Summer at Grimmauld Place

Harry was both pleased and relieved to find that Mrs Weasley allowed them to sleep longer than he had expected, although he was still a bit tired when he eventually got up.

Luckily there was nothing in particular planned for the day, since Mrs Weasley had taken advantage of the summer to continue waging war against the dirt and pests that had accumulated in the neglected house. It was finally fit for habitation again, except for one or two rooms that no one had been able to figure out how to get in to.

He spent some time over breakfast, or more accurately brunch, talking about the party with his friends, which then turned to discussing the results of Hermione's chats with Bill and McGonagall. Heart wrenching though it was she had made the decision to drop Herbology, History, Astronomy and Ancient Runes.

'McGonagall said an OWL in Astronomy was all I really needed since it's mainly used in Divination and Herbology and I'm not taking either of those. I mean, the only course I'm doing that I'll actually need it for is Ritual Magics and according to Professor McGonagall all the extra Astronomy I need will mostly be covered in the class.

She said she'd talk to Professor Sinistra about allowing me access to the telescopes and she recommended an advanced book on Astronomy that I'll have to find in Diagon Alley but she said if I had those then I really wouldn't need the class.'

Hermione beamed. 'She said I was smart enough to manage without it.

I've also decided to drop Ancient Runes. I really didn't want to but I would have had far too much to handle if I'd kept it.

Bill said Runes are quite important in some careers, like cursebreaking and research but I did get a really good grade on my OWL and I will be doing some more advanced Runework in Ritual Magics anyway so he doesn't think I'd have too much to make up after Hogwarts if I did decide to take it further.

Hermione paused thoughtfully. 'Maybe I should find an advanced book on Runes too,' she mused.

Harry and Ron shared familiar incredulous looks. Harry had thought he was taking on a fairly heavy load but Hermione always went way above and beyond the call of schoolwork. And she was a prefect! And if they continued with the DA then she'd be involved with that too. He didn't know how she did it.

'That's still an awful lot you're taking on though Hermione.' Ron said frankly.

'I know but the only other thing I could possibly give up would be Care of Magical Creatures and I just couldn't do that to Hagrid! Not that it wouldn't be a relief in some ways, I mean can you imagine what he might introduce us to now that we're older and more experienced? Look at what he thought was safe enough for third years!'

They exchanged slightly nervous looks. 'Still,' Ron sighed. 'We can't just give up on him. I doubt he'd have much of a class if we did!'

'Some people might take it as an easy option,' put in Fred as he snatched half a bacon butty off Ron's plate. 'After all some of them will need a certain number of NEWT's or their families will expect them to take plenty when they haven't the grades to get in to some of the other classes.'

'That's what happened in our year, anyway,' George said as he perched on a nearby stool. 'I mean can you imagine the two trolls who hang around with Malfoy getting in to Enchantment? Or even NEWT Transfiguration?' Everyone laughed and George continued.

'But they're purebloods so they'll be expected to stay in school. I doubt they'll even manage to get into Potions, even if it is true that Snape gives extra lessons to his house. No, bet you any money they'll be in lessons like Divination, COMC, Herbology and Household Magics, all the ones that need an A or less.'

From there the talk turned to the new lessons everyone would be taking after the summer.

'Well we took Medimagic, Wandless, Apparition and Enchantment, said Fred. 'We may not have bothered too much about the exams…'

'…but those we did, we did well on!' finished George. 'I always thought it was a pity that we had to make Snape look good by passing but it was an unfortunate side effect of success.'

'And if we'd had a teacher like Lupin for any of the other years…' Fred began.

'Or really bothered studying,' interjected George.

'…then we might have managed an OWL in DADA as well. Still,' Fred continued, philosophically. 'It isn't as if Defence had much relevance to our primary concern at the time.'

'Apparition, well we got our licenses and it's dead useful.'

