Disclaimer: Anything familiar to JKR's books probably comes from there and is hers not mine. Also, Harry Potter, Hogwarts, the Wizarding World, and anything else that has to do with it belongs to the lovely JK Rowling, not me. I'm just playing in her sandbox and building my own Hogwarts in it.
Chapter Thirty-Six
"So it's got two dining rooms, a kitchen with a few house-elves, and a living room on the first floor. The second floor is mainly a library with some studies for the working adults staying with us. The third floor has at least twenty bedrooms painted like the old house was – all four school colors. The fourth floor has master bedrooms and my room. Truthfully, the best part is the basement, which is half training room, half pool. There's an excellent potions lab attached to it as well, good for prank potions. Outside is a Quidditch Pitch and lots of room to run around in," Harry said while sitting on his bed in the twins' room the second day of his confinement; when he had fought against sharing with Ron, they gave in and let him bunk with the twins.
"I can't wait to go there," Ginny said, grinning at the description of the new house.
"The potions lab," Fred began.
"Sounds like the place for us," George finished, both of them grinning.
"The entire house is brilliant," Harry agreed. "It'll be the perfect place during the summer. Maybe you can just stay with me next summer instead of coming to this terrible place where you're confined to stay indoors because the adults aren't smart enough to find a place with land around it to place the charm over."
"We'll try to persuade Mum, but it'll be tough," Ginny sighed, and Harry privately agreed as they turned the conversation to memories of the prank wars from the summer before.
…
Tracey blocked a blow with her sword, forcing Daphne to move away with her own sword to try and find an opening.
Ever since Harry had been kidnapped, Tracey's time had been split between training and helping the adults work on making a Journal that would bring him home. All of the time spent training had exhausted her, but it also made her stronger and more knowledgeable when it came to moves. It made it a lot harder for Daphne to beat her now.
"Man, Trace, you've gotten so much better in just the four days he's been gone," Daphne panted, her sword upright in front of her as she tried to regain her breath.
Tracey said nothing as she launched another blow at Daphne, her mind already beginning to think of charms that could be used to make the plan happen even as she fought with her oldest friend.
…
Harry pulled down another book from the small but well-stocked library that the house had. No one bothered him in here as he read through the books, taking notes in his Journal on the spells that he didn't know, sometimes writing down book titles to have Remus or someone else buy if they didn't already have the book in their library.
"Hey," Ginny said as she walked into the library with a couple of sandwiches, crisps, and pumpkin juice floating behind her. "I brought you some lunch, and I thought I'd eat with you."
"Thanks, Gin," Harry replied, grinning up at her as he pushed the book and Journal away to pull the food to him.
"Anything good in those books?" she asked, gesturing to the pile he had already read the past few days.
"Some good hexes and jinxes to use in both pranks and a fight," Harry stated, opening his Journal to show her some of the best he had starred.
As they looked at the Journal, Tracey sent a message to Harry, asking him to sign on, so they did, making it look like they were looking up spells and writing them down still.
Tracey: It'll take another couple of weeks, but we've finally found pretty much everything we need to use your Journal to Portkey you to another Journal.
Harry: That's great!
Tracey: Oh, the Marauders and my father ask that you inform the twins that the unmarked owl headed to them has a charm that needs the activation for the Map to read the real thing. Until that's stated with a tap of the wand to the paper, it looks like a letter without magic. The usual to wipe it clean again.
Ginny: We'll let them know.
Tracey: Oh, hi Gin. He driving you crazy yet?
Harry: Hey!
Ginny: Nah. He's been looking up spells for pranks and duels. It's going to be quite useful when we get to school.
Tracey: That bored Harry?
Harry: Not always, but yeah. I've been helping the twins with their wireless listeners, and they're almost done.
Tracey: Make sure you bring as many as you can back here, okay?
Harry: Of course! Who do you take me for, Draco?
Tracey: I'll talk to you both later.
Harry: See you, Trace.
"You miss her," Ginny commented as Harry deactivated the Journal a bit sadly, going back to his notes.
"Of course I do," he sighed. "I'm going to miss you when I leave, but at least I had already expected a summer away from you and got to say goodbye. It was unexpected and sudden when I got dragged away from her."
"You'll see her soon, and then you and I will have time to ourselves once school starts," Ginny said softly, resting her head on his shoulder, letting him wrap his arm around her as he kissed the top of her head.
"Definitely," he agreed with a smile while going back to his reading.
…
Harry: Why, hello Fleur. What brings you to contacting me on this lovely day?
Fleur: I was wondering what you know of the Order of the Phoenix.
