[HAH I said in my last comment that I would update the following weekend,
look at me now. A month later. Oh well, let's just hope my inspiration for
writing this story is still there. Thanks to all the reviewers, I LOVE YA!]
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, and all characters and situations belong to J.K. Rowling.
The next day at the Dursleys, there was much bustling and scurrying around. Each person with a different problem.
"Where in the bloody hell is that tea that Ripper adores? If I come to Marge's house without that tea, that dog will be patrolling me day and night!" Said Vernon.
"Muuuuuuuuuuuum!! Harry finished my favorite cookies! You HAVE to go to the store and get more now. I WANT THEM NOW!!!!!" Dudley yelled, while dropping himself to the ground and pounding his fists on the floor.
Petunia was kneeling by her bed, hands together in a prayer, while shaking uncontrollably. "Heavenly father, hear thy prayer. Protect me from those monstrous beasts who are invading our happy home..". Harry, on the other hand, was up in his room, sprawled out on his bed, exhausted from all the preparations he had made. For at least a dozen people will be living in his house, and he had to make sure that everyone would be comfortable. Harry was very happy that there was WIZARDS coming to his residence, because having a dozen people who were all fascinated by even a coat hanger, spelled trouble.
"Dudley get off the floor, Petunia! Were leaving in 10 minutes. Our flight gets in at 11:00, and the news reporter said that the airports are all very busy today." There was a shout of "Amen" from upstairs, and then a blanched figure made it's way slowly down the stairs. "Petunia, are you sure that you want to stay here? It will only take 15 minutes to get you a ticket.." called Vernon, opening the front door.
"No Vernon, it is my responsibility to protect H-Harry and our home. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Petunia said, shaking head to toe.
"Petunia, I don't care what you say, I will never trust those freaks under our roof." Said Vernon. "So just in case, I hid the you know what in the cupboard, fully loaded. There's another box in our dresser drawer." He added in a whisper.
"BOY! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Vernon called.
Harry, jumped off his bed in alarm and ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs, only to meet The Dursleys packed up and ready to go.
"This is going to be great," he thought. He didn't even mind his aunt being with him, because at least one of his relatives were experienced in the presence of wizards and witches, even though they are terrified of the sentence "Jiggery Pokery". "I want you to treat your aunt with the utmost respect. And tell all of YOUR people who are going to be here, to do the same. Remember, your aunt is staying here to save your filthy skin from some Voldycork maniac. So if you protect her she will protect you." Vernon finished. Just then there was a flash of bright fire in the air, then out of nowhere Fawks appeared, carrying a piece of parchment in her beak.
Harry smiled, and looked around him. Vernon had dived behind the couch, and had his hands over his eyes, Petunia had lunged forward to close the door and was now laying face down on the ground, Dudley was failing to force himself into a closet, due to his whale-sized body.
"Fawks!" Harry cried, and strode over to the glowing phoenix that was hovering perfectly in the air.
"What are you doing here," he exclaimed, taking the parchment from her beak. Fawks bowed to Harry, and then disappeared in a shower of golden light.
Harry, I am sending this notice to inform you that the order will be apparating at your residence at quarter after 9. Mr. Weasley will be arriving with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny with a port key. It will be safest to stay at your residence until the end of summer, but the order will be guarding you whenever you will be outside of it.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry had begun to be irritated. If Dumbledore was going to box Harry into his own house, he would not co-operate. Harry looked at his watch. It was 9:14. Vernon slowly rose from his position on the floor and was purple with rage.
"What was-"
"LOOK OUT!" Harry interrupted, but was too late.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. Wizards had begun to appear from every angle of his house. Suddenly, two tall, red haired twins popped out of thin air, pushing Harry flat on his back.
"Well hello Harry!" One of them started. "Fancy meeting you here" The other one finished.
"Fred, George. Glad to see you, but do you really have to land on me?"
There was a loud shriek, and one thin, one raging, and one fat person flew out of the front door, slamming it behind them. "I gather that those were your relatives?" George said, with an evil grin on his face.
"If you can relate them to me, yes" Harry said, returning the grin.
"Well I for one would have rather landed on your cousin, he would have acted like a nice cushion" Fred said thoughtfully.
