Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. Just copies of the books.
"Hermione's parents should be notified about her whereabouts," Remus suggested when Harry disappeared from the mirror.
"It is because of Harry that Hermione left her home two days ago," Severus stated the facts. The Order had tapped the police phone lines to monitor any odd occurrences in the Muggle world. Yesterday, they heard a transmission of a missing girl that matched Hermione's description and quickly went to investigate. It turned out to be Hermione who had disappeared the night before.
"Are you sure about leaving Hermione there without telling her parents, Albus?" Sirius asked.
"What do you think might happen if Hermione's parents would react to find that the one person they banned her from seeing is the person she is staying with?" Severus replied to Sirius although the question was intended for Dumbledore. "You know how the Grangers feel about Harry."
"I must agree with Severus on this one, Sirius. Think of how dangerous it would be for Harry and Hermione if her parents discovered the truth. At least the two are well protected at our home. It is watched by both the Order and the Ministry," Remus stated and Sirius let out a scowl in defeat.
"So, now that the issue with Hermione is settled," Dumbledore said as he set down the mirror. "We are faced with the question that I am bound to ask sooner or later. Will Harry be allowed to join the Order of the Phoenix?"
"No," Sirius and Remus answered quickly.
Then they turned to face Severus waiting for his answer. "Yes. Harry should be allowed to join the Order." This answer shocked Sirius and Remus, but Dumbledore was expecting this answer. However, this did not mean he agreed.
"Harry's far too young to join!" Sirius shouted as he stood up from the table.
"Albus, you surely disagree with Severus's statement right?" Remus asked turning to the old wizard.
"I do, but it is not my role to say whether he joins or not," Dumbledore replied. As much as he wanted to shield Harry from his destiny, Dumbledore had made a decision to place Harry in the care of the three men who sat with him. Other members of the order were gathering in the living room of Number 12 Grimmauld Place, but none were allowed to hear or take part in this conversation.
Arthur and Molly were the first to protest as they were the unofficial guardians of Harry. They looked over Harry whenever his three legal guardians were not present, but did not know who they were. Besides Dumbledore who made the arrangements, only Minerva, Kingsley, Sturgis and Hagrid knew. Moody knew the identity of two of Harry's guardians, but has not been told of the third. Dumbledore had made arrangements to tell everyone in the Order about Sirius and Remus, as few knew that they were here. Everyone was led to believe they were in Romania.
As for Dumbledore's reasoning for being able to use Number 12 Grimmauld Place, he stated that when Sirius was in the Order, he loaned this house to Dumbledore. Most people bought the explanation, but there were also those who were skeptical. Like Moody.
"I am here to watch over this debate, making sure that none of you start killing each other," Dumbledore said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"Harry is fourteen years old-" Remus began.
"Fifteen in a month!" Severus cut him off quickly. "He is old enough to start making his own decisions."
"But not old enough to actually participate in this war!" Remus countered.
"We raised Harry to fight in this war and now it has come the time for him to choose to fight or not. As much as I hate to send him off like this, but I think we should give him the option of joining."
"Yes we trained him, but we were not expecting Harry to have to fight so soon! When he's of age, Harry can join the Order. No sooner."
"Then are you going to deprive him of the information the Order receives? Our intelligence will prove critical to Harry's success! Without it, Harry will be lost in direction. You know this!"
"Yes I do, but Harry is still a child! He is not ready for the cruel world of war. He is not like us older members. Harry has not reached the maturity to cope with the losses of friends and family!"
Dumbledore watched as the two men's voice continued to rise. However, the most interesting thing about this debate was that it was not Sirius arguing with Severus, but Remus. Sirius has remained fairly quite through the debate while watching the argument with great interest.
"If you haven't forgotten, Remus, the prophecy pointed to Harry being the only one who can stop Voldemort! I hate to admit it, but this is Harry's war, not ours!"
Dumbledore quickly rose and stated, "That is an absurd statement, Severus!" Dumbledore had to object to Severus's statement that this war was not one between Dumbledore and Voldemort, but between Harry and Voldemort. "Harry cannot possibly fight this war! For one, he is still a child and two, Harry has little experience in leadership! This is our war that we never finished!"
