keeva nodded and kissed his cheek. "be careful, love. i'll make it up to you later."

[b "Yeah, us-"] Bennett was mid-way through getting up when he spied a bleach blonde pest watching their every move. [b "Scratch that. You guys go ahead. We're going to hang back to make sure they stay off your tail,"] he murmured quietly, turning around in his seat so that Malfoy didn't see him talking.

Keeva nodded and said. "I'll come with you...." She stood and followed him.

[b "Didn't think it could get more suspicious, but it just did,"] Bennett followed her gaze to the headmaster's seat.

[i "I'm getting my cloak,"] Harry shot to his feet, pushing his plate away.

"dumbledore isn't here either, she might be bugging him..." She said and looked at the headmaster's chair.

[b "Should we go looking?"] Bennett's eyes snapped to the doorway, as though the nightmare herself would burst through the entry, catching them scheming.

Keeva frowned and looked around for her. "I think I know where she is...."

Harry glanced over at the teacher's table, instantly suspicious when he sees no sign of an obnoxious pink pantsuit. [i "Guys, Umbridge is missing."]

It got their attention. Bennett's head spun to stare at the empty place between Flitwick and Binns, where Umbridge usually sat. [b "Maybe she's late? Dinner's only just started."]

[i "Have you ever known Umbridge to be anything but punctual?"] Hermione's eyes were narrowed at the chair as well.

she giggled and said. "you can help with the farm animals too."

[b "I can bake, that's the limited of my capabilities,"] Bennett warned. [b "And by 'bake', I mean I can put store-bought cookie dough in the oven. Even then, I've burned several batches. I'll stick with letting Sirius boss me around while renovating."]

"to be fair, most of it was Molly's cooking." She pointed out and smiled at him. Once this war is over, the three of us can rebuild the farmhouse and I'll help with the cooking."

Bennett's eyes dropped to his plate. He'd forgotten about the predicament Keeva and Harry shared. The loss of family, and what it meant to them. Harry smiled softly at his adopted sister. [i "It's more than I ever thought I'd have, to be honest."] Feeling slightly bad for their friend's embarrassment, Harry took pity on Bennett. [i "But I'd agree with Bennett that the food is better than anything Sirius cooked up over the summer."]

"you should be happy to have your family still, Bennett... The only person Harry and I have is my dad... And even then... We still miss the rest of our family...." Keeva said quietly and looked over at Harry. "Even though it's a small family.... I am glad we have something, you know, Harry?"

His hand froze, halfway to the bowl of mashed potatoes. Spying the mildly pained expression on Harry's face, the Scottish boy frowned with guilt. [b "Sorry Harry..."]

[i "It's fine. Not like I don't agree with you,"] he sighed.

Keeva frowned looking away slightly and sighed slightly. "Bennett..."