"Think of that next time for me Fred," Harry said, massaging his back. They all got up and went to meet the other members of the order who had just previously apparated.
"Professor Lupin!" Harry shouted, and ran over to his ex-Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. He looked a mess. His eyes were dark and sunk in. His hair was almost completely gray, his hands were shaking, and his robes were shabbier then ever. He looked like a man who had grown old too fast, who had experienced and lost too much in too short of a time. "Ah, there you are Harry. Where are your Aunt and Uncle? We are supposed to have a little talk with them before your uncle-"
The door slowly creaked open, and a thin figure entered. She screamed at the sight of Lupin, and streaked up the stairs. Harry and Lupin looked at each other, shrugged and followed her.
"Well I say, I hate a house tha's always so neat." Mundungus said, opening the closet door.
"Oi! Harry me lad. Nice house you got 'ere. I'll fit in nice. Was that your cousin in tha' closet there? Migh' say he could've ate ya, if he was 'ungry enough." He said with a chuckle.
"Yep, that was him. My aunt made him go on a diet, but he didn't lose a pound." Harry said from the top of the stairs. Lupin and Harry walked to his Aunt's and Uncle's room, and knocked.
"Mrs. Dursley, my name is Remus Lupin, and I am one of the members of the Order. I am here strictly to protect Harry, and all the others and myself will not cause you any harm. I am very thankful for your acceptance for the order members to live here, with you, and for your will to stay here to protect Harry. Again, I know that you are not on speaking terms with people from the magical world, but you must understand why we have to be here. I wish to talk to you and your husband about the living arrangements for the time we are here. We wish nothing but to talk. Please open the door, and join myself and the others." Lupin said.
"Aunt Petunia, if you would like, all the members of the order can go to the dining room, and I will escort you to them. Remember they will not attack you or anything. They're here to protect you and me." Harry said slowly into the door.
The door opened slowly, and a shaking Petunia wearing a necklace with a cross on it, emerged, and said " T-That's alright, H-Harry, I-I'll j-join you now."
"Thank you, Mrs. Dursley. I will round up the order members and if you will, please fetch your husband." Lupin said, and then set off down the stairs.
After a few minutes, Harry and Petunia went downstairs, and went out the front door, intending to get Vernon and Dudley. They found them both sitting in their car, peering out the windows.
"Vernon, they wish just to talk to us for a little while. Let's go." Petunia said firmly.
"All right, dear. Dudley, stay here." Vernon said quietly. Dudley whimpered in reply. Harry, Vernon and Petunia walked through the front door silently. They went into the dinning room and met the entire order. They stood in the doorway, and Vernon said the first words.
"All right. I want to make a few rules clear. There will be no black magic or white magic or whatever, on myself or my family throughout your entire stay here. This is my house, so you will respect it and keep it the way it is. You will also protect my wife." He said bravely.
"All right, we respect your rules Mr. Dursley. Again, we will never perform magic on yourself or any members of your family, except in extreme causes." Lupin said.
"Like wh-" suddenly there was a loud boom, and four people fell out of midair, clutching a burnt towel and crashing into a side table where the Dursleys stood. They both screamed and flew into the kitchen.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!!!" A teen-aged girl screamed, and she flew forward, enveloping Harry in a tight hug and obstructing his vision with mass amounts of bushy brown hair.
"Hermione get off I can't breathe" Harry said, winded.
"Hehe, sorry Harry. We just missed you so much! And I cannot believe we are staying at your house, we're going to have so much fun! Except that we can't do magic, well we never can during the summer. Well in a couple of years we can, oh I cannot wait!" She said all of this very fast and in what seemed to be only one breath. "Calm down Hermione sheesh!" Ron said.
"Hey Harry, ha ha, I see the runt actually grew. Good for you mate." Ron said, patting Harry on the back.
"Shove off Ron." Harry said, laughing.
"Harry! What a lovely house you have. Ahhh, I see you have a fellytone here. Aren't these muggles ingenious?"
