A/N: I feel like I'm always saying this, but I do want to apologize for the time between updates. I've been busy with work and "real life," which has taken time away from writing. I'm sorry, and I hope to have the next chapter out sooner.

JP LE 4E: Harry will be rescued by the end of the chapter.

Ashley: Sure, link away! I'd love the link for the site, too! Thanks!

Fawkes309: Yes, they'll see each other again. I can't make it all horribly sad!

turtledove797: Thanks for the opinion. I'm obviously a Ron/Hermione supporter. I think they'd be cute together, and I think that's the way things are headed in the books. I included that scene just because I thought it would be cute. I'm not focusing on the kids or their relationships, so don't worry about it taking over the plot of the story. I mostly wanted to show the relationship that was building between Sirius and the kids. I'm sorry if it upset you to read it.

CFlat: Yes, Dana, Laura and Olivia will be back. The adults will be around more than Laura, since she'll be back at school soon, but we'll see them all again.

sweetness0984: I miss Laura, too! I just reread some of my last story (I'm planning to revise both of them eventually) and got a little teary over her. But I love Tonks, too, and I hope you will be on board by the time she and Remus get together!

LogicalRaven: I'm going to stay canon for this story, but I do want Harry and Laura to meet someday …

Thanks for reading and reviewing! Enjoy!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Screaming for Help

"You're quite obvious, you know."

"What are you talking about?" Remus asked as he and Sirius made their way around the house, locking up and turning off lights. The socializing following the meeting had finally ended, and they were going to be able to get some sleep at long last.

"You and Tonks," Sirius clarified.

Remus sighed as they started up the stairs to their bedrooms. "Will you ever give up on this?"

"No," Sirius grinned. "You do realize that she fancies you, don't you?"

"Sirius." Remus turned to face him on the stairs, his expression unreadable. "Whether or not she fancies me is a moot point. Nothing can ever happen between us. Ergo, any feelings that she might have for me, or even any feelings that I may have for her, are irrelevant."

"Are we back to your denial of your feelings again?" Sirius asked as though bored.

"As there are no feelings to deny, I am not denying my feelings," Remus said. "I'm just saying that Tonks and I are not going to happen. So, if you're so set on seeing her with someone, ask her out yourself."

"Well, that was just harsh," Sirius said with a grin. "First, you suggest that I routinely practice incest – and given the members of my family, that's probably the worst insult you could throw at me. Then, you say something like 'ask her out' when you know perfectly well that I can't leave the house!"

"Is Moaning Myrtle here?"

Both Sirius and Remus jumped. They had reached the second floor hall sometime during Sirius's tirade; neither of them had thought to make sure that they were still alone. Now they both turned to see Ron coming out of his bedroom. He grinned at them.

"When you said that thing about not being able to leave the house – you just sounded a bit like Moaning Myrtle. She's always going on about being dead," Ron said. "This one time, she was having a fit because someone had thrown a book at her. I said that it couldn't hurt her since she's dead, and she got all upset with me. Said I was insensitive or something," he finished with a shrug.

"How much of what I said did you hear?" Sirius asked curiously, ignoring the story Ron had related.

"Just that last bit about not being able to leave the house," Ron replied. "I could hear you talking before that, but I couldn't hear what you were saying."

Looking quite relieved, Remus smiled at him. "Aren't you supposed to be in bed?"

"I'm going up to see Fred and George," Ron said brightly. "They said they have . . ." He trailed off. "I probably shouldn't tell you," he added hastily.

Sirius nodded. "The less we know, the better off we'll be."

"Just like you lot when it comes to knowing things that Harry will want to know," Remus added, giving Ron a rather severe look.

"I'll keep that in mind," Ron said, starting up the stairs. "Good night, Sirius. Good night, Professor."

"Good night, Ron," they said together.

Once they were sure that he was out of earshot, Remus turned to Sirius with a hint of anger in his eyes.

"Would you mind not bringing up your fantasy about my nonexistent relationship with Tonks when there is a good chance we could be overheard?"

"He didn't hear anything," Sirius said dismissively. "You worry too much, Moony. You always have."

"No, you've just never worried enough," Remus sighed. "I'm going to bed, Sirius. Good night."

"Good night," Sirius replied. He shook his head as he watched Remus disappear into his bedroom. "He does worry too much," he informed a portrait on the wall.

