A/N: I am currently watching my muse wrestle with the personification of my loathing for most of the goings on in canon OOtP. The urge to off Umbridge in an (un)fortunate trip off the astronomy tower while inspecting a midnight class is *this* close to taking over my good sense. After frying my eyeballs and brain trying to sync up with the canon timeline via trips to the HP Lexicon, I have now decided to take a beaters bat...or perhaps a giant's foot...to said timeline. This is AU, damnit!

That said...cue obligatory Disclaimer: I don't own anything from the HP universe.

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"Snuffles, good to see you boy!" Harry said, kneeling in front of the large black dog that had accompanied Remus Lupin to Hogsmeade. He wrapped his arms around the dog and gave him a good scratch around the ears before he stood and embraced Moony as well.

"Thanks for bringing him, Remus. Really missed both of you," Harry said, conscious of the other students walking around them on the busy street in front of Honeydukes. He noticed especially that Malfoy was lurking just outside the sweet shop doors pretending to look at the display of spun sugar fairies.

"We missed you too, cub." The werewolf ruffled Harry's hair with a grin, causing the boy to duck with an exclamation.

"Hey, I had it tamed for once, Moony!"

"You're kidding, right? I think it looks better now honestly. Devil may care meets windblown haystack is fashionable these days, right?" Remus said, causing the dog at his feet to wuff in a canine snicker. Harry mock snarled at his father's friends as he moved to the window to try and straighten his hair into some semblance of order. He sent a glare in Malfoy's direction and the boy sneered before walking into the store.

"I swear if it wasn't for the bloody scar, I'd shave it all off," Harry grumbled as he kept an eye on the blonde Slytherin through the windows. When he disappeared behind a display of cockroach clusters, Harry turned and motioned Moony and Padfoot down the street. They followed him at a swift clip and soon arrived at Le Petit Cadeaux.

"Need to get Fleur a 'Thanks for putting up with me' gift, Harry? " Remus asked with a curious smirk.

"Har har, Moony. No. This is Fleur's aunt's shop. Mrs. Collinwood offered us the use of her sitting room to catch up while she watches the shop today," Harry said, pushing into the brightly lit shop. He wove through the shelves of baubles and trinkets towards the front counter.

"Harry!" The lightly accented address floated over the sound of tinkling chimes as Remus and Sirius followed Harry into the shop. He ducked his head and smiled.

"Hello, Mrs. Collinwood. It's good to see you again," he said politely. A tiny witch dressed in a lightweight periwinkle robe moved gracefully to greet them. Her face was lined with age but still held hints of the beauty she must have been in her youth. She was by no means frail, but she was short and light enough to remind Harry of a sparrow. She wrapped Harry in a brief but firm hug.

"What have I told you, scamp? Call me Aunt Laila. You are as good as family now. Ah, you brought trouble with you, I see. Remus Lupin, I do believe you and your little band of mischief makers were banned from my shop not so long ago," the woman stated briskly, turning her sharp black eyes on Remus and Padfoot. Remus actually looked sheepish and Padfoot was pressed against the back of his best friend's leg with his tail tucked in close.

"So, no introductions needed, then?" Harry asked with a curious glance at Remus and a raised eyebrow at Padfoot.

"Uh, no, Harry. I do apologize again, Mrs. Collinwood. In our defense, that was back in our third year. I believe your exact words were not to come back until we could either afford to pay for whatever mess we made or knew strong enough spells to repair anything we broke. I swear neither will be necessary this time 'round," Remus said with a blush.

"Just keep that dog of your's in check, Mr. Lupin, and we'll be fine," she replied with a nod, her stern expression melting into a more polite one as she turned back to Harry. "Fleur is already upstairs, Harry. Make yourselves at home. I'll be down here all afternoon but don't hesitate to seek me out if you need something."

"We will, Aunt Laila. Thank you." Harry said brightly before he led Remus and Padfoot behind the counter and up a narrow flight of stairs. Before he reached the door of the flat he glanced down at his godfather.

"If one of you knows a good alarm charm, cast it on the last couple stairs, would you? Fleur is not sure if we should tell her aunt the truth about Snuffles, so better safe than sorry," Harry said in a hushed whisper. Remus nodded and pulled his wand, casting a spell on the first tread of the stairs. With a satisfied nod, Harry pushed into the flat after knocking so they wouldn't startle Fleur.

