Dudley was up early—just before eight, waiting to be collected and taken to the Order of the Phoenix's headquarters. Moody had delivered a message last night saying someone would arrive at eight to take him there. He hadn't said who. Dudley yawned as he sat on the sofa, his trunk by his feet. During the holidays, he barely every got out of bed before 10.

His mum had been pleased that he was going to be with other wizards, insisting it would be safer. Vernon, too, had been pleased, saying "your lot will be able to take of you. Keep your head down and let them deal with it."

There came a familiar clump from outside. Dudley opened the door to reveal Mad-Eye Moody and Bill Weasley. Both looked grim.

"What are you doing, Dudley? I could be anyone."

"Oh … yeah," Dudley moved to close the door again, but Moody blocked it with a gnarled hand.

"It's too late now, if I were a Death Eater, you'd already be dead."

Moody noticed Dudley looking at Bill.

"It's him, he's already answered my security questions," Moody said.

"What's wrong?" Dudley asked, looking at them both.

"We'll tell you back at headquarters," Bill said, shaking his hand.

"Is it Voldemort?"

Both flinched at the mention of the name.

"Sorry," Dudley said, quickly. "Is it? What's he done?"

All had been quiet for the past couple of days. Voldemort, surprisingly, hadn't made a move since his return. The Ministry had been moving its pieces, setting up defensive measures and making preparations for the storm, and judging by the grim expressions on Bill and Moody's face, the storm had broke.

"We'll tell you at headquarters, Bill said again."

"All ready then?" Vernon said, coming to the door with Petunia. He was wearing his navy blue pajamas which didn't quite cover his large belly.

He eyed Bill Weasley suspiciously, his eyes taking in the fang earing and the dragon-skin boosts. "You lot be sure to take of my Dud," he said firmly. "Or you'll have me to answer to."

"He'll be safe at HQ," Bill said, wearily. "And at Hogwarts when he returns. Don't worry."

Vernon gave a small nod and Dudley turned to say goodbye to his parents. He hugged first his father and then his mother who was hovering behind him. Then, it was time to leave.

He and Bill grabbed a handle each of the trunk and carried it towards Moody's house.

"Are we apparating?" Dudley asked.

"Floo powder," Moody said. "I've connected my home to the network—one-time thing to get you to HQ."

Dudley didn't know what to expect when he entered Moody's house. He didn't know much about the former Defence Against the Dark Arts professor except he was quite grim, old, obsessed with catching dark wizards and more than a little paranoid.

There was an ugly gnome on the front step.

"Explodes if an intruder walks past," Moody said with a harsh laugh as he noticed Dudley look at it. "One of many surprises I have."

He pressed his finger to the door and it swung open. "Took a leaf out of the goblins' book," Moody said. "Only I can enter. Anyone else tries that … well, let't say it'll be an eye opener."

The inside of Moody's house was sparsely decorated. There was a picture of a creepy old house on the wall.

"Enchanted painting—will suck intruders inside," Moody said. "Only two residents at the moment, you can see them on the top floor."

And sure enough, in the top floor of the house, Dudley could see two figures looking out.

"How do you get them out again?" Dudley asked.

"I can't," Moody said with a shrug. He led the way into the living room which was also sparsely decorated with just a sofa, a table, a wireless and a pile of books. On the shelf above the fire was a fresh pot of floo powder.

"Where are we going?" Dudley asked.

"Somewhere you've been before," Bill said. "The Burrow."

"Cool," Dudley liked it there. The Weasley family lived in a very cool house.

"Finding a HQ was difficult," Bill said. "We were going to use Hogwarts, but once term starts it'll be difficult. So Dad offered our house for now. Dumbledore's trying to find a bigger, more suitable place, though."

"You should be safe at the burrow, Dudley," said Moody. "But all the same …"

"Constant vigilance," said Dudley.

"Exactly," said Moody with a nod.

Dudley took a pinch of floo powder.

"Take care," Moody said gruffly.

"You too," said Dudley. He turned to the fire, then back to Moody. "My parents. You will …"

"They'll be safe with me around," Moody promised. "And you dad will be fine with Podmore at his work. He's a skilled wizard."

"Cheers," said Dudley.

He tossed a pinch of floo powder into the flames which turned green. Gripping his trunk, he stepped forward. "The Burrow!" he said, clearly.

He emerged in the Weasley's front room. Mrs. Weasley was there waiting for him. She looked anxious. "Oh, Dudley dear, you're here. I was worried … with what's happened, I feared …" she trailed off.

