A/N: As promised, here is the next one for you lovely people!
Chapter Two: The Ties That Bind
Although it was definitely not an ideal situation - I couldn't help but be excited that I would finally get to see Harry.
Once my dad told me he was coming, I was told to go straight to my room and wait there until the emergency Order meeting finished. I protested to no avail, but I was slightly appeased when he told me the Weasley's would be arriving soon too so at least we could 'all sulk together', as he put it.
It was only another half an hour before I heard footsteps running up the stairs - grinning when Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all burst into my bedroom.
"Can you believe it?" Hermione exclaimed after we'd all said our hello's, "It's completely ridiculous! I've already looked it up - they can't expel him, they just can't!"
"Dad reckons the Ministry is just using it as an excuse to keep him out of the public eye," Ron added, only making Hermione fret more. I had to almost do a double-take when I looked over at Ron for the first time, he'd grown much taller this summer and his voice had lowered considerably - and even as I glanced again at Hermione I noticed she was starting to grow into herself a little more.
"How has it been here?" Ginny asked eagerly, "Surely you know more than us about all this Order business, it's happening in your house!"
I shook my head in disappointment, "My whole summer has been locked doors and silenced conversations. I've been working for weeks on breaking the Silencing Charms, but I haven't made any progress. I haven't heard much of anything since the first week of summer when Lupin caught me outside the door, that's when they started putting the charms up."
"Damn," Ron muttered, "We've heard a bit from home, Fred and George have invented these Extendable Ears - they're brilliant…ow!" he trailed off when Ginny elbowed him in the side, turning to me with wide eyes when he realised why, "Oh, sorry."
I shook my head, ignoring the immediate anxiety that twisted in my gut at the mention of Fred's name. "It's fine, did you hear anything good?"
"Not much before Mum caught on," Ginny responded grimly. "We were hoping you would be our information source."
"Me too." I sighed, disappointed. "I always check the meetings just in case they forget - Tonks told me if you chuck stuff at the door and it doesn't make contact that means there's an Imperturbable Charm on."
Ginny's eyes lit up, "Ooh, I'll go check - that sounds wicked fun!"
I let out a laugh as the youngest Weasley snuck back out the door, closing it gently behind her.
"I feel awful about Harry," Hermione said quietly, looking at me with sad eyes. "I could just tell from his last letters he's furious with us."
"At least you've been good enough to still write," I sighed, a slight guilt filling me. "I couldn't stand lying to him anymore - I haven't written to him in weeks."
Ron had spotted the pile of letters on my desk and turned to grin at me in amusement, "Apparently he isn't the only one."
I made a face at him, which only made him laugh and Hermione roll her eyes at us like she often did - and suddenly I felt almost glad for Harry's unfortunate attack, I hadn't realised just how lonely I'd made myself this summer.
At that moment, the door opened again - and I barely got a glimpse of Harry's untidy dark hair before Hermione threw herself at him, making them both stumble with the force of her hug.
"HARRY! Oh - he's here! We didn't hear you arrive, how are you?! Have you been furious with us? I bet you have; I know our letters were useless, but we couldn't tell you anything - Dumbledore made us swear! Oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you have so much to tell us! When we heard...it's just outrageous! I've looked it up, they can't expel you - there's a provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations-"
"Let him breathe, Hermione." Ron finally interrupted with a grin, closing the door and exchanging an amused eye roll with me.
Hermione finally released him, still beaming. Harry looked a little taken aback still, but he didn't have a smile on his face as he looked around at us. Before any of us could say anything else however, a white blur came flying through my open window and perched on Harry's shoulder.
"Hedwig!"
"Oh yeah," Ron said, "She must have followed us from home, she's been in a right state - pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters."
"Right, sorry," he didn't sound sorry. "But I wanted answers, you know."
"We wanted to give them to you, mate," Ron was apologising, but Harry's eyes were trained on me - and I tried not to shrink under his cold gaze. I knew he was probably going to be the angriest at me, the two of us had never gone this long without talking and he was supposed to be able to count on me no matter what.
"It wasn't up to us, we swear." Hermione added, "Dumbledore made us promise."
"Yeah," Harry said bluntly, still refusing to look away from me. "You said that," his eyes flashed, "What about you then? I haven't heard a scrap from you in what, three weeks?"
I winced, "I know, I'm sorry. I just hated that I was lying to you - it felt easier to not talk to you at all."
"Right," he said. "Easier."
"I've been saying all summer they shouldn't be leaving you in the dark," I protested desperately. "I told them you'd just end up doing something stupid…"
"Have you been here this whole time?" he turned to Ron and Hermione accusingly, and they shook their heads vigorously.
