Welcome back, everyone! I can't believe I'm already on book five, which means I'm only one away from the Deathly Hallows!
Disclaimer: Eh. I'm brain dead right now, so instead of putting something witty here, I'll just leave you lot a cat (='.'=)
Anyways, enjoy the first chapter!
It was one of the hottest days of summer so far when Levina Snowpetal awoke.
Lilypad, her sleek black cat, yawned and stretched her limbs lazily at the edge of the bed, the bell around her neck jingling .
Levina stirred from her bed and pulled back the pale blue covers. She got lazily to her feet and made her way to the window, where her reflection stared wearily back at her. She'd grown from the previous year a lot; her figure had become more womanly than ever, her long, dark brown hair had gotten much lighter, and she had grown taller.
Shrugging out of her nightshirt, she pulled on a casual white t-shirt and jeans. Too tired to do much else with her appearance than tie her hair in a ponytail, Levina climbed out onto her balcony and sat on the edge.
Across from the balcony, Malfoy Manor stood proudly not far away. Draco Malfoy, her enemy since her first year at Hogwarts, had a bedroom directly across from her own, so she very occasionally saw his shadow pass by.
It was not Levina's ideal place to have her bedroom, but Destiny had insisted on keeping her own and refused to give it up. The only nice thing about the view was that Levina could see Ryuu (Her cousin's Chinese Fireball dragon) pace by every now and then.
Levina hadn't actually spoken to Draco since the previous year, and she wasn't quite sure if he even knew that she lived next door to him, but Levina often saw his father, Lucius Malfoy, when he left for work.
"Good morning! Bonjour!" Destiny had burst into the room, still wearing her nightgown. She had the same facial features as Levina, but she was incredibly beautiful, with icy blue eyes and long black hair. She was Levina's cousin from the school Beauxbatons. Levina had met her the previous year during the Triwizard Tournament.
Athena, Levina's Spectacled owl, hooted from inside her cage irritably at the sound of Destiny's sudden appearance in the room; Levina crossed over to her and let her out the window, where she flapped across the sky.
"'Morning," said Levina groggily.
"Eric left for Romania this morning, so we have to give Ryuu his breakfast," said Destiny cheerfully. "Want to help me?"
"Is Uncle Nick already at work?" said Levina; Uncle Nicholas, Destiny's father, worked as an Auror and was often gone from the house.
"Yes, he just left," said Destiny. "So we've got the day to ourselves!"
"Hooray," said Levina, supressing a yawn.
Destiny led the way down the stairs and into the empty hallway. Uncle Nick's suitcase and jacket were indeed gone, and the house was rather empty. There was a plate of toast magicked to float above the table in the kitchen, where two glasses of milk had already been poured. The silverware were cleaning themselves, the sponges scrubbing away at the dishes.
"I think today would be a good day for ice cream," said Destiny as she grabbed one of the floating slices of toast.
"I think today would be a good day to go back to bed," said Levina tiredly. She dropped into one of the seats and unrolled a copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Oh, don't be like that," said Destiny through a mouthful of toast. "Don't you think it'd be a nice day to go to the park or something?"
"I really wish I could get some Quidditch practice in," said Levina truthfully.
Destiny shrugged as she buttered her toast. "We could do that. Oh, maudit!" she added as she accidently cut her finger with the butterknife.
"English would be nice," said Levina.
"Sorry," said Destiny, wiping her hand on a napkin. "Here, how about this: If I feed Ryuu, will you pick up some more milk? We're just about out..."
"All right then," said Levina.
After breakfast, Levina took some muggle (Non-magical people) money and stowed it in her pocket. She headed down the sidewalk and made her way down the street towards the market. As she passed Malfoy Manor, she couldn't help but look up and peer in through the gates. It didn't appear anyone was home.
Once she had reached the busy streets near the Muggle shopping area, Levina entered one of the grocery stores and found the dairy section. After paying for it, she headed back outside and down the street oncemore towards home.
