Umbridge did get howlers. An entire army large enough to fill up her entire office and create a massive chain reaction which torched down the pink themed abomination of a room and chased her kitten paintings into abandoning their burning home.

It was like a moving train wreck with the students being uncaring bystanders, gawking and pointing to the scorched stone and charred remains of the door outside of the toad's destroyed office as teachers tried to shoo them into class. It worked, but barely as mutters of, "Serves that witch right," and snickers of, "Maybe she'll finally get the hint and leave," floated up into the air as everyone reluctantly did as they were told.

"Beautiful, absolutely beautiful." Selvis sobbed, tears of laughter and pure joy streaming down his face as Luna mused, "Do you still have that camera? I need a picture of this."

"I think EVERYONE needs a picture of this." Ness snickered, turning to join the herd of leaving students when a voice strained with false cheer called, "Potter, Earthbound. A word if you please."

"What does that Toad want?" Cloak wondered, bristling as the crowd of remaining students paused and parted to allow Umbridge to walk over to him and Potter, who was standing by a grumpy Ginny stuck with miffed Ron.

"Um…where exactly?" Ness asked, gesturing to the scorched room, "Your office is sort of torched."

Snickers floated up into the air as Umbridge's face burned a hateful red, her 'sweet' smile stretching to its limits as her eye twitched with barely suppressed rage. "I believe an empty classroom will work to discuss you and Potter's punishment."

"Punishment?" Harry echoed blinking in disbelief as Ron snapped, "For what?! They didn't blow up your office!"

"Wish we thought of it though." Fred—or maybe George—loudly whispered, prompting more snickers to bounce around the tense hallway.

"For slander, reaching out to two outside and disgraceful news publishers—" Umbridge started, Luna bristling and fixing Umbridge with a glare for that statement, "—And conspiring against the Ministry with bold faced lies." Umbridge finished, practically spitting "lies" with a venomous hiss that would have made any Slytherin proud and then disgusted by her reasoning for it.

The hallway was quiet for a moment, everyone processing the reasons for Potter's and Ness' upcoming punishment when someone— Slytherin—spoke up. "Is it conspiring against the Ministry when it's true?"

Umbridge's smile twitched as she turned to give the offender a glare, flinching a little when she saw it was a second year Slytherin trying their best to seem confident as they fidgeted from the spotlight placed upon her. "I mean, they have allowed a known terrorist to run free in the form of a rat and tried to murder a man innocent of a fatal muggle attack."

"Yea, and they tried to off Barty Crouch Jr. instead of wriggling information out!" A Hufflepuff added sounding annoyed as a Gryffindor growled, "It's because of you that my poor mum's been scared silly! She wants to pull me out of school since she's worried I'll get attacked for being a muggle born!"

"It isn't our fault we wished to inform our community about how the Ministry's been treating us." A Ravenclaw smartly stated, huffing a little as they added, "Especially when they refuse to give us information on You-know-who."

"Yea! Didn't he try to off Weasly's dad or something?"

"I think so. Actually, I think he tried to do it twice!"

"So, You-Know-Who WAS behind St. Mungo's attack?!"

"Well, I don't know for sure. But I could know if we got more dedicated reports."

"Maybe his freed minions did it! They did break out around that time."

"No, they broke out when the Mystic Informer was burned down. Don't know why though since they were on the Hate Dumbledore campaign at the time of You-Know-Who's return."

Like the howlers, a chain reaction of protests and barbed comments against the Ministry's performance destroyed Umbridge's position. Her face deepened to an ugly brick red as she stormed down the hallway and away from the students voicing the truth and their opinions.

The teachers allowed this to go on for a bit longer than they should have before they ordered everyone to head to class and got the caretaker to begin cleaning up Umbridge's office. For the moment it seemed like they had won. Umbridge didn't bother teaching class—her teaching supplies had been blown up alongside her office—and at dinner she was mysteriously absent from the table.

Dumbledore reported that this was because she had been called away for a brief meeting at the Ministry office. Presumably to see if the papers' claims were true and how to do damage control.

Ness allowed a small smile of victory but didn't join Ginny and Luna in their happy dance of Umbridge getting fired as the 'brief' meeting morphing into 'a week-long meeting'. Ness was hoping it would evolve into a month long meeting but he knew better. Umbridge was a worse version of Pokey, A coward who used others and their status to slip out of trouble but would always come back to settle the score come armed with more ammo and minions than they had before. And for Umbridge, the ammo would be being backed by the Ministry and her minions students blackmailed to do her bidding.

