Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling is not me. Nor am I she. Therefore, I don't own Harry Potter. Off we go!
Burch the Brilliant- Burch was the keeper for the Tornadoes in the early 1980's. She was the first ever keeper to both block twenty goals and score two goals in the same game. Unfortunately, during a game against the Chudley Cannons Burch was blown off course by a strong wind. She disappeared into the woods nearby and has not been seen since.
Ron smiled as he finished reading the back of the Chocolate Frog card. He already had several of Burch, but he pocketed it in his robe anyway. He could still remember opening his first card when he was just four. It was of Albus Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and one of the most respected wizards throughout the world. Ron thought back to that time, when the whole earth seemed to be at peace. He wished he could bring that feeling back, but with Voldemort getting stronger everyday, it seemed impossible. Sometimes, Ron even wished he had homework to keep his mind off of everything that was going on. He had nothing to do besides help the Order after he graduated from Hogwarts last year.
Hermione, on the other hand, wasn't letting graduating stop her from learning as much as possible. Despite earning 5 Outstandings on the N.E.W.T. tests last year, she still felt as though she could have done better. This time, she had her nose buried in Countercurses and Jinxes: Desperate Times Call for Desperate Spells. Ron smiled; he had liked Hermione since third year, and had finally gotten the nerve to tell her so the year before. They weren't officially together, but Hermione did seem to be friendlier with him.
Ron watched as Harry fixed himself a cup of tea. Harry had been in a terrible state lately; after losing Sirius Black, his godfather and father figure, he hadn't really been up to do much of anything enjoyable. Harry spent all of his time trying to figure out ways to get revenge on Voldemort, but to no avail. Voldemort was becoming too powerful. He had already worked his way into the Ministry of Magic and was starting to gain power at Hogwarts. The Order of the Phoenix, a secret society whose purpose was to take down the Dark Lord, had been working day and night, but still had not found a way of stopping him.
Number 12 Grimmauld Place, headquarters of the Order, had been particularly packed the last few weeks. Members of the society were constantly coming in and out, discussing the latest whereabouts of Voldemort and plans on what to do next. Today, however, the house was quiet. Besides Harry, Ron, and Hermione, the only creature there was Kreacher, Harry's house elf. He had belonged to the Black family, but after Sirius died, he left both Kreacher and the house to Harry. Ron drifted back to the summer before his fifth year of school, when he and his family spent weeks cleaning up the old house, ridding it of dark objects and unwanted monsters. The one piece they had not yet managed to dispose of was a portrait of Sirius' mother, which hung in the main living room.
The doorbell rang, at which the curtains covering the portrait of Mrs. Black promptly swung open.
"MUDBLOODS, TRAITORS, FILTHY SCUM DIRTYING MY HOME AND INSULTING THE BLACK NAME!" the portrait screamed. Hermione immediately jumped up to answer the door.
"Bloody hell, not again! Won't that woman ever shut up?" Ron said as he and Harry struggled to close the curtains and silence the ear-splitting howl. As soon as they had managed to stop the wailing, Hermione re-entered along with Arthur Weasley, Ron's father.
"Evening, Dad," Ron said. His father did not look too well, though that was nothing unusual, given the circumstances. Ever since he had been attacked three years ago by Voldemort's snake, Nagini, Arthur had become increasingly more frail and weak. However, his appearance and physical state did not stop him from being his usual happy self.
"Good evening, Ron! How was everyone's day?" Arthur took off his cloak and sunk into the nearest arm chair.
"Oh, you know, finding ways to kill the most evil wizard of all time, searching for parts of his soul, the usual." Harry said, though Arthur did not notice the hint of sarcasm in his voice. "How was work, Mr. Weasley?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary. There was a case of a muggle toaster turning bread into pygmy puffs, but that's about it. It's incredible; the jokes wizards come up with to pull on muggles these days. I swear they are just getting sillier and sillier." Lowering his voice slightly, Arthur leaned towards the trio, who was now sitting on a couch facing him. He looked around as if someone might overhear, and then proceeded to say, "I talked to Kingsley Shacklebolt today. He said that from an inside source, he was able to find out some bad news. It seems as though You-Know-Who has been successful in creating two more horcruxes. This time, he's not telling anybody what or where they are, including his own Death Eaters."