Levina had just begun to cross under a tunnel when a voice said, "Up and about with the muggles, are we, Weed?"
Levina looked over her shoulder; Draco Malfoy stood a few feet behind her, his sleek blonde hair messy from the wind. He wore his signature smirk.
"Is this a nightmare?" said Levina. "I thought for sure I'd gotten up this morning..."
"Now, now, shouldn't we treat each other more kindly? After all, we are neighbors."
So he did know of her presence next door.
Levina hadn't seen Draco up close since the previous year. He'd gotten taller and he looked slightly older, but otherwise, he appeared to be the same old git. Apparently she looked different too, for he looked her up and down twice.
"Look, I need to be getting home. So if you'd be so kind..." Levina turned back around and continued walking. She could hear Draco's footsteps behind her.
"Never thought that Levesque girl was related to you," Draco continued as he walked behind her. "After all, I thought she was all right, being of high class and all. That is, until you showed up."
"How long have you known I was there?" said Levina.
"I saw you a week ago," said Draco coolly. "Nearly gave my poor dear mother a heart attack..."
"What, did she realize what a mistake she and your father made?" said Levina.
Levina could feel Draco's glare blazing into the back of her head.
"You better watch yourself, Snowpetal."
"Ohh, I'm scared. What are you going to do, turn into a ferret?"
Draco's footsteps seized. Levina smirked, glad to have the last word.
However, the air suddenly grew very cold. Levina's breath seemed to be taken away and she herself stopped walking. The milk jug in her hands began to sprout small crystals on it, and a puff of cold air emitted from her lips.
"No..." Levina whispered softly. "No, not here-"
At the word "not", a large cloaked creature swooped down from above the bridge and charged at Levina, who screamed and dropped onto her hands and knees.
"Look out!" she shouted to Draco. "It's a dementor! Run!"
Draco didn't need to be told twice; he took off running in the other direction, but a second one drifted down in front of him, its cloak flowing about the air.
"Get down!" Levina shouted. Draco ducked down and Levina held out her wand. She knew the spell to ward them off since Harry had used it, but she herself had never cast one. "Expecto Patronum!"
A small white line like a hair sparked at the tip of her wand and vanished instantly. If a dementor could look amused, the one in front of Levina certainly did.
"Draco, follow me!" Levina shouted. She bolted away, Draco's footsteps echoing behind her, and ran out of the tunnel at top speed.
The dementors were advancing on them quickly, but Levina was faster; she dashed across the street with Draco hot on her trail and leapt onto the sidewalk.
Levina thought about using a cheering charm, but she wondered what the Ministry would do if she did magic outside of school.
"This way!" Draco called from behind her. He had scaled a hedge and was heading to Malfoy Manor. Levina ran behind him at his heels, all too aware of the approaching dementors.
With a quick leap, Draco jumped through the Malfoy Manor gates. Levina attempted to follow, but she merely smacked into the iron gate.
"Draco, you have to let me in!" she gasped. "They're coming!"
The dementors were five feet away.
"Draco!" Levina shouted; Draco was on his feet now, seeming uncertain as he took out his wand.
Three feet away.
"Oh come on!" Levina groaned. "Just unlock the gate!"
A foot away. Levina could feel the cold breath on her cheeks.
"DRACO!"
Levina fell through the now-unlocked gate and hit the ground heavily. The gates re-locked and the two dementors came to a halt in front of it. They paused for a moment, decided it wasn't worth the trouble, and vanished.
Levina sat upright. Draco was standing next to her, looking rather pale as he stared at the area where they had been merely seconds before.
"Uhh," Levina panted, giving Draco a very strained smile. "Th...thanks, I guess..."
"Yeah," said Draco. He shook his head and some of the color returned to his face. "Now go back to your own property, you're polluting my lawn."