This was something he dreaded to see happen as he prepared himself for the next big hurdle. Occlumency and Hermione's mystery meeting, would Professor Kale bring it up what happened during Occlumency? Or would it be kept under wraps? Did H—Potter even know about the meetings?

He was tempted to ask but he also didn't want to care. He wanted to distance himself from Potter's mess as much as he could before his nightmares got even worse.

They had been…okay for the most part, but for how long? How long until he started lashing out in his sleep to defend himself? "Hopefully. Not until the summer." Ness thought, glancing up at the clock that informed him it was time for Occlumency.

"It feels like a funeral march." Cloak muttered as Ness packed up his homework and got out of bed.

Normally Ness did his homework in the room of requirement with Selvis or Luna if he felt like skipping dinner. But today he decided to linger, listening in on the conversations down in the main room of Gryffindor Tower as people speculated what would happen to Umbridge and how the Ministry would start building their defenses against Voldemort. Or, perhaps if the Ministry would start building their defenses.

The Daily Prophet had been eerily quiet, almost as if they were reluctant to talk about the two hottest topics floating around the wizarding world. It was times like this Ness wished that wizards had a TV, so he could see how others were taking the news.

Did they agree? Did they want to fight back? Did they hate it? Fan letters were nice but they didn't give him a big insight to things. Ness allowed a sigh to slip free as he looked up at the ceiling of the marble hallway.

"When did I get so political?" he wondered. Tightening his grip on Cloak who softly replied, "Well, when your opponent is a member of politics it makes sense."

"I guess but…it's so WEIRD."

"And this is a very weird and dangerous situation—turn right here."

Ness did as told, forcing himself to look forward as Sweepy grumbled, "I don't need to turn right."

"He wasn't talking to you." Nagini deadpanned, prompting Sweepy to give a rustle of annoyance before their voices faded. "They've been quiet." Ness noted, unable to remember a prank they had done in the last month.

"I believe they're trying to blame the Toad for the pranks and attacks that have happened over the year."

"Makes sense, everything sort of DID go crazy when she showed up…even though it was actually just-,"

"Potter."

Ness stumbled a bit and glanced at Cloak with a small frown, "Uh, no it was me not Potter. Why would-,"

"No, Potter BEHIND YOU."

Oh. Ness fought the urge to glance behind him and pick up the pace, doing that would alert H—Potter that Ness knew he was there. So, he instead kept walking greatly uncomfortable with Potter walking behind him, perhaps pulling his wand out and aiming it at his back and—

"He's not doing that. He's merely walking and thinking about something." Cloak soothed, rustling a little to try and add physical comfort as Ness gave a hard swallowed, "Is he trying to approach me?"

"No…he's, I think he's debating on staying unnoticed or approaching you. His expression is…conflicted."

Conflicted? Over what? Did he know about Hermione's meetings? Was he unsure how to approach him after being called by his last name and hinted that they weren't—and almost never were—friends?

"Ah, he's decided."

"On what?!"

"On staying unnoticed."

But why? Even though Ness hadn't gotten to know Potter personally he knew that Potter wasn't one for sneaking around…Okay sneaking around for something that wouldn't benefit him, he still remembered when they snuck into Hogsmeade when Potter wasn't allowed to go and he was too young to attend.

But Potter also wasn't the one for subtlety. He either kept his mouth shut or told those closest to him about whatever was going on to solve whatever problem he or they had. So why the hesitation now?

Well, whatever it was he wasn't going to care. He was going to count his blessings and be thankful that Potter wasn't taking advantage of the empty halls and—"Someone's hiding a trump card." Cashino murmured, something Cloak quickly translated into, "Someone's watching us."

"Any clue who?" Ness asked, the urge to look around more unbearable than before as Sister Mary whispered, "Don't know, they aren't wearing their school robes."

"Looks like a girl." Sweepy noted as a deranged and garbled voice sang, "Blackened liar~ blackened lie~! Changing their color for a blackened lie~!"

"Who the heck is that?!" Ness yelped, biting his tongue to prevent himself from shuddering from just how wrong it sounded.