"No, Albus. The moment Voldemort marked Harry was the day this war left our hands. Harry is the one who Voldemort is waging a war against, not us. He should not be made a mascot, but the leader and it is our responsibility to guide Harry along the path he chooses to follow." Severus explained his reasoning to Dumbledore.
"Are you saying that we should just let Harry fight Voldemort? This is crazy coming from you! It would be more like Sirius to come up with something like this!" Remus stated in horror.
However, Dumbledore realized a truth he had been running from in Severus's statement. He had been making Harry a mascot. One to rally in support. Dumbledore never told Harry the truth of his past, one that Harry was entitled to hear. He had been using Harry all this time and never one thought about how Harry felt. "Forgive me," Dumbledore requested as he sat down. "I was out of place."
"No you weren't-" Remus began, but Sirius raise an arm capturing everyone's attention.
"Dumbledore was asking for forgiveness from using Harry as a Mascot. I for one, forgive you, Albus. I know you had no intention of using Harry like that, but things were moving too quickly. I agree with Remus that Harry is far too young to be a soldier in this war and my decision still remains the same: Harry should not be allowed in the Order. However, Severus has brought up a serious issue that none of us have given much thought of until now. This is Harry's war." Sirius knew his words shocked everyone, but he continued. "Voldemort has gone after Harry each time and failed. Not me. Not you, Remus. Not you, Dumbledore. And Severus, Voldemort doesn't have a clue about you yet. This fight is in the hands of Harry now, and as Severus stated, we are to be his guides, but not tell him what to do. He is old enough to make his own decisions."
After a long silence, Dumbledore asked, "So, Sirius, what is your proposal?"
"Harry is to become an unofficial member of the Order. He is allowed to participate in our meetings and give input. But he is not to be made a full member until he is of age. We will act as his superiors and give him smaller missions. This would also mean Harry would not be able to carry out solo missions without our prior knowledge. We trained him to follow orders."
Dumbledore, Severus and Remus all looked at Sirius like he was another man. Never in their life had they ever heard Sirius give such an elaborate plan or suggestion. Sirius was a man of action and rarely gave any thought to planning. He was the front line and proud to be it. However, Sirius came up with a brilliant compromise that both sides could agree on. One that was so flawless and perfect that left Severus and Dumbledore stunned. Perhaps this was why the Marauders were never caught for their more serious pranks.
"So, do all of you agree to these terms?" Dumbledore asked, breaking another long silence.
They all nodded, but there was one more term to add. One that all three of them agreed on. "Hermione should also be added under the same conditions," they said in unison.
Dumbledore frowned at the three men. There were not many issues these three men would share the same opinions on or feel so adamant and strong about. He thought about asking why, but quickly decided against it. Harry's three guardians knew Harry best and doubting their judgment would prove disastrous. "Very well. I will have the two join on Harry's fifteenth birthday. How about Ronald Weasley?" The three men just shrugged which Dumbledore smiled to. "Then I will leave that up to Arthur and Molly. Is there anything else you would like to discuss before we make our announcement to the Order?"
"There is one last topic I wish to discuss," Severus said. "As you pointed out earlier, Harry has little leadership experience. I would like to rectify this by suggesting we give Harry the responsibility of leading his fellow peers."
Dumbledore stroked his beard in intrigue. Remus and Sirius sat back as they knew what Severus was about to ask. They had come up with this idea together, but only Severus had the skill to convince Dumbledore to allow such a plan to proceed. "And how do you plan to go about this?"
"As you know, the Ministry does not believe in the claim of Voldemort's return. I have heard stories about Dolores Umbridge, whom the ministry has put forth as the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," Severus let a low scowl upon mentioning the subject. He had given up requesting to teach that class, but Severus did not want the Ministry to have control over what the students learned more than they already did.
"And rumors that you are attempting to take control of the Ministry are spreading," Severus continued. "I have a distinct feeling that the Ministry will attempt to control the material our students learn. By approving that Harry can teach a class of students spells to defend against the Dark Arts as a preparation course for the Owls will provide perfect cover for Harry to gain leadership experience."
