Chapter Eighteen
The Order of the Phoenix Meeting
A/N: Thanks again to Hillary who is the wonderful editor who keeps my spelling on track! You are great!
The next day began late, around 11:30, for Harry, who rolled out of bed to see that Ron was already up and not in the dormitory. After dressing and climbing down the stairs, Harry found where his best friends were. Cuddled up on the couch in front of the fire, Ron and Hermione were reading over a book in a hushed whisper. "What are the two of you up to?" he asked once he had drawn closer to the pair.
Hermione suddenly took the book and shut it before Harry had a chance to see what it contained. "Er… nothing. We weren't doing anything," She stammered. "I've got to go up to my room for a minute. I'll be right back."
With that she scurried up the stairs that led to her room, the book carefully hidden from Harry's view.
"That was odd," Harry commented sitting down on one of the other couches wanting to talk to his friends.
"I heard that you and Ginny ran into our favorite teacher last night," Ron said looking mournfully at Harry.
"Yeah, is she already up?"
"She went back up stairs to change right before you came down. We were all going to go down for lunch together," Ron explained. "Why didn't you use the map?"
"Er… to tell you the truth, I sort of forgot that I had it. I was more concentrated on spending time with Ginny to even think about the map."
The two sat in quite, obviously deep in thought.
"So, are the two of you ready to go down to lunch?" Hermione asked, entering the room accompanied by Ginny. Harry grinned seeing the two of them as they went down to lunch.
"The meeting is at Six o'clock today," Hermione mentioned as they ate. "I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone in the order. Dumbledore said we would be inducting some new members tonight. I've been trying to think who it might be but I have no idea," Hermione babbled while Harry and the others ate.
"'Mione, this evening will come soon enough," Ron said with a mouth full of food.
This didn't deter Hermione from babbling about the meeting. She seemed to see it as a new learning opportunity.
They passed the hours of the afternoon talking and playing games. Harry and Ron were keen to get Hermione talking about something other than the meeting, which would take place in a matter of hours. The twins made an appearance in the common room but spent most of their time in their room working on new inventions.
Weasley Wizard Wheezes were a huge success. They were making TONS of money. There was a huge demand for new inventions, so they hadn't been seen most of the holidays. Every once and a while the group heard an explosion coming from the boys stair well, Ginny and Ron didn't seam to think anything of it while Harry laughed thinking of the kind of crazy inventions they could be concocting.
At 5:45 the group left the common room, leaving a note to the twins saying that they were going down to visit Hagrid, and made their way to the Great Hall, where the meeting would be held.
"Why do you think it is being held in the Great Hall?" Hermione asked before they entered the room.
"'Mione, we will find out in a minute," Ron said trying not to begin a fight, but obviously irritated in the constant string of questions.
When they entered the room everyone's jaws dropped. The room was filled with about fifty witches and wizards all seated in the chairs that had been arranged in the middle of the room, replacing the house tables, which hadn't been out all break. Among them were, Fred and George Weasley, looking excited.
"What are the two of you doing here," Ron asked.
"We are being inducted," Fred said grinning broadly.
"You are?" Ginny questioned.
"Yeah, what's so hard to believe about that? Dumbledore already told us about you four being inducted back in October so we won't ask why you are here," George continued. "I think we need to take seats."
Harry looked around and quickly found who he was looking for: Sirius. Sirius and Remus were sitting on the front row, with six seats vacant to Sirius' left.
"I think they are saving us seats," Ginny pointed out having followed Harry's gaze. The group moved to where Sirius was seated.
"It's great to see you four again," Sirius said jumping to his feet and giving everyone big hugs, none bigger than the ones he gave Harry and Ginny. "And you two must be Fred and George," he added extending his hand to the twins. "I'm Sirius Black, Harry's godfather." The twins eagerly shook his hand grinning hysterically.
"Oh, Fred, George, you have now met two of the Marauders. This is Padfoot and Mooney," Harry said pointing to both Remus and Sirius as he introduced them using their nicknames. The twins starred clearly shocked.
"You two-" George began.
"Are geniuses," Fred finished. If Harry had thought their smiles large before, it was nothing to the look currently on their faces now. "You will never know the help that map of yours was. That's why we passed it along to young Harry here. We wanted to continue the mischief tradition."
