A/N. Very sorry I couldn't reply to any of your lovely reviews! FF wouldn't let me for some reason. Anyway, thanks a lot everyone! And here's the next chapter…

Chapter 38: Trouble

The next few months passed in a blur of work, Quidditch, Hogsmeade visits, DA meetings…and terrible anxiety. Every day Alicia waited anxiously for news of Charlie and the Order.

And one day, as Christmas drew near, those close to the Order had a terrible shock.

It was a cold night, and a bitter wind battered the castle walls. Alicia was curled up in her four-poster bed, her covers wrapped tightly round her, wearing as many layers as she could find. A fire crackled in the hearth in the corner of the dormitory, but there was still a chilly draft.

The rest of her dorm mates were asleep; Angelina was snoring quietly in the bed opposite hers, Bella had fallen asleep with a book in her hands, Hannah and Beth were both curled up tightly in their beds, and their tell-tale slow breathing told Alicia that they were fast asleep. But she couldn't sleep.

She had been staring at the same spot on the wall for half an hour, turning things over in her mind. She thought back to that conversation she'd had with Charlie in Hogsmeade a few months ago about the DA, and since then she had realised how stupid it had been. Why should he be worried about her getting into trouble? He was in far more danger being a part of the Order; every day that he fought for them, his life was in danger. And it scared her.

She didn't talk to anyone about it, though she knew Angelina and Katie were worried about her. She kept walking in on them whispering and they would stop as soon as she entered the room. She knew she must have been acting strangely, for she barely slept and she looked paler every day, became more and more withdrawn and sought solitude. She knew it wouldn't solve her problems but the fear was always there, gnawing away at her stomach.

She wondered what Charlie was doing at that precise moment; she hoped he was somewhere warm and safe. At that moment, there was a sudden scream; a long drawn out sound of utter terror. Alicia jolted upright in shock.

The sound had woken her friends.

"What was that?" Angelina asked, rubbing her eyes blearily. Alicia didn't answer. She was listening hard, with wide eyes.

There was another scream, fainter this time but it was definitely coming from the boys' dormitories. Alicia leapt out of bed and pulled on the nearest pair of shoes.

"Alicia!" hissed Bella. "Where are you going?"

There was some protest from her other dorm mates, but Alicia ignored them and hurried down the steps into the Common Room. A second later, two boys came skidding down the stairs.

"I'm telling you; it wasn't just a dream!" one of them shouted, his voice full of fear and urgency.

"Harry, maybe you should just stop and think about this for a secon-"

"No Ron!" Harry interrupted. "We haven't got time for that! Your dad's in danger!"

Ron's eyes widened as he finally comprehended the severity of the situation. It was at that moment that Harry caught sight of Alicia, watching quietly in the darkness.

"What's going on, Harry?" Alicia asked slowly, her eyes wide with fear.

Harry sighed. "Nothing's going on, Alicia. Go back to bed. Everything's fine."

"No, it's not," Alicia said. "You just said that Mr Weasley is in danger. It's not fine. What's going on? Tell me!" she demanded, that knot of worry in her stomach tightening.

"Please, Alicia, just go back to bed," Harry begged. "I haven't got time…there's no time, I need to find Dumbledore…"

"I'm coming with you," Alicia said. "You can tell me on the way."

Harry looked as if he was going to protest but Ron interrupted.

"Harry, you said this was urgent," Ron said, giving Harry a significant look. Harry nodded grimly.

"Now will you tell me what's going on?" Alicia asked, as they hurried along the cold corridors.

"Harry had a dream-"

"It wasn't a dream!" interrupted Harry furiously.

"Alright, alright," Ron said hastily. "Harry had a…vision that my dad was attacked."

"Attacked?" Alicia repeated breathlessly.

"By some sort of snake," Ron continued.

"But how can you possibly have seen that, Harry?" Alicia asked, frowning in confusion. "Are you sure it wasn't just a dream?"

"No, you don't understand, Alicia!" Harry exclaimed in frustration. "This wasn't just an ordinary dream! I've had visions like this before – there's a connection, with my scar. I sometimes see what Voldemort is thinking."

Alicia's eyes widened with fear and her eyes flickered to his scar. Harry did not miss this.

