~While They're Sleeping~
'All right, all the kids are in bed.' Mrs. Weasley stated, shuffling into the kitchen and sitting down once again beside her husband. 'What's your decision than, Moody?'
'Well, Granger and Potter are definitely fit for the job. Ron would have to endure some extra training, but he's got the makings for an Auror.'
Sirius thought he had caught Mrs. Weasley beaming.
'So, what happens after this?'
'Well, they're rookies.' Tonks came in. 'They won't get too many assignments right off the bat, no matter how good their scorecards were.'
'So, what can we expect will happen to them for the mean time?' Arthur came in.
'For the moment? Nothing. They'll stay here, safe and sound.' There were a few auditory sighs of relief. 'The only way they'd be called in now is if there was a major attack at a Muggle facility or at the Ministry. The likelihood of that happening is pretty slim, however.'
'Slim. But not impossible.' Mood growled. 'I'd prefer to keep it quiet who our new Aurors will be. Someone could see that as an opportunity to drag us all out somewhere, so something to get the Ministry's attention and...well...'
'Lets...not go there!' Arthur stated with a slight quavering in his voice.
'Indeed.' Sirius agreed. 'All right. So they won't be getting any, what one might consider a dangerous mission until they've come of a certain age in their career?'
'Right.' Moody growled again. 'That might be a while too, they've started pretty young. At only seventeen...there's not much out there the Ministry is willing to have them do. Looks bad if all the young kids are dying, you see.' There was a slight nervous shift throughout the room at his statement, but he didn't seem to notice. 'We send them on simpler stuff. Let them work out their skills...of course...I'd hardly say that the three of them haven't already faced what we normally put a rookie Auror up against. Basilisks, they've done that. A Death Eater here or there, they've done that, a fairer share than I'd like to admit. Thing is, they've faced more than some of our most elite Aurors.'
'Well, the Ministry doesn't advance people on past experiences before they ever had a career.' Mrs. Weasley stated with an air of certainty in her voice. 'That's just ridiculous.'
Sirius nodded, but an exchanged glance between Moody and Tonks made his blood chill.
'So ridiculous, out esteemed Minister is considering letting it count, and not just for our three little ones upstairs.'
'WHAT?!' Mrs. Weasley bellowed.
'I know. We're doing what we can to convince Fudge otherwise.' Tonks started up in a hurry. Her eyes cast over to Sirius who had his cast downward. He seemed pale and slightly upset. She could understand why, of course. 'But he seems convinced that everything they've already faced makes them, well, a class of their own. I mean, you have to admit Mad-Eye, we never did what they did at their ages.'
'I'll admit it. But that doesn't matter.' Moody growled. 'But then again, its not fair to the children to say that it shouldn't. They didn't do all of that, I'm sure, to become Aurors here right now. It was out of bravery and caring,' he cast a look at Sirius. 'And Bravery is something the Aurors spend their entire lives building upon. Ask the young Longbottom. He's in extra training to be an Auror these days too. He's done his fair share of rescuing and had his own few brushes with death. Fudge is considering these options for him as well.'
'Neville isn't his father, however. A few lucky escapes will not help him as an Auror. He'll be hurt on the first day. Or worse.'
'I'd like Dumbeldore to talk to him.' Said Sirius. 'What would Dumbeldore say about what Fudge is considering doing?'
There was some silence, followed by a soft knock on the kitchen door.
'Oh dear, someone's up.' Mrs. Weasley whispered. Immediately the kitchen went silent. Molly opened to door and gasped.
'I'm sorry to have startled you, Mrs. Weasley.' came an elderly, tender voice. 'May I come in?'
'Of course!' she stepped aside to allow Albus Dumbeldore inside. He looked as though he had aged only slightly over this summer. His beard was perhaps a quarter of an inch longer, along with his hair. His face, however, had lost none of its kindness. His robes were of a dark scarlet, green trimming and golden stars and moons sewed in intricate patterns.
'Dumbeldore?' Arthur whispered under his breath.
'I'm sorry to come to call so late at night.' he smiled. 'But I need to talk to you all. But first, I would like to talk to Sirius.'