"Thank you," Sirius said grinning, "and from what Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Albus, Remus and your parents have told me, you have done a wonderful job, rivaling the tradition we began."
"Sirius, you shouldn't be encouraging it," Remus scolded, but he couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from turning up.
"Who were Prongs and Wormtail?" George asked.
"Prongs was Harry's father, James Potter and Wormtail was our other friend Peter Pettigrew," Remus explained, the smile fading at the mention of Pettigrew. Harry knew it was hard for them to speak of Peter, even this long after his betrayal.
The twins were kept from continuing their questions by Dumbledore's voice. "Welcome friends. It is good to see all of you are doing well. I will begin our meeting with an update on everything we have been following. Starting with the events that transpired on October 31. I contacted all of you with a brief explanation but now we can explain it in detail. The planing for this event began months ago, with Voldemort calling his closest Death Eaters to a meeting where they discussed what they would be doing. They sent Avery into Azkaban, having him convicted of killing Gregory Smith, the son of unspeakable George Smith. We didn't know it at the time, but this was Voldemort's strategic move to prepare to open Azkaban.
"It was brought down on Halloween. The dementors attacked the town's people of Hogsmeade kissing Rose McMillan. She is now in St. Mungo's where she is being cared for by the best mediwitches in the country, perhaps in the world. At the same time the dementors were storming Hogwarts, Voldemort and a handful of his followers were attacking Number Four Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. The residents, Petunia and Vernon Dursley where killed instantly. They, as many of you know, were Harry's only living blood relatives.
"I have not decided where to have him stay during the summer, so Sirius, Molly, do not ask me now," Harry looked to his Godfather who looked frustrated at this latest fact.
"Because Voldemort committed the murder Harry's scar began hurting, acting as an alarm. He is still connected to Voldemort through the scar, which hurts anytime Voldemort is feeling particularly murderous. I sent Arabella to investigate the area of Number 4. No one ever recovered the bodies of the residents, which is not surprising considering the fact that the whole house was destroyed.
"We were able to turn away the dementors before they could enter the grounds, thanks to the alert from the locals. Sirius, Remus, Harry, Ron, Ginny, Hermione, Minerva, Snape and myself were able to turn them away. Sirius used his unique ability to sneak around and count them. He found over 400 dementors present in the small town.
"That night Voldemort had yet another meeting, this time with all of his followers. They began planing the next step in his 'rise in power,' which was to destroy the places Harry would turn now that his relatives were gone. He appointed six people to this task. Severus was one of the ones appointed to destroy Hermione Granger's house. He planed it so that her parents would not be home, yet he would be able to look like he was still faithful to the Dark Lord.
"Another group was sent to the Weasley's house. This group failed in their mission mainly due to the protective wards we constructed this summer around their house. The Grangers have since begun to rebuild their life. Their new house is strongly protected by wards set up by Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour. They will be here tomorrow joining in our celebration of Hagrid's marriage to Olympe." Harry hadn't noticed that both Hagrid and Madam Maxime where seated in the opposite corner. Hagrid looked worried, the warmth missing from his beetle black eyes.
"Hagrid and Olympe will then be leaving to resume their mission of trying to persuade the Giants to join our side. The outcome looks dark, especially now that the Dementors are on his side," Dumbledore continued explaining the steps that had been taken since the start of term, including the tracking currently taking place of suspected new Death Eaters. In the end Dumbledore broke the news about a spy at Hogwarts. "The last thing I have to tell you is about the news of a spy here at Hogwarts." At this a collective gasp when up from the crowd of grown witches and wizards. "I know it will distress many of you, and you may want to keep your children from returning. But I believe we are well protected. I would appreciate you listening to my advice. We are trying to find the spy right now, but there is no good that will come from taking your children out of school. Severus, sadly enough, isn't in the inner circle where he would be allowed to know the name of the spy, which is a smart move on Voldemort's part. Neither of the Hogwarts people knows each other, that way they can't rat on each other."
An outcry came up from the large group of wizards. "We need to concentrate on finding the spy," yelled one man. While another man exclaimed, "How can you say it is safe here?"
