AN: All thanks to Katherine my beta.
That night everyone came over to dinner, to celebrate with Remus. As the moon drew close to rising, he became tense, a small sheen of sweat appeared on his forehead, but then Tonks distracted him with a funny story, and before anyone knew it, the moon had been up for an hour and Remus was still Remus.
After everyone had left for the night, Remus drew Mia into a tight hug and held her for a long moment. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear, his voice hoarse. She tried to reject his thanks and tell him he'd done the hard part. But he shushed her. "I am so blessed, in so many ways to have you in my life, my Mia Bell. I can't wait to see the amazing things you accomplish when you're finally of age." He chuckled, his eyes full of tears. "The world better prepare itself."
He gave her one last hug and went up the stairs.
Ron's parents did agree to help clean up number twelve. In fact, they decided to move their family in once a few rooms were cleared. It only made sense for Mia and Sirius to also move in, although Mia could tell Sirius was dreading it. She didn't want to leave Meadow Lake and the rooms her mom had made for her any more than Sirius did. Remus also moved in, and Tonks stayed many nights too.
Dumbledore cast the Fidelius Charm on number twelve, making it so no one could find it under any circumstances, unless Dumbledore explicitly told them where it was.
Dumbledore made all of the not-old-enough-to-join-the-order-but-still-involved teens swear secrecy of all the orders going on, and that included telling Harry anything. It didn't seem fair. He was more involved than any of them but was being left out. For all Dumbledore said he appreciated the abilities of youth, he didn't listen to them.
Mrs. Adewumi was REALLY good at cleaning. Mrs. Weasley was also excellent at cleaning, but Mrs. Adewumi through her work, had access to experimental spells and potions that made the monumental task much more possible. They still hadn't found a way to remove the portraits stuck to the walls downstairs, but they had managed to remove the mold smell from the carpet through the house. Mia, Gabe, and all the other underaged kids still had to help clean the muggle way, but progress was being made. Mia still got plenty of time to work on her own projects, or interrogate Gabe as he improved his Occlumency skills, or just spend a little time together, just her and Gabe.
Hermione came to stay a few weeks into summer, and between her and Ron's little sister Ginny, who Mia had finally started to connect with, the summer was a joy. Remus and Sirius were constantly in and out of the house on secret missions, but when things were calm, and the work was done, they would gather in the kitchen for meals together as one huge family. Tonks spent more and more time with Remus, and while no one said anything, it was clear they were officially together. Everything felt like it was falling in place around her, while the world outside loomed with unknown dread.
Mia's other favorite pastime was helping the twins come up with new ideas for their Skiving Snackboxes, candies to make you sick long enough to get out of class. There were enough old poisonous and magical icky things in the house, they had fun experimenting new ideas. The mold growing in one of the upstairs bathrooms produced a terrible odor when in contact with saliva, something Mia never would have discovered personally. The twins had enough seed money from Harry donating his Triwizard winnings, that they were now placing adverts in the daily prophet. Mia was so proud of them. Where the money had come from was a big secret, but Mia had gotten it out of them.
The teens were not allowed to attend any of the order meetings, but that didn't really stop them. Fred and George had perfected one of their better inventions, Extendable Ears. A gross looking pair of ears connected by a long flesh toned string. If they snuck one ear into the kitchen where the order meeting was happening, they could extend the other upstairs so everyone could hear crowded around. The first time they were caught, threats were made. The second time, spells and enchantments were put in place to prevent snooping. George helpfully pointed out to the adults that they had already been sworn to secrecy, what did it matter if they learned more, but the adults were unwaveringly serious about the matter. The third time, their rooms were raided and almost all of their best tools were confiscated, and they only used their remaining set for really important meetings.
They still heard some reports of what was happening or picked up clues by overhearing halfway conversations. Harry had a constant guard of order members, although he didn't know it, and there was a second guard shift. Although they couldn't figure out what it was for. The ministry had started a smear campaign trying to discredit anyone loyal to Dumbledore and cover up any unusual activity that pointed towards Voldemort's return.
