See chapter 1 for warnings and disclaimers. Happy reading


After leaving Harry Tonks headed straight for headquarters. Upon arriving she attempted to slip into the Order meeting as unobtrusively as possible, wincing when she tripped over the back of a chair and stumbled into Molly Weasley.

"Sorry." She apologized in a whisper. Her hair turned bright red to showcase her embarrassment.

"Of course dear." The plump woman patted her on the hand patronizingly and gave her a little push to the empty chair. "Hurry now and have a seat."

"As I was saying." Snape drawled with a glare at the new arrival. "The dark lord has no current plans for attacks. However he has moved forward with sending out emissaries to his foreign allies. Most notably the giants."

"Well." Dumbledore gave a heartfelt sigh that had Tonks narrowing her eyes. "We can only hope Hagrid was able to get to them first. Now then how's young Harry fairing?"

"His street has been quiet. No signs of Voldemort or any of his death eaters." Kingsley offered.

"Good, good. We'll continue the watch to be safe. Mundungus is there now and Sturgis, you have the overnight shift?" A blond man nodded. "Good, good. Well if that's all…."

"Actually." Tonks spoke up hesitantly. "I noticed a bruise on Harry's face this afternoon." She shifted as all eyes turned towards her.

A few seats down Sirius pounded a fist on the table. "Dumbledore there is no reason for him to be there. This house is safe enough. If those muggles are hurting him…."

"Sirius calm down." Dumbledore demanded in a sharp voice. "We have already discussed this multiple times. Harry must stay with his aunt. I'm sure he's fine."

"Really Sirius, a small bruise is nothing to get upset over." Molly tutted. "He's a boy. I would be surprised if he didn't have bruises. Take it from a mother dear. There's nothing to worry about."

Tonks snorted quietly to herself but remained silent. The meeting broke up with Sirius slamming out of the room while the rest of the group trickled out.

"Hold up girl." A gruff voice called, startling her. She couldn't help feeling a little nervous as she noticed Mad Eye Moody motioning her into the little used drawing room.

"What do you think you were doing?" He asked once the door had been shut.

"What, the thing with Harry?" She asked pretending confusion.

"Aye, the Potter boy" He said putting emphasis on the name. "What's the meaning of bringing up that nonsense?"

"I was concerned. I thought someone should know he was hurt." She retorted, refusing to back down from his intimidating stance.

"All you did was get Black in another snit." He shot back. "You have anymore information to give out you come to me or Dumbledore."

"Just you or Dumbledore?" She repeated pretending to be confused as she shoved down the anger that was choking her.

"Aye." Moody nodded sharply, his fake eye pinning her where she stood. "We're the best ones to deal with it. If you had come to us I could have told you that I saw Potter pick a fight with his cousin last night and that's where the bruise came from."

"Well that's a relief." She said brightly, forcing herself to move forward and give him one of her usual exuberant hugs. She had learned early on in her training that it would end the conversation faster than anything she could say. The man hated to be touched. Or maybe just touched by her. "I should have thought of coming to you before but I was running late. Molly's right, boys will be boys."

"Good." He growled as he headed for the door. "No more of this nonsense blurting things out in meetings." He admonished. "No good will come from it."

She was careful to keep her expression pleasant as he left the building, having no doubt he would be watching her with that creepy eye of his. Inside she was filled with determination. She had some research to do for her new friend.

While she was pouring over records Harry was climbing into bed apprehensively. He wasn't sure which dream he would have and just the thought of visiting the graveyard again was almost enough to keep him awake. But he was exhausted even with the nap and soon his eyes were falling shut.

Recognizing the almost life like quality of his Riddle dreams he looked around eagerly. Most of the same group that had been at the christening now danced around dressed in finery. Others stood chatting in small groups appearing jubilant. Obviously he had happened into a celebration of some sort, making him curious about what was taking place. Hearing Tom's voice he turned around, catching sight of the man corralling his son.