"That's a TE-LE-PHONE Mr. Weasley" Harry said, shaking his hand. "Hey Ginny, how are you and Dean" Harry said chuckling. Ginny blanched, looked at Ron who was currently grimacing, and whispered to Harry,
"We're fine, just don't mention Dean around Ron, or else he'll destroy your house like a hippogriff in a rampage." "Thanks for the warning," Harry said, looking puzzled at Ron.
"Really, there is no need to resort to this Mr. Dursley" Lupin said loudly. In the kitchen, Vernon was covering Petunia, holding a candlestick high in the air, and swishing it around him every time Lupin took a step closer. "That sudden appearance is called "using a portkey". When a group of people want to get to a destination very quickly they use a portkey which transports them to their destination at a pre-arranged time." Lupin said slowly.
Vernon lowered the candlestick, and looked at his watch.
"Mr.. uh Rufus, I will have to be leaving shortly. It is minutes to ten and my flight is leaving at 11." Vernon said. "Thank you Mr. Dursley for your co-operation, and don't worry, it won't take long." Lupin said. They proceeded to the dinning room, Petunia walking tightly by Vernon's side. "Mr, and Mrs Dursley, I am here to explain to you about the task for the order. The Order, or the Order of the Phoenix, is a group of trained wizards all united together to fight against the forces of Lord Voldemort and his followers. Now I think Dumbledore has explained the prophecy to you, so I will not waste my time telling it again.-"
"What about the prophecy? It was broken! No one knows anything about it now." Ron exclaimed.
"Ron, I'll explain later." Harry said softly. Ron gave Harry a confused look, and nodded.
"Here with us now, we have myself, Remus Lupin," he gave a bow. "Mundungus Fletcher," He gave a wink, "Kingsley Shacklebot, Emmeline Vance, Hestia Jones, Eliphas Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur, Molly, and Bill Weasley," They all bowed in turn,
"And Albus Dumbledore who will be arriving shortly. We will guard Harry whenever he is not in this house, because under the current consequences he is not safe anywhere but here." Lupin said.
"We won't all be here at the same time," Molly started, "Most of us have many tasks to do for Dumbledore. All we want is for Harry to be safe. Oh and, we forgot to introduce, my sons Fred, George and Ron, and my daughter Ginny." Who each waved, "And Hermione, Harry and Ron's friend from school. They're all too young to be in the order, but they are all very keen to help us out." "And some of us are old enough to be in the order but certain members won't let us in" Fred said.
"Don't test me Fred" Molly warned threateningly. "Oh, and one more thing to explain," Tonks said.
"I am a metamorphagus, or a person who is able to change their appearance at will, so you might see a different person entering your house at times, but it's always me. Let me demonstrate." Tonks scrunched up her face like he was being stabbed repeatedly with a hot poker, and changed her hair from short, brown and thin, to long, blonde and wavy, her nose from long and pointy to short and round, and her eyes from blue to brown.
"Voila!" She said, taking a bow. They all laughed and clapped. Vernon and Petunia stood motionless with their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open. "Please, we do not want you to be afraid of us. Were here to help. Another thing we might be doing often is apparating or appearing out of thin air. That is just a way for us wizards to travel, so do not be alarmed by the cracking sounds you might hear." Mr. Weasley said.
"Well it is very close to 11. Uncle Vernon, you don't want to miss your flight. "W-What? Oh, r-right." Vernon stuttered. He pulled his wife to the front door.
"Petunia, I'm very sorry I have to leave you with these freaks. Are you sure you do not want to come with us?" Vernon said as he embraced her. "Freaks they may be, they still are here to protect Harry and I. Don't worry about me Vernon, I'll be with you in Florida very shortly.
Meanwhile...
"So, this is your house Harry" Hermione said, looking around.
"Yup this is it, let's go put your stuff in the rooms" Harry said, and he, Ron and Hermione made for the stairs.
"Hermione, where's Crookshanks?" Ron said, but Hermione didn't answer.
He turned around and she stood there. Rooted to the spot in the dinning room, she faced everyone, who were looking at her curiously. She was swaying and her eyes were falling.
"He will prevail. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord is gaining strength; he alone will have the courage and power to rid us of evil. He will have many followers that will aid him in his outcome, but will lose many on the path.. to.. victory." She shook her head and looked around.
"Oh right, I'll get my stuff Harry, I'm right behind you!"
