Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize as someone else's.
A/N: PLEASE READ AND REVIEW! I actually gave food to people who reviewed the last chapter in this chapter.
"Good evening, everyone," said Cadance, as she walked into the Order meeting room. It was four days after the Wedding. Melinda and Chris were still on their honeymoon. The Order of the Phoenix was having its first meeting since her return. Chris and Wyatt's parents and aunts were present. It was clear that they were now considered members of the Order. "Who are we missing?"
"Other than the newlyweds, just my uncle," said Cati. "He left yesterday morning and said he was going on vacation and that he doesn't want to see anyone who's robes have the Hogwarts crest or the Auror's insignia on them until school starts up again."
"Okay, well, I suppose we should get down to business then," said Cadance. "Harry and Arthur have heard back from the Americans and they've set a date for the meeting with their Magical Congress."
"Saturday," said Harry, nodding.
"It's Wednesday. That's 3 days away," said Sirius.
"Awwww! You've finally learned your days of the week!" said Cati, adopting that tone usually reserved for small children and animals. Sirius made a rude hand gesture at her.
"Arthur and I made a decision on who we're sending to the meeting with the Americans," said Harry, ignoring him. "Remus, Arabella, and Alastor are going to be joining Piper, Phoebe, Paige, and Leo. You're expected at the American capitol on Saturday morning. You're meeting with the president at 8:00 a.m."
"Ha ha, you have to get up early," teased Sirius, grinning at Remus, sitting on his left.
"Arabella, do you want to take this one?" asked Remus, turning to Arabella, sitting on his other side.
"Love to," said Arabella, leaning forward to get a good look at Sirius. "8:00 in the morning there is 1:00 in the afternoon here."
"Ha ha, you have to get up before 1:00 on a Saturday," teased Sirius, breaking out into a grin again.
"So do you," said Harry. "Training. We've been doing it every Saturday and every Wednesday for months now. Remember?"
Sirius groaned. "I blocked that out," he said.
"We just got done with a training session," said Harry, shaking his head.
"Er, back to the meeting," said Arthur, redirecting everyone's attention. "You'll come home directly afterwards to give us your report." Remus, Arabella, and Moody nodded to show they were on board.
"What do we do if the meeting doesn't go well?" asked Jen.
"Why wouldn't it go well? Its not like Cati is going," said Sirius.
"I still think I would be excellent in negotiations, but whatever," said Cati flippantly.
"Cati, I'll make a deal with you," said Harry. "If you have less than five things not including your wand on your person right now that you can use as a weapon, you can go with them. Less than five."
Cati stood up and started emptying her pockets onto the table. From one of the pockets of her robes she pulled out her wand and a knife and a vial of a strange, amber liquid that seemed to be swirling on its own. From her other pocket, she pulled out another knife, some fireworks from George's joke shop, and a leather pouch. "See," she said.
"Can this be used as a weapon?" asked Sirius, pointing at the vial.
"Well, it depends on how you define…" began Cati, before Bill cut her off.
"Yes," he said .
"What about this?" asked Remus picking up the leather pofuch.
"Flash powder," said Cati. "It can blind you temporarily. Purely a distraction. Not dangerous."
"Do we count the flash powder or the fireworks?" asked Ron, turning to Harry. Harry shook his head.
"Uh, anyone who's ever seen Cati in Potions class knows that fireworks are definitely dangerous," interjected Charlie.
Harry raised an eyebrow in Cati's direction. She gave him a look that said "What?"
"Okay, so, two knives, a potion, and some fireworks," said Wyatt, pointing at the pile of stuff on the table. "That's only four things. I have to say, I'm a little disappointed."
Cadance cleared her throat pointedly and stared Cati down. Cati sighed and then put her foot up on her chair and reached into her boot. She pulled out two knives from her left shoe and added them to the pile.
"Six," said Harry. "Sorry, Cati, you lose."
Cadance cleared her throat again. Cati rolled her eyes and then pulled one more knife out of her other boot, threw it on the table, then sat down, glaring at Cadance. "You know, the only reason Cadance knows that those were there was because she's got some hidden in the same place," said Cati. Harry, meanwhile was looking at Cati. "What?"
"You've got more stuff on you, don't you?" he asked.
"Well, that all depends. How do you define 'stuff'?" asked Cati.
"Would you make it through muggle airport security right now?" asked Harry.
"Why would I have to go through muggle airport security?"
"Because I told you to," said Harry. "Would you make it through?"
"Not a chance."
"Great."
Cadance woke on Saturday morning when Cati ripped open the curtains, letting the sunlight pour in through the window. Cadance groaned and rolled over, pulling the covers over her head. "It's 11 o'clock!" exclaimed Cati. Cadance poked her head out from under the covers and squinted in Cati's direction.
"I hope you're a demonic shape-shifter impersonating my best friend Cati, because if you're really Cati I'm going to miss you later since I'm going to vanquish you," said Cadance. She pushed herself up on her elbows, while glaring at Cati.
