Disclaimer: I do not own or claim to own any of J.K. Rowlings people, places, things...ect.

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Chapter 3 – The Visitor


A week had passed since Harry, Ron, and Hermione had found out what the adults were guarding. Since then, they had found it very amusing whenever Snape raised heck for guard duty, which turned out to be quite often. They still hadn't found out where the girl was being hidden, although Ron had suggested running up and grabbing on to them while they Disapparated, Harry and Hermione had found that a bad idea for more than one reason.

At the moment, they were all sitting down in the living room listening to Snape roar at Dumbledore, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Moody, Tonks, Lupin, and Kingsley, the only people in the room other than themselves.

"It's my turn", Snape was saying furiously, sounding a bit like a child wanting to play with a toy.

"No it's not, you big git", Moody replied, multiplying Snape's fury a hundred fold, "You've been going every other day."

"And I didn't go yesterday, so that would make today mine", Snape answered, both his voice and his stare cutting.

"Be reasonable, Severus", Kingsley's deep voice boomed, "You can't have gotten enough sleep."

"I've slept enough for all of you idiots put together!" Snape roared.

At this, Dumbledore fixed Snape with a piercing stare.

"Sorry, Headmaster, you're not an idiot", Snape mumbled, staring at the floor.

Hermione, Ron, and Harry burst into laughter. Snape turned on them and walked over. He towered over them, a sneer on his face.

"Just what do you think is so funny?" he asked, so angry that he couldn't even bring himself to yell.

"Oh nothing, just the fact that you're so infatuated with her", Ron replied. For a moment, nobody realized the implications of what he had just said except for Hermione, who clapped a hand to her mouth.

"I am not infatu-"Snape began, but suddenly realization dawned in his eyes. "What did you just say?" he asked.

Ron's face turned a brilliant shade of magenta. "Nothing", he muttered.

"Really, Mr. Weasley, I insist you repeat your sentence", Dumbledore said.

Harry felt truly sorry for Ron, who cringed under Dumbledore's stare.

"I said –"Ron whispered, "that it was funny that he was so..." Ron's whisper faded as he finished his sentence, but it was enough to let Dumbledore know that he had heard correctly.

"So!" Snape roared triumphantly, looking as though Christmas had come early.

"Severus", Dumbledore said, "Get on duty. Now."

Looking disappointed that he couldn't see the trio get yelled at, but at the same time triumphant about getting duty, Snape Disapparated. Harry cringed – Dumbledore's stare was now not only directed at Ron, but at all of them. He felt Hermione slide down in her seat as well. Everyone in the room looked shocked, and everyone was fixing them with stares as piercing as Dumbledore's.

"You know," Dumbledore said. It wasn't a question, but they all nodded miserably. "After the talk I had with you." They all nodded again.

"Harry?" this time it was Lupin's voice. It was filled with shock. Harry miserably looked up and met Lupin's shocked eyes. "You directly went against Dumbledore's wishes?"

Harry cringed. "Well, not directly", he said. Half of him wanted to cry out, "They told me, it's all their fault!" but the other half of him knew that it wouldn't be fair. He had soaked up the information and used the Extendable Ears with them right away.

"Why?" Lupin asked.

All Harry could manage was a shrug. He met Lupin's eyes for a moment, and saw them fill with something – protectiveness? Although Harry hadn't said a word, Lupin seemed to have come to a decision about something. Lupin looked at Dumbledore, who was looking at the trio gravely, and strode to Harry's side. He placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Harry was shocked. Lupin knew that he had disobeyed Dumbledore, but here he was, ready to defend him. Sirius would have done the same, Harry thought. He had a feeling his father would have, too. Harry sat up straighter, feeling strengthened under Lupin's hand.

Dumbledore watched the scene with mixed emotions. Lupin was helping Harry heal well, he observed. He could tell from looking at Harry that Sirius had crossed his mind, but instead of retreating further, Harry had straightened, and now looked more ready than either of his friends to talk to Dumbledore.

"What do you know?" Dumbledore asked.

