A/N: I can't thank you guys enough for your reviews. Especially you,
sopybubbles. I was cracking up reading them, and I have once again proved
that I can make anybody laugh (or blush *winks saucily*). I had a lot of
fun writing that chapter, and the reactions I got to where I left it off
were worth staying up typing until 3 am. I never said I was laying off the
cliffies, but then again I never considered this one a cliffie. Crazy
people are the fun people. I should know, I'm one of them. I'm also evil,
but that's a whole other story.
Btw, Death-Demon Xero, did you get a sneak peak on my hard copy before I typed this up? Because you were the only person who seemed to figure out what really happened. So for the rest of you, here's what really happened, plus more.
Shameless plug: go check out clifjumpr13. He's a good friend of mine, and we tend to inspire each other at times. Slightly dark and twisted, but gifted.
Dedicated to Pyre Pheonix.
Chapter 16
After Sirius' pronouncement, there was a moment of dead silence in which everyone stared incredulously at the blanching teen and the telltale red blotch on his neck. Then Eva began giggling furiously as Harry blushed a dark crimson and clapped a hand to his neck. He turned to her with an accusing glance. She smiled sweetly, "Sorry honey, guess I got a little too frisky this morning." Everyone gaped at her with a mix of horrified and amused expressions, and Harry's eyes practically popped out of his head.
The twins grinned wickedly and George passed Fred a couple of Galleons, chuckling. Harry saw that and glared at them. "It's not like that at all. We were sparring early this morning." "Oh, is that what they call it now?" Remus asked innocently, and Arabella stifled a snicker. Eva broke in. "Yes. We were . . . sparring." She winked. "Harry is very good with his sword . . . and his hands." Eva's bright eyes sparkled mischievously, lacing her words with enough double meaning to make even Sirius flush. She directed her next comment back to Harry. "Frankly, I'm surprised you had enough stamina left over for your swim after the workout we had this morning."
Harry hid his now purple face in his hands, shaking his head in silent denial as most the Weasleys stared in shock and the twins hooted and catcalled. The professors, especially Dumbledore seemed to find this terribly amusing and were trying to hide their broad grins. Abruptly Eva yelped in surprise as she floated up in the air and was levitated over the water before she dropped, hitting with a huge splash. She surfaced, sputtering and cursing, and Harry leaned toward her at the edge, an evil grin on his face.
"Looked like you were getting a bit hot. I figured you needed to cool down a bit." She flashed a matching evil grin, then grabbed the end of his braid and yanked him back into the pool next to her. The resulting tidal wave from his impromptu belly flop drenched the people sitting nearest the pool, raising shrieks of surprise. For a few moments the two wrestled underwater, the turbulence in the water preventing the spectators from seeing what was happening.
Eva came up first, snickering and scrambled for the edge to pull herself out and collapse in the farthest seat, gasping for air around her laughs. Harry shot up a few seconds later, hauled himself out and knelt at the poolside, gasping. Eva had untied his hair underwater, loosing the entire mass from its restricting braid. Now his whole body was hidden from view by a streaming black curtain. Truthfully, he looked like Padfoot after a bath.
Sirius began laughing at his godson, and soon the gathered adults and teens all joined in. The sight was just too funny. Just to make matters worse, Harry got to his feet and shook his head violently, just like a wet dog, so water spattered everywhere. After managing to contain most of her giggles, Arabella turned to Eva, tears of mirth in her eyes, and inquired, "You two aren't really . . . you know . . ."
"What? Sleeping together?" Eva finished the thought loud enough to attract everyone's ears. "No, of course not." She snickered a bit. "This was just payback for an earlier prank, and I couldn't resist the opportunity for public humiliation." She laughed as Harry shot her a death glare. "The marks are actually from our hand to hand combat lesson this morning. I'm teaching him a couple new fighting styles, so for now I can still kick his ass. Just wait until next week, then I won't be able to touch him."
Harry stood by the pool in front of her, trying to wring the water out of his hair as he glared at her. "I thought I took care of those afterwards." She grinned. "I decided to make sure these ones stuck around for a little bit. Remember, I did warn you." He simply shook his head. "You have the most demented mind than I ever thought could possibly exist. Your insane innuendos could corrupt anyone." "Just remember what Snape said about corruption." "Don't you even bring that up. I'm going to change." He stalked off, pushing his wet hair back so he could see where he was going.