"Yes, but he's right, too," his great-grandmother replied. "You never have worried enough about anything, Sirius. You always act without worrying about the consequences. Think of when you ran away from home. You left this house without any idea of where you would stay or what you would do. You would do well to try to be more like your friend, and worry a bit more about the consequences of your actions."

Sirius scowled at her. "When I want your advice, I'll ask for it." He stalked off to his room, slamming the door behind him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we must become even more vigilant in our guard over Harry," Dumbledore said.

Sirius scowled at Dumbledore's words at the next Order meeting. "Why can't we just bring him here?" he asked. "You know that Voldemort can't touch him here."

"We have more than just Voldemort to worry about," Dumbledore sighed. "You have all read the accounts of Harry's lack of sanity and mental balance in the Daily Prophet?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look. It made both of them ill to read the slanderous accounts of Harry in the paper, knowing that his mother had worked for the periodical. They couldn't even imagine the rage that Lily Potter would fly into if she knew how her former employer was treating her son.

"Yes, of course," Dedalus said. "But everyone knows that's just a pack of lies. Why should it concern us?"

"The Prophet answers to the Ministry," Dumbledore explained. "We all know that none of what they are saying is true, but we are, sadly enough, not in the majority. The Ministry is asking that the paper print these lies in an attempt to destroy Harry's credibility and reputation. Together, they are doing all they can to destroy him in any way they can."

"But what does all this have to do with guard duty?" Bill asked.

"I hope that I am wrong," Dumbledore said, "but I fear that they will stoop to any level to have Harry removed as a threat."

"You don't think they'd send a hit wizard . . .?" Molly asked.

"I don't think they'd go so far as to do that," Dumbledore said. "But I do think they may try to force him into using magic. Harry has already been issued a warning for using magic away from school, and has been excused from using it another time. If he were to use any magic, even in self-defense, I believe that the Ministry would try to use that to its advantage."

"But how much can the Ministry do to a student for using magic in self-defense?" Tonks asked with a frown.

"It's not how much they can do, it's how much they'd try to do that concerns me," Dumbledore sighed. "Are we agreed, then, that we must increase our guard duty? I never want to hear that Mrs. Figg was left on her own to protect Harry. Should something happen that requires magical intervention, you are all aware that she will need your assistance." He paused, and gave them all the penetrating look they knew so well. "Under no circumstances is Harry to be left in a situation that requires that he perform magic."

They all nodded their agreement. Remus glanced at Sirius to see his reaction to all that Dumbledore had said. As he turned his head, his eyes fell on something flesh-colored that was creeping across the table. He gasped in surprise, and seized it.

"What is it?" Sirius asked as Remus grabbed the string-like object.

"I have no idea," Remus said, bringing it closer to his face for inspection. "I've never seen anything like it before."

They heard a sudden yell from behind the closed door. Several people jumped in their chairs.

"What on earth?" Emmeline asked.

Molly's face darkened. "What have they done?"

She took the flesh-colored string from Remus and followed its path across the floor. She reached the door, and swung it open, revealing Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Hermione.

"What," she bellowed, waving the string in front of her face, "is this?"

Fred yelled again, and jerked the other end of the string away from his ear. "Would you mind not yelling straight into it?" He glanced past her. "And thank you, too, Professor Lupin, for nearly bursting my eardrum."

Remus tried his best not to smile, but to retain his "teacher face" that he had always worn when disciplining Fred and George for some bit of mischief in his class. He had always found the twins rather amusing, even though he had handed out punishments for their misdeeds. Sirius, realizing the conflict that was going on in Remus's head, bit his lips to keep from laughing.

"Tell me what this is!" Molly yelled again, this time waving the string in Fred's face.

"Extendable Ears," George admitted. "Fred and I invented them."

"For what purpose? Spying on our meetings?"

"Well . . ." Fred began.

"They're useful for that," George admitted. "But that's not why we invented them. They're for our joke –"

"Not another word!" Molly bellowed, cutting George's statement short. "Upstairs! All of you! I want you to give me every single one of these things! And, believe me, Fred and George, I will search your room to make sure I have them all!"

"Extendable Ears?" Sirius asked, looking at Remus with a grin. "Is that what it sounds like?"

"So it would appear," Remus replied.

"Ingenious," Sirius grinned.

Remus grinned back. "I knew they'd never take this lying down."

