Disclaimer: The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found in JK Rowling's brain.
A/N: I apologise for the lateness of this chapter. Unfortunately, I may not be able to keep my biweekly schedule for a while. This is because of a very difficult work situation that I am dealing with this autumn, which thankfully will be done by the beginning of December. I want to assure you that I am committed to updating both of my stories a minimum of once a month for now and resuming my biweekly schedule no later than Christmas. I have full confidence that my work situation will allow me to keep both of those promises. If something unexpected crops up that prevents that, I will say so in my author's notes or, in the worst case, mark my stories as being on hiatus. Thank you for your patience. I don't want to be the author who just stops writing with no explanation, and for that matter, I don't want to stop writing, period, so I will always be sure to keep you up to date on my writing situation.
Chapter 4
CRASH!
"Tonks!"
"Sorry!"
"FILTH! SCUM! MUTANT! HALF-BLOOD FREAK! HOW DARE YOU BEFOUL THE HOUSE OF BLACK?!"
"What the heck?" Hermione said. She was listening to the Weasleys tell their tale when chaos broke out downstairs. She ran for the stairs, wanting to see what was causing some woman to scream blue murder at the top of her lungs.
"Don't go down there!" All of the Weasley kids said.
But Hermione didn't listen. Rushing to the front hall, she saw a strange sight. Mrs. Weasley was helping a young woman with pink hair off the floor. She appeared to have tripped over an ugly umbrella stand made from a troll's leg. But the source of the howling was, shockingly, a portrait of an old woman, looking mad and half-senile, which had previously been hidden behind a set of curtains. She was screaming loud enough that she'd probably wake the whole street if it weren't for the Fidelius Charm.
"What is that?" Hermione screamed as Mrs. Weasley tried to wrangle the curtains.
"Walburga Black," the pink-haired woman yelled.
"Tonks, help me!" Mrs. Weasley called.
The pink haired woman grabbed the other curtain, and Hermione did her best to help, but some kind of charm seemed to be forcing them open.
"My name's Tonks," she said. It would have been in a conversational tone if she hadn't had to shout. "Don't let anyone tell you different. Pleased to meet you."
"Thanks. I'm Hermione Granger—"
"GRANGER!" The portrait exploded with such force that Hermione, Tonks, and Mrs. Weasley were all thrown back against the opposite wall. "I KNOW OF YOU! MUDBLOOD! DAUGHTER OF FILTH! CHILD OF A WHORE! YOU HAVE DEFILED THESE HALLOWED HALLS! KREACHER! REMOVE THIS UNWASHED PIECE OF—!"
"KREACHER, DO NOT!"
Hermione turned and Sirius Black stomped into the front hall, past a very old house elf, who had raised his hand to Hermione with fingers poised to snap. Hermione had once seen Dobby throw Lucius Malfoy down a flight of stairs that way, so she could guess that it was good Sirius stopped him. Sirius managed to force the curtains back together, and the screaming mercifully stopped.
"Wow…I don't think I've ever been insulted like that," Hermione muttered.
Sirius turned around with a flip of his long hair and smiled at her. "Hello, Hermione," he said. "I see you've met my mother."
The Weasleys were right. Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was not a very livable place. It had been abandoned since 1985 until this summer, when Sirius reluctantly moved back in. It was infested with pests, both magical and mundane, and filled with dark artifacts. His old house elf Kreacher evidently hadn't been cleaning. His mother's portrait would wake up and start screaming whenever anyone made too much noise in the front hallway, and no one could figure out how to unstick her from the wall. Hermione wanted to take a crack at it, but Mrs. Weasley was strict about the no-wands rule in the house.
Over the next two days, Hermione got a crash course in the Order of the Phoenix. Apparently, it was established by Dumbledore during the last war to fight Voldemort, and they held periodic meetings that the Weasley children weren't allowed in, not that it stopped them.
"These are handy little devices," Fred told her with a grin. "Extendable ears." He held up something that looked like a rubber ear on a string. "Slip one under the door, and you can hear every word they're saying—at least as long as Mum doesn't catch on."