Harry: Were you asked to join it?
Fleur: I was. Have you heard of it?
Harry: Who asked you to join?
Fleur: Bill Weasley.
Harry: My suggestion is to tell Bill that, while you are against Lord Voldemort, you cannot agree to join the Order.
Fleur: Why should I not join?
Harry: I was at Tracey's house as my guardians helped her family pack because we were moving to a new, more protected home. While walking around the edge of the wards, I saw two cloaked people with Ginny, so I unconsciously walked towards them and put a foot outside of the wards – only a foot, mind you. They Portkeyed me away, and I find out that the people kidnapping me aren't Death Eaters, but Order members under the orders of Albus Dumbledore to retrieve me because I was supposedly "unsafe." My family and other friends haven't seen me since, and this was almost two weeks ago.
Fleur: I will not join after hearing that. I shall tell William that I will stand against Voldemort but not alongside a group that kidnaps innocent people for no reason.
Harry: *Laughs* Nicely stated! That will throw the entire Order for a loop as no one outside the Order is supposed to know about it, and Bill hasn't told you, so they'll have no idea how it got out.
Fleur: It shall be funny. My only question now is how will I help you fight?
Harry: When I get out of here in just over a week or so, I'll send you a message of where to meet our Secret Keeper, and if you can prove that you're actually you, you'll be told the secret, and you can help out the parents of my friends. In a way, we're basically a third side to the war; against Voldemort without being under Dumbledore's thumb.
Fleur: Thank you, Harry. I will do that. I hope you get out of there safely.
Harry: So do I, and thanks for asking me. Hopefully, I'll see you soon.
…
"Are you sure they're working?" Harry asked the twins as he put the little piece of something that felt like rubber in his ear, glad there was a string on it to pull it out.
"Trust us, we tested it over and over," Fred said, and Harry nodded once before he began hearing voices. All four of them shared smiles.
"The first order of business is to find out how recruitment is going," the voice of Albus Dumbledore said into Harry's ear. "William, how is it going with Miss Delacour?"
"Professor, we may have a problem there…" Bill admitted slowly, and Harry smirked as he had a good idea of what was on Bill's mind. "You see, when she got back to me, she said she'd fight against Voldemort, but not alongside someone who kidnaps innocent people without reason."
Gasps were heard over the earpieces, and Harry burst out laughing, making the others look at him oddly, but he made a gesture that basically meant later.
"How did she hear about this?" Dumbledore asked once he had gotten silence. "Mr. Weasley, you did not mention it to her, did you?"
"No professor, not at all," Bill replied quickly, and Harry smiled mischievously, making sure the others knew who had really told her.
"Did anyone else inform Miss Delacour about what has been going on here?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry shook his head, still quite amused as the Order denied it.
"Is it possible someone is under the Imperius or had his or her memory erased?" a voice Harry had learned belonged to a Tonks asked.
"I do not believe so," Dumbledore mused, and Harry knew that Dumbledore suspected him. "What has young Harry been doing since he got here?"
"When he isn't talking with Ginny and the twins in the room the three boys share, he's up in the library, reading and taking notes on spells," Molly Weasley informed Dumbledore, and Harry growled at how easily they just told the man everything he wanted to know.
"And he has sent no messages through any of his friends out of the house?" Dumbledore asked.
"Anything any of the four children sends is checked and read over before being allowed out," Kingsley stated, and at that all four were growling. They were checking all of their mail!
Harry had been expecting it, but to hear it said so… carelessly, as if they weren't invading someone's privacy, was just terrible to hear.
"There has been nothing to his friends or family related to him at all; it's all just normal conversation between friends," Kingsley finished.
"Very well, we shall have to figure out how the information got out," Dumbledore said. "Now onto guard duty. Has there been any activity?"
"I haven't seen anyone out of the ordinary trying to get into the Department," Arthur Weasley said.
"Nothing odd, no," most of the Order members seemed to be saying.
Of course, the moment Harry heard Mr. Weasley say the Department, he knew what they were guarding.
The Prophecy, it's always about that stupid prophecy, he thought darkly as the meeting came to an end. Well, at least he now knew what the Order was up to and where all of their attention was centered.
Something good came out of their listening in besides a laugh about the Fleur situation that he now got to explain to expectant Weasleys.
…
"Hey Luna," Astoria said as the blond girl same over to stay for the rest of the summer. Her father hadn't wanted her to stay at the Manor, but Luna had said she wanted to be able to stay with her friends.
"Hello Astoria," Luna said, looking around the room with interest. "This house has quite a lot of Plyernias."