"Why the glum faces?" Sirius asked as he entered the kitchen for breakfast. Both Ron and Hermione were sitting at the table, and both of them looked completely miserable. "You can't possibly be this upset over Molly confiscating the Extendable Ears. I'm sure Fred and George have a whole stash of them that she doesn't know about."

Ron smiled half-heartedly, but Hermione fielded the question.

"We've just had letters from Harry," she said. "He sounds awful, Sirius, just awful. Isn't there anything we can do to help him?"

"He wants to know what's going on," Ron added. "Can't we at least tell him where we are?"

"No," Sirius said. "We can't tell him anything. Dumbledore wants us to make sure that he doesn't know anything that's going on. We're all safer that way – Harry, the two of you, and the Order. You know that."

"It just doesn't seem fair," Hermione said softly.

"I know," Sirius replied. "It's not fair. Of all people, Harry has a right to know what's going on. But he can't. Dumbledore's right. It's too dangerous to write anything in a letter. Anything could happen to it before it gets to Harry. Anyone could read it."

"Well, can we get him out of that house, then?" Ron asked. "He hates it there, you know he does. Why do we have to leave him there with those Muggles?"

"Dumbledore says that he's safer there," Sirius replied. He sighed. "Believe me, I would love nothing more than to have Harry here with us, but we have to trust Dumbledore on this one. You know that he would never do anything to put Harry in danger."

"No, I suppose not," Ron agreed a bit reluctantly.

"I just wish we could do something to help him," Hermione sighed.

"Write him back," Sirius suggested. "I know that getting letters will help."

"I'm not so sure about that," Hermione replied. "He wants answers, Sirius, not a cryptic message about how I'm with you and Ron and everyone else in an undisclosed location." She sighed. "I just want to tell him where we are and what we're doing, and to promise him that he'll be able to join us soon. But I can't do any of that, and it's getting harder and harder to write to him without mentioning anything."

"Hermione," Sirius said warningly.

"Don't worry," she said. "I won't tell him anything. It's just . . . this is my best friend, Sirius. I feel horrible treating him like this."

Ron shook his head. "What do you write to him, Sirius?"

"The same thing the two of you do, I suppose," he said. "I just tell him that I'm doing all I can to help, and that he needs to keep himself out of trouble."

Ron smiled faintly. "Harry's not very good at keeping himself out of trouble."

Sirius grinned. "No, I suppose he's not. That much is in his blood." He smiled again. "I'm sure that he hates hearing that he needs to stay out of trouble from me of all people. But it's what he has to do, and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that it's exactly what he does. Will you two help me with that?"

"Sure," Ron said. "We'll do anything to help Harry, right, Hermione?"

"Right," she agreed. She picked up a piece of parchment bearing Harry's handwriting and stood up from the table. "I guess I'd better get started on my reply. Coming, Ron?"

"Yeah," Ron replied, picking up his own letter. "I'll tell him about Fred and George's new products," he added, brightening somewhat. "He should be excited to hear about that."

Hermione shook her head, but followed Ron out of the room. Sirius grinned as he watched them go. He was sure that Hermione approved of Fred and George's joke shop plans almost as much as their mother did.

"What are you so cheerful about?"

Sirius looked up to see Remus walking through the kitchen door. "You just missed Ron and Hermione," he said. "They were telling me about letters they've received from Harry. They're having a tough time writing to him."

"Yes, I'm sure they are," Remus sighed as he sat down with Sirius. "I can't even imagine keeping so much from my best friend."

"You kept quite a bit from us for awhile in first and second year, wolf," Sirius replied with a hint of a smile.

"That was different," Remus said. "I didn't have you guys bothering me about it every other day. Hermione and Ron get letters from Harry several times a week, and I'm sure he's begging them for information every time."

"They're really worried about him," Sirius said. "And, to be honest, so am I. We can't just keep him in the dark like this, Remus. His letters are getting angrier and angrier."

"He has Lily's temper," Remus nodded.

"James would never have stood for being kept in the dark like this," Sirius added. "He would have been demanding answers the same way Harry is."

Remus sighed, and ran his hands over his face. "We can't tell him anything, Sirius."

"I know," Sirius replied.

"I mean it," Remus said, looking directly into his eyes. "I know who we're talking about. It's James and Lily's son. I know that you want to tell him everything, to give him anything he wants. It's easy to want to indulge him and spoil him, especially given the life he's led since Lily and James died. But, Sirius, we can't. We have to be strong." He paused, deliberating over his next comment. In the end, he decided to say it. "We have to be the adults this time. He's depending on us."