Several Order members were Aurors who were going behind the Minister's back to fight a war he denied was happening. Nymphadora It's-Just-Tonks-Or-Else was one of them, and so were Kingsley Shacklebolt and Hestia Jones, though she didn't meet them, and the retired Mad-Eye Moody. Mundungus Fletcher, who had ditched Harry when he was supposed to be standing guard, was a petty thief and con man who had joined (on a deal with Dumbledore to keep him out of Azkaban, Hermione suspected) to pass along information from Knockturn Alley and other shady places in the magical world. Hermione's initial meeting with him had been loud enough that he kept his distance from her afterwards. Of course, she couldn't hold a candle to when Dumbledore tore into him. It was the one time she saw the Headmaster over those three days, and she was reminded why the old man was the only person Voldemort feared.
Harry's neighbour, Arabella Figg, was a squib, and thus could nose around in the muggle world without being noticed. Since squibs weren't highly regarded by most wizards, she was easy for a sympathetic figure like Dumbledore to sway. A few members, like Professor McGonagall and Elphias Doge, were personal friends of Dumbledore, and the rest seemed to be talented students whom Dumbledore had recruited straight out of Hogwarts in the 1970s. According to Remus, he, Sirius and Harry's parents had been in that last category.
Hermione hadn't met most of the Order yet, but she overheard Mr. and Mrs. Weasley speaking in hushed tones about a meeting when everyone was coming in for Harry's arrival. Mrs. Weasley would need to cook dinner, so it was hard to keep it entirely secret. The Weasley kids didn't know much about what the Order was doing, although they could surmise some of them were keeping tabs on suspected Death Eaters, some were on recruiting, and some were assigned to "guard duty"—presumably guarding Harry. Hermione passed along what she found out to Harry through Dobby when Mrs. Weasley wasn't looking.
The real sore spot in the household was Percy. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley's third son had been run through an inquiry at the Ministry after Barty Crouch Senior was murdered by his own son (that much truth was in the official story), and Percy, his personal assistant, had never noticed a thing. Amazingly, Percy had survived the inquiry, but only by yoking himself to Minister Fudge and his line that Voldemort couldn't possibly be back, and that Dumbledore was just stirring up trouble. Long story short, Percy had told his father it was a bad idea to tie his fortunes to Dumbledore, and when he failed to convince him, Percy walked out. Apparently, he'd said a lot of nasty things about his father, too. It was ugly. Mrs. Weasley started crying every time Percy was mentioned, so everyone tried not to bring it up.
Finally, Thursday evening arrived, and Remus and Moody went out to get Harry. The Twins had had no luck figuring out how he was coming, but Hermione didn't think it was that important. This turned out to be optimistic.
Hermione rushed down to the front hall as soon as she heard Harry arrive to help clear up any problems he might cause, like telling people she'd been in touch with him. She stood on the stairs so she wouldn't be in the way, and she would have been, for it was more than just Remus and Moody. No fewer than nine witches and wizards entered the house behind Harry. Hermione was just in time to hear Bill quip, "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland, did he?"
"He tried to," Tonks grumbled.
"Greenland?" Hermione said in confusion. "How did you get here, Harry?"
"We flew," Harry said, waving to her. "Moody had us going all over the place to make sure we weren't followed."
"You flew brooms from Surrey?" she said incredulously. "Ten of you? How were you not seen?"
"Disillusionment, I think it was called."
"Wouldn't it have been easier to take the Knight Bus?"
"And have that Shunpike brat blabbing it all over Britain? Ha!" Moody growled. "You'll need to think clearer than that, kid."
"What about the Floo network? Muggle train? A car?" she pressed.
Remus stepped in before Moody could criticise her again: "There are ways to watch those, too. When you have both the Ministry and Voldemort on the lookout for you, you want to be careful about that kind of thing. Disillusioned brooms were the most discreet way to do it."
She looked at the nine escorts again. Fellowship of the Ring, much? "And it took nine of them to do it?"
"Uh huh," Harry said. "They said they were the Advance Guard. I think there was a Rear Guard, too, but I didn't see them."
"All that work? I wish I'd known. I could've sent Dobby to fetch you and saved them the trouble. It would've been safer, too. Do they really think you're in that much danger?"
"Better safe than sorry, lass," Moody said. "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
BANG!
"INTRUDERS! BLOOD TRAITORS AND THIEVES…!"
"Alastor!" Mrs. Weasley yelled. "Stop doing that! Is this what you call constant vigilance?"
Harry and Hermione stared at the scene for a minute. "It's good to see you, Harry," Hermione said.