"We know that you're guarding a girl, our age, named Silver, and that Snape has some weird obsession with her", Harry replied promptly. Lupin squeezed his shoulder, but Harry didn't know if it was out of reassurance, shock, or a warning not to press the Snape matter. He decided to take it as all of them.

Dumbledore looked at Harry and came very close to telling him that he was proud of him. Harry had character and boldness that radiated off of him at all times. He was so much like James. Dumbledore knew it didn't have to be said, however, because judging from the look on Lupin's face, Lupin was thinking exactly the same thing. Harry would probably want to hear it from Lupin, anyway.

"That is all you know?" Dumbledore asked.

Harry nodded, and this time he knew that the squeeze Lupin gave his shoulder was meant to be reassuring.

Dumbledore gazed at the trio intently for a moment, and saw Lupin step protectively closer to Harry while looking as though he was going to squeeze the boy's shoulder off.

"Well, it's not much, is it?" he asked, a familiar sparkle entering his eyes.

It took a moment for Harry to realize that he was teasing them. Harry smiled with pure relief. Next to him, Ron looked at him as if he were crazy, and Lupin was still trying to break his shoulder off, or so it seemed.

"Guys", Harry said, "He's not mad." He said it as if it were common knowledge and everyone should know it. He felt Lupin lighten up his grip on his now numb shoulder and wondered if his hand hurt from squeezing that hard.

"No, I'm not", Dumbledore agreed, "Although I am a bit disappointed in you for disobeying my orders." He turned to Harry, "Although what can I expect from James' son?" he added. Harry grinned, Ron and Hermione gaped, and Lupin took up his death grip on Harry's shoulder once more.

Dumbledore looked over his shoulder at the other members of the Order, who looked as shocked as Hermione and Ron. "Would one of you kindly close the door?" he asked politely, "And please put an Imperturbable Charm around it as well. I think our young sleuths need to hear the full story."

Harry pushed Ron into Hermione. "Scoot over", he ordered.

"Well, only since you asked so nicely," Hermione replied sarcastically.

"Sorry," Harry said, and then, turning to look up at Lupin, "Sit."

Lupin smiled. "In a giving-orders mood today, Harry?"

"Guess so", Harry replied. Truthfully, he was feeling good for no apparent reason. I have the weirdest mood swings, he thought ruefully. Over the past week he found he was either in a great mood or in tears over Sirius. Sirius' bedroom had become his retreat. Or rather, he and Lupin's. He liked having Lupin there, though, to talk things over with. He always seemed to have excellent advice.

Once the door was closed and the spell cast, Dumbledore turned to the waiting trio.

"Now, what I am about to explain to you will not leave this room under any circumstances", he said. They all nodded gravely, and he knew that this time they would obey him. He flicked his wand, and a cushy armchair sped over to him just in time to catch him as he sat down. The other members of the Order in the room found seats as well, some of them looking eager to hear the story from him.

"Well, this girl that we are guarding, Silver", he explained, "We are currently hiding. There are a number of death eaters after her, for a few reasons. One, she knows much about the Dark Side but does not have the Dark Mark for them to call her back to them. Two, her mother is outraged, and is among the closest to Lord Voldemort; therefore, they will follow nearly any order from her, and the order has been given to find her daughter. Three, Silver has been blessed with a very special gift – the ability to converse with animals both mentally and through normal speech. As you can guess, this would have come in very handy to the Dark Side. And four, they know that hear death would come as a very personal blow to me."

Dumbledore stopped and gauged their reactions. They all looked interested, Miss Granger more so.

"Excuse me sir", she said, "But what about her father?"

Dumbledore looked at Hermione with a glint of sadness. "That", he stated, "Is a very personal question, and one you would have to ask her yourself."

For a moment Miss Granger looked disappointed, and then excited. "So we get to meet her?" she asked. He smiled, "Yes, eventually you will. But for now, we are content with where we are currently keeping her.

"What about Snape?" Ron asked suddenly, "Why is he so obsessed with her?"

Dumbledore looked at Mr. Weasley for a moment before replying with the same cryptic answer he gave Hermione. "That is a very personal question, and one which you would have to ask Professor Snape yourself, although I wouldn't recommend it."