"Ah, that would be the Twisted Painting." Cloak replied, "He…er, they're quiet…unique. They're the ones behind the various headaches and aiding your escape from the toad's office when you first got detention."

"Twisted~ wicked~ free the mind and find the lies~!"

"Uh…thanks…?" Ness managed, suppressing a shiver as the Twisted Painting cackled, "A kitty wants to sharpen its claws~ Uses the earth as its pawn~ Pawn doesn't like it though~ Hello-hello!"

"Does…do they always do that?" Ness asked, hating the odd static that was creeping into his brain as the Twisted Painting rambled.

"Make almost no sense? Yes." Sweepy answered, growling a little when Twisted Painting hummed, "A lion with feathers~ come now untethered~ Wishing to solve the wrongs and right the rights~! Chitter chatter—stars align! Create a stepping stone of demise!"

"Speak. English." Potio grumbled, groaning when the Twisted Painting merely laughed and faded away. Leaving Ness with a headache as he pushed open the door to Snape's office. "Good evening professors." He greeted, sitting down as Ha—Potter silently followed him and gave curt nods in Professor Snape and Kale's directions.

Prompting Snape to give him an annoyed sneer but oddly not comment on his apparent rudeness once Professor Kale shot him a look before smiling at them.

How Professor Kale managed to keep his cool was beyond Ness. After getting no progress with Potter he would have just given up and allowed him to reap the consequences for his dangerous actions. Maybe Professor Kale had experience with idiots, that was probably it. Like every Occlumency class of late Ness was excused to do answer some potions questions—he actually WAS failing Potions and since his mind was well guarded he didn't really need to keep practicing with Occlumency—while Potter 'tried' to close his mind.

He got to question two when he heard the frustrated snarl of, "Get up, Potter." Which prompted him to suppress a weary glare aimed in Potter's direction.

"Here comes the argument." Cloak sighed as Professor Kale prepared to intervene and give both parties a chance to cool off. "Potter, why are we doing this?" Snape questioned, his voice low with fury as Potter sat up and poorly hide a frustrated glare.

"So, I can learn Occlumency." Potter replied, briskly adding "Sir." When Snape sharpened his glare. "And why are you learning Occlumency?"

"So I can close my mind from Vo-,"

"Potter…" Professor Kale warned, his tone more disappointed than disapproving as Potter blinked and corrected himself, "The Dark lord."

"So, why is it that I keep seeing a memory that seems out of place?" Snape questioned, intriguing Ness as he held his breath praying that Potter didn't discover another lead to find Voldemort.

"I—I had a dream about it. I'm trying to figure out what it meant." Potter explained his attention focusing on a purple bottle as Professor Kale gently asked, "Would you like to talk about it? Sometimes talking helps make a problem easier to solve."

Ness suppressed a scowl as Potter's eyes flickered over to him then back at the bottle, "No, sir."

"So, you had a dream about a man kneeling in a dark room and Earthbound standing behind a closed door in the same night?" Snape pressed a sneer forming as Potter's interest in the bottle grew stronger.

"He's seen me behind that door…?" Ness wondered, feeling sick as he looked back to his potion questions. Trying to block out the scene as he tried to answer why you should use a hexed clover instead of a three-leaf clover for a Balanced Luck Potion.

He had barely gotten to question five when he spotted a flash of motion of motion from Potter and snapped to attention. His stomach dropping as Potter pointed his wand at Snape and yelled, "Protego!"

"Potter!" Professor Kale yelped, moving to stop them but faltering when Snape recoiled, his eyes glassy and his wand hand going slack.

"I-is this supposed to happen?!" Ness asked getting to his feet as Cloak feverishly whispered, "N-no, now Potter is in Professor Snape's mind. I believe he used the wrong spell."

"I-I don't believe so." Professor Kale stated, fidgeting as he helplessly looked between the two parties. "Should I do something? Like flash?" Ness asked, biting his lip when Professor Kale tittered, "That might make it worse. Let's um, yell-,"

"ENOUGH!" They jerked back, watching as Potter was seemingly given a hard push and Snape's eyes sharpened with murderous rage that contrasted his almost white face.

"Snape, do you need tea—er, hug?" Professor Kale asked, fumbling for an idea of what to do as Snape shakily shot him a glare, "Right, no hug. Um, Pomfrey? I'msorrybutIreallyhavenoideahowtohelp!"

