Previously in Chapter 12: After recovering from aiding the Death Eater's mission to break their imprisoned comrades out of Azkaban, Snape realized that some of the healing potions in his store room were mysteriously disappearing.

Chapter 13: The Order of the Phoenix

"I thought OWLs were supposed to be the hard school year, isn't sixth year supposed to be easier?" Ron said, tossing one of his textbooks onto his orange bedspread at the Burrow. It was the weekend, and Hermione, Harry and Ron had all decided to go home to visit Ron's family. "More importantly, why on earth did I sign up for NEWT level potions?" Ron finished.

"It'll be useful to have on your transcript when you graduate," Hermione said, attempting to comfort him.

"Yes, but if I kill myself before the end of the year just to avoid any more of Snape's pop quizzes, it'll defeat the purpose," Ron replied. "Actually, scratch that. If I kill Snape before the end of the year —"

"You're telling me," Harry added with an annoyed sigh.

"Oh yeah, Snape held you after class on Friday, didn't he? What was that about?" Ron asked. He cheerfully continued, "If it was a low-grade notice I should've been right next to you."

"It wasn't a low-grade notice, at least not yet. I think Snape just likes making me miserable," Harry said bitterly. "He was accusing me of stealing potions from his storeroom. I didn't even know he had a potions storeroom."

"Well, if he used Legilimency like you said he normally does, then that should be cleared up at least?" Hermione offered.

"I'm not letting that git into my mind, even if I am innocent. It's the principle of the thing," Harry said, slamming his potions textbook shut. "I just don't get why he always accuses me, besides the fact that clearly if there's any wrong-doing in the entire school, it's always my fault."

"Mate, I hate to tell you this," Ron said, clapping a hand on Harry's shoulder, "but I don't think Snape likes you."

"Yeah, I've gathered that, somehow," Harry said with a small laugh. "I told him that if there were missing potions I suspected Trelawney. If I'm lucky, then maybe my two least favorite professors will finish each other off in a duel. I can hope, right?"

"Trelawney'll defeat Snape in a duel when Nifflers can fly. She'd just wave tea leaves at him and say he was going to tragically die in four months from a Doxy bite," Ron snorted. "Although with NEWT level Potions, I'm beginning to miss Divination a bit. Remember when we could just write down that you were going to die a horrible death, Harry, and get an 'O'? Good times."

Harry smiled. "Yeah, good times. Although given how much I enjoy our free periods, I can't say I miss having the extra classes. I don't know how you're even surviving right now, Hermione; you're taking more classes than we are."

"They're all very interesting," Hermione replied earnestly. She grinned before adding, "This may come as a shock, but even History of Magic is interesting right now."

Ron accidentally dropped his ink bottle, while Harry's jaw dropped. Ron finally said, "Binns? Not possible. You must be Confunded or something."

"I'm as surprised as you are." Hermione cleaned up the spilled ink with a wave of her wand before adding, "I think it's because we've reached modern day. Well, relatively modern — the 1940s."

"What's so great about 1940s history?" Harry asked dully, as though just the word 'history' was enough to put him to sleep.

"That's when Grindelwald was in power, isn't it?" Ron jumped in.

"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "It actually seems relevant since I can compare what we're learning about Grindelwald to what we know about Voldemort. Grindelwald's movement was more developed than Voldemort's is right now. Grindelwald was cruel, but he also made an effort to win popular support."

"He terrorized Continental Europe, how could that possibly win support?" Ron exclaimed. "I remember my grandmum mentioning how afraid she was that Grindelwald's forces might take over the Ministry of Magic."

"Of course a lot of people didn't like Grindelwald, but a surprisingly large number did, probably because of all the propaganda he put out. He flooded invaded regions with posters, radio shows, parades - anything to try and convince the people that they were better off than they used to be." Hermione continued in an interested tone, "It didn't just focus on the ruling-over-Muggles aspect, either. They put out propaganda arguing that Grindelwald's rule was resulting in a return to family values and improving the economy. They even spread rumors that Grindelwald could destroy unhappiness itself — that he could kill Dementors, which is rubbish, of course."

"I think we need to worry more about how many people Voldemort's going to kill, and how we can stop him, than about him claiming he's improving the economy," Harry replied with a small smile.

"The economy was just an example of propaganda," Hermione rolled her eyes. "But I do agree with you, Harry. If we can stop the Death Eaters and Voldemort, then we don't have anything else to worry about."

"I was actually thinking recently," Harry began, "I think we should try again to join the Order of the Phoenix. I know they only accept wizards and witches who have come of age, but maybe we can at least sit in on the meetings, or otherwise help out."