"I know," Sirius said again. "Remus, Harry is the most amazing kid. I love him to death, but being one of the adults in his life, being his godfather – these are huge responsibilities. I've known that ever since he was born. I'm not going to do anything that could screw him up. I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that he grows up to be the man that James and Lily always dreamed he'd be."

Remus swallowed hard. "So I am."

"So, then, if no one else has anything to add, I think we can adjo-"

"Dumbledore!"

The kitchen doors flew open, and Mundungus Fletcher ran into the meeting. Several people jumped in their seats; even Dumbledore looked surprised to see him.

"You have been guarding Harry, haven't you?" Dumbledore asked at once.

"Dementors!" Mundungus gasped. "They showed up on Privet Drive! I don't know what they were doing there, but they went after Harry and his cousin –"

"Did you use a Patronus?" Remus asked at once.

"How's Harry?" Sirius asked, his voice tight with concern.

"I – I wasn't exactly there . . ." Mundungus said slowly.

Dumbledore looked at him severely. "I do not want to know where you were or why you were there instead of watching Harry – not right now," Dumbledore said. "I do not believe that we have the time to concern ourselves with your activities. What happened to Harry?"

"He drove them away," Mundungus said with a trace of pride in his voice. "He got rid of both of the dementors by himself."

Remus felt a bit irritated with Mundungus's pride over the whole incident. He had left Harry alone to defend himself and a cousin that he hated against two dementors and he had the gall to act as though he, Mundungus, had taught the boy how to conjure a Patronus?

"You taught him to do that, didn't you?" Sirius asked in a low voice.

Remus nodded, unable to keep the sparkle of pride out of his own eyes. Across from him, Tonks looked rather impressed.

"When did you teach him that?"

"When I taught him at Hogwarts. It was his third year."

Tonks nodded. "Very impressive, Professor."

Remus grinned. "Thanks."

"Dumbledore!"

All eyes flew to the fireplace, where Arthur's head had appeared among the dancing flames. Dumbledore crossed the room in two strides, and knelt down in front of the grate.

"Have you heard about the dementors?" Arthur asked tensely.

"We have," Dumbledore replied.

Arthur nodded. "They've sent Harry a message saying that he's been expelled from Hogwarts," he said. "They're saying that he's broken underage magic and secrecy statutes –"

"Cornelius, what are you trying to do?" Dumbledore muttered, his eyes looking into the fire without actually seeing it. He looked directly at Arthur again, a fire now blazing in his eyes. "I'm on my way. I should be able to straighten this out. They can't expel my students. Get a message to Harry telling him to keep a firm grip on his wand." He straightened up, and looked back around at them. "Sirius, write to Harry. Tell him that under no circumstances should he leave his uncle's house."

Sirius nodded, and jumped up to find parchment and a quill.

"I should have straightened out in a few hours," Dumbledore continued. "Remus and Nymphadora, go to Privet Drive to monitor the situation. If Harry leaves the house, he is in grave danger. Do all that you can to make sure that even if he tries, he cannot set a foot off the porch."

"Yes, sir," they said as one. Without another word, they both Disapparated.

Dumbledore at last looked at Mundungus again. "You are to remain in this house until I return." He glanced at Molly. "Molly, if you would be so kind as to ensure that Mundungus does not try to leave . . ."

"Of course."

Then, Dumbledore, too, Disapparated.

"So, this is where Harry lives," Tonks said as she and Remus crouched behind the hedges behind Harry's house. "It's a nice neighborhood."

"It's a shame his relatives aren't nice people," Remus replied.

"Have you met them?"

"Not exactly," Remus said.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Remus sighed. "When Harry's aunt and uncle were married, dementors and Death Eaters attacked the reception. Lily and James were there, obviously, and called us all in for back up. I was never formally introduced to them, but I did see them."

Tonks shook her head. "Why were they attacked?"

"Lily's parents were Squibs," Remus said. "She was, of course, a witch, but her sister is a Muggle. Dumbledore believed that they were attacked because the wedding united magical and Muggle families."

"You don't sound very sure about that."

"Well, if Dumbledore says it, what choice do we have but to believe it?"

"Dumbledore would say that questioning helps us find the truth, or something to that effect."