Dumbledore smiled. "This may take a lot of convincing, Severus."
"No, not really," Severus disagreed as he conjured an envelope. "Here are all the rules the Ministry has place on education so far. In it you will find a loophole we can exploit to keep Harry's 'class' open."
Dumbledore let out small chuckle as the three men grinned. "I think if you were a Marauder, Severus, Hogwarts would have been far more chaotic."
Arthur Weasley arrived late for the meeting at Number 12 Grimmauld Place. He had spent a bit too much time trying to work a 'sell phone' or 'sell' or whatever it was called. He often wondered what a phone had to do with selling besides being sold to Muggles. When Arthur entered the hidden house, he found himself not late at all. Moody was off in the distance sitting down and grunting while keeping Tonks from causing trouble because of her clumsiness. Kingsley and Sturgis were welcoming new members of the Order.
Aberforth and Hagrid were deep into conversation about their usual experiences with unusual and dangerous creatures. Minerva was sitting outside a door which Arthur presumed Dumbledore was behind talking with the guests he invited for tonight. He found his wife and two eldest sons near the front of room chatting with some of the new members.
Arthur had been part of the first war and as he looked around, he found that most of their faces were not here. Most were killed during the first war or went missing. There were few, like Frank and Alice Longbottom, who were tortured to insanity. The thought of fallen companions saddened Arthur, but he quickly cheered himself up as he approached his family.
"Sorry I'm late. Got caught up with this 'sell phone'. I don't understand why they call it that, since you don't sell anything with it," Arthur stated as he brought out a small silver phone that could flip open.
"Dad, this isn't 'sell phone' as in selling, but cellphone. Cell is a description of the battery used," Charlie explained as he pulled out the small battery. "This battery is made with lithium-ion cells, hence the reason why they call it a 'cellphone' or 'cell' for short." Charlie was often in secluded areas of Romania while training and tending dragons. Many Muggle campers would get lost and ask why they're cellphones were not working. Charlie just told them that in dense forest, the signal from the cell towers could not broadcast through. But the truth was that there was a dense field of magic that disrupted technology. They had to modify the original field so it would not destroy the cellphones, which no one knew how to fix.
"Oh really?" Arthur said, but he still had no idea what his son was talking about. Although he loved Muggle technology, Arthur knew too little of it to understand any of it.
But before he could inquire his son to give a more thorough description, Albus Dumbledore emerged from his room with Severus Snape by his side. Arthur let a scowl as he did not understand why Dumbledore would let a known Death Eater join the ranks of the Order. Igor Karkaroff was here as well.
"Welcome my friends of old and new. This is the first meeting of the Order of the Phoenix since Voldemort's disappearance thirteen years ago." Everyone cringed to that name, with the exception of Dumbledore and Severus. "As you all know, today we have two guests here with us. They are Harry's guardians and I do pray that you treat them with respect." Dumbledore waved a hand to the doorway and two men walked out. It only took a second before every wand in the room was out and pointed at Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Incantations for curses, jinxes, hexes and charms were shouted, but not a single spell shot out.
"And where did Harry say he found this Rune?" Sirius asked Remus as he was back behind the doorway peaking out.
"Library I believe. I didn't think it would work this well," Remus replied as he, too, was behind the doorway on the opposite end.
Shouts of protest and demands of answers roared through the air, but Dumbledore raised his hands up and the room was filled only with silence. "Well, one could only wish," he grunted silently which Severus nodded in agreement. "Put down your wands, or I will take them from you," Dumbledore stated to the crowd. It took a few moments, but they complied in the end. "Sirius Black was falsely accused of the betrayal of James and Lily Potter and the murder of Peter Pettigrew and the fourteen Muggles. In fact, it was Peter who was the Secret-Keeper and betrayed the Potters to Voldemort."
Shock and gasps filled the room, but Dumbledore continued. "I have asked the Ministry to do a further investigation, but as you know, Barty Crouch Senior was not a man to give exceptions. Once more, I would like to present Harry's guardians, from when he was five, to the Order of the Phoenix. Of course, it would be best if no one spoke of their involvement with the Order to the Ministry."