Mr. Weasley waited a moment for this news to sink in, though no one seemed to want to speak. Finally, Harry broke the silence.
"Well, it's not as if we were about to destroy him for good, is it? Now we've just got two extra to find. Shouldn't be that hard." He managed to sound confident, but he could not stop the slightly defeated look from showing up on his face. Just then, the doorbell rang. This time, it was Mr. Weasley and Hermione who got up to close the screaming portrait of Mrs. Black, while Ron answered the door.
He opened the door for Tonks, a young witch who was an auror and a member of the Order. Today, her hair was wavy and jet black, compared to her usual pink spikes.
"Hello, Ron!" she said, stepping inside. Tonks screwed up her face when she heard Mrs. Black's wails. "Sorry," she said apologetically. "Did I do that? I'm always forgetting that I have to knock. I wish the Floo Network wasn't being watched. That would make life so much simpler."
"There are lots of things that would make life simpler, Tonks," Harry said, with a slight smile on his face.
"Wotcher, Harry. How have you two been? Getting on okay?" she said as they made their way to the sitting room. Ron's ears were still faintly ringing even though Mrs. Black was now quiet.
"Arthur!" Tonks said when he and Hermione walked in and joined them, the smile wiping off of her face. "Have you heard? About the horcruxes?"
"Afraid so, Kingsley's just told me." Mr. Weasley said. "I suppose though, as Harry said, there's nothing to do but just try to find them like the others." Arthur gave a deep sigh. There was another short silence that followed.
"Well, we were just about to eat. Would you two like to stay for dinner?" Hermione finally asked.
"I would love to, but I best be going," Arthur said. "I need to get back to Molly; she will be worried sick if I'm gone too long. It's no wonder she's so worried, considering that clock she carries around. Good day to you all, I expect that I will be seeing you soon." With that, Arthur retrieved his cloak and left.
"I am free to stay! Remus had been planning on coming over for dinner, but he's out late working again. Poor thing, he had been working nonstop since Sirius…" Tonk's voice trailed off. Ron looked over at Harry; his face had gone pale. They had never really talked about the night that Sirius fell through the veil, as it was too painful to think about for all of them.
"Then let's eat!" Ron exclaimed. They had a rather enjoyable dinner. In the past year, Hermione's cooking skills had greatly improved. After finishing her meal, Tonks got up. "Thank you, Hermione, for the delicious meal!"
"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay for a glass of butterbeer?" Hermione asked.
"No, I really need to get back to the Ministry." Tonks said. "I have some more business to discuss with Shacklebolt." Ron led Tonks to the door. Before she left, she whispered to him, "Please, watch Harry. He's been so down since Sirius, and then Dumbledore. Just take care of him, okay?" Ron nodded his head, and she was off.
He returned to the living room. Hermione had already returned to her book, oblivious to the rest of the world. He looked over at Harry; he was still obviously in a bad mood from hearing Sirius' name.
"I think I'll just get to bed." Harry said, as he got up and walked upstairs. Ron could hear the door slam behind him.
Hermione closed her book. "Two more horcruxes. I can't believe it." She said.
"Neither can I." Ron sat down by the fire. How on earth was Voldemort able to make two more?
They sat in silence for several minutes, before Ron heard a tap on the window. Looking to see what it was, he crossed the room. Outside, his owl, Pigwidgeon, was carrying a rather small envelope in his talons. Ron let Pig in, and he began to flutter throughout the room, hooting happily.
"Bloody bird," Ron said as he tried to catch Pig and untie the letter from his leg. Once Ron had the envelope, he resettled himself in the chair by the fire, and flipped the letter over. In a handwriting that Ron did not recognize, Ron read the front:
Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger
Sitting Room
Number 12 Grimmauld Place
London, England
"Hey, Hermione," Ron said. "Looks like we've got ourselves a letter."
