Bones to Bones

Bones to Bones Chapter 12

Semper Fidelis

The nightmare had finally come to pass. After long months of hushed whispers and speculation, the event that everyone most feared was at hand. The O.W.L's had come. Everyone's nervousness and fear became obvious during the last week before the exams. Ernie somehow managed to become more manic and pompous at the same time, while Justin kept coming up with worse and worse jokes. Hannah? Susan was surprised that she hadn't worn a groove in the floor with her constant pacing. Susan wasn't immune either; she withdrew more and more, hiding inside the pages of her books. This time though, it was not some Muggle story that carried her to a far away land or a distant time. This time she lost herself in her textbooks, one moment trying to keep her eyes open through another page of Slinkhard's tendentious prose, the next trying to keep the Monster Book of Monsters from biting her as she looked up the care and feeding of Nifflers.

However, like so many nightmares, it soon became apparent that the reality was not nearly as bad as the fear that had preceded it. While Susan wouldn't exactly say that the exams were easy, she found that her endless hours of preparation and hard work had served her well. Even the Herbology exam had gone fairly well. Susan had been a bit nervous going into that one, mostly because she'd spent the entire day before trying to calm down Hannah after she had somehow let an entire flock of pink flamingos loose during her Transfiguration practical instead of revising for the Herbology exam. Somehow, that disaster managed to settle Hannah's nerves though, and while she may have struggled with a few exams, she was at least able to keep her composure.

Even exams can't go on forever and on Thursday night of the second week of O.W.L's Susan, Hannah and the boys trudged up to the Astronomy Tower for their Astronomy practical. Once they got past that, they would only have one more day of exams.

"Only three more. Finally! I thought that I'd never run out of tests!" said Susan.

"Well, if you didn't have Muggle Studies, you'd only have History of Magic tomorrow, so blame yourself!" said Justin.

"Yeah, sure rub it in. You'll be doing your last-second revising on the rebellion of Oglor the Unbearded..."

"No, no, it was Unglor the Unbearded! Oglor was the one with really bad acne!" interjected Hannah, a trace of her old panic coming back now that they were so close to the end.

"Anyway," said Susan, glaring at Hannah, "while you are getting all those goblins and their nicknames sorted out, I'll be trying to explain the meaning of 'do not fold, spindle or mutilate'."

The Astronomy Exam itself was fairly straightforward, and Susan found herself rushing through it. She doubted if she would get the "O", but she felt reasonably confident that there was an "E" coming for this one. She had finished her star chart, and was just taking a moment to double check everything when she looked down and saw a flash of light near Hagrid's cabin. In shock, Susan watched a battle break out on the grounds of Hogwarts. Hagrid's bulk was easy to recognize, as well as the toad like form of Professor Umbridge. What upset Susan the most though was that she recognized most of the other people down there as well. Susan wasn't sure of all of their names, but she'd seen them a few times when she'd dropped by her aunt's office at the Ministry.

"Dawlish!" Susan hissed under her breath, recognizing one form. "What's he doing here? He's supposed to be one of the top Aurors!"

"What?" asked Hannah, sounding frightened.

"That's Dawlish, one of the Aurors! Why would they be attacking Hagrid?"

Suddenly, the lean figure of Professor McGonagall came charging out of the castle, yelling at the attackers and interrupting the battle for a brief moment. Susan watched in horror as McGonagall's protests were cut short by a barrage of stunners. Susan didn't really see the rest of the battle, since she couldn't take her eyes off of the prone form of the Transfiguration teacher.

As soon as the exam was over, Susan handed in her star chart and made a beeline for the Owlery, not caring about the lateness of the hour. Pulling a sheet of parchment out of her pack, she quickly and angrily scribbled a note to her Aunt Amelia and sent it off with Agatha.

Aunt Amelia,

Just what do you think you are doing? I just had the lovely experience of seeing your Aurors assault two of my teachers! Why in the world would you have Dawlish come here and attack Hagrid? Not only that, but they stunned Professor McGonagall! I'm not even sure she's still alive!

S.

