(Disclaimer: If it isn't in the first six books, it's mine!)

I'm back from my hiatus!

Still using the dreaded . Oh, the horrors!

I can't wait until they finally get to Hogwarts! I took quite some time with this…GAH! Neither Harry nor Talione wants to be in the limelight and they've been playing hide-and-seek with my muse. Maybe if I tie them to a chair and force them to listen to How The Grinch Stole Christmas…

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Chapter 9: More Letters and Night Visits

The next week was more eventful than the previous ones. In two days seven Death Eaters were sighted and reported in the paper and a giant was reported outside Dublin, causing memory modification of two buses full of tourists. And the Hogwarts booklists came that Wednesday.

They arrived shortly after breakfast, followed by an owl carrying a letter from Hermione. Harry turned his attention away from the chess game to open the letter and while he was distracted Talione ordered his bishop to capture Harry's queen.

"How is she?" asked Ron.

"She got ten OWLs and said we can't complain about studying anymore," Harry said. "Bill's taking her to Diagon Saturday." He exchanged Hermione's letter for his letter from Hogwarts. When Harry tore it open, another note fell out on top of the booklist.

Talione watched Harry's eyes grow bigger as he read the note and Ginny and Ron jumped when Harry crowed, "All of Umbridge's bans are gone! I can play Quidditch again!"

"Good, you can have your spot back," Ginny said.

Harry glanced at Ginny. "You don't mind it?"

She shrugged. "You're better than me," she said. "I like Quidditch, but Seeker has too much pressure on it, and I'd rather see Gryffindor win."

Harry grinned at her, glad it wasn't an issue. Impatiently Harry's remaining knight glared up at him and shouted in a tiny voice, "Stop starin' at the lass and play!" Harry's ears turned red and he made a careless move, positioning a bishop where Talione's castle could get it.

He smirked and prepared to wipe it off the board, but Ron hissed, "No, not that one! Move the queen in front of the king!" With Talione sitting on the floor, Ron could easily watch the game over his shoulder, his letter forgotten in his hand.

It was the third time he'd interfered and Talione didn't consider himself that much a rookie to the game. "Yessir, General Weasley!" he grumbled. However he followed Ron's suggestion as he had the last two times. "Read your letter or something, and let me play my own way!" He still didn't like Ron's company much, but things between them had settled down, and with only four of them at the Black house he couldn't very well ignore Ron for the other two. So Talione put up with it.

Ron opened the envelope. He had a note as well. "Huh. McGonagall revoked my prefect status," he said, sounding not the least bit disappointed. "I'll be surprised if Hermione still has her badge after taking Umbridge to the centaurs."

Harry ordered a castle to E3 to capture a knight. "Check." Harry grimaced. "The professors won't take her badge. They'll give her the Order of Merlin, first class."

"Mum won't be happy, but now I can practice Quidditch more," Ron said with more enthusiasm. "Any idea who the new captain is? You should get it, Harry; you've been on the team the longest."

Harry shook his head. "If Professor McGonagall was going to make me captain, I'd know by now. Katie's the oldest on the team, she'll get the badge."

"She didn't mention anything about Quidditch when I saw her," Talione offered. Professor McGonagall went over his schooling after the latest meeting a couple nights previous, waspish over something that happened within the Order. She reminded him of his mother; you didn't want to cross either in a bad mood except at a distance and with kid gloves. "Harry, you wouldn't get the badge anyway since you're the Seeker. Once you see the Snitch you have to give it your full attention. A captain can't do that, watching the other players."

Ron prodded Talione in the back more sharply than necessary. "Your turn."

"Ow!" Talione jabbed him in return with his elbow and focused on the board again. He'd lost all interest in the game but he made a King's Castle to protect his pieces. "Check."

Harry wiped Talione's king off the board.

It took some convincing before Mrs. Weasley let them go to meet Bill and Hermione at Diagon Alley, and Saturday couldn't come fast enough. Talione was couldn't sleep more than a few hours the night before and rather than stay in his room he went down to the kitchen again. He was surprised to see light underneath the door and when he knocked he heard Mrs. Weasley call, "Come in!"

She had company; any trace of sleepiness in him disappeared when he saw Dumbledore. A pair of mugs and a teapot sat between them and a wooden clock Talione didn't see before stood at Mrs. Weasley's elbow. "Talione! What are you doing out of bed?" said Mrs. Weasley.

