Charlie knocked on the door of 12 Grimmauld Place. According to Dumbledore's letter, the Muggles who lived in 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place could not see the house due to the Muggle-Repelling Charm that was put on the residence.

Vanessa could hear the door clicking, being unlocked from the other side. A moment later, a young woman with bubblegum pink hair appeared, smiling brightly. She ushered them both into the house, where someone was screaming the most hateful things.

"Wotcher Charlie?" The woman with the pink hair hugged Charlie. Before he could answer her, she was leading them back down the hall. They passed the perpetrator of the screaming, a portrait of an older woman with curtains on either side of it. The woman who answered the door closed them with great difficulty, and the screaming stopped.

The noise had caused Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, and Ginny to leave their rooms and look down into the hall at the newcomers. Members who had visited the house regularly knew not to knock.

"Is that Charlie?" Ron asked curiously.

"It is, but who's that with him? I don't recognize her," Fred said, standing next to him.

"It can't be Vanessa. Her hair isn't long enough," said Hermione.

"They're going into the kitchen. Let's get the extendable ears." George pulled two flesh-colored items from his pocket and untangled them.

Vanessa and Charlie were led to the kitchen, where several people were sitting or standing. She recognized Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, of course, as well as Professor Snape and her former Defense Against the Dark Arts professors Lupin and Moody, the real Moody, not the imposter from the year before. The man she knew to be Harry's godfather, Sirius Black, was also there. The others, she wasn't sure of.

When Mrs. Weasley finished hugging Charlie, she went over to Vanessa. She looked the girl up and down for a moment. "Charlie Weasley, what on earth did you do to this girl?"

She smiled and hugged Mrs. Weasley. "Don't blame him, Mrs. Weasley. Charlie was the best host while I was in Romania. And the rest of this, well, I just needed a change."

Mrs. Weasley went to the kitchen door and waved her wand several times, before walking back over to Vanessa. "Silencing spell. We don't want rest to hear. Let me introduce you to everyone. This is Nymphadora Tonks. She went to school with Charlie." She had pointed to the girl with the pink hair, and her friendliness to Charlie made sense. "She doesn't like to be called Nymphadora, so just call her Tonks. Then we have Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and our host, Sirius Black," she pointed out each one individually. "You know Remus Lupin, Professor Snape, Arthur, and Bill, of course."

Vanessa nodded at each person as Mrs. Weasley introduced them.

"Everyone, this is Vanessa Diggory." Mrs. Weasley's voice sounded a little tense.

"I can't hear anything," Fred said to the rest of the group at the top of the stairs.

"Bet you Mum put another silencing charm up," Ron said.

"Well, I guess we'll find out who it is later," said Ginny, before turning to walk back to her room.

Back in the kitchen, Moody wanted to proceed with the meeting. "Enough chit chat Molly," Moody said. "Miss Diggory, I know Dumbledore wrote to you, explaining about all this. We've been told about the magical abilities you have. Wandless magic and talent that some of us don't even possess. We've reformed the Order because He Who Must Not Be Named is back, and his numbers are growing. We can use someone like you on our side to help win this war."

She stood there, taking in all the information he was giving her, but before she could speak, Mrs. Weasley spoke up.

"Absolutely not. She's barely seventeen. She has no business being forced into war. I won't allow it."

Vanessa looked at Mrs. Weasley, a little shocked. She had never heard her yell like that before at anyone other than the twins. She reached out and took the older woman's hand, squeezing it gently.

She wanted vengeance for her brother, and she wanted to kill the man who killed him. She looked over at Snape, trying to read his thoughts on the matter. Before this, he was one of the few people who knew the powers she possessed, but he showed no emotion on his face.

"What exactly will I be required to do? I still have a year left at school."

"We suspect he will be going after the children of his followers who are at the school to help fill his ranks and keep tabs on Potter. As a Slytherin, we thought you could keep your ear to the ground and see if you could hear any mentions of what might be going on."