Remus grinned. "All right, it always bothered me because my own wedding was the same sort of event. My parents are both magical and I'm magical, but my wife and her sister were the only witches in their Muggle family. I don't see why we weren't attacked for the same reason."

Tonks swallowed. Remus had never told her about his wedding before, or even about his wife. The closest he had come was mentioning his sister-in-law once. "Sirius said that your wife . . ." she said slowly.

Remus nodded, a guarded, closed expression coming over his face. "She died," he said shortly. "But I really don't think this is the time to discuss that, do you?"

"No, I suppose not," she said quickly, realizing that he clearly did not want to discuss the topic. "So you said that you don't really know Harry's aunt and uncle?"

"No," Remus said, clearly relieved that she had moved on, "but I heard enough about both of them from Lily to know that they aren't exactly the nicest or most tolerant of people. And I know that they aren't all that fond of Harry."

"But they've kept him for all these years," Tonks said. "That has to count for something, doesn't it?"

"Yes," Remus said slowly. "I suppose so."

A terrible, screaming voice came from the house, telling Petunia to remember the last . . . something. Tonks and Remus looked at one another with raised eyebrows.

"Was that . . .?" Tonks asked.

Remus nodded. "It sounded like Dumbledore. Do you think he sent Petunia a Howler?"

"That's what I've gotten from this situation."

"Wow," Remus said. "Maybe she didn't just take Harry out of the goodness of her heart."

It was late when Emmeline and Bill came to relieve Remus and Tonks of their guard duty. They Apparated to a point only feet away from Remus and Tonks, and quickly crossed to join them.

"You're both free to go," Bill grinned. "We'll take it from here."

"How has everything been?" Emmeline asked.

"Fairly quiet," Tonks replied. "We saw a few owls going in and out, but other than that, no movement."

"The house has been dark for about an hour," Remus added. "You should have an easy night of it."

"I hope we do," Bill replied. "Good night, guys."

"Good night," Remus replied.

"Thanks," Tonks said. She stretched as she stood up. "Are you going back to headquarters?"

"Yes," Remus replied. "You?"

"I think I'm going to go home and get some sleep," she said. "I have to be at work really early. Tell Sirius good night for me."

"I will," Remus replied. "Good night, Tonks."

"'Night," she said just before Disapparating.

Remus smiled at Bill and Emmeline one last time, then Disapparated. When he arrived in the house, he heard voices coming from the living room. Crossing the foyer soundlessly, he walked down the hall to see who was still awake.

Sirius was sitting in the living room chatting with Dumbledore. Remus checked on the threshold, then smiled and crossed to join them.

"Ah! Remus!" Dumbledore smiled. "Just the man I've been waiting to see."

"Yes?" Remus asked curiously.

"How did you patrol go?"

"Fine," Remus said. "The only things going in and out of the house were owls."

Dumbledore smiled. "Yes, I'm sure Harry received quite a bit of correspondence this evening."

"As did his aunt," Remus said, watching Dumbledore for his reaction.

The older man smiled again. "Yes, sometimes we all need to be reminded of the past."

"Right," Remus said, no closer to understanding what had happened than he had been before bringing up the Howler.

"Remus, I wanted to talk to you about bringing Harry here," Dumbledore said. "Sirius and I have talked it over, and we have agreed that Harry needs to be removed from his uncle's house as soon as possible. We need to send a group to retrieve him and bring him here. The more people we can have in this group, the better. I want Harry to have as much protection as we can provide."

"We're going to have him fly here," Sirius added. "Apparating and the Floo Network are out of the question."

"As are Portkeys," Dumbledore added. "But he does have his own broomstick, so flying will be the perfect alternative."

"That sounds like a good plan," Remus said.

"Remus, I'd like you and Alastor to take charge of the mission," Dumbledore said.

Remus blinked. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Dumbledore smiled. "Harry knows you quite well, and he trusts you. Both of those are excellent reasons for you to be among the first people that he sees when a group of unknown wizards appears in his uncle's house."

"Have you talked to Moody yet?" Remus asked.

"No," Dumbledore replied. "I know that he will agree. He's an excellent Auror, and I know that Harry's security will be unparalleled if he is there. But I wanted to be sure that you agreed before I approached him."

Remus nodded. "Of course I'll go. When will we leave?"

"We'll hold a meeting tomorrow to find other volunteers," Dumbledore said. "I'm sure we'll be able to find one or two who will be willing to join you."