"What do those do?" Astoria asked as she led Luna to the third floor to show her the Ravenclaw her room, truly curious after getting to know Luna over the past few years.
"Oh, they give off a smell that makes a room or building smell brand new," Luna replied brightly. Astoria thought it might be because she had asked with true interest.
"You're good," Astoria said with a small laugh. "This house is new, or at least newly renovated. Anyway, this is your room for the summer." Astoria opened up a door into a Ravenclaw room, and Luna smiled before moving to unpack.
"The Blegnifs are telling me that there are others here," Luna commented lightly as Astoria helped her put clothes away.
"Hermione and her parents just got here last night," Astoria said, recognizing the comment for the request it was. "Tracey and her family, my family, Draco, Theo, Sirius, and Remus have been here for two and a half weeks. Neville and his grandmother got here a few days after us. Maya, Graham, and Natalie are coming here with Natalie's parents tomorrow."
"No Harry?" Luna asked, sounding a little disappointed.
"Please, do everyone a favor and don't mention Harry when Tracey is around," Astoria sighed. "The day we were all moving in here, we were at Tracey's house so that the adults could pack up what they needed, and Harry got kidnapped by Dumbledore's group, known as the Order of the Phoenix. He's there with the Weasleys and other people, and he's furious at Dumbledore right now."
"That's too bad," Luna said sadly. "Why should I not mention him around Tracey?"
"She gets really upset whenever he's mentioned and goes to train. Whenever she's not training, she's helping the adults work on making a new Journal that will allow them to Portkey Harry here using his own Journal. Not even Theo can distract her for long." Astoria turned to make sure the door was closed as it would put up a Privacy Charm before saying one last thing. "Truthfully, we're all worried about her."
"There's not much to be worried about," Luna stated in her calm way. "From what you've told me, it seems Tracey has a bad infestation of Lollingdors, which make a person get upset easily when a missing family member is mentioned. They always go away when the person is found again. Theo also shouldn't worry; Tracey does love him, but she's closer to Harry right now, and it's harder not to know that he's safe, especially when we all thought he would be with us here. Hopefully, the Order will manage to fight the Wrackspurts shortly and allow him to come home."
Astoria began to smile again as her friend gave her opinion. In her own, weird way, Luna knew how to make a person relax more and become less worried.
"Thanks for the reassurance, Luna," Astoria finally said as they finished. "Now come on, let's go do some flying outside."
Astoria took off running and heard Luna behind her as they raced to get outside before transforming, using the exercise as a way to get rid of the tension everyone was feeling because of Harry's kidnapping.
…
Ron walked almost silently beneath the Invisibility Cloak Harry had lent him for spying on the Order. With Harry at Headquarters, the Order paid more attention to what he, Ginny, and the twins were up to than to what he, Ron, did, which was the whole point.
One of the most important memories Ron had was from that day before the Third Task when he and Harry had been by the lake, talking with a Privacy Charm around them. He had been confused until Harry had finally explained what he wanted from Ron.
"Ron, I trust you as much as I trust the twins and Hermione, and you know how much I trust them."
Yes, Ron knew how much his friend trusted his friends. Anyone with a colored Journal was well trusted by the leader of leaders, and it seemed Harry had come, in only one year after three of not being friends, to trust Ron. He didn't feel that he earned the trust after how he had acted, but Harry claimed that's why he earned it.
"What I'm about to ask of you is more than I have the right to ask of anyone besides myself, but I have to ask you. If I could do this myself, I would, but you're the only one who will be able to do this."
The boys had sat there silently before Ron had finally replied to Harry, telling him one of the most truthful things he had ever said in his life.
"I'll do whatever you ask of me because I know you'll only ask me to do something that you'd do yourself if you could, and also because I know whatever it is will be aimed to do the right thing, not something dark."
Once Ron had said that, the way he looked at the world had changed, though he still couldn't say if it was for the better or not. After it had all been explained, Ron understood why Harry had to ask him to do it: There was no one else who could do it as he was the only one in the position for the task.
So, after a lot of discussion and ideas on how to do the job, here Ron was, sneaking around to spy on the Order as he pretended to be the one teen not friends with Harry, only getting along with him as they didn't fight anymore. As long as none of the adults suspected he was friends with Harry and would pass on information to him, they let small things slip around him that they wouldn't around any of the others, and all Ron did was file them away into his mind to tell to Harry later on.
It was a tough job, but Ron was proud to do it.
