Chapter Two-
Breakfast at Headquarters
Harry woke to Hedwig's tapping on the window. He jumped out of bed to let his owl in, opening the envelope after he set Hedwig in the cage. It was the tickets! They gave all the information, which seats to take, and which Portkeys to take.
Suddenly there was a crashing sound, then a sound resembling that of a buzz saw. Upon closer examination, Harry saw that it was coming from inside his closet. When the noise continued for the next few minutes, Harry backed up nervously. Wait a second- he thought- I never knew there was another door inside of it. That was because there hadn't been a door there before. The knob turned and a purple-haired someone stumbled in, followed by a small crowd of people, all of whom he had seen before. "Hiya, Harry!" Tonks exclaimed, dusting herself off and shaking his hand. "Hope your summer's gone well?" And before Harry could answer (not that he would have, he was much too amazed), she continued. "This is the Order's birthday gift for you, sorry we couldn't install it yesterday- I forgot it was my job to go ask if we could do this in the first place." "Harry, how've you been?" Kingsley Shacklebolt said in his deep voice, patting Harry on the back. Next, a familiar red headed man (with spots of gray) came forward. "Harry! Yes, I know, we probably should have written something about this in a letter, but I suppose it just didn't cross Tonks' mind... Come along, then, we'll explain everything. Everyone's just waiting to see you! Come this way!" Mr. Weasley led the way through the door. Harry, still shocked, was greeted by much applause as he stepped into the entrance hallway of Grimmauld Place. He turned to his right and saw the main entrance door. "Harry!" he turned around to see quite a few members of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry finally found his voice. "How- how did you do this? It's brilliant!" Mr. Weasley spoke. "Well, normally a port-door would have been strictly watched, but obviously we didn't want that. Hermione created her own little charm though, and I don't think the Ministry will be able to figure it out." "I thought we were on good terms with the government now, though?" "Ahh, but still. It's safer this way," Kingsley said. "Yeah, and Lucius is in Azkaban now! It's absolutely wonderful," Tonks said. "My mum was laughing about it all last week. Malfoy's wife is my aunt anyway." "But what about the dementors?" Harry asked. "I thought they've gone over to Voldemort-" a large wave of flinches passed through the crowd. "Er- sorry- but is there anyone guarding Azkaban anymore?" "Well, they've got giants guarding the cells now," a man Harry remembered was called Elphias Doge said wheezily. "There's really no escaping them- you can't use magic to block physical attacks." "And it would take quite a few extremely skilled wizards and witches to do anything to a full-grown giant," Dedalus Diggle added, dropping his top- hat. "So Hagrid and Madame Maxime convinced them, then?" Harry inquired. Many people laughed and nodded, sharing looks of happiness for the half-giant couple. Suddenly Mrs. Weasley bustled out of the kitchen, hastily wiping her hands off on her apron. She looked up and spotted Harry, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Harry, dear! Welcome back!" She turned to everyone else. "Come on, everybody! Breakfast! Alastor will be here with the children in an hour or two- by then everything'll be cold! Hurry up, now!" As the order members proceeded to the dining room, Mrs. Weasley hung back to come give Harry a huge hug. "How have you been, dear?" She asked worriedly. "The Dursley's haven't been too harsh on you, have they? Have they been feeding you properly? No- I can tell! You're skin and bones! Come eat, now!" She led Harry to the long table and pulled out a chair for him between Tonks and Bill. "Hey there! Haven't seen you since Christmas, Harry!" Bill said, sticking out a freckly hand for Harry to shake. "Yeah! How've you been? How's Fleur?" Harry asked. Bill's jaw dropped slightly. "How'd you know?" "I got a letter from Ron on my birthday. He explained everything," Harry said with a grin. "Oh, she's doing really well. Did Ron tell you? Her little sister came, too, she's great. They both remember you from the Tournament!" "Oh, yeah," Tonks said. "I remember reading about how you saved Gabriel in that Tournament! She's really a little angel, Gabriel is." Harry then noticed that beneath the wild colorful hair was a huge bandage.
