PLANS

*Peers around corner* Is it safe?

I'm so, so, so, so, SO sorry that it has taken me such an utterly obscenely long time to update! A million apologies to everyone! I'm so sorry!

I could give you a long list of excuses as to why I didn't update, but the truth is that I just got writer's block (a really bad case of it). I still do want to add more to the trial, and I will. When I add more, I'll let you all know. In the meantime, here's another chapter (finally). I'm really, really sorry that it took so long, and I promise I'll try to get better about adding more :)

As always, I own nothing :(

"This is completely ridiculous!" Sirius seethed as he marched into the kitchen in a fury. He disgustedly thrust a very wrinkled newspaper on the table in front of me as he continued his tirade. "How can the Ministry be so blind?" he groaned in frustration, grabbing fistfuls of his shaggy black hair and pacing angrily about the kitchen.

"What is it this time?" I questioned without bothering to look up from my book.

"Just see for yourself!" Sirius urged, reaching in front of me and pointing to a picture of Fudge that headlined the cover story. I set my book on the table next to the Prophet as I scanned the front page of the newspaper.

TRIAL PENDING FOR THE BOY WHO LIVED

Harry Potter, 15, also known as The Boy Who Lived, could be in serious trouble with the Ministry of Magic after officials detected his use of the Patronus charm in the presence of a Muggle, Potter's cousin, Dudley Dursley. "Potter has clearly violated the International Statute of Secrecy," claimed Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, last Thursday after news of Potter's actions became widespread throughout the Ministry. "We need to ensure that the presence of magic remains concealed from Muggles, and Potter has endangered our extensive efforts to make sure that we do just that." Other members of the Ministry express similar feelings to those of the Minister and admit to being unsurprised by Potter's actions. "Potter needs to realize that being 'The Boy Who Lived' does not give you immunity from the law," Senior Undersecretary, Dolores Umbridge, stated to several Prophet reporters. "This trial will convey the message that he is subject to the consequences of his actions just as everyone else has been for centuries."

Potter's trial will be held on Saturday, August the 15th. More information can be found on page 7.

I looked up and met Sirius' hard gaze. "You think they're hiding something," I stated knowingly.

Sirius groaned angrily. "They have to be!" he returned. "Harry's smart. He wouldn't just go around casting spells in front of those awful Muggles."

I sighed. I knew he was right. The Prophet had been under the influence of the Ministry for months, and they'd been writing horrible stories against Harry and Dumbledore. Now, this trial provided them the opportunity to turn the community against anyone who supported Harry. There was bound to be worse coverage of the trial later, and that could only cause more trouble.

Today was August 1st. That meant that we had exactly two weeks to plan how to get Harry away from the Dursleys and prepare him for his trial. The Ministry would want to convict him and get him out of the picture, so we would have to come up with a good defense. I shuddered to think what would happen if we didn't.

Sirius sat down across from me at the table with a sigh. "You should bring this up at today's meeting," I told him.

He shrugged. "It probably won't matter," he allowed. "I'm sure almost everyone's heard about it, and I'll bet Dumbledore's already working on a way to fix everything." He offered me a small smile.

"Still," I began, "we have to figure out how get him away from the Muggles. After a stunt like this, you would think that they wouldn't let him out of their sight," I reasoned. "Remember what he told us about the last time they thought he used magic in the house?"

Sirius almost chuckled at the memory. "Yeah, bars on the window."

"Right. So we're going to have to figure out how to get him out of the house and transport him here so that the Ministry can't detect him."

"But how can we do that?" Sirius asked. "The Ministry's getting so outrageous lately you'd think they'd track you if you were walking."

"There's always broomsticks," a new voice sounded in the room. Sirius and I turned around in our seats to see Tonks standing in the doorway. Tonks had been busy at the Ministry and unable to come to any Order sessions since that first one in early July. According to Mad-Eye, they were keeping her busy with some paperwork before they could finalize her status as a full-fledged Auror. Both Sirius and I were a bit surprised that she could join us today (and even more so by that fact that she'd actually managed to enter the house almost without a sound).

She shifted awkwardly by the door. "Sorry," she apologized as she came into the kitchen and sat next to me, "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just got here for the meeting, and I heard you talking."

"It's fine," I responded lightheartedly and turning back to Sirius.

"The Ministry really doesn't monitor the skies?" Sirius asked Tonks.

Tonks shook her head, causing her spiky purple hair to sway back and forth slightly. "Nope. They figure it would be too difficult and spread Aurors too thin," she replied.