"We only got here an hour ago," Ron responded, a strained silence filling the room after he spoke.
"Dumbledore just thought it was best," Hermione finally broke it, speaking quietly.
"Right," Harry said again.
"Our dads were saying it too," I agreed with Hermione. "I kept telling them Harry, I swear - but they said you would be safer if you didn't know anything."
"Yeah?" he raised his eyebrows, "Were any of you attacked by Dementors this summer?"
"Well, no." I coughed, "But that's why they had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time-"
"Didn't work out well, did it?"
We all fell silent again. I refused to look away from him, but he wouldn't meet my eyes anymore. I hated that there was this sudden distance between us, I don't think he had ever been this angry with me before - and he had a right to be. If I thought my summer was awful I can't imagine how dreadful his must have been.
"Dumbledore didn't say why he wanted to keep me in the dark, then?" Harry tried to keep his voice casual as he walked closer to the window, Hedwig still nestled on his shoulder. I saw Ron and Hermione exchange a look, almost like they'd known this was exactly how he was going to react - and I agreed with them, I had been warning everyone the entire time he was not going to take being left out very well.
"We haven't even seen him," Ron replied. "Not since the start of summer when he asked us not to say anything to you - they're worried the owls might be intercepted."
Harry snorted, and I could sense the anger starting to radiate off him, "You're not telling me he doesn't know how to send messages without owls?"
Hermione hesitated - then replied, "I thought that too, but he didn't want you to know."
"So, he doesn't trust me then."
I snorted, getting a little fed up now and shooting him a small glare, "Don't be daft."
"Then how come you all get to know what's going on?" he turned back to me, eyes fiery - and I'd had enough of his pity party now. I knew he was upset, but it was not our fault and he didn't need to take it out on us.
"Harry, we said we're sorry - but it was out of our control, all right? We already told you we barely know anything!"
And then, just like I had been expecting - Harry exploded.
"YEAH? WELL AT LEAST YOU KNOW SOMETHING! I'VE BEEN STUCK AT HOME ALONE, ALL SUMMER! I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN ANY OF YOU EVER HAVE AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT! I'M THE ONE WHO WAS THERE, I'M THE ONE WHO SAW HIM COME BACK - WHO SAW CEDRIC DIGGORY GET MURDERED!"
Hermione and Ron were both staring at him in shock, Ron's mouth was hanging open and Hermione looked like she may cry at any moment. I simply let out a sigh, resting my chin on my hands while I waited for him to finish.
"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"
"We tried-" Hermione tried to protest again, eyes teary.
"WELL OBVIOUSLY NOT VERY HARD!"
"Harry!" I finally snapped, standing up and matching his glare equally as harshly. "We get it, okay? But we said sorry, don't take this out on us! If you want to yell at someone - go yell at your dad, or mine, or Dumbledore! They're the ones that decided to do this, not us!"
He glared back at me, breathing heavily - but made no move to continue to scream at us.
"We really are sorry, Harry!" Hermione said again desperately, "You're absolutely right - I'd be furious if I were you."
"Do you feel better now?" I commented drily, crossing my arms as I watched him pacing angrily up and down my bedroom - refusing to look at any of us.
He shot me a withering glance, "What do you know then? About Voldemort? What are we doing about him, where is he?"
"We already told you we don't know," I responded in irritation, "Do you think my dad let me near any of the Order meetings?"
"Is anyone going to tell me what the bloody Order of the Phoenix is!?"
"It's a secret society - Dumbledore formed it last time," Hermione explained quickly, "We gather it's a lot of the same people from back then."
"We might be able to find out more now," Ron had perked up, "Fred and George have these Extendable Ears-"
"Extendable Ears?"
"Yeah, they were super useful at home until Mum caught on - they had to hide them so she wouldn't throw them all out. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them you know…"
I raised an eyebrow; I hadn't known that. "I only heard that they were following you before I got caught out, and that they're trying to recruit more members. Oh, and they're always talking about guard duty – standing guard over something."
Harry nodded slowly, taking the information in but still not looking entirely pleased with us. I wasn't too worried; I knew he would calm down eventually.
"I suppose it's lucky the Dementors attacked me then, or I wouldn't be here," he said eventually, I exchanged a look with Ron and Hermione - hoping they knew as well as I did it wouldn't be a good idea to mention they were due to arrive next week without him.
"Are you worried about the-" I didn't get to finish my question before a loud CRACK echoed around the room - Hermione letting out a little scream as Fred and George suddenly appeared in my bedroom.
