A.N.: And another chapter finished. I hope you'll enjoy it, even though it is more plot than romance this time. But we need to move forward, if we want to reach the end of this story anytime soon. ;-)
Chapter 21: Rise of the Phoenix
It took them a while to decide on a suitable meeting place for their resurrection of the Order of Phoenix. At first, they had considered Spinner's End, but Hermione put a stop to this thought immediately. The house was her safe place in case things went pear-shaped. She even considered putting the place under the Fidelius Charm to make it even safer because, now that she was pregnant, she didn't just have her own future to consider. And she didn't want a bunch of people waltzing through her safe house. The twins, Harry and Neville were fine, but, for now, she wanted to leave it at that. McGonagall Manor was ruled out for a similar reason. The place already had a secret keeper and they wouldn't be able to bring Harry and Neville without informing the Professor beforehand. But Hermione's secret reason was also that she wanted to be on a safe territory for now. Last time she had been to McGonagall Manor she had left it in a rush, and even if she was somewhat embarrassed by her reaction now, she wasn't totally comfortable returning there so soon. Maybe it was silly of her, but she couldn't help the feeling.
Finally, they settled for the Burrow as a meeting place. It was safe enough, even without the Fidelius Charm, and it wouldn't be too suspicious if a bunch of Weasleys came there for a visit. The rest of them would use the floo to avoid being spotted. Another plus was that the Weasleys already knew about Neville's and Harry's whereabouts, but apart from that, the Burrow was the only suitable place for a meeting at the moment.
Deciding on the people to invite proved equally difficult. They needed to play it safe for now and so they decided to invite only Luna, McGonagall, Flitwick, Hagrid and Shacklebolt, aside from the whole Weasley clan who was pretty much a given. Eventually, they'd have to bring in other people they trusted, but they decided to discuss possible candidates with the others first.
"You alright Mione?" Fred asked his wife who looked like she was about to burst with nervous energy next to him. She nodded, but it didn't look very convincing to him.
"Everything will be alright love, don't fret." his twin murmured at her other side into her ear, but Fred heard it anyway. "Harry and Neville will wait in the other room until everybody is seated and we made the big announcement. After that, there will be some more crying and lots of questions, but that's not for us to worry about. I'm sure Harry will be fine there on his own. And then we can finally get down to business."
"You forget that we need to tell them about Snape," she said with a nervous smile, but Fred just shrugged.
"Harry can back up the story if need be, so don't worry." George soothed her and finally, some of her energy deflated.
"Alright." she agreed and seemed to calm down a bit. It took five more minutes for the room to fill. They had decided to use the dining room, and soon everybody was cramped around the large table with Hagrid sitting in the back of the room on the floor. Hell, when they wanted to invite more members into the Order, they'd definitely need a larger place to meet.
The door to the living room opened once more and a moment later Fred felt Hermione stiffen next to him. He looked up in confusion and registered that it was his little brother. But he obviously wasn't alone.
"That's Lavender." Hermione murmured tonelessly next to him and he couldn't help but register how uncomfortable she sounded. "Did you invite her?" Her voice sounded so small and for a moment he felt a pang of jealousy in his chest. Could it be that she was still pining after his idiot of a brother?
"Course not," he mumbled and got up from his chair. "I'll talk to him, love." He squeezed her hand reassuringly and a moment later he was off. Leave it to his idiot of a brother to ruin a perfectly planned meeting.
"Hey Ron, do you have a minute?" he asked his annoying sibling before he and the girl had even reached the table. They were still lingering close to the door and Fred could have sworn that his brother suddenly felt what a bad idea it was to bring her unannounced.
"Don't you think it would have been a good idea to inform us that you wanted to bring another guest?" he growled at his sibling as soon as he had shut the door behind the two of them. His brother gulped but squared his shoulders stubbornly.
"She's my girlfriend, Fred. I trust her," he said and fixed him with a hard stare. He sighed tiredly.
"Good for you, then. But don't you think Hermione, Neville and Harry should trust her too, first? Ron, they planned this whole meeting and I think it should be up to them with whom they want to share their secrets." It was obviously the wrong thing to say as Fred could already see his brother's colour rise.
"It's because of Hermione, isn't it? Well, she's always been jealous of Lavender, but I figured that now that she snatched herself two husbands and even got two babies on the way it might be safe to bring Lavender along."