"I tried to wake you up for training early this morning, but Charlie told me to get out or he'd poison my oatmeal," said Cati.
"As I told you when you tried to make me come on Wednesday, I submitted my request for vacation time an hour after my daughter's wedding reception and Harry approved it immediately, so if anyone wants anything Auror-y from me they can wait until September," said Cadance. "Is there a reason you came in here to wake me up?"
"Only that it's 11:00, I just got done with training, and Charlie told me that you were still asleep," said Cati. "Oh, and we all decided that we're going to Sirius's house for lunch in an hour after Harry and Arthur see Mad-Eye, Remus, and Arabella off at the Ministry."
"Why Sirius's house?" asked Cadance, climbing out of bed and grabbing her robe from the bedpost and putting it on.
"Oh, well, you know how they finally finished rebuilding Sirius's house a few weeks ago so he and Wendy moved in on Sunday when everyone from Godric's Hollow was finally able to leave the Gryffindor Common Room and go home since you graced us with your presence on Friday and graciously gave them permission?"
"Uh… yeah, I vaguely recall doing something like that," said Cadance.
"Well, apparently Sirius had them put in a pool," said Cati, breaking out into a grin.
"A pool, huh?"
"How'd you get the Auror Department to pay for a new swimming pool?" asked Cadance, as the extended Weasley family and Wyatt stood in Sirius and Wendy's backyard, most of them wearing bathing suits under their clothes, staring appreciatively at the new in-ground swimming pool with a diving board. There were lounge chairs all around the pool and a large picnic table off to the side.
"Whoa, wait, we paid for all this?" asked Harry pointing at the pool.
"My home was damaged through the course of a Death Eater attack. As an Auror, all repairs are covered by the Ministry," explained Sirius.
"You didn't have a pool before," said Harry.
"Yes, well, that came out of my hazard pay for being kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort," said Sirius.
"We got hazard pay for that?" asked Cati, scrunching her forehead in confusion.
"Do you look at your paychecks before you cash them?" asked Sirius.
"No. Why?" asked Cati. Sirius opened his mouth to comment, but then shut it and shook his head.
"So who wants lunch?" asked Mrs. Weasley. "I can whip something up real quick." Everyone agreed that they were hungry, so Mrs. Weasley turned around and went back into the House. Wendy went with her to help.
"Can we go swimming now?" asked Freddy, looking at the adults with hopeful wide eyes, as everyone started to take seats around the pool. Joseph gasped and mimicked his expression, nodding in agreement.
"Sure, sport," said Cadance. "Dive right in."
Fred threw his arms up in excitement, let out a yell, and started to run towards the pool. "Whoa, wait," said George, reaching out and grabbing his son by the back of the robes and lifting him up off the ground. "What do you say we get you an inner tube first, bud?"
"I'm almost six! I don't need an inner tube!" exclaimed Freddy.
"Me neither!" exclaimed Joseph excitedly.
"Oh, did either of you learn how to swim and not tell us about it?" asked Hermione.
"I do it all the time in the bathtub," said Freddy.
"Alright," said George, shrugging. He shifted his grasp on Freddy so that he was holding him up by the shoulders of his robes. He turned to James and Molly, who had already slid into the pool. "James. Molly. Check and see if this can swim." He tossed Freddy into the pool.
"GEORGE!" shrieked Jen.
Freddy's face broke the surface of the water and he coughed while struggling to swim. "See! I can do it!" he called. Then he went under again. James grabbed his arm and pulled him up.
"There you go, Freddy," said James as he pulled him to the edge of the pool where Jen was reaching out to pull him out.
"Hey, I was trying to swim!" exclaimed Fred, glaring daggers at James as his mother lifted him out by his arm and put him on the deck.
"Honey, you can't go swimming until you take off your robes and your socks and shoes and your t-shirt and you have some sort of flotation device," said Jen, adopting a parenting tone.
"Awww, Maaaaaaaaa," whined Freddy.
"If you do as I say, you can jump off the diving board," said Jen.
"Okay!"
"Me, too?" asked Joseph, looking up at his mom.
"Yes, you may," said Hermione, as she started to take off his robes. That became difficult however, as he plopped down on the ground and began taking off his socks and shoes. Jen was taking off Fred's wet clothes as well.
"Alright, children, listen up!" exclaimed Cati. She, Cadance, and Ginny had claimed lounge chairs, stripped down to their bathing suits, and assumed the sunbathing position. "Does anyone need to be reminded about what happens when the sunbathing of Aunt Cati is interrupted?" In response, Vivien and Abby ran and jumped into the pool, splashing Cadance, Cati, and Ginny.
"You had to open your big mouth," said Cadance, shaking her head at Cati.
They spent about an hour swimming, sunbathing, and talking. Then, Molly and Wendy came out with sandwiches, salad, and other assorted picnic foods. They conjured up another table and all sat down to lunch. The conversation turned to Voldemort rather quickly.
"If we don't get the support of the American Ministry, we're going to need to turn to someone else," said Harry. "That's just the way it is. We need help."