Ness reluctantly went to check on Potter who was leaning against several broken bottles. "I'll…go get a broom." Ness volunteered, quickly moving for the door as Professor Kale, "Right! Good idea!" as Professor Snape tried to weakly protest.

Of course, he was already out the door and looking up and down the hall. Hogwarts had a janitor—no wait, they called them caretakers here. So that meant one worked here and hopefully had a broom—

"The spy!" Cloak yelped, twisting his body to force Ness to look up the hall, just in time to see a black robe disappear around a dimly light corner. Right. They had been followed, and the spy most likely heard what their lessons we're really about.

Ness broke into a run, trying to figure out a way to indirectly corner the spy as he tried to keep the moving black figure in sight. "Hey! Whoever's up! Try and be on the lookout for a person in a black cloak! They're heading up from the dungeons!" Ness ordered, turning a corner and charging up a flight of stairs as he got a chorus of replies.

Of course, since he was built like a tank his speed wasn't the best to catch up to the desperate spy as they turned the corner and disappeared down the hall that lead in three different directions. "G-great…" Ness wheezed, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. "Snape is going to murder us…"

"Did anyone see them?" Cloak asked, stiffening when they received a series negatives and a faint, "Well…I saw a girl…" from Sweepy.

"Was it Hermione? Herbo?"

"Hermione's still at dinner." Herbo replied.

"Only Ron, his girlfriend and some Slytherins are missing." Sawdust answered, "We'll keep our eyes peeled."

"Selvis writes that the Slytherins missing have some girls so it might be them." Defe stated, "He'll get some answers out of them though. Oh. Also Umbridge is supposedly returning tomorrow."

"Awesome." Ness sarcastic thought before he turned around and walked back into the office where Snape and Potter were having an argument. He caught a snippet of, "Lazy and sloppy." From Snape but he ignored it in favor of stating, "We were being spied on."

"What?!" Professor Kale exclaimed, his exclamation abruptly shutting Snape and Potter up as Ness repeated himself.

"By who?" Snape demanded, his scowl deepening as Ness gave a helpless shrug, "Dunno. All I could see was their back and they weren't wearing school robes."

"They were a student?" Professor Kale questioned, paling when Ness nodded, "Think so, the robes were to big and they weren't very tall."

"Wonderful. So not only do we have Potter throwing a tantrum but we also have a spy." Snape growled, shooting Potter a venomous glare when he tried to defend himself.

"Um…I think they've been here since the start of the lesson." Ness confessed shrinking under Snape's disbelieving glare as he clarified what he meant, "I thought someone was following me, but I wasn't really sure since I thought it was Potter."

"I was behind you." Potter answered but he looked a little unsure, "But…I did feel like someone was watching us once we entered the dungeons."

"Why would a student…?" Professor Kale murmured, trailing off as Professor Snape shook his head, "We'll inform Dumbledore about this. For now, this lesson is over and we'll have another one in two weeks."

He and Potter nodded, moving to leave when Professor Kale stopped him, "Potter, could we perhaps have a word?"

Potter frowned, "Why?"

"I'm…merely wondering about how you feel about this. How about we go to my office?"

Potter's frown deepened but Ness didn't hear what he said, already walking to the end of the dungeon hall to safely teleport back to bed. He had a migraine from tonight's events and Potter's stupidity wasn't helping.

"Don't worry. This will sort itself out." Cloak assured him, "We just need the spy to make a fatal mistake."

"I guess…" Ness thought, moving to change into his pajamas as Sawdust murmured, "Ginny wants to know what happened…"

"The spy overheard what our lessons ACTUALLY were." Ness answered, placing his hat under his pillow and pulling the blanket over his head, "I'll explain more in the morning. I'm going to bed."

"Okay. Pleasant dreams."

Ness swallowed the bitter laugh trying to crawl out of his throat as he closed his eyes and reclined against a rotting tree in his missed up Magicant. "One day. It'll look normal." Ness grumpily thought.

Harry had suffered through many embarrassing things growing up with the Dursleys. Being chased around by Aunt Marge's murderous mutt, given numerous swirlies, losing his pants to bullies since they were always two sizes to big and being forced to smile whenever the Dursleys brought over guests who thought he was a lunatic.