"You too, Hermione."
She hugged him and ushered him forward. "Come on. The Weasleys are all upstairs."
"What was with that painting?"
"She's Sirius's mother."
"His mother?" Harry said incredulously. "I think I understand why he ran away from home, now."
"Everybody? Harry's here!" Hermione called when they reached the second floor.
Ginny ran out from her and Hermione's room and went full tilt at Harry, but unlike Hermione. Harry was ready for her. He not only caught her, but he actually picked her up and twirled her around before giving her a good, long kiss. Ron coughed to break it up as soon as he saw it, before they could really go overboard. Ginny wasn't quite fourteen yet, after all. Still, they stayed close in each other's arms.
"I missed you so much, Harry," Ginny said softly.
"I missed you too, Ginny."
"I got Hermione's letter the other day."
"Oh, good. You're not mad are you?"
"No, I'm just glad you two wrote to me like I wasn't a child. I would've gone spare without that."
"Oi, we're right here, you know," Ron called.
Harry laughed, pulled back from Ginny and gave Ron a typical man-hug. "It's good to see you too, mate," he said.
"It wasn't the same without you," Ron replied. "Sorry for not writing more, but you know how our Mum is."
Harry nodded resignedly. Ginny, who still had a grip on his arm, got an idea, leaned towards him, and whispered in his ear: "Harry, yell at me."
"What?" he said.
"Yell at me. Pretend I didn't send you any letters because Mum stopped me."
Harry stared at her in bewilderment: "But why?"
"Because Mum doesn't know I did. I want to teach her a lesson."
"Are you…are you sure that's a good idea."
"Yeah, are you sure? Even I don't if it's a good idea to fool Mum like that," Ron cut in.
"Maybe not, but she still needs to learn her lesson," Ginny said. "It's not just about keeping us apart, Harry. What right does she have to keep you in the dark like that?"
"Well…when you put it that way, okay then…" Harry could agree with the last bit. He thought for a minute and awkwardly raised his voice. "So why does Dumbledore want me in the dark?" he said. "Did you even bother to ask?"
"We tried," Ginny insisted. "He's only been around a couple of times, but we told him we wanted to tell you what was going on. He said it was too dangerous because owls could be intercepted."
"That doesn't explain why he didn't contact me himself. He must know ways to send messages without owls." Hermione can do it, and Dumbledore's smarter than she is…I think. "Why should you all get to know what's happening when I don't?"
"We don't know much either. Mum won't let us near the meetings—even the Twins. She says we're too young—"
"Yeah, big deal!" Harry said louder. "So you haven't been in the meetings! At least you've been having fun here. I've been stuck with those idiot Dursleys all summer!"
"Ginny, this is a mistake," Hermione whispered. Harry was bringing up real grievances. Ron gave Hermione a nervous look, but he didn't say anything.
But Ginny held up her hand for her to wait while making a "keep it going" motion at Harry, like she was directing a film. "I know, but—" she started.
"I SAVED DUDLEY'S SORRY SOUL FROM DEMENTORS WHEN IT WAS HIS FAULT WE WERE BOTH IN DANGER IN THE FIRST PLACE!" Harry shouted, loud enough for the whole house to hear, now. "WHAT THANKS DID I GET? 'STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND DON'T CAUSE ANY MORE TROUBLE!' WHO FOUGHT OFF VOLDEMORT THREE TIMES? WHO FOUGHT A DRAGON AND KILLED A BASILISK? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK AND HAD TO ESCAPE? WHO SAVED YOU FROM THAT DIARY? ME!"
Hermione gasped. He was actually bringing up the diary? She didn't care if it was an act. That had to be hurting Ginny.
"DON'T TALK TO GINNY LIKE THAT!" Ron yelled.
"SHUT UP, RON! ALL THAT, AND I'M THE ONE NOBODY TELLS ANYTHING TO! NO NOTE THE PAST THREE DAYS AFTER I JUST GOT ATTACKED AGAIN? I DIDN'T KNOW IF YOU WERE ALRIGHT. JUST A 'STAY IN THE HOUSE AND DON'T CAUSE ANY MORE TROUBLE!'"
Fred and George popped into existence behind Hermione, making her jump. They'd been Apparating everywhere now they were allowed to use magic, just because they could. It was getting annoying.