"Hmph", Ron replied. Harry could only imagine the ideas going through Ron's head at that very moment.

"Well," Mrs. Weasley said brightly, "It's time for lunch. What do you all feel like?"

For a moment, everyone just stared at her. She beamed sunnily back at them.

"Sandwiches?" she suggested.

Roars of "Yes!" rang out around the room.

"Alright then, I'll call you all when it's ready", she said, walking out of the room. She had barely taken a step out when they heard her yell, "Oh, I SEE!"

Harry, Ron, and Hermione all ran to the door. Fred, George, and Ginny had been trying to get the Extendable Ears to work, but Mrs. Weasley had caught them. As the three trudged upstairs, they heard her yells, "- EAVESDROPPING!" She was suddenly joined, however, by Sirius' mom's portrait in the hallway.

"-FILTHY MUDBLOODS, SCUM OF THE EARTH-"
"-THIS IS WHY I NEVER TELL YOU ANYTHING-"
"-TRAITORS, THE LOT OF THEM-"
"-CAN'T MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS-"

Lupin and Moody quickly fixed the portrait, and Mrs. Weasley's yells alone filled the house.

"THOUGHT YOU'D JUST HAVE A LISTEN-IN, DID YOU? WELL –"

Ron shut the door with finality as the three entered Ron and Harry's room.

"I'm surprised she didn't yell at us for finding out", he said, grinning.

"Well, no, she wouldn't after Dumbledore practically said it was alright. And she wouldn't dare yell at Harry after those looks Lupin gave everyone who looked at Harry like he'd ever done anything wrong in his life", Hermione said practically.

"He's cool, isn't he?" Harry grinned.

Hermione and Ron smiled at him.

"I think he'll take care of you," Ron replied, "So anyway, Snape."

"What about him, Ron?" Hermione asked exasperatedly, "What about meeting her? She sounds so – interesting."

"What's more interesting is what Snape wants to do with any human being", Ron replied.

Harry stretched out on his bed as the two bickered it out. He thought this girl – Silver – sounded interesting, appealing even. He wondered if she was pretty, and he thought momentarily of Cho. Even if she is pretty, if she's anything like that – girl – she's not for me, Harry thought bitterly. He had had tons of fun with Cho in his daydreams, but in reality he wasn't remotely interested in her anymore. He thought it might be nice to have a girlfriend, though... My lovelife's too pathetic to bother thinking about, he groaned silently to himself.

"Earth to Harry", Hermione was saying impatiently.

"Huh?" he grunted, lifting his head off the pillow.

"Aren't I right?" she demanded.

"Sure", he replied, laying his head back down.

"WHAT?" Ron exclaimed, "What about me?"

"I reckon you're both right", Harry replied.

He heard Hermione snort disbelievingly. "You don't even know what we're talking about", she accused.

"No", he admitted, "But all the same, I'm sure you're both right."

He was rescued by Mrs. Weasley's call of, "LUNCH!"

"Come on", he said, jumping off the bed and hurtling down the stairs two at a time.

He arrived in the kitchen in a very good mood, something Lupin seemed to notice. He smiled at Harry, and Harry grinned back. Fred, George, and Ginny, who looked in a bad mood, saw him and quickly wiped the frowns off their faces. They looked surprised and curious.

"What's up, Harry?" George asked curiously.

"The sky", Harry replied cheerfully as he accepted a sandwich from a slightly surprised looking Mrs. Weasley.

He watched as all his friends exchanged glances. Ron and Hermione shrugged; Fred, George, and Ginny shrugged back. He grinned and sat down between Lupin and Tonks.

"Life treating you well, Harry?" Lupin asked.

"Yup, for now", Harry replied, "You?"

"Couldn't be anything less than happy when you're in such a good mood", he replied sincerely.

Harry grinned at him and then turned his attention back to his sandwich, ignoring Tonks' look of wonder.

He glanced over at his bewildered friends, who were looking at him as if they had never quite seen him before, and grinned at them. They smiled back, and Harry distinctly saw Fred turn to George and mouth the words, "Mood swings." At this, George nodded and smiled what he thought was innocently at Harry.