But Professor Kale's 'chat' was slowly climbing the list. Even though it felt more like an attack than a chat as Harry slowly walked up to Gryffindor Tower, his emotions a swirling mess as he recounted the attack.

It had started off…okay, Professor Kale made him some hot coco and rambled on about something his niece did back at home which almost got her suspended from school. It actually sparked a genuine smile before it was crushed behind Professor Kale's casual but solemn gaze.

"To be honest Potter…the hot coco isn't why I dragged you up here."

"What do you mean Professor?"

"To be frank, I'm worried about you. And apparently several other people are worried as well since they've come to see me for private chats. I guess Earthbound let it slip he found me easy to talk to without judgement since I've had several students come up here to vent or feel justified in an action."

The hot coco had morphed into ice and weighed down his stomach. Even thinking about it made him feel like throwing up or yelling.

"I'm fine."

"…Fair enough. But I have a question."

"…"

"Why are you obsessed with learning about the Dark Lord's plans?"

"I'm not!"

"So…if I were to ask you to stop thinking about what those dreams meant, you would stop and focus on something else? Something more important?"

"What could be more important than stopping the Dark Lord?!"

"Oh…I dunno, dealing with Umbridge, studying for your upcoming exams or maybe even find an after-school hobby."

He tried to argue that those weren't important but they were in a way. And Professor Kale knew it as he sadly watched Harry struggle for a reply.

"Harry…did you talk about the graveyard incident?"

"Yes."

"Did you talk about how YOU felt about it?"

"Yes."

"So…you feel comfortable knowing that you don't have to feel guilty about avoiding Earthbound or being around him without fear?"

"What?"

"I'm merely asking."

"…"

The conversation had spiraled with Professor Kale gently probing him for how he felt about it, how he felt with the castle—his home being turned upside down by Umbridge, how he felt about various events. On and on it went as Harry struggled to keep answering or deflecting them.

"Harry…do you understand WHY I wanted you to keep a journal?"

"Yea, to guard my mind."

"Well, that and so it can heal."

"…What?"

"Harry, you have faced more than ANY child should. You've defeated criminals aiming to kill you, solved a mystery that would have killed your friends if you didn't, helped a wronged man escape to freedom and now escaped from a serial killer who kidnapped you and blackmailed a schoolmate."

"Professor, what are you getting at?"

"What I'm getting at is that you need to talk to SOMEONE about this. Personally, I feel that your obsession with the Dark Lord and focus on Ness come from fear and wanting to prevent that fear from happening again. You had no choice but to sit and watch everything that happened, and now you're subconsciously trying to prevent that from ever happening again."

"No, I'm trying to stop Voldemort from getting into power!"

"How?"

"By learning about his plans and telling Dumbledore!"

"But…didn't Dumbledore want you to block your mind?"

"Er-,"

"So, doesn't that imply that he feels that the risks outweigh the benefits?"

"N-no, he merely…"

"…"

"I-I can help! I prevent Mr. Weasley from dying and-," his throat tightened from the memory, something hot stabbing his eyes as he picked up the pace.

"And you did, which is great. But from what I recall, didn't you get injured as well?"

"Yea, but only because Ness-,"

"…Because Ness…?"

"Because Ness was there and he tried to help by stunning the snake."

"And did he help?"

"Yes, but also no."

"I see…do you think that's the reason why Ness has stopped trying?"

"Trying?"

"Trying to actively plan Voldemort's downfall?"

"No, it's because he's focused on Hogwarts. He hates it here and for some reason Dumbledore."

"And why is that?"

"I…I don't really know. He just, blames Dumbledore for everything that happened to him. And it wasn't his fault that Barty Crouch Jr. blackmailed him!"

"It wasn't, but perhaps Ness blames him for bringing him to Hogwarts. He's from America and a poorly skilled wizard who should probably be focusing on Muggle solutions and school to support himself in the future. But we aren't talking about Ness."

"But-,"

"Unless, would you like to talk about Ness?"

"…I guess so…For some reason he's started calling me by my last name and acting…cold."

"Can you think of any reasons why?"

"Not…no." He pointedly ignored how he blackmailed Ness to join him for Occlumency, focusing instead on turning a corner and stopping before the Fat Lady.

"You hesitated…"

"I...Okay, ONE but I was only trying to help!"

"And did it help?"

"…No, he didn't need it. I did."

"I see…perhaps Ness decided to use your last name since he doesn't see you as a friend anymore."