Typical Draco. Relieved, Levina got to her feet and exited back out through the gates. She was glad Draco wasn't a complete prat, having not let her soul be taken. She didn't bother waving goodbye, but rather used the last of her energy to get back to Levesque Manor.
...
"You're joking!" said Destiny, clipping her clam music box shut.
"No, I'm being serious!" said Levina. "There were two dementors, Destiny! They tried to attack Draco and I."
"But...did they go after you and Draco?" said Destiny, her expression cynical.
"Of course they-well, now that you mention it..." Levina frowned. The dementors hadn't exactly been kind to Draco, but they hadn't gotten more than two feet closer to Draco, whereas they had charged Levina right away. "I don't think they even looked at him..."
Destiny wore an expression on her face Levina couldn't read. "You don't think...think Draco had something to do with them?"
"Come off it!" said Levina, aghast at the thought. "How could Draco have been connected to their attack? Anyway, aren't they supposed to be controlled by the Ministry of Magic?"
"Supposed to be," said Destiny. "I think you should message Padfoot and Moody about this one..."
"Athena's already off delivering a letter to Lupin right now," said Levina. At the word letter, she felt a queasy sensation in her stomach: Hermione, Ron, and Harry had hardly written all summer. Even in their letters, they were careful with what they said and had refused to write more than a sentence. Only Harry wrote the most to her, having been just as confused as she. He appeared to not have any more idea then she did as to what was going on.
"You can borrow Celeste," said Destiny. "Or take Ryuu out for a ride," she added as a joke. That is, Levina hoped she was joking.
"Thanks," said Levina. She got to her feet and let Celeste, Pernambuco Pygmy owl, out of her cage. She scralwed a quick letter to each of them and attatched them to her leg. Come to think of it, Sirius and Lupin hadn't answered much of her mail either...what was going on?
Levina glanced out the window; it was nighttime now, and the neighborhood looked rather peaceful with the small lights from the street lamps. She watched as Celeste swooped out of the window and out of sight before sitting down on the bed beside Destiny.
What where the others doing right now? Levina sighed and flipped through one of her many Werewolf books. She hadn't thought about it in a while, most likely because living with Destiny made Levina a lot less irritable, whereas when she was with the Muggles, something was almost always beeing smashed on her accord. She fingered the beautiful blue necklace around her neck that used to be her mother's, wondering if it actually even helped at all.
Suddenly, there was a huge crash downstairs. Levina and Destiny jumped.
"What was that?" said Levina, startled.
"Burgulars!" Destiny whispered, her eyes wide. "How did they get in? I thought the protective charm around the house should have been good enough..."
Together, Levina and Destiny eased open her door slowly and crept silently down the dark hallway. They took out their wands in kind and peered around the corner.
"Why didn't Ryuu do anything?" hissed Destiny. "He's supposed to be like a watch dog."
Levina had trouble picturing Destiny's probably thousands-of-pounds dragon as a dog.
There were voices below somewhere near the kitchen, so there had to be more than one person.
"We'll ambush them on the count of three," said Destiny quietly. "One-two-three!"
They leapt into the kitchen and cried, "Lumos!" The room lit up instantly to reveal four people standing together in the kitchen.
Levina instantly recognized two of the faces: Mad-eye Moody and Remus Lupin. The other two were a tall black man and a girl with incredibly violet hair.
"L-Lupin?" Levina stammered.
"Lower your wands," growled Moody. "This is Snowpetal, right? Shouldn't we check to make sure she's not a Death Eater impersonating her?"
"Levina, what is it that we discussed at the very end of your third year before we parted ways?" said Lupin.
Levina racked her brain to remember. "Uhh...didn't we talk about me being a...a..." She looked nervously at the others in the room, "...werewolf?"
"That's her, Mad-Eye," said Lupin.
"What are you lot doing here?" said Levina. "What's going on?"
"We've come to take you to a headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. We need to-"
"The what of the what?" said Levina.