Harry finished his food with Lupin, and Mrs. Weasley offered them seconds almost immediately.

"No thank you, Molly", Lupin replied.

"No thanks", Harry echoed.

Mrs. Weasley smiled kindly at them and returned to her own lunch.

"I think we should go shopping for school supplies tomorrow", she suggested.

Harry glanced up interestedly. He hadn't realized it, but this house was getting a bit boring.

"No, no, Molly dear", Dumbledore replied, "I really think we should wait a bit longer – until everybody is ready."

Immediately all the adults nodded solemnly, and it took Harry a while to figure out that Dumbledore wanted to wait until Silver came. Then he, too, nodded, although he, Ron, and Hermione were grinning as they did so.

"But we are ready", Ginny said, bewildered, "Right guys?"

"No, I don't think I am", Harry replied, "Best to wait a while longer."

Ron and Hermione echoed him at once.

"Yes, best to wait..."
"Really don't think I'm up to it so soon..."
"Definitely need to wait a while longer..."
"Not ready to face that quite yet..."

Ginny, Fred and George, looking extremely confused, muttered something about Fred and George's joke shop, left the room.

Soon the whole table was doubling over in laughter.

"Good one, Harry!"
"Never would've thought of that..."
"Looks like they're handy after all, Dumbledore!"
"Not so quick on the uptake, but really very bright once they get the picture", Lupin teased.

"Hey, we just found out today!" Harry replied. At Lupin's look, he relented. "Okay, so technically we found out a week ago, but it's today that counts."

More laughs followed this pronouncement, and Harry was in such a good mood by the end of it that he helped Mrs. Weasley clear the table. When he brought in the last dish, though, her eyes suddenly filled with tears and she pulled him close.

"Darling boy", she said, sounding as if she were about to burst into tears, "Darling, darling boy."

Mrs. Weasley had a knack of putting at least one of her arms right around Harry's neck, making it hard for him to breath. He had no idea what had inspired this sudden wave of emotion from her, but he figured it had to be a girl thing. Deep...breaths, he told himself, trying to get either his nose or mouth away from her blouse so that he wasn't inhaling it while not wanting to pull away from the hug and hurt her feelings.

"Mum, you're gonna kill him", Ron said, trying to pull her off of Harry.

"Molly, at least let go his neck", Lupin said concernedly.

Mrs. Weasley held him at arm's length, her eyes looking extremely bright.

"Such a good boy", she said, and suddenly tears began to run down her cheeks. "And bright, and talented, and..." she gave a sob, "adorable." At this, she completely burst into tears.

Harry blushed brightly.

"Don't, um, cry", he said uncomfortably, rubbing his neck.

She only sobbed harder.

"Molly, what's the matter?" Tonks asked, pulling her into a chair. She had been given the job of folding up the tablecloth, and had been watching.

"Just...look at him", Mrs. Weasley sobbed.

Tonks turned to look at him, and Harry shrugged, but she didn't turn away.

"He is adorable", she said, suddenly looking as if she were going to cry.

Harry was feeling extremely uncomfortable, and wished someone would hide him from view.

"Honestly", Lupin said, stepping in front of him, "What is the matter with you two?"

"It's just that he's so..." Tonks paused, "cute. He's had to go through so much..."

She now sounded as if she were going to burst into hysterics along with Mrs. Weasley.

"Well don't cry about it", Lupin said reasonably, "Give the boy candy or something."

Tonks' lower lip started to quiver, and Lupin turned to Harry. "Come on," he said, guiding Harry out of the room while shaking his head.

When Harry went up to bed that night, he saw that Mrs. Weasley and Tonks had taken Lupin seriously. His bed was covered with all different sorts of candy and Mrs. Weasley's special homemade fudge. There were even some cookies that, according to the note on the box, Tonks had made herself.

"I'll never finish all this", he muttered as he tried to stow it in places where people didn't have to walk.

"Well, look on the bright side," Ron replied, "You have me to share it with."