I blinked in shock for a few moments. Out of all the scenarios of seeing my ex-boyfriend for the first time - him Apparating into my bedroom had not been on my list.
"Stop doing that!" Hermione complained.
"Hello Harry," George beamed, the two of them ignoring Hermione. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."
"You don't want to bottle up all your anger like that, Harry - let it all out," I shifted a little awkwardly when Fred spoke, immediately averting my gaze when his eyes moved over to me briefly, "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."
"You two passed your Apparition test, then?" Harry grumbled.
"With distinction."
"It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk up the stairs," Ron said bluntly.
"Time is galleons, Ronnikins." Fred responded, "Anyway Harry, you were interfering with reception."
"Extendable Ears," George filled in when Harry's eyebrows raised, "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."
I let out a sigh before I could stop myself, "They would have been handy to have earlier in the summer."
The twins both turned to me, as did the other three in the room - the awkward silence suddenly hovering over us. My eyes met Fred's for the first time, neither of us knowing exactly what to say. I almost hexed Ron when I heard him mutter 'awkward' under his breath.
Thankfully, we were saved by the door opening once more and Ginny reappearing in the room.
"Oh, hi Harry!" she said brightly, "I thought I heard your voice," she then turned to me with a grim smile, "That Tonks was right - I've been tossing Dungbombs at the door from the top of the stairs and they just keep soaring away."
I let out a frustrated growl, "Story of my whole fucking summer."
"Who is Tonks anyway?" Ron questioned.
"One of the Order members," I explained, a wicked grin crossing my face. "You'll love her, we dyed the couches pink last week."
"You didn't," George grinned, and I shot him a wink.
"You can't even imagine how bored I've been."
"Who else is a member?" Harry asked.
I shrugged, "I've seen a lot of people going in and out, a lot of them I don't know. But obviously all of our parents, Lupin, Moody...I've seen McGonagall once or twice, oh and Snape."
"Snape?!" Harry exclaimed in shock.
"Yes, problem?"
"Snape is in the Order?" he demanded, suddenly looking furious again.
"Why wouldn't he be? You know as well as I do he's on our side, or did you forget what happened in the Hospital Wing last year?" I snapped, and he backed down a little - still not looking entirely happy with the news.
"Bill says he's still a git," George said, leaning against my dresser with his arms crossed.
"Is he back from Egypt?" Harry said, evidently his curiosity for all the information he had missed thankfully trumping his anger now.
Fred nodded, "He applied for a desk job so he could come home and join the Order, he says he misses the tombs but…" he trailed off with a smirk.
"There are compensations," George finished with a snigger.
"What d'you mean?"
"Remember Fleur Delacour? She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish, and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons," George explained.
All of us grimaced at the thought.
"Charlie's in the Order too," Ron moved the subject swiftly along, "But he's still in Romania - Dumbledore wants as many international wizards brought in as possible."
I could feel Fred consistently trying to make eye contact with me - but I purposely avoided looking anywhere near his direction. I hadn't had any time to prepare for seeing him yet, I thought I'd still had another week at least.
"Couldn't Percy do that?"
Every Weasley in the room tensed at Harry's question, and I raised an eyebrow.
"Don't mention Percy to Mum and Dad," Ron shook his head darkly, "Unless you want Dad to break whatever he's holding and Mum to start crying."
"What happened?" I asked.
"I reckon we're completely shot of him. He and Dad had a massive row, I've never seen him that angry before - usually Mum does the yelling y'know?"
"Good old Perce got a promotion," George piped up, and my eyebrows shot up my face in surprise - which he nodded in response to, "Exactly what we thought - he got in major trouble after everything went down with Crouch, so it just all didn't add up."
"I don't get it," Harry shook his head, "How did Percy getting a promotion cause a row?"
"Well he came home all proud of himself as usual, expecting Dad to be all impressed I reckon. Only he wasn't…"
"Fudge has been cracking down on anyone who's associated with Dumbledore," Fred said, "His name is mud in the Ministry these days - they reckon he's just making up You-Know-Who being back."
I snorted, exchanging an angry look with Harry.
"Fudge knows Dad is friendly with Dumbledore, so he reckons he only wants Percy in his office to spy on the family - and Dumbledore."
I laughed a little, "I bet that went down well with Percy."
Ron grimaced, "He went berserk, said a whole lot of awful stuff. Like how he's been struggling through Dad's lousy reputation since he started at the Ministry and that Dad has no ambition, which is why we've never...you know...had a lot of money."