"Never you mind," growled Moody. "Potter and those other two friends of yours are already there."
Lupin cleared his throat. "Just earlier today Harry and his cousin were attacked by a couple of dementors."
Levina's jaw dropped. "But-but I was too!"
All eyes met hers. Silence echoed the room for a moment before the woman with violet hair said, "Do what?"
"Earlier today, I was out shopping. I ran into...into Draco Malfoy," said Levina. "We were walking back and two dementors attacked us."
"How did you get away?" said Lupin, astonished. "You don't know the patronus charm, do you?"
"Luck, I guess," said Levina. "We managed to get away."
The four people in the room exchanged nervous glances.
"Well, we can discuss this when we're somewhere safer," said the woman. "We need to get going."
"This is Kingsley Shacklebolt, by the way," said Lupin, gesturing to the tall black man, who bowed. "And this is Nymphadora-"
"Second time!" said the young witch with a shudder. "That's the second time you've introduced me as that name tonight! It's Tonks."
"-Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers her surname only," said Lupin. "And this is Alastor Moody."
"Yeah, I know," said Levina, but she hadn't actually met the real one, seeing as the Moody last year was an imposter.
Destiny cleared her throat. Levina jolted, having forgotten her cousin was even there.
"Uh...and this is-" Levina began.
"We know," said Lupin. "Her father is not only an Auror, mind you, but also part of the Order of the Phoenix."
"Huh?" said Levina, confused. She looked to Destiny for an explanation, but she merely nodded.
"Yeah, I know. Are they re-grouping or something?"
"More later," said Kingsley in a deep voice. "We must be going..."
"But I can't Apparate," said Levina.
"We're going by broom," said Moody. "You-Levesque-you need to stay here."
"What? I'm not going?" said Destiny, clearly hurt.
"We're going to leave a protective charm up on the house," said Lupin. "You will stay here for the time being."
"But...what about school?"
"You will do what you usually do; your father will return when school starts and he will take you to Beauxbatons. It starts the same time as Hogwarts, yes?"
"Right. But what about Ry-?" Destiny began, but she stopped short. She shot an anxious look out the window to where Ryuu was tied up.
"Your dragon will be sent to Romania with Eric when you leave for Beauxbatons, as usual."
"How did you know about Ryuu?" said Destiny.
"Your father told me. Now go pack, Levina!"
"I'll help!" offered Tonks. She trotted down the hallway and up the stairs as if she knew the way.
Levina followed close behind Tonks until they reached her bedroom, where she gathered her school stuff together.
"Nice room," said Tonks, staring around at the decor in awe.
"Thanks," said Levina. She gathered her clothes into her trunk, put Lilypad and Athena away in their cages, and found all her werewolf books.
"Lupin tells me you're one of those rare sort of werewolves," said Tonks, pacing the room as her eyes scanned the walls.
Levina hesitated. "Yes," she answered after a moment.
"Y'know, I think Harry was right," said Tonks as she stared into the mirror. "Pink is a pretty good color for me..."
And to Levina's amazement, she screwed up her eyes as though she were struggling to remember something. A second later, her hair turned bubble-gum pink.
"How'd you do that?" said Levina.
"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she answered. "Meaning, I can change my appearance at will. I was born one."
"I can do that," said Levina.
"You're a Metamorphmagus?" she asked curiously.
"No, I can just change colors." Levina stared at Tonks hair for a moment, concentrated hard, and it changed back to purple.
"Wow!" said Tonks. "Is...is that one of your abilities You-Know-Who tried to...y'know..."
Levina shrugged. "I guess. But it doesn't last very long, the color usually returns sooner or later depending on how well I did it..."
Once she was done packing, Levina headed back downstairs and into the backyard, where the others were waiting.
Ryuu was eyeing all the new people suspiciously, but Destiny stood in front of him, stroking the side of his head. He didn't seem too pleased about having strangers in his backyard.