Susan stormed back to the dormitory, and marched up the stairs to her room, ignoring the crowd that was excitedly chattering about the night's events. She didn't understand, not at all. She knew that her aunt was friends with Professor McGonagall. She could almost see Hagrid getting into trouble for another breeding experiment gone wrong, but that surely was no reason to attack him like that! No matter how she turned it over in her mind, the only conclusion that she was sure of, was that something stunk about the whole thing. As badly as Susan needed sleep, to be fresh for her last two exams, it was a long time coming that night, and was far from restful.

As hard as it was to focus after the events of the night before, Susan managed to get through her last two exams in fairly good shape. The big surprise of the History of Magic exam was that the very last person anyone would have expected to crack under the pressure of the O.W.L's did just that. Harry Potter. Susan was on the far side of the room, wrestling with the Centaur's request to be considered "creatures", when Harry started screaming, rolling around on the ground, holding his head. Evidently, the pressure could get to anyone. Whoever devised the O.W.L's must have been a dark wizard of the highest order, that was certain.

After the final exam, everyone went back to the dormitory and just collapsed into the seats around the cold fireplace. There was none of the usual banter or polite chatter. Eventually though, Susan pried herself out of her deep armchair and went up to her room. Grabbing a pile of books she'd checked out, she headed off to the Library to return them. She was most of the way there when she heard an unfamiliar voice behind her.

"Susan! Susan!"

She turned around to find Prewett, the second year Slytherin boy. She wasn't even sure of his first name, just that he, like her, was one of the people whose family had been torn apart in the Dark Lord's reign of terror. "W-what?" said Susan shakily.

"Susan, be careful, the Inquisitorial Squad has gone berserk, and they don't like you to begin with."

"Huh? Well, ok, thanks I guess."

"You never saw me," said Prewett, disappearing around a corner.

Confused, Susan started off for the Library once again, wondering what the cryptic warning could have been about. Everything certainly seemed to be normal around the school, as students headed up and down the corridors chattering away happily. When she arrived at the Library, she found most of the first and second year Hufflepuffs huddled around tables trying to prepare for their own exams. Rose was hunched over what looked to be a Potions book, and she had a bit of a frown creasing her face. No surprise there, everyone frowned thinking of Potions. Dropping her books off, Susan started back to the Hufflepuff dorm, the cryptic warning already slipping from her mind. She was trying to decide what book she would cuddle up with that night (an entertaining book, not Slinkhard, that was a given), when a strangely muffled, yet angry voice echoed down the corridor.

"What do you think you're doing?"

The voice was familiar, but Susan couldn't quite pin down who it belonged to. Pulling out her wand, the warning once again fresh in her mind, she started to move down the corridor as quietly as she could.

"Where's your boyfriend?" hissed another voice.

When Susan got to a bend in the corridor, she cautiously poked out her head, to see what was going on. She nearly dropped her wand in shock. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode had cornered Cho Chang. Millicent had her elbow driven up under Cho's chin, driving the smaller girl against the wall, her face turning blue. Pansy had her wand against Cho's temple, and was the one talking.

"I asked you a question Chang, where is your boyfriend?"

Gasping, Cho managed to splutter, "Michael is up in the Ravenclaw dorm."

"Michael? What are you about Chang? Where is..."

Pansy didn't get a chance to finish her question though. Acting with the speed that her DA practice had instilled, Susan pointed her wand at Pansy and cried out "Stupefy", and before Pansy had slumped to the floor, had aimed at the larger Slytherin and yelled "Petrificus Totalus". Millicent stiffened and fell to the ground alongside Pansy.

"Are you ok?" asked Susan, running up to the coughing Cho. "What was that all about?"

"You..." said Cho, her face torn between thanks, confusion and even a touch of anger. "Why?"

"You think I'm going to let those two get away with that?" said Susan, trying to keep her own temper under check. She had helped Cho, and instead of thanks, was getting interrogated! "I said, what was this all about?"

"I don't know, I really don't. I think they must be looking for Harry, but I don't have the slightest idea why," answered Cho.

Susan knelt down next to Millicent, noticing that she looked like she had already been in a scrape of some sort, with a few cuts and bruises on her blocky face. "Well, I'd like some answers," said Susan, "but for now, I think it's best if we get back to our dormitories, and tell everyone to lay low for a bit." Cheerfully, she patted Millicent on the cheek, saying "See you around Millie!"