"Calm down, Mum—even You-Know-Who can't attack the floo network," George said.

"Plus he was with Bill and Moody," Fred said. The twins stepped forward to help with Dudley's trunk, just as Bill appeared out of the fire.

"Is anyone here yet?" he asked.

"Emmeline and Minerva arrived 10 minutes ago," Mrs Weasley said. "But the meeting isn't until nine."

"What's happened?" Dudley asked.

The twins glanced at each other, both looked serious.

It was Bill who answered. "There's been a breakout from Azkaban," he said, shortly. "Dad was called into the office early this morning."

"How … who?"

"We don't know," said Bill. "I expect it will be in the Prophet this morning. Dumbledore's called a meeting about it, and …"

"That's enough for now," Mrs. Weasley said, interrupting. "You two, why don't you take Dudley to Ron's room. And wake Ron up."

"What's been happening?" Dudley asked, following the twins upstairs.

"Not much," Fred said. "You-Know-Who's been keeping quiet."

"Yeah, I've been getting the Prophet. But I mean, with this Order group?"

Fred and George looked at each. "We'll tell you in Ron's room." Said Fred.

"Yeah, we don't want Mum knowing how much we know …" said George.

"Or how we're finding it out," Fred added. "But needless to say, we're putting your investment to good use."

"Who else is here? Hermione … Dean?"

"Nah," said George. "Though Ron got an owl from Hermione, she's going to come over soon."

"It's not the only owl he's been getting," Fred said with a smirk.

"Cho?" Dudley guessed.

"Writes daily,' answered George. "Nothing too juicy though."

"You've read her letters?"

"Of course," said Fred. "What are brothers for? We were hoping to read something to tease Ronniekins about, but it's 90 percent about the quidditch game they're going to in a couple of weeks."

They arrived at Ron's door. Fred put a hand out to stop Dudley. "Got a whizz-bang?" he asked.

'Naturally," said George, pulling out a blue firework. He lit it with the end of his wand. "On three - one, two –three!"

Fred pushed the door open and George tossed the firework inside. It went off with a loud bang and a cloud of blue smoke appeared out from under Ron's door.

A few second later, Ron burst out, wild-eyed and coughing. "You absolute gits!" he spluttered whilst the twins laughed. "I was having such a good dream."

"Well, blame mum,' said Fred. "She told us to wake you."

"Yeah, not by throwing a whizz-bang in my room though," Ron said and coughed again.

Fred and George laughed once more.

Ron caught side of Dudley and grinned. "You're here then,"

"Yeah, Bill brought me this morning," Dudley said. "So, what's been happening-with Vol … You-Know-Who and the Order?"

"We'll tell you in here," Fred said. He waved his wand so the blue smoke disappeared and they all trooped inside Ron's room. George put Dudley's trunk near the wall and they all sat down—Ron and Dudley on the bed, George in a comfortable beanbag chair and Fred sat on the edge of the dresser.

"So," said Dudley. "You lot have been here for the last week, what's been happening?"

"We're not allowed into the meetings," Ron said, "But we have a pretty good idea of what's going on."

"Extendable ears," George said, pulling a long, flesh-colored bit of string from his pocket. "Let's us listen in on what they're discussing."

"Which isn't much," Fred said.

"Ok, why not start with who else is in this Order thing," Dudley said.

"Easy enough," said Fred. "Dumbledore's in charge, but he's not around much."

"Really, they only use our home as a meeting place," George chimed.

"Then there's McGonagall, Hagrid and Snape from the school." Fred continued. "Though Hagrid hasn't been around, some of the others of mentioned him."

"Yeah, Dumbledore said something about Snape being a spy," Dudley said.

"He doesn't say much at the meetings," said Ron. "We reckon most of what he says is for Dumbledore's ears only."

"Then there's Dad, Mum, Bill and George," Fred continued. "From what we can gather, dad's been trying to get some people from the Ministry on board—no luck though. It seems everyone thinks the Ministry will be able to handle it."

"He tried getting a couple of Aurors involved—someone called Tonks and, who was the other one, Fred?"

"Shacklebolt and Proudfoot," Fred said.

"Yeah, but they weren't interested." George finished.

"Charlie's still in Romania, Dumbledore wants him to try and recruit some foreign wizards," Ron said. "Bill's here though, came to get a desk job so he could help out."

"And not just help out the Order," Fred said with a grin.

"He's dating Fleur," George said, noticing Dudley's puzzled expression. "Being giving her English lessons." he added, doing airquotes as he said it.