"Don't be afraid of me, Al," Harry said softly.

Alicia shook her head violently. "I'm not, of course I'm not. Come on, we need to find Dumbledore."

Several hours later, Alicia was sat in the cold living room of Grimmauld Place. The rest of the Weasleys and Harry were seated around her; Ginny curled up in an armchair, eyes closed, the twins sitting stock still on one of the old sagging sofas, Ron sitting by the fireplace, staring into the grate absently. Sirius was sitting at the table, drumming his fingers on the wood, his eyes flickering from one person to another. Alicia could sense his desperation and frustration at being shut up for so long, prevented from helping the rest of the Order. She felt sorry for him but there was nothing either of them could do about it.

The clock ticked monotonously on the wall. No one dared to speak.

Suddenly there was a burst of fire in mid-air and a scroll of parchment fell on to the floor by Fred's feet accompanied by a golden phoenix feather.

"It's Fawkes," Harry said urgently and Fred tore open the letter.

"It's from Mum," Fred said, his eyes quickly scanning the letter. "It says: Dad is still alive. I am setting out for St. Mungo's now. Stay where you are. I will send news as soon as I can. Mum."

Alicia got up abruptly and went over to the cabinet in the corner, pulling out a bottle of Firewhisky and some glasses. She handed them round and everyone drank, eagerly, as though the very slight relief had given them thirst again, though more likely it was to give themselves something to do.

The night dragged on slowly. Alicia didn't think she'd ever sat through a longer night than this one. Finally, as the candles began to get smaller and smaller, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Alicia was awoken by the sound of the living room door opening, and she looked up to see Mrs Weasley striding in, looking extremely pale.

They all looked up desperately as she entered, and she gave a faint smile.

"He's going to be all right," she said, her voice weak, saying the words everyone had prayed all night to hear. "We can all go and see him later. Bill's with him now; no news of Charlie yet."

Alicia looked up at Mrs Weasley searchingly. She gave her as reassuring a smile as she could.

"I'm sure he's alright, dear, don't worry," Mrs Weasley said. "He's out on Order business – he's due back this morning."

Alicia nodded mutely and Mrs Weasley enveloped her in a hug.

"Breakfast time, I think," said Sirius cheerfully.

They all went to visit Mr Weasley in St. Mungo's later that day. Alicia, after briefly seeing him, left the others alone, leaving them with their father, taking Harry with her in search of coffee.

"Merlin, I'm in here far too often," Alicia said, with a wry grin, shaking her head and looking around her. "How are you doing, Harry?" she asked, as they walked. "Are you alright?"

Harry nodded, but didn't say anything. Alicia could tell he didn't want to talk about it, but she knew that sooner or later he was going to have to, and she intended to be the one to hear it.

Down in lobby, clutching steaming mugs of coffee, Alicia tried to open the subject again.

"So you say it was some kind of dream?" Alicia said casually, sipping her coffee.

Harry's face was pale, wan, and he hadn't touched his coffee. "It wasn't really a dream," he said, more patient than he had been last night. "More of a…a sort of vision. I…I don't understand it, I don't understand why I saw what I saw."

"So it's some kind of connection…with your scar," Alicia continued. Then she gasped slightly. "Unless You-Know-Who is posse-"

"Alicia, I'd really rather not talk about it," Harry interrupted, looking worse than ever.

Alicia nodded and pushed the steaming mug into his hands. "Drink, Harry. You need it."

At that moment, there came a cheerful voice from above them. "You lot alright?"

They both looked up to see Tonks grinning down at them.

"Fine thanks," Alicia replied with a smile, glancing sideways at Harry who was looking gloomy and had resumed staring listlessly into his mug. "Any news from the Order?" Alicia asked, lowering her voice.

"That's what I came to tell you," Tonks said. "Thought I'd let you know that the rest of our lot have just got back this morning. I tell you, there was a mighty big shock when we told them what had happened to Arthur. Praise Merlin he's alive. Charlie's upstairs, if you want to see him. He was looking for you, but I told him to go see his father and I'd find you."

Alicia nodded in thanks and got up. "You coming, Harry?"