"I'm all for it," Ron said, "but good luck convincing my mum to let her 'ickle Ronniekins' join. She wasn't exactly open to the idea last summer."

"I'm seventeen," Hermione abruptly blurt out as the realization struck her. "I'm legally an adult, so I can join the Order now. And if they let me join, then they have to let both of you join, too, right? It's only fair. We have the same amount of schooling and if we stick together, that's definitely safer than if I'm alone."

"That could work," Harry excitedly replied. "And I know that Dumbledore is finally treating me like an adult. I mean, at least considering that he's been sharing Pensieve memories with me about Voldemort's past."

"Yes, exactly," she replied, before pausing an instant and adding, "Harry, did I tell you I looked through some of my textbooks recently, after you first mentioned your Pensieve lessons?"

"Okay, and?"

"I wasn't able to find any information on Pensieves," Hermione replied with a disappointed sigh. "It seems like an interesting piece of magic, but it must be very rare."

Harry shrugged, "I'm sure the Pensieve's reliable. I don't think Dumbledore would be using it if it wasn't, and it doesn't surprise me that he'd own some rare objects."

Hermione nodded, before cheerily clapping her hands together. "Anyway, I guess we have a plan about how we'll ask to join the Order. And they generally have meetings Saturday night, don't they? So we can ask then."

"I thought they just meet whenever there was an attack somewhere, to fend it off?" Harry asked.

"They do, but attacks are on Saturday nights so frequently they have a standing meeting then," Ron said. "Fred and George complain that You-Know-Who's goal is to destroy their social lives."

Harry laughed in spite of himself. "I can imagine the Death Eaters now: 'Oh Dark Lord of all that is evil and dark. Please don't schedule an attack this Saturday — I have a really hot date then.' "

Ron continued in a falsely serious tone, "You know what we should do? We should send You-Know-Who a nice little handwritten note saying 'If you're going to terrorize the world, could you do it on a Thursday or something? Because I gotta say, the whole Saturday thing is putting a damper on my social life.'"

"I bet that's why Voldemort has been having so many attacks recently. He doesn't have a social life, so he's taking it out on everybody else," Harry said.

"Okay, well, now that we know why attacks are always on Saturday evenings, we can be sure to tell everyone else when we see them tonight," Hermione laughed.

By the time evening finally rolled around, the Burrow was filled with the sound of quietly chatting voices. Most of the assembled Order members were sitting around the kitchen table or leaning against the kitchen countertops and talking with each other while waiting for other members to arrive. Hermione wondered why the Order met in the kitchen instead of the slightly more spacious living room, but she suspected it had something to do with how the Weasleys' clock was not visible from most of the kitchen. All of the hands on the Weasleys' clock were permanently pointing towards "Mortal Peril", and both Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were facing away from the living room from their position standing in the kitchen.

"Alright, alright, I guess everyone who's going to be here is here," Moody announced, and the Order members filling the crowded kitchen quieted down. "There's probably going to be an attack tonight. It's just a matter of finding out where it is before too much damage has been done, so let's discuss other plans until Voldemort so rudely interrupts." He let out a bark of a laugh with his last words, before continuing, "Does anyone have any announcements they want to start with?"

"I do," Hermione said from her position near the back of the kitchen with Ron and Harry. "I want to join the Order."

"You can't join the Order, you're not of age yet. Next?" Moody said.

"I am of age," she quickly corrected him. "I turned seventeen on September 19th."

Moody opened his mouth before snapping it shut again and surveying her with his whizzing light blue eye. "Well, then. We'll vote on it. Everyone who thinks we should allow Granger to join —"

"And Ron and Harry want to join, too," she quickly interrupted.

"Don't tell me all of your birthdays were in September," Moody growled, but there was a hint of amusement to his voice.

"No, but we have the same amount of schooling as Hermione," Ron stated proudly. "And we held our own against Death Eaters in the Ministry last summer."

"Besides, the sooner we can start getting a grasp of what we're up against, the better prepared we'll be when we have to fight Voldemort," Harry added, steadily looking at Moody as he spoke.

Moody was appraising the three of them with a proud look on his face. "Alright, let's vote on it!"

"Ron is only sixteen," Mrs. Weasley nearly shrieked, looking as though she was about to explode from containing herself."And so is Harry, and Hermione isn't even out of school yet. They're only teenagers and it's not safe for them to go gallivanting around the middle of battles, especially since Harry is such a target now."

Moody's expression remained unconcerned. "Alright, any other thoughts before we vote?"