"Tonks! What happened to your...er... head?" he asked tentatively. "Oh... well... that was from last June..." An awkward silence followed. Then Tonks continued to break the silence. "Did I ever tell any of you? Maybe it would have been better if I had, but my little sister's coming too!" "Really?" Bill asked. "I never knew you had any siblings, Tonks!" Harry said. He couldn't imagine Tonks as an older sister. Tonks rolled her eyes. "That's what everyone says... Dunno why, really..." Bill grinned at Harry. "But yeah, I do have a bunch of older siblings. But as for my younger sister, her name's Isamba Selene Nepenthales Tonks. Yeah, I know- it's a bit of a doozy, but my mum named her. What else could you expect from her? We all call her Isa or something along those lines." "How old is she?" Harry asked, spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate. "Ah, I'd say she's about a year younger than you, so she'd be in the same year as Ginny." "What school does she go to?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she set a large loaf of freshly baked cinnamon bread on the table. "Well, she's gone to Beauxbatons for the past age, but I told my mum that it would be fun if she came around these parts, so she might be joining your crowd at Hogwarts- I mean- where else would she go to school?" "Why was she at Beauxbatons?" Harry asked. "Well, she thought it would be boring to go to Hogwarts as usual. When she made that decision she was a lot like me- a tad rebellious, you know." They all smiled. "Now, though, she says it would be interesting to come here at this time. My mum was rather against it all, but then she figured that it would be a sisterly bonding sort of thing. I think that the main reason Isa wants to switch to Hogwarts, though is that she really misses quidditch, as they don't have it at her school. She's got a Nimbus Two Thousand, and she's pretty good on it, actually." "Hey, Harry, didn't your Nimbus get clobbered by the willow or something a couple years ago?" Bill asked. "Yeah, it was a disaster," Harry remembered, flinching at the memory of finding the remaining splinters. Just then, Harry heard a distant crash in the living room (Harry supposed it was the fireplace) and a lot of bustling about. Mrs. Weasley hurried to go greet everyone at the end of the long hallway. "It's probably the young ones! I'll let them in," she said. As Harry wiped his hands off on the napkin on his lap, he heard one of his best friend's voices. "Mum, is Harry here?" Ron sounded a bit muffled, as though Mrs. Weasley was hugging him very tightly. "Oh, yes, dear, he's in the kitchen. Ah, Hermione, How have you been? Did you get to the Burrow this morning, or..?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Oh, yes. I came by Floo Powder. I'm so excited- my home has just been connected to the Network! It'll be so much easier to- you know- visit my parents and everything." "Yes, very good, dear. And Ginny, where's Gabriel?" "She's going to come in a few minutes with Fred and George." "Dear, are you sure that's wise?" Harry could hear all of them down towards the kitchen and got up to go greet them. "Harry!" Ron called as he turned the corner into the loud room. Ron looked around and spotted Harry, their faces both cracking into wide grins. "I hope you got the owls, mate, I was worried Hedwig might not be able to make it with so many packages!" Ron said, clapping Harry on the back in greeting. "Yeah, thanks. The cake was great, and I started reading the comics," Harry said as a bushy- haired girl and a red-haired girl entered. "Hermione! Ginny!" "Hi, Harry!" Ginny said with a huge smile. "Harry, did Hedwig make it with the packages?" Hermione asked. "Yeah, thanks for the book- it's really cool! I actually started reading the first chapter." "Good, I'm glad you liked it," she replied. "At first I wasn't sure that you'd like it- you know- it being a book and all. Now that I know you like it though, I might give you Hogwarts: A History for Christmas." "Ah, don't do that. I think he'd prefer nothing," Ron said with a grimace as Hermione glared. "Well- it'd be a waste, really, as you know it cover to cover." Hermione seemed rather emulsified by the compliment.
"Well, Harry, Ginny and I were wondering," Ron started, "if we could come see your muggle room. You know, she didn't see it back in second or fourth year when we came to get you."
"Oh- alright, then. Let's just tell your mum that we're going."
"Alright," Ron said. He turned in the direction of Mrs. Weasley and called, "Mum! We're going to go see Harry's muggle room!"
"Yes, do that, dear!" She replied, only half-listening to them. Ron shrugged and proceeded to the door. "You know," Harry said, "You all may not like it; everything that has to do with the Dursleys is extremely boring." "Oh, come on Harry; it can't be worse than the Shrieking Shack, you know," Ginny said with a smile. Hermione turned the knob and flung it open. They all stepped inside.
Anyway, hope you all liked it, and PLEASE REVIEW! I'd really appreciate it- it motivates me to write. Thanks!REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE! PLEASE REVIEW! Pleeeeeease!