It took a long time for Dumbledore to calm the room down, reassuring them repeatedly that they would find the spy soon.
"Now if any of you would like to speak with me, I will be in my office, but I would ask Sirius, Remus, Arthur, Molly, Minerva, Arabella, Bill, Fleur, Charlie, Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron to please come forward and help me induct our newest members, Fred and George Weasley." The group stepped forward the memory of being inducted into this group felt like yesterday to Harry who knew what an honor this must be to Mrs. Weasley. They all extended their wands prepared for Dumbledore's words.
"When I say your name please extend your wand arm, wand in hand, connecting them with our wands," Dumbledore explained, clearly having already explained the side effects from this initiation to the twins.
"Committere en Phoenix, Fredric Weasley." With that Fred stepped forward extending his wand as Dumbledore had instruction. Harry instantly knew what Sirius had meant when he said he could feel the power they each brought to the group. Fred was Purple, Harry thought, not knowing how he knew this. He also was aware of the eerie humming, which was back in his head. It was the same song, always the same song, but it wasn't Ginny's voice. Suddenly Harry was aware of who it was, it was Lily Potter, his mother. It all came back to him in a flash. The song was a lullaby that she put him to sleep with.
Dumbledore's voice popped into Harry's head bringing him back to the present, "Committere en Phoenix, George Weasley." Harry again felt the swell of power as George was connected to the order, George was green, again Harry couldn't' quite tell how he knew this but he knew it.
"Consigno Equites de Phoenix." The light turned a blazing light, brighter than Harry ever remembered it being for his initiation. Then it was gone; everyone had taken his or her wand down, breaking the connection.
"Up to the hospital wing for the two of you." Dumbledore instructed.
"I'll take them," Mrs. Weasley offered, leading her sons out of the Great Hall.
"Thank you all for coming to this meeting. I truly wish that we were able to meet on happier terms. I will see everyone tomorrow at Hagrid's wedding," Dumbledore addressed everyone.
That being said, everyone slowly rose and began conversing with one another. It was now close to eleven o'clock, the meeting having lasted over four hours. "You four need to get to bed," Remus instructed. "Tomorrow is going to be a big day and you need all the rest you can get."
Harry didn't object, he and Ginny were still really tired from their late night the night before. "Well, we will see you tomorrow," Harry said with a grin. It was nice to be able to say that he would be seeing his godfather tomorrow.
"Good night," Sirius said giving everyone another hug.
Harry felt as though he had just gone to sleep when he was being shaken awake by a familiar voice, "Harry, Harry, it's Christmas morning. Come on get up," Ginny said gently shaking Harry awake. He was up and fully aware of the presence of his girlfriend.
Harry made a quick move trapping Ginny's hands in his. He gently pushed her onto the bed and freeing one of his hands he began to tickle her. She laughed uncontrollably. Harry laughing as well continued to tickle her. Between laughs she said, "Good morning to you too!"
Harry finally stopped leaning down and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "Good morning," he replied finally allowing her to get up. "Where're Ron and Hermione?"
"They are already downstairs. I'm surprised they didn't wake you. Hermione came in here over an hour ago to wake Ron and it took them a long time to return to the common room. I was left to wake you, but I let you sleep some before actually dragging you out of bed."
"Have they opened their presents yet?"
"No, they were waiting for you."
"Well, lets go," he said leading the way down stairs. They entered the common room finding Ron and Hermione cuddling in front of the tree. Presents already separated into groups according to whom they were for. Harry found his stack, sitting down and motioning for Ginny to join him. She didn't hesitate.
"Good morning," Hermione and Ron said looking at their friend. "Open mine first," Hermione instructed Harry as he eyed his presents.
"Why don't you and Ron start?"
"Okay, but when we get to yours I want you to open mine first," Hermione said taking a large present from the bottom of her pile. She looked at the tag that said who it was from and placed it aside.
"What's the matter with that one," Ginny asked.
"Oh, it's from Ron, I wanted to save it for last," she answered, blushing as she took a large lumpy package. After unwrapping it she found a hand knit sweater from Mrs. Weasley.
"Ugh, it looks like you got one of the Weasley sweaters too," Ginny squealed. Hermione looked thrilled. Hers was maroon with a large H on it in gold.