McGonagall showed up a few times, wearing the same muggle dress she'd worn to meet Mia for the first time back at the orphanage. She greeted the professor warmly and they had tea.
Halfway through the summer, Harry was attacked by a swarm of Dementors. He'd used the patronus charm to fend them off, but the ministry hit him with an underage use of magic penalty and threatened to expel him. Then there was a big meeting they couldn't slip an ear into, then everyone left, Moody, the real moody, Remus, Sirius, Tonks, Kingsley and a handful more, and when they returned, they brought back Harry to stay at number twelve until his hearing.
Harry was…. Different. After what he'd gone through at the end of term, then being alone and without any real news over the summer, Mia overheard him chewing out Hermione and Ron for keeping secrets, and it was clear he felt a little betrayed. It turned out even Sirius hadn't told him much, he'd written to him every day, and tried to help him with coping, but not knowing what was going on was driving Harry crazy. Mia didn't blame him.
Harry got to sit down with Remus and Sirius and was told as much of the truth about the order and Voldemort's activities as Mrs Weasley would allow, and Mia and Gabe muscled into the conversation along with Ron, Hermione, Fred and George. They weren't told much more than Mia and Gabe already knew, Voldemort was back, he was amassing followers, the ministry was covering it all up, and the order was trying to slowly and secretly make sure the right people knew the truth. The only new information that came out, or slipped out, was information about something Voldemort was looking for, some sort of weapon to give him more power.
Things were very tense leading up to Harry's hearing when Sirius took him to the ministry. He got off on all charges of course, and it was like a light was lifted from the house. Sirius beamed when they came home and told everyone. For the remaining days of break, the house was lighter and cheerier than it had likely ever been in a few hundred years.
On the last day of term their Hogwarts letters arrived. Better late than never.
Ron and Hermione were both made prefects, and it was clear Harry wasn't super thrilled about this. Gabe arrived at lunch, standing tall, his chest puffed out and hands behind his back casually. Mia poked the shiny badge on his chest.
"Oh look! You got a prat badge too!" she said, before standing on her tippy toes to give him a kiss.
"No kissing in the kitchen!" Sirius called out from the table, his head bent over a few parchments he wouldn't let Mia read. Order business.
"Would you prefer we kiss in a bedroom behind closed doors?" Mia asked sweetly.
"No! No kissing in bedrooms, no kissing in any room! No kissing!"
"Who's not allowed any kissing?" Tonks asked as she entered the kitchen. She paused by the table and kissed Remus on the cheek before sticking her tongue out at Sirius. Mia rolled her eyes, and she and Gabe headed for the hallway, talking quietly so as not to disturb the paintings.
"So, I take it Hermione is prefect?"
"Of course! I'm not bitter though, I wouldn't want to be in charge of calling people out for breaking the rules. Way too much pressure."
Gabe chuckled and shook his head. "I don't know, I think you would like scaring first years intentionally for a change."
Mia's eyes widened. "I didn't think of that. I would like scaring first years. Maybe I will just steal your badge when you aren't looking." When they were past the nosiest of the paintings Mia pushed Gabe up against a wall, and greeted him properly.
They were both red faced and breathing a little heavy when she moved away and continued up the stairs, pinning his badge to her own shirt. Gabe noticed her theft after he'd composed himself. "Hey!" He chased after her, and she giggled and ran up the rest of the steps. Gabe joined Mia in the room she shared with Hermione and Ginny as they all packed their trunks for school. "Congratulations on prefect, Hermione," Gabe said when they entered.
"Thank you!" Hermione said, turning. She seemed to inspect him for a moment and frowned. "Oh, I thought for sure you would have been made Ravenclaw Prefect."
Gabe Smiled. "I did," he said before flopping onto Mia's bed and lounging over the messy pile of her clean clothes.