"What are the two of you of you up to?" The elegant man asked, looking down with a raised eyebrow. Harry leaned over to see that Sirius's brother had joined them. He still seemed quiet but not nearly as solemn as he had in the previous dream.

"I'm teaching Regulus how to have fun." The six year old responded with a large grin.

"You wore out that excuse six months ago young man." Tom told his son. Harry chuckled at the look of fond exasperation the man wore.

Rabastan flashed a mischievous grin. "It still works."

"Do you think so?" His father asked in a mock stern voice. "Do you remember what I told you about today?"

The little boy pretended to think hard. "That it's Rudo's day and to behave?"

"And have you?" Tom asked.

"I have not not behaved." He answered cheekily causing Harry to laugh.

Tom was fighting not to smile. "How about if we tone it down a bit hmm? I'm not raising a wild child." He added a warning look causing the child to nod. "No why don't you go congratulate Rudo and Bella. They did get married today." He directed.

"They only got married so they can be all kissy faced." The six year old gagged as he ran off.

Tom gave into his laughter. "I really hope he feels that way about kissing for a good while yet." He looked down at the dark haired child that had remained at his side. "What do you say Regulus? How do you feel about kissing?"

The boy shrugged though Harry could tell he was amused. "I don't really think much about it but I don't plan on doing it anytime soon."

"Excellent." Tom approved, clapping him on the back.

"I'll keep a closer eye on Rabastan." Regulus offered quietly. "I should have kept him from getting too rowdy before."

"I appreciate the offer but I don't expect you to have to act as his watcher." Tom reminded him. From the tone and raised eyebrow it seemed to Harry that they'd had the same conversation before. "You should be getting into just as much mischief."

Regulus shrugged again, thought his eyes darted to the guests surrounding them. "I don't want to make you look bad."

"I would rather you enjoy life than worry about what a bunch of stuffy people think." They shared a smile before Tom asked about Sirius. "I saw that he came home for the christmas holiday. I would have thought he'd stay at Hogwarts."

"Mother made him come home." He answered softly, looking pained. "Probably to punish him for being a Gryffindor."

"We'll have to make sure he spends a lot of time with us then." Tom answered hugging his new son close to him. "Is he okay? Have you seen him here?"

An uncharacteristic scowl crossed the boy's face. "I saw him. All he wants to talk about is James Potter."

"Is that jealously I hear?" Tom teased, giving the shoulder a small squeezed. Hearing his father's name Harry moved closer. "You're not happy he's found such a good friend at Hogwarts?"

The displeased expression deepened. "He could be friends with anybody but Potter. They've always been pure light and worship the ground Dumbledore walks on." Regulus sneered.

"Sirius has the right to choose his own path, dark or light. Being light isn't bad just as being dark doesn't mean you're evil. And there are a lot of people that worship Dumbledore because they don't know better."

"But he'll warn Sirius away from me." Regulus whined before flushing. He continued on in a more contained voice. "I'm going to be a Slytherin. That alone is enough to have Potter hate me."

"Slytherin would be lucky to have you though I think you would do good in Ravenclaw as well." Tom told him gently. "You have to remember that Sirius will influence Potter as much as he'll be influencing your brother. Sirius won't abandon you but if you go to him with that attitude against his friend you'll be forcing him to choose sides and that won't be fair to him." He could see the kid taking the words seriously.

"I miss him coming over every weekend." Regulus said quietly.

Tom looked pleased when the nine year old leaned into him for comfort. "I do too." He said rubbing a hand down his back.

"Even though he taught Rab all those pranks?" The boy looked up, a smirk crossing his face as he remembered some of the more memorable ones.

"Even still." Tom pretended to huff, sending a wink at the laughing kid. Sensing an approaching guest he shifted so that the dark haired youth was on the other side before acknowledging the newcomer. "Nott."

"Tom. We need to talk." His glance slid to the curious child. "Alone."

Harry watched displeasure cross Tom's face though Regulus spoke up before he could reply. "I"m going to go find Rabastan and see if he's interested in getting some revenge on Sirius."

