Past Present

"Must've left at the crack of dawn," Ron mumbled, reaching for the orange juice.

"She said they wanted to leave early. Hermione hasn't seen her parents at all since summer. We just didn't get up early enough, now did we?" Harry soothed Ron. It had, after all, been Ron's idea that they try to get up early enough to see them off. The Great Hall was largely deserted for breakfast on Christmas Eve morning. Quite a change from last year and the Yule Ball that had kept nearly everyone at Hogwarts over the holidays. They sat so close to the staff table, they could overhear everything without even trying. Not that Harry particularly wanted to overhear Umbridge's sharp voice and her nosy questions. Even the staff table looked a bit lonely and deserted, with so many gone and so many still in bed this early.

Since Snape did not look to be in the mood to talk, and McGonagall and Dumbledore had already finished their breakfasts and were in the thick of a discussion over the merits of thick, wooly socks, Umbridge was left to talk to Hagrid. They were both looking surprisingly cheerful, considering their mutual dislike of one another. Or maybe, Umbridge was cross examining Hagrid, more accurately.

"Professor Delacour? Has she gone home for the holidays?"

"Aye. Gone back to France. Seein' her fam'ly," Hagrid said with booming enthusiasm. He waved to Dumbledore and McGonagall as they left the Great Hall, still chatting about whether sock toes were better reinforced.

"Professor Trelawney?" Umbridge sniffed.

"Sleepin' in, I expect. She don' eat wi' us too often, any rate. Disrup's her aura, or somethin'," Hagrid said with a grin, spearing a kipper with his fork.

"Interesting, Hogwarts having all the Triwizard Tournament champions back on campus this year," Umbridge remarked.

"It's tha', alrigh'. Certainly hasn' been dull since Viktor got on campus. Couldn' accuse us o' tha'," Hagrid replied with a twinkle in his eye. Harry nearly choked on his orange juice before stopping his laugh.

"Speaking of which, where is Krum? Gone back to Bulgaria, or wherever it was he was from, I expect?" Umbridge asked.

"Not 'til tomorrow," Hagrid said. "He's got Christmas to visit 'ome, Boxing Day he has an exhibition match."

"Sleeping in, then?"

"Nope. Gone. I've got 'is dogs for the next three days."

"Where's he gone to then?"

"Gone wi' Hermione Granger," Hagrid said calmly. Both he and Ron nearly tossed their forks over their heads in their surprise. Harry knew Hagrid was terrible at keeping secrets, but he had just handed that one over to Umbridge. What was he thinking?

"Wwwwhhhhaaaat!" Umbridge screeched. For once, Harry agreed with the sentiment. He and Ron froze, eyeing one another across the table, mouths full, mid-chew.

"Gone wi' Hermione Granger. Left abou' forty minutes ago. On 'is broom," Hagrid replied in the same, even tone. So, they had only missed seeing them off by a few minutes, then, Harry thought.

"Gone where?" Umbridge asked, her bulging eyes going even wider.

"Haven' a clue. They were headed toward Hogsmeade. From there, the easiest way to get anywhere if you can't Apparate is by Floo, from the Three Broomsticks," Hagrid said, giving full attention to his plate.

"What's Hagrid playing at? He knows as well as you and I do that they were going to see Hermione's parents!" Ron hissed across the table under his breath. Harry put a finger to his lips, shushing Ron.

"You mean to tell me that you don't know where they were going? You let a teacher go off with a student and didn't ask where they were going?" Umbridge said.

"We tend to trust the teachers we hire wi' the students roun' here. Besides, I'm not the headmaster. I assume Viktor's cleared wherever they're goin' wi' Dumbledore. Got no reason to think he didn't," Hagrid said airily.

"Well, I'll just have to go talk with Dumbledore about it!" Umbridge huffed, getting out of her chair.

"Can't. He's gone by now. Said somethin' 'bout 'im and McGonagall takin' in an opera somewhere. They jus' lef'. Can't rightly remember where they decided to go, neither," Hagrid replied.

