Unity & Perseverance

Straight To Business

A/N: This chapter is slightly shorter, however still covers a lot of bases.

Next chapter, I might decide to include the day Harry sits his Arithmancy and Ancient Runes tests, which I know if quite a big jump in time but I'll be sure to cover the events of the previous days if I do go this route. I'm excited for them to go back to Hogwarts, so that's why I'm so eager to move onwards in time haha.

Dorea woke up at half past nine the next morning, having had a long night once again reading her uncle Regulus's letter that she had forced off Kreacher. She kept it hidden away in her bedside cabinet drawer, for safekeeping. She was unsure if she should show it to her dad - she'd heard him coldly talk about him a few times that summer, and she wouldn't know how he'd react to the letter, for there was a chance he'd accuse it of being forged. What if it is? She thought. After all, she'd never even met her father's younger brother - and she'd only discovered what he bloody looked like at the start of July. She had found nothing else in Grimmauld Place with his handwriting, so there was no way she could prove it actually was his letter. He'd also been a Death Eater - was he really deserving of her sympathy? Even if he had been forced to join, he still took part in their sick cruelty. Oh, how conflicted he must have been though... He probably had no choice.

Not quite knowing how to feel about Regulus Black, she got out of bed and got dressed. Walking what felt like a mile to the kitchen, she saw Amelia and Harry at the table. Their house elves, Ditsy and Dippey, instantly whipped up a toasted bagel for her. As they ate, they conversed. "Where's Sirius?" Dorea asked them.

"He went for a walk around the front garden about two minutes ago, he didn't say why." Amelia replied.

Her dad did come back in, and hung his coat up on the hook behind the kitchen door. He said hello to her with a warm smile, and then got himself a glass of water. "What's on the agenda today?" He asked.

"I'm going to do some Ancient Runes study, and then maybe go to the duelling rooms." Harry said.

"I've got to finish that damned Transfiguration essay," Amelia said, not sounding very excited.

Dorea had a think - she hadn't really planned what she was going to do. "Might spend the morning picking out a few books from the library to read, do a bit of studying, and then brew. Maybe in the evening I'll go to the duelling room."

Sirius told them that Professor Dumbledore was coming around, but he was quite weird about it - he said it was only for a private meeting between them both, and that neither of them were allowed in on the meeting. "What if it's about our club?" Harry said as they walked up the staircase together, back to their prospective rooms. "What if Dumbledore rejected its planning?"

"Oh, surely not," Amelia sighed, "McGonagall said it would be approved."

"Yeah, but he's been really cold towards me." Harry said.

"Hey, what if it's news regarding the Order?" Dorea voiced her thought, "Maybe it's news about Hagrid, who I've never seen turn up for the meetings once."

"Oh gosh, what if he's been hurt?" Amelia gasped.

"Who could possibly want to hurt Hagrid?" Harry answered, but still looked nervous.

"Well, he wouldn't be able to defend himself magically, since he was expelled," Dorea considered, "and I'm not sure if he'd be able to do wandless magic..."

It seemed neither of them wanted to think about the prospect of an injured Hagrid further, as they moved on. "I've already completed four chapters of the Ancient Runes Intro book, by the way!" Harry sounded pleased, "It's coming to me much more than Arithmancy is. I wouldn't complain if I only managed to pass Runes - we still do O.W.L's in sixth year, don't we?"