Author's Note: Another shorter chapter, but I'm trying to set up some things for what will be happening soon. My family is in the middle of a huge move to another state, but I am trying to stay on a schedule of one new chapter a week. I promise again, I am not abandoning the story. Thank you for all the kind reviews! :)

April 23, 1994

"Harry, wake up," Sirius said, shaking the teenager gently. "We need to get ready."

"Ready for what?" Harry answered groggily, not bothering to open his eyes.

"The Order meeting. I told you about it last night," Sirius answered. He reached up and attempted to pull Harry's blanket off of him. "Let's go, kid. You need to eat breakfast so we can get ready and go."

Harry finally opened his eyes if only to glare at his father. "I never eat breakfast on Saturdays. Now let me sleep." He pulled his blanket back up over his head.

Sirius frowned. "Well one, you shouldn't be skipping meals. You're far too skinny. And two, you still have to get up. The Order meeting starts in 45 minutes. You can't wait any longer. Get up and shower." He poked Harry's shoulders.

Harry threw back the blanket and groaned. "Why can't I just stay here?"

"Because Moony and I are both going to the meeting," Sirius explained.

"I don't need a babysitter Sirius," Harry retorted.

Sirius rolled his eyes. "I never said you did, but you are grounded, which means you are going with us instead of staying here. Now up."

Harry sighed and stood up. "Do I get to sit in on the meeting?" he asked as he walked to his trunk to pull out some clothes.

"Not this time," Sirius answered, standing to head to the door.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Harry asked.

Sirius shrugged. "Bring your homework. You can work on it in your room there."

Harry slammed his trunk shut, a little harder than he intended. "I already finished my homework."

"All of it?" Sirius asked in disbelief.

"Yeah. There hasn't been much else to do," Harry answered, annoyed.

"Well, I'm sure you'll find something to occupy your time. Get a shower, then come eat," Sirius instructed before exiting the room.

After about 20 minutes, Harry joined Remus and Sirius at the table.

"Tell me again why I can't just stay here," Harry asked, picking up a piece of bacon and taking a bite.

Sirius put his coffee cup down and sighed. "Because you are grounded, Harry."

"I won't leave. If you let me stay here, I promise I'll stay in these quarters the whole time," Harry pleaded.

Sirius looked suspiciously at Harry. "Why do you want to stay here anyway if you can't go anywhere?"

Harry shrugged. "I just don't like Grimmauld Place. If I have to go there, at least let me sit in on the meeting."

Sirius quickly shook his head. "No, I'll be glad to go over everything after, but you can't sit in." He noticed Harry open his mouth to protest, so he quickly cut him off. "That's Dumbledore's rule, not mine."

Harry closed his mouth and scowled. "Couldn't you have Dobby keep an eye on me here? He'll tell you if I leave," he offered.

Sirius chuckled before taking another sip of coffee. "Yeah right. Dobby will let you do whatever you want and you know it."

Harry looked offended. "You don't trust me?"

Sirius scoffed. "I'm sorry. Are you not the kid I just caught three days ago making out with his girlfriend when he was supposed to be in history class?"

Harry sighed and crossed his arms. Remus, who had been listening to their exchange with slight amusement, decided to help Harry out some. "You know Padfoot, you could just put a charm on the door not allowing anyone in or out. Then Harry could stay here and you wouldn't have to worry about him getting out or anyone else getting in," Remus told his best friend.

Sirius thought it over for a few seconds before relenting. "Ok, you can stay here. I'll set the charm. But if anything happens, you floo directly to Grimmauld Place, understand?"

"What could possibly happen while I'm locked up in here?" Harry asked.

Sirius narrowed his eyes on his son. "I think the answer you're looking for is 'yes, sir.'"

Harry smirked, "Yes, sir." He quickly finished his breakfast before going to his room, quickly scribbling a note to Ron, and quietly sending it with Hedwig. Smiling smugly, he grabbed a copy of the latest Seeker Weekly and went to the small living room. Sirius and Remus left soon after, leaving Harry sprawled out on the couch reading. As soon as the two of them had disappeared through the floo, he took the magazine back to his room and waited. Within ten minutes, he heard a tapping on the window and looked up to see Ron on a broomstick outside, his arms wrapped around a very nervous looking Hermione. Harry smiled and quickly hurried over to help them through the window.

"I just want to state for the record that I think this is a terrible idea," Hermione told the two boys. "We're lucky we didn't just fall to our deaths."

"Scared of flying are you Hermione?" Harry asked teasingly.

Hermione huffed. Harry went into the kitchen and retrieved a box of biscuits and some pumpkin juice for the three of them.

"Who's broom is that?" Harry asked.

"Fred's," Ron answered, stuffing a biscuit in his mouth.

"He let you borrow it?" Harry questioned.

Ron shrugged. "He and George are in detention. He can't use it right now anyway. So where are Sirius and Lupin?"

"Order meeting. I convinced them to let me stay here," Harry answered.

"You should've gone to the Order meeting, mate. Mum and Dad won't tell me anything about them," Ron told him.