"Well, we'll just see about this! I intend to get to the bottom of things, even if no one around here is interested in the truth!" Umbridge said, flinging her napkin down and storming off.

"Has Hagrid completely lost his mind? She already thinks Viktor and Hermione shouldn't even be living in the same tower, and now he's made it sound like they might have been eloping, for all he knew," Harry whispered. Hagrid was getting up from the staff table, and heading right for them.

"Harry! Be in the common room in fifteen minutes! Ye'll be havin' a visitor! In the fireplace!" Hagrid said to Harry.

"Visitor?" Harry said, now completely perplexed.

"Shh! Just be there. Floo," Hagrid said knowingly, laying a finger next to the bridge of his nose. "Couldn' ha' Umbridge hangin' aroun', watchin' the Floo network. Had to keep 'er busy on a trail tha's gonna end up somewhere completely 'armless. Wi' any luck, keep her busy an hour."

Ron and Harry dawdled over their toast for a few minutes, then walked as quickly as they dared up to the common room, which, like most of the castle, was completely deserted. Harry sat in one of the armchairs in front of the fireplace.

"Who you reckon it is?" Ron said.

"Who else? Sirius, I guess. Couldn't be anyone else, could it?" Harry answered. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the head of one Sirius Black appeared among the flames.

"Harry! Happy Christmas! A day early, but happy all the same," Sirius said.

"Sirius, look, what's going on? I mean, Umbridge is here and Hagrid said she was watching the Floo network and..." Harry began.

"Enough of that. Don't worry. Umbridge is on a little impromptu fact finding mission, let's say. She left a few minutes ago for Hogsmeade. Trying to find out where one of her precious students is," Sirius said sarcastically.

"But Viktor ..."

"...has agreed to leave a trail even she can follow but not to be too obvious about it," Sirius said, then gave a short barking laugh.

"Beg pardon?" Harry said.

"Not that he wouldn't have taken Hermione home using pretty much the same route anyway. The tricky bit was how to get her from the Leaky Cauldron to the Granger house. He decided to have a quick chat with Tom the innkeeper about where they were headed. Tom always asks anyway, and like Dumbledore said, if one of the patrons happens to recognize him, all the better," Sirius beamed.

"Why would getting Hermione from the Leaky Cauldron to her parents be the tricky bit? I mean, they were just planning on taking the underground, then walking if they had to," Harry said, scratching his head.

"Not Hermione. Umbridge. She's sure to follow and see that the Granger house is where they actually end up. You know how suspicious she is. Lucky the Ministry knows a bit about the underground. Umbridge shouldn't have too much trouble figuring out which station is closest to the house. She's almost sure to ask Tom first, but if one of the barflies in there happens to tell Umbridge they've seen Viktor Krum today, all the better. Harry, Viktor's kind of doing double duty. He's making sure Hermione's safe, and he's getting Umbridge off Hogwarts grounds for a while. So I could talk to you, see you," Sirius explained.

"So that's why Hagrid acted like he didn't know where they were going in front of her? But what if she comes back? Catches you here?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure the old bat will at least make sure Viktor and Hermione ended up with her parents. The way Dumbledore describes her, she might knock on the door and demand to know where they're sleeping in relation to one another to see if it meets her approval. We've got a few more minutes at least. Even if she knew exactly where she was going, went straight there and straight back," Sirius said, pursing his lips.

"What are you up to? Where are you?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, nothing much. Hiding out in this blasted house. I'm working on getting a meeting place fit for a meeting of the Order, if we should need it. Sorry I can't tell you any more Harry, but you'll find out soon enough. So, what's going on with you?" Sirius said.

" Quidditch, homework, more Quidditch and homework," Harry said with a sigh.

"No more funny dreams like last year? Nightmares?" Sirius asked, narrowing his eyes and studying Harry.

"No. No funny dreams about Voldemort," Harry said. It wasn't a lie, exactly. Those dreams he had been having weren't about Voldemort. They weren't nightmares. They were wonderful.