"Fleur?" Harry called as he shut the door behind them and cast a locking charm. The young French witch came into the foyer and stepped into Harry's arms. He hugged her close and closed his eyes to breathe in her delicate scent, something floral with a hint of spice.

"Missed you, Flower," he said quietly. He had started calling her that in jest last week during a lesson in French vocabulary. Her response had been a blush and a tender kiss. He might be a little thick about girls, but he thought that meant she liked the nickname. Fleur kissed his temple and pulled back smiling. Yes, he was pretty sure she liked it.

"You as well, cheri. Now, introduce me to your companions," she said brightly as she led them into the sitting room. Sirius changed back to his human form and stepped forward before Remus had the chance. He took Fleur's hand and bent over it with a charming smile.

"At last, Ms. Delacour. My godson has told me so much about you but I am afraid no words could do you justice. Lovely." Sirius' eyes twinkled as he surveyed his godson's girlfriend. Harry watched him carefully and could see no hint that he was affected by Fleur's mild allure.

"Fleur Delacour, this is my godfather, Sirius Black," Harry said with a relieved smile. This meeting would be a much more relaxed than the one with his friends later. Ron had proven incapable of thinking straight with Fleur around.

"Charmed, Mr. Black. Harry has told me much of you as well," she replied with a regal smile that quickly melted into a mischievous grin paired with the arching of one finely shaped eyebrow. Sirius let go of her hand with a mock scowl.

"All lies, I swear," he stated before Remus jerked him aside by the elbow and bent over Fleur's hand himself. Harry knew that the werewolf was pretty much immune to the veela allure so he grinned as he watched his godfather and friend vie playfully for Fleur's attention.

"On the contrary, I am sure whatever tales of mischief Harry has told you are undoubtedly true, Ms. Delacour. It is a pleasure to meet the girl who has captured Harry's attention. You have been a good friend to him."

"And this is Remus Lupin, good friend of my family and brains behind every bit of mischief Sirius gets up to," Harry introduced with a laugh. Remus shot him a betrayed look as he stepped back. Fleur shook her head with a chuckle and motioned at the chairs in the room.

"Please have a seat, gentlemen. I will get us some refreshments and then we can talk about more serious things." Fleur disappeared through a door that Harry knew led to the kitchen. From the lingering scent of cinnamon and sugar in the air, he suspected either she or her aunt had been baking. He settled on the loveseat while Remus and Sirius sat in the chairs flanking his chosen perch.

Fleur walked back into the room with a tray of chilled butterbeer and pastries floating merrily behind her. She held her wand in one hand and a small notebook and a tiny mirror in the other. The tray settled to the low table in front of the loveseat and Fleur took two of the butterbeers, handing one to Harry as she settled in by his side.

"I suppose the first order of business is the horcruxes. Have you heard anything from Dumbledore about the diadem, Harry?" Remus asked after he helped himself to a butterbeer and a sticky bun.

"Nothing. His rote answer is 'I still have some concerns about the enchantments on it.' He refuses to discuss his concerns, either. Hermione and Ron are about ready to start hounding him about it. Hermione wants a chance to study it and Ron is hoping there's some kind of finder's fee or at least some recognition to be had," Harry said with a roll of his eyes.

There were days when Harry wanted to strangle Ron Weasley. Sothew said his timeline's Ron had eventually grown out of desperate belief that his worth was measured by money or fame, but Harry worried it was a little too early for their friendship to survive the revelation that Fleur was his girlfriend. Hermione already knew and Ginny suspected, but this afternoon he would be confirming the relationship to his friends. As if sensing his unease, Fleur's fingers found their way into the hair at the nape of his neck and stroked lightly.

"Well, if he doesn't mention it by the next Order meeting, I will show him the locket. Remus was able to find some mentions of the locket in the Black library and one old dusty tome does say something about it only being opened by a parselmouth, so I will casually suggest it might be worth while to have you open it so we can see what's inside," Sirius said with a shrug.

"And if he continues to 'study the artifacts'? Voldemort is gathering his minions and attacking muggles in secret. Every second Dumbledore delays is one more day for Voldemort to get stronger," Harry said darkly. Fleur's fingers continued to stroke the back of his neck and despite the topic, he felt himself relaxing into her side.