Sirius and Remus crept back out of the room to Dumbledore's side. The crowd gave them mixed looks. This was expected as they were both wanted by the Ministry. "You sure this was a good idea, Albus?" Sirius whispered.
"It was your idea, Sirius," Dumbledore reminded.
"Oh, right..."
Sirius and Remus look over to Severus who did not look back. Dumbledore was explaining the role of the Order to the new members as they were not here in the first war. Sirius looked around and saw mostly young faces that he did not recognize. Except one. Nymphadora Tonks. The daughter of his favorite cousin. He gave a nudge to Remus and the two friends walked over to Moody and Tonks who looked fairly bored sitting next to the retired Auror.
"Hey, Tonks. How've you been?" Sirius asked with a smiled as he greeted his cousin with a hug.
"Sirius! I knew you weren't guilty! Mom always told me how chivalrous you were!" Tonks said to Sirius after the hug. Moody just grunted.
"This is Remus Lupin, a friend from way back in my days at Hogwarts. Remus Lupin, this is Nymphadora Tonks, daughter of my favorite cousin Andromeda," Sirius introduced. "I told you about when Andromeda got her name burned off of the family tree, right?"
"Many times," Remus said as he rolled his eyes.
"I met Harry a couple weeks ago. How come he didn't mention any of you?"
"Kingsley knew already. Moody found out during the third task. How'd you get into the trunk in the first place?" Moody leaped up from his seat throwing a hand out to grab Sirius, but he dodged with his quick reflexes. "Sorry, old man! Just curious, that's all!" Sirius apologized quickly before Moody returned to his brooding in his seat.
"Harry said he had three guardians, who's the third?"
"He's here. If you lo--"
Remus shot a punch at Sirius's kidney knocking him to the ground. "We are not at liberty to tell at the moment," Remus said with a smile. Sirius tried to speak again, but Remus just kicked the already wounded kidney.
"Wow, I was told that no one could control Sirius!" Tonks exclaimed in surprise at how Remus was able to silence Sirius so quickly.
"Well, comes with practice over the years. We need to control him before he makes Harry into a splitting image of himself," Remus replied. "So, when did you become an Auror?"
"Just finished the training last month. Been assigned to Moody because of my clumsiness."
"I thought you were retired, Moody? Miss the action that much?" Remus asked jokingly. Moody just grunted in return. "So, your fresh from the academy, huh? That means you were here when Harry first entered."
"Yeah, but I never got to meet him then. Heard about his adventures though."
Sirius got up from the ground and noticed Remus striking up a fairly good conversation with his cousin, so Sirius decided not to ruin his best friend's chance to get back into the game of dating as he slipped away to roam about his house. He was glad he was able to remove the portrait of his mother that once hung in the stairway. It was thanks to Harry's use of the anti-magic field Rune that Dumbledore thought of using a similar Rune to remove the spell that kept her portrait down for so many years. As for his house-elf, Kreacher, Sirius sent him to work with the other house-elves at Hogwarts when he moved back into this old house.
At least it was much livelier than when Sirius was living here with his family. He was the only surviving member excluding his Death Eater cousins, Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy. Soon Sirius would be able to scratch those names off as well and lay claim to the House of Black. When that day came, Sirius would change the House of Black to one that broke free from its history with Slytherin. He would bring back Andromeda and Nymphadora into the family and erase the history his ancestors set with his family name. It was only until that day came would Sirius truly be free of his old family ties.
When night fell, and the members of the Order returned to their respective homes, Severus, Sirius and Remus sat around the dining table with a bottle of firewhiskey and three half empty glasses in each of the men's hand. "We haven't got into an argument for several years," Severus said with a chuckle as he took another sip from his glass.
"Harry got us to stop every time," Remus smiled as he rotated his glass.
"He's a sly one. I must say that he's better than James," Sirius laughed as they all remembered the first time Harry ended their argument.
Harry crept out of his room when he heard his guardians screaming at each other. He did not know what they were fighting about, but Harry wanted them to stop. They had been fighting all day and night whenever Harry was not present. When Harry was there, they would not talk to each other and it saddened him. He liked it when his guardians had smiles on their faces, not scowls in anger.