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, and all characters and situations belong to J.K. Rowling.
The next day at the Dursleys, there was much bustling and scurrying around. Each person with a different problem.
"Where in the bloody hell is that tea that Ripper adores? If I come to Marge's house without that tea, that dog will be patrolling me day and night!" Said Vernon.
"Muuuuuuuuuuuum!! Harry finished my favorite cookies! You HAVE to go to the store and get more now. I WANT THEM NOW!!!!!" Dudley yelled, while dropping himself to the ground and pounding his fists on the floor.
Petunia was kneeling by her bed, hands together in a prayer, while shaking uncontrollably. "Heavenly father, hear thy prayer. Protect me from those monstrous beasts who are invading our happy home..". Harry, on the other hand, was up in his room, sprawled out on his bed, exhausted from all the preparations he had made. For at least a dozen people will be living in his house, and he had to make sure that everyone would be comfortable. Harry was very happy that there was WIZARDS coming to his residence, because having a dozen people who were all fascinated by even a coat hanger, spelled trouble.
"Dudley get off the floor, Petunia! Were leaving in 10 minutes. Our flight gets in at 11:00, and the news reporter said that the airports are all very busy today." There was a shout of "Amen" from upstairs, and then a blanched figure made it's way slowly down the stairs. "Petunia, are you sure that you want to stay here? It will only take 15 minutes to get you a ticket.." called Vernon, opening the front door.
"No Vernon, it is my responsibility to protect H-Harry and our home. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Petunia said, shaking head to toe.
"Petunia, I don't care what you say, I will never trust those freaks under our roof." Said Vernon. "So just in case, I hid the you know what in the cupboard, fully loaded. There's another box in our dresser drawer." He added in a whisper.
"BOY! GET DOWN HERE NOW!" Vernon called.
Harry, jumped off his bed in alarm and ran out of his bedroom and down the stairs, only to meet The Dursleys packed up and ready to go.
"This is going to be great," he thought. He didn't even mind his aunt being with him, because at least one of his relatives were experienced in the presence of wizards and witches, even though they are terrified of the sentence "Jiggery Pokery". "I want you to treat your aunt with the utmost respect. And tell all of YOUR people who are going to be here, to do the same. Remember, your aunt is staying here to save your filthy skin from some Voldycork maniac. So if you protect her she will protect you." Vernon finished. Just then there was a flash of bright fire in the air, then out of nowhere Fawks appeared, carrying a piece of parchment in her beak.
Harry smiled, and looked around him. Vernon had dived behind the couch, and had his hands over his eyes, Petunia had lunged forward to close the door and was now laying face down on the ground, Dudley was failing to force himself into a closet, due to his whale-sized body.
"Fawks!" Harry cried, and strode over to the glowing phoenix that was hovering perfectly in the air.
"What are you doing here," he exclaimed, taking the parchment from her beak. Fawks bowed to Harry, and then disappeared in a shower of golden light.
Harry, I am sending this notice to inform you that the order will be apparating at your residence at quarter after 9. Mr. Weasley will be arriving with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny with a port key. It will be safest to stay at your residence until the end of summer, but the order will be guarding you whenever you will be outside of it.
Albus Dumbledore
Harry had begun to be irritated. If Dumbledore was going to box Harry into his own house, he would not co-operate. Harry looked at his watch. It was 9:14. Vernon slowly rose from his position on the floor and was purple with rage.
"What was-"
"LOOK OUT!" Harry interrupted, but was too late.
CRACK. CRACK. CRACK. Wizards had begun to appear from every angle of his house. Suddenly, two tall, red haired twins popped out of thin air, pushing Harry flat on his back.
"Well hello Harry!" One of them started. "Fancy meeting you here" The other one finished.
"Fred, George. Glad to see you, but do you really have to land on me?"
There was a loud shriek, and one thin, one raging, and one fat person flew out of the front door, slamming it behind them. "I gather that those were your relatives?" George said, with an evil grin on his face.
"If you can relate them to me, yes" Harry said, returning the grin.
"Well I for one would have rather landed on your cousin, he would have acted like a nice cushion" Fred said thoughtfully.