"Then we either force him to sit down and discuss the Horcruxes and the prophecy with us, or we take our findings to Madam Bones. I know most of the Ministry is corrupt but she is one of the few I would trust to keep this discreet. Tonks is already working with her to get Umbridge removed from the castle and Merlin willing, she might be willing to hear us out about Sirius as well," Remus said, pointing at Sirius.

"Only if we can get Wormtail. Fudge is still technically her boss and she would need irrefutable proof before presenting my case to the Wizengamot or it will just get buried, along with her career, no doubt." Sirius said sourly. Harry took a sip of his butterbeer before adding his two knuts to the conversation.

"Then we need to catch Wormtail. Not only would it help free you, Sirius, Madame Bones can question him about Voldemort too. Surely once the DMLE is convinced Voldemort is back, the Minister will have no choice but to acknowledge it," Harry stated. Sirius snorted softly.

"Maybe, maybe not. I have a sneaking suspicion it would take Voldemort himself dancing naked in the fountain at the Ministry to make the Minister admit to his return willingly. At least in the current political climate."

"And that's where the interviews come in. I think we are slowly forcing the public to at least consider the possibility that Harry is telling the truth about Voldemort. The home warding companies that bought ads in the Prophet told us business has been really good the last two weeks," Remus said.

"Gringott's has been hiring out apprentice curse breakers to some of their customers for warding homes. We charge much more than the private companies, but some are willing to pay extra for goblin trained warders. There has also been an increase in requests for accounts to be moved to branches on the continent and America. At least some of the muggleborn and half-bloods are choosing to leave the country rather than face another war," Fleur said grimly.

"I'll talk to Luna about getting my interview in the Quibbler before Christmas. I want Umbridge gone and at least two more Horcruxes destroyed before Winter term starts. That only leaves the cup and Nagini," Harry said grimly.

"I will speak with my supervisors at Gringott's about the possibility of such a dark artefact in one of their vaults. It is a difficult question to ask without arousing suspicion about where my knowledge comes from," Fleur said with a delicate frown. Harry gripped her hand and squeezed it gently.

"Be careful, please? I would hate for you to lose your job over this," Harry said quietly. Fleur shrugged.

"My job is of little consequence in the light of such dark things. Now, let us change topic to something more exciting, non?" Fleur said, looking up at the two silent Marauders. They were both watching Harry and Fleur with grins on their faces. Sirius had been a little worried about Harry's new relationship with the veela girl, but seeing them together seemed to ease those fears.

"Ah, yes. The mirror?" Remus spoke up, reaching out to take Fleur's tiny mirror. She opened her notebook and soon all four of them were deep in conversation about the runes and charms necessary for the communication mirror. Harry had a hard time following most of the conversation but was surprised when he at least recognized some of the runes being used. He was excited by the prospect of being able to create things like the communication mirrors someday and definitely regretted taking the easy way out with his electives in third year.

"Harry, we are meeting your friends at the pub in a half hour," Fleur reminded him about an hour later. With Sirius and Remus' help, her mirror was now connected to Harry's and they would test them out tonight.

"It has been a pleasure meeting you, Ms. Delacour. Thank you for helping us watch out for Harry," Remus said, giving Fleur's hand another kiss.

"And thank you for the refreshments. Those sticky buns were delicious. Best I've had since Lily's. Harry, your mum could have made a fortune if she'd opened a bakery. Swore by all her mother's recipes," Sirius said as he, too, bent over Fleur's hand. Harry's eyes lit up at the mention of something new about his mother. Suddenly he was more appreciative of his Aunt Petunia's hand written recipe card collection. It was evidently a surprise connection to the grandmother he never knew.

"What a pleasant thought," Fleur said with a broad smile, cutting her gaze sideways at Harry. Harry gave her a curious look but she shook her head slightly as Remus and Sirius both left via her aunt's floo. Then she turned and threw her arms around him giggling. He was unable to stop his smile at the sound of her laughter.

"What has you amused, Flower?" he asked against her hair.

"I now know why you turned back and insisted we visit to your aunt's home this morning," she said, pulling back and leading him into the kitchen. There on the counter was a familiar blue box filled with handwritten recipe cards. Harry's eyes lit up with an evil glint and he reached into his shirt to pull out his time turner.

"Where exactly were you at about eight o'clock this morning, cherie?"