Harry gasped loudly, and Ginny growled like a cat as I clenched my fists at my side - eyes narrowed.
"It got worse, he said Dad was an idiot for running around with Dumbledore and it would only end up dragging him down, he knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry - and that if we were going to be traitors he would make it clear he wasn't part of our family anymore."
I fell onto my bed angrily, "I know he's your brother - but I'll kill him myself."
The twins made a noise of agreement, no one else in the room looking like they disagreed with me.
"He packed up and left that night," George said, "Lives here in London now."
"Mums been a mess," Ginny said sadly, "She tried to come see him a few times, but he slammed the door in her face."
"He's not stupid though," Harry said, ignoring the noise of disagreement I made that caused Ginny to snigger a little, "Surely he knows Voldemort must be back? That your parents wouldn't think it without any proof?"
"Percy takes the Daily Prophet very seriously," Hermione said darkly, and both Harry and I frowned in confusion.
"What does the Daily Prophet have to do with it?" I asked.
Ron snorted, "Oh brilliant - so you've been ignoring all your letters and the papers?" He cast an exaggerated look towards my pile of letters, and I flushed when everyone else in the room followed his gaze. Fred whirled back to face me, his eyes shining in understanding.
"Sometimes I really hate you, Ronald."
"Cassie," Hermione scolded with a shake of her head, "Have you been ignoring everyone all summer?"
I didn't respond, trying to ignore that Fred's eyes were now burning into me as I stared down at my lap.
Apparently everyone else in the room had noticed the awkward tension for the second time too, George being the one to finally speak up.
"Alright kiddies, everyone out! Harry - we'll tell you all about the Daily Prophet out in the very comfortable hallway!"
"But-"
"Hallway!"
I had to bite back a smile as George practically shoved my godbrother out the door - shooting me and Fred a wink over his shoulder. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione quickly scurried out after them and closed the door - leaving me and Fred alone.
We were silent at first, and I found that I honestly didn't know what to say to him. I hated it; this had always been what I was trying to avoid - feeling like I couldn't talk to him.
"I understand if you're still angry at me-"
"So, did you not even open-"
We both stopped, and I had to stifle a laugh at the fact we'd spoken at the exact same time - and when my eyes met his I saw him look away with the ghost of a laugh as well.
"If you'd opened it," he continued first, nodding briefly towards my letter pile, "You would have your answer to that question."
I already felt more relaxed when his tone was nowhere near as cold as it had been the last time I'd seen him, and when even though he still seemed a little guarded there wasn't any obvious animosity coming off of him.
I raised an eyebrow at him expectantly, but he only raised his back and looked over at the pile again.
"Are you actually just going to make me read it?" I asked incredulously.
"I put a lot of effort into that I'll have you know; I think it's the least you can do."
I winced a little, he probably hadn't meant it to be harsh - I could hear how playful his tone was, but it made me walk over and take the letter anyway before settling back on my bed, glancing at him one more time to make sure he was serious. He nodded at me again, and I rolled my eyes before finally ripping the letter open - letting out a shaky breath before I started to read.
Cass,
I've tried to write this letter about three times now, but I could never really bring myself to do it. I'm guessing your summer has been about as strange as ours - and suddenly the only person I wanted to complain about it all with was you.
I won't lie to you - I was angry for a really long time.
You hurt me, and I know you didn't mean to, but you did. I spent so much time trying to figure out if I could have done something differently, if there was anything I could have done to fix whatever went so wrong with us. But then I realised thinking like that wasn't going to help either of us, and I don't want to keep looking back anymore. The last thing I ever want to do is lose you for good.
I don't think I'm angry anymore. Mostly I just miss you, I'm starting to get a little sick of only having George around to cause mischief with. I figured maybe sending you this letter would help ease some of that inevitable awkward tension when we do finally see each other.
So, I guess what I'm trying to say is I forgive you.
I can't wait to see you soon, and I hope we can move on from all of this.
George says to say hi - and that he's really glad I've decided to forgive you and he doesn't have to pretend to hate you forever.
Fred
I sat in silence for a long while after I finished reading, still staring at the letter down in my hands - trying to wrap my head around how he could possibly truly mean everything he had said in it. Merlin knows I didn't deserve it.
"Do you mean it?" I finally looked up at him, tears pricking at my eyes.
He nodded carefully, "Every word."
I let out a long, shaky breath, "How can you possibly forgive me?"
He shrugged, "It's like I said - the last thing I want is to not have you in my life at all," he hesitated. "Is-is that not what you want?"
I shook my head quickly, "That was always my biggest fear," I admitted. "I never wanted to lose you - I literally can't imagine my life without you in it, Fred."