"But there's still the issue of getting Harry away from the house," I pointed out.

Sirius groaned again. "Those awful Muggles," he sighed. "James used to say that Petunia and Vernon were so boring that they would sit around discussing those horrible Muggle magazines like Gardener's Monthly or something terrible like that. Sounded awful to me," he finished, wrinkling his nose up in disgust.

Tonks' head perked up. "That' s it," she enthused. Both Sirius and I turned to her with puzzled expressions. "Dad always said that far too many Muggles care far too much about what their gardens look like," she began. "Said that there were some competitions for it, too. It always sounded terribly boring to me, but he said that people can get actually get awards for having perfectly pruned flowers."

"I don't see where you're going with this, Tonksie," Sirius pointed.

Tonks rolled her eyes. "We'll send them a letter letting them know that they've been chosen to receive an award for some best kept lawn competition. We'll tell them that they have to go far away to claim their prize," she explained. "They're bound to leave Harry behind after what's happened—they won't want to risk anyone seeing him. That'll give us enough time to sneak in and whisk Harry away on a broom," she finished with a proud smile.

Sirius and I turned to each other. It was a long shot, but it just might work.

-oOoOoO-

We'd introduced Tonks' plan at the Order meeting, and everyone agreed that it was the most promising option. Mad-Eye added a few touches of his own, namely a guard consisting of nine members to escort Harry back to Grimmauld Place. The reason for the guard, he argued, was that a. there was strength in numbers and b. nine of us could die before Harry was left truly unprotected (gotta love Mad-Eye's optimism). By the end of the meeting, we had eight members of the guard decided—Moody, Tonks, Kingsley, Hestia, Emmeline, Dedalus, Sturgis, and Elphias Doge. Unfortunately, we had been running low on time, so we were forced to adjourn before the final member was decided.

After everyone had filed out of the kitchen and had Apparated back home, Sirius pulled me into the library, shutting the doors behind him.

"Why didn't you volunteer to be on the guard?" he asked accusingly.

"I-I don't know," I sputtered, a bit taken aback by the question. "I just wanted them to get the best people for the job I suppose."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "You missed a perfect opportunity to spend time with Tonks," he pointed. "Honestly, Moony, you need to work on you instincts with women."

"I was thinking it would be better to talk to her outside of possible life-threatening situations," I replied sarcastically.

"But then you could save her life, and she'd be indebted to you," Sirius only half-teased. "And sorry to break it to you, mate, but Order meetings in this creepy, old house probably aren't the best places for romance. You're going to eventually have to venture beyond these creaky walls if you want a chance with her."

"I just have to talk to her," I returned.

"Then why don't you?" Sirius accused. "She's been to two meetings, and you've barely said two sentences to her."

I rolled my eyes. "I have not!" I argued.

"Okay, name another time you've talked to her, then." I mentally went through my previous encounters with Tonks, and I could feel myself deflate when I realized that Sirius' estimate was close to accurate. "See?" Sirius said loudly when I didn't answer.

"It's just that I don't know what to say," I replied. "I didn't even know how we fell for each other last time. It just happened. How do you repeat something like that?"

Sirius remained silent for a few moments. "Well, don't try to repeat it," he advised finally. "Sometimes its better if we write a new story for ourselves," he explained. I didn't respond. "Look, volunteer to be on the guard. If anything it'll just be nice for there to be someone that Harry actually knows when they bring him here."

"And what do I say to her if we start talking?" I questioned.

"The truth," he replied, wrapping a friendly arm around my shoulder. "Let me tell you something, Moony," he started, resuming an almost joking tone, "I've had my fair share of experiences with females, and they're far more likely to fall for the sensitive guys that tell everyone their feelings like they've just swallowed Veritaserum," he finished with a smirk and a mischievous glint in his eyes.

I pushed him away with a laugh and headed out of the library. I had to send a message to Mad-Eye.

Well there's the next chapter. I know that I took a few artistic liberties with dates and such, but it's been quite a while since I read OotP, and I knew that it would take me far too long to figure out when the actual date of the trial was (I know I'm awful)

I'm so, so, so sorry that it took me so long to get this up, but let me tell you, it feels great to be back :) I tried to make this one a bit longer to make up for the obscenely long wait (I know it wasn't nearly long enough), but I promise I'll try to be better about posting chapters.

Let me know what you though in a Review! Thanks for reading!