"Scar still burn?" Sirius asked, concern etched onto his face.

"A lot of the time. I expect it now," Harry replied.

"Speaking of which, Dumbledore tells me he wants you to take a new class. Occlumency," Sirius said.

"Occlumency?"

"Sort of mental self defense. Keeps others out of your mind, Harry. Dumbledore's concerned that soon enough Voldemort is going to figure out that the link goes both ways. He could try to use that, Harry," Sirius warned.

"The last thing I need is another class!" Harry said bitterly.

"Unfortunately, Snape is the one who is going to teach you..." Sirius said, screwing up his face into a look of distaste.

"What! Snape?"

"I know. I wanted Dumbledore. Or even... well, but I expect he has enough on his plate as it is...got enough things of his own...back and forth... But I've told Snape that if I hear he's using these lessons to give you a hard time, he'll have to answer to me. I'm your godfather, after all."

"But..."

"Harry, Dumbledore thinks it's necessary. But don't let anyone know, least of all Umbridge. Starting in the new year. Everyone will think you're going for Remedial Potions lessons, alright?"

"What?"

"Harry," Sirius said with a reproachful note in his voice. Ron, who had been standing near the portrait hole, ran over and shook Harry's shoulder.

"Sounds like someone's coming!" he hissed.

"Sorry Harry. Need to go, even if that isn't Umbridge. Take care of yourself, Harry. Happy Christmas," Sirius said.

"Happy Christmas, Sirius, wish we could have talked longer," Harry said gloomily.

"Enjoy your couple of days out," Sirius added, looking a little envious before disappearing. The portrait hole opened and in walked a mournful looking second year Gryffindor who was staying over the holiday. He had shuffled downstairs for breakfast just as Harry and Ron were leaving. Couldn't have eaten much. He was probably very confused as to why Harry was shooting him such an awful look, but frankly, Harry didn't care.

By lunch, an extremely irritated Umbridge was back in the Great Hall, and by dinner, she was sitting next to Dumbledore, who had also returned. Once again, Harry and Ron found they could hear every word of the conversation as long as they stayed quiet. "Dolores, if I had known it would concern you so much who accompanied Hermione Granger home to make sure she was safe, I would have sent out an announcement. Then you and Hagrid would have known where they were headed. All my fault, really. I should have made it clear to everyone on staff who might see them leaving this morning that Viktor was taking Hermione home. Viktor travels so much, I hardly see how he keeps up with his own schedule, much less how Hagrid can be expected to keep up with it," Dumbledore said calmly.

"And why exactly did you feel it was necessary to send a student home personally accompanied by a teacher?" Umbridge huffed.

"Uncertain times Dolores. Uncertain times, as you well know. All the other students went home on the Hogwarts Express with all the professors who were traveling home as well, and they were met at the station by their parents. I wanted to afford Hermione the same protection rather than let her travel alone, so I was quite willing to let her be accompanied by a member of my staff. And I believe she and her parents invited him over, Dolores. Christmas Eve worked best for all of them, and Ted and Helen were quite gratified that Viktor was willing to accompany their daughter on the journey," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eye and a soft smile. "In fact, I have a letter in my office where they stated such to me. I believe that young man made an extremely favorable impression on them when he visited last summer. She could have gone home for the holidays on the Hogwarts Express if her parents had wished. Instead, they gave their permission for alternative arrangements." Harry smiled to himself, noticing that Dumbledore had not added what the rest of these arrangements entailed. He wondered if Dolores Umbridge would be having a similar meltdown tomorrow when she found out Viktor had taken Hermione, Harry and Ron to Pavlova and the Burrow. And that Boxing Day, they would be sitting in a stadium in Bulgaria watching the National Team play an exhibition match against Ireland. Bulgaria had won the home stadium advantage by winning the Internationals. Seamus Finnigan would be as green as a shamrock with envy when he found out. It would feel a bit strange, rooting for Bulgaria this time around, but after seeing them play this summer, Harry felt sure Bulgaria would have no trouble taking on Ireland this time.