Twenty minutes later and four hours earlier, Harry and Fleur stood at the kitchen door of Number Four Privet Drive. A nifty modified revealing charm that he had learned from Sirius reassured him that the only person in the house, most likely Petunia, was upstairs in bed asleep. A simple unlocking charm and Harry stepped inside the house he had been forced to call home for so many years. At first glance, the kitchen looked the same as ever, but closer inspection gave Harry a jolt of surprise.

"They had a dishwasher installed," Harry murmured, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"This is strange?" Fleur asked curiously. Harry snorted softly and then threw a silencing charm at the kitchen doorway just in case.

"Aunt Petunia would profess her undying love for Quidditch before she'd subject her dishes to the whims of an automatic dishwasher. It was the first chore I was taught, washing dishes," he said sourly. Fleur laid one hand on his forearm, her expression tight. Harry had told her a little of his childhood with the Dursley's. By no means had he told her everything, but she was intelligent enough to read between the lines.

"What are we looking for?" Fleur asked softly. Despite the air of mischief Harry had worn only moments ago, just stepping into this house seemed to dampen his spirit. She wanted to get what they came for and get out.

"A blue plastic box, about so big," Harry said, showing Fleur with his hands. "It should be with her cookbooks."

Fleur nodded and watched as Harry moved to the small built in desk near the doorway leading to the rest of the house and she peeked through into the living area curiously. It was just as Harry had described it. Clean and white to the point of being sterile. The only thing out of place was a box sitting next to the entertainment unit with a roll of packing tape perched on top of it. She turned back into the kitchen to see Harry going through a stack of correspondence.

"Just curious to see what's been going on since I left," he said in response to her curious look. He paused a couple of times and his eyebrows rose.

"Wow, court summons for Vernon and a community service schedule for Dudley. And what's this? Real Estate agents, huh? Could they be moving?" Harry asked, almost as if to himself.

"There is a moving box in the next room," Fleur said, gesturing behind her. Harry peered around her and hummed quietly. Then he shrugged and put down the stack of paper in his hand.

"Probably safer for them anyway. The blood wards are gone thanks to my emancipation. No doubt they are trying to escape being the current neighborhood scandal. Might explain the dishwasher, too, if they are going to sell the house," Harry mused before opening a small door in the desk and pulling out the blue box of recipe cards with a grin and a flourish.

"Do you wish me to copy it?" Fleur asked, pulling her wand from her wrist holster. Harry considered it for a moment. He had originally planned to just take the box and leave Petunia to wonder where it had gotten off to. In hindsight, he realized there was potential here to say a final farewell to his relatives with a very unwanted, highly magical flourish. He grinned and shook his head.

"I have a better idea."

Two hours later, screams of outrage and fear could be heard coming from Number Four as Petunia Dursley stumbled into her orderly kitchen to find her nephew's bright green flaming farewell hovering in the air above a basket filled with small rolls of parchment that each held a copied recipe.

'SO LONG DURSLEY'S. YOURS TRULY, THE FREAK.'

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"I'm done, Professor Babbling," Harry said after he skimmed over his answers one last time and put his quill down.

"Oh, there are more than fifteen minutes remaining, Mr. Potter. Are you certain you do not want to go back over your answers?" The Runes professor asked in a somewhat condescending tone. Harry could tell the woman thought Fleur had been exaggerating his level of competency.

"No ma'am, I've double checked my answers already," he said politely. With one eyebrow raised, the teacher strode over and picked up his test parchment, giving it a once over. He saw her expression change to one of mild surprise.

"It seems I might have underestimated you, Mr. Potter. At first glance you seem to have a good grasp of the basic Runes and the theory behind interpreting their meanings. I will have this graded before your next lesson with Ms. Delacour. Perhaps I will be seeing you in my NEWT class next year," the woman said with a slight smile. Harry smiled in relief and wasted no time in gathering his things and leaving the Runes classroom.

"How did you do?" Hermione pounced on him before he had a chance to sit down for dinner. He gave her an exasperated glare as he began filling his plate but he knew she would not stop pestering him until he answered her.

"I think I did pretty well. Professor Babbling gave it a glance over and thought so too," he said before diving into his meal. He had spent most of lunch worried about his exam so he was hungry. Hermione tried to quiz him about specific questions on the test but he just shook his head at her. She huffed in annoyance but finally got the message that he wasn't going to discuss it. At least not at the dinner table.

