The holidays went too quick for Sophia's liking. Grimmauld Place was in a havoc much like The Burrow was at this time of year, with Molly Weasley ushering her children to pack their trunks and get them downstairs into the hallway. Kreacher, the grumpy House-Elf, didn't help like he was ordered to by Sirius. The elf just grumbled while pacing the length of the hallway beside the rushing people, sneering insults at them with whatever he thought of.

"So many blood traitors in Kreacher's Mistress's house," he spat at the sight of the Weasleys'.

"Your help is much appreciated Kreacher," George joked while putting his trunk down next to the front door.

"One addresses Kreacher as if he is his friend," the elf glared up at George. Fred suddenly appeared with a 'pop!' next to him, joining his brother identically. The elf's eyes trailed to him with the same seething look. "And here is his twin."

"Always good to see you too Kreacher," Fred nodded down at him. Sophia appeared in the hallway with a sweating face and in a panting state, dragging her heavy belongings down the never-ending stairs. She grunted with a struggle on the last few steps and looked up briefly to see the twins standing there with nothing to do.

"Can. you . please. help. Fred?!" she grunted in between pulls, now putting her foot against the barrister of the stairs to try and get some more leverage.

"Sure love," Fred wordlessly flicked his wand in her direction and the trunk flew up into the air, hovering above her and relieving Sophia of anymore painful dragging. She turned to look at him with a glare, the hairs that had fallen out of her ponytail sticking to her cheeks from her perspiration.

"Why didn't you do that before when you saw me struggling?" she threw her arms up dramatically. Fred just shrugged back at her.

"Didn't think of it," he moved her trunk to sit next to the rest that sat in the hallway. "It's probably heavy because of all the Chocolate Frogs you have in there."

Sophia rolled her eyes and went to walk forward and make sure that her luggage tag was attached to the handle, but spotted Kreacher standing there with his little hands clasped together almost evilly. He gave her a murderous look as he slowly started to make his way past her towards the kitchen. His continuous grumbling was a natural addition to Grimmauld Place and Sirius was always seen snatching things out his hands that he was trying to steal from their rubbish bins. Sirius had been cleaning out some of his family's possessions that he didn't like or need and had been finding them pop up again in Kreacher's little self-made dens. The elf was starting to become a menace for the Black.

"The half-breed of the mutt looks at Kreacher," the elf muttered. "How upset his Mistress would be having such a disgrace in her house."

"I suggest you mutter somewhere else," Fred took a stance next to Sophia with his arms crossed and gripping his wand tightly in his hand. Kreacher's hooded eyes switched to Fred and bowed his head slightly in a form of understanding, but he knew the elf was mocking him.

"Of course sir. Kreacher will leave the Blood traitors and their mutt alone."

The elf scurried out the room when George shot a warning spark beside his feet with his wand, finally making the nuisance leave the room and bother someone else. The three collectively didn't want to leave back to Hogwarts for one of the first times ever. The known presence of Professor Umbridge was painful to think about and the many Educational Decrees they would have to follow again sounded awful. Sophia was also worried for her O.W.L's as she knew the work load was going to start getting intense from all her subjects. Fred and George obviously weren't worried about their end of year tests and were planning to finish off their product sales at school and start designing the shop in Diagon Alley. Their dad had recovered well from his attack and had returned to work only two days ago, much to Molly's dismay.

At King's Cross station, the Weasleys, Lupins and Harry were saying their goodbyes while being surrounded by some of the Order of the Phoenix. Nymphadora Tonks and Bill Weasley said they were tagging alone for the farewell, but both Harry and Sophia knew it was for their benefit mainly. And Sophia hadn't missed the odd closeness between her father and the bubble-gum pink haired woman, switching her gaze between the two when they stood next to each other.

"Send my condolences to Sirius," Sophia said to her father privately. "At least I get to leave that damned house."

"It's not that bad now that Molly's gotten to it," Remus shrugged lightly and glanced over his shoulder for a moment, spotting Harry next to Bill and out of possible earshot. He turned back to his daughter and spoke in a much quieter voice. "Has Harry said anything to you?"

"No... I've been running away before he can even have the chance," she grimaced visibly. "I feel awful for ignoring him. He doesn't deserve it..."

"It's for the best. I don't need to remind you to be careful while at school do I?" he attempted to send her a smile but they both knew it was more of a flinch.

"No. I'll do my best to stay out of Umbitch's way," she nodded. He thought about giving her a warning look for her language but decided against it. Instead, he pulled her into a hug that he hadn't intended to be so tight. Sophia was surprised at the sudden sign of affection but melted into him, embracing him back as it seemed like he needed it. Once Christmas had ended, the man had slipped back into his constant worried and frantic state. He was looking scruffier and scruffier by the day, making Sophia start to worry for his health. But he always reassured her that he was fine and she shouldn't have to have him on her mind along with the other responsibilities she had.