"Maybe she made you the maroon one instead of me this year," Ron said hopefully, but his hopes were dashed when he opened his large lumpy package revealing a matching maroon sweater. "She ALWAYS does that!" He complained.
"Oh, but the two of you match," Ginny pointed out not able to stop from giggling. "How cute!"
For saying that she got Ron's sweater thrown at her. Hermione's next package was from Harry; it was a deluxe writing set including a phoenix feather quill and five different colour bottles of ink. "Oh Harry, it's wonderful," she said getting up and giving him a large hug.
"Well, when I saw it I thought of you." he said with a grin. It was true; when he and Ginny had gone shopping they saw it and knew it was the right thing for Hermione. The next gift she opened was from Ginny; it was a double picture frame containing the two pictures from the Halloween ball. On the left was Harry and Ginny's picture and on the right was Ron and Hermione's picture, the wizarding ones.
"Thank you Ginny," she said giving Ginny a tight hug. Then she noticed Ron's hand. "Ginny!! It's the wizarding picture," she squealed sounding scandalized.
"Yeah, I didn't honestly want to give you muggle pictures. Look at the frame, it sparkles, a muggle picture would just look out of place," Ginny said with a mischievous grin.
Hermione then opened her present from Ron, it was a large book and Harry didn't know exactly which one it was until Hermione squealed. "I knew your copy was destroyed in the fire and I thought you would need it for reminding us that we can't apparate onto the grounds."
Harry was finally able to read the title of the book Hogwarts, A History. "It's perfect," she squealed planting a huge kiss on Ron's lips. The two couldn't stop grinning as Ron began opening his presents.
He opened his gift from Ginny, Fred and George first. It was a large variety of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. "Great! We will definitely have fun with this one," he said with a grin, giving Ginny a hug. He then moved on to Harry's present. It was considerably large. "This better not be a book." He began.
"No, only Hermione would give and get books," Harry said with a grin. Ron had opened it and his jaw had dropped. Lying in a box was a complete set of Chudley Cannon's Quidditch robes.
"Harry, you - you really didn't have to do this, it must have cost a fortune."
"No, Sirius and I got it for you. He said it was for keeping me in a good mood so much of the time. Look at the back."
Ron had removed the robes and flipped them over. Where the players name was written, instead of one of the player's names it read Weasley.
"Harry, it did cost a fortune."
"You forget we have a friend on the team. I was able to get a really good discount," Harry said grinning at his friend's reaction. It was typical of Ron to worry about how much something would cost. He, not having money, always got upset with Harry when Harry spent money on him. Ron decided not to argue because he leapt up and ran to the bathroom returning minutes latter dressed in his new Quidditch robes.
Ron had one present remaining; this one was from Hermione. She had gotten him a … book, of course. It was true, only Hermione would give and get books. But this one was special. It was all about Quidditch, including diagrams and pictures. It had a complete section on how to be the best keeper in the league, which is where Ron quickly flipped, looking over the diagrams and pictures of famous keepers flying in and out of the pictures.
"Not that you need that section," she said looking at what he was reading.
"Thanks 'Mione! It's great," he said returning the kiss she had given him earlier. It was now Ginny's turn as Harry insisted on going last, allowing him to revel in his friend's mirth as they opened their presents. From Ron and Hermione she received a book on all you need to know in preparing for the O.W.L.'s, and a much smaller book on the latest chaser's moves. She grinned, thanking them and giving them hugs. She too had received the traditional Weasley sweater, hers a bright blue with a white G on it. The twins had given her a speed up grade kit for her broom. "Uh-oh, Harry, it looks like Ginny will be giving you a run for your money as fastest Quidditch player on the team," Ron said, laughing.
The last gift for her to open was the one from Harry. He felt nervous as she reached for the small present, unwrapping it carefully. A gasp escaped her as she looked inside the box. Inside the box was a pair of silver combs, incrusted with cubic zirconians, which sparkled in the light from the fire. Also inside the box was a matching necklace and earrings. "Ha-Harry, this is … amazing … you really didn't have to buy them, it's way too much."
