"Bryt, it's wonderful to see you again."
Bryt turned around to see Mrs. Weasley standing in the doorway, though she didn't seem nearly as cheerful as Bryt remembered, and she could have sworn the woman looked a bit thinner. Bryt figured this was probably partly due to the argument with Percy and his estrangement from the rest of the family.
Though Bryt couldn't help but wonder what Mrs. Weasley was doing at this place.
"Oh, who're your friends?" Mrs. Weasley asked, looking between Sofí and Julio. It didn't surprise Bryt that Mrs. Weasley didn't recognize them. After all, she only saw Sofí and Julio briefly two years ago.
"Sofí and Julio García," Bryt explained, "They're staying with me over the summer. Mr. Weasley said Dumbledore wouldn't mind them coming, too."
"Of course, they're welcome here," Mrs. Weasley said, ushering them inside, "Just stay quiet in the hall, we don't want to wake her—" Mrs. Weasley nodded to a curtain nearby, "—up again."
Bryt nodded, though she gave the curtain a confused look. She pushed the thought aside as she looked back at Mrs. Weasley, about to ask about Ron.
"Ron's upstairs," Mrs. Weasley said, seeming to guess Bryt's thoughts, "He and the others are cleaning the bedrooms."
"Are Hermione and Harry here?" Bryt asked, noticing Sofí smirking out of the corner of her eye. Luckily, she kept quiet.
"Hermione will be here soon," Mrs. Weasley replied, starting to herd the three towards the stairs, "Head on upstairs, Ginny's cleaning a room for you, her, and Hermione. Sofí and Julio, just pick a room and settle yourselves in."
Bryt looked back at Mrs. Weasley, about to ask about Harry again, but she had left down the hallway already.
"Harry's probably already upstairs," Julio said, "C'mon."
Bryt nodded. She turned and started up the old staircase, trying to move gingerly as the stairs creaked under their weight.
"Wow, I hope this thing don' collapse on us," Julio said.
"No kiddin'," Sofí agreed, smirking at Bryt, "Bet it could at any moment, though."
Bryt rolled her eyes, though she was a bit worried. Just how old was this place? As Bryt looked around, she could tell the place was obviously in shambles. It reminded Bryt of the Shrieking Shack at the edge of Hogsmeade Village. As they reached the first landing, she tried to avoid looking at one wall, which was decorated with heads of house elves. The beheaded house elves, plus the shouts she heard when she first approached the house, Bryt couldn't help but feel this place was very unwelcoming.
And they were supposed to spend the summer here?
"Gonna be a very cheerful summer, ain't it?" Sofí asked, making a face as she looked around.
"We'll manage somehow," Julio replied, a disturbed look on his face as he glanced at the wall of house elf heads.
One of the doors along the hallway opened and Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger, and only, sister, appeared in the doorway. Her long red hair was pulled up in a sloppy bun and her face and clothes were covered in dust.
Out of all of Ron's siblings, Ginny was the one that Bryt got along with best—even though she only started becoming close friends with Ginny within the past year.
"Bryt!" Ginny said happily, "Mum said you were coming today. And Sofí and Julio are here, too! It's great to see you two again."
"Same," Julio said with a grin.
"I was just taking a break from cleaning out this room," Ginny said, motioning over her shoulder, "It was going to be for me, you, and Hermione, but with Sofí here, too..."
"Don' worry 'bout me," Sofí said, grinning, "I'm fine on my own."
"We definitely don' need that," Julio said, "Sofí and I'll share."
"Then you can pick a room and start cleaning," Ginny said, "Just be careful and keep it locked—Kreacher's been sneaking around."
"Kreacher?"
"The house elf here," Ginny explained, "Didn't Mum or Dad tell you what this place is?"
"No," Bryt said, shaking her head, "Just the note Mr. Weasley gave us said this was the Order of the Phoenix. What is that?"
The doorbell rang and Bryt could hear the screaming again downstairs.
"That's most likely Hermione, I'll tell you all everything in here," Ginny nodded to the room she had just come out of as she started down the stairs. Bryt nodded and went into the room as Sofí and Julio followed.
The room looked to be in just as bad of a condition as the hallways, though there were considerably less cobwebs and dust. It was obvious Ginny had done a good bit of work already. Bryt took her trunk from Julio and pulled it to one of the three beds in the room before she put Joey's cage—with him still in it—on top of the wardrobe. Sofí plopped down on one of the beds, rolling so she was laying on her stomach, and Julio sat on a separate bed.
