Chapter Song

Turn the page.

Can't turn the light out.

Every word, every line

Carries to my soul.

Dark letters on a page

Singing so loud.

Where did I go wrong

Not to hear you?

15 years,

I guess it was all right.

I let you do the thinking,

I'd just bide my time.

Father to son

Sunday hand-me-down.

Where did I go wrong

Not to hear your song?

It's a beautiful sound

Moving through the crowd.

Voices lifted up

On high for you.

Chapter Quote

When you get to the end of your rope,

Tie a knot and hang on.

-Anonymous-

Following dinner, Sirius breaks the comfortable atmosphere by suggesting that Harry would have asked questions about Voldemort when he first got there. "You know harry I would have though you would start asking questions when you first got here?"

"I did. I asked Ron and Hermione but they said that they didn't know anything because they weren't in the order." Replied Harry.

"And you're quite right now up to bed." said Mrs. Weasley before a brief argument between her and Sirius broke out over how much Harry should know Hermione just rolled her eyes because this was not the first time.

"Molly he should know." Sirius said turning back to harry.

"He's not James, Sirius he's only 15." She replied bitterly.

"I perfectly well know that he's not James, Molly. And he has done more than most of the order has." Replied Sirius.

"Hold on I want to know what is going on." Snapped out harry. "What is Voldemort up to? I listened to the muggle news but there hasn't been anything on there."

"Fine you can stay harry but the rest of you out." Spoke Mrs. Weasley.

Hermione started to get up from the table when the Weasley kids that were still in school started protesting. "Were of age." Came from Fred and George both. "Harry will just tell me when he gets up stairs." came from Ron. Ginny just said that she was tired of being treated like a baby.

The argument ended when Mrs. Weasley relented and let her three boys stay and herself dragging a fiercely and loudly protesting Ginny off to bed.

"What is Voldemort up to? I listened to the muggle news but there hasn't been anything on there." Harry began.

"No murders have been committed because Voldemort wants to keep a low profile." Said Bill; Ron's eldest brother.

"What about fudge doesn't he believe Voldemort is back yet?" he asked.

"The Ministry of Magic fervently denies Voldemort has returned, and Dumbledore has been demoted from the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards and from Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot after publicly announcing that Lord Voldemort was active again." said Lupin.

"But why isn't Voldemort doing anything?" Harry asked Sirus.

"He has been working. He's been gaining followers."

"Why would he need followers when he has death eaters?" asked Ron.

"He can't very well attack the ministry with a dozen death eaters can he, especially with half of 'em working for the ministry." Replied Lupin.

"The Order is recruiting new members, including foreign ones, and we have been concentrating on the Auror department in the Ministry. But those who work for the Ministry must be careful, however, as the Fudge threatened to fire anyone who appears to be friendly with Dumbledore." added Mr. Weasley.

"Why?" asked all the kids.

"Fudge is paranoid that Dumbledore is plotting to take over the Ministry of Magic and to become minister of magic."

"He doesn't want that. He loves Hogwarts too much." Hermione blurted out.

"I quite agree Hermione," Replied Lupin.

"It doesn't help that we have to have non ministry workers to stand guard," Sirius stated.

"What is it?" asked Harry before Mrs. Weasley told them all to go to bed.

"No more they've learned enough. Now up to bed we have that doxie problem to deal with tomorrow," Said Mrs. Weasley.

Mrs. Weasley walked them up to the hallway. "No apparating to another room Fred and George." She called after them. She should know her sons well enough that they were willing to risk a few minutes conversation with Harry and Ron before bed if it meant enduring one of her many hours' long lectures (which they were no stranger to).

Hermione trudged up the chairs to her room. She knew that Ginny would want to know what went one after she left. She opened the door and saw what she assumed to be Ginny sleeping. She went to her bed and laid down on it.

"Psst... Hermione!"

"Oh you're awake." Said Hermione.

"What did they tell you?"

"Wait till your mum does bed checks." Hermione told her just before she heard the heard the light footsteps of Mrs. Weasley pressing her ear to their door listening for any voices that should be sleeping. She heard the door open which she knew to be Mrs. Weasley double checking. They waited to begin talking again until they heard Mrs. Weasley retreat back down stairs after checking Fred and George's room upstairs.

"So?" asked Ginny sitting up in her bed.

"More of what we heard on Fred and George's Extendable ears. The only new thing is they are guarding a weapon of some kind that Voldemort didn't have last time," Said Hermione. "Why didn't you use the extendable ears?" she also asked.

"Mum put a charm on the door so no ears magical or otherwise could hear what was going on in that room. She put it on the kitchen door when she found Fred and Georges extendable ears."

"Oh." Said Hermione.

"What do you think the weapon Voldy didn't have last time is?" asked Ginny.

"Harry asked that question but your mum cut Sirius off before he could answer and that was just before she sent us back up here," Replied Hermione.

"It's probably something that can kill people faster than Avada Kedava; I don't think it's possible though." Replied Ginny.