"But—why?!"

"Well, surely Ness has told you some personal things about himself."

"He has…"

"And now, you're learning about personal things about Voldemort which he can also learn from you."

"Wh…what are you getting at?"

"Perhaps Ness decided to try and reduce you to an acquaintance instead of a friend since he doesn't want Voldemort to blackmail him again."

"…"

"Harry, I think you need to have a long chat with someone you trust."

"I can't. Umbridge. She watches the mail."

"She does, but she isn't here, now is she?"

"…"

"I think you should take advantage of that."

"But all he'll do is tell me to let them handle it when their doing nothing!"

"Are they? Have you asked?"

"No…but they haven't told me."

"Perhaps this is their way to keep you out of any more trouble."

"I can stay out of trouble."

"Maybe, but they feel at ease if they know that you're focusing on school and not their mission."

"…"

"Just, think about it, Harry. And try talking to that trusted person again."

So, here he was. Sitting in front of the fireplace in the empty common room fighting that odd prickling sensation and the tightness in his throat as he called out to Sirius. It felt like eons until the fire turned an emerald grin and Sirus's head appeared, his eyes wide with surprise and his mouth half open to ask something when he noticed the look on Harry's face.

"Is something wrong Harry?" Sirius asked, his expression morphing into one of concern as Harry searched for his voice, trying to figure out where to start. "N-not really, I…I just had a talk with um, a teacher."

"Let me guess, Severus giving you trouble?" Sirius guessed, his gaze hardening a little until Harry shook his head no, "No, it was Professor Kale—he's the astronomy teacher, and um, the student body's talking buddy."

"Astronomy…I take it he isn't insane like that other teacher you told me about?"

"No, he's actually…quite nice. And um we had a talk, after Occlumency." Harry took a deep breath, the lump in his throat making it hard to talk around as Sirius waited, sensing that any more questions would just give him leeway to stop talking about the main problem. "Sirus. Why won't anyone related to um, outside problems at home let me help?"

Sirius raised an eyebrow confused, "Well, I'm personally keeping you out of it since you're a kid. A kid who had the misfortune of inheriting the opposite of James' trouble making habits and has been forced to fight the world's greatest threat during his first year of school. I'm not sure what the others reasoning for keeping you in the dark is."

"The opposite?" Harry questioned, ignoring the rest of Sirus's statement.

"Yea, James would go looking for trouble while trouble just seems to find you and drag you into a giant mess."

Harry found himself fighting a grimace at how true that was. Or how his father searching for trouble possibly being passed down to him in any shape or form might be more accurate than trouble finding him. Every time someone tried to warn him away from danger it merely seemed to encourage him to head towards it.

Apparently, his true thoughts must have leaked onto his face since Sirus remarked, "I mean, you are staying out of trouble, right?"

He opened his mouth, grimaced again before mumbling, "P…probably not."

"Merlin's beard. You are just like James." Sirus muttered, a bitter chuckle slipping free before he sighed and gave Harry a look that made him feel small and very self conscious. It almost reminded him of Mrs. Weasley's disapproving glares but packed with a lot more heat. "Alright, what did you do?"

"Well, um…I've been…um." His voice dropped to an unsure whisper as he forced out, "Trying to see what Voldemort's been doing and figure out why I saw Ness in one of the Department of Mysteries room."

He wasn't sure when he found the ground suddenly so much more interesting than the fire but he wished it had captive his interest longer when he looked up and locked eyes with a stunned Sirus with an angry heat creeping into his dark eyes.

"You've been doing what."

"I-it was to help!" Harry defended, "I mean, I saw Mr. Weasley almost get attacked and later on I-I saw Ness in the department of mysteries for some reason and now I'm seeing this man I think Voldemort is hunting down!"

"Harry, there are plenty of ways to help. Ways that do not involve you risking your neck and everyone else's!" Sirius angrily stated.

"Well how could I help when no one was telling me anything?!"

"By keeping your head down! Harry, like it or not you have to keep an eye on yourself and your friends. Voldemort is after all of us, yes. But you are his main target the moment he can stop working in the shadows!" Sirius snapped, "What the hell gave you the idea that keeping your mind open to that nutcase was a good idea?!"

An odd ball of anger rose in Harry's chest as he scrambled for a retort, "When it ended up helping Ron! Or almost helping until Ness accidentally nuked him with lightning with that doll!"