"Sure," he said, getting up too. "Let's go see lover-boy," he said, with a small smirk.

Alicia grinned, pleased at the sudden change in Harry's mood.

Christmas passed quickly. Alicia returned to her parents' for Christmas and stayed at Grimmauld Place for New Year.

They were soon back at school. Alicia had spent most of the Christmas holidays badgering Charlie about her uncle, but every time she asked, he told her that there was no news.

"Ginny's birthday was a close call. It's too dangerous for him here. He's left the country. We haven't been able to contact him," he would always say.

Alicia was frustrated but she knew there was nothing the Order could do about it. She would just have to be patient. But she desperately wanted to talk to her uncle and find out about him.

Meanwhile, she threw all her efforts into school – her work and the DA meetings. They had started working on Patronuses. Everybody was very keen to begin practising this particular charm, though Harry constantly reminded them that practising it in the middle of a brightly lit classroom when they were not under threat was very different from producing it when confronted by a Dementor.

"Oh don't be such a killjoy!" said Cho Chang brightly, and Alicia had half a mind to agree with her as she watched her goat Patronus gambol around her.

"Aren't they lovely?" Alicia said, smiling happily.

"They're not supposed to be lovely," Harry reminded her, but she just rolled her eyes at him.

Suddenly the door of the Room of Requirement opened and closed. Harry glanced round to see who had entered but there was no one in sight. Everyone had fallen silent.

"Harry," Alicia said quietly and pointed downwards. Her Patronus had dissolved. Harry looked downwards to see Dobby tugging urgently on his robes.

"Harry Potter, sir," Dobby squeaked, clearly very afraid and frantic. "Dobby has come to warn you…but the house-elves have been warned not to tel…she…she…"

"What?" Harry said urgently. "Who's "she"?"

Dobby, who had gone slightly cross-eyed with fear, seemed to be struggling greatly with himself.

"Umbridge?" Harry asked in horror. The little elf nodded slowly, looking stricken, before promptly trying to knock his head hard against Harry's knees. "What about her? She hasn't found out about this – about the DA?"

Poor Dobby was looking more terrified than ever, and he kept trying to kick himself and slam his head against the door in punishment.

"Is she coming?" Harry asked slowly, bending down to Dobby's level. There was a pause.

Then Dobby let out a howl and threw himself to the floor. "Yes, Harry Potter, yes!"

Harry straightened up. "What are you waiting for?" he bawled. "RUN!"

There was immediate chaos. Everyone pelted towards the door in a huge scrum. Alicia got caught up in the crowd, jostled this way and that.

Her mind whirled. She couldn't make it back to the Gryffindor Common Room, not in time. Without pausing to think, she sprinted off down the corridor, charging towards the steps in front of her and flinging herself through the door of the Owlery.

To her relief, it appeared to be empty. She flung herself down in a corner, panting breathlessly, waiting for her heart to stop pounding painfully. She hoped that everyone had got away safely, and suddenly her mind flickered to Harry. What if he'd been caught?

She waited for half an hour or so, before hurrying back to her dormitory where she flung herself into bed, her heart still pounding.

"Exciting night out?" Angelina said, raising an eyebrow, from where she was sitting on her bed, scribbling down Quidditch plays.

"It's the DA," Alicia explained hastily. "We've been discovered. By Umbridge."

Angelina's smirk faded. "What?" she exclaimed.

"Someone blabbed," Alicia said, pulling on her pyjamas. "I just hope Harry got away ok; the kid doesn't need any more trouble."

Angelina nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm glad I didn't go tonight," she said, turning back to her notes. "I tell you, if any of my Quidditch team got caught, I'll skin them alive."

Alicia's eyes widened. She didn't like to think what would have happened if she'd been caught. Angelina would have been furious. Not to mention Charlie. Especially after his warning.

As the weather got warmer and April turned to May, Alicia got a big shock.

She and Angelina were coming back up to the castle after visiting Hagrid one afternoon when they heard a great bang. They hurried into the Entrance Hall to find, to their great surprise, an enormous crowd of students gathered there.

And in the middle of them all stood Fred and George.

"Oh no, what have they done now?" Alicia muttered, shaking her head in despair.

