Chapter Two


"Harry! I can't believe you're finally here!" squealed Hermione as she ran to Harry, knocking the breath out of him.

"Good to see you too, 'Mione," he gasped.

"Everyone will be so happy to see you! We've missed you so much this summer, Harry. Oh, yes, Ron is upstairs, getting your room ready." Hermione said.

"All right, then, lets go and see him then," Harry replied, grinning like a jack-o-lantern.

"Harry! It's so good to see you!" cried Mrs. Weasley, wrapping him in a tight hug to rival Hermione's.

"Absolutely spiffing to see you! Corking! Wonderful!" called Fred and George, grinning wickedly at him.

"What are those looks about?" Harry asked the twins suspiciously.

"Oh, nothing, just thought you'd find it amusing that we put some of our Weasley's Wizard Wheezes Delaying Super Fiery Itch Powder in Ron's house slippers that he's wearing right now, so it should get him going in about 5...4...3...2...-"

"OwOwOwOwOWWWWWWWW!!!!"

There was a loud yell from upstairs. Harry and the twins grinned at each other.

"I guess it works, huh, Fred?" George chuckled.

Mrs. Weasley started frowning and watching the twins.

"Yeah, we better get going before Ron comes down here," laughed his twin.

They sprinted quickly to the kitchen as Mrs. Weasley began scolding them and wacking them with her feather duster.

Harry and Hermione started laughing at the fate of the twins, as Ron came stumbling down the stairs.

"Hullo, Harry! Good to see you mate!" exclaimed Ron as he embraced his best friend.

"Hey wait," Harry frowned after he had greeted Ron, "Where's Sirius's mum's portrait?"

"Oh, 'Mione put an everlasting silencing charm on it," Ron said appraisingly, "You know, she can do all kinds of stuff like that."

Harry knew this was true, Hermione was one of the cleverest people he knew. He was a bit shocked though, at Ron's appraising attitude toward her. He had always seized the chance to tease her whenever he could. Harry was equally shocked at what he saw next. Hermione was grinning at Ron, like they both knew some secret that Harry didn't.

"What's going on with you two?" He asked them awkwardly.

"Well, mate, 'Mione and I decided to, um, start going out," Ron blushed.

"Well, that's great guys! Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"We didn't know how you'd take it, we thought you might fell left out if we told you," Hermione explained, "We didn't want to hurt you after -"

Her words fell short. Harry knew what she was talking about. Cho. And Sirius. So much had happened to him in the past year. He had felt so much better seeing Ron and Hermione and the rest of the Order until now. The subjects just seemed to haunt him.

"Well," said Ginny, breaking his train of thought as she came out of the kitchen, "Good to see you Harry."

"Good to see you too, Ginny," he replied, noticing something different about her.

"It's time to go eat, because everyone's here now," she told the other three, "Mum's made potato soup, and she's in a bad mood at Fred and George because they were trying to put their new Salt Spray into the cauldron as she was cooking."

"What's wrong with salt?" Harry implied.

"Oh, nothing, just that Fred and George's salt is kind of gross, considering it turns your teeth black and makes your hair fall out for an entire day."

Harry thought that was pretty funny. The four started into the kitchen just to hear the doorbell ring. Tonks came bursting out of the kitchen to answer it, knocking over the troll's leg umbrella stand as she did.

"Ah, Serverus! How good to see you! Everyone's about to eat, so come in!" exclaimed Tonks.

"Thank you, Nymphadora. Oh, hello, Potter." said Professor Snape with a grimace at Harry; Tonks was wrinkling her nose at the sound of her name.

The group walked into the kitchen just as Mrs. Weasley and Professor McGonagall finished setting the table.

"Hullo, everybody!" Harry said to the Order members, looking around at all of them.

Most of them chorused back with "Hullo Harry!" or "Hello Potter!"

Harry finally saw a seat, which happened to be right between Lupin and Professor Dumbledore. He went to it, surprised to see Percy Weasley sitting next to Mr. Weasley, who was right beside Professor Dumbledore.

"Hiya, Perce," Harry said awkwardly as he sat down. Percy smiled at him.

"Hi Harry," said Lupin, who looked a little bit better than he usually did.

"Hullo, Lup- I mean, Remus," he grinned.

Then everybody began to eat, talk, and carry on.

"So Harry, has your summer been very enjoyable?" asked Dumbledore.

"It's been okay, Professor. I mean, you know how the Dursleys are."

"Ah, yes. Oh, I bet you have been wondering what that secret was that you were dying for Tonks to tell you when she came to get you."

Harry then remembered. That thought had slipped his mind until Dumbledore reminded him.

"Yes, Professor, um, well, what is it?" Harry inquired embarrassedly.

"I have found someone I thought you might like to meet," said the professor, "I'm sorry I have kept it a secret for so long, but Sirius.... Well, he has a wife."

Harry couldn't believe it. That must mean-

"You have a godmother, Harry."