…
Harry grinned in accomplishment as he held up a few pieces of parchment. On them were different maps. There was one of Grimmauld Place that Harry had had in a pouch on his belt when he came here, another of Marauder Manor from a different pouch, one of the Burrow that the three Weasleys had made, one of Tracey's home, and a final one of Order Headquarters.
None of the adults had an inkling of a clue that Harry had been slowly creating the last map as he moved around the house to empty areas. Of course, only the one of Grimmauld Place was completely finished with all the charms, but the others were almost done as Tracey used the instructions from Harry's book to remind him how to make one.
By the time he left Headquarters, the Weasley teens would have a working Map to use of Headquarters while he would be able to duplicate it into spare Maps and into their Journals at a later date.
Looking down at his emerald-green Journal that had a conversation with Tracey on it from about half an hour before, Harry pulled out his wand and began charming the most important Map of the group, at least for now.
A few hours, some sandwiches, and four glasses of pumpkin juice later, Harry was able to proudly collect Ginny and the twins holding a piece of parchment in his hand.
"Is it done?" they all asked almost in sync once the door was closed on the boys' room.
"I Solemnly Swear I am Spying on the Order," Harry stated with a grin, tapping the Map with his wand before laying it out on his bed for them all to look at.
In front of them was a map of headquarters, and the twins were smiling the smile that most ran away from as it usually meant someone was about to be pranked. Of course, all it did was make Harry smirk as he watched them point out different dots to the other while whispering back and forth.
"You just love this, don't you?" Ginny asked, moving over to Harry and wrapping an arm around his waist.
"Oh yeah," Harry agreed, "especially if it's something that will upset Dumbledore and his Order. Besides, knowing the twins, they'll also use this to help spy on them even when I'm back home."
"I'm going to miss having you here, even if I know it's best you're out from under Dumbledore's thumb," Ginny sighed, and Harry privately agreed as he didn't want to leave Ginny but knew he had to.
"Harry, we get to keep this, right?" Fred suddenly asked, looking up at Harry, who grinned and nodded. "Excellent!"
"Just make sure you remember to keep on getting information from the Order once I'm gone," Harry reminded them, and both boys just waved a hand in Harry's direction without turning away from the Map.
"Come on, let's leave these two with their new toy," Ginny said in amusement, and they both laughed quietly as they left the room to go to the library. "So, are you going to work on the other Maps while you're still here?"
"I'll finish the set for the four of you before I leave," Harry replied as he settled down on a couch in the room. "When I get back home, I'll work on the others when I've actually got free time to make them."
"At least you know the twins will put them to good use," Ginny remarked, also sitting on the couch and moving closer to Harry. Harry looked down at her with a raised eyebrow.
"And you won't be using them just as much as the twins?" Harry asked with a touch of sarcasm.
"You know me so well," Ginny said with a grin before leaning up to kiss him.
Harry returned it enthusiastically as they didn't get much alone time, not in this house. It was nice just to have a bit of a chance to relax in this place, and Ginny always helped it happen.
…
Tracey stood in front of the two Marauders and her father, a black book in her hands as she waited to hear their verdict.
It had been three weeks since Harry had been taken by Dumbledore, and Tracey was exhausted from how much time she had spent training or working on this one Journal just to alleviate her worry that just didn't seem to go away.
While she knew that Harry was perfectly fine, she couldn't help but be worried for him. There was a difference between knowing she would have to allow Harry to be on his own for a while like during the Tournament the day before and having it sprung upon her so suddenly.
As much as she hated to admit it, four years of being basically twins with Harry had made it hard to be away from him like this, especially not knowing what Dumbledore could do to try and control him.
In the future she might feel this way about Theo, but right now Harry was the closest person to her in her life, at least for a while longer. At least the others understood it and just tried to distract her as much as they could.
"I believe…" her father began, and Tracey concentrated on him more, looking for a hint of his decision. Then, he smiled, and Tracey was able to relax even before he finished his thought. "That we have finally finished the Portkey for Harry."
So, I'm posting this earlier than normal today, though I'll be leaving for school sometime within the next hour or so. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this or not, but this week is the last week of my first quarter of school, so I'm a fourth of the way done and have midterms. Thanks to this system my county uses, I only have to take two of my four exams, so I'm taking advantage of it. I'll be playing tennis this morning and then be home by noon with a friend (My lovely Plot Beta, in fact).
Anyway… This chapter was to show a bunch of things including time passing, Ron, Fleur, and some Luna. Remember that mystery conversation between Ron and Harry that I never showed? Well, there's as much of it as you're going to get, right back up there in the italics during Ron's portion.
Now, I'd best get ready for school by actually eating breakfast for once. I've got tennis to play! :)
Posted: 10/26/11