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The next few days passed uneventfully. It was eight o' clock on Friday evening, and Harry was playing chess with Ron while Hermione immersed herself in a book entitled: Are You Ready for Advanced Transfiguration? They were in the living room, as was everybody else. Lupin was immensely enjoying watching Harry and Ron play chess, and over in the corner Dumbledore was conversing with Snape and Professor McGonagall, who had shown up the previous day to spend the remainder of her summer with them. Tonks was changing her appearance randomly for her enthusiastic audience of Fred, George, and Ginny. The rest of the people were just sitting around talking, excepting Kingsley, who was 'on duty'.

A loud crack made everyone look up. Kingsley's eyes scanned the room until they locked onto Dumbledore's, and briefly, Snape's.

"They've found her", he said breathlessly.

Snape Disapparated with a pop.

Dumbledore followed.

The room was filled with silence for a second, before Lupin stood up and exchanged glances with Moody and Kingsley.

"Stay here, Remus", Mr. Weasley said, "I'll go."

Lupin looked as if he were about to protest, but Mr. Weasley interrupted.

"The boy needs you."

With that he, Moody, and Kingsley departed.

"Stay, Tonks", Lupin directed as he sat back down. He and Tonks exchanged glances and Tonks sat down as well. "Well, I expect you'll be meeting Silver soon", he informed the trio, "Why don't you go tell them?" He gestured towards Ginny, Fred, and George, who were still too shocked to ask any questions, but looked as if they might start.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione quickly filled them in, but other than their voices, there was complete silence in the room. Once they had finished, they sat and waited like everyone else. It was a horribly tense setting.

Suddenly, with a loud crack, Kingsley appeared. He was followed shortly by Mr. Weasley. Right after that came Snape and Dumbledore, with a girl in the middle. Mr. Weasley had what looked like a black eye, Kingsley had a deep cut in his hand and a nasty bruise forming on his cheek, Dumbledore and Snape looked like they had each run a hundred mile marathon, and the girl was the only one who looked untouched. She was the most beautiful girl Harry had ever seen. She stood at about 5'4", and had dark brown hair with reddish highlights that shone every time she moved her head even a little bit. It fell down to just above her elbow. Her eyes were dark brown and expressive – and untrusting. She possessed a certain feminine grace and style that Harry had not seen any girl achieve before. She held herself in a cool, collected manner. Suddenly she looked at Harry. Harry felt an electric current connect them for a brief moment. He looked into her cautious, guarded eyes, and saw fear and loneliness behind the wall she had put up. He felt her looking into him, as well, and he attempted to hide something – although he wasn't sure what. He knew she had seen it, and suddenly felt very vulnerable. She looked away, and he was suddenly aware that everybody in the room was staring at him. He tore his eyes off away from her with difficulty and found himself looking into Snape's eyes. Snape was looking at him with five times his usual loathing – Harry had no trouble breaking eye contact with him.

Dumbledore cleared his throat suddenly, causing everyone to jump and look at him.

"For those of you who don't know her," he said, his voice quietly commanding respect, "This is Silver. She is a permanent resident here for the rest of the summer. She will be sleeping in Miss Granger and Miss Weasley's room. I expect you all," his eyes flickered over to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, "To make her feel welcome."

He turned to Silver. "You will find you are quite safe here," he told her quietly, "Now Severus and I must go back and get your things."

Silver looked horrified at the prospect. She turned to Snape as if to verify.

"We must go", Snape told her, and Harry noticed that there was no trace of sarcasm or harshness in his voice.

She nodded, but still looked terrified.

Dumbledore reached out and tugged on a lock of her hair. Harry found himself wishing he could do the same. "Remus is here," Dumbledore informed her, "As well as Kingsley and Arthur." She brightened a bit.

Dumbledore looked over at Kingsley and Mr. Weasley and turned back to her. "However, you will stay with Remus, because Kingsley and Arthur are wounded. They will be being attended to in the kitchen if you should need them."

Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Kingsley, and Mr. Weasley all exited on cue.

Lupin stood and made his way over to the girl. He put his hand on her shoulder as Dumbledore and Snape Disapparated.

"Come," he told her gently, steering her back towards the kids. She obediently allowed him to guide her.