"Quiet revenge." Tom called after him, a pleased smile on his face. It faded as he turn back to his friend. "Theodore you're looking awfully grave for such a festive occasion."

"I have reason to be as do you." The thin man retorted, his face set in angry lines. "Did you not hear what happened in Cornwall last night?"

Tom lowered his voice. "I heard a rumor of something."

"It's not just a rumor." Nott informed him in a harsh voice.. "Four of our comrades were murdered in cold blood last night."

"Lower your voice." Tom whipped out. "Have you no respect? If what I heard was true, that's Druella's brother and she doesn't need to hear about it at her daughter's wedding."

"Wedding or not we need to talk about a plan of action." The other man insisted but he did turn so that his back was to most of the guests.

"There is nothing we could do that won't wait until tomorrow." Tom instructed firmly.

Nott's eyes glinted angrily but he gave a short nod. "Your office tomorrow. I'll spread the word."

Tom sighed as he watched him stalk off. "Why could we not have one good day without something happening?" He murmured to himself.

Harry was nodding his head in agreement as the scene changed and he recognized the familiar landscape of Tom's office. Several men were seated around a conference table that had been brought into the space. Harry recognized Fenrir, Cygnus Black and the man Tom had been talking to at the wedding, but the other three men were strangers to him.

"Theodore." Tom said to open the meeting. "Why don't you tell us what you know."

"Patrick was hosting a little celebration at his gentlemen's club." The thin man began.

One of the strange men snorted. "Which had nothing to do with his niece getting married. Rosier never needed an excuse to get drunk."

Nott sent him an annoyed look. "Regardless of what he choose to do with his personal time he, Wilkes, Thickenese, and Mulciber were enjoying their night when a group of Dumbledores people burst in and spells began flying."

One of the new men, who reminded Harry of a slytherin in his year named Greengrass, held up the daily prophet. "According to the paper their group got out of control and began fighting amongst themselves, killing several innocents in addition to themselves."

"While we all know the prophet tells whatever story Dumbledore wants, where is our information coming from?" Fenrir asked remaining calm despite the black look Nott sent him.

"Rosier's son Evan was there with his father." Cygnus offered. He shrugged at the outraged look Tom sent him. "Patrick didn't have much sense when it came to his children. The kid was smarter than his father though. Got under cover and made sure to stay there until it was safe."

"Is he okay?' Tom asked, worry reflected on his face.

Cygnus nodded. "He's home with his mother. Upset obviously and angry."

"It'll be hard for him to go back to Hogwarts after what he's seen." Fenrir pointed out. "He won't have the maturity Lucius had." The expression on his face didn't say much about the older teen's maturity.

The man Harry thought of as Greengrass sighed. "Twelve's a harsh age to lose a father. "

The third man who Harry had heard referred to as Avery looked alarmed. "Don't the others have sons in Hogwarts as well?"

Tom nodded. "Thickensnse's son Pius is fourteen as is Mulciber's. I think Wilkes' son is just shy of his majority."

"That's either an awful big coincidence or it was planned." Greengrass pointed out.

"It could be just that they were there and together. Opportunity knocked. Or it could be that he's targeting those that have Hogwarts children on purpose." Cygnus mused. "What better way to create opposition than to make an army for an absent dark lord full of bitter and disillusioned teens.

Tom gnashed his teeth. "So because I refuse to play his game he's giving his dark lord persona followers by killing their fathers." He summed up.

"Makes me glad my son's old enough to have completed his newts. He's got more important things to worry about than revenge even if I was killed." Greengrass mused.

"I wouldn't count yourself safe just yet." Avery had begun sweating. "Though out of all of us I'm the most vulnerable. Junior 's just a first year. You're lucky Nott that you don't have kids."

"I don't consider it lucky that I have failed to produce an heir to carry my name." The man snarled causing Harry to blink. He was sure that there was a Nott in his year. "I wan't to know what we're going to do now that we know his plans. Surely we're not going to allow this to continue!"