Remus leaned over to Sirius and stage whispered "I think we've found someone even more childish than you, Padfoot." Eva grinned cheekily at them. "I'll take that as a compliment." Dumbledore leaned forward to inquire, "What was that about Severus?" Eva looked at him. "Harry will explain that. It's his story to tell." For a couple minutes they sat and chatted and laughed, then Harry reemerged dressed in a comfortable-looking outfit of all black. "Okay, it's story time. Let's head to the garden, it'll be more comfortable there."
Once they were all settled in the clearing in the middle of the spacious garden, Harry bean to pace like a classic lecturer. "Alright, I promised you the full explanation on all that has occurred since last year. First off, many of you only just remembered the conversation we had when I returned last October. That, like I said earlier, was a slight miscalculation on my part. I removed the mental blocks yesterday." Harry proceeded to refresh their memories, or in some cases created new ones, as he spun his tale of his missing months, this time with a few interjections from Eva.
He outlined what powers he knew he had, and his continuing campaign against the Death Eaters. Needless to say there was considerable shock for everyone, except for two teens who shall remain nameless, when he revealed that he was in fact the elusive Wraith. Molly almost fainted, recalling the stories her men had come home telling of his actions. Harry demonstrated the clone and his alter ego Wraith, much to the delight of the twins. They immediately began plotting the possible prank opportunities available with multiple Gred and Forge's running around. Fortunately Harry refused to teach them how to do it.
Harry let the exclamations over his measures die down as he sighed. "It couldn't last long." His audience refocused their attentions on him at that cryptic statement. "The reduction of his forces drove Voldemort to search for new ways to destroy me. He knows about the prophecy, so he has entered into an alliance with the devil himself, and gained control over the demon armies. Unfortunately they are not susceptible to normal magic, so wizards can't repel their attacks. They're tough buggers, even for me." He began to pace restlessly, agitated.
"Voldemort spoke of two talismans that, when used in the proper ritual, will allow Lucifer to completely possess him, granting immortality and invincibility. He has already found one, deep under the foundations of Azkaban. I fought him for it, but I was stabbed." A couple of gasps were heard as the Order members recalled that night, and Molly exclaimed, "You almost died that night!" Harry nodded briefly but pressed on. "He has found the archives that could help him discover where the second one was hidden, and currently has three Death Eaters working on translating them." He chuckled suddenly. "Bloody waste of time if you ask me, but I won't tell him that."
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled. "You've already recovered it then." Harry smiled. "Found it on my birthday." "But how?" Hermione inquired, intrigued. Harry grimaced. "That requires another long story, and it's past lunchtime. Let's eat, then I'll continue." Looking vaguely disappointed but eager for food, they trooped back inside and raided the well stocked kitchen. After a brief meal, they regrouped in the living room since a storm was brewing outside. Dark clouds were gathering, promising a good summer soaking.
Harry continued his narrative once they settled, telling of his visions and visits to the shadow realm, but leaving out any mention of the Lady Death, instead glossing over the initial meeting and skipping straight to the research. If asked, he honestly could not answer why, but just followed his instincts. He told of the exhaustive research and finally the discovery of the diary. He enthralled them all with the descriptions of the tests he passed to reach the talisman, and brought it forth to show, wrapped in a scrap of black velvet.
Remus asked about this, and Harry replied, "I don't want to touch it." Pressed further, he tried to explain what had transpired the first time he touched it. "It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I could literally see magic, feel it, reach out and play with it. Imagine if you could . . . understand . . . the whole universe for the first time, experience it all at once and know how it works. The way it binds together, like a tapestry that you could only see glimpses of before and can now see all of it. It was . . ." he shook his head, "overwhelming, to say the least. I kind of passed out." He scratched the back of his neck ruefully. "When I woke up a week later, I was on that hill over there. Don't ask how, because I have absolutely no idea."
He glanced over at Arthur. "I heard later that some sort of . . . magical disruptions were detected." Arthur nodded, looking slightly excited and relieved. "Waves of energy were felt all around the world, starting in South America and expanding, like a ripple effect." He looked askance at the black haired teen. "Surges and flashing lights were reported from Easter Island that night." The teen confirmed his unspoken guess with a nod. "Now if it reacted that way to me, I can't imagine what the effects would be if Voldemort got it."