He finally smiled, slumping a little in relief. "Okay, good…good."
"You know how sorry I am, right?" I asked again quietly, and he nodded.
"I know."
"You deserve so much better than me," I said. "Nothing that happened was your fault, I need you to know that."
"It wasn't all you…" he tried to argue, but I shook my head with a slight scoff.
"I was the world's worst girlfriend," I said firmly. "Seriously, I don't know how you put up with me for so long."
He chuckled, holding my gaze for a moment, "It wasn't all bad."
"No," I smiled softly. "It wasn't."
We stayed silent again for a while, but it wasn't as awkward as before. I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders, I couldn't even imagine if he had never forgiven me - even if I couldn't believe he had. It just proved to me even more I had never deserved someone as amazing as him.
"So," he said a little awkwardly as I stood up, his gaze resting on the necklace still clasped around my neck. "Are you and Malfoy…?"
My eyes widened, unconsciously touching the necklace for a moment before hastily dropping my hand once I realised. "No! Um...no," I couldn't believe he'd even asked, and I didn't miss the small flicker of relief in his eyes as he nodded slowly at my answer. I shot him a nervous glance, "You didn't tell anyone did you?"
"No," he replied, smirking slightly as he glanced between me and all my unopened letters again. "But let me guess, he's one of the people you've been ignoring?"
I scowled, "I've been ignoring everyone - it doesn't mean anything in particular." I tried not to dwell on the fact that I'd picked up his letter that arrived this morning three times already before putting it back down again without opening it once I'd realised what I was doing.
Fred snorted, "Right - well at least I can see the summer hasn't changed you too much. Still just as scared of your feelings as ever."
My mouth dropped open, and I whacked him playfully on the arm, "Git!"
He simply laughed, and I couldn't help the grin on my face as he did so. It was nice to know we could fall back into our old pattern this easily.
"Come on," I said, opening the door and heading out to find the others. "I want to see these Extendable Ears of yours."
"Ah yes, probably our best creation to date."
"You two managed not to kill each other, then?" George asked as we found the group of them crouched on the landing a floor down.
"So far," I shot back with a wink, and he grinned.
"Have you heard anything?" Fred asked, the two of us joining them on the floor.
"We were just about to try," George responded, and we all watched as he slowly lowered a string with an ear attached to the end of it down towards the closed door below.
"I already told you it won't work," Ginny said in irritation, "The gap won't be big enough!"
"Shh!" Fred and George both shushed her harshly, and she sat back with an irritated pout.
Just as the youngest Weasley had predicted, we couldn't hear anything but muffled voices - but the twins persisted, moving the string around different angles trying to find some crack in the spell.
"Hermione," my eyes widened. "Is that Crookshanks?"
Everyone's expressions mirrored mine as Hermione's fluffy menace of a cat Crookshanks appeared on the stairs and started prowling towards where the ear was dangling.
"No," Fred hissed as the unmistakable sound of the licking of lips echoed up to us.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione hissed harshly, panic in her eyes. The cat started batting at the ear, ignoring all of us trying to quietly scold her from above.
"No!"
"Get off it!"
"Crookshanks! Leave it alone!"
The ear was in the cat's mouth now, and I already knew exactly where this was going to go before it even happened. Within seconds, the ear was gone - now lost in the stomach of Hermione's stupid cat.
"Hermione I hate your cat," Ron said bluntly, the rest of us nodding in agreement as Hermione leant on the rail - face flushed in shame.
We all scurried up from the floor when we heard the door opening, racing down the stairs as fast as we could - sounding like a herd of elephants as we did so.
"What were you doing?" a suspicious Mrs Weasley greeted us at the bottom of the stairs, arms crossed.
"Nothing," somehow, all seven of us managed to chorus at the same time.
"That sounds convincing," James grinned as the rest of the meeting started filing out.
"Honestly," my dad agreed. "Chorusing in unison? You should know better."
"Stop encouraging them!" Mrs Weasley said, waving her hands and moving in front of us when she saw us trying to peer over her shoulder at who was making their way out of the dining room, "Down in the kitchen, all of you - start getting the table ready for dinner! And where did all these Dungbombs come from?"
"Maybe Crookshanks found them in our bags," Ginny lied easily as she and Hermione quickly moved towards the kitchen, obviously knowing it was a bad idea to try and push Mrs Weasley at the moment.
"That sounds like something that blasted cat would do," Ron mumbled, ignoring the dirty look from Hermione. He and Harry begrudgingly moved forward as well, James and the others walking with Harry as they went.