"Whoa, what's going on?" Fred said in surprise.
"Break it up! Break it up!" George yelled.
"Wait," Ginny held up her hand.
"Wha—"
"Shh." She held a finger to her lips and winked at them. They knew a prank when they saw one, even if it was probably a bit mean for their tastes.
"She wants to teach your mum a lesson," Hermione whispered.
They raised their eyebrows, but before they could speak, Ginny said, "Harry, we really wanted to write you, but—"
"CAN'T'VE WANTED IT TOO BAD, OR YOU WOULD'VE FOUND A WAY, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR—"
"We tried, but Mum said—"
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Hermione had to think this act might not be believable: Ginny wasn't shouting back.
"I'VE BEEN STUCK AT PRIVETT DRIVE FOR FOUR WEEKS NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT'S GOING ON, AND THAT WAS BEFORE I HAD TO WORRY IF YOU'D BEEN ATTACKED, TOO!"
"I was alright, Harry! I wanted to tell you—"
"YOU KNOW WHAT, I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT, GINNY! JUST DON'T TALK TO ME!" Harry walked over to the door.
WHAM!
He slammed it as hard as he could, but without leaving the room. "How was that?" he asked.
"Not bad," Ginny said appreciatively. "We'll make a Weasley out of you yet."
"I still kinda wanna hit you," Ron said.
"Wow, Gin, don't you think that was a little much?" asked George.
Ginny shrugged. "Stopping me from writing Harry at all this week was crossing a line," she said. "For both a friend and a girlfriend. Mum needs to understand that."
"Alright, but don't come running to us when this all comes out," Fred said.
Hermione was gaping at the Weasley Clan. She was now worried about this for a much more serious reason: none of them, nor Harry, seemed to be concerned about the very real injustices Harry had faced in all this. "Harry, we're really sorry," she said tearfully. "If we had any idea you were taking it that badly—"
"It's okay, Hermione," he cut in. "I didn't mean that…well, I kinda did, but not enough to scream at you like that. I'm madder at Dumbledore for not letting you tell me anything important."
"Not to mention your relatives' house was supposed to be safe," Hermione said. That was what really made her blood boil. Dumbledore has sent Harry to the Dursleys for a month, where she knew they were emotionally abusive, at the very least, and everybody else went along with it because it was supposed to be the best way to keep him safe from Voldemort—the "blood wards" tied to his mother's self-sacrifice, but they certainly didn't save him from the dementors.
"Yeah, that was a problem," Harry admitted. "And then the Ministry trying to expel me—anyway—"
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Kids? Do you know where Harry went?" It was Sirius's voice, sounding concerned. "I need to talk to him."
Harry bounded to the door and opened it. "Sirius!" he said excitedly.
"Harry! Are you alright? I had no idea you were taking things this badly."
"It's not that bad," he assured him. "The fight was Ginny's idea."
"Huh?"
"It's a prank on Mrs. Weasley."
"Oh? Seems a little mean, even by my standards."
"That's what I thought," Harry whispered, "but you don't want to argue with the girlfriend."
"I heard that!" Ginny called.
In the heat of the moment, neither of them noticed Harry's choice of words.
"Although I do have a few questions about what Dumbledore's playing at," Harry added.
"Let's talk, then."
Hermione and the Weasleys watched Harry go off with Sirius for a chat. Finally, Hermione broke the silence: "Are you okay, Ginny? Harry said some nasty things about you."
"It's fine," she said, even though she looked a little shaken. "The bits that were true were Dumbledore's fault. He knows I told him everything I knew."
"I kinda feel like a jerk now," Ron said softly. "I just went along with it and didn't write him much. I've been trying to be a better friend after last year."
Ginny, to her credit, didn't make a dig at her brother. "I don't think he's too mad at you either, Ron," she assured him. "I made sure he knew we were in the same boat."
Ron smiled a little: "Thanks, Gin."
Sirius led Harry from the second floor up to the fourth where he let him into a large bedroom. The room was decorated like a cross between the Gryffindor dorms and a muggle university dorm, all in Gryffindor colours and with unmoving muggle posters of bikini-clad women.
"My old room," Sirius explained. "By the way, if you find a locked door, don't try to force it. It means the room is unsafe to enter. You're lucky we got the place cleaned as much as we did so you can kip with Ron. When we first got here, we had to have me, Remus, and all three of the boys camping out in the kitchen."