It took a moment for the words to penetrate his shock. "I couldn't sleep. Should I go?" Something wasn't right; the tension in the air was so thick it was almost solid.

"No, you don't have to," Dumbledore said. "As a matter of fact, I was planning to speak to you later today, but now is as good a time as any. Would you like something to drink?"

With Dumbledore acting as his guardian in Europe and running Hogwarts and the Order, Talione didn't have a choice but to trust him. But now something about Dumbledore's calm expression made him uneasy. 'What are you planning, old man?'

"Is there any chocolate?" he asked. Dumbledore nodded and summoned a mug for Talione as he sat down. Now he was at the table he could see the names of the Weasleys around the face of the clock. The hands marked with Ginny, Ron, and the adults were labeled "Away", the three oldest boys were "Home", and Fred, and George were working late. The twins lived in Diagon Alley and didn't come except for meetings so Talione hadn't met them yet. The shop they had below the apartment was one of the places he planned to visit in the morning. "Did Mr. Weasley make that?" he asked Mrs. Weasley.

"Yes," she replied. "Albus got it from the Burrow for me. With the war going on I feel better knowing everyone is alright."

Talione bit his tongue before an irrational "lucky you" slipped out, jealous of the reassurance the clock gave her. Even though their whereabouts weren't precise she still knew everyone she loved was safe.

Mrs. Weasley stifled a yawn behind her hand. "There's no need to stay up on our accounts," Dumbledore said kindly. "Go back to bed. I can let myself out later."

Thus excused from her hostess' duties, she nodded. "Goodnight, Albus. Goodnight, Talione."

"Pleasant dreams, Molly."

"Goodnight, Mrs. Weasley."

She left, but not before giving Talione a worried glance that made him warier than before. Dumbledore finished his cup of tea and poured another. "Is something wrong, Talione?"

"Hm?"

"You couldn't sleep. I know you must be worried about your family, but is there something else on your mind?"

"Harry, Ron, and Ginny's been going on about Diagon Alley the last couple days," Talione said. He drank some of his cocoa, avoiding Dumbledore's eyes. "I don't think I can go."

"Why not? Molly said you were looking forward to it."

"I was. But the Death Eater's are looking for me and the closest thing I have to a disguise are my glasses and a packet of Eddie's hair dye," he said. "And even if I made myself look different, I'd have to keep it up. There's going to be questions if someone no one knows shows up one day and disappears again forever, and then I appear with the group at the train station."

"You certainly have thought this through," Dumbledore said, a little amused. "There is enough security around Diagon now and I also arranged for additional security for your group, so you will be safe going as you are."

"Does that mean I can stop these? Talione asked, pointing to the offending object. "There's no point in them; it's obvious I'm covering something, who wears sunglasses indoors? And I can barely see at night unless I'm almost sitting on a lamp."

"Yes, you may. Anything else I should know about?"

His second problem was more serious to him than his safety, and Dumbledore staring at him wasn't helping any. Talione felt like a bug pinned to a card and a little embarrassed, he said quickly, "My mom hasn't sent me enough money for all of my supplies. I didn't know I'd need so much. I have enough for the clothes and my wand, but not the rest of it."

"Easily fixed," replied Dumbledore. "Hogwarts has a fund set aside to help those who need financial aid. Your friends will show you where to find everything."

Talione almost breathed a sigh of relief and held it in. At a normal speed, he said, "I can pay it back later when I get in touch with Mom again." He didn't like to be in debt. "Our savings are just stretched for now, since we had to replace most of my stuff and Jamie's, and Ashley's starting school this year."

"The Ministry adds to the fund every year, so it is unnecessary," Dumbledore said. "However, there is something you could do for me. I talked to Minerva—Professor McGonagall—last night about what she went over with you. Before I give you my proposal, I will say now that you have the skills required to perform successfully, and Harry's performance last year proved it could be done."

The shoe he had been waiting for had finally dropped. Talione felt trapped. "Very well, tell me."

It took some arguing over the next hour before Talione would accept the proposal, and he wasn't happy when he did.

Hogwarts was going to be very interesting.

Wow…Diagon Alley's next!

I have finally solved my writer's block: skip ahead and write something else. Now when they get to Hogwarts, I have about fifteen pages of exerpts to cut and paste!

Does cartwheels

Reviews please! I'm writing whether or not there are still people reading this, but feedback is nice.