"No, I did," Mia said, turning and showing her shiny new Ravenclaw prefect badge. Hermione frowned then smiled slightly, and Ginny grinned.
"So, I guess Harry is the boy's prefect then?" Gabe asked. Ginny shushed him, and Hermione winced and looked to the door. Gabe looked at Mia in confusion and she mouthed Ron. Gabe was surprised, but shrugged, not about to continue the topic.
Mrs. Weasley went to pick up school supplies for everyone in the house, and Mia felt a pang of sadness at not taking a trip to Diagon Alley for more potion supplies. This was the first year she didn't have any potions plans or schemes for herself. Remus was cured, and she didn't plan to take her discovery public just yet. She wanted to lead the discovery when it happened, and she couldn't do that from Hogwarts. And Remus wasn't quite ready to go publish with his change of status. Mia suspected it would make his tasks for the Order even harder. Things would keep till she graduated.
Gabe left before dinner to return to his family for the last night before term. At number twelve they had their own small feast courtesy of Mrs. Weasley who complained about cooking for so many, but clearly enjoyed it. They all laughed and joked together and enjoyed each other's company. Moody passed around an old photograph showing the first order of the Phoenix, and Mia smiled down at her father and mother arm in arm, surrounded by so many familiar faces, Remus, Harry's dad and mom, even Neville's parents. Mia wanted to be that next generation, if the adults around her ever let her. Watching Harry look over the picture, she could tell he felt the same.
She caught Remus and Tonks on the stairs as they headed up for bed. "Can we talk for a moment?" she whispered. He nodded and they headed up to his room.
"What's up?" Remus asked when the door was closed.
"When we're gone, will you make sure he doesn't stay in this house all alone?" she didn't have to say who she was talking about. Remus and Tonks knew.
Sirius was so much better now. It was like he had matured a decade in the time she'd known him. Between being a father to her, and a confidant to Harry, he still joked and laughed, but he took the adult point of view in conversations and was… responsible. Remus had commented on it one night when Sirius was off on order business. When he had come out of Azkaban, he was a loose cannon. He had been half insane with frantic determination to get Pettigrew, every choice he made had been short sighted. Remus attested this was because of Mia's presence, guiding him to fill that parental role, but Mia thought it was more. Her potion had helped. Helped take away the effects of his long term dementor exposure so he could deal with his emotions, instead of covering them with fire whiskey, but she thought Harry was also a big part of this. Sirius had spent so much time writing to him, and helping Harry deal with his own trauma, it made Sirius face his own. And then the Order got active again, and it gave Sirius true purpose.
He was better now. He didn't get dark and depressed as the sun went down. He still made stupid jokes that made Harry and Ron squirt pumpkin juice out of their noses, but when things mattered, he was serious and dealt with them in a mature and direct way.
But there were still times when she saw pain and bitterness in his eyes, when he regressed to his old mentalities, and they all revolved around number twelve. It was as if being back in the house, surrounded by his old things, it made him remember being that fifteen-year-old who wanted to run away. They'd had many arguments over his treatment of Kreacher, and eventually he started faking politeness and accidentally fell into kindness on occasion, but each time Kreacher ranted about Mia's grandma, or tried to steal another priceless possession Sirius wanted to toss out, Sirius would get a little moody. It was as if Sirius was trying to erase his past and Kreacher and the painting downstairs screaming her head off were forcing him to stay.
She didn't want Sirius staying in this house by himself, and after a moment Remus nodded and agreed. He glanced at Tonks who also nodded. "I will stay as long as I can. I know Dumbledore is planning an extended mission for me soon. Maybe I can suggest he go back to Meadow Lake after that. I'm sure I can find someone willing to stay here and keep the base active." It doesn't need much, just someone here to collect messages when Order people stop by."
"Maybe we can make a rotating schedule," Tonks suggested.