"That bad?" Harry said, even though he knew part of that from Ginny.
"Worse. Rats, tarantulas, ghouls, doxies—pests breeding everywhere. That's what happens when a magical house is abandoned. Anyway, how are you doing? I know you sounded pretty mad in your letter about the dementors."
"I just want to know why you didn't write again," Harry said. He tried to be calm about it, but an edge crept back into his voice.
"I wanted to, pup. I almost did, but Dumbledore said it was safer not to let any owls near you, just in case that's how the dementors found you. And Ginny told me she got a message through to you, so I let it go."
"Yeah. She had to go through Hermione 'cause her mum wouldn't let her write to me."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry I wasn't more open with you this summer, Harry," Sirius said. "I think Dumbledore was right about this week, but it was wrong to keep you so out of the loop. I've been worried you'd get antsy and do something…"
"Stupid?" Harry offered.
"I was going to say reckless. I never imagined you'd get attacked on Privett Drive, though, much less by dementors."
"Yeah. What were they doing there?"
"I don't know. And neither does Dumbledore, which is the scary part. Voldemort used dementors last time, but we thought they were still under Ministry control. Something doesn't smell right about this."
Harry just nodded and changed the subject. "So why didn't Dumbledore want me to know anything?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure myself. Obviously, there are some things it's safer if you don't know. Secrecy's important in war. But I think he's being a little paranoid about it, and I told him so."
"What did he say to that?"
"Gave me a vague answer and changed the subject."
"Ah. So he did what he usually does?" Harry concluded.
"Yeah, pretty much. But I'm putting my foot down this time. You were right down there. You've got more right to know this stuff than anyone. Tonight, you can ask us anything you want about the Order—at least until someone sensible like Remus says otherwise."
Harry smiled a little at that. "Thanks, Sirius," he said, hugging his godfather.
While Sirius and Harry were catching up, the Weasley kids and Hermione were trying to find out what was happening at the meeting. (Presumably, Remus would tell Sirius the details later.) Watching the kitchen door from above on the stairs and dropping one of the Twins' Extendable Ears, they tried to get word of Snape's report. Apparently, Snape didn't come around very often, seeing as he was Dumbledore's spy among the Death Eaters, so this was a big deal. Unfortunately, Mrs. Weasley had charmed the door Imperturbable.
"Can't you break through that, Hermione?" Ron asked.
"Maybe," she said, "but even if your Mum didn't notice, I'm sure Bill would." She could understand their frustration. She'd only been here a few days, and Mrs. Weasley's determination not to let them know what was going on was already getting on her nerves.
The remained unsuccessful by the time the meeting broke up, and the various members poured out of the kitchen. Snape took no time getting out of there, striding up to the front door and making his exit, his robes billowing behind him.
"How does he get his robes to do that?" Hermione wondered.
"We've been wondering that for six years," Fred answered.
"We think it's some kind of dark wizard trick," George added.
"Kids," Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs. "Don't think I don't see you up there. Come on down. We'll be having dinner in a moment."
They descended the stairs to the kitchen. From the look of things, Tonks was staying for dinner along with (Merlin knew why) Mundungus Fletcher. And Remus, of course, but he unofficially lived there anyway. It was better than any flat he could hope to get on his own. If it weren't for Sirius, he wouldn't be doing very well right now. Apparently, some woman named Umbridge at the Ministry has pushed through a bunch of anti-werewolf laws in response to Remus being was outed as a werewolf last year whilst teaching at Hogwarts.
Harry and Sirius were a little later in returning, but they looked like they had reached an understanding. However, when Harry came down the stairs, Ginny deliberately kept her distance from him, and he followed her lead. Mrs. Weasley gave the two of them a very uncomfortable look.
"So, Harry, tell me exactly how you got here," Hermione said before things could get too awkward. "It sounds like you took the long way around."
"Yeah, pretty much. So, Uncle Vernon was under the impression that he was a finalist for the All-England Best-Kept Suburban Lawn Competition this evening," Harry said with a sly glance at Tonks.
"In the middle of a drought?" Hermione said incredulously. "He actually bought that?"
"Yeah. And here's the best part. All month, he and Aunt Petunia have been gossipping about their neighbours wasting water on their lawns."
