and most of them included trying to get Sirius out of bed as usual and get him to eat something that was not bread. What he had not expected was to be welcomed into Grimmauld Place with confetti that burst out of the ceiling with fart noises, pumpkins enchanted to grin like the Cheshire cat, and levitating skull-shaped candles that puffed out smoke.

Margaret could not help but grin as Remus opened and closed his mouth, apparently bewildered and speechless.

"We thought we'd welcome you with a bang," says Sirius, grinning. "This is the bang!" He gestures at the impromptu decorations.

"You don't say?" Remus asks rhetorically, raising a brow. Brushing some confetti off his shoulders, he adds, "Should I even ask?"

"Nope," Sirius replies, eyeing the carry-bag in Remus's hand. "Is that-?"

"I brought lunch," Remus interrupts, smiling when Sirius snatches the bag out of his hand.

"Oh, mine." Sirius rummaged through the bag as he turned around and made his to the dining room, motioning them to follow him. "You brought pumpkin pie?!"

Remus shook his head at his friend's antics, turning to look at Margaret enquiringly. "Don't you have school?"

"Day off for Halloween," Margaret shrugs. "It's a long story but I learned how to teleport and Dumbledore thought I should try and see how far I can go; so, here I am."

"Teleport?" asks Remus.

"It's like Apparating, I suppose," Margaret tells him as they enter the kitchen which also had the floating skull candles and pumpkins. "But I'd say it's a bit different. I don't know the limits of my pow- well, magic, yet."

"It's also her birthday," Sirius informs, levitating three plates out of the cabinet.

"...and there's that too," Margaret mutters.

"Well, happy birthday to you, Margaret," Remus wishes, smiling kindly, and suddenly Margaret did not mind that Sirius had told him. "By the way," Remus continues, "did you know your eyebrows are yellow?"

Margaret's eyes widened as her hands reached up to cover her brows. "Wha-? Oh heck no-!"

"Lime yellow, Moony," Sirius says, looking up. "Lime yellow."

Remus chuckled, already knowing very well what could have happened for her to end up with such a punk style.

"You should be very careful if you're going to play Exploding Snap with Sirius," he tells her jokingly, taking out his wand. "Here, let me get that for you."

Margaret reluctantly uncovered her forehead. A split second later, her brows grew slightly warm. She waited a moment before she turned around, picked up a nearby silver goblet and immediately sighed in relief to find her eyebrows restored the way they were supposed to be.

"Thanks, Moony," she says before turning to Sirius with a glare. "You would've let me go back to school like that?"

"I thought it suited you!"

Lunch was a fun affair. Margaret would even say that the day was turning out to be better than she had expected, as all she had planned to do was sulk in her bed, hating the day she was born until she had no choice but to get up. Markus was not mentioned again, neither were James and Lily.

Sirius and Remus; two best friends who seemed to be polar opposites in personalities but complemented each other in the best ways, two people who had experienced the same sense of loss and betrayal and misunderstanding. Sometimes, Margaret wondered how strong their friendship must have been for them to overcome that and stand by each other as brothers after all this time.

While Sirius still came up with sarcastic jokes every other sentence, Remus was far more level-headed and kind. Although Sirius would zone out more often, Remus constantly kept a smile on his face no matter what was said. Sirius was energetic in behaviour and put-together in appearance while Remus remained polite in conversation although worn and tired in appearance.

"I've also been out and about for Order business, although most of it is usually at times no one would notice," Remus tells her, and she could tell he was trying to be casual about it.

"At least you can be 'out and about for Order business'," Sirius mutters behind the rim of his goblet of pumpkin juice but the both of them hear him.

Remus sighs, "Sirius, we've talked about this."

"I know, I know, my safety is important; I must not be seen," Sirius replies in a high-pitched voice, looking like he was either mimicking a very angry chipmunk or Dumbledore. "But as you said, it's mostly at night-"

"That is not the point," Remus interrupts sternly. "You are safe here, and that's what we care about."

Margaret looked down at the table, not knowing what to say. Remus was one-hundred percent correct about the fact that Sirius was safe in Grimmauld Place but she also knew he wanted to be of more help and she could only imagine what he was really going through.