"Think of that next time for me Fred," Harry said, massaging his back. They all got up and went to meet the other members of the order who had just previously apparated.
"Professor Lupin!" Harry shouted, and ran over to his ex-Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. He looked a mess. His eyes were dark and sunk in. His hair was almost completely gray, his hands were shaking, and his robes were shabbier then ever. He looked like a man who had grown old too fast, who had experienced and lost too much in too short of a time. "Ah, there you are Harry. Where are your Aunt and Uncle? We are supposed to have a little talk with them before your uncle-"
The door slowly creaked open, and a thin figure entered. She screamed at the sight of Lupin, and streaked up the stairs. Harry and Lupin looked at each other, shrugged and followed her.
"Well I say, I hate a house tha's always so neat." Mundungus said, opening the closet door.
"Oi! Harry me lad. Nice house you got 'ere. I'll fit in nice. Was that your cousin in tha' closet there? Migh' say he could've ate ya, if he was 'ungry enough." He said with a chuckle.
"Yep, that was him. My aunt made him go on a diet, but he didn't lose a pound." Harry said from the top of the stairs. Lupin and Harry walked to his Aunt's and Uncle's room, and knocked.
"Mrs. Dursley, my name is Remus Lupin, and I am one of the members of the Order. I am here strictly to protect Harry, and all the others and myself will not cause you any harm. I am very thankful for your acceptance for the order members to live here, with you, and for your will to stay here to protect Harry. Again, I know that you are not on speaking terms with people from the magical world, but you must understand why we have to be here. I wish to talk to you and your husband about the living arrangements for the time we are here. We wish nothing but to talk. Please open the door, and join myself and the others." Lupin said.
"Aunt Petunia, if you would like, all the members of the order can go to the dining room, and I will escort you to them. Remember they will not attack you or anything. They're here to protect you and me." Harry said slowly into the door.
The door opened slowly, and a shaking Petunia wearing a necklace with a cross on it, emerged, and said " T-That's alright, H-Harry, I-I'll j-join you now."
"Thank you, Mrs. Dursley. I will round up the order members and if you will, please fetch your husband." Lupin said, and then set off down the stairs.
After a few minutes, Harry and Petunia went downstairs, and went out the front door, intending to get Vernon and Dudley. They found them both sitting in their car, peering out the windows.
"Vernon, they wish just to talk to us for a little while. Let's go." Petunia said firmly.
"All right, dear. Dudley, stay here." Vernon said quietly. Dudley whimpered in reply. Harry, Vernon and Petunia walked through the front door silently. They went into the dinning room and met the entire order. They stood in the doorway, and Vernon said the first words.
"All right. I want to make a few rules clear. There will be no black magic or white magic or whatever, on myself or my family throughout your entire stay here. This is my house, so you will respect it and keep it the way it is. You will also protect my wife." He said bravely.
"All right, we respect your rules Mr. Dursley. Again, we will never perform magic on yourself or any members of your family, except in extreme causes." Lupin said.
"Like wh-" suddenly there was a loud boom, and four people fell out of midair, clutching a burnt towel and crashing into a side table where the Dursleys stood. They both screamed and flew into the kitchen.
"HARRY!!!!!!!!!!!" A teen-aged girl screamed, and she flew forward, enveloping Harry in a tight hug and obstructing his vision with mass amounts of bushy brown hair.
"Hermione get off I can't breathe" Harry said, winded.
"Hehe, sorry Harry. We just missed you so much! And I cannot believe we are staying at your house, we're going to have so much fun! Except that we can't do magic, well we never can during the summer. Well in a couple of years we can, oh I cannot wait!" She said all of this very fast and in what seemed to be only one breath. "Calm down Hermione sheesh!" Ron said.
"Hey Harry, ha ha, I see the runt actually grew. Good for you mate." Ron said, patting Harry on the back.
"Shove off Ron." Harry said, laughing.
"Harry! What a lovely house you have. Ahhh, I see you have a fellytone here. Aren't these muggles ingenious?"