Fred huffed in annoyance. Sometimes his little brother could be an ignorant little prick. "Your love life is none of our business, Ron. I'm happy for you, I really am. But did you consider that Hermione hasn't chosen this path on her own? Is it fair of you to rub your girlfriend into her face?"
Ron shrugged helplessly and mumbled, "Well, she looked happy enough to me. Figured things between the three of you were going well."
He didn't comment on that because after seeing Hermione's reaction he wasn't entirely sure. She said that she loved them, and he had believed her, so they should be alright. But he better made sure of it first, before blabbing it to his little brother and his gossip-loving girlfriend. "Be that as it may, I think we should at least ask Harry and Neville first. Are you alright with that?"
At that, Ron finally deflated. "Yeah sure. I'll go and ask them. Go back inside Fred. If they have something to say against the idea, I'll simply leave with Lavender before the meeting starts. No big deal."
Fred sighed with relief. "Thanks, Ron. We can't be careful enough, you know? And you're sure you trust that bird?"
His brother nodded seriously. "I do. There's quite a bit of history between us and she has suffered as much through the war, as the rest of us. Lav has kept me upright for the last weeks before I knew Harry was back. I'm not sure if I'd made it without her."
Fred rubbed his forehead tiredly. He could see that his brother was totally serious about the last bit and he was glad that there had been somebody to help him through. "Okay then, talk to Harry and Neville. I'll tell Hermione. But please Ron, don't make things more difficult for her than they already are."
His brother nodded. "We'll stay out of your way. Don't worry."
Well, that was easier said than done. Merlin, when did his life get so difficult? He went back inside and sat down next to Hermione. Merlin, he really didn't want to explain his brother's idiocy to her, but there was nothing for it.
"Ron's brought Lavender with him. They are obviously an item now. Told me she's trustworthy in his eyes. I sent him to Harry and Neville to get their okay for bringing her. But we'll let all of them sign the contract anyway. There's no chance anyone of them will be able to rat us out. You made quite sure of that, love." He kept his voice low and nobody except her and George seemed to have listened to his rambling. George cast him a doubtful look in return, but Hermione just nodded tiredly.
"I can't begrudge her for wanting revenge on the people who almost mauled her to death. I didn't like her in the past, but maybe it's time to put that behind. If Ron trusts her, then that should be enough for me. And you're right. The contract will protect us from being betrayed. Marietta Edgecombe has taught me this lesson the hard way."
She grinned darkly and Fred wasn't sure if she secretly wished for Lavender to try to rat them out. But he refrained from asking her for now.
Ron was back in the room about five minutes later and cast them a silent nod, before sitting down next to his new girlfriend. Fred tried to study Hermione's expression from the corner of his eyes, but there was no chance to do it and stay undetected for now. And so he decided to simply get the meeting started.
"Okay everybody," he said and got up from his chair. "Brilliant, that all of you could make it here. Before we get to the bottom of things, I'd like to ask you to read through this neat little contract Hermione has drawn up. I hope you all understand that these are dangerous times and we can't risk our secrets being exposed to the wrong people. That's why we need an insurance before we tell you what this is all about. If any of you are uncomfortable with the implications of the contract, then there is always the option to walk away from the meeting. None of us will judge you for this."
At that, the room erupted into a lively discussion which only intensified as the contract was passed from one to the other. The three of them had thought long over this part of the plan. First, they had thought about implementing a punishment that would be bad enough that nobody would dare to betray them. But even then, they couldn't be sure there wasn't a loyal servant of Voldemort amongst them somewhere who wouldn't give a flying fuck about what happened to him as long as it made his master happy. That's why they went for the second option that Hermione proposed to them.
"Did I get this right?" Percy spoke up from the other end of the table. "You want to use blood magic to ensure that we literally can't talk about the things that are discussed during those meetings with people outside of the group?" It was obvious that they had shocked their big brother to the core, but Hermione took it in stride.
"That's correct. Everyone who wants to join will be required to willingly spill a drop of his blood onto the contract to make it binding. I'll cast the spell myself afterwards."
At that, Minerva looked at her with a shocked expression. "Hermione dear, I'm sure you know that Albus would never have approved of that, don't you?"
Hermione got up from her seat and looked at her proudly. "Exactly. Which led to Harry's parents being betrayed by Peter Pettigrew, who was a Death Eater for quite some time and still strolled in and out of your Order meetings without anyone being the wiser. How many of your secrets did he betray? How many of you died because he ratted you out?"