'Enchanting, well that was just incredible! Absolutely the best lesson we ever took, though if you wind up with Professor Lyon I'll warn you now, he may look a bit absent-minded but he definitely isn't one to cross. He's even worse than McGonagall.'

George grinned across at his twin. 'We learned that the hard way!'

'Not that it stopped us trying, mind you.' Fred replied. 'He works you hard but it's more than worth it.'

'Medimagic, well I won't let on who teaches that but he's a great chap. Dead friendly and he never minds answering questions - it's thanks to him we ever got the skiving snackboxes sorted out.'

'I'll just be grateful,' Harry put in. 'If he teaches me enough to cut down on my Hospital Wing time. Did you know Madam Pomphrey swore she was going to name one of the beds after me as I spend so much time in it?'

Everyone laughed at that and the twins continued.

'Wandless Magic was pretty good but I don't know who they'll get in to teach you since Professor Ranulf spontaneously combusted. Still it was a good course. Dead interesting.'

'Some of its on odd little talents not everyone has but the rest of it isn't too hard once you've got the hang of it.'

'We didn't bother with Magic Maintenance or Household Magic since we figured we'd already know most of it just by growing up as Weasleys.'

'It's pretty lucky really that Mum washed her hands of us after the OWLs otherwise we'd never have heard the end of it, taking so few NEWTs.'

'But it wasn't as if we were interested in taking on too much work.'

'Yeah, we'd never have had any time for Quidditch, or working on Weasleys Wizarding Wheezes, or pranking, you know. The important things in life.'

With that they began to chat about Gryffindors chances for the cup. With Harry back as Seeker and Ginny, who had followed Ron's example in asking for a new broom as her prefect gift, hoping to replace one of the departing chasers.

Charlie joined them briefly to chat about his new job at the Welsh National Dragon Reserve. 'Now that Fudge has admitted You-Know-Who is back they don't really need me making covert contact with foreign wizards, it can be a bit more above board.

It's a bit of a wrench leaving Romania but working with native dragons is good experience. I might see if the McFusty Reserve needs a hand if I have to stay too long.' He shrugged. 'It'll all look good on my CV but once this is over I'm heading back to Romania as fast as I can apparate!'

While Charlie, like Bill had chosen to work in a related field closer to home for the duration of the problems with the Dark Lord it was clear that both of the elder Weasley brothers were missing their old jobs. Harry only hoped they survived long enough to go back to them.

Eventually the younger teens wandered upstairs again, where Ron challenged Harry to a game of Tic Tac Toe, while Neville read the new Herbologists Monthly that had arrived that morning and Hermione helped Ginny with an essay.

After about half a dozen games Ron headed for the kitchen to fetch some drinks and came back to find Harry sat on the floor surrounded by the contents of his trunk.

'I thought I might as well start sorting this out.' Harry said quietly, since Hermione and Ginny were now discussing OWLs and looking over Hermione's notes from last year.

'I'll give you a hand.' Ron said as he sprawled himself out on the floor. 'Have you figured out what you're doing with everything?'

'Well, I thought I'd divide it up, you know, clothes on the top level, then school stuff, then pranks and sweets and stuff then the special stuff like my photo albums and that at the bottom.'

'Sounds like a plan,' Ron said. 'I'll start picking out the clothes and the school stuff since that's pretty easy to spot and I'll pile them either side of me. You concentrate on sorting out the personal stuff and the pranks.'

The pair of them sat, or in Ron's case sprawled, companionably as they picked through Harry's belongings. They managed easily enough, though Ron occasionally paused to check if a certain book was 'school' or 'personal.' Still, it went a lot quicker with two pairs of hands and they soon had four distinct, if not particularly neat, piles. Harry went and fetched his new trunk.

'Right now I've got to turn the key three times to get to the bottom level.' Harry said, glancing at the instructions. He did so and opened the trunk to reveal a section empty except for the book on Occlumency.