Hermione and most of the table laughed, even if she didn't think it was that funny. To hear Harry talk about it, his relatives were a bunch of clowns, but he had confided to her once how awful they were when he was younger. Hence why he wanted to spend as much time as possible with Sirius.
Harry explained how the "Advance Guard" had come to pick him up and fly him to London, except that Moody was too paranoid to fly in a straight line. It seemed overcomplicated to Hermione, but it was over now, so it didn't much matter.
Ginny mostly amused herself by asking Tonks to make funny faces. Tonks was a Metamorphmagus, meaning she could change her appearance at will, a talent she liked to flaunt to anyone who was interested.
However, Hermione's eared perked up when she heard the name of Ludo Bagman from Bill Weasley. "Ragnok's still pretty mad about him," he said. "See, Ragnok's brother was one of the goblins Bagman owes all that gold to. He's not too keen to help the Ministry because Bagman was their man, but I'm not sure if he believes Dumbledore's line on You-Know-Who, either."
"So no one's heard from Bagman, then?" Hermione asked.
"Not since June. Disappeared from the Ministry and everything. You haven't heard anything, have you?"
"No. Nothing." Ludo Bagman had lost a lot of money in unwise betting decisions last year to Hermione, Fred, and George, and worse, to a trio of goblins from Gringotts. The goblins weren't forgiving when he couldn't pay up. "I was hoping that book I gave him would do something, but I guess it was a long shot."
"What book?" Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Oh, before Bagman left Hogwarts, I had Dobby slip a book into his travel bag. I was just a bit miffed because that maze he built gave me nightmares, and I thought turnabout would be fair play."
Sirius raised his eyebrow at her as he made the connection. "You cursed a book?" he said.
"Oh no, it wasn't cursed. It was The Complete Works of H.P. Lovecraft."
"What? You didn't!" Remus gasped.
"Oh, Merlin! That's just evil," Tonks said. "My Dad had a copy of some of those. I had nightmares for a month."
"That scary?" Sirius asked.
"Well, I wouldn't say so now," Hermione answered, "but I…sort of gave him the impression that the stories were true."
"You didn't!" Tonks said while Remus howled with laughter.
"Oh, I did. But if the nightmares aren't bad enough to send him running back, it's won't do much good." She sighed theatrically. "Maybe I should consult my copy of the Necronomicon."
Remus stopped mid-laugh with an unmanly squeak and clutched at his chest, and Tonks paled albino-white all the way to her hair and fell out of her seat.
Hermione started laughing. "I'm kidding! Honestly!"
Sirius roared with a laugh that sounded like barking, and it set off the rest of the table. Even Mrs. Weasley chuckled a little, although she tried to stop herself. "That was brilliant, Hermione!" Sirius gasped. "I don't know what it was but it was the best prank I've seen all week."
"About gave me a bloody heart attack," Remus grumbled. "What that muggle thought magic was like—I'd take Voldemort himself over most of the monsters in that book."
That comment left Hermione, Remus, and Tonks trying to explain to the shocked Weasleys just what was so horrifying about The Call of Cthulhu. Eventually, the conversation moved on, but the big confrontation came after dessert.
"Alright, Harry," Sirius said. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions by now, so ask away."
"Excuse me?" Mrs. Weasley said.
"What's Voldemort doing, for starters?" Harry said. "Ginny, Ron, and Hermione told me what they knew, but that wasn't much."
"And for good reason," Mrs. Weasley cut in. "You're all too young to be in the Order. You don't need to be worrying about those kinds of things."
"And what are we? Chopped liver?" Fred called. "We're of age, and we haven't got any answers out of you lot all summer."
"Well—" Sirius started, but Remus cut him off.
"That's between you and your parents," the werewolf said calmly. "But they do have a point, Molly. You can't expect them to stay here all summer and not ask questions."
"That doesn't mean they have a right to expect answers," Mrs. Weasley shot back.
"Harry has more right to those answers than anyone," Sirius growled. "He's the one who saw Voldemort come back, you know."
Mrs. Weasley shuddered at the name, but she held her ground. "Except for the bit where Dumbledore told you not to tell Harry any more than he needs to know," she said.