Percy interrupted for the first time. "But can't you just destroy it?" You know, to keep him from ever getting hold of it." Percy had been a slightly surprising addition to the Order, due to his devotion to the Ministry, but after the public confirmation of Voldemort's resurgence last year he had become a tireless worker, talented at sorting through stacks of paperwork to track various suspected Death Eaters and spies. Not all the Order members are involved in the active side of the battles.
Harry ran a hand over his hair, a throwback gesture from when he still had a tangled mop residing on his head. "If only it were that simple. These talismans were used eons ago to destroy civilizations and banish cities to different realm altogether. The ancients couldn't destroy them, so they hid them as best they could. Their very presence slowly poisoned the surrounding areas with magic. Why do you think they built Azkaban where they did?" He sighed; it was getting to be a bad habit. "I was ordered to destroy it, but the ritual requires so much energy in the exact conditions that I can't do it now, and I'm not even sure if it'd work. Besides, once Voldemort realizes I have it, he'll have to come for it."
Dumbledore stared at him in stunned realization. "You mean to use yourself and this talisman as bait." Harry nodded slowly, meeting his eyes as the others looked horrified. "I'm trying to keep a strategic advantage. He has always chosen the battlefield, somewhere he had an advantage. I'm drawing him onto mine now, so I can have a few surprises waiting." Now the headmaster looked pensive. "I assume you are talking about Hogwarts." The young war mage watched him a bit nervously, as if asking permission. Dumbledore sat back and considered the ramifications. "You realize the risks inherent in that decision. We have to protect the students there, as well as the noncombatants in Hogsmeade."
He paused. "Then again, the castle is the safest place left anywhere, and is charmed and protected against unwanted invasion. I approve your decision Harry." "Thank you sir." Harry resumed pacing. "Once school's back in session, I'll increase the protection however I can." He fell silent, chewing his lower lip with his hands clenched behind his back. "Now, Eva mentioned something earlier about Severus. Have you had contact with him this summer?" Harry nodded distractedly at the old man's question.
"I believe he reported to you that his cover in the Death Eaters was compromised." It was clearly a statement, not a question. "Yes, but he was unforthcoming in how he escaped, only that he had help." "You could say that. I only pulled his sorry ass out of Voldemort's throne room," he snickered a bit. Waving down the shouts of "WHAT?!?!" especially loud from the twin's direction, Harry proceeded to describe the vision that ended with him somehow transporting the Potions master through two realms and places, again avoiding mention of Death. "I can't find any way to explain it. Even the shadow archives have no record of anyone pulling another person physically into the shadow realm and out again."
Eva interrupted, "What about the Dream Stand?" "That's different. Only your consciousness is there, even though it does affect the body." "Dream Stand?" Hermione looked puzzled, so Harry told of yesterday's confrontation with Voldemort and his subsequent escape just as he told Eva. He frowned as he recalled something, then paled as the implications became clear. He buried his face in his hands and muttered, "Oh shit."
Everyone was slightly shocked to hear him swear like that. Sirius asked, "What's wrong?" They were even more concerned when he collapsed bonelessly in an armchair, staring at nothing with wide glazed eyes. "I just realized something. The wandless magic, the Dream Stand, the invocation to get me there. That's far above the ability Voldemort is supposed to have. He should not have been able to establish it, let alone pull me into it. I doubt that I could have done it, even if I knew how." He drew a shaky breath. "That could only mean one thing. Lucifer's already been able to transfer some of his powers into Voldemort, probably using the first talisman as a focal point. And the longer he has it, the stronger he'll get." At that even Eva's eyes widened in horror. "Oh shit is right!" she agreed fervently.
A bright flash of lightning, followed by a loud rumble of thunder broke the uneasy silence that had fallen. The conversation had been so engrossing, nobody realized just how big a storm had been brewing. Eager to break the solemn mood, Charlie observed, "No Quidditch tonight." Fred snickered, "Oh, I don't know." George added, "Never stopped us before." "Never stopped Harry, you mean." Charlie looked confused for a minute, then brightened as the twins reminded him, "The Ravenclaw match for the finals!" Just for fun the twins regaled them with a very descriptive retelling of the Quidditch final and Harry's flying and the lightning.