"Actually, Albus, Minerva, the founders, and Merlin are looking into that now," said Arthur. "They said their idea of a relaxing Saturday was one spent in a comfortable armchair with a book instead of next to a pool."
"Clearly they've never experienced the joys of sunbathing," said Cati, shaking her head. "You know, I think that if Voldemort tried sunbathing, he'd be in a much better place emotionally."
"There! Right there!" exclaimed Bill, pointing at his wife. "Statements like that are the reason you don't get to meet the President!" Cat threw a cookie at him.
"Hey! Don't waste that!" exclaimed Sirius, picking it up from the floor, dusting it off, and putting it in his mouth.
"Don't eat food off the floor!" shrieked Wendy.
"Don't tell me what to do, woman!"
"Excuse me?" said Wendy, dangerously.
"Damnit, I'm going to have to sleep in a pool float tonight, aren't I?"
After eating lunch, the sunbathing and swimming continued. Mrs. Weasley came out and sat under and umbrella at the picnic table and watched her grandchildren swim. Mr. Weasley went over to sit with her.
"GRANDPA! GRANDMA! WATCH MY DIVE!" shouted Joseph as he ran by holding his inner tube up around his waist. He hopped up on the diving board and ran to the end before coming to a complete stop. He held his nose and stepped off the end.
"Good one!" called Mr. Weasley, laughing as Joseph popped back up above the surface of the water.
Meanwhile, James was trying to teach Fred to swim in the shallow end of the pool, while Jen watched from where she was sitting with Cadance, Cati, Hermione, and Ginny, who had returned to their sunbathing. "Fred, you've got to kick your legs more or you'll sink," he was saying. Fred began kicking his legs madly, splashing the girls. Cati's head snapped up.
"Uh oh," said Bill, as he waded by James and Fred. "You appear to have angered it." Cati hopped up, ran to the edge of the pool and dove onto Bill, taking him underwater. They both came up and she pushed him down again before he threw her off of him.
"Hey! NO HORSE PLAY IN THE POOL!" screamed Jen. Bill and Cati stopped their playful fighting to look at her.
"Geez, alright, Minerva," said Cati, rolling her eyes.
"Well, someone needs to act like Professor McGonagall when she's not around," said Jen. Cati climbed out of the pool and returned to her sun bathing, but not before wringing her hair out over Cadance, who didn't even look up from the book she reading.
"Hey, Ron," said Harry, as he and George walked up behind him where he was standing with his glass of lemonade. "Do you want to…" He trailed off as he noticed that Ron was staring at something. Harry and George followed his gaze to where Cadance, Cati, Hermione, Ginny, and Jen sat.
"Ron, are you leering at the girls?" asked Harry cocking an eyebrow.
"Did you ever notice that our wives are so much hotter than us?" asked Ron.
"Every damn day," said George, shaking his head.
"No, seriously," said Ron. "Ever since we started training twice a week, they look better than ever and we're still old and flabby!"
Charlie walked by. "Hey, what are we staring at?" he asked, joining them.
"Out hot wives," said George.
Meanwhile, Freddy was sitting on the end of Cadance's lounge chair, questioning her about her various battle wounds. "What's this one from?" he asked, pointing to her knee where a long scar ran straight down it.
"Demon pushed me down the stairs," she said, glancing up from her book long enough to know what he was pointing at.
"What about these?" he asked, pointing to her stomach where there was one scar visible just below her bikini-top and another on her side.
"Salazar Slytherin. Peter Pettigrew," she said pointing to the first and then the second.
"What's that one?" he asked pointing at her neck, where a long thin faint scar was just barely visible from the angle at which Freddy was sitting.
"Ex-boyfriend turned out to be a demon," she said.
"What about that one?" he asked, pointing to her elbow.
"Your Aunt Cati," she said.
"It's been over 30 years and you still won't admit that it was your own fault that you fell out of that tree," said Cati, shaking her head.
"Uncle Harry, where's your cool scar from?" asked Fred, getting bored with Cadance's scars and turning to Harry.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at Harry, wondering how he was going to explain that one to his five-year-old nephew. Joseph and Abby, who were also too young to know the whole story, looked curiously at Harry as well. To the three of them, Voldemort was a constant presence, not something that had been defeated before and returned; they had never known a time without him.
Luckily, Harry was spared having to answer as Moody, Arabella, Mad-Eye, and Leo walked out through the kitchen door. Everyone looked expectantly at them, but the looks on their face told everyone that the news they had was not good.
"How did it go?" ventured Mr. Weasley anyway.
"Get dressed and come inside," said Remus, shaking his head in response.
Everyone put their clothes on over top of their bathing suits. It only took a few minutes to get the younger ones situated in the living room while the Order met in the kitchen. Leo told them that Piper, Phoebe, and Paige hadn't come back with them because they had to attend to some things at home. Word had been sent to Hogwarts and Dumbledore, McGonagall, the founders, and Merlin arrived in a matter of minutes. The few missing Order members would be filled in at the meeting later that night.