Harry woke to Hedwig's tapping on the window. He jumped out of bed to let his owl in, opening the envelope after he set Hedwig in the cage. It was the tickets! They gave all the information, which seats to take, and which Portkeys to take.
Suddenly there was a crashing sound, then a sound resembling that of a buzz saw. Upon closer examination, Harry saw that it was coming from inside his closet. When the noise continued for the next few minutes, Harry backed up nervously. Wait a second- he thought- I never knew there was another door inside of it. That was because there hadn't been a door there before. The knob turned and a purple-haired someone stumbled in, followed by a small crowd of people, all of whom he had seen before. "Hiya, Harry!" Tonks exclaimed, dusting herself off and shaking his hand. "Hope your summer's gone well?" And before Harry could answer (not that he would have, he was much too amazed), she continued. "This is the Order's birthday gift for you, sorry we couldn't install it yesterday- I forgot it was my job to go ask if we could do this in the first place." "Harry, how've you been?" Kingsley Shacklebolt said in his deep voice, patting Harry on the back. Next, a familiar red headed man (with spots of gray) came forward. "Harry! Yes, I know, we probably should have written something about this in a letter, but I suppose it just didn't cross Tonks' mind... Come along, then, we'll explain everything. Everyone's just waiting to see you! Come this way!" Mr. Weasley led the way through the door. Harry, still shocked, was greeted by much applause as he stepped into the entrance hallway of Grimmauld Place. He turned to his right and saw the main entrance door. "Harry!" he turned around to see quite a few members of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry finally found his voice. "How- how did you do this? It's brilliant!" Mr. Weasley spoke. "Well, normally a port-door would have been strictly watched, but obviously we didn't want that. Hermione created her own little charm though, and I don't think the Ministry will be able to figure it out." "I thought we were on good terms with the government now, though?" "Ahh, but still. It's safer this way," Kingsley said. "Yeah, and Lucius is in Azkaban now! It's absolutely wonderful," Tonks said. "My mum was laughing about it all last week. Malfoy's wife is my aunt anyway." "But what about the dementors?" Harry asked. "I thought they've gone over to Voldemort-" a large wave of flinches passed through the crowd. "Er- sorry- but is there anyone guarding Azkaban anymore?" "Well, they've got giants guarding the cells now," a man Harry remembered was called Elphias Doge said wheezily. "There's really no escaping them- you can't use magic to block physical attacks." "And it would take quite a few extremely skilled wizards and witches to do anything to a full-grown giant," Dedalus Diggle added, dropping his top- hat. "So Hagrid and Madame Maxime convinced them, then?" Harry inquired. Many people laughed and nodded, sharing looks of happiness for the half-giant couple. Suddenly Mrs. Weasley bustled out of the kitchen, hastily wiping her hands off on her apron. She looked up and spotted Harry, her eyes sparkling with happiness. "Harry, dear! Welcome back!" She turned to everyone else. "Come on, everybody! Breakfast! Alastor will be here with the children in an hour or two- by then everything'll be cold! Hurry up, now!" As the order members proceeded to the dining room, Mrs. Weasley hung back to come give Harry a huge hug. "How have you been, dear?" She asked worriedly. "The Dursley's haven't been too harsh on you, have they? Have they been feeding you properly? No- I can tell! You're skin and bones! Come eat, now!" She led Harry to the long table and pulled out a chair for him between Tonks and Bill. "Hey there! Haven't seen you since Christmas, Harry!" Bill said, sticking out a freckly hand for Harry to shake. "Yeah! How've you been? How's Fleur?" Harry asked. Bill's jaw dropped slightly. "How'd you know?" "I got a letter from Ron on my birthday. He explained everything," Harry said with a grin. "Oh, she's doing really well. Did Ron tell you? Her little sister came, too, she's great. They both remember you from the Tournament!" "Oh, yeah," Tonks said. "I remember reading about how you saved Gabriel in that Tournament! She's really a little angel, Gabriel is." Harry then noticed that beneath the wild colorful hair was a huge bandage.