Mia nodded. "As long as it's not him and Kreacher cooped up together all year, I think things will be better."
The next morning was chaos. Harry needed a guard detail for his trip to Kings Cross, and Moody didn't want everyone leaving at once, so they left a few at a time, each with a guard. Moody transported all of their trunks in one go, which was nice. Remus and Mia left first. Sirius, Mrs. Weasley, Tonks, and a few unseen guards brought Harry next, and then everyone else trickled onto the hidden platform and picked up their trunks. She said goodbye to the family she was leaving behind, making sure Sirius and Remus promised to write often, even if security said they couldn't say much, and then she dragged her trunk onto the train.
Mia was lucky to find a compartment on the train by herself, and once she was settled, pulled out her message book to tell Gabe what compartment she was in so he could find her when he was done being a prefect. When she was done, she pulled out a novel she was reading, and settled in for the trip. A few people stopped by to talk and say hi. Ginny stayed for a while and told Mia all about Neville's new plant that shot stink sap all over the compartment. Hermione and Ron stopped by on their prefect rounds, and a few Ravenclaws she was friendly with. No one stayed too long, and Mia preferred it, as she could get back to her book.
The compartment door opened again and this time to Mia's delight Gabe appeared. He tosses the badge to Mia. "Your turn to be in charge, Streak. I'm done for the day." He flopped onto the seat next to her, kissed her cheek and relaxed.
She set down her book and attached the pin to her robes. "So, who else are prefects?"
"Your darling cousin."
"Really? How did he look?"
Gabe frowned. "Normal mostly, but there was something else there... Something grim. He covered it well though."
Mia frowned. She should check up on him.
"So why are you in here by yourself?" Gabe asked.
Mia smiled and held up her book. Gabe laughed. "You're such an introvert." He smiled, his eyes full of affection.
"It's just so much more awkward when you aren't here to carry the conversation."
"But be honest, if we had a compartment full of people quietly reading, or one with me carrying the conversation, which would you prefer?"
Mia winced. "Is the conversation about quidditch?"
Gabe laughed again. More people stopped by as the train wound closer to the castle, and this time, with Gabe there, a few stayed. Roger Davis laughed when he saw Mia wearing Gabe's pin, Marietta sneered and said it was incredibly disrespectful. Mia just threatened to give her detention, and she left in a huff. All in all, it was a wonderful journey.
At the welcome feast, the sorting hat sang an unusual song, warning against students becoming internally divided. The ending of the song seemed to ring out through the hall:
"Listen closely to my song:
Though condemned I am to split you
Still I worry that it's wrong,
Though I must fulfill my duty
And must quarter every year
Still I wonder whether sorting
May not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
The warning history shows,
For our Hogwarts is in danger
From external, deadly foes
And we must unite inside her
Or we'll crumble from within.
I have told you, I have warned you...
Let the Sorting now begin."
The song unnerved Mia, and added a fear into the back of her mind, but it was when the new DADA teacher stood up, and made a speech, cutting off Dumbledore with a light 'Hem, hem,' that the real worry started. Professor Umbridge came around the teachers table to stand in front of the podium and made a speech. It was such an odd event for someone to cut off Dumbledore, everyone in the room started with their full attention.
She gave a soft, flowery speech about how they would all be great friends, and how important nurturing and properly teaching them was and how much importance the Ministry of Magic put in the traditional teaching methods. She said "progress for progress's sake must be discouraged," and went on to talk about the differences in good and bad changes and pruning practices that should be prohibited.
Mia could tell most students found the teacher odd, and maybe a bit boring, but Mia read between the lines. Umbridge was here at the Ministry's request and was going to make sure Dumbledore and his ideas that Fudge disagreed on so deeply didn't infect Hogwarts. Dumbledore was the only one trying to prepare now that Voldemort was back, and here was the Ministry, interfering with Hogwarts, and keeping an eye on Dumbledore.
AN: what do you think this year will hold?