"Just consider it my way of making up for never having bought you a Christmas present before now. That's not all, look underneath all of it," he said grinning at her reaction. She took out all of the jewelry and began to laugh uncontrollably; inside was a picture of the dwarf that had delivered the embarrassing valentine to Harry back in his second year, her first. Turning it over it began to sing, "His eyes are as green as a fresh pickled toad. His hair is as dark as a blackboard. I wish he was mine, he's really divine, the hero who conquered the Dark Lord."
"Harry! You know I didn't send this too you!! The twins did, they thought it was a grand joke," she squealed, playfully hitting him in the arm.
"Oh, I guessed that. But Colin still had the picture and I couldn't resist bewitching the picture," he answered grinning back at her.
Ginny jumped up, ran over and planted a huge kiss on Harry, who wasn't quite expecting it. Before he had time to react it was over. She pulled away clearly not wanting to share a more private moment in front of her brother and her best friend.
"It's your turn, Harry," Hermione said eagerly. She seemed more eager for Harry to open his presents than she had been to open her own.
Receiving presents from his friends always blew Harry away; he had never received a decent Christmas present from the Dursleys so when his friends gave him something he was always stunned. He shouldn't be by now, but it still gave him a thrill to realize that they remembered him for this specially holiday.
He looked through the stack of presents finding Hermione's and opened it. Inside was, a book, but this one didn't have a title. He opened it thinking the title would be inside but it wasn't instead was a picture of the four of them from after Gryffindor's huge win against Slytherin. Harry realized it was one that Colin had taken before they had gone to dinner.
It was a bitter sweat memory as Harry quickly realized that it had also been the night that Hermione's house was attacked. He looked up at his friends.
"That's the book we were looking through the other morning. It's filled with pictures of all of us over the past five years. It even has a picture of Ginny from her first year, no matter how much she protested to having it there," Hermione explained clearly proud of herself. Flipping through the pages Harry quickly found the picture Hermione was talking about. He also found pictures of Hagrid, Dean, Seamus and Neville. There were also copies of the pictures from the ball.
"Thi-This is great," Harry stammered, causing Hermione to grin even more. "Thanks," he said reaching over and giving them both hugs.
The next present he opened was the usual present from Mrs. Weasley. This year's sweater was green with a golden H on the middle. He pulled on his sweater before moving on to the next present, a large selection of Weasley Wizard Wheeze's courtesy of the twins. Hagrid sent Harry a large package of treacle fudge with a note saying Madam Maxime had baked it.
There was no package from Sirius and Remus, which at first confused him before remember they were at the castle. Instead Harry found a note asking them to join him for lunch in Hogsmeade today. "Sirius wants all of us to join him for lunch in Hogsmeade today," Harry said grinning.
"Great! I can't wait to get out of the grounds for a while," Ron said. "My gift is next."
Harry grabbed the one from Ron ripping of the paper revealing a book of chess tactics and secrets. "I told you I'd give it to you," Ron said excitedly, "Maybe you will actually get better at it!"
Harry laughed thanking his best friend. The last gift that was still wrapped was from Ginny. It too was small.
Harry unwrapped it, and after opening the box he saw the present. Inside was a brushed silver pocket watch. He looked up at Ginny, speechless.
"Open it," she urged with a grin. He did as she instructed and felt his jaw drop when he saw the inside. It was a wizard watch, instead of time it had five hands, each labeled with the name of one of his friends or his godfather. One hand was labeled with his own name. He read the locations that were written around the face of the 'clock'. They included, The Burrow, Lupin Lounge, The Grangers House, Hogwarts, IN MORTAL DANGER, Torture, Traveling and Work. It also had a blank area.
On the side opposite the face there was a small version of the now familiar picture from the Halloween ball. It was cut out to only show Harry and Ginny's faces starring into each other's eyes. Turning it over in his hand Harry read the engraved back, "To Harry Potter Given with Love from Virginia Weasley."
"The blank one is for where ever Dumbledore decides to send you during the summer, if it isn't already on there. I really hope he allows you to just come and live with us," she said turning somber for a moment before returning to the mirth that they all were experiencing at the time. "Do you like it?"