"Alastor!" Mrs. Weasley fumed. "Those weren't just suggestions — Arthur, back me up here."

"Hermione is of age," Mr. Weasley began thoughtfully. "We can't prevent her from joining the Order, unless we think she's a spy for the Death Eaters, and I gather she's not. Ron will be of age in a few months and Harry a few months after that and I'll bet an arm and a leg they're going to be clamoring to join on their seventeenth birthdays." Mr. Weasley took his glasses off and cleaned them with his sleeve before continuing, "I think what would make the most sense is if we let all three of them join — but only with a partial membership. They still have their studies to take care of, after all, but if they're around for some of the meetings and get to see a few of the battles firsthand, it'll help prepare them."

"I think that'd be an okay compromise," Harry said, and his two friends nodded.

"Alright," Moody stated, "Let's vo — "

"What about Dumbledore?" Mrs. Weasley interrupted again. "Shouldn't he have a say in this? And what about the other members who aren't here right now? Like Mundungus, and Remus, and Snape, and —"

Tonks, sitting quietly at the kitchen table, gently interrupted, "Molly, Dumbledore's always traveling nowadays, and we don't need his approval to induct new members, anyway."

Moody continued speaking, gesturing towards the three teens with a gnarled hand, "Alright, let's vote if these three should be inducted into the Order of the Phoenix as part-time members."

Most of the hands went up, Mr. Weasley's hesitatingly and Mrs. Weasley's not at all, but before Hermione could count the percentage voting in favor, Moody had turned towards the three of them. With a contortion of his scarred face that Hermione imagined was supposed to be a smile, Moody said, "Welcome to the Order."

Tonks immediately added, "If there is an attack tonight, don't engage any Death Eaters. Just try to usher away any Muggles in the area. When the Muggles see magic a lot of them stop and stare."

"You lot will all need to stick together during the attack, also," Moody added. "Always safest to have someone else nearby."

"Stay by an older Order member, too," Tonks continued. "That way we can bail you out if necessary."

Hermione, Harry and Ron mutely nodded and periodically said "Okay", "Uh huh" and "Gotcha" as more pieces of advice were thrown at them by the numerous people sitting around the room.

"And don't try — oh," Tonks cut herself off as a glowing white squirrel with pointed ears flew through the wall.

"Word is something's up at Trafalgar Square," the Patronus spoke, and Mundungus Fletcher's voice filled the room.

"Oh, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, a worried look on her face as she approached him. "Just let me — stay still for a second — " She tapped her wand on top of his head, and he felt a tickling warmth followed by the feeling of pins and needles, as though somehow his scalp had managed to fall asleep.

"Brilliant, Mum!" Ron laughed and Harry patted the top of his head, trying to figure out what she had changed, while Hermione also let out a cheery laugh.

"What is it?" Harry asked, as the people standing around him all gained a smile or laughed out loud when they looked at him.

"It's so you're not as recognizable," Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Red is just the first color I thought of —"

"Not just red, Mum, Weasley red," Ron grinned. "With your hair that shade of red now, Harry, I think you could qualify as the long-lost eighth Weasley child."

"Hermione, you can side-along Apparate to Trafalgar Square with me," Tonks interrupted, gesturing to how other Order members were beginning to Disapparate. Just before they Apparated, Tonks added, "You'll see, but the Death Eater's main goal is to cause chaos. Just do your best and stay safe."

Hermione had not been to Trafalgar Square since she was ten and still living an ordinary Muggle life with her parents. Her parents, ever determined to sharpen their daughter's mind, took her to somewhere of educational interest every weekend, and she could still remember holding her mother's hand in Trafalgar Square as crowds of people bustled past and -

Someone was screaming.

Hermione jumped out of her reverie. The crowds in Trafalgar square were not lazily milling about as they had that sunny weekend when she was a child. The vast majority of the Muggles present were leaving the square - either running, hurriedly walking, or strolling with a cautiously curious expression on their face as they looked behind them - but, much to Hermione's surprise, some Muggles weren't leaving. Colorful sparks of light were reflecting into the air from the Death Eaters' spells, and some of the Muggles near the edges of the crowd were watching the light show with interested expressions.

With fearful expressions and hasty gestures, she attempted to convey the danger of the situation to people who had never heard of magic or the Death Eaters. It seemed to work for the most part, but Hermione felt more heartened when another group of Aurors appeared after what felt like at least twenty minutes. Kingsley was among the fresh group of Aurors, and Hermione noticed that he quickly joined Tonks in her duel against a masked Death Eater. Temporarily distracted, Hermione couldn't help but think of how the rhythm to their duel reminded her of a perfectly choreographed sword fight - an offensive spell here, a dodge there, a step, a shield charm…With a jab of his wand, Kingsely sent an arc of what looked like golden dust soaring towards the Death Eater, but the spell was interrupted when Tonks elbowed Kingsley in the stomach.