Avery nodded. "I'm tired of all the deaths. This year alone we've lost half a dozen friends while we sit on our hands doing nothing. "

Greengrass agreed reluctantly. "We've been playing nice Tom, fighting through politics. It's time to start hitting back."

"Which is exactly what Dumbledore wants." Tom pointed out. He sighed at the frustrated looks. "Fenrir has talked to the other packs." He gave in relunctently.

The werewolf nodded. "They have no love for Dumbledore and his laws against our kind. They're willing to join us."

"Goyle has been in communication with the giants. They haven't agreed yet but so far they are willing to listen. The Dementors are furious with their treatment by wizards and are available to us." Tom continued.

"You've managed to get those foul creatures to understand you?" Greengrass asked impressed.

Tom nodded shortly. "They aren't the mindless creatures people prefer to believe. While I don't necessarily like their appetites I believe they could be a huge benefit to us."

"So we are going to fight back." Nott spoke up, a vicious smile sliding across his face.

He was given a stern look. "We will be targeting members of the Order only. Most specifically those that have actively attacked us. Moody, Doge, Buchanan, Goshawk are his lieutenants. Potter, Longbottom, Fenwick, Dearborn, Jones, Edgar Bones have all been pains in our arses and most likely to fill the lieutenant roles should we knock one of them off."

Cygnus sighed. "It hurts me to be targeting such old families as Potter and Bones but I have to admit that they've come after us first and will continue if we don't stop them."

"If you engage the younger ones, those members that have just joined straight out of Hogwarts, try to capture them instead them killing them. They're just brainwashed kids and its possible we could change their minds." Fenrir told them gruffly.

"And under no circumstances are you to harm innocents. If their family is there disengage and try again later." Tom added with a hard look at Nott.

"Its not like they're sparing our families." The thin man muttered before agreeing reluctantly.

"None of this will matter if we can't get Dumbledore and as long as he stays in that castle of his hiding behind children we'll never get him." Avery pointed out.

"We need an inside man." Cygnus agreed.

Greengrass shook his head. "We'd never get someone into the order. Dumbledore regularly checks his people. Who ever we had would have to be a master occulmens and I don't know anyone of that caliber besides Tom."

"We could always use a student." Nott pointed out. "He wouldn't be nearly as suspicious of the ...how would he phrase it,,, the innocence of youth." He laughed derisively.

Fenrir growled. "We're not going to send a kid to murder their headmaster."

"Of course not." Greengrass agreed. "But it would help if we had someone who could pass us information. A spy."

Avery's eyes lit up. "If this war doesn't end soon our little spy might grow up to be a big spy and actually get into the Order. It would be a big win for us." He looked to Tom who had remained silent.

"We can't use one of the newly fatherless." Nott continued ignoring the obvious displeasure emitting from their leader.

Greengrass snorted. "We couldn't use a slytherin at all. He would never trust anyone wearing green and silver."

"Unless he thinks he's turned one of them." Nott pointed out. Harry scowled at the gleeful smile on his face. "Lucius has that little first year he's taken under his wing."

"Severus." Tom murmured softly. "The kid has a hard enough time as it is. His father abuses him."

"Just the kind of story Dumbledore would lap up." Nott pointed out. He ignored Fenrir's growl.

"Lucius won't stand for it." Greengrass pointed out.

"Luc and I will do what we can for the boy but that's the end of it." Tom said firmly. "If you really want to get to Dumbledore pick a Gryffindor."

"Gryffindor's will be harder to convince." Cygnus mused.

"What about your nephew Sirius? Didn't he become a Gryffindor and friends with the Potter brat?" Nott sneered.

This time it was Tom who growled. "Sirius is to be left alone." He announced.

"There is a boy, one of Sirius's little friends." Cygnus offered.

"If you're talking about Lupin you can forget it. He's so far up Dumbledore's arse I'm surprised he can breath." Fenrir grumbled.