"She's been helping with the Order, too," Ron added. "Mostly her and Bill have been used for odd jobs,"

"Like collecting you," Fred added.

"Anyone else?" Dudley asked.

"Yeah. There's a bloke called Mundungus—he's a laugh. Mum hates him though. And this weirdo with a top hat—Diggle, his name is." said George.

"The Longbottoms, too," Fred added.

Ron chuckled slightly. "I don't envy any Death Eaters who runs across Augusta Longbottom—she wants to march right up to You-Know-Who and hex him into a million pieces. I think it's only Dumbledore who is stopping her from single-handedly hunting them down."

"I don't blame her," Dudley muttered. "After what they did. Are the Order lot actually doing anything?"

"Well, Dad's trying to get new members," Fred said. "Moody and this bloke called Podmore have been guarding something."

"My parents," Dudley said.

"And they've been taking it in turns to guard something else," George continued. "We've no idea what—they just call it 'the object' and guard duty. It's got to be something that You-Know-Who wants though."

Dudley thought for a few moments what that could possibly be. Another Philosopher's Stone perhaps? He was about to suggest this when their came the sound of conversation from downstairs.

"Hello, hello, looks like things are happening," George said. "Time for the extendable ears, Fred?"

"You read my mind, George," Fred replied. He pulled a handful out of his pockets and doled them out.

On the corridor, they met Ginny. "Oh, hello, Dudley, nice summer?" without waiting for an answer she held her hand out to Fred. "Dish them over," she said and Fred handed her one too.

Downstairs, a group of witches and wizards were being led into the Weasley's large dining room.

Dudley copied what the twins did, he put one end of the extendable ear into his own ear and the rest wriggled off towards the kitchen door.

Immediately, he could hear the conversation as if they were talking next to him. It was difficult to make anything specific out since everyone was talking at once, but they all seemed very anxious.

"That will do," a voice that Dudley recognized only all too well said.

"Dumbledore's here!" he whispered to Ron.

"Must be important then," Ron said.

"It is," said Dudley, then, realized that Ron, who had been in bed, had likely heard nothing about the breakout.

"What do you ..." Ron began, but the twins shushed him.

"I'm sure most of you have heard the rumors by now," Dumbledore was saying. "And it's true—there has been a breakout of Azkaban,"

There was a lot of muttering that greeted this news.

"How many?" a voice that Dudley didn't recognize said.

"Fifteen," Dumbledore said, softly. "Including some of the worst."

A number of gasps greeted this news.

"Have they said ... do you know who?" Dudley recognized the speaker as being McGonagall.

"Julian Avery II, Walden Macnair, Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Quentin Travers, Maximillian Mulciber, ..." Dumbledore began.

Dudley heard a rough-sounding voice swear.

"Eadwig Mulciber, Percival Pyrites, Ivan Lee, Rosemary Lee ..." Dumbledore continued.

Molly Weasley gasped.

"... Abaddon Nott, Theodore Nott, Rabastan Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange and Bellatrix Lestrange,"

"The Lestranges are free?" Augusta Longbottom said icily.

"I'm afraid so," said Dumbledore.

"Then I wish to know what Madame Bones is playing at? How can she stand by and let that happen?"

"Augusta ... I don't think ..." McGonagall began.

"And fool could tell you the Dementors are You-Know-Who's natural allies!" Augusta Longbottom said. "They should have been kicked out of Azkaban the moment You-Know-Who returned to power!"

There was some scattered mutterings of approval.

"And what is the Ministry doing about this?" a female voice said.

"They have the Aurors looking,"

"Fat-lot of good that'll do," the rough-voiced wizard rasped. "Had no luck finding him, have they?"

"And are we going to do anything?" another female wizard said.

"We are going to continue doing what we have been," Dumbledore said. "We lack both the numbers and knowledge to launch a full on assault on Dumbledore yet. We gather intelligence, watch for Lord Voldemort to make his moves and do our best to counter them."

The meeting went on as the Order of the Phoenix members discussed various things they could do. Bill Weasley was in favor of staking out likely targets of the Death Eaters, but according to Dumbledore, their numbers were too low.

When the meeting was over and the Order members were departing, Dudley was left feeling a little unimpressed. It didn't seem like they were actually doing anything. He had been expecting them to take the fight to Voldemort, raid his Death Eaters, crack skulls, apprehend villains—instead, they were moving slowly, gathering new members and intelligence. Well, Dumbledore's intelligence had completely failed to stop the breakout of Azkaban, and now Voldemort had 12 new Death Eaters in his ranks.

