"Are you two sure? I mean, in the past, you two have always been wrong about things..."

"When have we been wrong about things in the past, Hermione?" I asked her. Then I thought about it. "Don't answer that, actually."

Hermione and Ron were chasing Harry and I up the stairs back to the Gryffindor Tower. If we were going to save Sirius, I'd rather be in comfortable clothing.

"We saw it. It's just like Mr. Weasley. It's the same door we've been dreaming about for months."

"I remember seeing it before, it just took me this long to figure it out. Sirius said that Voldemort was after something. Something he didn't have last time. Now we know it's in the Department of Mysteries."

"You two need to listen to me!" Hermione stopped us. "What if Voldemort meant for you to see this? What if he's only hurting Sirius because he's trying to get to you two?"

"What if he is? We're supposed to just let him suffer and die? Hermione, he's the only family Max and I have left."

Hermione and Ron looked at each other and then back at us.

"What do we do?" Ron asked us.

"We'll have to use the Floo Network," Harry answered.

"But Umbridge has the chimneys under surveillance," Hermione pointed out.

Harry stopped and groaned. "You're right."

We all sighed as we entered the Gryffindor Common Room.

Then it hit me. "Not all of them," I muttered.

"What is it, Max?" Harry asked.

"Umbridge would've had one chimney not under surveillance. Out of all of them, which one do you think it is?"

"The one in her office," Ron said.

"Exactly. Be back down here in five minutes."

Hermione and I parted ways with the boys as we went upstairs to change clothes. I was in a pair of jeans with a purple sweater on. I grabbed my wand and ran back downstairs with Hermione. The boys were already down there.

"Ready?" Harry asked.

"Ready as I'll ever be," I replied.

*******

"Alohomora!" I shouted.

The door unlocked and we all headed inside while Ron closed the door behind us.

"Alert the Order, you two, if you can," Harry told Hermione and Ron.

"Are you mental? We're going with you," Ron protested.

"It's too dangerous," I retorted. "Harry and I are going alone."

Hermione bent down and looked at us. "When are you two going to get it into your heads? We're in this together!"

"That you are!" Shit. Umbridge caught us.

She pinned Harry and I to chairs, having my wand pressed against my back, as Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and some other Slytherins came in with Ginny, Luna, and Neville. Malfoy was bringing Neville in. "Caught this one trying to help the Weasley girl."

"Well done, Malfoy," Umbridge told him.

"Well done, Malfoy," I mocked her.

"Watch your mouth, Potter," she glared at me.

"You better listen to her," Malfoy commented.

"Shut up. I told you everything and all you did was run away from me."

"You tried to kill me. I can't associate myself with a murderer."

I rolled my eyes. "I wasn't going to murder you. Just some torture. There's a difference."

Umbridge looked at us. "You were going to Dumbledore, weren't you?"

"No," Harry replied.

"Liar!"

"You sent for me, Headmistress?" Snape was standing in the doorway.

"Yes. The time has come for answers, whether they want to give them to me or not. Have you brought the Veritaserum?"

"I'm afraid you used up all my stores interrogating students. The last of it on Miss Chang. I cannot help you." He started to walk out until I said something.

"He's got Padfoot!" I said. "He's got Padfoot at the place where it's hidden."

"Padfoot? What is Padfoot? Where what is hidden? What is she talking about, Snape?"

Snape looked at me. "No idea." Then he left.

"Very well. As this is an issue of Ministry security, you leave me with...no alternative. The Cruciatus Curse ought to loosen your tongues."

"But that's illegal!" Hermione shouted.

"It's nothing she's done before, Hermione. She used the Imperius Curse on me already," I informed her again.

"What Cornelius doesn't know won't hurt him." She placed the picture of him down and looked back at us. She pointed her wand at us...

"Tell her, you two!" Hermione blurted out.

Umbridge looked at her. "Tell me what?"

We didn't say anything. So Hermione kept on talking. "Well, if you two won't tell her where it is, then I will."

"Where what is?"

"Dumbledore's secret weapon."

Secret weapon? What the hell? "Hermione--" I started to say.

"Very well. Miss Granger, Mr. Potter, and Miss Potter. Come with me."

She untied us and ordered the others to let Hermione go. Ron, Ginny, Luna, and Neville were still stuck there. Hermione was leading the way out of the castle and into the Forbidden Forest. That was where...oh.

Now I knew why Hermione was the brightest witch of our age.

"How much further?" Umbridge asked.

"Not far," Hermione replied. "It had to be in a place where students wouldn't find it accidentally."

"What are you doing?" Harry asked her in a whisper.

"Improvising," she whispered back.

"This better work," I muttered, grabbing my wand out of my shirt and placing it in my back pocket.

When we got to where the giant was tied up to, he wasn't there. In fact, the rope was broken. He was gone. He got away.

"Well?" Umbridge was getting impatient. "Where is this weapon?"

"Not here..." I mumbled under my breath.

"There isn't one, is there?"

"Bingo," I mumbled.

"You were trying to trick me."

"In a way, yes." I was surprised she couldn't hear me saying all this.

"You know, I really hate children."

"And children hate you."

All of a sudden, a herd of centaurs were behind her. "You have no business here! This is a Ministry matter!"

"I don't think they care," I told her.

"Lower your weapons," she said, ignoring me. "I warn you!"

They shot an arrow at her, but she blocked it. "How dare you? Filthy half-breed! Incarcerous!"

I quickly grabbed my wand out and made the rope blow up into ashes. Umbridge gave me the death glare and shot that same spell at me. The rope was choking me as I was gasping for air. I fell to the ground, trying to get out of the entangled rope.

"H-Harry...help me."

"Max!" Harry and Hermione ran over to me.

"You stupid bitch!" Harry shouted.

"Enough! I will have order!"

Suddenly a loud, piercing shriek came from her. Grawp came to the rescue as he lifted her up and let the centaurs have her. I finally got out of the ropes and started coughing uncontrollably.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked as he helped me up and I held onto him.

"I'm fine," I said once I stopped coughing.

"Potters, tell them I mean no harm!" Umbridge shouted.

"I'm sorry, Professor--"

"--but we must not tell lies," I finished.

Harry grabbed my arm. "Sirius!" he shouted as we ran out of the forest and headed back up to the castle to save the others.

But they were now running towards us.

"How did you get away?" I asked.

"Puking Pastilles. It wasn't pretty," Ginny replied.

"Told them I was hungry, wanted some sweets," Ron explained, handing Harry and Hermione's wands back to them. "Of course, they told me to bugger off and ate the lot themselves." He couldn't help but chuckle a little.

"That was clever, Ron," Hermione commented.

"Has been known to happen," he replied.

"It was brilliant," Neville added. "So how are we getting to London?"

Harry sighed. "Look, it's not that Max and I don't appreciate everything you've done, all of you, but we've got you into enough trouble as it is."

"Dumbledore's Army was supposed to be about doing something real," Neville called out to him as we started walking away. "Or was that all just words to you?"

"Maybe you two don't have to do this all by yourself," Ron added.

We sighed and looked at each other. Then I said something. "So how are we going to get to London?"

Luna smiled and replied. "We fly, of course."