"So are you worried about your lesson with Professor Snape?" she asked, no doubt hoping that a change in topic would make him more inclined to talk with her. Mention of Snape was a bit off-putting, but he soldiered through in honor of the excellent shepherds pie in front of him. He scraped up the last bite on his plate before looking back up at Hermione. He pointed at the nearly untouched food on her plate.

"Eat before it gets cold, 'Mione. No, I am not worried about my lesson with Professor Snape. Sirius said my shields were pretty strong and I've been keeping up my exercises every night. I appreciate the concern, but I refuse to stress over it right now," he told her quietly. Ron, who had been paying attention the conversation despite his apparent interest in his own dinner, finally chimed in.

"Let him eat, Hermione. He'll need all his strength to deal with the greasy old bat." Harry felt something in him relax at those words. Ron had said little to or about him since last weekend when he had finally introduced Fleur officially as his girlfriend to Ron and Hermione. Despite his obvious discomfort over the revelation, Ron seemed to be holding his opinion on the matter at the moment and that was honestly better than Harry had hoped for.

"Alright, alright," Hermione said with a sigh. Harry thanked her with a smile before eyeing the dessert selection. He was reaching for a particularly tasty looking bit of cheesecake when he felt the mirror in his pants pocket vibrate. With a sigh, he wrapped up an apple fritter for later and stood.

"I need to take my bag back to the dorm before I head for the dungeons. I'll talk to you later," he said. He almost made it out of the Great Hall before he heard a voice that made his hackles rise.

"Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter, a moment," the sickly sweet voice called from behind him. He pulled up short and turned to meet the History professor, his face carefully set in a neutral expression. He had to stomp down on the surge of righteous anger he felt when he saw the short, pink clad bigot.

"Yes, professor?" he asked flatly, trying to ignore the vibrations in his pocket.

"I just wanted to inform you that I will be sitting in on your tutoring lessons with Ms. Delacour for now on. I must be certain things are being done appropriately," the toadish woman said with a simper that didn't match the vindictive twinkle in her eyes. Harry hoped the tone of his response didn't match the rage that warred inside him.

"Ms. Delacour is not a Hogwart's employee, Madame Umbridge. She was hired by my guardian to provide me with private lessons so you have no jurisdiction over said lessons," Harry said between clenched teeth.

"As long as those lessons are conducted on the Hogwarts grounds, it is my duty as High Inquisitor to ascertain their educational value! A creature of Ms. Delacour's heritage is more likely to seduce you as to teach," the woman said in a screeching tone. Harry barely contained his urge to hex the woman in front of him.

"Ms. Delacour is a brilliant witch with impeccable qualifications as a Runes tutor. Her heritage has no bearing on her ability to teach and even if it did, the Headmaster himself personally oversees most of our lessons already so the need for a Ministry sponsored chaperone is not called for," Harry said sharply, knowing even as he spoke that his tone and words would no doubt earn him some form of ridiculous punishment.

"Detention! Every night this week for your attitude, Potter! And I will be speaking with the Headmaster about why he feels the need to oversee your lessons. Evidently he agrees with me that Ms. Delacour is a potential danger to his students and is not fit to be a tutor." The woman's ire was evident in the redness of her cheeks but there was also a gleam of triumph in her beady little eyes that told Harry he had no doubt given her some information that she found useful. That or she was reveling in the ability to finally give him detention.

"You will have to consult the Headmaster as to his reasons for being in our lessons. As to detention, I already have a one tonight with Professor Snape and tomorrow I have astronomy. I will see you on Friday night, Madame," he said before storming into the entrance hall, dismissing the woman outright. He couldn't help but hear her screeching that he had lost fifty points to Gryffindor.

"Fire flower," Harry snarled when he finally reached his dorm room and pulled out his mirror. He didn't even try to moderate his expression when Fleur's face appeared in the shiny surface.

"Harry, what is wrong?" Her concern was evident in her voice and Harry ran his hand through his hair in agitation.

"Umbridge has decided she needs to monitor our lessons due to your dangerous heritage," Harry growled. Fleur blinked in surprise and then frowned.

"Oh, Harry, what did you do?" His mate's gentle query made him sigh.