"Tonks! What happened to your...er... head?" he asked tentatively. "Oh... well... that was from last June..." An awkward silence followed. Then Tonks continued to break the silence. "Did I ever tell any of you? Maybe it would have been better if I had, but my little sister's coming too!" "Really?" Bill asked. "I never knew you had any siblings, Tonks!" Harry said. He couldn't imagine Tonks as an older sister. Tonks rolled her eyes. "That's what everyone says... Dunno why, really..." Bill grinned at Harry. "But yeah, I do have a bunch of older siblings. But as for my younger sister, her name's Isamba Selene Nepenthales Tonks. Yeah, I know- it's a bit of a doozy, but my mum named her. What else could you expect from her? We all call her Isa or something along those lines." "How old is she?" Harry asked, spooning mashed potatoes onto his plate. "Ah, I'd say she's about a year younger than you, so she'd be in the same year as Ginny." "What school does she go to?" Mrs. Weasley asked as she set a large loaf of freshly baked cinnamon bread on the table. "Well, she's gone to Beauxbatons for the past age, but I told my mum that it would be fun if she came around these parts, so she might be joining your crowd at Hogwarts- I mean- where else would she go to school?" "Why was she at Beauxbatons?" Harry asked. "Well, she thought it would be boring to go to Hogwarts as usual. When she made that decision she was a lot like me- a tad rebellious, you know." They all smiled. "Now, though, she says it would be interesting to come here at this time. My mum was rather against it all, but then she figured that it would be a sisterly bonding sort of thing. I think that the main reason Isa wants to switch to Hogwarts, though is that she really misses quidditch, as they don't have it at her school. She's got a Nimbus Two Thousand, and she's pretty good on it, actually." "Hey, Harry, didn't your Nimbus get clobbered by the willow or something a couple years ago?" Bill asked. "Yeah, it was a disaster," Harry remembered, flinching at the memory of finding the remaining splinters. Just then, Harry heard a distant crash in the living room (Harry supposed it was the fireplace) and a lot of bustling about. Mrs. Weasley hurried to go greet everyone at the end of the long hallway. "It's probably the young ones! I'll let them in," she said. As Harry wiped his hands off on the napkin on his lap, he heard one of his best friend's voices. "Mum, is Harry here?" Ron sounded a bit muffled, as though Mrs. Weasley was hugging him very tightly. "Oh, yes, dear, he's in the kitchen. Ah, Hermione, How have you been? Did you get to the Burrow this morning, or..?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Oh, yes. I came by Floo Powder. I'm so excited- my home has just been connected to the Network! It'll be so much easier to- you know- visit my parents and everything." "Yes, very good, dear. And Ginny, where's Gabriel?" "She's going to come in a few minutes with Fred and George." "Dear, are you sure that's wise?" Harry could hear all of them down towards the kitchen and got up to go greet them. "Harry!" Ron called as he turned the corner into the loud room. Ron looked around and spotted Harry, their faces both cracking into wide grins. "I hope you got the owls, mate, I was worried Hedwig might not be able to make it with so many packages!" Ron said, clapping Harry on the back in greeting. "Yeah, thanks. The cake was great, and I started reading the comics," Harry said as a bushy- haired girl and a red-haired girl entered. "Hermione! Ginny!" "Hi, Harry!" Ginny said with a huge smile. "Harry, did Hedwig make it with the packages?" Hermione asked. "Yeah, thanks for the book- it's really cool! I actually started reading the first chapter." "Good, I'm glad you liked it," she replied. "At first I wasn't sure that you'd like it- you know- it being a book and all. Now that I know you like it though, I might give you Hogwarts: A History for Christmas." "Ah, don't do that. I think he'd prefer nothing," Ron said with a grimace as Hermione glared. "Well- it'd be a waste, really, as you know it cover to cover." Hermione seemed rather emulsified by the compliment.
"Well, Harry, Ginny and I were wondering," Ron started, "if we could come see your muggle room. You know, she didn't see it back in second or fourth year when we came to get you."
"Oh- alright, then. Let's just tell your mum that we're going."
"Alright," Ron said. He turned in the direction of Mrs. Weasley and called, "Mum! We're going to go see Harry's muggle room!"
"Yes, do that, dear!" She replied, only half-listening to them. Ron shrugged and proceeded to the door. "You know," Harry said, "You all may not like it; everything that has to do with the Dursleys is extremely boring." "Oh, come on Harry; it can't be worse than the Shrieking Shack, you know," Ginny said with a smile. Hermione turned the knob and flung it open. They all stepped inside.
Anyway, hope you all liked it, and PLEASE REVIEW! I'd really appreciate it- it motivates me to write. Thanks!REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PLEASE! PLEASE REVIEW! Pleeeeeease!