"This is gonna be a long summer," Bryt said, looking around the room.
The door opened a second later and Bryt looked up, expecting to see Ginny and Hermione, but instead saw Ron—who seemed just as dusty as his sister, even to the point that it was graying his vivid red hair—in the doorway. Bryt grinned brightly. Even though it had only been a week, Bryt was glad to see her boyfriend again. She went over to him and leaned up on her toes to kiss him lightly on the cheek—which gained a whistle from Sofí and Bryt glared over at her.
"When'd you get here?" Ron asked, looking at Bryt. He seemed as pleased to see her as she did to see him.
"Just now," Bryt said, "Where's Harry? Isn't he here already?"
"No, he's still at the Dursleys," Ron said, sitting on the empty bed and Bryt sat next to him.
"Is he comin'?" Julio asked. Ron shook his head, but before anyone could say anything else, Ginny came back in with Hermione.
Hermione, with her bushy brown hair and knack for almost always knowing what to say, was definitely Bryt's closest friend—and the one Bryt confided in with things she didn't dare tell anyone else. Even Sofí.
Julio grinned brightly at Hermione, getting up and coming towards her to take her trunk for her as Hermione put down her large tabby cat, Crookshanks. Once the two sat together on one bed, with Hermione taking Julio's hand in hers, Ginny sat next to Sofí on the third bed.
"Why isn't Harry coming?" Bryt asked.
"Mum says Dumbledore wants him to stay at the Dursleys for now," Ron said, though he obviously wasn't happy about it. Bryt wasn't, either.
"So, what's the Order of the Phoenix?" Bryt asked, deciding it would just be better to change the subject.
"It's this organization Dumbledore founded," Ginny replied, "During You-Know-Who's last rise to power. They fight against him."
"But why is it here?" Julio asked, looking around the peeling wallpaper and ruined rug, "This place ain't exactly..."
"It's a pit-hole," Sofí said. Julio glared at her.
"But Julio's right," Hermione said, "This place doesn't seem very reasonable for such an organization. Especially with whatever was yelling when I rang the doorbell."
"Yeah, that yelling happened when we came, too," Bryt said, looking at Ron, "What was that?"
"A painting," Ron answered, "We've been trying to take it down since we got here this morning, but we haven't had any luck. Sirius thinks a Permanent Sticking Charm was used."
"Sirius is here?" Bryt and Hermione asked together. Julio and Sofí both looked at Ron curiously. Neither of them had met Sirius, but they knew enough about him from the stories Bryt and Hermione had told them.
"This is his place," Ginny said, "He offered it to Dumbledore to use as a headquarters."
Bryt felt a wave of relief go through her for a moment. Sirius being here meant he was no longer on the run, living off of rats and garbage. He actually had somewhere to stay—even if the place was in shambles.
"They're supposed to have a meeting tonight," Ron said, sounding disappointed, "But Mum won't let us sit in. She says we're too young."
"Never stopped me before," Sofí said simply, grinning at Julio now, "She can' stop you, yer of age—"
"She's stopping Fred and George," Ginny said, "And they're of age."
"But Julio ain't her kid," Sofí said bluntly, "She ain't gotta say over him."
"What could I do fer the Order, though?" Julio asked, "I mean, in a few months, I'll be back at Salem."
"Dad says Dumbledore's trying to get foreign wizards into the Order," Ron said, "He's already got Charlie, but he's looking for other connections as well."
"I'd say it's worth a shot," Bryt said, "It'd be a great way to find out what's going on in the meetings."
Julio looked over at Hermione, as if seeking her permission. She simply nodded and Julio nodded himself.
"I'll go ask," Julio said, standing up and heading out of the room.
Eager to know if Julio would succeed, the others followed, though they stayed grouped together at the top of the stairs.
A loud pop came from behind the group and Bryt and Hermione both let out a yell, spinning around to see Fred and George were behind them. Both of them were grinning mischievously.
"Problems, girls?" George asked innocently.
"Just you two trying to give us a heart attack."
"They've been Apparating every few feet ever since they passed their test," Ron said irritably.
"Why walk when you can Apparate?" Sofí asked with a laugh.
"A girl after our own hearts!" Fred said, giving Sofí a mock bow.
Bryt rolled her eyes. She was only just now realizing that spending a summer with the Weasleys meant that Sofí García was going to be in the same building as Fred and George Weasley for weeks. At least this meant the summer would be interesting—despite how annoying it was obviously going to end up before long.