"I can't believe your mother is ordering me around in my own house," I frowned to the twins on either side of me.
"Are you surprised?" George scoffed.
"Go!"
"Now you know what our summers been like," Fred murmured to me as we hastily moved forward.
"Well thank Salazar the three of us have finally been brought back together again," I grinned wickedly as we started down the stairs.
"Here, here!" George whooped. "I feel like everyone's been having far too a peaceful time."
"Couldn't agree more," Fred echoed, he and I exchanging one more smile. I would never stop reminding myself how lucky I was he was a good enough person to forgive me.
Harry was just being greeted by Mr Weasley and Bill, who said hello to me just as warmly as we all gathered in the kitchen.
"Did you actually just walk down the stairs?" Ron was looking at the twins incredulously, and I covered my mouth to stop my laugh when I saw Tonks knock a candle onto the table and almost light some parchment on fire behind him. She really was ridiculously clumsy.
"Solidarity," George beamed, ruffling my hair and ignoring my yells of protest. "Lil Cass can't Apparate yet."
"I take everything I just said back," I grumbled, glaring at George.
"You don't do that for me!" Ron complained, and the twins just shrugged.
"We like her more than you."
I laughed as Ron started mumbling something grumpily under his breath, before Mrs Weasley started telling everyone to help with dinner or we wouldn't be eating til midnight. Harry was at the table, talking with James, Remus and my dad - still looking rather grumpy as they spoke. I noticed Mundungus Fletcher was napping at the table as well, reminding myself I still needed to make him pay for abandoning his post on Harry earlier tonight.
I found myself in the corner, chatting with Ginny and Tonks as Mrs Weasley handed out orders and supervised the cooking. Ginny was practically in stitches as Tonks kept changing her face to various different animals, and even though I'd been seeing all her tricks the last few weeks I still wasn't over them yet either.
"Fred - George - NO JUST CARRY THEM!"
We all looked up just as a cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of Butterbeer and a heavy wooden breadboard - complete with a knife - went hurtling across the kitchen. Harry and the Marauders just managed to duck out of the way as it all came crashing down, the knife landing ominously in the table right where my father's hand would have been.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Mrs Weasley screeched as we all collapsed into laughter, Ginny and I leaning on the wall to keep ourselves upright, "THERE WAS NO NEED - I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS! JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN USE MAGIC NOW DOESN'T MEAN YOU HAVE TO WHIP OUT YOUR WANDS FOR EVERY LITTLE THING!"
The entire kitchen was in stitches, Mundungus had toppled backwards off his chair and was scrambling to his feet, I had tears almost streaming down my face as the twins hastily scrambled to pick everything up.
I had a feeling the rest of the summer was going to be just fine.
Mrs Weasley still hadn't completely calmed down by the end of dinner, which proved to be a rowdy affair. Between Tonks and her animal impressions, and Mundungus' less than legit stories from his 'business deals', there was barely a quiet moment. I did have to agree with Mrs Weasley's opinion on Mundungus though – I couldn't stand the shady git.
"Have you decided to stop being mad at me yet?" I asked Harry after we'd downed about three servings of pudding each.
"No," he said stubbornly, glaring back at me across the table.
I rolled my eyes, "Brilliant," I turned to look accusingly at my dad and the others, "See? It wasn't even my fault and I'm the one in the shits."
"Oh, it's not just you," my dad responded with a smirk. "He's mad at all of us."
"You know," James said, raising an eyebrow at his son, "For how upset you've been at being kept in the dark – I'm surprised you haven't asked us one question about Voldemort yet."
The sleepy, relaxed lull that had fallen over the kitchen now suddenly became much more tense. Everyone sat up a little straighter again, the mention of Voldemort's name sending a ripple of fear over the table.
"I did!" Harry responded indignantly, looking between me, Ron and Hermione. "I asked them as soon as I got here, but they said we weren't allowed to know anything because we're too young!"
"Quite right," Mrs Weasley mumbled under her breath, ignoring the scowl on Ron's face.
"We were trying to keep you out of it as long as possible," James said softly, ignoring the fierce glares coming from Mrs Weasley still. "But as much as I hate it - this does involve you, Harry."
My mouth dropped open, and I noticed the Weasley children and Hermione also looking appalled, "So I have to spend all summer hiding in my own house and Harry's here for five minutes and he gets to know everything?!"
"Not everything," my dad responded calmly, shooting me a slightly warning look that made me sit back in my seat a little – crossing my arms angrily.
