Chapter Three
"I'm just not convinced."
That phrase seemed to be the theme of the evening's proceedings in the crowded kitchen of Grimuald Place, as the Order of the Phoenix gathered to follow a lead that they'd received from intelligence placed in a London hotel. Disgruntled, dismayed, and many other "dis-" words that pertained to the situation, most of the Order members were torn on deciding if action should be taken based on the so-called sighting of Harry Potter. After all, he had been successfully hiding from all of them for four years now: why would he be stupid enough to show his face in the center of London after all this time?
Severus Snape tried again at an explanation, while mentally thanking Merlin for the calming draught he'd imbibed only an hour prior.
"As I've attempted to spell out for you imbeciles for the past hour," it would seem that the calming draught was beginning to wear off, "that is precisely why he would go into London at this point. Because none of us are willing to believe that he would! Potter knows how we think as an organization, and that's how he has been so successful evading us in the past! It is well past the time we cease thinking as the Order of the Phoenix, and use some common, criminal, escaped-convict sense!"
"And you'd know all about that, wouldn't you Snape?" Ron Weasley interrupted.
"Ronald!" hissed Hermione Granger-Weasley.
"Well it's true," Ron said, his voice gruff and grumbling.
And of course that exchange led to yet another uproar, with accusations against Snape and his past being among the words yelled in the room. Suddenly, everyone in the room seemed to be speaking all at once; Hermione berated Ron for speaking against another Order member; Molly Weasley started a diatribe about how she would never have allowed one of her own to go to Azkaban in the first place.
Long story short, it was complete and utter mayhem.
Until…
"QUIET!"
Every eye turned to the corner where Kingsley Shaklebolt stood, hands clenched into fists at his side, shoulders squared, eyes narrowed, and a scowling mouth that looked about ready to take on anyone who dared speak another word. Next to him sat Mad-Eye Moody, his magical eye spinning quite madly indeed, and his stationary eye pinning the others in the room with an icy glare.
"This," he paused, and gestured as if finding the right word, "Division, this separation, this hatred of each other is not what the Order needs right now. Maybe the lot of you chose to forget, but there's still a dark lord out there, perhaps you've heard of him. He goes by the name Voldemort, ring any bells?" There was of course the obligatory collective flinch at the intonation of Voldemort's name, and Kingsley paused just long enough to look disgusted at their reactions before continuing. "He's been laying low for quite some time, but he'll bloody well be back! And we need to find Harry for when Voldemort," he placed purposeful emphasis on the name, "decides to strike!"
Mad-Eye spoke up from his place beside Kingsley. "And what's more: Dumbledore, the mad ghost that he is, decided to give Snape the task of finding Potter. And then all you busy-bodies decided to get the entire Merlin-be-damned Order involved! Well so be it, but you're all going to have to listen to somebody, and he's the first in command for this mission—much as I can't stand the bastard…"
"Mad-Eye," Kingsley warned.
"Right," he acquiesced gruffly with a nod of semi-apology in Severus's direction. "Nevertheless, you lot have got to start—"
Mad-Eye's speech was interrupted by Hestia Jones, a squat, dark-haired woman who seemed to suffer from a constant blush. She normally said very little, if anything at all, during these meetings, and such an interruption was quite out of character.
"I just don't understand why Dumbledore can't lead the investigation," she said in a mousy voice. "If he can still stay headmaster at Hogwarts, and still lead the Order, it seems like he could help us to find Harry." Murmurs of agreement filled the crowded kitchen, but no one seemed to know where to turn for an answer. Some looked to Severus, some to Kingsley, and some still waited for Mad-Eye to continue.
Severus took the floor. "There is still a war at our doorsteps, Ms. Jones. If the Headmaster is otherwise occupied, it is none of your concern," he said, and leveled Hestia and her sympathizers with another glare.
Hestia shrank down into her chair, and mad eye went on as though there had been no interruption at all.
"Now, speaking of the lead we got from Auror Tonks this morning! The girl is good, I trained her myself, so I'm damn near positive that it was actually Potter that she saw. Of course, it's been close to fourteen hours since we got the tip, so that information is practically useless. Snape?"
Glad to finally be getting somewhere, now that the Order had been talked into some sort of compliance, Severus said, "Thank you Mad-Eye. Yes, it is probable that Potter has moved again, but since he's of the mindset that we are unaware of his whereabouts, he's likely to stay closer to home, so to speak. Perhaps closer than any of us ever predicted."
"Of course, Little Winging!" Hermione said, her inspired voice ringing through the room.
'Thank Merlin, these dunderheads are finally thinking,' thought Severus. But aloud he said to the rest of the Order, "Precisely."
Rain still sprinkled steadily when Harry stepped out of the taxi onto the wet street in front of Number 4, Privet Drive. The cab driver vroomed away without waiting for a tip. Harry did not know what he had expected to see, but it certainly was not the sight that greeted him. He stared at his former house with a slack jaw and furrowed brows, and walked slowly up the drive.
Unkempt vines covered an entire side of the house, creeping all the way through the gutters and onto the roof. The grass of the front lawn was nearly up to Harry's knees, and the bushes that he had pruned himself all those summers ago had grown wild and untamed. Number 4 was deserted, and by the looks of it, quite some time ago.
Harry glanced at the other houses on the street, but found them all in the same, pristine condition with which he left. Eerily so. He tried the front door—unlocked.
'It's almost too easy,' Harry thought. 'What happened to them?'
He walked straight through the entryway and into the kitchen, and flicked the light switch. The bulb hanging over the kitchen table flickered briefly on, before going out with a light pop! He turned the sink knob, and cold water came gushing out of the faucet.
'Interesting. So they're still alive and paying the bills, but not here,' Harry concluded.
Probably hiding from you, said a niggling voice in the back of his mind. It was true, his face had been plastered all over the UK, just like when Sirius escaped. But Harry's photo hadn't been nearly as flattering.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
The sounds of multiple people apparating from the direction of the street shook Harry from his thoughts. He ducked down below the kitchen countertops next to the cabinets and counted to three before chancing a peek above it. With a delicate hand gesture, he used magic to adjust the curtain that hid window above the sink. A group dressed in Aurors robes had gathered in the driveway, their wands just visible beneath their sleeves.
'I knew it had been too easy,' Harry thought. 'Stupid, stupid Potter. You should have left the moment you arrived.'
He crouched back down and mentally ran through the list of spells he had learned to do without a wand. Glamours, summoning charms, unlocking charms, finite incantatem… all no good. This would be interesting.
Author's Note: Yeah, I know, it's a terrible cliffhanger. But it's only that way because I haven't even decided what happens next, so I'm just as unsatisfied as my readers. Poetic, no?
Thanks again for the reviews! You guys are the reason I update at all. On that note, I feel obliged to say that I hardly ever write fan fiction anymore - it's mostly original short stories for me now. (That's why my other fan fics are on hiatus.) That said, I do still get urges every now and then, which result in rare updates like this. So I'll leave it up to you all: should I officially place this story on hiatus as well?