'I suppose that had better stay in there for now. Then I fill it.' The pair of them proceeded to do so until Harry was satisfied with the arrangement of his belongings. 'Then I turn the key once to lock that section, place my wand hand over the lock and set the password.' Harry had already decided what the passwords were going to be.

'Prongs,' he said clearly. 'Right, now for the next section.' The third level of the trunk, filled with various prank items and sweets was given the password 'Padfoot' while the next level, containing his school supplies, became 'Moony.' Harry felt that they were highly appropriate passwords. Finally they came to the top level of the trunk where they put the Dursley's awful cast-offs alongside Harry's selection of Weasley jumpers, Dobby socks and the other items of clothing he owned. He gave that level the password Marauders Honour; since there was no way in hell he was using the name Wormtail on any of his belongings.

They surveyed the freshly packed trunk with pride for a moment before Harry said that he should probably have put the trunk by his bed before they had filled it. When he and Ron both grabbed an end to drag it over with they found it a lot less heavy than they had thought it would be.

'Must have a feather-light charm on it,' said Ron.

'That'll be useful,' Harry replied. 'There were loads of times I nearly injured myself with the old one because it was so heavy.'

After a few moments thought they called the twins in to shrink Harry's old trunk and stuck that in his new one too.

Once that was done there really wasn't anything else much to do. They couldn't go out, or play Quidditch like they did at The Burrow, which was being fitted with extra wards under the supervision of Bill Weasley, just in case. Their homework was done and they really couldn't be bothered to think anything else up. Instead they opened the windows wide to let in the fresh air and sunshine and simply lazed around the room.

Ron sat polishing his broom, Neville was rereading his magazines and filling in some sort of order form, Ginny was showing Hermione how to weave friendship bracelets and Harry was lying on his bed reading his new book on Occlumency. They managed to while away most of the afternoon like that, pausing to make occasional desultory conversation. It wasn't surprising really when a slightly suspicious Mrs Weasley came upstairs to see why they were all being so quiet.

Harry suspected that they were all still a bit tired and they decided to head to bed fairly early. There wasn't even much in the way of the usual bedtime conversations, just quiet goodnights and soon they were all fast asleep.

Nobody could claim that life at Grimmauld Place was a whirl of excitement. It got a bit tedious sometimes, being trapped inside all the time without much to do. Tempers occasionally frayed, but Harry knew it was far better to be stuck with his friends at the Order HQ than to be back with the Dursley's. And they usually managed to find some way to fill their days.

They had spent hours roaming the house, exploring all the rooms. Harry had been incredibly pleased with himself when he discovered a secret passage by himself, even if he had to admit privately that it had been a bit of an accident. It may have only lead to the attic but they rather suspected that they weren't supposed to go up there as it might contain any number of dark artefacts and whatnot. To salve Neville's conscience they informed not one but two adults. Fred and George Weasley.

Hermione had been placated by the promise that they would be very careful, the knowledge that she was far more capable than her age might suggest and by the fact that the Weasley Twins, who had studied Enchantment and so had quite a good idea about how to spot cursed items, and were able to do magic during the holiday, were more than happy to lend a hand. Besides Moody wasn't so far away if they got into any trouble and she was as bored as everyone else. Harry suspected she was still feeling, how had she put it again, 'a bit rebellious.'

If nothing else their discovery gave them somewhere new to poke about. They had hoped to find secret entrances to the other unopenable rooms but hadn't had any luck so far. Harry had eventually thought to ask what had become of Kreacher, not having seen him around.

'We're not entirely sure.' Fred said.

'But we think Lupin might have eaten him,' said George.

Since Hermione was a part of their group they inevitably ended up spending at least an hour or two in the library each day. It wasn't as boring as it might have been. The events that had taken place in the Department of Mysteries and the knowledge that Voldemort was now an active force, no longer hiding his return from the Ministry, had certainly served to motivate their studies somewhat. The Black Library, unsurprisingly, contained quite a lot of books that they felt sure would have been put in the Restricted Section at Hogwarts, if they hadn't been destroyed.