"No another, the little one. Pettigrew i think. Sirius was talking about him. Pettigrew just has a mother, who's poorly. The boy could use some male attention. We don't have to force him to do anything but I'm guessing we could get a lot from him without even trying." The father of three announced.

"He's friends with the Potter boy. And the Potters are Dumbledores's key people." Avery mused. He noticed Tom's downcast look. "Look at it this way . We're helping a needy kid and if we get nothing out of it we still helped a needy kid."

Tom nodded. "Find someone to mentor him, discreetly. Merlin help us but we're at war."

Waking up Harry stared at the ceiling for several minutes. Pushing the dream out of his head he rose and headed to the bathroom. It was still early enough that not even his aunt was up yet to give him censorious looks. He didn't know if Tonks would be by, she wasn't on guard duty today but if he did happen to see her he wanted to at least look like he practiced some hygiene.

Once done he settled onto his bed, the left overs from their dinner out the night before spread out before him. As he ate he thought about the one point of the dream that pissed him off, Pettigrew. From what he could guess the events had taken place during the winter holidays of his parents first year. Which meant the rat had been spying on his father and godfather since at least their second year. Had he ever been a true friend to them?

Knowing that Pettigrew really had been Tom's spy brought up even more questions about the night his parents had died. He'd begun to think that maybe Dumbledore had lied to him about what had happened that night. But now it looked like the rat really had given up the secret.

Harry shook his head frustrated as he stored the rest of his food. He had a feeling he was missing something. He refused to believe he was fooling himself, hoping against hope that Tom really was the good guy.

Hearing his aunt he made his way to the kitchen and started breakfast. Petunia started in surprise at seeing him but only scowled. The moment he'd finished plating up the food she pointed him to the garden.

"You need to get an early start." She insisted. "The rain the other day played havoc with the garden."

He gritted his teeth to keep from lashing back at her. It had now been three days since they'd allowed him to eat. If it hadn't been for Tonks he'd really be hurting. He silently thanked her for insisting he take the extra meal as he lugged out the gardening tools.

As he began weeding his mind went back to the dream. The meeting between the men had confused and disturbed him. It was obvious that Tom necessarily hadn't wanted to fight, that he had been uncomfortable being pushed into it by the other men. But he wasn't going to let his friends fight and die without help so he'd already made alliances to help them. He obviously believed in being prepared even if he didn't enjoy the necessary violence.

Was this the start of what made him evil? Was being made to fight back what pushed him over the edge? But if the death of wife and best friend hadn't done it why now?

Even if Tom had turned evil who could blame him. Harry didn't think he'd be able to remain good and light if he was constantly hammered by the opposition. He was ready to chuck it in after the last four years at Hogwarts and everything he'd gone through. If it continued for the next three years would he be going on a killing spree?

He was distracted by the itch in the back of his shoulders and had to resist turning around. Someone was out there watching him as he trudged through the dirt, hands scratched and bleeding from pulling the stout weeds without gloves. He wondered who it was and what they were thinking.

The itch soon became irritating and in desperation he turned his thoughts back to his dream. He thought about Tom's interaction with the two boys. It was surprising certainly. He had always thought purebloods as being stiff and proper with little interaction with their children though where he got that idea he didn't know.

He thought about the seeing the Malfoy's in Diagon alley before his second year. Lucius wasn't the best example of a parent but Draco had certainly been comfortable enough with the man to pout and whine like a spoiled brat. Mrs. Malfoy hadn't looked all that receiving at the world cup but maybe she had been nervous about something. He wondered what they were like at home? Did they spend time together?

It was obvious Tom had fun with his children. He had been loving and understanding and a really good parent. He had listened and encouraged and knew what each boy had needed to hear. He had put his children first, ahead of business. Harry had to tamp down the surge of jealously. It was over and done with. He was too old for a parent now anyway. He could take care of himself, had been taking care of himself for years. He swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed on.