"This is great," Harry finally said, grinning. He moved over and returned her kiss, but she seemed ready and kissed him back for a long moment, receiving whoops from Ron. "Thank you," Harry whispered in her ear after their kiss.
They sat laughing and talking for a while before realizing they hadn't had breakfast. The group quickly went out the portrait hall and enjoyed a delicious breakfast.
The castle was filled with visiting Wizards and Witches, many of whom seemed to have stayed at Hogwarts instead of returning to their homes the night before. Many of them seemed to know Ron and Ginny through their father and Harry was glad when Professor Figg wished them Happy Christmas as she joined Professor Dumbledore at the head table.
"Mum, Dad," Hermione exclaimed when the door's to the great hall opened. Harry had completely forgotten that they were going to be spending Christmas day with them. Hermione bounded from the table running towards her parents, all three of them looking overly excited. Harry, Ron and Ginny had finished their breakfast and made their way to meet the Grangers.
"Mum, Dad, you remember Harry and Ron and Ron's little sister Ginny," She explained, reintroducing the group. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley shook everyone's hands as if they were long lost pals.
"It is so nice to see all of you again," Mrs. Granger, said grinning at her daughter. Ron had taken Hermione's right hand and intertwined their fingers. She seemed hesitant about the situation, but didn't undo Ron's doings.
"Ginny, Ron, Harry, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley's voice rang out from the entrance hall. She and Mr. Weasley had just entered the school grinning broadly. "Happy Christmas!"
They exchanged hugs and kisses, Mrs. Weasley kissing everyone. "Mum, I wanted to know if you knew the name of that song. I owled you forever ago but you never told me," Ginny said after everyone was reacquainted. She had Harry's fingers intertwined in hers. It was odd sitting and talking with the Weasleys while holding Ginny's hand.
"Oh, Ginny dear, I thought I had. I don't know what song you are talking about. I never sang it for you when you were young. I honestly hadn't heard it until you sent me the owl about it," Mrs. Weasley explained. Her statement seemed to puzzle both Harry and Ginny, but they didn't have time to talk about it because they were soon engaged in conversations about school with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, while Hermione and Ron were talking animatedly with the Grangers.
Time flew as the group talked and joked in the common room, after giving the Granger's a tour of the school. The Granger's would be staying the night and attending Hagrid's wedding. Hermione and her mum seemed to both poses the uncanny ability to talk without even needing a breath of air.
Soon Harry found himself meeting his godfather in the entrance hall, his friends all around.
"Merry Christmas," Sirius exclaimed enveloping Harry in a tight hug. "Ah, Ron, I'm glad to see you are wearing your Christmas present," he added seeing Ron for the first time. Ron had insisted on wearing the robes all day, much to Hermione's chagrin.
"Yeah, thanks," he said grinning like a fool.
"Ginny, I think Harry made a wonderful choice in jewelry," Sirius said grinning mischievously. Ginny had worn the earrings, saying that she would wear the whole set to the wedding that evening.
Once everyone had eaten and was talking comfortably Sirius pulled out a small wrapped present and handed it to Harry. "This is something from the two of us. We thought your parent's would want you to have this."
Harry eagerly unwrapped it. There were two parts. The first was a small book; The Marauder's Guide to Becoming an Animagus. The second part was a small box. Harry eagerly opened it. Inside were three gold rings. One had a large rectangular emerald set with small round diamonds while the other two were plain simple gold rings. All three were magically connected.
"They were your parent's rings," Sirius explained watching Harry's eyes widen with understanding.
"Than-Thank you," he stammered looking up at his godfather.
"I don't really think your Mum would have wanted you to have our book, but since you have the map you need the book. We think your Dad would have been ashamed if his son didn't learn how to be an animagus," Sirius said as Harry looked again at the book. It explained everything from what Harry could tell from his quick examination of the text of the book.
"Yes, but we put a spell on it to keep you from trying to read it until after your O.W.L.'s," Remus added. "Neither of your parents wold have been happy with us if we caused you to not get all of your O.W.L.'s."
Lunch was great fun. Everyone laughed and talked, filling Remus and Sirius in on all of the details of life at Hogwarts over the past month. Before he knew it, Harry and his friends, girlfriend, and godfather, were all moving back to the castle, to get ready for the wedding.
