Chapter - 81 : Blood Quill and Rebellion

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"Agreed."

"Brilliant. Now, I'm sure you're all tired so we'll let you go, but just in case we don't see you before the end of term, have a safe and happy Christmas."

The sentiment was returned and soon after the T.A. exited the Room of Requirements in small groups of two or three.

"This break couldn't get here soon enough," Ron sighed, pulling the door to the room shut as he and the five others slipped out into the empty hall. "Merlin knows I need it, this term has been brutal."

"I couldn't agree with you more," Harry said. "Two weeks of no homework, no lessons, no Umbridge is exactly what I need."

"Well don't go getting too excited," Hermione cut in. "We still have one more day before the end of term."

"Would it be too much to hope that the professors will go easy on us?" Neville asked.

"Most likely," Blaise sighed. "With our luck they'll give us twice the amount of work and a ridiculous amount of homework to keep us from forgetting everything we've learned while we're off. That wouldn't do what with the upcoming…"

"O.W.L.s," the others chorused, pulling disgusted faces as they did. The teachers' constant harping on the upcoming O.W.L.s and just how important they were had driven even Hermione to near madness.

The six friends shared a quiet laugh before pausing at a split in their paths. "Well, we'll see you tomorrow morning," Harry said as he, Blaise, and Draco headed towards the hall leading down to the Slytherin common room. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight." Ron, Hermione, and Neville chorused, moving in the directions of the halls that would lead to their respective dorms.

"Don't let the bedbugs bite," Harry called.

The sound of Hermione's amused laughter, and Ron's worried queries about what bed bugs where and who they'd be biting followed the Slytherins all the way down to the dungeons.

The next morning, Ron wasn't at breakfast. Neville had shown up only a few minutes after Hermione, Draco, Harry, and Blaise's arrival at the Ravenclaw table with the news that Professor McGonagall had paid a visit to the Gryffindor dorms at an obscenely early hour of the morning and pulled all of the Weasley children from their beds, they had left Hogwarts via the Headmaster's fire place not long after.

They had all been incredibly concerned about their friend and his family's wellbeing, so worried Harry was almost willing to approach the Headmaster to find out what had happened, but they eventually decided against that course of action and thus were left to worry for the entire day. McGonagall had been very careful not to let slip the Weasleys' situation.

They were granted reprieve a day after the Weasleys' departure when Ron sent them a letter assuring them that he and his family were, for the most part, fine. His father had been attacked by a large snake while snooping around the Department of Mysteries for the Order. He'd been found, unconscious and bleeding, when an Order member had gone out in search for him after he was late returning home. Mr. Weasley had suffered severe blood loss, and the venom coating the snake's fangs made it so that his wounds couldn't be healed with magic, but other than that he was fine. Ron and the rest of the Weasley's had visited him at St. Mungo's the day before and he was already awake and irritating his wife.

"Maybe I shouldn't go skiing with my parents," Hermione said worriedly. "I could always tell them I want to stay here and do a bit more studying, they'd be disappointed but they'd understand."

Harry rolled his eyes in exasperation; he, Hermione, Neville, Draco, and Blaise were among the many students at the Hogsmeade train station preparing to leave Hogwarts for the holidays. Hermione was going skiing with her parents while the others, Draco and Blaise included, were spending their holidays at Grimmauld Place. It had taken three quarters of an hour, several condescending remarks about prejudice, and a threat to spend Christmas with the Malfoys instead, before Dumbledore and McGonagall agreed to allow Blaise and Draco to join them, something that both boys were incredibly grateful for. Blaise's mother was so busy with a new husband, she probably wouldn't even notice her son's absence, and the Malfoys were caught up with business for the Dark Lord, something Draco was leery to get entangled in.

"No, Hermione," Harry told her firmly. "Ron said his dad will be all right, go and spend time with your parents, we'll let you know if anything happens."

The brunette bit her lip uncertainly. "If I send an owl now, it'll reach them before they can start heading to the station." Harry pinned her with a stern glare and her shoulders slumped. "Oh, all right. I'll go."

"Brilliant," Draco snapped. "Now that that's settled, do you mind if we board the train before my arse cheeks fall of?"

"Eloquent as always, Draco," Harry laughed, but began trudging through the calf high snow to the train obligingly.

Harry and the others settled down in a train compartment with Luna and spent the entire ride to Kings Cross playing several games of exploding snap, reading articles from the newest edition of the Quibbler, exchanging chocolate frog cards, and persuading Hermione that, no, she could not abandon her parents to spend Christmas with them at headquarters.

"You promise to let me know if anything changes?" Hermione asked as she and the others climbed off of the train.

"I promise," Harry swore. "Now look, there are your parents, let's go before you change your mind again."

The four boys ignored Hermione's protests and dragged her to where her parents were waiting by the portal that led out to Kings Cross. Greetings were exchanged, followed by several minutes of polite talk before the Granger's departed and Neville, Blaise, Draco, and Harry moved on to find the Order members meant to escort them to Grimmauld Place.

"There," Harry said, pointing to a nondescript brown haired man, and a blonde woman with startlingly blue eyes. The small group dragged their trunks to the duo. "Remus." Harry dropped his trunk and reached out to hug his surrogate uncle "Tonks."

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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