"Wotcher Harry. More chores I see." A voice spoke out of thin air, startling him.

"Tonks." Harry whispered looking around. "Where are you?"

"Right next to you silly. I'm disillusioned since your aunt is being so nosy . She keeps looking out the window. I figured better you talking to yourself than a stranger in her yard."

"Yeah she's used to me acting freaky. What about the order member? Won't they be suspicious about me talking to thin air?" He asked concentrating on the ground in front of him to keep from looking at her.

He felt the air displace as she shook her head. "Emmeline Vance is on duty right now. But we don't have to worry. She's such a prissy woman she refused to sit in the dirt or against the tree. She says she can watch you perfectly fine from Miss Figg's house."

Harry snorted before the second part of the sentence registered. "Miss Figg?"

"Yeah you know the squib that's watched out for you all these years." She paused unaware of his growing anger. "She obviously didn't do a very good job."

"You think?" He snapped pounding the soft ground with a fist. "How long are people are going to spy on me without letting me know?"

"Until you're seventeen most likely." She answered pragmatically with an apologetic shrug he couldn't see. "And given who you are probably longer."

"Not if I can help it." He muttered darkly. "So did you find any answers? About the things I asked about my dreams?"

"Yes and no. It has only been a day and I did work today." She spoke quickly seeing how upset he was. "I'm still looking for Riddle's wife. I'm pretty sure it's there I just need to dig deeper." Harry looked disappointed as he went back to weeding.

"But I did find the Lestranges. Reginald and Ranee were killed in 65 " She continued.

"Mugged in Paris." He supplied.

She was silent for a beat. "Okay that's really scary. Any idea why it's happening. And why now? Why not when you reentered the wizarding world?"

"No." He had a look of deep concentration on his face. "I know 2 things. Dumbledore is not behind this and if I continue with the dreams I'll find out everything."

"Just be careful." She cautioned. "Have you ever thought Voldemort might be sending them on purpose? Maybe he wants to lure you into a trap."

"Yeah but I really don't see him sending me things that are so personable and show him ... well vulnerable. Besides that's why you're looking all this stuff up. To prove what's true or not." He reminded her.

There was some rustling of paper. "Okay so what do I need to look for next?"

He thought about it for a minute. "Rudo and Bellatrix were married in 71 or the first week of 72."

"That'll be easy enough to prove. What else?" She asked writing down the information.

He was quiet for a minute. "I need to know how my grandfather died, and Neville Longbottom's grandfather."

"I know that Charlus Potter died shortly after your father finished Hogwarts. He was an auror, really should have been retired but because of the war was still working. He was chasing a death eater, Evan Rosier, and was led into a trap. Your grandmother was ill and ended up dying soon after. It's one of reason your parents got married so young." She explained. "Umm I'll look into Longbottom."

Harry was silent for a minute. "Rosier, Wilkes, Mulciber and Thickenese were all involved in an attack that resulted in their death the day before Bella's wedding." He supplied. "Evan Rosier witnessed his father's death."

He could hear her making notes and knew she was frowning. "What really happened?" She asked knowing there had to be a different story.

"From what Tom heard they were spending the day at their gentlemans club when it was attacked. I wonder if my grandfather was one of the one's that attacked." He mused as they moved on to the next flower bed. He sent a glare at his aunt through the window knowing the lunch hour had passed and again she hadn't given him anything. He wondered if they were really trying to kill him this time.

"That's would make sense." Tonks sounded intrigued. "There's a Pius Thickenese in the ministry and I think Mulciber. I wonder if they're related?"

"Apparently all the men killed had a son at Hogwarts at the time of the attack."

"And I suppose I can't question them." She said hopefully.

"No!" He said looking alarmed. "If anyone finds out that we're questioning things who knows what they'll do to stop us."

"Got it. Well do it on the down low." She gave him a one armed hug to calm him down. "So how was the rest if your night?"

He was thrown off by the rapid change in subject. "Umm okay I guess. My uncle was so shocked about the shed that he didn't even get into me about the way I talked to my aunt."