It was warm for a December night, so Harry could slip out of his bed without dragging his blankets along. He peaked through the crack of the door to see Sirius, Severus and Remus shouting over and at each other. None of them would yield and let the other speak.
Harry wondered if it was about him, but he had not heard his name spoken once throughout the argument. Before any of his three guardians noticed he was there, Harry slipped back down the hallway and into his bed. And then with his best voice, Harry began to cry as loud as he could.
Severus was the first to hear the crying. He turned his head and stopped arguing while the two continued. The arguments started when Sirius wanted to have his current girlfriend move in. Severus was fine, as long as Sirius found himself a job to support himself and his girlfriend while Remus objected stating that it would exert a bad influence on Harry. The three had been arguing all week and had barely any time to spend with Harry.
Remus and Sirius noticed that Severus left the room, but their argument continued until Severus came back. The two men stopped arguing to look at Severus who had a worried look on his face. Then they heard the crying. "He won't stop crying or tell me what's wrong," Severus stated flatly. There was a hint of anger and annoyance in his voice.
"I'll try talking to him," Remus said as he left the kitchen. Severus sat silently in his chair while Sirius stood by the kitchen counter waiting for Remus to return. "He won't talk to me either," Remus said as he returned to the kitchen.
"Okay, something's really wrong if Harry did not talk to Remus," Sirius stated the obvious.
"Did he say anything at all?" Severus asked.
"Nope. He just cried and cried," Remus replied. "He didn't even shake his head or nod to my questions."
"I'll go bring him out here…" Sirius said as he went to Harry's room. When he returned, Sirius was carrying Harry who was still crying. "He says he wants a full English breakfast," Sirius stated as he put Harry into a chair at the dining table.
Remus looked from Severus to Sirius as the other two men did the same. Harry was the only one who knew how to make an English breakfast, or any meal in a matter of fact. Remus only knew how to work a barbeque stand to make hot dogs or steak. Neither Sirius nor Severus could cook. Even making microwaveable food turned out disastrous. "So, how do you want to go about this?" Remus asked the other two men.
"Um… I don't suppose either of you have a recipe book, do you?" Sirius asked as he went to the refrigerator. "There's eggs, sausage, ham..."
"Harry's doesn't like ham too much. It's too salty," Severus said quickly as he rummaged through a stack of books and magazines.
"Okay, no ham. So we still have beacon, toast and hash browns." From the refrigerator, Sirius pulled out a carton of eggs, package of sausage links and uncooked bacon and a bag of potatoes.
"Do you remember if Harry liked his eggs sunnyside up or scrambled?" Remus asked as he brought out several pans.
"I think sunnyside up," Severus said as he shuffled through the next stack of books and magazines.
"No magic!" Harry cried as he continued to sob.
The three men stared at each other. None of them had the slightest experience cooking with a normal Muggle stove. For once they wished they had watched Harry over the past year on how to use it. "You wouldn't have the instructions for the stove, would you, Severus?"
"No," he replied grimly. "This stove came with the house. No instruction manuals." Severus pulled out the thin paperback book he was looking for. Breakfast recipes for Bachelors. "Here's the recipe for a normal English breakfast."
Sirius went back to the counter and refrigerator to pull out the seasoning and place it on the counter. "Who's cooking?" he asked.
Remus found himself volunteered for the task. "Alright, but don't blame me if I burn anything!"
The three men found themselves struggling just to make toast without burning black. Eggs were harder as none had the skill to flip it. When they were finally done, Sirius, Remus and Severus wiped the sweat off their foreheads and turned to Harry who was sitting there with a wide grin across his face. He was kicking his legs innocently as he sat in the chair. It took a few moments before they understood why he was grinning. "He tricked us!" Sirius shouted.
Remus slapped his hand against his face as Severus shook his head. "I think he accomplished his goal," Severus noted as he sat down and passed Harry an English breakfast.
"No doubt the son of James Potter," Remus stated as he sat down to rest.
"He got us good!" Sirius stated as he sat down laughing. Soon, everyone was laughing and the previous feelings of anger were gone.