"For how long exactly? Do we have a definite time stamp on that?" asks Sirius, looking incredulous and frustrated. Remus shoots a fleeting look at Margaret to remind him of her presence but Sirius shakes his head. "You know what? Forget it. You can suck up to Dumbledore all you like but I-"

"Sirius," Remus says sharply.

Margaret looked up in confusion, having a strong hint about where Sirius was going with this.

"You think Dumbledore should be honest with Harry," she says slowly, looking between the two of them. "About what's in the Department of Mysteries...?"

Sirius only gestured to her in agreement, looking pointedly at Remus.

"Margaret, we all want to be honest with Harry; the last thing we want is for him to remain unaware and get into trouble," Remus says, running a hand through his light-brown streaked with grey hair. "But if Dumbledore says so, no listen to me Sirius" - Remus says sharply as Sirius looked like he had every intention of interrupting - "we can't go on arguing amongst ourselves over this. Harry will find out when the time is right; when we are sure he won't be at more risk by the information. For now, let him have one year of peace."

Sirius did not argue, staring down at his plate with such intensity that Margaret was sure it would crack in half. She did not say anything but it was strange for her to find out their side of the story that she never knew of before. Sirius was right, and Dumbledore would soon realise his mistake of not being honest with Harry. What surprised her, however, was the bitterness Sirius clearly held for Dumbledore. She had a feeling it rooted deeper than just having kept him on house arrest.

Remus, on the other hand, was watching her with a frown. When she noticed him looking, he gave a small smile but did not to say anything.

Margaret's eyes shifted to the clock that showed a quarter to five. Time had surely flown by, most of it spent in helping Sirius make the welcoming surprise for Remus. The confetti charm cast by him seemed to have malfunctioned and resulted in fart noises instead of spooky evil laughter, although it gave them a good laugh. She could not do much as she was sure her wand still had the Trace but it was still a lot of fun watching Sirius transfigure old trophies into skull candles and plastic pumpkins that grinned creepily. She was happy that he had found something casual and familiar to do.

"Well, I was thinking about trying to head back soon," says she, wondering how easy or difficult would teleporting be. Was there a limit? Could she only teleport thrice in twenty-four hours? She did not know, although she was about to find out soon. Shaking her head, she continues, "But I was also wondering if you would like to write to Harry. I can give your letters to him myself, that way they won't be intercepted and there won't be any risk of old toad-face finding out."

Sirius looked up at this and exchanged a surprised glance with Remus.

"Are you sure, Margaret?" Remus queries whilst Sirius was half out of his seat, already happy at the prospect of writing to his godson. "We wouldn't want you to get into trouble."

"Oh no, don't worry," she tells him dismissively. "I tend to get into trouble whether or not I'm delivering super-secret letters from super-secret organisations."

Sirius grinned. "I'm going to get some parchment and quills."

Fifteen minutes later, Margaret listened to what Remus told her about what he was writing to Harry, most of which she could have guessed already - he was proud of the incredible teacher Harry was turning out to be and that his parents would be really happy for him and his friends. He even gave some ideas of what could possibly be used in Duelling, offence and defence techniques as well as certain books in the library that may help him out.

Margaret knew Remus did not have to tell her this. Though she had a feeling he was trying to fill in the silence as Sirius was intent on using this opportunity to write a lengthy letter. Each time she glimpsed at him, he looked very focused, scribbling furiously.

"I wish we could write to him more often," Remus mentions as he signs off his letter and folds his parchment, "although this is better than nothing. Thank you, Margaret." He smiles before turning to Sirius and raising a brow in question. "What novel are you writing, Padfoot?"

"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix," Margaret sniggers, shrugging when Remus looks at her quizzically.

"I'm done, I'm done," Sirius mutters, signing off his letter and folding the one and a half foot long parchment. "Don't lose it," he tells Margaret, "and make sure he reads it before the end of the day."

"I will," Margaret promises, taking the two folded parchments. She trusted him and was sure that Harry would like nothing more than to hear from his godfather.