"Be safe," he muttered once he reluctantly pulled away. Remus ruffled her brown hair before letting her walk off to the Weasleys' who had started to board the Hogwarts Express. He watched as she disappeared on to the train before appearing again through a compartment window, waving merrily with Fred and Ginny on either side of her. Remus stood with the rest of the adults and waved back, relieved that she was displaying a cheerful smile. The train started to move and the children's faces slowly started to grow smaller and smaller, making Remus's heart slowly plummet at the disappearance of his daughter's sweet smile.

And he didn't even know that it would be the last time he'd properly see her before everything changed for the worst.

---

Dumbledore's Army immediately resumed their private lessons once everyone had gotten back to Hogwarts. The Wednesday night of the first week was their first lesson, and they resumed their practicing of their Patronuses. Harry had decided to also introduce the Reductor curse for those who wanted to try it. The dummies that were provided by the Room of Requirement were perfect for this as the spell would blast objects into pieces, making it not safe to use on other students.

Harry was walking around the room as people practiced, giving Cho a small look of adoration when he spotted her. The two were much growing closer this year and Harry was ecstatic about it. He came to the Weasley twins who were playfully stunning each other with the stunning spell and saw Sophia standing aside with an amused expression. He decided to stand next to the girl while watching the two, impressed with their wand work. The two were always good at charms whether they liked to admit it or not.

"They're really good," Harry stated and made Sophia jump out of surprise. She whipped her head to the side to see Harry, only to turn her gaze down to the floor in an effort to avoid his stare.

"O-Oh um yeah... they are," Sophia wanted to walk away altogether like she had been doing throughout the holidays, in order to keep her word with Dumbledore and her father. But she felt horrible for treating him like Dumbledore did. She had seen how much it had affected Harry even to the state of lashing out as he did when he had the vision of Mr Weasley getting attacked. From what she knew, Harry wasn't safe to be around right now. Yet her morals and politeness were clashing with that.

"You're not... you're not scared of me are you Sophia?" Harry turned to face her, suspicious and slightly hurt from her recent stand-offish attitude towards him only. He had noticed how much she had avoided any type of conversation with him through the Christmas holidays and how she would never sit next to him at eating times. Even if there was a chair free next to him and nowhere else, she would result to sitting on Fred's lap or taking her plate into the living room. This would cause minor uproars from Ron, Ginny and the twins as they were never allowed to eat away from the table, but would be quickly shot down by their Mother who knew of the situation.

"N-No I just..." she trailed off without looking at him. She even made the move to step away from him non-discreetly, lighting another flame of anger inside Harry. He knew he wasn't going to get any answers from her and found it best to just contain his anger by walking away. If she wasn't going to talk to him then he would do the same.

Sophia breathed a sigh of relief when Harry did walk away and noticed out the corner of her eye that his jaw had clenched angrily and he gripped his wand much tighter. The familiar feeling of guilt settled into her stomach at her poor treatment of one of her closest friends, hating the way things were between them. Just when Harry was starting to get a break from being shunned from the Wizarding society for his confessions of You Know Who's return, she just had to go and treat him as if he were the dirt she walked on. What a way to treat one of your best friends.

A sudden load thud echoed throughout the room and pulled Sophia out of her deep thoughts. The chandelier that hung from the ceiling wobbled and the torches that were lit flickered. Silence settled over the group as they followed the odd thudding towards where the door would usually form when they were ready to leave, seeing the mirrors that covered it currently shake from the noise. Harry, Ron and Hermione were the first to take a stand in front of the mirrored wall, watching as the thuds grew more and more fierce. The rest of the DA stood behind the three, anxious and fearful for what could possibly happen from the thuds. Fred and George stood together with their wands forward as a sign of preparation for anything that could come through those walls, Sophia standing a bit behind Fred with his free hand clasped in hers. Harry had walked forward to peer through the small crack in between the mirrors, only to run backwards in an attempt to escape the sudden blast of brick work that engulfed the room.

Sophia felt arms around her from behind her, Fred shielding her from any possible debris that now littered the floor of the Room of Requirement. Once she and him thought it was safe, they stood up straight cautiously and looked to where the wall had once stood. Fred kept her hands protectively on her sides as they saw Professor Umbridge standing there with her Inquisitive Squad of Slytherins', grinning slyly at Dumbledore's Army who knew it was now the end.

"Get them!" the woman cried.

The backlash from the group's finding was immence. When Professor Dumbledore was told of the illegal gathering of students by the Ministry of Magic, the man had taken full responsibility for it. This would mean he would be taken to Azkaban for going against the Educational Decrees set by the Ministry as well as proving their suspicions of him building an uprising against them. This obviously didn't sit well with the Headmaster, and he was said to of disappeared in front of their eyes in the fierce flames of his phoenix Fawkes. Unfortunately, this now let Professor Dolores Umbridge take over the position of Headmistress at Hogwarts.