"We also suspect, with the Ministry wanting to get Potter out of Hogwarts, that they might be playing a bigger part at the school this year," Kingsley spoke this time. "I've been keeping my ears open at the Ministry, but it's all been very secretive since they don't want to admit he's back."

"I'm not going to be in the Slytherin dorm this year. I'll be in the Head Boy and Head Girl dorm. I'll still have to do rounds in the Slytherin common room, so I would be able to check-in then. I can't do this all the time though. I'll have other duties to do because of my position and my school work, of course."

Lupin spoke next. "We understand this, Vanessa. Just keeping your ears open would help greatly. Children talk. If anything is happening, one of your housemates may know."

She turned to look at Mrs. Weasley, who was still looking mad about what was happening. Vanessa then turned to look around the room once more. Everyone was looking at her, waiting.

"I have one condition."

"What's that?" Moody asked.

"When the time comes, when the fighting eventually begins, I want to be the one to kill Peter Pettigrew." She was looking directly at Sirius and Lupin now. She knew he was their friend, that he was the reason Harry's parents were dead, but he was also the reason her brother was gone, and she wanted to make him pay.

"I like this one," Tonks said, trying to break the tension.

"As long as Wormtail dies, I couldn't care less who does it," Sirius said.

"Then we're set. Miss Diggory, you'll be our eyes and ears with the students? We'll give you a list of names to keep an eye on. You would be doing us a great service. Once you've graduated, we'll leave it up to you whether or not you want to join permanently. But you must not tell anyone of what we're doing here. You can tell your close group of friends, only if you can trust them. We don't want this getting out."

Vanessa nodded in agreement. She felt Mrs. Weasley let go of her hand.

Kingsley and Moody left promptly afterward, and everyone broke off to talk to one another. Snape came to her side.

"A word of caution, Miss Diggory. Your housemates aren't going to talk about these things with you openly. You're friends with people they don't like. I would consider breaking ties from those who associate with Potter while you're doing this."

He turned and left a moment later, not giving her time to respond. She stood there, staring after him, unsure of what to say or do. Mrs. Weasley was back at her side a moment later. She looked sad now.

"Please don't be mad at me, Mrs. Weasley."

The older woman looked at her and smiled. "I'm not, dear. I'm just worried about you. If someone finds out what happened, if you get caught, you could be in serious trouble. I promised your mother I would look after you. I lost my brothers in the first war. I know what you're feeling."

Vanessa hugged her again. She was grateful to have someone who cared for her. "Are Fred and George here?"

"Yes, and they'll be happy to see you. They've been so worried about you. As soon as they got the letter that you had left, they were ready to Apparate to Romania. But I talked them both down, letting them know you needed your time." She lowered her voice so the others couldn't hear her. "I can tell my boys care about you very much, George in a different way though. I think you feel the same way about him."

"I didn't want to hurt him."

"You'll hurt him more if you're not honest. Honest with him and honest with yourself. I'll support you, no matter what you decide."

"Where is their room?"

"Up the stairs, third floor, second door on your right. I'll get you set up in the room right next to theirs. Oh, and dear, it's good to see you again."

Vanessa smiled and then Disapparated. A moment later, she was standing in an untidy bedroom. The only reason she knew it was their room was because of the moving photo of the three of them sitting on a nightstand. She picked it up and looked at it, smiling. It was a picture of the three of them the summer before their fifth year when the Weasleys had returned from Egypt.

"Who are you, and what are you doing in our room?"

She set the picture down and smiled, before turning around. "You don't recognize your own best friend, George?"

"Bloody hell!" They said together.

"So you finally decided to come back then?" asked Fred. She could tell by the tone in his voice that he was upset by her leaving.

"And what's that on your back?" asked George.

"Of course I came back. I wasn't planning on staying forever, though they did offer me a job. I needed time away from everything to clear my head. I just lost my brother. And this," she turned around and pulled down one of the straps to her tank top. "It's one of the tattoos I got for my brother." She turned around and showed them the badger on her wrist. "This is the other."