Margaret takes a deep breath, keeping a tight hold on the letters.

"So how does this teleporting thing work?" Sirius asks curiously.

"Well," Margaret gives a nervous chuckle, closing her eyes to save herself from embarrassment in case it did not work. "Well, you see... I just imagine a place I'm familiar with and think of... er, let's say, I wish very hard that I want to be there-"

This time she cleared her mind and imagined Dumbledore's office and the chair she was sat on that morning. The letters for Harry fueling her with the determination of handing them to him as soon as possible.

"Perhaps you should stand-" Remus was cut short when Margaret disappeared into scarlet wisps in front of them and the chair she was sitting on a second before toppled over.

"Or maybe she doesn't need to," Sirius mutters a moment later, sharing a bewildered glance with Remus, both quite speechless and a little amused. They had seen too much in their lives, most of the mischief caused by themselves, to be too surprised by this.

says Dumbledore, turning away from the window he was standing near. He flicked his hand and the chair she sat on stopped from toppling over, standing back on its four legs again.

Margaret opened her eyes, a breathless laugh leaving her as she found herself in Dumbledore's study again. Turning in her seat, she looked up at the Headmaster.

"I did it, sir! I did it, I reached Grimmauld Place and came back!" she tells him excitedly.

"Very well done," Dumbledore smiles. "You have shown quite a capability of working with your magic. This is only the beginning. I take it that you met Sirius?"

Margaret notices Dumbledore gesturing at the letters in her hand, and nods, "Yes, I did. And Remus too. They've written to Harry."

The old Headmaster looked curious and Margaret knew he might be concerned about the contents of the letter. So she kept a smile on her face to reassure him. She knew after the conversation she had heard between Remus and Sirius that neither of them would give away too much about the current ongoings of the Order's responsibilities.

"Very well then," says Dumbledore. "I have spoken to Professor Umbridge and she has, let us say, kindly postponed your detention to tomorrow."

Margaret's smile dropped. She had completely forgotten about her detention with Umbridge.

"Thank you, Professor," she says, getting to her feet. Her head feels light for a moment, causing her to blink rapidly but then the sensation fades.

"You must know, however," says Dumbledore, still sounding casual although she could easily detect the severity of what he was about to say, "that Professor Umbridge has set into motion another Decree. I am doing my best to oppose it, so is my entire staff. Although there are some technicalities that put her in a position of power, as you must already know, especially with her current post at the Ministry."

Margaret frowned, wondering why Dumbledore was telling her this. "What is the Decree about, sir?"

"Educational Decree Number Thirty-One, a bill in progress, states that the High Inquisitor has the right to expel a student, bypassing the Headmaster's discretion," Dumbledore tells her, his blue eyes watching her rather pointedly as a feeling of dread overwhelms her. She does not say anything for a moment, although she doesn't have to. "You must remain very alert, Margaret, as Dolores Umbridge has the right to dismiss my teachers as it is. It will only be a matter of time before she overcomes with this law as well, despite my best efforts. You are needed here, at Hogwarts, at all costs."

She took a deep breath and nodded wordlessly. "Professor Umbridge isn't very happy with me, is she?"

"Professor Umbridge is not happy with most of us, Margaret," Dumbledore tells her, sighing. "But alas, we must fight through our grief and learn to carry on."

Margaret smiled to herself.

It did not take much time to find Harry, Hermione and Ron after Margaret left Dumbledore's office and made her way down the castle. The three of them were trekking up the hill from Hagrid's cabin, sharing a box of Bertie Botts among them as they made their way towards the large beech tree on the banks of the Black Lake. There were fortunately no other students around.

"Hey!" she calls, waving above her head to catch their attention.

"Margaret!" Hermione greets the beaming girl. "Where have you been? Is everything all right?"

"Everything's great," Margaret tells her cheerfully.

"What happened last night?" Harry asks, his brows furrowed. "How'd you disappear from Hagrid's cabin?"

"It was strange," Ron comments, sounding awed. "One second you're there and the next you've vanished... like poof." He made a hand gesture to imitate vanishing into thin air. He frowns, "When did you learn how to Apparate?"

