Hedwig flew into the Weasley kitchen. She saw Ron at the table and landed near him. She hooted to get his attention, then tried to direct his attention to the closed door to the next room. The addressee was through that door, but the only open window was in the kitchen. She hated hovering outside a window, tapping on the glass until she was noticed. She felt it made her look rather silly, and like the delivery was an obligation and not a privilege.

"Hello, Hedwig," Ron said, looking up from the plate where he had built a rather large, messy sandwich. "Do you have a letter from Harry?"

She shuffled closer and allowed him to read the name on the outside of the letter. Ginny Weasley.

Ron stood and opened the door. "Go deliver your letter, Hedwig," he told her, smiling.

Hedwig hooted in reply before taking off and swooping through the door.

"Oh, Harry," Ron said, chuckling and seating himself before his sandwich again.

XXXX

Dumbledore wrote to Salina again, this time giving them travel instructions. They were to go to King's Cross Station in London, where someone would meet them and bring them to Dumbledore. The letter didn't specify who would meet them, or how to get to King's Cross. Dave arranged for a Floo transfer to New York City, where they would depart on a plane for London.

Gwen insisted on taking a taxi, even though Dave thought that he could find the station by himself. Salina informed him that it wasn't that they didn't think he could find it; it was that they thought that he couldn't remember which side of the road to drive on. Gwen triumphantly raised a hand to call a taxi.

The taxi was a five-year-old Ford Prefect that had seen better days. Dave stared grumpily out the window as they drove.

They got out at the curb and looked around, trying to see if they recognized anyone. No one, and then…

"Remus!" shrieked Salina, running up to a shabbily dressed man and jumping on him.

The man laughed and twirled her around before setting her down again. "Hello to you, too," he laughed.

The green-haired woman beside him said, "So, is this the famous Salina?"

"Yep," said Lupin. "This is Salina. Salina, meet Nymphadora," here the woman shuddered, "Tonks. She hates her first name," Lupin said confidentially.

"I can see why," Salina laughed.

"Wotcher, Salina. Call me Tonks," said the green-haired woman.

"Good to meet you, Tonks," said Salina, sticking out her hand. "These are Gwen and Dave, my aunt and uncle."

"I know," Tonks replied. "Good to see you two again."

Salina looked puzzled, but Lupin interrupted smoothly.

"You've gotten so pretty, Salina. You remind me more of your mother every time I see you," Lupin said, looking her up and down.

"Yeah, you always say that," Salina said, blushing in spite of herself.

"It's always true. If half the boys in Hogwarts aren't staring at you the moment you walk in, I'll eat my hat."

"Shut up!" Salina shoved him.

Gwen changed the subject. "How are we getting to Dumbledore?"

"We're supposed to take you to headquarters, and then you'll Floo to Hogwarts," Tonks said.

"Where's headquarters? And for what?" Salina asked.

"Remember the last line of Dumbledore's letter? That we ripped off and destroyed?" Dave reminded her.

"Oh, yeah," she said sheepishly. The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

"Come on," Lupin said. "It's not too far, and it's a nice day. We'll walk."

XXXX

Ginny was sitting in the living room with her mother, who was practically crying over Harry's letter, even though it had come the previous day. Ginny was curled up in a chair, trying to read a book. Her mother's occasional sniffles were very distracting, especially since she was bored and not really interested in reading anyway.

Hedwig swooped in and perched on Ginny's knee. She held out a leg and Ginny curiously untied the letter. Hedwig nibbled one of Ginny's fingers before taking off again.

"Thanks, girl," Ginny called after the snowy white owl.

Ginny opened the letter and read it. She wanted to giggle with happiness. Harry had written her back, and wanted to know how she was doing. She ran to the stairs near the kitchen and nearly collided with Ron coming out. She hugged him without saying a word, and then dashed up the stairs to her room.

Ron was a bit puzzled about the spontaneous hug, but decided to shrug it off and not worry about it. Everyone knew teenage girls have mood swings.

Ginny could have hugged almost anyone at that point. She flung herself stomach-down on her bed and read Harry's letter twice more.

There was a knock on the door, and Ginny put the letter on her bedside table and ran downstairs to the front room where her mother and Ron were still seated. The knock came again and Mrs. Weasley stood up to open the door. She opened it, and gasped.

XXXX

Percy shuffled his feet on the doormat, and then raised a fist to knock. He was unsure of his welcome, and wished he could skip over the next fifteen minutes. But this needed to be done. He had messed up his life and wanted to put it back together again. Penelope had stopped dating him after his promotion, saying that she couldn't approve of the way he had abandoned his family for his job. And, much as he hated to admit it, he missed his large, loud, annoying family. Blood is thicker than paperwork, after all.

After the first knock, he heard someone pounding down the stairs. Either Ron or Ginny, he thought, and knocked again. His mother opened the door.

"I…" He cleared his throat and started over. "I need to apologize."

XXXX

Ginny and Ron rushed to the doorway, ready to pull their mother out of the way and tackle whatever threatened her barehanded. Their mother clung to the doorframe, and they stopped dead when they saw the person on the mat.

They stared at Percy, who swallowed nervously and opened his mouth to speak.

Without giving him a chance, Mrs. Weasley flung herself on his neck, sobbing. Percy staggered back, wrapped his arms tightly around her, and shut his eyes, trying to hold back the tears that were starting in his eyes.

Behind them, the clock hand labeled "Percy" moved from "Working," where it had been since he walked out on his family, to "Home."

"I'm so sorry," they heard him mumble. "I'm so sorry. For all the terrible things I've done to you, to all of you."

Ginny joined in the hug, wrapping her arms around her long-gone older brother.