"So!" shouted Umbridge triumphantly, standing in front of them looking extremely pleased. "So – you think it's amusing to turn a school corridor into a swamp, do you?"

Alicia gasped. "They didn't."

"Pretty amusing, yeah," said Fred, catching Alicia's eye and winking at her. She looked back at him, shaking her head disapprovingly, but unable to keep the smile from her face.

"You two," continued Umbridge, as Filch hovered about her elbow gleefully clutching a piece of parchment. "are about to learn what happens to wrong-doers in my school."

"You know what?" Fred said without a sign of fear. "I don't think we are. George," he said, turning to his twin. "I think we've outgrown full-time education."

George nodded, a wicked grin spreading across his face.

Before anyone could so much as say a word, they both raised their wands and shouted; "Accio brooms!"

There was a loud crash from somewhere in the distance and then two brooms came soaring through the air, still trailing the chain and metal peg. The twins mounted their brooms.

"We won't be seeing you," Fred said.

"Yeah, don't bother to keep in touch," grinned George. "Anyone who fancies buying a Portable Swamp, come to number 93 Diagon Alley- our new premises!"

And with that, they kicked up from the ground and shot into the air.

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"

The poltergeist swept off his belled hat and saluted them, as they soared out of the doors into the sunset to great applause.

Alicia shook her head with amusement as Angelina burst out laughing.

"Their mother is going to kill them!"

The exams began a month later and the school became quiet and subdued. Everyone was studying hard, particularly the fifth and seventh year students.

Alicia did her best to put everything out of her mind and focus hard on her studying but it was difficult when she kept worrying about Charlie. Although the Order refused them news, she knew something big was going on and tensions seemed to be running high whenever she saw any member of the Order.

Even when her exams were over, it was hardly a relief because she was now dreading the results.

"Relax Alicia, it'll be just fine. It's a good thing that the results aren't for a long time," Katie tried to reassure her as they headed out of the hall after Alicia's last exam.

"A good thing!" Alicia repeated shrilly. "How is it a good thing that I have to wait until July to get the results? It's going to be torture!"

Katie shook her head in resignation. "Come on, let's find the others."

"Alicia!" came Angelina's panicked voice as she entered the Common Room.

"What's wrong, Ange?" Alicia asked, at once.

"It's Harry and the others. They've gone!"

"Gone where?" she frowned.

"I don't know. I ran into Ginny in the corridor and she said something about the Ministry and You-Know-Who and…" she lowered her voice hastily and glanced around them. "Sirius. I went to find you but I couldn't. I was just about to go back and try and find Ginny when I saw them out of the castle window. They were heading down to the Forbidden Forest. I watched them and they took off on some sort of invisible creature…it was weird…I'm guessing it was a Thestral and they disappeared."

Angelina's face was worried.

"Who was it?" Alicia asked, her heart rate beginning to speed up as fear kicked in.

"Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville," Angelina replied, biting her lip in anxiety.

"Oh of all the stupid plans, I-" Alicia muttered angrily, kicking the chair in frustration. "How could they do this? How could they just go off to the Ministry like this? Stupid!"

"What should we do?" Angelina asked.

"The Order. We need to send word to the Order. Before it's too late," Alicia replied, thinking hard.

"But how? The Ministry is watching all the fires!"

Alicia thought for a moment. Then she snapped her fingers. "Umbridge's office! We can use the fire there!"

"But won't she be in there?"

"We'll just have to try and distract her somehow. Come on," Alicia said, hurrying towards the portrait hole.

"She's not there," whispered Alicia, as she peered through the keyhole of Umbridge's door. "That's strangely lucky," she said, frowning slightly.

She pushed open the door and caught sight of a number of bodies lying on the ground.

"It's Malfoy and his cronies. Put a Body-bind curse on them," Alicia called to Angelina who nodded.

Alicia hurried over to the fire. Grabbing a handful of Floo Powder, she threw it into the fire and stuck her head into it, shouting; "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!"

Her head began to spin violently and she squeezed her eyes shut to block out the ash. Suddenly the spinning stopped and she was looking into a deserted kitchen.

"Hello?" she shouted. "Anybody there?"