"You couldn't have Apparated. You can't Apparate in and out of the castle - it's impossible," Hermione trails off, looking sceptically at Margaret. "Did you... I thought maybe you, I dunno, used a Time-Turner...? I came into your dorm room to check but you weren't there, and then we saw you this morning with McGonagall."

"You must've just missed me. I went down to McGonagall to tell her about what had happened. No, I didn't use a time Turner," Margaret denies. "What did Hagrid say?"

"Well, he was surprised and a little confused," Harry responds. "Asked if it was a common occurrence because he hadn't ever seen such a silent Apparition. Speaking of which, is it a common occurrence?"

"No, it isn't," Margaret replies at once. "It hasn't happened in a whole year and it's not Apparition-"

"It's happened before?" Hermione questions, her eyes squinted at Margaret's face as though it was a closed textbook with all the answers hidden. Margaret only lifted her lips slightly in an unconvincing smile.

"Yes, back in 2017, actually. It's called teleportation. Or at least, that's what I call it," Margaret explains. "I appeared in my dorm room but I thought someone ought to know about this, so I went and explained to McGonagall what had happened and I had to teleport again on will to prove it to her. After that, she told me to come see her in the morning when she took me to Dumbledore."

"You've been with Dumbledore this whole time?" Harry questions, a crease between his brows.

"No, no," Margaret says, chuckling a little in disbelief at all the things that had happened throughout the past twenty-four hours. "Dumbledore said he trusted my magic wouldn't hurt me as it had always somehow appeared to protect me, so he asked to see how far I could teleport since I could get in and out of the castle despite the wards around it."

"You left Hogwarts?" Hermione asks, sounding concerned.

"For a bit, yes."

"Where'd you go?" Ron questions curiously.

Margaret looks at Harry as she says, "Grimmauld Place."

Just as the words left her, the Golden Trio started speaking at once in astonishment.

"You went to Grimmauld Place-?"

"But that's in London-!"

"Did you see Siri- Snuffles?!"

"Yes, to all your questions. And I saw both Padfoot and Moony," Margaret speaks over them, and she could tell instantly that he was feeling slightly envious of her. She did not mind, however, knowing very well that he missed his godfather and Remus. She was suddenly glad they had written to him.

"That's bloody brilliant, that is," Ron laughs a moment later, shaking his head.

"Brilliant; yes," says Harry, looking away before looking back as though he had a sudden thought, "Did he say anything? Is he all right? Are they both all right?"

"Why don't you find out for yourself?" Margaret smiles casually, extending the two rolls of parchment towards him, one thicker than the other.

Harry stared. "Are those letters?"

"No, they're recipes to brew essence of idiocy," Margaret says flatly. "Of course they're letters, Harry."

He had snatched the letters before she finished the sentence and she rolled her eyes, sharing a look with Hermione. The four of them made their way towards the beech tree together where Hermione took out her wand to perform a hot air charm on the freezing ground so that they could sit.

Harry took his time to read Remus's letter first and then Sirius's, his green eyes drinking in every word eagerly. Hermione and Ron meanwhile told Margaret about how the three of them had indeed visited Hagrid again, taking up his offer of cutting the pumpkins for the Halloween feast later tonight. Margaret told them about how Sirius had enchanted some Halloween decorations in Grimmauld Place and how flabbergasted Remus looked at first when he saw them.

"So?" Ron asks Harry once he folds the parchments again. "What did they say?"

Harry's eyes gleamed brightly but as though he was lost in his own world, and Margaret wondered what Sirius had really said.

"Lupin's very happy about the D.A.," Harry tells them, his voice cracking. He clears his throat before continuing, "Says it's great that we're learning how to defend ourselves, that it'd come in handy. He's put in quite good ideas for jinxes, and I think I'm gonna use them next lesson."

"And?" Hermione urges. "What about Snuffles?"

Harry picked at the frozen grass under him with his gloved hand, smiling the sort of smile that was neither happy nor sad, reminding Margaret of when she spoke about her brother.