"Just what's necessary." Remus agreed, I think mostly to appease Mrs Weasley who was still looking scandalised that anyone thought of telling Harry anything. She had always thought of Harry and I as just as much her children as anyone.
"I want to know." Harry said immediately, sitting forward eagerly in his seat. I understood his haste, I had been waiting my entire summer for this too.
"Cass…" my dad turned to me, and I looked back at him incredulously when I saw that all too familiar look from this summer.
"Are you joking?"
"The less you know the-"
"No!" I snapped, "If Harry gets to know – then I get to know!"
"This doesn't concern you," my father was rarely stern with me, and I knew he only wanted to keep me safe, but I'd had enough. Weeks of being left in the dark had finally pushed me to my breaking point.
Surprisingly, Harry came to my defence before I could respond, "If it concerns me, it concerns her." I looked over at him in slight surprise, "You always tell us that. She's right – if I get to know so does she."
The two of us shared a small smile, and I felt relieved that he apparently wasn't too mad at me still.
My dad let out a long sigh, the conflict clear in his face – but after exchanging a look with James and Remus he finally nodded, and I sat up a little straighter in triumph.
"Very well," Mrs Weasley spoke up, her voice strained. "Ginny – Ron – Hermione – Fred – George – I want you out of the kitchen, now." There was instant uproar.
"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed, looking absolutely scandalised.
"If Harry and Cass are allowed why can't I?" Ron yelled.
"Mum I want to know!" Ginny whined.
"NO!" Mrs Weasley stood up, glaring between her children, "I absolutely forbid-"
"Molly," Mr Weasley spoke up wearily. "You can't stop Fred and George, they are of age."
"They're still at school-"
"-but they are legally adults."
"Besides," George spoke up, smirking in my direction. "Cassie would tell us anyway."
I pretended to ponder, "Would I?"
George smirked, casting a sidelong look at his brother cheekily. "Well, at least me - maybe not Fred now."
"Shut up George."
I had to bite my lip to stop from laughing, I did not want to risk Mrs Weasley's wrath – simply shooting the twins a wink in response, making them both smirk back triumphantly.
"Fine! Fred and George can stay, but Ron-"
"No!" Ron protested hotly, "Harry'll just tell me and Hermione everything anyway!" He turned to Harry, suddenly looking unsure, "Won't you?"
I snuck a subtle glance at my godbrother, and for a moment I thought he wasn't going to agree with his best friend – his anger from them not telling him anything almost taking over, but just as quickly it was gone.
"Course I will."
Ron and Hermione both beamed.
"FINE! Ginny – BED!"
"WHAT!" the youngest Weasley was enraged, "But that's not fair! Now I'm the only one who doesn't get to know!"
"You are absolutely too young!" Mrs Weasley had evidently had enough of her children disobeying her for one night, and this time refused to back down. As Ginny – quite dramatically – made her exit from the kitchen, I made sure to shoot her a small but subtle wink to let her know I would make sure she was clued in. She still made sure to storm as loud as she could up the stairs, but I hoped I'd appeased her at least a little. I noticed my dad giving me a withering glare as I turned back to the table, but I simply smiled innocently in response. He shook his head, a slight smirk on his face as the air became much more serious once more.
"Well?" Harry asked impatiently, looking at his father – who let out a deep sigh. "Where is he then, where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to keep up with all the Muggle news and there hasn't been anything, no funny deaths."
"That's because there haven't been any funny deaths yet," James responded, "Not as far as we know anyway, and we know a lot."
"More than he thinks we do, anyway," Remus said, a slightly proud smirk on his face.
"How come he isn't killing people?" I frowned. He had practically spent the whole of the last year murdering people before we'd even known he was back.
"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself," my dad said, "His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it too, he messed it up."
"Or rather, you did Harry." James said, smiling a little in satisfaction.
"How?" Harry looked perplexed, and I snorted.
"Because you're still alive, genius."
"Yes," my dad glared slightly warningly at me before continuing. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he was back – and he especially didn't want Dumbledore to know, and the first thing you did when you survived was alert him."
"And that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" Bill raised his eyebrows down the table, "Dumbledore is the only one he's ever been scared of."
"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order an hour after he returned," James said.
"And what have you been doing?" I asked, very determined to get all the answers I'd been missing the last few weeks.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," James sighed.
"Which are?" I raised an eyebrow.
"Well firstly," my dad shifted a little in his seat, "He wants to build up his army again. In the old days he had huge numbers at his command: witches and wizards, giants, all manner of dark creatures. He's certainly not going to take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."
"So, you're trying to stop him from getting more followers?" Harry asked.