"Was she the one that smacked you? She asked cautiously before noticing something. "Hey your bruise is gone."

He shrugged. "I tend to heal fast. But yeah she did that. Though that was was actually kind of deserved."

He felt a tug on his hair. "Bruises like that are never deserved Harry." He shrugged uncomfortably.

"So there was an order meeting last night." She told him changing the subject.

He perked up. "Anything interesting?"

"Actually no." She admitted. "Pretty much just a bunch of people sitting around worshipping Dumbledore." She said dryly.

Harry snorted out a laugh. "Sounds about right."

"Snape did say..."

"Snape." He exclaimed interrupting her. "He's a part of the order? Is he one of the ones watching me?"

"Nope he's managed to get out of it. Besides he's got something more important to do."

Harry gave her a suspicious look as he rocked back on his heels. "Like what?"

"Oh um I don't know how much you know about Snapeys history but he used to be on Voldemort's side but sometime before that Halloween he began working for Dumbledore." She paused surprised when he just shrugged. "Anyway now he's spying on the dark lord for Dumbledore."

"Is he?" He asked "Is he really?" He mused

"I was wondering that last night." She admitted. "He hasn't been in any of your dream things?"

"Well sort of. I mean the one last night they talked about him a bit." He explained about the conversation between the men. "If Snape is the one that Malfoy took under his wing it would probably take a lot to make him turn against them."

"It's weird to think of the evil bat as being an abused little boy."

"Which really sucks." Harry said with a slight pout. "I think I would prefer it if he really was working for Dumbledore cause I really don't like him."

"He does make a good bad guy." She agreed before clearing her throat. "Umm one other thing kind of happened." She kicked up a clod of dirt as she fidgeted.

"What?" He asked suspiciously.

"Well if Dumbledore really is the bad guy I wanted to see who was on his side and who was just oblivious like me. So I sort of threw out the information about the bruise on your face." Tonks admitted.

"What?" He exclaimed, wincing when his aunt appeared in the window again.

"Listen I know you think it's a violation of your privacy but if it helps further our research it's worth it right? And it's not like anyone else watching you yesterday hadn't seen it."

I don't care about that. You can't show them that you care or they won't let you come back." He whispered back frantically.

"I was careful. Besides they might think its weird if I didn't say anything. We are supposed to be watching after your safety after all." She countered, pleased that he was worried.

"So did you learn anything?" He asked grudgingly.

"Several things. Sirius exploded on Dumbledore and the old man said you had to stay here for your safety which is the craziest thing I've ever heard. So either Dumbledore is using you as bait to lure Voldemort out or there is more to this house than we know." She explained.

Harry turned to look at the building. "That is something I would really like to know. I don't want to stay here a moment longer than I need too."

"Molly said it was just a result of you being a boy. I really hate the way she talks to Sirius but I don't think she was defending Dumbledore so much as puffing herself up as mother of the year. The rest stayed silent though Remus, Bill and Snape all looked uncomfortable with the information."

"So you really didn't learn anything."

"Not so fast grasshopper." She gave him a slight shove to the shoulder. "After the meeting Moody pulled me aside and read me the riot act for speaking out. Said from now on I should only tell him or Dumbledore. Then he told me this lie about how he saw you pick a fight with your cousin."

"Definitely one of Dumbledore's people." Harry mused. "Yeah I can see that though it does bring up some questions about this past school year."

"You need to be really careful when he's on watch. That eye of his can see through walls." She warned.

He grimaced. "True. Anything else happen?"

"No, well there is someone else staying at headquarters full time now. A teenager named Granger. She's pretty good friends with Ron so I figure you know her."

He had to bite his lip to stop the furious tide of anger. They were together, having fun and learning all the stuff that was being denied him. " Yeah I know her." He said shortly after swallowing hard.

"Well if it's any consolation Molly's got them working scrubbing down the house." She offered.

"Yeah not really."