"I'll see you when I get back," said Levina. She gave Ryuu a very awkward hug on the side by his spikes and ran to get on her broom.
"Are the new lot in Romania nice this year?" Ryuu asked. "I'm not looking forward to seeing Aderyn again...that Welsh little snake drives me mad..."
"You'll probably get along with Huojin," said Levina as she passed her luggage to Tonks. "But probably not so much with Ilonca..."
Levina felt a whirl of excitement-her birthday had passed over summer (Or...at least when she thought her birthday was) and Destiny and her father had thrown a party for her. They'd somehow made a coconut ice cake and had purchased her a Firebolt. Even being as wealthy as they were, it had cost them a fortune, and Levina was grateful for it.
She mounted the Firebolt easily, and beside her, she could see Tonks eyeing her enviously.
"Mine's a Comet Two Sixty," she said. "That's a nice Firebolt."
"Thanks," said Levina appreciatively as Tonks strapped Athena's cage and her trunk to her broom.
"That's the first signal, mount your brooms!" called Lupin; a shower of red sparks had flared up among the stars.
"Au revoir, Levina," said Destiny.
"Bye, Destiny. I guess we'll work out where we'll meet at the end of the year by owl?"
"Yeah. Good luck! Send me lots of letters, okay?"
"Of course."
Destiny gave her a quick hug and ran hastily back inside through the back door.
Levina could almost feel the wind in her hair as she got settled onto her broom.
"Second signal, let's go!" said Lupin loudly as green sparks exploded high above them.
Levina kicked off hard from the ground. She hadn't been able to try out her new broom, so it felt new to her, but all the same, amazing. The cool night air rushed through her hair and the mansion below them grew smaller.
Mad-eye Moody barked orders to them on where to go, and Levina swerved as he told them to.
"Hard left, hard left, there's a Muggle looking up!" shouted Moody from in front of Levina. Tonks swerved and Levina followed her.
Levina made her broom do a flip, allowing the wind to rush up against her cheeks. It felt amazing.
"Turning southwest!" yelled Moody. Levina jerked her broom again and followed.
Eventually after many orders, Lupin announced the time to descent, and they took a dive downwards.
Levina headed for ground behind Tonks at top speed, her hair flapping about her shoulders, until she reached the ground. It wasn't as beautiful a landing as she expected; she tumbled off her broom and rolled across the grass, gathering dirt and grass blades into her hair and clothes.
Levina followed the others towards several buildings. There were numbers eleven and thirteen printed on the doors.
"Memorize it," growled Moody, passing Levina sheet of paper that read The Headquartes of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number Twelve, Grimmwauld Place, London.
"Okay..." said Levina, scanning the paper.
"Think about what you memorized," said Lupin as they approached the buildings.
Levina didn't see a number twelve, but she nodded and did so anyway. She thought of the words, and no sooner had she gotten to the bit about number twelve had a battered door begun to emerge out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen. Levina gaped at it. Apparently the Muggles hadn't noticed the extra house appearing, for the stereo nearby continued pounding from inside one of the buildings.
Levina made her way up the worn stone steps, staring at where the door had materialized. Its black paint was shabby and scratched.
Lupin pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. Levina could hear loud, metallic clicks and the door creaked open.
"Get in quick, Levina," Lupin whispered. "But don't go far inside and don't touch anything."
Levina stepped over the threshold into a dark hallway. She could smell dust and something rotting, but she made her way down the hall. The old-fashioned gas lamps hissed to life along the walls, casting a flickering light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet. A cobwebby chandelier glimmered over-head and blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls.
There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the end of the hall. She looked rather thinner and paler than she had the last time Levina had seen her.
"Oh, Levina, I'm glad you could make it!" she whispered, pulling Levina into a bone-crunching hug. When they parted, she looked Levina up and down several times. "Have you grown? You look lovely, my dear."
Levina's cheeks flushed. "Uh, thanks," she mumbled.