They sat around the table or stood leaning against the counter, in every spot they could find, some of them still dripping slightly, and waited for one of the four remaining emissaries to begin their tale. Moody spoke up first as soon as everyone appeared situated and Sirius stopped tapping his foot against the counter like a small child. "When we got there…" began Moody.
"Wait, Mad-Eye," said Jen. "Uh… Molly, James, and Vivien are all listening at the door."
"WE ARE NOT!" exclaimed Vivien's voice, and then there were two thuds and a curse word and James and Molly's voices hissing reproaches.
"GO BACK IN THE LIVING ROOM WITH YOUR COUSINS!" called Ginny, in a voice that sounded highly reminiscent of Mrs. Weasley's when she used to rebuke Fred and George.
They heard three sets of feet pounding, which gradually grew less audible, as if they had walked down the hallway. "Were we supposed to be fooled by that?" asked Ron.
Cati pointed her wand at the door, which swung outward. "OUCH!" screamed three voices as one.
"Get in here," said Cadance, rolling her eyes. James, Molly, and Vivien walked in, rubbing their faces, which obviously had been hit by the door as it swung open. "If you're going to listen anyway, you're going to listen proper."
"They're too young," hissed Hermione.
"We're 17!" exclaimed Molly and James at the exact same time Cadance said exasperatedly, "They're 17."
"When you were 17, I…" Cadance trailed off, looking at Harry, Ron, and Hermione. "You weren't left out of anything."
"It was different," said Harry.
"Only because you want it to be," said Cadance. "I fought it with Melinda, and she found out everything that was going on anyway. So will they. You would have, too."
"What about that one?" asked Ron, pointing at Vivien. "She's 12."
"Obviously, Cati is going to give her permission to stay," said Cadance. Bill opened his mouth as if to protest, but Cati shot him a look and he closed it. James, Molly, and Vivien found spots in the kitchen near to Wyatt, looking rather pleased with themselves.
"If you three expect to be included more in Order things, you'd better start acting like you can handle it," said Cadance. "Continue, Mad-Eye."
Moody's magical eye spun around to see James, Molly, and Vivien, as though checking to make sure they were ready for him to continue, before he spoke up again. "We got there about fifteen minutes early, and were served coffee and donuts and bagels, and it was all very cordial. The President arrived to the meeting about fifteen minutes late, escorted by his Defense Secretary, which would be comparable to the Head Auror here. In the meantime we all sat with various other undersecretaries and we talked about trivial things like Quidditch… kept it polite."
"We were feeling pretty good going into the meeting because of how smoothly everything went beforehand," said Remus. "But when the President showed up, it was clear that America wasn't open to getting involved. He seemed appropriately sympathetic, but this Defense Secretary barely acknowledged us and as he listened to us say what we came to say, he watched with absolutely no expression. When we had finished telling them what we were up against, the President said as politely as he could that he was sorry but he couldn't get involved. We argued with him for a bit, but it was a firm no."
"We told them that it was only a matter of time before Voldemort extended his reach to America," said Moody. "We told him that Voldemort could infiltrate his government and he wouldn't even know it. He said he'd put his faith in his security."
"So, what do we do now?" asked Sirius, turning to Arthur for an answer. Arthur shook his head and rubbed his temples.
Suddenly, there was a deafening crack! from the center of the kitchen, as though someone has Apparated inside. Everyone quickly drew their wands and turned towards where the sound had come from, just as a wailing noise filled the kitchen, accompanied by intermittent thuds.
Everyone stared in shock at the House-elf that was currently banging its head off of the floor of the kitchen while crying. "BAD! BAD! BAD!!"
"What the..." trailed off Wendy. Immediately, Hermione flung herself on the floor next to the House-elf and tried to stop him from punishing himself.
"Krumpet?!" exclaimed Cadance, peering curiously at the elf. "Krumpet!" The Elf stopped and looked up at Cadance.
"Miss Cadance!" he exclaimed. "I… I…" He began crying and his head once again made contact with Sirius's floor.
"What the hell is going on?" asked Wyatt, as people began plugging their ears to the sound of elf wails. Hermione continued to try to restrain Krumpet, and Cadance had gotten up to help her.
"I met him when I was undercover," explained Cadance loudly, competing with Krumpet to be heard. "Bob and I used him to get messages to each other. He's Bellatrix's House-elf."
"Bellatrix's…" said Sirius, staring curiously at the elf. "Hey, wait a minute! That's Krumpet, my mother's House-elf!"
"What?" asked Harry. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah! He must have gone to my cousins after my mother died and I ended up in Azkaban," said Sirius.
"But you're out of Azkaban, so shouldn't he technically be…" began Ron pointing from Sirius to Krumpet, who was still wailing.
"Krumpet! Krumpet!" exclaimed Sirius, trying to get his attention. The elf looked up at him, and his watery eyes grew wider as he recognized him. "Krumpet, stop hitting your head off the floor and sit up!"