Dudley had just realized something. "Where's Percy? I thought he would have been here-he's at the Ministry isn't it?"

Ron suddenly looked angry and Fred and George exchanged dark looks. "He's deserted the family," Fred said, grimly.

"You're kidding?"

"Nope-had a big argument with dad, saying dad's loyalties should be with the Ministry and not with the Order. Said the Ministry needs all the support they can back and tha ... what was the quote, George?"

"He's going to 'refuse to associate with people who are members of an unlicensed vigilante group'" George said.

"Git," Ron said.

"Dudley, dear, Albus Dumbledore would like a word with you," Molly Weasley suddenly called.

Dudley jumped. He hadn't been expecting to be summoned.

"What have you done?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, I don't think ..." Dudley said. He handed over the extendable ear and headed down the stairs.

Dumbledore was waiting for him in the kitchen.

"Dudley, how's your summer"

Dudley shrugged. His summer had been full of nightmares and worry about Voldemort being back.

Dumbledore seemed to understand for he gave a nod. "I know—these are difficult times, please, take a seat."

Dudley did as he was told and Dumbledore regarded him for a few seconds.

"But first, let's make sure there are listening ears!" He smiled and waved his wand. Form upstairs came some "ows" and "oofs!"

"What did?"

"Just a little anti-intruder spell, your friends' noses will return to their normal size within an hour," Dumbledore said.

"Now, nobody outside this room can hear us," Dumbledore said. "And it imperative that you keep this to yourself. Even from your friends, understand?"

Dudley nodded. "Ok," he said.

"Good," said Dumbledore. "Now, I am going to tell you why Lord Voldemort targeted Neville Longbottom last Summer, and why he continued to target you."

Dudley leant forward. He had thought Voldemort targeted him because he had stopped Quirrell from stealing the Philosopher's Stone in his third year.

"Years ago, shortly before Lord Voldemort's downfall a prophecy was made ... do not ask me to repeat it, the words of the prophecy must be kept a secret. It is enough that you know of its existence. It names the one who will lead to the downfall of Lord Voldemort."

"Wait ... no, that's not me, is it?" Dudley asked, frowning.

"Lord Voldemort originally thought it referred to your cousin, Harry Potter. He headed to Godric's Hollow that night for the sole purpose of murdering an infant child to prevent this prophecy from happening," Dumbledore said, his voice dripping with disgust.

"He succeeded. The Potters were my friends. I tracked Lord Voldemort down and defeated him, but now he has returned. He is still fixated on the prophecy—he fears he got it wrong, that it wasn't referring to Harry Potter at all. And he is right, the words of the prophecy could have referred to two infants—Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom."

Dudley stared at Dumbledore. Neville, the one who was destined to beat Voldemort?

"He also fears there might be a third person—the prophecy refers to born to one who has thrice defied him. After stopping him from stealing the Philosopher's Stone in your first year, and later, escaping from his diary and basilisk, he began to fear it could refer to you, or rather, your child."

Dudley swore under his breath. That was like painting a giant bullseye on his back. "And now, I have escaped him three times—defied him three times."

"Precisely," said Dumbledore. "I firmly believe that Lord Voldemort fears the prophecy is about you."

"Is it about me?" Dudley asked.

"It's enough that Lord Voldemort believes it is," Dumbledore said.

"So, he's going to try and kill me again?" Dudley said. He actually wasn't surprised by this revelation.

Dumbledore, however, shook his head. "He doesn't want to make any more mistakes. According to my sources ..."

Dudley knew he was referring to Snape.

"... Lord Voldemort wishes to hear the entire prophecy himself before striking against you." Dumbledore looked Dudley directly in the eyes.

"You must promise me this, Dudley," Dumbledore said. "No matter what happens. No matter what. You must never enter the Department of Mysteries."

The Department of Mysteries? The name rang a bell. "That's that place in the Ministry, isn't it?"

"Yes," said Dumbledore, simply. "But do not think about such a place. Promise me now, you will never enter that place."

"I promise," Dudley said, confused. What could be so dangerous about the Department of Mysteries?

"No matter what," Dumbledore urged.

"I promise, no matter what," said Dudley.

Dumbledore

"Lord Voldemort didn't mention anything about planning a breakout," Dumbledore said, gazing at Severus Snape over his interlinked fingers.

"I told you, no," Severus said, sounding irritated.

"I'm sorry, Severus," Dumbledore said, quickly. "This caught us all by surprise. I didn't think he would make such a bold move so soon."