"I know that. And I'll definitely be taking that up with Dumbledore, but—"
Most of the kids were watching the exchange like a tennis rally, but Hermione's mind tuned out and started turning over that statement. Dumbledore wanted to keep Harry on a need-to-know basis, regardless of the owls? Why? Did he not trust him to keep a secret? Harry was a bit slower on the uptake, but he started to realise the same thing if his face was any indication.
"—not a child!" Sirius yelled as Hermione tuned back into the argument.
"He's not an adult either!" Mrs. Weasley snapped.
"He's my godson. He stayed with me last summer, if you recall."
"He's as good as one of ours, too. Isn't he Arthur?"
Mr. Weasley took a moment to clean his glasses, giving himself time to collect his thoughts. "Dumbledore knew Harry wouldn't be able to stay at Headquarters without getting a general picture of the situation," he said. "He doesn't need to know all the facts, but he has a right to that much."
"He's too young, Arthur," she said sadly. "All of them are. They shouldn't have to worry—"
"You're not going to stop us worrying, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione interrupted. She had to agree with Harry and Sirius. Under the circumstances, they really ought to know. "Harry's the one Voldemort keeps trying to kill, and we're all his best friends. I don't see how it can get much worse to worry about."
"You didn't live through the last war, dear," Mrs. Weasley said coldly.
Hermione didn't have a response to that.
"I think Harry is old enough to decide for himself," Remus said.
Mrs. Weasley deflated. She could tell she was outnumbered and that Remus was playing the moderate voice. "Fine. But on you head be it." She wagged her finger at him. "Dumbledore must have had a good reason for not wanting Harry to know too much."
He didn't even tell them why? Hermione wondered. Wow, he really does do that to everyone, doesn't he?
"Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, you can all go to bed. Now," Mrs. Weasley continued.
There was a lot of shouting from the younger Weasley kids and their mother. Hermione just stayed in her seat defiantly until it died down.
"You can't stop Fred and George, Molly," Mr. Weasley told her gently. "They are of age."
"Oh, alright, then. Ginny, Ron, Hermione—"
"I'm not leaving," Hermione said.
"Excuse me?"
"I'm staying here."
"You most certainly are not!"
"You can't order me out," she said, still not raising her voice.
The Weasley kids uttered a soft gasp. Molly Weasley was not accustomed to being stood up to like this. "I can't, can I?" she said warningly. She loomed over Hermione in her seat. "You're not of age. You're too young and—"
"Mrs. Weasley!" Hermione snapped. She stood up and faced her. "You are not my mother." A stunned silence gripped the room. "This is Sirius's house. He's acting in loco parentis for me. That means he decides where I can and can't go and what I can and can't hear. Legally, you have no say."
No one spoke. Everyone seemed to be expecting an explosion. But instead, Mrs. Weasley seemed to be on the verge of tears. "I'm just trying to do what's best for my family," she said shakily. "And Hermione, I know you have two wonderful parents of your own, but I do care about you."
If she was trying to make Hermione feel guilty, it was working. She probably had been a little too harsh just then. But it wasn't enough to make her back down. She continued to stand her ground.
"If you're so determined to stay, I suppose I can't stop you," she answered. "But Ron—"
"Mum—" Ron jumped in, but his mother's sudden tears gave him pause. Instead of the angry retort he had no doubt been preparing, he tried to reason with her: "Er…you know Harry's not gonna keep a secret from us, don't you. I mean, we've been in the thick of it with him half the time, whether we wanted it or not."
Mrs. Weasley didn't acquiesce straightaway. She looked between Ron and Harry questioningly, and she shot a vaguely accusing look at Harry for going against her wishes.
"You'll tell us, won't you, Harry?" Ron asked.
Harry nodded to Ron, but it was more complicated with Ginny. He and Ginny looked at each other with expressions of feigned annoyance, keeping up their act. Mrs. Weasley's eyes focused on Ginny.
This was the moment of truth. If Ginny was the only one excluded from this, it wouldn't be pretty. Would she give up her cruel prank for this? Hermione thought it might be better if she did, but when she saw the worry in Ginny's eyes, she couldn't hold back. "I'd tell them both anyway, Mrs. Weasley," she said. "Ron's right. We've all been in the thick of it before. I know you don't want your children to be caught up in this, but it's too late for that."
Mrs. Weasley sat down, tearful and defeated. "This was supposed to be over and done with before…" she muttered. "Very well. I suppose I can't deny it."