"That's a TE-LE-PHONE Mr. Weasley" Harry said, shaking his hand. "Hey Ginny, how are you and Dean" Harry said chuckling. Ginny blanched, looked at Ron who was currently grimacing, and whispered to Harry,
"We're fine, just don't mention Dean around Ron, or else he'll destroy your house like a hippogriff in a rampage." "Thanks for the warning," Harry said, looking puzzled at Ron.
"Really, there is no need to resort to this Mr. Dursley" Lupin said loudly. In the kitchen, Vernon was covering Petunia, holding a candlestick high in the air, and swishing it around him every time Lupin took a step closer. "That sudden appearance is called "using a portkey". When a group of people want to get to a destination very quickly they use a portkey which transports them to their destination at a pre-arranged time." Lupin said slowly.
Vernon lowered the candlestick, and looked at his watch.
"Mr.. uh Rufus, I will have to be leaving shortly. It is minutes to ten and my flight is leaving at 11." Vernon said. "Thank you Mr. Dursley for your co-operation, and don't worry, it won't take long." Lupin said. They proceeded to the dinning room, Petunia walking tightly by Vernon's side. "Mr, and Mrs Dursley, I am here to explain to you about the task for the order. The Order, or the Order of the Phoenix, is a group of trained wizards all united together to fight against the forces of Lord Voldemort and his followers. Now I think Dumbledore has explained the prophecy to you, so I will not waste my time telling it again.-"
"What about the prophecy? It was broken! No one knows anything about it now." Ron exclaimed.
"Ron, I'll explain later." Harry said softly. Ron gave Harry a confused look, and nodded.
"Here with us now, we have myself, Remus Lupin," he gave a bow. "Mundungus Fletcher," He gave a wink, "Kingsley Shacklebot, Emmeline Vance, Hestia Jones, Eliphas Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur, Molly, and Bill Weasley," They all bowed in turn,
"And Albus Dumbledore who will be arriving shortly. We will guard Harry whenever he is not in this house, because under the current consequences he is not safe anywhere but here." Lupin said.
"We won't all be here at the same time," Molly started, "Most of us have many tasks to do for Dumbledore. All we want is for Harry to be safe. Oh and, we forgot to introduce, my sons Fred, George and Ron, and my daughter Ginny." Who each waved, "And Hermione, Harry and Ron's friend from school. They're all too young to be in the order, but they are all very keen to help us out." "And some of us are old enough to be in the order but certain members won't let us in" Fred said.
"Don't test me Fred" Molly warned threateningly. "Oh, and one more thing to explain," Tonks said.
"I am a metamorphagus, or a person who is able to change their appearance at will, so you might see a different person entering your house at times, but it's always me. Let me demonstrate." Tonks scrunched up her face like he was being stabbed repeatedly with a hot poker, and changed her hair from short, brown and thin, to long, blonde and wavy, her nose from long and pointy to short and round, and her eyes from blue to brown.
"Voila!" She said, taking a bow. They all laughed and clapped. Vernon and Petunia stood motionless with their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open. "Please, we do not want you to be afraid of us. Were here to help. Another thing we might be doing often is apparating or appearing out of thin air. That is just a way for us wizards to travel, so do not be alarmed by the cracking sounds you might hear." Mr. Weasley said.
"Well it is very close to 11. Uncle Vernon, you don't want to miss your flight. "W-What? Oh, r-right." Vernon stuttered. He pulled his wife to the front door.
"Petunia, I'm very sorry I have to leave you with these freaks. Are you sure you do not want to come with us?" Vernon said as he embraced her. "Freaks they may be, they still are here to protect Harry and I. Don't worry about me Vernon, I'll be with you in Florida very shortly.
Meanwhile...
"So, this is your house Harry" Hermione said, looking around.
"Yup this is it, let's go put your stuff in the rooms" Harry said, and he, Ron and Hermione made for the stairs.
"Hermione, where's Crookshanks?" Ron said, but Hermione didn't answer.
He turned around and she stood there. Rooted to the spot in the dinning room, she faced everyone, who were looking at her curiously. She was swaying and her eyes were falling.
"He will prevail. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord is gaining strength; he alone will have the courage and power to rid us of evil. He will have many followers that will aid him in his outcome, but will lose many on the path.. to.. victory." She shook her head and looked around.
"Oh right, I'll get my stuff Harry, I'm right behind you!"