"'Course, you're looking a bit peaky," she added, examining her critically. "I'm afraid dinner won't be for a little while, I'm afraid..."
"That's fine," said Levina.
Mrs. Weasley gestured for the other wizards behind Levina to enter. They headed towards the door where Mrs. Weasley had entered, but when Levina followed, Lupin pulled her back.
"The meeting's only for members of the Order, Levina," he said sternly. "Ron, Harry, and Hermione are upstairs, though. We picked up Harry just before you, so he should be unpacking right now."
"And keep your voice down in the hall," said Mrs. Weasley.
"Why?"
"I don't want you to wake anything."
Levina frowned. "Wake-?"
"Later, dear. Here, follow me, I'll show you where you're sleeping..."
Levina made her way behind Mrs. Weasley past moth-eaten curtains to the dark staircase. As they started up, they passed a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look shoed Levina the heads belonged to house-elves. She shuddered.
"You're the door on the right," said Mrs. Weasley. "We'll call you down when the meeting's over..."
And she hurried off downstairs again.
Levina turned the bedroom doorknob, but she hesitated for a moment. Raised voices could be heard on the other side, and she pressed her ear curiously to the door.
"-SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER-"
It was Harry's voice. Why was he yelling?
"No, honest-" said Ron's voice desperately.
"Harry, we're really sorry!" Hermione's voice cried. She sounded on the verge of tears. "You're absolutely right, Harry-I'd be furious if it was me!"
There was a pause in which where Levina heard footsteps pacing the room. She pushed open the door.
The room was a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded area, but before Levina could take in her surroundings, she caught sight of Hermione, Harry, and Ron all standing apart from each other, looking at her with stunned expressions.
"LEVINA!" Hermione threw herself onto Levina, and her vision was blocked by bushy hair. "Oh, how are you Levina? You didn't-didn't hear anything, did you?"
"I heard enough," said Levina, breaking away from Hermione to look at Harry. "What was with all the yelling?"
Harry looked slighty embarrassed, but his expression remained angry. "Dumbledore," he said shortly. "We were discussing how he's kept me in the dark. Us, I mean," he added, glaring at Hermione and Ron. "He hasn't told you anything either, has he?"
"No," said Levina, her eyebrows raised, "but why's that such a big-?"
"I've been being tracked for the past month without knowing it!" Harry shouted. "And I bet you have been, too!"
"Tracked?" said Levina. She looked to Hermione and Ron. "What does he mean, tracked?"
Hermione had tears sparkling on her face. "W-well, members from the Order have been keeping an eye on you-"
"And you didn't think to tell me?" said Levina.
"We wanted to," said Ron, "really, we did. But Dumbledore made us swear not to..."
Levina felt slightly relieved. "Oh. It was on Dumbledore's orders."
Harry shot Levina an exasperated look. "So? Doesn't it bother you to know that your two best friends didn't let you in on anything that's been happening?"
"Yeah, a bit," said Levina, "but that's not their fault. If Dumbledore had asked you to not tell me anything, would you do it?"
Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away and began pacing.
"Nice to see you, by the way," said Ron.
"You too," said Levina.
"What is this place anyway?" Harry shot at Ron and Hermione.
"Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," said Ron at once.
"Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order of the-?"
"It's a secret society," said Hermione quickly. "Dumbledore's in charge, he founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time."
Harry came to a halt with his hands in his pockets. "Who's in it?"
"Quite a few people-"
"-we've met about twenty of them," said Ron, "but we think there are more..."
"Like Uncle Nick," said Levina. "He's in the Order, Destiny told me."
"Well?" demanded Harry.
"Er, well what?" said Ron.
"Voldemort!" said Harry furiously, and they both winced. "What's happening? What's he been up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?"
"We've told you, the Order fon't let us in on their meetings," said Hermione nervously. "So we don't know the details-but we've got a general idea-" she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face.