Sometimes they just sat in the library and discussed the DA. Harry felt that it would be pointless to decide for certain what to do about it until after their first week back. By that point he'd have a better idea if the club was still necessary and whether or not he had enough time to run it. It didn't stop them from filling his planner with lessons on curses, charms, counterspells, defences and a variety of other things. Just in case.

There were other everyday aspects of life at Grimmauld Place. Mrs Weasley still had them doing chores, they helped the twins test some of their new products, they played Gobstones and Chess and Tic Tac Toe. Hermione introduced the Weasleys to Cluedo and Monopoly, which Ron was absolutely abysmal at though the Twins took to it quite well and were heard to be planning a possible Diagon Alley version.

They traded card games, Ron, Ginny and Neville showing them wizarding games and Harry and Hermione introducing them to muggle ones. One night they spent hours playing 21, using Every Flavour Beans to make their bets.

There were the odd few truly exciting days. After almost a week of being cooped up in the humid house, coupled with their utter boredom, they were going a little stir-crazy. Even Neville and Hermione. They were also a bit annoyed, as all of the adults were once again closeted away discussing Order business.

Intellectually Harry could reason that no doubt some of the information they were discussing was too sensitive for them to know but nevertheless it still rankled that they were once again excluded. They had a right to know more than they did! Why couldn't there be a junior order or something? Where they could be kept abreast of what was going on even if they couldn't be told everything?

Fred and George were even more put out with the Order. They were legally adults now and they were no longer in school but Mrs Weasley was still doing her best to prevent them from joining. She said they were still too young. The twins were of the opinion that some of the other Order members were also opposing their joining, feeling that they were too irresponsible.

As Fred said angrily 'We may not have been prefects or got a load of OWLs but there aren't many people our age who have set up a successful business. It's not as if we're thick!'

'Maybe it is just a joke shop,' said George 'but that doesn't mean we can't be useful - we invented Extendable Ears after all, in fact we're probably the most original inventors around, despite our age. We could make loads of useful stuff for the Order, I know we could.'

'If we're ever given the chance.' Fred said a trifle bitterly. He turned to the others. 'There's no reason why a joke item can't be funny, useful and profitable - all at the same time. I mean think of the Portable Swamp. Drop one of them behind you in a chase and it'll definitely confuse your enemies! Not so good with fully trained wizards as it would be with Slytherins,' he said wistfully. 'Death Eaters and such can apparate.'

'But our Instant Atmospheres would be dead useful,' George put in. 'We started experimenting for Halloween parties and stuff. You know, crashing thunder, eerie fog and stuff like that. But our first few successful efforts wouldn't be much good for parties. See, the fog was incredibly thick and we had a time working out how to get the look and sound of a storm without getting the rain too.

But think about it. You're trying to hide so why not use the Fog in a Bottle? It's so thick Malfoy probably wouldn't recognise the Dark Lord if he was stood right in front of him! It lasts for hours and it can't be dispelled either - what goods party fog if a careless spell can get rid of it after all? And if you're in an Anti-Apparition Area then a good thunderstorm or snowstorm does wonders for hiding your tracks.'

Ron and Harry were looking at them deeply impressed, even Hermione seemed awestruck. 'They could be quite useful,' she said. 'And they would be marvellous at parties.'

'We know,' they said together.

'We've got all types of weather.' Fred said. 'And we're working on loads of other stuff. They just don't see that our talents can be used for more than just annoying the teachers.'

As was their usual habit, the twins decided to bury their frustration in their pranks and since the others were all in a similar mood they joined in enthusiastically. First they laid a variety of booby traps around the house, just happening to take particular care with the hall outside the door the Order members were meeting behind. They them began to rampage around the house with the twins new Splatterbombs.