"I simply told her that you were a brilliant, qualified witch and the Ministry has no right to stick their nose in," he said quietly.

"In those words?" Fleur asked incredulously. Harry snorted softly.

"Might as well have since I got a detention for it, but no. I worded it as politely as I could under the circumstances. I don't think she liked my tone, though," he said with a smirk. Fleur sighed and then chuckled softly.

"Oh, Harry. I suppose it was only a matter of time. Let us not worry about this now. How was your exam?" she asked, putting the subject of Umbridge aside. He managed to push down his anger enough to smile.

"Professor Babbling seemed to think I did well. She was surprised, I think, but seemed optimistic. She will have it graded before our next lesson," he told her. She beamed.

"Tres bon! I knew it would be so. Now we can begin the fun lessons," she said happily.

"I'm looking forward to doing something more practical after all that memorization. Thank Merlin for occlumency. Having an organized mind really does help with that stuff," he said with a wry smile.

Harry spoke with Fleur for several minutes about trivial things, allowing her voice to soothe the worst of his anger against Umbridge. It was still there, simmering deep down inside, but he did not want to go into his session with Snape in a towering rage. He did not doubt the bitter man would try to capitalize on that anger to find a way through his shields.

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Harry sat on a stool staring directly at the man who had gone out of his way to make the first four years of potions at Hogwarts into a living hell for him. He didn't know if it was his talks with Sothew about the man's sordid past, his new confidence in his potions ability or just sheer determination, but Harry refused to rise to the man's baiting. For the last half hour, Snape had been snarling insults between attempts to batter down Harry's mental shields.

"You know, for a dyed in the wool Slytherin, you have a bad tendency to resort to Gryffindorish habits whenever I'm around," Harry commented calmly after the man's latest attempt at tearing into his mind.

"You're an idiot, Potter!" the man screeched. There was sweat dripping from his forehead and his wand was held clenched in a white knuckled fist. Harry was sweating as well and he had a massive headache coming on, but he knew he was winning the battle and he was not ashamed to say it made him a little smug. He had been worried that his shields would falter under a full on attack but evidently Mr. Sothew's teaching methods were phenomenal. Granted he knew Harry better than Harry knew himself, so it made sense he would know that best way to teach his younger alter ego.

"Really, Professor?" Harry asked with a sigh. He was about to comment on the value of subtlety when he finally felt the soft breeze of a sneak attack. Snape had actually found a tiny crack in his defenses and wormed his way in. Harry didn't panic, though. Instead he surrounded the probe with his will and shoved it hard back at the Potion's Master. Snape actually stumbled and lowered his wand. The sneer finally dropped from his face to be replaced by a grimace.

"You're grasp of occlumency is...adequate. Get out," The man said without bothering to hide how worn out he was. Even that small admission of weakness was a surprise to Harry so he just nodded to the man and left the office. He drew a vial of headache potion from his robe pocket and gulped it down, little knowing his actions mirrored those of the teacher in the office behind him.

"What are you doing, Potter?" The gruff question made Harry look up to see Crabbe walking towards him. A quick look around didn't reveal Malfoy or any other wannabe Death Nibblers so Harry just shrugged.

"Detention with Snape," he said, he said pointing back at the door. Crabbe looked a little confused and then a little panicked.

"You got done early," he fairly shouted before running back towards where Harry knew the Slytherin common room entrance was. That caused Harry to blink in surprise. Acting on a hunch, he pulled his invisibility cloak out of his pocket and stepped into an alcove beside a suit of armor. He was not surprised when Malfoy and about five other Slytherin's soon hurried past him whispering harshly to one another. He caught his name, the name Pettigrew and a few muttered curses. He slipped out of the alcove and followed along behind them curiously.

"Dammit, which way did he go?" Malfoy said when they made it to the second floor landing and it was obvious that Harry wasn't anywhere above them.

"If he has that fancy map, he could be anywhere," muttered Theodore Nott.

"We could tell Madame Umbridge. She could get it for us," Pansy said quietly. Draco sighed.

"No, we can't. Even if she caught him with it, she would keep it for herself or destroy it. Father says the stupid bint is only loyal to Fudge at the moment. Besides, my father said the Dark Lord wants it for a mission. Come on, we will have to catch Potter another night," Draco grumbled. The group of Slytherin's turned around and marched back down the stairs. Harry barely had time to scramble out of the way to avoid being trampled.