"He wouldn't let me sit in," Harry told them.

"You could've used the Extendable Ears. Fred and George hid a pair in one of the rooms there to use next time."

Harry shook his head. "Sirius told me if I used those again, he's going to tell your mum about them."

Ron shuddered at the thought. "So, how's being grounded?" Ron asked Harry as the three took seats on the floor sharing the snacks.

"It sucks," Harry answered truthfully. "I'd be bored out of my mind today if you two hadn't showed up."

Ron chuckled.

"What is so funny?" Harry asked, feeling slightly offended.

Ron smiled. "It's just sort of funny. I mean, I don't want you to be grounded, but it is sort of nice to see you getting in just as much trouble as us now."

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean? I've gotten in loads of trouble with you two." Harry asked.

"Yeah, here at school, but not from like, a parent," Ron stammered.

Harry continued to look puzzled.

Hermione tried to help. "Remember the troll incident? I was grounded all of Christmas break for that." She started counting off with her fingers as she listed. "The mishap with the Polyjuice potion? I had to write a ten page essay for my parents after that. And I'm lucky my parents don't know how to send a howler or they certainly would have sent one when we got caught after sending off Norbert. They were not pleased."

Ron was nodding along. "Fred and George usually catch it worse than me, but not always. I thought mum and dad would've forgotten about the car incident by the end of last year, but I had extra chores the entire first month of summer break for it."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

Hermione and Ron both nodded.

"You two have never had to be grounded here at school though," Harry pointed out.

Ron shrugged. "You know how Sirius said the Firebolt was to make up for 12 years of presents?" he asked.

"Yeah," Harry answered.

"Well, maybe he's just making up for 12 years of punishments now." Ron was back to laughing at his friend.

Hermione wanted to scold Ron, but she couldn't help but snicker too.

Harry threw a piece of biscuit at both of his friends. "As much as I enjoy hearing you two laugh at my expense, how about we play Exploding Snaps instead?"

Ron and Hermione nodded. "You have a set of cards?" Ron asked.

Harry stood up. "Yeah, Lupin keeps some here. I'll be right back."

….

Sirius sat chatting with Mad-Eye Moody while they waited on Dumbledore to arrive to start the meeting.

"I have a recruit graduating next month, says she's related to you," Moody told him.

Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Yeah, Tonks is her name. Nymphadora. Tough as nails. She'll make a damn good one."

"Oh, Dora!" Sirius said fondly. "My baby cousin. She's graduating Auror training?"

Moody nodded. "Yeah. She'll probably start coming to these meetings once she's done. I told her she had some big shoes to fill if she's related to you. You ever consider coming back?"

Sirius shook his head. "Not these days. I couldn't do that to Harry."

"The kid's lucky to have you, Black. You know that?" Moody answered.

Sirius smiled. "Not nearly as lucky as I am to have him," he answered passionately.

Just then Dumbledore arrived and called the meeting to order, but it was Amelia who spoke first.

"Well, this is not surprising, but there wasn't anything about the note that could tell us who sent it. It appears to be just an ordinary piece of parchment, and since there were no unique identifying characteristics of the owl that the kids remember, that's pretty much a dead end," she explained to the group. She paused at the few exasperated sighs throughout the room before adding. "Save your frustration. I've got more bad news, worse than that actually."

All eyes locked on her with a mixture of fear and intrigue. "As some of you are aware, I wanted to station aurors around Hogwarts. Between this note and Mr. Potter's scar pain, something seems...not right. Add in the fact that we still have not found Voldemort's body, and I just think it's best we take every precaution to protect all the students. However, our Minister does not agree."

Shock and anger spread throughout the room.

"Doesn't agree with what exactly?" Sirius asked, outraged.

Amelia sighed heavily. "He does not agree that Voldemort could be growing stronger. It is his belief that Pettigrew lied, that he was never actually helping Voldemort, and essentially nothing is wrong in the wizarding world."

"What a damn idiot," Sirius snarled.

"Cornelius is acting out of fear. He does not believe Tom is strengthening because he does not want it to be true," Dumbledore explained calmly.

"He also has an undersecretary, an unbearable woman, in his ear feeding him lies, telling him what he wants to hear," Amelia added. "He won't see reason. And unfortunately the more evidence we have that Voldemort is trying to return, the more stubborn the Minister becomes. I think we need to accept and plan for the fact that if we are going to stop the Dark Lord's return, it will be without the ministry's help."

The room was quiet as everyone thought for a few minutes. Finally, Arthur Weasley broke the tension. "Are we sure, Amelia, that the note was indeed not from a student?"

Amelia nodded, but it was Snape that spoke, to everyone's surprise. "The writer used the name 'Wormtail.' None of the students know that name. I heard it back during the first war. I didn't know who it was, but it was known among the death eaters. Whoever wrote that note served the Dark Lord."

There was another long silence before Sirius asked, his voice slightly hoarse. "So what are we going to do?"