She heard a slight bang in the distance and prayed it wasn't on her end. And suddenly the door of the kitchen opened and Charlie entered. He saw her at once.

"Alicia? What are you doing? What's going on?"

"Where's Sirius?" Alicia said at once.

Charlie frowned. "Sirius? He's upstairs, feeding Buckbeak. Why? What's wrong?"

"It's Harry," Alicia said, fear starting to claw at her heart. "And some of the others. They think that Sirius has been taken to the Ministry by You-Know-Who. They've gone to the Ministry!"

"What?" Charlie's eyes widened in shock. "I'll call the Order. You'd better Floo in here and wait here."

Alicia nodded. "I'll get Angelina."

Charlie hurried from the room, his eyes wide with panic. Alicia quickly pulled her head from the fire and turned to Angelina.

"Ok, I've told Charlie; he's gone to get the rest of the Order. He told us to Floo to Grimmauld Place. Come on."

Angelina nodded and hurried over. They each in turn stepped into the flames and stepped out into the cold kitchen of Grimmauld Place.

Lupin came running into the living room where the three of them waited anxiously.

"Good, you're here. I think you two had better stay here with Alicia's parents."

"What?" exclaimed Alicia. "No, we're coming!"

"You are definitely not coming," said Charlie firmly, coming into the room.

"What?" Alicia said, turning on him. "Why not?"

"You're not part of the Order. You can't come."

Alicia looked beseechingly at Lupin who looked from Alicia to Charlie and back to Alicia again.

"I'm sorry, Alicia," Lupin said at last. "You're not in the Order. You need to stay here with your parents."

Alicia sighed unhappily. "Alright, I'll stay. Where are the rest of the Order?"

"They're on their way to the Ministry already. We're just about to join them," Charlie said.

"I don't want you to go," Alicia said, her eyes fearful.

"Come here," said Charlie, pulling her out of the room into the hallway. "You know I have to go."

Alicia nodded, her head bowed. He reached out and tilted her chin up to look into his eyes. He could see the tears glinting in her eyes.

"Don't be scared. I'll be fine. I'm doing this to protect Harry and the others."

"I know," Alicia said in a small voice as the tears began to roll down her cheeks. "It doesn't make me ok with it though."

"I know," Charlie said gently. "I'll come back. I promise you."

"I love you Charlie," Alicia said, through her tears.

"I love you too," he replied, kissing her. "More than you can possibly imagine."

Harry was standing silently on the edge of the dais beside the archway which had featured in his vision, watching the Death Eaters torture Neville.

"Potter, give us the prophecy or watch your little friend die the hard way!"

"Don'd gib id do dem, Harry!" screamed Neville, clutching his broken nose which was streaming with blood.

But there was no choice. He had to. He held out the prophecy slowly. Lucius Malfoy jumped forwards to take it from him.

At that moment, the doors burst open and four people sprinted into the room: Sirius, Moody, Tonks and Kingsley.

Moments later, in tore Lupin and Charlie, wands held aloft, faces set grimly. Spells rained down around them as they fought.

The Death Eaters outnumbered them greatly but the Order fought bravely.

"Stupefy!" yelled Charlie, sending a jet of red light shooting towards the hooded Death Eater he was locked in battle with. The Death Eater jumped aside just in time and the spell hit the wall behind him, sending a chunk of stone flying.

"Confringo!"

The blast of flames narrowly missed the Death Eater again and the hooded figure laughed maliciously.

"Is that the best you've got?" he shouted.

"Diffindo!"

A large gash appeared in the Death Eater's chest, slicing through his cloak to the skin. The Death Eater hissed in pain and shot another hex back at Charlie which he only just avoided.

"Expelliarmus!" Charlie yelled, his wand sending out a yet of scarlet light which hit the Death Eater squarely in the chest, knocking him off his feet.

As it did so, the Death Eater's hood fell off, revealing his face.

"You!" Kingsley shouted suddenly from behind Charlie. He was pointing at the Death Eater. "You traitor!"

The Death Eater on the floor gave a nasty laugh. "Took you long enough to find out, didn't it?"

"What? What is it?" Charlie asked, looking from one to the other.

"That," Kingsley said gravely. "is Alicia's uncle."