Hermione looked as if she was going to rebuke Sirius for his harsh tone for a second, but then changed her mind when Krumpet obeyed and was no longer injuring himself. He even began to dry his eyes on the filthy rag he was wearing. "It's okay, we won't hurt you," said Hermione gently, patting him on the back.
"Krumpet's not supposed to be here!" cried Krumpet. "Krumpet is a bad bad elf!"
"Krumpet, what are you doing here?" asked Cadance.
"Krumpet overheard Miss Bella talking and wanted to help his friend Miss Cadance because she was so nice to him, but if Miss Bella knew Krumpet was here, he would be punished!" exclaimed Krumpet.
"Krumpet, no more crying now, do you hear?" ordered Sirius. Krumpet nodded and immediately began to hold back his tears.
"Sirius, he has to listen to you! He's still your elf! Your family's elf!" exclaimed Cadance, comprehension dawning on her face. "That's why he was able to help Bob and I pass messages behind Bellatrix's back… We'd wondered. She wasn't his true mistress; just another of your relatives!"
Sirius looked from Krumpet to Cadance then back again, in an effort to formulate a plan. His eyes fell on Joseph's swim trunks, which were draped over the back of one of the chairs to dry. A smile crossed his face, as he realized what he had to do. He snatched the trunks and tossed them at Krumpet, where they landed on his head. He reached up and pealed them off and looked up at Sirius with big eyes.
"Krumpet, you're free," said Sirius. "You don't have to punish yourself anymore." Krumpet's eyes filled with tears again as he got up off the floor and ran to Sirius, hugging his legs.
"Oh, thank you, Master Sirius! Thank you!"
"I thought I said no more crying," said Sirius, patting his head awkwardly.
"But Krumpet doesn't have to obey anymore, does he sir?" asked Krumpet, looking up and giving a mischievous grin.
"Er… Krumpet? Was there something you wanted to tell me?" interrupted Cadance.
"Yes, yes, Miss Cadance," said Krumpet turning to her, replacing his grin with a very serious expression. "Krumpet overheard Miss Bella when he was cleaning the oven! Miss Bella was telling her sister that the Order of the Phoenix went to the Americans today to ask for help, and Krumpet listened hard to see if he could hear anything about Miss Cadance, who was so nice to him when she was staying there. But instead, Krumpet heard that the Americans turned the Order down just like Miss Bella knew they would, because Miss Bella knows there is a Death Eater close to the President. The Death Eater reported back to Miss Bella as soon as the Order left, Miss!"
"So Voldemort got to them first," said Cadance, heaving a sigh and looking round at the Order members.
"That's not all, Miss!" exclaimed Krumpet. "You told Krumpet that if you were to return to Hogwarts, he was not to contact you, for his own safety. Krumpet would not have disobeyed unless he thought it was really important, Miss!"
"What is it?" asked Cadance.
"The Death Eaters plan on fully taking over the Americans, Miss! They plan on using their votes in the International Confederation of Wizards to legitimize Voldemort's power! They will attack them tonight, Miss!" exclaimed Krumpet.
The silence that followed Krumpet's statement was deafening.
"Uh, is it time to send Cati in yet?" asked Wyatt after a few seconds. Everyone turned to look at Cati, who cocked an eyebrow.
"Oh, now you want some help with this American Congress thing," she said rolling her eyes.
Cadance, meanwhile, looked contemplative. She was still kneeling next to Krumpet to be eye-level with him. She slapped her knees and stood up, a look of resolve on her face.
"What are you thinking?" asked Charlie, who was relieved that at least she wasn't wearing the grin that he associated with her bad ideas.
"I'm going to need Arthur and Harry and Minerva to leave the room," said Cadance.
"What?! Why?" asked Harry, incredulously.
"Because if this goes poorly, and the Death Eaters succeed in taking over the American government, and we get caught, then this is going to be a big international incident, and it would probably be best if the Minister of Magic, the Head Auror, and the Headmistress of Hogwarts aren't implicated in front of the International Confederation of Wizards' tribunal full of Voldemort's puppets," said Cadance.
Mr. Weasley and McGonagall exchanged a look. Harry, however, had his face set and determined. "I'm in," he said. "Whatever it is, I'm in."
"If you get arrested and dragged in front of the International Court…" began Cadance.
"I'll count on one of you to break me out," finished Harry.
"I'm your man," said Sirius, grinning.
Cadance turned to look at Mr. Weasley and McGonagall. Mr. Weasley shrugged. "I've got diplomatic immunity," he said.
"Minerva?" asked Cadance.
"Someone's got to keep an eye on you," said Minerva. "Count me in, too."
"Alright," said Cadance. "If anyone wants to bow out, now's the time. I'm talking to you, people with small children who need looking after."
"Don't be ridiculous," said Jen, shaking her head. "However, I would like to say that if George and I both end up captured, arrested, and/or killed, I would rather Molly and Arthur get the kids. And if that's not a viable option, Remus is my next choice."
"Hey!" exclaimed Cadance. "What about me?! I'm your sister!"