'Me?' Sirius raised his eyebrows.
'Yes, you.' his eyes glittered a bit in the light. 'An issue that I fear might concern you.'
Sirius stood, escorting the Headmaster into the same room he and Harry had often had their talks in.
'You may sit.' Sirius invited.
'Ah , thank you.' he settled himself in the same arm chair Harry sat in. Sirius sat across from him, his eyes keen and watching every movement of the old wizard.
'What was it you wished to talk to me about?'
'Well, I think you already have your suspicions. May I quell your uneasiness by saying "No." the Ministry is no closer to finding you than they are to much else these days, no matter what they say.' Sirius nodded, his eyes laughing. 'However, the news I bring may make you wish that were the greatest of you problems.'
At this, Sirius looked up. There was a great deal of concern in his eyes, and Sirius had only seen the wizard look like this when he was speaking of a particular someone. Someone, Sirius knew, they both cared for. He stayed in his chair, clutching the arms desperately.
'Harry is in danger, Sirius.' Dumbeldore stated with an audible sigh.
'What kind of danger?' Sirius breathed.
'All sorts.' he looked down, a slight smile on his face. 'Voldemort has knowledge of what Harry has now become. His fear is growing. He knows Harry is becoming more powerful, more of a threat, a danger. He knows now where he's hiding.'
'How can he know about us?' Sirius breathed, though very weakly. 'How can he know about the Headquarters?'
'That, I do not know.' Dumbeldore shook his head. 'But I know, if we do not move Harry soon, he will come after all of you.'
'Move Harry?' Sirius raised an eyebrow. 'You mean, send him into hiding?' Dumbeldore nodded. Anger surged up within Sirius. 'Like we did with his parents?'
'In a sense.' Dumbeldore stated, already sensing Sirius' tension. 'A Secret Keeper would not be necessary-'
'Like hell it wouldn't be necessary!' Sirius hissed angrily. 'If he's found Harry here without protective charms or spells he can find him anywhere else without one!'
Dumbeldore raised an eyebrow. 'I'm aware of that Sirius. I am. But I am confident that Harry would be quite safe if he went where I have planned.'
'Surely not back to his Uncle!' Sirius started, his blood running cold at the thought. 'You can't send him back there, they'll never take him in!'
'They would, with some persuasion of mine.' Dumbeldore nodded. 'But you needn't worry, for that was not my plan.'
'Then for God's sake man, what is your plan? I'll not have you lug him out of this house away from my eye without knowing why and where.'
'Have you no trust in me, Sirius?' Dumbeldore asked, sounding more irritated than hurt.
'Trust isn't the issue, Dumbeldore. It never was. You know that.'
'Then what is?'
'The fact that all of you think you can just come in here and tell me how to raise my godson. He's my responsibility, and no one realizes this! I spent thirteen years in Azkaban, and four years after that risking everything to be there for him. Risking being caught and sent back, risking being killed, and people still tell me I'm not doing my job!' Sirius breathed. 'I don't want you to take him away and hide him like you did with Lilly and James. What if this happens all over again?'
'It won't, Sirius.' Dumbeldore stated calmly. 'You know better than to think so.'
'Do I?'
'Sirius, you've heard this too many times. Harry is not James.'
The man's head was rested in his hands again.
'I can't lose him, Dumbeldore. Not when I've just gotten him back.'
At this, Dumbeldore stood. He rested his hand on Sirius' shoulder the same way Harry had, and for a moment he noted the incredible likeness between the two.
'You won't, Sirius. I'll die first.' he turned, his eyes facing the door. 'Harry is awake upstairs right now. Tomorrow, I want you to tell him what I've told you. I'll be back to explain in further detail.'
Sirius nodded, his head still in his hands. Dumbeldore left him there, and bidding a joyful goodnight to the others, he slipped outside Grimmauld Place and into the night without a look back.
As the others stood in curious silence in the kitchen, Remus slipped into the dark study where Sirius sat, his head in his hands.
'What's happened?' he asked.
Slowly, Sirius relayed to his friend everything Dumbeldore had told him.