Mr. Weasley scooted over and put his arm around her. "It'll be alright, Molly," he whispered.
With that settled, albeit painfully, Sirius and Remus explained what the Order knew about Voldemort's movements. Voldemort hadn't killed anyone in the month since he came back, nor made any other overt moves. His power base was weakened after thirteen years of being dead and all his followers abandoning him. Thus, he had intended to kill Harry in that graveyard and keep his return completely secret while he built up again, but now, the best he could do was lie low and take advantage of the Ministry's denial of his return. That had been a very lucky stroke for him, which only made Hermione and Harry resent the Ministry more.
When Harry came back from the graveyard and told his story, Dumbledore had started to rebuild the Order of the Phoenix within the hour, and so the two enemies hit the ground running at the same time. Now, the Order was trying to derail Voldemort's plans—he was recruiting the more unsavoury sorts of wizards and magical creatures, and Dumbledore was trying to dissuade his potential recruits.
Unfortunately, Fudge was afraid Dumbledore was trying to create a scare so that he could take over the Ministry, which sounded completely paranoid, but nothing would convince him otherwise. He was scared of Dumbledore's brilliant mind, and he was even more scared of the prospect that Voldemort could be back—so scared that he simply refused to believe it. It was Fudge's manoeuvring that forced Dumbledore out of the Wizengamot and the ICW, and his influence that made the Daily Prophet run all those stories discrediting Dumbledore and Harry. Thanks to him Sirius, was practically the only other person in the Order who could get away with publicly proclaiming the truth, and even that was risky. Fudge could have him charged with sedition—or at least being a public nuisance.
But there was one last bit that Hermione and the Weasleys had not even heard a whisper of. According to Sirius, Voldemort was after something. "Like a weapon," he said. "Something he didn't have last time."
"What kind of a weapon?" Harry asked.
"That's enough," Mrs. Weasley jumped in. She seemed to have collected her wits about her again because she was being very firm. "You've given Harry enough answers, Sirius. This is definitely Order members only."
"Well, where do I sign up?" Harry said hostilely.
"The Order is for overage wizards only," Remus said. "Wizards who have finished school," he added to Fred and George. "Make no mistake. This is war. There are dangers you can't have any idea about—any of you. You're too young. And Molly's right, Sirius. This isn't something the children should know."
"Fair enough," Sirius agreed.
"Good. Then it's time for bed," Mrs. Weasley said.
They acquiesced and went upstairs, but Hermione stopped to talk to Remus first. She knew it would be useless to talk to any of the other adults in the house. Remus seemed to be de facto in charge of Order business, and he sounded the most fair of any of them.
"Professor Lupin—" she started.
"You can call me Remus, Hermione. I'm not your professor anymore."
"Remus. I—look, Mrs. Weasley is right. I don't know what it's like to live through a war. But I do know what it's like to almost lose my best friend. I know what it's like to almost be eaten by a giant snake and attacked by a dark wizard. I don't know what it's like to lose a parent or anyone close to me, but I do know what it's like to almost get my soul sucked out by a dementor. I'm smart enough not to speculate on which is worse, but I have a hard time imagining anything worse. Now, is that being wise, or blissfully naive?"
Remus stared at her a minute and sighed: "You have been through far more than you should have had to, Hermione. More than many adults. But this isn't your fight. It will be. Someday soon, I fear, but not yet."
"It is my fight now," she protested. "Voldemort knows me. I hexed him in the face twice when he was still a spirit, and he tried to kill me and my friends several times."
"You're not going to change my mind, Hermione. You're too young to fight."
She shook her head: "It's not about fighting, Remus. I won't be in England anyway, but I can still be useful. I can invent spells! I can invent spells even Voldemort hasn't dreamed up. In fact, I'll be inventing spells anyway, but I could be more useful if you told me what sorts of things you might need. I just can't sit on my arse safe and sound in France while you're all in danger."
Remus stared at her another minute and sighed again. "I'll take it up with Dumbledore. I can't promise more than that. Maybe he'll have a useful project for you to work on."
"Thank you. That's all I'm asking."
"Very well. Good night, Hermione."
"Good night, Remus."
"Oh, and don't judge Mrs. Weasley too harshly," he told her. "She lost both of her brothers in the last war. They were both in the Order. It's incredibly brave of her to come anywhere near this place after that."