"Fred and George have invented Extendable ears, see," said Ron. "They're really useful."
Levina's heart skipped a beat at the twins' names. Were they here as well?
"Extendable-?" said Harry.
"Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went bezerk. Fred and George had to hide them to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know-"
"-some of them are working on recruiting more people to the order-" said Hermione.
"-and some of them are standing guard over something," said Ron. "They're always talking about guard duty."
"Couldn't have been us, could it?" said Harry sarcastically, gesturing to himself and Levina.
"Oh yeah," said Ron with a dawning comprehension.
Harry snorted. He walked around the room again.
Levina frowned at him. What was up with Harry? He'd never been this foul tempered before, and he was acting like a complete git...
"So what have you two been doing if you're not allowed in the meetings?" Harry demanded. "You said you'd been busy."
"We have," said Hermione. "We've been decontaminating this house, its been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms, and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo-AARGH!"
With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron's elder twin brothers, had materialized out of thin air and into the middle of the room. Lilypad hissed and fled under the bed.
"Stop doing that!" said Hermione weakly.
"Hello, Harry," said George, beaming at him. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."
"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out," said Fred, also beaming. "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."
"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" asked Harry grumpily.
"With distinction," said Fred.
"It would have taken you about thirty seconds to walk down the stairs," said Ron.
"Time is Galleons, little brother," said Fred. "Hi, Levina!" he added. He walked over to her and picked her up into a hug.
"Ahh...choking," Levina squeaked. Fred placed her back down and looked at her.
"You look different," he said. "Did your hair get lighter?"
Levina nodded. "Yeah, it's weird. It was so dark before, and now look at it..."
"It is odd," said George in agreement.
"Hi, George," said Levina, giving him a hug as well.
"How's Destiny?" said George with a dreamy sort of look. "We've been sending owls to each other."
"She's fine," said Levina. "So's Ryuu."
"Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable ears," he added in response to Harry's expression, holding up a flesh-colored string, which was trailing out onto the landing. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."
"You want to be careful," said Ron. "If Mum sees one of them again..."
"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," said Fred.
The door open and a long mane of red hair appeared.
"Oh hello, Harry, Levina!" said Ginny, Ron's younger sister, brightly. "I thought I heard your voice."
"Hi, Ginny," said Levina.
Turning to Fred and George, she said, "It's not go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."
"How d'you know?" said George, looking crestfallen.
"Tonks told me how to find out," said Ginny. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."
Fred heaved a deep sigh. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."
"Snape?" said Levina and Harry together. "He's here?"
"Yeah," said George, closing the door and sitting on one of the beds. "Giving a report. Top secret."
"Git," said Fed idly.
"He's on our side," said Hermione reprovingly.
Ron snorted. "Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks at us when he sees us..."
"If you guys really want to decontaminate the house, you best start by getting rid of him," said Levina.
"Bill doesn't like him either," said Ginny, as if that settled the matter.
"Is Bill here?" asked Harry. "I thought he was working in Egypt."
"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order," said Fred. "He says he missed the tombs, but," he smirked, "there are compensations..."
"What d'you mean?"
"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" said George. "She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish-"
"-and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons," sniggered Fred.
"Charlie's in the Order too," said George, "but he's still in Romanica with Eric, Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."
"Yeah, Eric mentioned something about recruiting people before he left," said Levina, "but he wouldn't say what for..."
"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked.
At these words the Weasleys and Hermione exchanged darkly significant looks.
"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," said Ron in a tense voice.
"Why not?"
"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying," said Fred.
"It's been awful," said Ginny sadly.
"I think we're well shut of him," said George with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.
"What happened?" said Levina.
"Percy and Dad had a row," said Fred. "I'd never seen Dad so angry with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts..."
"It was the first week back after term ended. We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted," said Ron.
"You're kidding?' said Harry.