"I think the entire Order has volunteered to go get Harry," Remus said to Sirius as he read over the list that had been signed by all those who were willing to join his mission.

"And just look who's name is listed first," Sirius said in a teasing voice. "Tonks."

"Well, I'm glad she volunteered," Remus said. "She said that she'll handle getting Harry's family out of the house so we can take him without any problems."

"I'm sure that it's not Harry that she's concerned about," Sirius said with a smirk. "You know she only signed up because you're going."

"She's an Auror, Sirius," Remus replied. "This is business for her."

"This is business for Moody, not her," Sirius replied. He grinned. "He's taking it quite seriously, isn't he?"

"It's a good thing, I suppose," Remus said. "I know Harry will get here safely. But he's so obsessive . . . I hope he doesn't scare Harry."

"That's why you're going," Sirius replied, "to make sure that Harry feels safe and that he isn't afraid of his rescuers." He sighed. "I wish that I could go with you. I would give anything to be in your place right now."

"I know," Remus said softly.

Sirius sighed, and pulled himself away from his depressed thoughts. "What's your game plan?"

"Everyone who signed up to go on the mission is meeting here tomorrow morning to organize everything," Remus replied. "Then we'll go get Harry the next day."

"So we'll have him here soon, then."

"Yes. Very soon."

Sirius smiled. "I've missed that kid."

Remus smiled slightly. "So have I."

The next morning, Remus made his way to the kitchen far earlier than usual. He was too nervous to sleep, knowing that very soon he would be running the meeting to organize Harry's "rescue" from his family.

He was surprised to see Molly already in the kitchen when he stepped through the door. Dressed in her bathrobe and slippers, she smiled at him from her place at the stove.

"Good morning, Remus."

"Good morning," he replied. "You're up early."

"I wanted to have breakfast ready for your meeting," she said.

"I didn't tell them it would be a breakfast meeting," he said slowly.

"Food is always appreciated," she replied. "And, besides, I want to be able to do something to help." She paused. "These people are going to get Harry, Remus. The poor thing has been so alone for so long . . . I want to do anything I can to help bring him here. All of you who are going after him deserve all the support I can give."

Remus touched her shoulder. "Thank you, Molly," he said, his voice tight.

Of all that she had said, the only thing he could focus on was her statement about Harry being alone. He was sure that she was just talking about the past few weeks since Hogwarts had ended classes for the summer, but, in his mind, Harry had been alone far longer than that. He had been alone since that horrible Halloween when his parents had died. As far as Remus was concerned, he had been alone far too long. It was time to remind him that he had family beyond the Dursleys, that there were many, many people who cared about him not because he was famous but because he was Harry.

Molly was just putting the finishing touches on breakfast when the "committee" members began to arrive. Tonks, Moody and Kingsley came in together, all dressed in their Auror robes. Remus assumed that they had come straight from work. The others who had signed up came in soon after them, all expressing their appreciation for the breakfast that Molly had provided. Once they all had plates of food and had taken seats at the table, Remus stood up.

"I'd like to thank you all for volunteering to get Harry, and for coming today," he said. "Our purpose today is to plan out the logistics of tomorrow's mission." He glanced at Moody. "I'm sure that Moody has a clear idea of what he wants to happen, so I think it would be best if he were to speak first."

"Thank you, Remus," Moody growled, standing. "Right, I think it would be best if we divided into two groups. The first will be the ones to go to Harry's house. We'll call them the Advance Guard. Should something happen to those of us in that group, the Rear Guard will take over for them."

"You sound a bit dire, Moody," Bill said easily.

"That attitude is precisely what the Death Eaters expect of us," Moody said angrily. "You'd better readjust your perspective, Bill, or drop out of the mission."

Tonks shook her head as she looked in Bill's direction. "He should know better than to say things like that to Moody," she whispered.

"You say things like that to Moody all the time," Kingsley replied in a whisper.

Tonks gave him a cheeky grin. "I can get away with it. I was his favorite student."

Kingsley choked on his pumpkin juice as he tried unsuccessfully not to laugh. Remus looked at the two of them and grinned.

Moody continued on to explain his rescue plan for nearly an hour. At the end of the hour, he assigned all those present to either the Advance Guard or the Rear Guard. Remus, obviously, was placed in the Advance Guard, as were Tonks and Kingsley. Bill was assigned to the Rear Guard.

"He should have known to keep his mouth shut," Tonks muttered.