Cho and Susan started heading down the corridor again together, but before Susan could ask Cho why the Ravenclaw was following her, she once again heard angry voices coming down the hallway. This time though, the voice was clearly recognizable, as Justin's voice echoed down the ancient stone corridor.

"What are you about Malfoy?"

"Macmillian, Finch-Fletchley, I'll ask you one more time, do you have Potter hiding in your precious dormitory?" replied the all too familiar drawl.

"And if we choose not to answer such a stupid question?" retorted Justin, as Cho and Susan hurried down the corridor.

"You know Mudblood, you really should learn to count. There are three of us, and only two of you, and of course, I am a superior wizard to either of you."

Stepping out around the corner, a few feet behind Malfoy, Susan held out her wand and said, "You know, I'd like Justin and Ernie's chances even if the odds were three to two..."

"...but they aren't three to two now, are they?" finished Cho, as Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle spun around in response to the voices behind them.

"Malfoy, I would suggest that you get your loathsome face out of here before something terrible happens to make it even uglier, though, personally, I doubt that's possible," said Ernie in a cold voice. "Make no mistake though, the four of us are all perfectly willing to experiment."

His face beet red, Malfoy gestured to his two thugs, and they headed off down the hallway with all the speed and dignity they could muster, which wasn't much. As soon as they were gone, a confused welter of voices broke out.

"What are those morons up to now?" said Ernie.

"What happened to his face?" asked Cho.

Justin simply looked at Susan and Cho and asked, "So, are you two getting along now?"

The two girls looked at one another, and at the same time said "No, not really."

Cho looked at Susan a moment, and said "I need to get back and tell everyone to stay our of their way I think. Um... Susan... thanks." The last words were delivered in a low, almost incomprehensible voice, before Cho dashed off without another word.

"What was that all about?" asked Justin.

"I'm not sure, but I guess the Inquisitorial Squad has gone nuts," said Susan, intentionally avoiding Justin's real question. "I ran into Bulstrode and Parkinson doing the same sort of thing, they're all after Potter."

"Well, they may be after Potter, but it doesn't seem that that mind attacking the rest of us," said Ernie grimly. "We best get up to the common room, we have things to do."

A few moments later, the three of them burst into the common room, with Ernie yelling "Summerby!" at the top of his voice before the door had even closed behind him. Hannah looked up from where she had been snoozing in a chair in confusion. Soon enough, Tim came down from his room. Ernie quickly explained the situation to Tim, with Tim's frown deepening every moment.

"All right, it's finally happened. We've prepared for this. Let's get all of our people home," said Tim. Looking around, he asked "where are the kids?"

"I saw them about twenty minutes ago in the Library," answered Susan.

"Ok, Ernie, Justin, Hannah, Susan, go and get them back here. I'll change the password to the emergency one," said Tim, as Ernie nodded firmly in reply. "Smith! Midgen!" said Tim, looking around to see whoever else was around. "Go find Professor Sprout, and tell her what's happened. We are going to lock up and sit tight in here until this is sorted."

Susan and her group made it to the Library without incident. The first and second year students looked confused and more than a bit frightened when Ernie told them to pack up and come along, but they were used to listening to the prefect, so they were quickly ready. Rose looked at Susan, her questions obvious on her young face, but Susan simply shook her head, indicating that they'd explain everything later.

They were about halfway back to the Hufflepuff dormitory with their convoy when they came across Millicent and Pansy, once again prowling the halls, Susan's spells having worn off. Millicent turned red and glared at Susan in hatred, but with all four of the older Hufflepuffs obviously ready for any sort of trouble, the two Slytherin girls just slunk away muttering. Reaching the doorway, Ernie said "Khazad-dum", and the great granite door swung open, and the convoy filed inside.

Susan and the others hurried over to Tim. The older student nodded at them and said "Ok, glad to see you got all of them back in one piece. I have parties looking around for any others who may be out and about, but I think we'll have everyone home in about half an hour or so."