Amelia spoke again. "Well, it's ultimately up to the group, but I believe it would be best for Order members, at least those that are not already teaching at Hogwarts, to set up posts there, just to keep an eye on things. I hate how whoever this rogue death eater is, he's always one step ahead of us. At least this way, we can have eyes and ears on the ground watching out for anything else suspicious. I can't get Fudge to sign off on aurors, but the Order doesn't need his permission," she finished with a smirk.

Dumbledore nodded. "I think that is advisable. I have to agree. We need to get ahead of Tom this time. We can discuss how best to divide the shifts. In addition, I believe Harry's recent scar pain can only mean one of two things. One, it could mean that Tom is possessing someone nearby, like he was with Professor Quirrell two years ago. However, if Harry is telling the truth about when the scar pain occurs, then that explanation is unlikely. Which leaves option two. That Voldemort is growing stronger."

A solemn tone took over the meeting from that point forward as they discussed how to set up the patrols at the castle and what they would do moving forward. Once everything had wrapped up, Sirius waited for everyone to exit. He pulled the Marauder's Map out and glanced at it while the other members chatted.

"Moony, look at this," he called over to Remus.

Remus walked over and looked down where Sirius was pointing. He chuckled as he read the three floating names in Harry's room: Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger.

"How in the world?" Sirius asked.

Remus shrugged. "My guess would be through the window. All the Weasley children are fair flyers," he answered, lowering his voice so Arthur and Molly couldn't hear.

"I'm going to kill him," Sirius said, agitated, but Remus just laughed at him. "What is so funny, Moony?"

Remus tried to sober himself. "I'm sorry Padfoot, it's just, do those three remind you of anyone?"

Sirius tried to glare at him, but he couldn't help but smile at the memories. "Maybe a little." A frown soon replaced his smile as he added, "Let's just hope they don't have a Peter among them."

Remus smiled sadly, but before he could respond, Dumbledore asked to speak to him privately.

….

Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat on the floor of Harry's bedroom talking and laughing. They were so caught up in their conversations that Harry lost track of time, and before he knew it, he heard Remus's floo chime.

"We better go," Ron said quickly as he and Hermione stood up.

"There's not enough time to get out the window. Sirius will come straight in here to check on me. Hide under the bed until I can distract him," Harry instructed, and Ron and Hermione quickly did as they were told. As predicted, it was a matter of seconds before Sirius was knocking on the bedroom door.

"Just a second," Harry called out, quickly grabbing the empty pumpkin juice bottles and throwing them in his wardrobe. He ran over and opened the door.

"Hey Pup," Sirius greeted him warmly. "We're back. Ready for lunch?"

"Uh, yeah. How was the meeting?" Harry answered, trying to act casual.

"It was good. I'll fill you in over lunch. Come on," Sirius answered. He shifted slightly and called behind Harry. "Ron and Hermione, I'd ask if you wanted to stay for lunch, but Harry is grounded, so I'm afraid you're going to have to head back to your dormitory."

"Tell them to go through the door this time though. I'll likely lose my job if students fall out of my windows," Remus called out from the living room.

Harry closed his eyes and sighed. "How did you know?" he asked as he opened them again.

"I took the Map with me," Sirius answered, "to keep an eye on you. And also, Ron's broom is still propped against the window," he added pointing over at the broomstick. Ron and Hermione crawled, red faced, out from under the bed and told Harry bye before exiting sheepishly out of Remus's front door. As soon as the door closed, Harry jumped as he felt Sirius's hand land swiftly on his rear end.

"Hey!" Harry called out hotly. It didn't hurt, just surprised him.

"You seem to have some trouble remembering what the rules are when you are grounded," Sirius answered heatedly.

Harry sighed. "Sorry, but I didn't invite them. They just showed up at the window."

"Oh, and you said, 'Sorry guys. I'm grounded,' and they held you at wand point and forced you let them in. Is that what happened?" Sirius asked sarcastically.

Harry smirked. "Well, something like that," he answered cheekily.

Sirius was not amused. He crossed his arms and looked pointedly at his son. "I know we discussed this Harry. No visiting your friends, and no visitors here. If that is too hard to remember, we can certainly add a week to your grounding for extra practice."

"No!" Harry answered quickly. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Sirius stared at him a while, contemplating what to do. Finally he nodded in acceptance of Harry's apology and directed him toward the table. "Ok, see that it doesn't. Now come on, let's eat and I'll fill you in on the Order meeting."

Harry let out a long breath in relief and followed Sirius to join Remus at the table.

April 26, 1994

Harry studied Remus as he arrived at DADA class Tuesday morning. He knew the full moon had been the night before and that Remus was tired and sore that morning. Though that was evident in his features, Remus was usually still quite jovial following the full moon, but today was different. Today he appeared almost nervous. Harry noticed his hands shaking as he opened his briefcase. It didn't take Harry long to understand why.

"Turn to page 394 in your textbooks, please." He paused and gave the students a chance to find the page before continuing. Taking a deep breath, he announced, "Today we will be discussing werewolves."