"We're trying," James grimaced, "It's proving rather difficult when most people you talk to don't even believe he's back."
I was confused, but Harry nodded in understanding, "Because the Prophet is making me out to be crazy?"
I blinked, "Wow, I really need to start paying attention to the paper."
Fred tossed a paper that was discarded in front of him down the table to me, and I shot him a grateful smile – only needing to glance at the cover to understand what they meant. The first headline was just a picture of Harry calling him 'THE BOY WHO LIES', then changing to an image of Fudge stating, "ALL IS WELL."
I snorted, tossing it away from me, "Typical. So, Fudge is still being delusional then?" I still remembered the anger and fear radiating from the Minister in the Hospital Wing last year, so this denial didn't surprise me in the slightest.
"Why though?" Harry asked desperately, "If Dumbledore-"
"Ah, well that's just the problem there," Mr Weasley said wryly, "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is frightened of him," Tonks said, and I shot her an incredulous look.
"What for?"
"Fudge thinks Dumbledore is after his job," Mr Weasley explained, and I let out a scoff. Dumbledore as Minister?
"That's insane!" Harry exclaimed, echoing my thoughts. "No one in their right mind could believe that Dumbledore-"
"Exactly the point," Remus cut Harry off in agreement, "Fudge isn't in his right mind, it has been twisted and warped by fear. Fear makes people do terrible things; the last time Voldemort gained power he almost destroyed everything we hold dear."
There was a weighted silence throughout the kitchen. I glanced up at my father, who was staring into the distance with a sad look in his eyes, seeing James was doing the same. No one needed any reminders of what we'd already lost.
"Now he's returned, I'm afraid the Minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth."
"But that doesn't help anyone," I argued, anger coursing through me, "Just because Fudge wants to pretend it isn't happening doesn't mean it's not."
"We know, kid," my dad said gently. "That's why we're doing what we're doing."
"So, you are telling people then?" Harry looked around the table urgently, "You're letting people know he's back?"
James grimaced, "It's not that easy. Arthur and Tonks can't go shooting their mouths off or they'd lose their jobs, and it's important for us to have spies in the Ministry. And anyone else who dares speak of it - like Dumbledore, Fudge uses all his influence at the Daily Prophet to shut it down."
"Besides, it's not like we're the most credible sources," my dad said. "I'm the disgraced son to most of society, and Remus isn't exactly a welcome dinner guest." I frowned, but I knew he was right. My father deflecting from the Black family line was never going to stop being a scandal, and although any insults or snide comments made to me in the Common Room slid right off my back - it was times like this I really wished the wizarding society would stop being so prejudiced.
"So, what?" I rolled my eyes, "They just make Harry and Dumbledore out to be crazy and that's that? Everything else goes back to normal?"
"What can I do?" Harry asked, looking determined.
"Nothing," James said firmly. "The only thing you need to do now is stay safe and get through this hearing. Let the Order handle everything else."
"But-" he went to protest, but a particularly stern glare from his father made him change his mind. The two of us exchanged a frown across the table - we didn't want to sit back and do nothing.
"I think that's enough for tonight," Mrs Weasley said, standing and beckoning us all up, "Off to bed with all of you!"
"Mum, you can't tell us to go to bed anymore - we're 18." George complained.
Seemingly recognising defeat, one by one the Weasley's and Hermione stood from the table and started to slowly trudge out of the kitchen. Harry and I glanced at our fathers, who both raised their eyebrows at us. Sighing, the two of us also recognised defeat and followed the others out.
"They barely told us anything," Harry grumbled to me quietly, eyeing Mrs Weasley warily from where she was ushering the others up the stairs in front of us.
"You should be happy, it's more than I've gotten all summer." I shrugged, but he was right. I knew there was much more they weren't telling us.
We stayed silent until we reached the landing below where my bedroom was, Harry pausing outside the room he shared with Ron.
"Sorry for, you know...yelling earlier," he said sheepishly.
"It's fine," I smiled reassuringly, "You had a right to be pissed - but you have to know I really was vouching for you the whole time."
He smiled back, "I believe you. And I'm happy to see you."
I shrugged, my eyes twinkling playfully, "Eh, I suppose I missed you a little."
He rolled his eyes as he opened the door, heading into the room as I made my way up the stairs. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the answers we'd been given, but it was more than I had gotten until now so it would have to do for now. The fact that the Ministry was doing everything they could to keep this quiet bothered me to no end, people needed to know so they could protect themselves. As I got ready for bed my eyes drifted over to that ever-daunting pile of letters on my desk. How many of them knew the real truth?