"It means he doesn't fully trust me yet," Severus said. "Even after preventing the arrest of Crabbe and Goyle. Even after the information I have given him. He refuses to trust me because of what I am."

"What you are is an extremely brave man," Dumbledore said. "I value your advice, I value your assistance and I value your friendship."

Severus gave a small nod of recognition. Dumbledore knew that was the most he would get from his friend. Severus Snape wasn't given to displays of emotion. Surprising, since Dumbledore knew his sole reason for leaving Lord Voldemort had been because of the love he once had for Lily Evans.

"We need to give him more," Dumbledore said, thoughtfully. He felt tired suddenly—the burden of leadership. It was all for the greater good, but he hated part of himself for what he was about to say.

"We need to give Lord Voldemort a member of our organization," Dumbledore said.

"Surely there must be another way," Snape said, stiffly.

"Severus, you sound so … regretful

"Of course I do!" Snape snapped. "I'm not a monster. I don't wish to see anyone die."

"Not even for the greater good?" Dumbledore asked.

Severus was silent.

"This is a war, Severus … people are going to die."

"I know that!" Snape snapped. "But there is a difference—a big difference in dying in battle and being handed over to the Dark Lord to be tortured and murdered."

"You must see to it that the death is swift," Dumbledore said. "Do it yourself if needs be. But they cannot suffer."

"You ask a lot," Snape said, simply.

"When you signed on for this job, you knew I would ask much of you, Severus," said Dumbledore. "I can't stress how important it is that you are by Lord Voldemort's side. He needs to trust you—completely. And you must do anything—anything—to assure that happens. Even if it means sacrificing others."

"Who?" Snape said, softly.

"Emmeline Vance," said Dumbledore. He had thought long and hard about this. She was a senior member of the Order of the Phoenix, so Lord Voldemort would be pleased to have her out of the way. But she wasn't important enough so that the Order would feel her loss too strongly. Plus she was a widow and lived alone. There would be little personal grief.

"When?" Snape asked, simply.

"Soon," Dumbledore said. "The quicker you get close to Lord Voldemort, the better."

Voldemort

Lord Voldemort followed Bellatrix Lestrange into the home that would be his new base of operations. It looked like it hadn't been cleaned for years. There was a feel of neglect about the place and yet, it felt right. This was a house of many secrets. A house of darkness. A house where powerful wizards had lived.

A wizened, stooped House Elf with bloodshot eyes and tufts of white hair poking out of his ears plodded out of one of the rooms. "Miss Bellatrix …" it whispered. Then in just as clear a voice. "My Mistress always said the Blacks would return."

Voldemort ignored the wretched creature to look at Bellatrix. She was gazing at him eagerly, like a puppy waiting for a pat on the head by its master. "It will do," he said, striding forward.

There were heads of House Elves mounted on the wall and portraits of ancient, grim, impressive-looking wizards.

"Grimmauld Place, my lord," Bellatrix said. "Ancestral house of the Black family. With my cousin, Sirius dead …"

"It is yours," Voldemort finished. "It is secure?"

"The Blacks were obsessed with secrecy, my lord," Rabastan Lestrange said. "Every bit of magical protection possible was placed on the house. We will be secure."

"Good," Voldemort said, striding into the room. "The largest room in the house will be cleared as my personal office. The best and biggest bedroom is mine—it will be cleaned. We are not muggles or mudbloods. We don't live like vermin."

"We can imperius some muggles … get them to work for us," Eadwig Mulciber said, eagerly.

The idea was slightly amusing, but idiotic. "Fool," spat Voldemort. "Don't you think the Ministry would notice if muggles suddenly went missing? You can clean the house yourself—select some to help you. Once we are settled we can move forward with the rest of our plans."

Voldemort followed Bellatrix into the ball room and dismissed her. He sat down in a chair by the table and thought. First things first, he would notify his three spies in the Order of the Phoenix—Severus Snape, Barty Crouch Jr and Peter Pettigrew—of his base of operations. He had ways to communicate with his followers. They would find him.

Then, it would be time to work on the upcoming election. The Azkaban breakout had shattered Madame Bones' hopes of being elected. It had happened under her watch. It had destroyed her credibility.

Of the other candidates, only Scrimgeour would pose any threat. The others could be persuaded to join him or would pose little threat to his plans. But how to get rid of Scrimgeour? Killing him would be too messy and attract too much attention. This called for subtlety. He smiled, suddenly having an idea.