained. "...it's...it's Finnigan's...he gave it to us..."

Adhara snatched the paper away from Hermione. She read.

MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN

Ministry believes a group of terrorists are the instigators

"...fuck," said Millie under her breath. She was reading over Adhara's shoulder.

"Why don't they just say Death Eaters?"

Adhara continued to read the names of all the escapees - Dolohov, Rookwood, Pettigrew, Malfoy - her eyes pausing on Bellatrix Lestrange's picture. The woman looked insane, thrashing about and whipping her head. But the worst was her smile, the way it quirked on one side, like she was smirking, like she had a plan, like she knew something no one else did...

"They aren't very far off with terrorists. I'm actually surprised they're using it, though."

Hermione continued to explain, "Fudge is mostly probably trying to distance the Ministry from the idea of You-Know-Who's return. And with no one else to blame, this is the best he could do."

Adhara stared at the set of dark eyes and the bunch of curls, not unlike her own. If Adhara decided to let her hair grow out to the same length, she reckoned it would look the same.

And here Adhara believed she got her eye colour from her mother.

"Adz? Adz!"

Adhara looked up, noticing Harry with his brows raised.

"Alright?"

She hummed. Somebody snatched the paper away from behind. Adhara turned around, with everyone else checking to see who it was.

Tonks looked over the article, cringing. "Bloody hell. Suppose Aunty Bella's looked worse. Crazier," she declared, shrugging.

Ron's mouth fell open. "She has?"

Tonks shrugged, smiling and bumping her shoulder with Adhara.

"How would I know? Never met the woman, and never intend to. She'd kill me if she ever saw me. Stain to the blood and all. You know how it is."

And Adhara was annoyed that she could agree.

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Sirius pinched the bridge of his nose. He had only just returned from a visit at Aleyne - Yaritza and the kids insisted they were fine by themselves, but Sirius still went from time to time - when Remus announced the Weasleys called them over for an emergency.

The copy of the Prophet laid open on the dining table at the Burrow. Remus was standing up, hand resting on Sirius' shoulder.

Arthur and Molly had left the room to give them a bit of privacy as they discussed it over.

"This isn't good, Moony."

"Clearly."

Sirius wanted to bash his skull against something metallic and hard. He wanted it to hurt. He shook his head instead, still rubbing his nose.

"And Pettigrew can be anywhere. Harry and Adhara aren't safe."

Remus looked confused. "Why Adz?"

Sirius almost scoffed, tired and entirely unamused but mostly just afraid. "You think my dear cousin will be happy with a half-blood being the Heir of House Black?"

"...shit."

Shit indeed.

Silence stretched. Remus continued to pat Sirius' shoulder awkwardly - not because he was uncomfortable, but because being awkward was simply a wholly Remus thing - as determination rose in Sirius.

He opened his eyes, finally. "Right. I've decided. I'm going to kill Pettigrew on sight."

"Padfoot..."

"I already did the time, Moony. Might as well."

The screech of the wooden chair against the flooring let Sirius know that Remus was taking a seat next to him. He stayed silent for a minute, before speaking up.

"You never speak of him."

"Neither do you."

Remus sighed. "Suppose I'm still trying to wrap my head around the idea that quiet little Peter did something like that."

Sirius scoffed again.

"Oi, you had fifteen years. I only found out three years ago. Besides, he used to idolise James. It's surprising."

"James was my brother."

Remus was the awkwardest and smartest Marauder. Obviously, he understood the double meaning behind Sirius' statement.

"You think I believed it was you right away? Do you know how many years it took me to accept?"

Sirius exhaled tiredly. "No, I...I know. It is still just difficult to believe. All of it. Sometimes, I still can't believe that James is gone. That I won't get to see him anymore."

Because that was how finite death was. It wasn't as though James was out on holiday or something, and Sirius would get to see him again in a while. It wasn't like Sirius could write to him, or reach him, or talk to him, or hear his voice - he didn't even remember his voice anymore. James was gone. Forever. And Sirius will never see him again.

"But I've got Harry and Adhara now," said Sirius. "And I'm going to keep them safe. Even if it costs me my life."

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A/N

Sooo, did anyone notice the chapter count change?? Hehehe

(I'm so sorry)

Also,

as Snape says in AVPM:"Now, can anyone tell me what foreshadowing is?"