"Your hair looks nice," George said, bringing a hand up to touch her shorter locks.

"Thanks. Look, I know you're both probably furious with me for leaving as I did, and for not writing, but being in Romania helped me. Granted, I was still having nightmares until I finally brewed a sleeping draught."

The twins closed the space between them and hugged her tightly. She hugged them back again, doing everything in her power not to start crying. "I missed you both so much. You have no idea."

"Just don't do it again, okay?"

She looked up at both of them. "I'll try not to." She pulled away and went to sit on the nearest bed.

"So what are you doing here anyway? I thought you weren't due back for another few weeks," George asked. The twins sat down on either side of her, almost as if they didn't want her leaving again.

"And why did you have a meeting with the Order?" Fred asked.

"I just decided to come home and see everyone and how everything was going. I was told that you were all here, and it's where I should be too for my safety. And it wasn't a meeting. They just wanted to introduce me to everyone."

"So, how was your summer?"

She leaned her head on George's shoulder and began to tell them all about her time on the reserve, her new friends, going to see a Quidditch game, and getting drunk on her last night. They both looked at her as though she was a different person than the one who left them a month ago.

"So you and Vicky together again?" The tone in George's voice had changed. She could tell he was annoyed that she had spent time with the Bulgarian over the summer.

"We aren't together. We were never really together in the first place. We're just good friends is all."

"Yeah, I don't see you making out with any of your other friends," George said sarcastically.

Thankfully she didn't get to respond, as Mrs. Weasley was busting in on the three of them. "Vanessa, your room is ready, you can get settled, and then the three of you can come down to the kitchen. Dinner is waiting."

"Can't we just throw another bed in here and she can stay with us," Fred asked his mother.

"No, she needs her own room. I'm sure she'll be happier on the bigger bed next door anyway." Mrs. Weasley left, and the three of them stood up.

Vanessa went to go check out her room. When she opened the door, she saw what Mrs. Weasley was talking about. The bed in this room was much bigger than the twins' beds in their room. She went and put her bag down and took another look around the room. It was dark and reminded her of the dungeons. There was a sitting area in the corner and a wardrobe against the wall, but other than that, the room was pretty bare.

"I guess it pays to be a girl. Hermione and Ginny got a nice room too," George said from behind her.

"Trust me, being a girl isn't all that great."

"Vanessa, you're here!" Ginny, Hermione, Ron, and Harry had walked into the room. Mrs. Weasley must have let them know of her arrival. Everyone took turns hugging her, and she caught the younger boys taking in her new appearance, earning a glare from Fred and George and a smack from Hermione.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you guys I was coming. I didn't know myself until a few days ago."

"Well, we've got so much to tell you," Ginny said, grabbing Vanessa and pulling her out of the room, followed closely by Hermione.

"Did she do something different to her hair," Ron asked, staring after them when they left. George smacked him on the back of the head.

"Stop looking, Ron."

The group made their way down to the kitchen. The girls all sat together next to Tonks, who started showing them all her Metamorphmagus abilities.

"Bloody girls taking her away from us," George said to Fred under his breath.

Everyone caught up with one another, talking about the last month and how everything was going. Charlie told the table on multiple occasions how brilliant Vanessa had been over the summer and how he hoped she would come back permanently when she graduated, much to the twins' dismay.

The two sat wondering if something had happened between their best friend and older brother in the month she was away. They knew Charlie had found her attractive, and they had shared an apartment while she was there. Fred thought about using some Veritaserum on her later that night to get more details about her summer.

While she was away, the twins worked on more items for the joke shop they wanted to open up. They spent most of their time at headquarters locked up in their room trying different charms, spells, and potion ideas. They had decided to brew a batch of Veritaserum, which was a rather complicated and lengthy process. Still, they had perfected it, testing it out on Ron and getting him to admit his feelings for Hermione.

