Hope In Hiding (Book 2 of the Lost Potter Series)

Honey, I'm Home!

Olivia took her sweet time flying out of Hogwarts. She felt as if a chapter was coming to a close, even if the day at Hogwarts had only lasted hours. She flew over the entrance hall one last time to catch a glance of the dying party before diving into the Whomping Willow.

The passageways were cramped and crumbling as always, though Olivia decided to fly instead of walk. The caverns had no insulation, unfortunately, and so she was freezing the entire route. She returned to the Shack and transformed instantly, letting out a shriek of surprise as Sirius, back in his animagus form, came bounding  up to her.

Once he saw her transformed, he himself changed back, hugging her for only a second before pulling back and checking her over, apparently for any injuries.

Olivia chuckled at him, "I'm fine, Sirius! Nothing went horribly wrong this time around," She smiled as he did, "And it's nice to see you too."

"How did it go? How's Harry holding up?" Sirius asked as they walked into Olivia's old bedroom, both shuddering as a breeze tore through the boarded-up window.

"It went pretty well. Harry's doing fine from what I can tell, and I got to talk to Hermione and Ron," and Draco, she kept to herself, "in person, which was fantastic."

Sirius nodded to show he was listening, "What about the Yule Ball? How'd that go?"

Olivia shrugged, "Ron was pouting about Hermione going with Krum the whole time, so I didn't get to dance with him. They got into a full-blown fight over it, too, which really made me mad. I only get to be there one day and they just had to start fighting," Olivia sighed, but continued, "I yelled at them and stormed off after that. I literally ran into Fleur, the champion from Beauxbatons, which was fun. And then I-uh-" Olivia tried to trail off, remembering too late to not mention Draco to Sirius.

Sirius of course picked up on this, "And then?"

Olivia huffed and decided to be honest, "I talked to Draco and told him that I was okay. I know you said be careful about him—"

"And were you?" Sirius deadpanned, being the most paternal Olivia had ever seen him.

"Of course I was careful. I didn't say where I'd been, where I was staying, any of that. I just said that I was fine and then we danced like old times. It was fun." Olivia shrugged, hoping she hadn't somehow screwed it up. She'd gotten a little emotional around Draco, sure, but she didn't think she'd revealed too much.

Sirius sighed, "That's probably fine. If anything happens though, we need to be prepared to move again."

Olivia nodded, fully aware that they could be on the run at any time. She tried to think of anything else eventful that had happened, "I met Ron's sister, who Harry went with. She was pretty nice. Um...My disguise wore out early and I couldn't find Hermione to help, which is why I'm back before midnight.  That's pretty much it."

Sirius nodded once again, "Nothing suspicious around? Did you see Karkaroff any?"

Olivia rolled her eyes at his paranoia, "I wasn't exactly looking out for it, but no I didn't notice anything too weird. The weirdest thing was Professor Moody, his eye kinda freaks me out. Karkaroff sat at the table with the other Judges but that's all I saw of him."

Sirius didn't look too satisfied with the answer but let it slide. His eyes widened slightly as he seemed to remember something, patting the pockets in his jacket and jeans until he found what he was looking for. He pulled out a small but thick book out of his pocket, handing it over with a smirk,"Told you I'd forget if you didn't remind me. Happy Christmas, Liv."