Well, it had almost looked perfectly choreographed.

Kingsley quickly began casting another spell, but their duel was cut short by a magnified voice announcing, "DEATH EATERS: RETREAT AND SCATTER."

The Death Eater whom Tonks and Kingsley were dueling made a bowing motion with his wand arm before Disapparating with a loud crack! Other Death Eaters began Disapparating at the same time, and Trafalgar Square was soon relatively quiet.

Tonks hurriedly walked towards Hermione and said, "Alright, ready to go back?"

"Wait, aren't we staying to help the Muggles? Or repair the square or something?" Hermione blurted out.

"Can't," Tonks shook her head. "It's the Ministry Obliviators job to wipe the Muggles' memories and sort out the aftermath of these attacks, and they get snippy if Aurors try to help."

They quickly arrived back at the Burrow and were soon followed by Kingsley side-along Apparating with Harry. They were waiting for the other remaining members when Hermione turned towards Tonks and said, "Why did the Death Eater you were dueling do this?" She quickly mimicked the flourish the Death Eater had done with his hand at the end of the duel.

"Oh, that Death Eater was Snape," Tonks replied nonchalantly.

"Snape was there?" Harry said incredulously.

"Yeah. He does that weird sort of gesture, sometimes. I think he does it because he figures if he does it consistently enough then we'll be able to tell it's him by that alone. Sometimes it works better than others, Kingsley," Tonks added in a gently chiding tone.

"Pardon?" Kingsley said, turning his attention to their conversation.

"You know, when you were trying to arrest Snape back in Trafalgar Square," Tonks teased.

"Is that who we were dueling?" Kingsley said in a lightly surprised tone.

"Yes, why do you think I elbowed you?"

"If you must know, I seem to recall that you're rather clumsy - "

"I'm not that clumsy," Tonks said exasperatedly. She turned back to Hermione and continued, "Anyway, speaking of arresting Death Eaters, you know that spell you saw, with the fine golden grains? In case you were wondering, it's what we use to keep Death Eaters from moving so we can arrest them. It's not perfect because anybody can undo it, but it takes long enough to undo that it works pretty well if we can get to them quickly."

"What happens if you don't get to them quickly?" Hermione asked.

"Sometimes another Death Eater will come along and Disapparate with them. It cancels out the work we've put into trying to arrest them so it's annoying," Tonks said with a shrug.

"This is relevant only for those Aurors who actually try to arrest Death Eater," Kingsley added in a somber tone. "With the start of the Second War there has been an ugly trend in which some Aurors seem to care less about arresting Death Eaters than about injuring or killing them. It's very hard to control, though, because legally if someone attempts to use lethal force against an Auror they can reciprocate in kind."

" 'Which is why we need to change the law such that Aurors can only use lethal force if there is no equally feasible alternative, including silencing, stunning and disarming spells,' " Tonks recited in a mock formal voice before grinning and looking up at Kingsley. "Well, did I get it right?"

Kingsley's lips twitched into a small smile. "Perhaps I have told you my ideas for legal reform too often, Tonks."

"Either that or I just memorize word-for-word what everyone tells me," Tonks replied, winking.

After sitting quietly for a few moments, Harry said, "Tonks, is Snape at all of these Death Eater attacks?"

"Most of them. Why?" Tonks replied.

"Does he actually do anything to help the Order during them?" Harry said, a hint of rising anger to his voice.

"Well, he can't really. It'd blow his cover," Tonks said with a shrug. "There was one time where I was way over my head in a duel with some Death Eater, and he came along and told the other Death Eater that he would take over dueling me, so there was that. It was nice, but he can't really do anything more obvious than that."

"Awfully convenient, isn't it?" Harry muttered under his breath.

"Well, it does make some sense, Harry," Hermione said after a moment's thought. "Maybe if it's a matter of life and death he tries to step in, but otherwise he figures Order members can handle it themselves."

"I suppose," Harry said, but he didn't seem convinced, and their conversation was cut off by the other Order members finally beginning to return from Trafalgar Square.

…

A/N: Sorry for the delay in updating; hopefully this chapter being longer than normal makes up for it, and the next update will hopefully come in about two and a half weeks.

Many thanks to kci47 for beta-reading!