Harry was half pleased and half scared when Lupin sat her down in between him and Harry. He gave Harry a pointed look.

"Um," Harry began. She looked up at him and he found that it only took a second for him to lose himself in her eyes.

"I'm Potter" he murmured, "I mean Harry. Potter Harry. No, Harry Potter." He blushed furiously as he spoke, but he couldn't for the life of him get anything he said to make sense.

"I'm...Silver," she replied. Harry saw confusion lingering in her eyes, although he didn't know why.

Harry briefly wondered if she liked his eyes, too. He nearly asked her when Ron interrupted his thoughts.

"I'm Ron", he said, "Weasley." Harry didn't need to look at him to tell that he was goggling at her.

Fred and George had similar troubles introducing themselves – Fred practically drooled on George, and George got his and Fred's names mixed up. Silver regarded them coolly and introduced herself with poise and guardedness.

"I'm Hermione Granger," Hermione spoke up suddenly. There was a pertness to her voice that woke Harry out of his half-trance over her eyes. He glanced at Hermione to see, to his surprise, that she wasn't smiling at Silver.

For a moment, there was an awkward silence. Harry looked into Silver's eyes and saw immediately the hurt Hermione's cold greeting had given her. He nearly punched Hermione when Ginny interrupted.

"I'm Ginny Weasley," she offered with a warm smile. Harry swore he saw a smile in Silver's eyes as she replied, "Silver."

Lupin was glaring at Hermione. Hermione gave him a withering look and then picked up her book and began to read.

"Sorry about Hermione", Ron said loudly, "She's not usually this rude."

Hermione looked up and gave Ron an icy look. "I'm going to bed," she announced, getting up and walking out of the room with her nose in the air.

"What's wrong with her?" Ron asked nobody in particular.

"I don't think she likes me," Silver commented in her particularly breathtaking voice.

"I can't see why not," Ginny replied boldly.

Silver gave Ginny a shy smile as Harry wondered why he hadn't thought to say that. "Thank you," she said. Ginny smiled back at her.

"You have a big family," Silver commented, glancing at Fred, George, and Ron, "Do you only have brothers?" Silver looked as if she were trying very hard at making conversation, and immediately everyone jumped in to help her.

Ginny complained about having so many brothers while Fred, George, and Ron complained about having a little sister. Fred and George were very insistent in saying that Harry was somehow Ron's twin.

"Don't you see the resemblance?" George asked seriously, mischief in his eyes.

Silver looked at Harry and Ron and laughed. Her laughter made Harry feel as though he had just taken a sip of butterbeer.

Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, Kingsley, and Mr. Weasley walked back into the room, Kingsley sporting a bandage on his hand, and Mr. Weasley a patch over his eye that made him look rather like a pirate. Mr. Weasley caught Silver's eye and gave her a well-acted, "ARR!" that made her laugh, lifting Harry's spirits as she did so.

"I think it's time for you children to get to bed," Mrs. Weasley announced. She looked around a moment, and then added, "Where's Hermione?"

Harry watched as the laughter left Silver's eyes and a wall took its place.

"She left", Ron said awkwardly, "She wanted to read her book."

Mrs. Weasley looked surprised, but said nothing. "Right then, run along to bed now, everyone but the twins", she said, shooting Silver a smile.

Fred and George wished them all a goodnight as they left and the four walked up the stairs, Silver a bit apprehensively.

When they reached the top Harry stopped and turned to the girls, who were going a different direction.

"Well, goodnight," he said. Ron turned and echoed his sentiments.

"'Night!" Ginny replied cheerfully.

"Goodnight," Silver replied. He looked up into her eyes and for a moment they were both silent. Harry sought to get past the wall she had put up, but Ginny interrupted. "Come on, Silver", she said, "I'll show you our room."

Silver quickly looked at Ginny. "Right," she said, turning to follow her.

Harry and Ron turned and went into their room.

"What's up between you two, mate?" Ron asked as they lay in bed.

"I dunno," Harry replied, "I really like her eyes."

Ron didn't reply.

"Well, g'night", Ron said finally.

"Night", Harry replied.