Remus and Kingsley laughed again.

"Remus, you've met Harry, haven't you?" Elphias asked.

"Yes," Remus replied. "That's why Dumbledore was so set on me going to get him."

Elphias nodded. "Tell us what he looks like."

Remus smiled. "He looks like James."

"Children always take after their parents," Emmeline said dismissively. "What does he look like, Remus, not who?"

"No, I'm being quite serious," Remus replied. "He looks almost exactly like James did at his age. He always has. Even as a baby, he was James in miniature." He paused and smiled again. "You'll all see for yourselves tomorrow."

"Right," Moody said. "We'll meet here at five tomorrow, then? And, Tonks, you'll take care of that phone call?"

"I'm on it," she grinned. "I can't wait."

"Good," Moody said. "Then, Remus, if you don't have anything to add . . .?"

"No, I think we've covered it all."

Moody nodded. "We'll see you all here at five tomorrow."

Sirius paced around the library for what felt like the thousandth time. He had already talked to Ron and Hermione enough to know that they were as anxious as he was about Harry's arrival. The two teenagers had gone upstairs fifteen minutes earlier after being beckoned by Fred. Sirius had a feeling that more Extendable Ears, or perhaps an even more advanced invention, were about to be shared.

He passed the fireplace again, pausing to look into its flaming depths. If only it were safe to Floo him here . . . he'd be here already. He sighed, and looked away. The simple truth was that it wasn't safe, and there was nothing he could do to change that.

The library door opened, and Remus stepped in. He looked at Sirius with a broad grin.

"He's here."

Sirius's face broke into a grin that matched Remus's. "How is he?"

"Fine, all things considered. Demanding answers, of course. I'm sure that Ron and Hermione will fill him in."

"He's with them?"

"Molly took him upstairs. I'd assume they've found him by now."

"Can I see him?"

"Give him a few minutes with them. I think they need some time together."

Sirius nodded. "I can't wait to talk to him again." He grinned a bit apologetically. "I can't believe how much I've missed him."

"He's a good kid," Remus replied with a smile. "I've missed him, too."

"How much information do you think he's going to get out of Ron and Hermione and the others?"

"All that they know," Remus grinned. "You know they won't hold back now that he's here."

"They don't know much, though."

"They know more than they should."

"Still, he's going to want to know more."

"Sirius, we can't tell him much," Remus said slowly.

"I know that."

"He's still a child."

"He's fifteen."

"Which makes him a child," Remus said firmly. "Sirius, he's –"

"He's what?" Sirius asked when Remus stopped abruptly.

Remus continued to hesitate for a moment, then spoke slowly. "I know that you love him. So do I, and so do the Weasleys and Hermione. None of us wants to see anything happen to him. We all want to make him happy. But we can't just start telling him everything about the Order to keep him happy. It's only going to put him in more danger. Voldemort already wants him dead because of that prophecy; if he knew that Harry knew more than he should, he'd mine him for information about the Order before killing him. That would only put more people in danger . . ."

"Okay, Remus, you've made your point."

"I'm just saying that with everything we know about him, we should know when to keep him in the dark."

"We've been keeping him in the dark for weeks!"

"I know that we have to tell him some things," Remus said with an air of determined calm. "Otherwise he's just going to have the information the other kids have managed to scrape together to go on, and we both know that's going to paint a rather odd picture. But, Sirius, we can't tell him everything. We just can't."

"Remus, you know he's going to want to know everything."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean we have to tell him everything. We can't always give him everything he wants, Sirius."

Sirius's eyes darkened as they always did just before his temper flared. Remus knew what was coming, and made an attempt to avoid the angry display.

"Look, this isn't going to get us anywhere," Remus said before Sirius had time to start hurling insults at him. "I'm going to go ask Molly if we can tell the kids to come down for dinner. Just – just try to cool off before dinner, okay? Harry hasn't seen you since June; I'd doubt he wants to see you in a towering rage tonight."

Remus walked quickly out of the room, leaving Sirius alone and more than a little irritated. Sirius swung his foot back with the intention of kicking the chair beside him when a horrible shrieking filled the room.

"Damn you, Mother!" he screamed, venting some of his frustration in the release of yelling.

Somehow, the shrieking portrait seemed to fit his mood. Remus was right. He did need to cool off before his first encounter with Harry. He took of at a run out of the room to silence his mother.