Ginevra Weasley and the Disorder of the Phoenix
Episode 2: Of Elves and Toads
The next morning, when Ginny came downstairs from sleeping, she found Harry cleaning out a chest of drawers with Sirius, Ron, and Hermione.
"Harry," she began "you do know that the Toad won't teach us anything practical this year, right?"
Harry reached into the chest of drawers and pulled out a muggle business suit that started giggling. "What, do you think I should start a defense against the dark arts support group or something?"
Ginny laughed at the joke; he had done exactly that last time around. "If it comes to that, you probably would anyway."
Ron and Hermione shared a look between them, guessing that Harry and Ginny were talking about something that had happened to them all in another life. Sirius laughed along with Ginny. He didn't understand the joke, but found that he agreed with Ginny's assessment of his godson. As they made headway against the tide of refuse, the twins came down and joined them.
Eventually, the conversation made its way around to Gringotts. Once again, Harry proved that it was impossible for him to be tactful at Grimmauld Place by launching into the discussion without caring who could hear him.
"So, Fred… no, wait. George?"
"Sorry, Harry." "You had it right the first time." "At least, we think you did."
Harry responded by throwing a pillow at the twins. "Gred and Forge then. Done anything with those thousand galleons yet?"
Everyone paused. The twins knew that Ron and Hermione (and as far as they knew, Ginny) had no idea where the money came from, Ron and Hermione had been trying to guess who the twins had agreed to slave for in order to get the startup loan, Sirius had never known where Harry's Triwizard Winnings had gone the first time around, and Ginny facepalmed at the inability of her fiancé to be tactful. Before Ron, Hermione, or Sirius could say anything, however, the twins answered the question.
"Well, Harry…" "We went to Gringotts and applied for a new vault, a business vault." "It cost us about a hundred galleons to get one, but now our funds and recipies are secured."
Harry nodded but said nothing. Ginny smiled; she remembered Harry telling her about his break-in into the Lestrange vault.
Ron waited for a moment, half-expecting someone else to say something, then started slowly. "Wait a moment. Harry, you were serious when you said you didn't want the money?"
Sirius grinned. Harry laughed. "No, I was Harry when I said I didn't want the Triwizard winnings. I thought I told you and Hermione what I did with the money."
Hermione shook her head. "It must have been after this, last time. I would have remembered it if you had. So what are we looking for, exactly?"
Sirius had an odd look on his face. "Wait, wait just a second. What do you mean, 'after this, last time'?"
Harry looked at Ginny, who nodded. "Sirius, do you know how to cast Muffliato? I'd rather this wasn't overheard by anyone else." Sirius shook his head no. "Drat. We'll need Professor Snape then, and I'm pretty sure he left after you all told me what was going on last night."
Ginny shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we'll get away with it once; if I'm right it won't matter anyway."
Hermione and Ron looked at Sirius. All three of them looked as though they suspected something but didn't know exactly what they suspected. Harry waved his wand. "Muffliato. It shouldn't; there are too many adult wizards here, and the trace shouldn't give away the exact caster. Besides, I'm not even listed as legally being here anyway."
Before he could stop himself, Sirius said "Technically, nobody is legally here. And even if somebody from the Ministry came to arrest you for that bit of underage magic, they'd probably be so proud of themselves at capturing me that they'd assume you were trying to apprehend me." He smiled faintly, and then remembered why Harry had wanted to cast it in the first place. "What did you mean, 'after this, last time'?"
Ginny swallowed hard. It was easier to explain this to the two legilimens in the order; they could look into memories and make sure they weren't being hoodwinked. "Me and Harry have already lived the next few years." She looked at Harry, who continued.
"For me, it all began four years ago. Four years ago, Pettigrew killed Cedric, and Riddle was restored to life. Three years ago, Riddle lured me into the Department of Mysteries, under the pretext of him torturing you. You were killed by Bellatrix Lestrange while trying to make sure that my friends and I got out safely. Two years ago, Dumbledore was killed by Severus Snape, under orders from Dumbledore, in order to make sure that Snape did not die. A year ago, Riddle killed Snape with his giant snake and me with an Avada Kedavra to the chest. I came back to life and defeated him. Six months ago, I was accepted into Auror Training under Kingsley Shacklebolt. Two months ago, Ron finally proposed to Hermione. Two days ago, I was proposing to Ginny at the Burrow. Yesterday, I woke up to find that it was 1995 again, and that my cousin would have to once again be saved from Dementors. This morning, I decided to get a head start on destroying Riddle once and for all. To do that, we need Kreacher's cooperation, which means we either need you to be nice and civil to him, or else we need the Locket."
Ron and Hermione were blushing furiously at this; neither Harry nor Ginny had said anything about them last night. Ginny noticed that they were both smiling. Fred and George were still looking at Harry as though he really had lost his mind. Sirius sat there silently. Ginny decided not to mention that Fred had also been killed. "If you don't believe what Harry and I have told you, ask Dumbledore and Snape. They both probed our minds last night when we told them."
Some more silence, and then Sirius spoke. His voice was unusually high, as though he was trying to stay calm. "Did you really start a Defense Against the Dark Arts support group?"
Ginny smiled. "Dumbledore's Army. We took the name in order to freak out the ministry in case they came to call."
Harry smiled as well. "Yeah, but in Fudge's own words, it was like losing a knut and finding a galleon when we finally did get caught. And the name was Ginny's idea. Anyhow, Sirius, how did your brother die?"
Sirius did not expect this question. "How did you know I have a brother?"
The twins smiled. "'Do Not Enter without the express permission of Regulus Arcturus Black' is posted on one of the upstairs doors." "Our first night here, we heard you mention something about being the last living Black."
Sirius shrugged, and said "My brother, Regulus, was as big on Pure Blood Supremacy as my parents were. When he was sixteen, he joined the Death Eaters. He got in close, but then something happened and he wanted out. Well, you can't walk up to Voldemort and hand him your resignation, can you? It's a lifetime of service, or death."
Harry nodded grimly. "And Regulus made the ultimate resignation," he mumbled, but only Ginny heard him clearly, "given what we're looking for."