"Bloody hell," Harry muttered when he finally started heading up the stairs. Fifteen minutes later he was sitting in the common room with Hermione and Ron. Fortunately he had thought to put up a muffilato charm before he told his friends what he had overheard because Ron was ranting while Hermione tried to shush him. The boy finally calmed down enough to notice his rant had drawn attention from several people in the common room, even if the charm ensured they would not know what he was screaming about.

"Sorry," he said, sitting down and tucking his chin against his chest. Hermione whacked him with a pillow and Harry just rolled his eyes.

"You really need to work harder on your occlumency, Ron. It would help with the anger issues," Hermione said exasperatedly. Ron grumbled something unintelligible and Harry sighed.

"So, the map stays locked up under wards. That must have been what Malfoy was looking for in my trunk on the train," Harry said contemplatively. Hermione frowned at the reminder.

"Did you ever hear anything about Malfoy getting punished for that?" Hermione asked. Harry shook his head with a wry smile.

"Of course not, Hermione. No doubt Dumbledore left it up to his Head of House to administer any punishments. Even if Snape deemed fit to reprimand his godson, he would never do it publicly or in the presence of a Potter."

"That's not right. As the aggrieved party, you should have at least been notified about it," she said in frustration. Harry patted her arm.

"You should know better than to apply muggle common sense to magical problems, 'Mione. I should have secured the compartment anyway, or at least warded my trunk, so I'm partly to blame for it anyway," he tried to soothe her. Instead, it earned him a whack with the pillow.

"Curb the urge to accept blame for everything, Harry!"

Harry threw his hands over his head and cried out in mock fear. "Mercy! Malfoy is to blame for everything, I swear!"

"Close enough," Hermione said with a smirk.

Harry gave an over-dramatic sigh of relief and peeked out from under his arms just in time to see Ron roll his eyes and chuckle. Harry straightened up and pulled one foot up on the couch and pulled his knee against his chest to rest his chin on.

"So, what are we going to do about this detention I've got? I think it's time to stop letting Umbridge get away with torturing the students. Making up stupid rules is one thing, actually causing permanent harm is a whole different Quidditch match," Harry said soberly. Hermione hugged the pillow against her chest but Harry saw her fingers flex. Harry knew the mark on her hand had healed with the help of the essence of murtlap, but he had seen faint red lines on the back of Colin Creevey's hand. Ginny had confirmed that he had not been quiet about his support of Harry and had been targeted by Umbridge on more than one occasion.

"Do you think she'll try it with you? I mean, you're a half blood," Ron asked quietly.

"Yes, but as far as she knows, my only guardians are the Dursley's. Since I happen to be emancipated, I can take my case to Madame Bones on my own behalf if Dumbledore refuses to do anything. Tonks told Sirius the DMLE has been secretly investigating the Toad Bitch since this summer," Harry said with a smug smile. He knew one of the tasks Sothew had completed before he died was to gather a neat little package of indisputable evidence against both Fudge and several of his flunkies at the Ministry that he had mailed to Madam Bones.

"Its too bad the Wizarding world doesn't have video surveillance cameras. It would be the perfect way to catch her in the act," Hermione said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, like the two way mirrors, only bigger or something," Ron said absently. Harry nodded and grinned as he watched Hermione scramble for a piece of parchment and a pencil. Both she and Harry had taken to using them for taking notes in classes where the teachers took no heed or didn't seem to mind. So far, only Flitwick had agreed to let them use them for homework, though.

"Something to research. I really wish I could talk to Professor Lupin about the charms and runes on those things. There has to be a way to make it work in a larger scale," she muttered. Harry nodded.

"You can borrow my mirror to call him sometime. As for Friday, I actually hope she tries it and then threatens to expel me if I say anything. It will give me an excuse to take my case to Madame Bones," he said. Hermione gave him a dark look but then sighed.

"Well, we can all think about it, preferably without losing your right to a magical education in Britain," his friend said sourly. Then she sighed. "Then again, something has to be done before she permanently scars one of the students, both physically and mentally." The muggleborn witch looked close to tears and Harry reached over and squeezed her hand.

"We'll think of something, 'Mione. I give the old hag until Christmas break. If she's not out by then, we start following Sirius' advice and prank her until she runs screaming for Fudge to save her."