At that moment, the great door swung open again, and Eloise and Zacharias came in, both slightly breathless. "We found Professor Sprout. She's not sure what's happening either," said Eloise, "but Umbridge is gone, no one can find Snape either. She said that you have the right idea, that we should all sit tight. She'll make arrangements with the House Elves to get sandwiches delivered down here."

About an hour later, when the last of the Hufflepuffs had come in (thankfully there were no other major incidents to talk about), Tim walked over to the door, and with a wave of his wand sealed it. The only people who could open the door from the outside after that were the Head of House and the Headmaster. Everyone stayed up late that night, discussing the events of the day. Countless theories were proposed, bandied about, and eventually shot down. In the end, the only thing anyone could be sure of was that they didn't have the slightest idea what was going on, but that it wasn't good. Susan, Hannah and the boys didn't go to bed that night, instead falling asleep in their chairs, still wondering what was going on outside the door.

Early the next morning, everyone was startled into wakefulness when the door opened, and Professor Sprout and Professor Dumbledore walked in, both with grim expressions on their face. Dumbledore? What was he doing here? He was supposed to be on the run! A confused buzz of voices began to fill the room.

Interrupting the confused chatter, Dumbledore began to speak in a somber voice, "Yes, I am back, but there will be time for that later. Professor Sprout has told me what you did last night, and I wish to thank you, and say how proud I am of all of you. You were in a difficult situation, and managed to protect yourselves, and yet not make things worse. However, it is my sad duty to tell you that a much darker day has dawned. Last year I told you that Voldemort was back." When Dumbledore said the feared name, there was a collective flinch throughout the room, including Professor Sprout. "Last night, he made his first public appearance - at the Ministry of Magic."

Susan paled at the mention of the Ministry, but before she could interrupt Professor Dumbledore, he looked at her kindly and answered her unspoken question, "Miss Bones, your aunt is just fine. She was not at the Ministry at the time." A feeling of mixed horror and relief flooded through Susan's mind. Her aunt was safe, but the Dark Lord was back. He had shown his face. The bloodshed, the terror, how far away could it be?

"I have many things to attend to," said the Headmaster, "however, I felt that you needed to be told this distressing news." Then, in a swirl of robes he was off out the door.

Professor Sprout came up to Susan and gently put a hand on her shoulder, "Susan, can we talk?"

"Yes Professor?"

"Susan, your aunt is a very capable woman, but we need you to do your part as well."

"My part? I don't understand Professor."

"Susan, the Death Eaters are not above using family and loved ones to try to convince people to do what they want them to. That includes using you to try to get at your aunt. We'll continue to watch over you, but you have to be very careful that you don't put yourself into a position where they can use you against her."

Susan nodded, not having thought about that in her worst nightmares, even as she wondered about how Professor Sprout said "they" would "continue" to watch her. The Head of House squeezed Susan's shoulder and then headed off to confer with Tim.

The next days were an absolute blur for everyone. All the relief that had come with the ending of the tests had gone away in a second. Bitterly, Susan recalled that she had considered the tests a "nightmare". For all the world, she wanted nothing more than to have that particular nightmare back. It didn't take long for the rumors to start spreading. A few days later, one rumor in particular started making the rounds.

"Hey! Did you hear? You-Know-Who killed Sirius Black!" said Ernie, joining the others around a small table in the common room.

"Where did you hear that?" asked Justin keenly.

"Just got an owl from my mum," said Ernie. "I guess he was at the Ministry that night and You-know-who blew him into tiny little pieces!"

"Did you hear about this from your aunt?" asked Hannah, turning to Susan.

Susan just looked down at the table. She still hadn't heard from her aunt at all.

"Oh, it's ok Susan, I'm sure she's just busy," reassured Justin. "I'm sure she wants to write, but if she's gotten three hours of sleep in the last week, I'd be shocked."

"Yeah, I guess..." said Susan miserably. "Anyway, why would You-Know-Who kill his main supporter?"

"Maybe he thought that Black was trying to set up for himself, instead of being a good little stooge?" suggested Hannah.

"That makes sense," said Susan. "Maybe they'll all just kill each other."

Just then, Rose came up and said "Susan, you are wanted in Umbridge's office."