"Yeah, and I'm your brother-in-law!" exclaimed Ron.
"And I'm your husband's sister-in-law!" exclaimed Cati. "Or your brother-in-law's wife… however you want to see it."
"Alright, look, Hermione and Ron get them if Remus can't take them, but only if Hermione isn't captured," said Jen. George nodded in agreement. "The rest of you are nuts."
"What if I'm captured?" asked Ron. "Does that mean Hermione can't have them?" Jen and George hesitated and looked away. "Hey!"
"Ginny gets them if Hermione's out," said George, nodding.
Wyatt raised his hand. "Who has to get captured for me to get them?" he asked. Leo whacked him in the back of the head.
"There's absolutely no time for this," said Cadance, putting her hands up. "And there's no time to get the rest of the Order in on this, so we're working with who we have here. Krumpet, do you know what time the Death Eaters are planning on attacking?"
"No, Miss," said Krumpet, shaking his head. "Krumpet just heard that it would be later tonight."
"Later on tonight would be the late afternoon there," said Harry. "Five hour time difference."
"They're not going to want to kill many people," said Cadance, thinking aloud. "They're going to want to place them under the Imperius Curse. They'll attack when they think they could get to as many higher-level people as they can."
"There's a meeting this afternoon," said Arabella. "Before our meeting this morning, I overheard two blokes talking about it. Seems like lots of important people are going to be there."
"Time?" asked Cadance.
Arabella paused, thinking for a second. "4:30. Same time as the Quidditch match. That's why they were complaining about it," she answered.
"We've got to get to them before that meeting," said Cadance. "Warn them. Tell them what we know."
"President Thomas said he has faith in his security," said Remus. "Nothing we said then made a different; what makes you think that hearing it now will make him change his mind."
"I don't. But…" Cadance trailed off, as if wondering how carefully she should pick her next words. "Cati and I happen to know a thing or two about layout of the Capitol building."
Cati broke out into a grin and stared into the ceiling as if remembering something. "Oh yeah."
Remus sighed. "I'll do it. It's my turn," he said, turning to Cadance and Cati. "Why do you know the layout of the Capitol building?"
"Look, do you rally support for the Anti-Voldemort movement, or do you want to hear a really long story about a crush that Cati and I may or may not have had on this Congressional Wizard from Ohio?"
John Thomas sat behind his desk in his spacious office, preparing for the meeting. As President of the American Wizarding government, he was quite busy which was why he was in the office on a Saturday. Already today he had signed into law two bills and he had a meeting with his advisors and some senior congressmen in less than an hour. And of course, this morning he had a meeting with the Wizards from Britain's Ministry. He had known they would contact him eventually, but that didn't make it any easier for him to turn them down. He was under particular scrutiny, as he had barely been in office a year, and was the 2nd youngest wizard to be elected president in over a century. The youngest had been impeached after just six months.
He was looking over some reports when his secretary walked in, looking flustered. "Sir, I'm afraid there're some people here demanding to see you immediately."
"Grace, we don't just let anyone in who wants to see me," he said, adopting a parenting tone. She was young and new to the job, just like him.
"I know, sir, but it's Minister Weasley," she said. "And there are a few people with him."
"Send them in," said President Thomas, standing and adjusting his suit. "And send in some refreshments." He walked over to the seating area of his office and took a seat on the couch, wondering what the Minister of Magic could want, considering it was after 9:00 in Britain.
The door opened again and Grace led in four people and, to his surprise, one House-elf. He stood to receive them, smiling warmly as a diplomat should. "Minister," said Thomas, giving Mr. Weasley a nod as they joined him in the seating area.
"President Thomas," said Mr. Weasley, shaking his hand. "I'm sorry we haven't met before now but, as I'm sure you are aware, we've been a bit busy across the pond."
"Ah, yes," said Thomas. "I have heard."
"This is Harry Potter, my Head Auror," said Mr. Weasley pointing at Harry. "And this is Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and Cadance Dumbledore, Head of the Order of the Phoenix." They all exchanged handshakes and then Thomas indicated that they should take a seat. Mr. Weasley and Thomas sat on one couch, while Harry sat in an armchair and McGonagall and Cadance sat on the other couch. Krumpet hovered in the background until Cadance beckoned him over to the couch and he climbed up in between McGonagall and Cadance.
"Well, what can I do for you?" asked Thomas.
"I think you know why we're here," said Mr. Weasley. "The same reason our friends were here this afternoon… er, morning for you."
"I figured," said Thomas with a sigh. "Minister, I'm afraid that my answer is still a firm and resounding 'no.' The wizards and witches of America are not interested in going to war with a Dark Lord who bears no threat to them."
"You think he's just going to stop then, Mr. President?" asked McGonagall. "You think he's just going to be satisfied once he's taken over Britain? No, sir, it's the whole Wizarding world he's after."
"Well, that's not how we see it," said Thomas. "My people tell me that Voldemort has no interest in America.'
"And mine tell me that he's already here," said Cadance. "You've got a mole."