She felt their eyes on her the whole time they were at dinner. Vanessa was catching up with Hermione and Ginny, who told her how distraught the twins seemed to be without her and how they holed up in their room the whole time working on new products. She wondered if they would make her test some of them out again like they had the summer before. They also told her about Harry's use of magic and how he had a trial coming up at the Ministry for it.

After listening to everything that had happened, she was glad she had gotten away for awhile.

"So what's with the tattoos," Hermione asked, looking at Vanessa's shoulder.

"I wanted something to remember my brother by. So I got this little badger and the dragon that he faced in the first task of the tournament last year. Which by the way, that dragon's eggs had hatched the same night Cedric-" she broke off.

The girls knew perfectly well what she was about to say. They both gave her a reassuring hug.

Mrs. Weasley served dessert, and afterward, everyone went their own ways. Ginny and Hermione went off to the room they were sharing, followed by Ron and Harry. Vanessa made her way to her bedroom, wanting to get ready for bed.

Once she had changed into her pajamas, she heard a knock at her door. "Come in," she said, not bothering to turn around. She knew it was them.

"We brought you a cup of tea."

"Thanks, Fred."

She turned around and took the cup from them. They had a devious look on each of their faces. She looked down at the cup and then back up at them. There was no way they would poison her, she knew that much. But the Earl Grey scent was too enticing. She took a sip before setting the cup down on her dresser and sitting on the bed.

The twins got on the bed and sat next to her. "So, did anything happen between you and Charlie while you were away? He was speaking very highly of you at dinner," Fred asked.

Vanessa tried to stop herself but proceeded to tell them about her time with their older brother. "Well, Charlie was wonderful. He stayed with me almost the whole time I was there. See, I was having nightmares again, and after the first few nights, he just decided to stay with me and make sure I was okay." George looked over her head at his brother, anger and jealousy apparent by the look he had given.

"Then, I finally brewed a sleeping draught to help, but he still stayed with me, which I honestly didn't mind. It was comforting to have someone there, like when you two stayed with me the night before I left. And then he stayed with me again last night, taking care of me since I was drunk. Then, before we Apparated here, he kissed me. But it wasn't a long kiss, or a very passionate one at that, just a friendly kiss. Not how my kisses with Viktor were."

She covered her mouth, not believing that she had just rambled on and told them all that. She looked at George, who had an annoyed expression on his face.

"And that's all that happened? What about with Viktor?" Fred asked.

"Nothing else happened between your brother and I. He was a perfect gentleman who was worried about both of your feelings. As for Viktor, when we saw each other, we talked a bit, but mainly kissed a lot."

"Anything else," Gorge asked.

"Not really. I was mainly working. I cried a lot over my brother and finally figured out how I felt about you, George." She knew when the final words came out of her mouth that they had slipped her something. She wouldn't have said all this voluntarily. "I think you two should leave."

"Why?" they spoke in unison.

It all started to come together. How could she have been so stupid?

"While I'm very impressed that you were able to brew Veritaserum all on your own, I'm beyond pissed off that you would use it on me."

She could feel the anger rising inside of her, but she was trying to suppress it. She was reminded of when she caused her father to be slammed against the trophy room wall at Hogwarts months before. As angry as she was, she didn't want to hurt them.

"Vanessa, we-" George started, but she cut him off.

"Get out now."

They both silently got up from the bed and moved towards the door, neither saying a word. With a wave of her wand, she forcefully slammed the door behind them before taking the cup of tea on the nightstand and throwing it against the wall she knew was shared with their room. She proceeded to put up a silencing charm on her room, not wanting to be bothered and not wanting anyone to hear the swear words that were coming out of her mouth.

Thank you all so much for your continued support with this story! I have more chapters to post and more to write. If you do like the story, subscribe to be notified when I updated. And feel free to drop a comment. I love reading them!