About the size of a muggle golf ball the Splatterbombs were each filed with a different coloured paint that had been charmed with a minor jinx. When thrown at someone they would explode on contact, splattering the target and anyone near them with bright colour which would cause them to break out in boils, sprout tentacles, burst out laughing or stagger around on their suddenly unsteady legs.

They teamed up, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Neville and Ginny against the twins, since the twins had the advantage of being able to use their magics and even apparate. They raced through hallways, up and down stairs, ducking and dodging around corners and furniture, sometimes creeping stealthily and others shrieking with glee. The noise set off Mrs Black but they completely ignored her, apart from the hurling of a few well aimed bombs anytime they passed her, which she didn't appreciate.

They even managed to successfully avoid the adults sent to shut them up once they had left their soundproofed meeting room. This gave them a great deal of satisfaction and proved that they hadn't been wasting their time in getting to know the house so well. From the sounds of it a number of the booby traps had done their work to great effect in the hallway. It was an absolute riot and although they got into a fair bit of trouble off Mrs Weasley for their 'inconsiderate behaviour' and were forced to spend most of the next week clearing up the mess they all privately felt it had been more than worth it.

The other highlight of the holiday had been when the Daily Prophet arrived bearing the headline 'Ministry of Magic Mismanagement: Why Foolish Fudge Should Go!' It seemed that the wizarding worlds faith in Fudge had been severely shaken and there were rumours of a vote of no confidence to be taken. It made all of them intensely happy to know Fudge was on his way out and seemed to give the younger Weasleys a certain malicious satisfaction to think that a new Minister would undoubtedly be replacing Percy Weasley with a member of their own staff.

'He's not going to recover too well from this.' Ron said happily. 'I mean, after all those problems with Crouch and now Fudge on his record, well, I doubt he'll make Minister now.'

Of course there was always the worry about exactly who might end up replacing Fudge. Harry didn't exactly have much faith in the ministry as a whole, since it had managed to produce such stellar examples of humanity as Fudge, Umbridge, Crouch and Bagman. Not to mention the number of Death Eaters who had been trusted and even employed by the Ministry.

He knew there were some decent ones, take Mr Weasley for example, but he couldn't help but think that there could be even worse ministers than Fudge.

'It's possible,' said Hermione thoughtfully. 'But considering the political climate I don't think it's likely. I mean, they've just found out that the Dark Lord is back and they found some pretty trusted friends and members of the ministry helping him. And they see you and Dumbledore as the Wizarding worlds hope again. I don't think they'll risk appointing anyone who's against Dumbledore or who's ever been implicated in the Dark Arts. And I think the Order might have some influence on who's appointed anyway, with things as they are. I don't think we need to worry too much.'

It was logical but Harry had learnt long ago that logic wasn't the driving characteristic of humanity, let alone wizards. But Hermione was still talking. 'I'd guess they'll want someone experienced in working against Dark wizards, a good leader, somebody everyone will respect, and probably someone with a long history in the ministry because they won't want to waste time in training them up.'

As the days passed it seemed that most peoples money was on Amelia Bones to win. The Bones were a well respected pure-blood family with a long history in the ministry and a number of the younger Bones' had been killed in Voldemorts last rise. Amelia Bones herself was a highly respected member of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and a lot of people thought she made the obvious choice to take over as minister.

Everyone at Grimmauld Place began to make a habit of listening to the Wizarding Wireless Network while they were cleaning up after tea so as to keep up with all the news.

Fudge was putting up a bitter fight for his position and attempting to push the blame onto any shoulders other than his own. The interviews where he tried to bluster and make excuses for himself were highly amusing. Really he was only making things worse for himself but evidently he wasn't prepared to just let go of being Minister, he was going to fight tooth and nail to the bitter end. Still, the wizarding public, at least according to the WWN and the Prophet, didn't seem to be buying it.

It was all rather exciting and Harry couldn't wait to find out how it all turned out.