"Impossible," said Thomas, waving his hand dismissively.
"I assure you, President Thomas, we have it on good authority that there is a Death Eater placed close to you and that before the day is out, the Capitol will come under attack," said Arthur.
"Preposterous! How do you know this?" asked Thomas. Cadance and McGonagall glanced down at Krumpet sitting in between them. The President let out a snort. "A House-elf! Have you let them go wild up there in England then?" Krumpet seemed to shrink a little.
"Mr. President, Krumpet here overheard a Death Eater who was careless enough to talk freely about their plans in front of a servant that wasn't truly hers," said Harry. "They want to take over the International Confederation of Wizards, and they need control of your government to do it. Our emissaries warned you today that they might come and they were right. The Death Eaters will come. Voldemort is a very real threat."
"We happen to be in one of the most secure buildings on the face of the planet. Gringotts may be the only place safer," said President Thomas insistently. "It is nearly impossible to get in without being detected!"
"Is it?" asked Cadance, a grin playing across her face.
"Yes!"
Suddenly President Thomas felt himself get grabbed from behind. He gave a yelp and someone from behind him said, "Nearly impossible isn't really good enough, is it?"
"Er, President Thomas, I'd like to introduce you to my daughter-in-law Cati," said Mr. Weasley. Thomas was released and Cati walked around to the front of the couch.
"Nice to meet you, sir," she said, holding her hand out, and tucking her wand away. Thomas reached out dazedly and shook it, looking curiously at her.
Harry was looking down at his pocket watch. "Seven minutes, Cate. Not bad."
"Mr. President, she broke in and made it to your office in less than ten minutes. And that was without using dark magic," said Cadance. Cati cleared her throat and looked up at the ceiling in what she was hoping was a sort of non-guilty kind of look. Cadance glanced at her and then turned back to the President. "Cati broke into your office in less than ten minutes using minimal amounts of dark magic." She glanced back over at Cati, who nodded in agreement.
"I…"trailed off Thomas, looking around hopelessly at all of them. He was at a loss for words.
"I'm hungry," said Cati, tapping her foot impatiently, looking oblivious to how uncomfortable Thomas was with the turn of events.
"Uhh… Grace should be bringing in some refreshments any minute now," said Thomas, in part so that maybe they would think he had control over some of the situation.
"Is that your secretary?" asked Cati. Thomas nodded. "Damnit, I stunned her. Alright, I'll be right back." She bounced off to the door.
"Catalin, we can get something to eat when we're finished here," said McGonagall exasperatedly, as Cati opened the door wide.
"Hey, look who it is!" exclaimed Cati, stepping back from the door to make room as Remus, Sirius, James and Molly walked in ushering two people ahead of them at wand-point. "That was fast!"
"Well, we found these two in the hallway," explained Sirius.
"It was AWESOME!" exclaimed Molly excitedly. "Remus did this strange sort of wave with his wand, and the carpet tripped them up!"
"This is the Head of the Committee on Public Relations and this other fellow is the Secretary of Defense," said Remus, pointing from one of their pseudo-captives to the other. "They were on their way to the meeting."
"Mr. President, I…" began the Defense Secretary, before Thomas cut him off.
"It's alright, we're not really being held hostage," said Thomas, holding up a hand. "The Minister here is just trying to prove a point." Sure enough, Remus and Sirius had already pocketed their wands.
Thomas looked to Mr. Weasley, as if silently asking when it would end. However, Mr. Weasley pointed to James and Molly and said, "Two of my grandchildren. And you know Remus Lupin, of course. And that's Sirius Black, you may recognize the name from when he was convicted of murdering more than a dozen people and sentenced to spend the rest of his life in Azkaban about 35 years ago." Thomas's jaw dropped and he looked over at Sirius.
"How you doing?" asked Sirius with a grin a wink. Harry rolled his eyes.
"Where are the others?" asked McGonagall.
"Oh, they're around," said Sirius, dismissively, squeezing onto the couch in between Krumpet, who didn't take up much room at all, and Cadance.
"This is not proper International Relations," said the Defense Secretary.
"We tried the diplomatic approach," said McGonagall. "Now we're doing it… well, the way we tried to avoid by not sending Cati in the first place."
"We cannot be bullied into changing our position," said the Defense Secretary. "And we will not look like we went down without a fight." He whipped out his wand.
"You're outnumbered, you idiot," said Cadance, as she and her fellow Order Members pulled their wands out and pointed them at him. Molly and James looked positively ecstatic.
Thomas put his hand on his Defense Secretary's wand arm, forcing it down. "That's enough, Jake."
He paused, and then pocked his wand, and the Order lowered theirs, but did not put them away. "Look, just because you managed to break your way in, that doesn't mean that Death Eaters are going to…" began Thomas, before he was interrupted by a ruckus from outside, then the pounding of feet.
Suddenly, Jen, George, Bill, Charlie, and Wyatt all ran in with 4 more American wizards, all with wands drawn. "So… what's new?" asked Cati, casually, as Bill slammed the door shut and magically locked it.