They heard their mother gasp from the other end of the table and Hagrid blow his nose into a huge hanky. But Hermione looked totally unfazed. "As I said, I don't expect every one of you to go along with this. But in the end, it's our heads that are rolling and even though we do trust all of you we won't do this without an insurance."
Fred and his brother nodded at that and got up from their seats. "We don't expect you to agree to this without giving it a moment of thought and discussing the terms amongst you. Hermione, George and I will leave the room for about half an hour. Mum will know where to find us if you finish earlier."
Their mum nodded solemnly into their direction and the three of them left the room without another word. As soon as they had closed the door behind them, they could hear the room explode into a heated discussion.
Hermione looked at the twins with a worried expression. "Do you think this was too much? Did I overdo it?"
Fred smiled at her before giving her a chaste kiss on the lips. "Nah, don't worry love. It will be fine, because you're right. Dumbledore was an idiot not thinking about a way to protect their secrets. It will just take them some time to admit it to themselves."
George grinned. "Let them have their discussion. We'll wait upstairs in our room. I always wanted to snog you on my bed!"
"George!" Hermione bristled.
But the two of them just grinned boyishly and pulled her upstairs.
In the end, all of the invited guests signed the contract and gave a drop of their blood. Hermione could tell that some of them weren't very happy with her because of that, but she didn't care. Yes, Dumbledore would have never agreed with her using blood magic to protect them, but he was also the person who had sent three unsuspecting teenagers on a scavenger hunt for Horcruxes in the middle of a war. Compared to that, she was playing it safe.
Hermione finished and sealed the magical contract within 15 minutes. They had already collected Harry's and Neville's blood beforehand and, after giving a drop of blood themselves, Hermione cast the spell and the document in front of them burst into purple flames. It vanished a moment later and only the purple glow that surrounded each person for a second gave an indication that the spell had worked.
Hermione nodded with satisfaction. "Well, that was that. George, could you please get our other guests?"
He nodded at her smilingly and left, but she could feel the curious eyes of the others that were resting on her. The Weasleys, of course, knew already, but she could still feel them watching her and waiting to learn about their plan. And Hermione would not disappoint them.
The next minutes could be only described as emotional. She had already witnessed Harry's reunion with the Weasleys, but there were as many gasps and tears when Minerva, Filius, Luna and Hagrid saw him entering the room. Neville was for a moment completely ignored, but as he was about to move towards her and the twins, Luna recognized him with a gasp and threw herself into his arms and giving him a chaste kiss on the lips. At that, Neville coloured into an impressive shade of red. Hermione couldn't suppress the smile that broke out on her face after watching this happy reunion. She was sure that most of them had almost forgiven her for the contract.
"Well Hermione, now I understand your need for secrecy." Minerva finally told her in a stern voice which was betrayed by the gentleness in her eyes. "Thank you, my dear. You've given me more hope this evening that I would have deemed possible. I wonder what else you have in store for us. Any more unexpected guests?"
She could tell that her Professor was trying to joke, but she smiled at her with glittering eyes. "Just one," she said with a grin, and with a flick of her wand, the portrait of her former Potions professor appeared at the wall behind her. She had sent Fred and George ahead this morning to disillusion it and put it up in the room, and the glinting eyes of the usually grumpy professor gave her the impression that he had found the last hour quite entertaining.
"Well, good evening, Minerva." the black-haired man greeted his former colleague with a polite nod. Immediately, the room fell completely silent as all eyes were now on her, the portrait and Minerva. The latter was watching her like she was about to transfigure her into a mouse before eating her in her Animagus form.
"Well Hermione, I really hope you have a very good explanation for that. Because I can assure you I won't be the only one that is quite anxious to hear what else you haven't shared with us."
Hermione nodded with a calmness she didn't feel at all. "Well, you all better sit down for this. Because I can assure you it's quite a long story. Harry? Would you like to start?"
Her best friend nodded towards her with a bright smile and stepped next to her and the scowling portrait of the Potions professor. He gently brushed his fingers across one corner of the frame before turning around to face the rest of the room. "If Professor Snape doesn't want the honour for himself?"
Snape snorted humourlessly in his frame. "Go ahead boy, but don't spill all of my secrets."
Harry grinned towards him. "Wouldn't dream of it, Professor. I'm not that much of an idiot." Hermione chuckled next to him. And then they started their tale.