"Cedric said that he thought that might be it once we got out of ear shot of your mum."

"Finally someone agrees with me and I'm not event there to hear them say it. That just totally blows." Replied Ginny in mock sadness. Hermione let out a long overdue laugh at her friends' antics.

"I'm tired so I am going to bed." Said Hermione before she turned over and went to sleep; though she didn't sleep long. Hermione only slept about an hour and half before she woke up with the urge to look through her mother's things. She knew the one thing she was looking for would probably not show up but she couldn't leave it there she had to try and find it. She had already been through the hope chest a thousand times and couldn't find the picture her mother mention in the letter.

She had look in the hope chest again but once again no photo wizard or muggle showed up. She went to the boxes that she knew would hold just her mother's stuff. She was on the tenth box when she found ten things she knew would help her find out who exactly her father was. The first item she found was a tie from Gryffindor; it had looked pretty old and battered; so she had assumed it had been her fathers, she had planned on wearing it this year. The Second thing she found was something she would recognize by heard because of Harry and Ron's obsession with them and it was a chocolate card frog where the text could no longer be read and the image could no longer be looked at because of water damage. The third, fourth and fifth were stuff lion's with embroidered initials on them taken out (Hermione could tell they were there just couldn't tell what they were). The sixth item was a broken wizard chess piece. The seventh was a group of simple scraps of parchment that said 'I 3 you' on them that flashed red and gold defiantly a Gryffindor thought Hermione as she smile at how much she was turning out to be like her father. The eighth was a muggle photo of her mother outside the leaky caldron (Hermione could tell it was the leaky caldron because of a window in the background). The ninth was a simple silver ring that said 'de tout mon cœur' which meant with all my heart in French. The tenth and final item was an image of a man's eyes. They were gray and happy and something about them told Hermione that they were hiding something or scared. She looked at the back of the image in hope that her mother might have written the man's name on the image. The only thing she got out of it was the name 'Paddy' in her mothers had writing. Maybe his name was Patrick. That's usually what the nickname Paddy stood for; thought Hermione. She took all the items and placed them into the hope chest, with the letters.

Finally with some peace of mind Hermione fell asleep and into a pleasant dream. 'Hermione dear come on we got to meet up with your father at the leaky caldron so we can go and get your school things.' Called her mother from a white house in the country.

'Coming mum. I had to let the fire flies I caught last night go so they won't die.' Replied a young looking Hermione.

The images swayed and they appeared in the leaky caldron. They walked over to a man that kept on bagging on the table he was sitting at.

"Dear Dear..."

"Ginny Hermione up now we've got cleaning to do." Hollered Mrs. Weasley.

"Why now I was having a good dream." Hermione said as she got up and pulled on her clothes. She looked over at Ginny who was still asleep. "Come on Ginny. Time to rise and shine." Hermione said before she got tired of talking and grabbed hold of Ginny's covers at the bottom and pulled them off her. Ginny had woken up instantly once the warmth her covers provided her where gone.

"Dam, Hermione can't you give a girl five extra minutes." Replied Ginny.

"Your mother woke you up before I did and you fell asleep again. And I didn't think you wanted what happen to George last week to happen to you."

"God; no that was bad. That was horrible we had to watch him clean their whole room in his bed clothes. I think I'll be horrified for the rest of my life."

"It was funny to watch and you know It." replied Hermione taking a brush through her unruly hair again.

"Oh it was. He better not tic me off this year because I have that as back up to my bat bogey hex." Said Ginny.

"Oh I found a lead into who my dad might be."

"What?" Ginny said in excitement. "How?" she added once she had calmed down enough to stop happy dancing.

"I found a box with a few things in that only a magical person can have unless they gave them away to a muggle." Replied Hermione.

"Like what?" asked Ginny.

"Well there was the Gryffindor tie but the biggest thing was a photo but it was a muggle photo and it was just his eyes so nothing really distinguishable."

"A Gryffindor tie. He must have been in that house when he was there."

"That's the same conclusion I came to when I first found it."

"Well what about the photo."

"Like I said it was a muggle photo and the only thing it shows is his eyes. My guess is his name is Patrick because of the nickname 'Paddy' on the back of it."

"You are right that is a big lead. All you have to do is look up every single Patrick that has been in Gryffindor for the first twenty years before you were born."

"Thanks for the pressure Gin." Replied Hermione sitting down to pull on her shoes.

"No prob." Said Ginny hopping around pulling her shoes on.

Hermione couldn't help but laugh when she looked up from tying her shoes to see this. "Gin just sit down and put them on."

They both jumped when they heard a knock at the door. "You girls decent?" asked the voice.

"Yes and you can come in Cedric I know it's you no point in manipulating your voice," Replied Hermione still laughing from watching Ginny hoping around.

"Why are you laughing?" he asked walking further into the room.

"Ginny was having trouble with her shoes," Said Hermione.

"Oh, well Ginny your mum wanted you two down stairs in the drawing room in ten minutes."

"Hermione Don't worry it's going to be all right," Said Ginny before they walked down stairs.