"Well, we were just kidnapping these chaps here," said Jen, gesturing to the American wizards. "Then all of a sudden in popped a few Death Eaters. And this place is a real maze! We blasted a hole in one of the walls to get here!"
Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Who is it?!" asked Cati. Several people groaned and rolled their eyes, and Bill clapped his hand over Cati's mouth.
"Arthur," said Cadance. She grabbed a magazine off of the coffee table and pointed her wand at it. It began to glow blue. "Get the President out of here. We'll find you when this is over." She tossed the magazine at him. He grabbed onto Thomas's arm just before he caught the magazine. There was a pop and Arthur and Thomas were gone.
A split-second later, the door was blasted off his hinges. About ten Death Eaters walked in, wands drawn. The paused for a second, taking in the fact that they were terribly outnumbered by the 11 Order members, six Americans, two teenagers, and one House-Elf. "Sorry, mates, we got here first," said Sirius.
"But how?" hissed one. Krumpet peaked out from behind Sirius's legs.
"YOU!" shrieked one on the far side, stepping forward and removing her mask.
"Ah, Bellatrix," said Sirius, shaking his head. "It's been a while."
"How did you manage to steal my elf, cousin?" she asked, her tone dangerous.
"He wasn't your elf," said Sirius. "And now he's nobody's."
"You really should have watched what you said around him," said Cadance, shaking her head.
"Look, you're horribly outnumbered, and our kids are here so we really don't want to duel you right here anyway, so why don't you just leave the way you came?" asked Harry. "This way we won't have to file an incident report with the International Confederation of Wizards explaining why we arrested and/or killed you on American soil."
"We will get the American government. You will fail," hissed Bellatrix.
Before anyone could open their mouth to retort, all the Death Eaters Apparated out.
"Well," said George, as they all finally lowered their wands. "That was fun."
"It's not over yet," said Jen. "There's still the mole in this office."
"Well, obviously the Death Eater is this fellow here," said Harry, pointing his wand at the Defense Secretary. There was a split-second pause then the Defense Secretary pulled his wand out as well.
"Stupefy!" shouted Wyatt, who was standing right behind him. The Defense Secretary hit the ground, stunned.
"I told you that you were outnumbered," said Cadance, looking down at his still form and shaking her head.
Remus bent down and pushed up the sleeve of the Defense Secretary's robes, to reveal the Dark Mark. "How did you know?" asked Remus.
"He was twitchy and nervous when he pulled his wand on us earlier," said Harry, shaking his head. "And he kept grabbing his forearm, where the Dark Mark would have been."
Just then, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, and Arabella walked in with 3 more American hostages, surveying the damage to the door curiously. They looked at the man stunned on the floor, then back up at everyone else. "Hey, you know someone blew up this wall out here?" asked Ron, jerking his thumb over his shoulder.
"There were some Death Eaters," said Remus. "It's a long story."
"Oh, did they stun him then?" asked Hermione, pointing at the stunned Defense Secretary.
"He's the mole," explained Jen. "What should we do with him?"
"We'll take care of him," said one of the American wizards, who Remus had introduced earlier as the Head of the Committee on Public Relations.
"Then we should probably just go and get Arthur and tell him and President Thomas that it's all over," said Harry. "Did you send them to Hogwarts?"
"Oh, no," said Cadance, breaking out into a grin. Charlie groaned. That was the look that he associated with her bad ideas. "I sent them to the one place where I knew the Death Eaters would never go looking for them."
"What the hell is this place?" asked Ron, a look of disgust on his face as they looked around at the children running around, seemingly unsupervised, back and forth between arcade games and a series of large tubes that snaked around the entire establishment close to the ceiling.
"Chuck E. Cheese," said Cadance, matter-of-factly.
"Why did they stamp our hands?" asked Charlie. "And why can't I see it anymore?"
"BALL PIT!" exclaimed Cati pointing. She started to run off towards it when Bill grabbed her by the back of her robes.
"No, no," he said. "You're on duty."
They spotted Mr. Weasley and President Thomas sitting in a booth in a corner, a half-eaten pizza in between them. They walked over to them. "Well?" asked Mr. Weasley. He took a bite of his pizza.
"The Death Eaters are gone, and your Secretary of Defense is stunned on the floor of the President's office," said Harry. Thomas raised an eyebrow at him. "He's a Death Eater. Your Head of Public Relations will fill you in."
"So that's it then," said Mr. Weasley, sighing in relief.
"No it is not," said Cati emphatically. "Someone promised me that we could get food after this." She looked at McGonagall.
"Fine. Grab a table."
"And let's buy a pizza for those two," said Cati, pointing at two girls sitting in a booth. "What's your names?"
They hesitated a moment and then one answered, "I'm Kassy, and she's Kaitylen."
"Why are we buying them a pizza?" asked Harry, tapping Cati on the shoulder.
"Because they reviewed the last chapter," said Cati, matter-of-factly. Cadance nodded in agreement.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Just roll with it."
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