A/N: Holy crap, I actually wrote a serious story.

I don't own Harry Potter of -Man.

It was a terribly dark night. Dense clouds obscured the moon and stars, and all nearby street lamps had been smashed. The only light came from the tips of twenty odd wands, reflected eerily on the wet ground and trees, barely lighting the shadowy figures that held clutched them. One of the masked figures looked up.

"Awful night." a gruff voice muttered. "You'd think we could do this somewhere dry, at least."

"If her Ladyship wants to get soaked, what are we to question it?" Another voice sneered sarcastically, caused the first to chuckle.

A third figure shushed them both, and gestured towards the others, who were gathering into a rough circle, wands outstretched. The men hurried to join them.

A new voice spoke, this one a women's, harsh and cruel. At her words, the last whispers among the crowd died out, and the masked faces tilted in her direction.

"We gather tonight to summon a great beast of legend, half flesh, half metal. Once it is in our grasp, we will wreak havoc upon the heads of our enemies, magical and muggle alike, in the name of the Dark Lord!" Cheers broke out at her words, only to die as she continued.

"Once the beast has been summoned, it must be contained, and under our complete control. We wouldn't want any… accidents to come to us." These words seemed to frighten a few members of the crowd, who fidgeted nervously.

At that moment, the clouds broke, streaming moonlight onto the deserted street. "Get ready!" a voice snapped, and all of the wands raised. The woman pointed hers towards the center of the circle, and began to speak. A long stream of words left her lips, far longer than any conventional spell. They seemed to fall with great weight upon the air, and the area became deadly silent, apart from the continued sound of rain.

After several minutes of chanting, the woman stopped suddenly, panting. The others in the circle looked around nervously for a sign that the spell had worked. Without warning, an inhumane scream split the air. Several people jumped. In the center of the circle there was a great flash of light, filled with images of a terrible fight. The sounds of clashing metal, and more terrible screaming issued from the scene. Huge, grotesque monsters floated through the air, firing upon the humans below them.

From in the scene, a girls voice cried "Look out!", before a deafening explosion filled the air, both on the street and in the phantom image. Bodies were flung back from the blast, and the light increased, becoming blinding, before vanishing. The sound of rain once again filled the street.

The cloaked figures began to pick themselves up from the ground, groaning. The woman dashed towards the center of the blast, wand held aloft, only to shriek in rage at what she saw. Instead of the monsters from the scene, there lay a battered young man, bleeding and unconscious, a long scarf tangled around him.

Before anyone could react, there were loud cracks all around them, and new figures, this time unmasked, appeared. Someone shrieked "The Order" before a blasts of colored light once again lit the dark street.

Harry was upset. This of course, was nothing new. He was usually upset these days, between Voldemort's rebirth, the Ministry of Magic, and the fact that the Order of Phoenix seemed to like keeping him in the dark. The fact that his hearing had gone well had been a small respite, but because Dumbledore wouldn't even look at him through the whole thing, his temper hadn't been particularly alleviated.

But today he was upset because something big was happening, and no one would give him a straight answer of what. Members of the order had started appearing about an hour ago, only to dash off again. Tonks, Kinsley, Mad-eye Moody, and even professor Lupin had only told him 'later', before hurrying away. Mrs. Weasley wouldn't say anything, and glared so hard a Sirius when he tried, that Sirius had slunk off, looking frustrated, but also a bit afraid.

So now Harry had to wait, or try to figure it out himself. Well, not really, seeing as how his friends, Ron and Hermione were with him, as well as Ron's siblings, Fred, George, and Ginny. But Harry wasn't exactly in the mood to reasoning with himself.

"Maybe," said Ron looking eager, "maybe they got some really good lead on were You-Know-Who is, and they're going to take him out."

Hermione just gave him a withering look, while the twins guffawed. "Right" Fred laughed, "because the Order just suddenly knows where You-Know-Who is, and how to kill him." George chimed in "Why, don't you know Fred? They also found a cure for werewolves, and can make perfect cake every time!" The twins and Ginny laughed, and even Harry couldn't help but chuckle.

"It could happen." Ron muttered, flushing.

"Personally," Hermione said, looking grim, "I think there has been some kind of attack. That's the only good reason to send so many people out of hiding."

"Way to help the mood, Hermione." Fred said, rolling his eyes. Hermione just huffed. "Well excuse me for actually trying to figure out what's going on!'

"No," Harry spoke up for the first time, causing the others to look at him. "I think Hermione's right. The only reason they would all be so worried is if something big was happening." The others looked grim at his words.

"But what?" Ginny asked quietly

"Well, so long as no one we know dies…" Ron said, which made Hermione elbow him sharply.

They had all been sitting in heavy silence for several minutes, when the sound of the front door slamming open and many feet were heard. The teenagers all looked at each other briefly, before rushing down the stairs.

Mrs. Black's portrait had been disturbed by the noise, and was screaming at all of the people clustered in the hall. Sirius and Mr. Weasley were struggling to pull the curtains back over her. Sirius gave Harry a grim smile as he entered the front hallway.

Several order members stood there, rain soaked and tired looking, but mostly uninjured, which instantly filled Harry with relief. Mrs. Weasley was bustling about, checking on people, and trying to get wet coats off, when Harry heard her gasp.

"What…who-" Kingsley Shaklebolt cut her off. "We found him at the center of a blast site, surrounded by Death Eaters. He was already like this."

Harry hurried forward, Ron and Hermione at his heels. Kingsley and Lupin were supporting a red-haired young man. He was pale, and barely conscious. One of his arms has held at an awkward angle, and he was covered in blood. Ron swore at the sight.

"He was with the Death Eaters? And you just brought him here!" Sirius had finally shut the curtains on his mother's portrait.

"Does he really look like a Death Eater?" Lupin asked, softly "please, he needs help. He must be important for Voldemort to have captured him." Sirius looked torn.

"We can always obliviate him later." Lupin added. "He wouldn't be able to find this place."

With a sigh, Sirius shrugged looking tired. Mrs. Weasley rushed forward. "Come on, let's get him upstairs. And you lot-" She added in a harsher voice, looking at her children, Harry and Hermione.

"Molly…" Mr. Weasley said pleadingly . She looked exasperated. "All right, fine! But clear out of the hall. There's tea in the kitchen."

"I'd best be off." Kingsley said, moving towards the door. Moody grunted, and followed him, with Tonks trailing after, and almost falling over the umbrella stand. "I'll be by as soon as I can, probably next morning, to talk about.." He glanced at the underage wizards "what happened tonight. Goodnight all." With that, he was out the door and gone.

Sirius hurried forward to help with the injured man, and Mrs. Weasley once again shoed everyone out of the hallway. They went quietly, too eager to discuss the night's happenings to argue.

A wild Lavi appears!

Bellatrix uses Magic.

It's super effective!

Please review!