'At least Sofí doesn't go to Hogwarts,' Bryt thought with slight relief.
"So what brings all of you to these lovely stairs?" George asked, "Admiring the décor?"
"Waiting on Julio," Ginny said, "He's asking if he can join the Order. If he can get in, he'll be able to tell us what the meetings are about."
"And here we were looking forward to testing our Extendable Ears," Fred said.
"Extendable Ears?" Bryt and Sofí asked.
Before Fred or George could explain exactly what Extendable Ears were, Julio came back up the stairs. It was clear on his face that he didn't have good news.
"No luck," Julio said, "They all say it don' matter I'm of age. I'm still in school, so they won' let me join."
"Looks like we'll get to try the Extendable Ears after all," Fred said. George nodded in agreement, then disappeared with a loud pop. It was only a few seconds before George reappeared.
"You could've jus' walked to yer room," Julio said.
"Done this already," Sofí said, "Apparatin' saves time."
"Yeah, all of thirty seconds," Julio replied, rolling his eyes.
"Shh, someone's here," Ginny said, leaning on the railing and looking to the floor below.
Bryt followed suit and saw two young witches had arrived, who both seemed drastically different in appearances from each other. The first was dressed in a worn-and-patched style that reminded Bryt a little of how Julio dressed, and her hair—which wasn't much shorter than Bryt's—was purple. The second woman was much more normal. She was a black woman wearing a denim jumper dress over a long sleeved shirt and had her hair in multiple braids that went halfway down her back. The two women went on down the hallway, probably towards the kitchen, and it wasn't much longer before more people began showing up. Bryt noticed each of them were a lot more normal-looking than the purple-haired witch.
There were also people Bryt recognized coming in. Dumbledore—the Hogwarts headmaster—McGonagall—her Transfiguration teacher—Remus Lupin—their third year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher(and Bryt's favorite)—Mad-Eye Moody—an auror who Bryt thought had been her last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, only to learn he had been locked in a trunk with an escaped Death Eater impersonating him—Bill Weasley—Ron's oldest brother, who had recently began working at the Diagon Alley Gringotts. Fred and George both believed he did this to be closer to Fleur Delacour, who recently began working there as well. Snape, the Potions professor that Bryt still wasn't completely convinced he was actually on their side—especially with his extreme hatred of Bryt's friend Harry—was the last to arrive, and Bryt heard a door shut after Snape disappeared down the hallway.
"Time to give these things a test run," Fred said, starting to feed some type of flesh-colored string over the banister, crouching down.
Everyone gathered around him, but it was hard listening in when there were eight people grouped around one small object. There was occasionally interference when someone moved, but over the next hour, they were able to get a good understanding of what was happening.
The Order members talked most often about some type of guard duty. Bryt was curious about what they were guarding, and why it was so important. It had to be something crucial to the war for it to be such a high priority for the Order.
Bryt glanced around, wondering if the others were as curious as she was. She had a good feeling they were.
'Wish Harry was here,' Bryt thought. She knew he'd want to know about what was going on. She didn't understand why Dumbledore wanted Harry to stay at the Dursleys. It didn't feel right being here without him.
At least Bryt and her friends would keep Harry up-to-date with letters. And hopefully Harry would be able to come to Grimmauld Place soon.
"They're coming out," Fred whispered, pulling up the Extendable Ear. He and George disappeared with a loud crack, but Bryt and the others stayed where they were, hoping to get another look at the members of the Order as they left—and possibly eavesdrop on a little more of the conversation.
Unfortunately, the people below were talking too lowly for them to hear anything—most likely to not wake up the portrait that was behind the curtains. Bryt and her friends could only watch as the people slowly made their way out the front door—and Bryt couldn't help but notice neither Dumbledore nor the purple-haired witch had left.
"We better at least pretend we haven't been here the past hour," Ron said quietly, "Mum'll kill us if she finds out we were eavesdropping."
Bryt nodded and the group quietly made their way back to the room that Bryt, Hermione, and Ginny would be staying. It wasn't that much long after when Mrs. Weasley came in.
"Dumbledore wants to speak with all of you in the kitchen before he leaves," she said.
Bryt exchanged a surprised look with her friends. After all, in Bryt's four years at Hogwarts, she could count on one hand the number of times she had been in any type of conversation with the headmaster—and each of them involved serious events.
"I wonder what this is about," Hermione said, starting out of the room. Bryt followed behind, wondering the exact same thing.