Susan sat up in shock. Umbridge's office? Why would she be wanted there? Umbridge was still in the hospital wing from all rumors, though some said she'd get out today. With a sinking feeling, she got up and left, the looks on her friends faces a clear sign that they understood what was going on as little as she did.

When she got up to the office, she saw Neville coming out the door, a satisfied smile on his face. "Hi Susan, she's waiting for you," said Neville.

Nervously, Susan knocked on the door, and was stunned when the voice that answered "Come in" was not that of Professor Umbridge, but was instead that of her aunt.

"Susan!" said Aunt Amelia, rushing past the desk and enfolding Susan in a massive hug.

"Aunt Amelia?" said Susan weakly, looking up, fighting the tears in her eyes.

"Susan, I'm sorry," said Aunt Amelia softly. "I was so worried and upset the last time I saw you. I wasn't totally fair to you."

"You... you aren't mad at me, after the letter I sent last week?"

Aunt Amelia waved her hand, "That? I didn't have anything to do with it, and I'd have been more upset if you hadn't been angry at what you saw. I was going to write you back, but you can imagine how busy it's been since then. Anyway, Dawlish is Fudge's creature now. Actually, it seems everyone wants to poach my Aurors. Fudge has done it, it seems that Dumbledore has done it, I'm wondering who next, Rita Skeeter?" she finished wryly.

"Anyway Susan, I've been told what's been going on here, and I'm very proud of you. You've kept your head in some very trying times."

Feeling like she was about to cry, Susan looked away from her aunt, and noticed that the cat portraits were all miserable looking as if they actually missed Umbridge. Turning back, she asked "Auntie, what are you doing here though? I'm glad to see you, but aren't you busy? With everything going on?"

Aunt Amelia sat back down, and motioned for Susan to also sit down. "I've done about as much as I can there for now. I've got the Aurors, the officers of the M.L.E, everyone, all out looking for leads. I needed to come up here and talk with some of the people who were involved at the Ministry last week, and take care of some other things."

"Oh? How is Harry? I haven't seen him since it happened."

"Actually, I haven't talked to him. Dumbledore has asked me not to. I can't say I'm happy about that, but he explained his reasons. Young Mr. Longbottom has given me some useful information though, about that, and something else."

"So, what's happening to Fudge?" asked Susan. "He looks kind of foolish now, doesn't he?"

"Well, he's still Minister. At least I've managed to get his private Aurors away from him. I posted Dawlish and Williamson up to Azkaban, now that the Dementors left we need someone to take charge of guarding the prisoners. He won't be able to cover for his people any more either, he's lost too much prestige for that. Which is the other reason I'm here actually."

"What do you mean Auntie?"

"Susan, the reason I was so upset with you before is that Dolores Umbridge is a very, very dangerous woman," said Aunt Amelia in a very serious voice. "Ever since Potter's trial before the school year began, I've been trying to track something down. I've had hints, but never enough for me to bring charges against her, not until now. But, I knew enough to know that she was even more dangerous than I would have guessed a year ago."

"Charges? For what?"

With a small smile her aunt explained, "Well, a couple of nights ago, I got an owl from a certain Draco Malfoy. He sent me information about something that Umbridge said in this very office. He was hoping that the information would get his father out of Azkaban."

"You didn't!"

"Of course I didn't. Young Malfoy doesn't know how the game is played. He didn't send a letter saying that he had information, he just sent the information. I never had to make a single promise. Mr. Longbottom though was able to confirm Malfoy's story just a moment ago . Dolores Umbridge sent Dementors to try to destroy Harry Potter, and she admitted it."

Susan slumped in her chair, shocked beyond words. That Umbridge was a foul hag, everyone knew that. But to do that? It seemed inconceivable. "So, you're here to..."

"Yes, I'm here to arrest her. Dumbledore asked that I not do it on school grounds, so I have some M.L.E. officers waiting for her when she leaves the castle shortly. I'll be there as well," said Aunt Amelia with satisfaction.

"Not Aurors?"

"No, right now, I'm not sure how many of them belong to Fudge and Umbridge. It's safer this way." Looking at her watch, Aunt Amelia stood up and said "Susan, I have to go now, but I'll see you at the end of term. I love you."

No longer fighting her tears, Susan hugged her aunt tightly for several moments before she left.