"He came home very pleased with himself and told Dad he's been offered a position in Fudge's own ofice. He expected Dad to be impressed, I think."
"But he wasn't," said Fred grimly.
Levina frowned. "But why not?"
"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," said George.
"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants him to spy on the family-and Dumbledore."
Harry let out a low whistle. "Bet Percy loved that."
"He went completely beserk."
As Ron explained the rest, Levina could feel her fury growing for Percy. All the terrible things he'd said-it was awful. Now, she'd never liked Percy terribly much, but she had never expected him to be so rude to his own father.
Even the Daily Prophet was bashing Harry here and there, Hermione explained, in small bits in articles. They had made Harry out to be a deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero.
Suddenly, there were footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Uh-oh."
Fred gave the Extendable Ears a tug; there was a loud crack and he and George vanished. Seconds later, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway.
"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now. And who left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"
"Crookshanks and Lilypad," said Ginny. "They love playing with them."
Lilypad gave a small hiss in Ginny's direction.
"Oh, I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Come wash them before dinner, please."
Ginny and her mother vanished, leaving Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Levina alone.
"Look..." Harry began nervously, but they shook their heads.
"We knew you'd be angry," said Ron. "We really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we did try to persuade Dumbledore-"
"Yeah, I know," said Harry grudgingly. "Uhh...by the way, what brings you here, Levina?" he asked.
"Same reason as you guys, I guess," said Levina with a shrug. "But I did get attacked by a couple of dementors-"
"What?" said the three of them together.
Harry looked astonished. "You were too? Do you have to go to the hearing-?"
"Hearing? What hearing?" said Levina. "Draco and I were walking, and a couple of them-"
"Draco?" said Hermione. "Malfoy? What were you two doing together?"
Levina made a face. "We're next door neighbors, we were bound to run into each other eventually."
"You're neighbors?" said Harry with disgust.
"Levesque Manor is next door to Malfoy Manor," said Levina. "But that's not the point! We were walking and two dementors attacked us."
"How'd you get away?" said Harry. "Did you cast a patronus?"
"Don't be silly, I can't use a Patronus," said Levina. "We just took off running and went through Malfoy Manor's gates. They vanished after a moment, though."
Harry began pacing again. "I wonder why we were both attacked?"
"I dunno," said Levina.
When they began to descend down the stairs, they found Fred and George with an Extendable Ear, attempting to listen in on the below conversation. The people, however, moved away and out of sight towards the doorway.
"Dammit," Fred whispered. He hoisted the Ear back up again.
"Snape never eats here," said Ron as the front door opened and closed. "Thank God."
As they passed the row of House-elf heads on the wall they saw Lupin, Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks by the front door, sealing its many locks and bolts.
"We're eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley whispered. "Harry, Levina, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here-"
CRASH!
"Tonks!" cried Mrs. Weasley.
"I'm sorry!" wailed Tonks, who was lying flat on the floor. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over-"
But the rest of her words were drowned out by a horrible, ear-splitting scream.
The moth-eaten curtains had flown apart, where a portrait of a woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming as though being tortured. All along the wall, the other portraits awoke and screamed along with her, and Levina winced; her canine ears were very sensitive and she covered them.
"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers-"
Tonks apologized repeatedly as Mrs. Weasley stunned the portraits one by one along the hall. Then a man with long black hair came charging out of a door facing Levina.
"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" he roared, seizing the curtain.
"Yooou! Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!" she howled at the sight of him.
"I said-shut-UP!" roared the man, and with a stupendous effort, he and Lupin managed to force the curtains closed again.
Levina removed her hands from her ears, which were ringing painfully.
Panting slightly, Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, turned to face them.
"Hello, Harry, Levina," he said grimly. "I see you've met my mother."
Hi guys (: How'd you like the first chapter? Leave a review!
Things to come: Sirius, Meetings, the Order of the Phoenix, and more.
PS thanks to those who reviewed my last story!
-That's the way I roll-