"Point, but that was one time. One. That almost got ruined because someone was in a place they didn't belong." Sirius snapped, "Has it helped after that one time?"

He desperately wanted to say yes when he remembered all of the rifts that had formed during his attempts to help. With a stubborn huff he managed, "No, but I'm getting insight to what's going on."

"You hesitated. Harry, why did you hesitate?" Sirius pressed, his anger dying a little as Harry glanced back down at the rug.

"…Harry, did you and your friends get in a fight over this—hold on, Harry did you get into a fight with Ron?"

"What—no! Ron and I are fine!" Harry replied, shocked that Sirius had thought that was the main problem, "Why would you think that?"

"You seemed awful guilty over unable to do much when Arthur first got hurt. And of course there was that…incident with Ron almost assaulting Ness. So I figured Ron lashed out at you."

"What—no he wouldn't do that! Ron's been getting better and-," Harry quickly slammed his mouth shut and paled at the implications of his sentence.

"Getting better? Harry, what's going on?! I know your school has been a dead zone for outside communcation but getting better?!"

"Well, er…he's…been very angry…ever since Christmas. He's only really lightened up and stop gnashing his teeth at Ness during Valentine's Day." Harry answered, now feeling sick as Sirius looked at him with a mix of horror and disbelief, "Why? What has Ness done?"

"Besides putting Mr. Weasley in the muggle hospital…"

"He's still angry about that?!"

"So…so it seems, I mean, it doesn't help that Ness has um…other powers influencing the school."

"Other—" Sirius started before he cut himself and asked, "Harry... are you worried Ron might lash out at you?"

Harry fought the urge to glance away but his silence answered Sirus's question. "Merlin's beard." Sirius whispered, his voice sounded like an elderly man who had just witnessed his beloved son commit a horrible crime.

"I mean…I helped make it worse." Harry whispered, "He would have every right to get mad at me."

"No, no he doesn't. He can be bitter that Ness might have made the situation worse by trying to protect Mr. Weasley but you did—and could do nothing to help improve or worsen the situation." Sirius retorted, "Good lord…how did your school life get so messed up?"

Maybe it was the desperation to get off topic—the idea of Ron treating him the same way as Ness that prompted him to stiffly shrug his shoulders and say, "Well, Hermione would probably say it started when I got a panic attack but I think it started when I tried to blackmail Ness into taking Occlumency with me-,"

"W-," Sirus's head briefly disappeared from the flames but Harry could still hear the echo of, "WHAT?!" before Sirus reappeared, "And now, I know how understand how Lupin felt when we were growing up."

"E-er…" Before Harry could verbally dig himself out of the giant pitfall Sirus's gaze sharpened, "This Saturday, you're sneaking over to the Shrieking' Shack."

"What—but why-,"

"Because it's clear that you need someone to talk to. And that I've failed in my role as a godfather to watch over you."

The words 'you didn't do anything wrong!' got stuck in Harry's throat as Sirius added, "And until then, I want you to keep talking to this Kale fellow. Sure, the world and Dumbledore might go on and on about you being the chosen one but you are a child. Who deserves a safe education and to deal with teenage drama. Not the world's or Ness's problems."

He forced a nod, his eyes unbearably hot as a light smile formed on Sirus's face, "Now, why don't you turn in for the night? Molly's already giving me death glares for hogging the fireplace—which belongs to me by the way! And I'm sure you have to deal with Umbridge in the morning."

"A-actually, she disappeared."

"Oh?"

"I think the articles finally forced the Ministry to do something."

"About time." Sirus muttered before they bid each other goodbye and Harry went to bed. An odd weight off his shoulders but weighing heavily on his heart. Perhaps Sirius was right, maybe he should be focusing on being a child. Hogwarts was his home but he spent more time acting out than enjoying what it had to offer.

"Maybe I should try and thank Professor Kale for getting me to talk to Sirius about this…" Harry thought, his mind slowly deciding that yes, before breakfast he would go upstairs, thank him and perhaps ask if they could talk again.

Of course, he didn't really get a chance to thank Professor Kale for their chat since halfway through breakfast trouble reared its ugly head and found him. This time in trouble came form of Umbridge with an ugly smile and three imposing wizards looming behind her armed with terrible news for Hogwarts.