Harry smirked slightly. "I'm never doing that again. It was the equivalent of drinking a lake full of pure caffeine." Hermione explained what caffeine was to the less Muggle-informed, and then launched into a textbook definition of its use and effects of the body. Right in the middle of her lecture Harry felt a burning sting on his left arm. Cursing mentally, he excused himself and checked the Detection Parchment. Sure enough, a small group of Death Eaters was attacking a town in France, no demons this time.
Rolling his eyes, he grabbed his trenchrobe and transfigured his clothes, then poked his head back into the living room. "I'm sorry, but I have to run a quick errand. Be back in a while." "Wait, where are you going?" Dumbledore asked quickly, standing up to face him. "France," he answered casually, pulling on the leather trenchrobe and straightening his weapons. "Why France? I don't believe you'd need that just to go pick up some mustard." Sirius gestured at his outfit.
"Some Death Eaters are having a party, so I'm going to crash it. Their Aurors have a slower response time than ours, so I might leave them something to clean up." Immediately most of the Order members present stood up, even as Harry morphed into Wraith. "We should come too," Sirius protested. "Why?" the disguised teen retorted. "There's only ten or so, and the French are already mad that the Order has been more effective than their forces. Don't worry, I'll be fine." With a "pop!" he Disapperated.
Sirius plopped back down with a frustrated huff of air. "I wanted to bust some heads tonight." Most chuckled, but as thunder continues to roll Remus leaned over to ask, "What's wrong Padfoot?" Sirius sighed. "Life's unfair Moony. At this age, Harry should be chasing girls, not Death Eaters. Chronologically speaking, he's the second youngest here, but . . ." He trailed off, and Dumbledore finished his thought, "If age was measured by experiences, Harry would be older than me."
Sirius nodded glumly. "He's acting more mature than I am. Look at this house." He gestured expansively around him, taking in the spotless but comfortable conditions. "He's living alone and it's perfectly clean. He's only sixteen, for Merlin's sake. I always thought . . . he'd be a miniature version of James. Y'know, a carefree prankster and ladies' man." He sighed heavily. "Well, it was a nice dream for awhile."
Eva got up and announced, "If anyone else is hungry, I'm going to whip up some dinner." Molly and Arabella jumped up to help when they all expressed that suddenly they were famished, but most likely just wanted to escape the suddenly somber atmosphere. As the women laughed and joked over the cooking food, the others split up around the house to occupy themselves. Eredfire found Ginny and settled on her shoulder for her to pet as she listened to the chatter. Fred and George plotted in the game room, while Ron and Hermione found that the Astronomy tower here was a good place to snog, without the traffic the one at Hogwarts generated. The men remained in the living room, conversing on anything from the Order to Quidditch, until the women announced the food ready for consumption.
Eva fixed a wonderful Italian dinner, and the conversations stayed light even as everyone kept an ear out for the front door. Harry had not yet returned by the time the dishes had been cleaned, so the guests split back up to their previous activities. Eva asked Ginny to accompany her down to the lab. "I'm brewing a couple potions and I would appreciate and extra set of hands. Want to help?" Ginny's eyes lit up. "Sure!"
As Ginny chopped up some wolfsbane, Eva glanced up from stirring the cauldron and inquired gently, "Is there anything you'd like to talk with me about?" The redhead looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, there's . . . never mind." She hung her head and concentrated on her knife, the tips of her ears pink. "Oh, come on," Eva encouraged her. "I know there is, and you don't have many opportunities for girl time with all those brothers running around. Spill it." Ginny blushed. "It's Harry," she admitted. "I've had . . . well, a crush on him since forever, but I thought I got over it last year. But as soon as we received the invitation to come here, it . . . came back . . . full force."
She gnawed her lower lip. "I can't help it, especially since he's gotten so . . ." "Sexy?" Eva suggested, slightly bantering. Ginny's eyes twinkled. "Damn sexy. He's brave, honest, smart, responsible, polite, a terrific dancer, and he has a great sense of humor." She giggled even as she blushed, and Eva pretended to fan herself, also giggling knowingly. "Every girl in Hogwarts wants him; you wouldn't believe the rumors and chatter that circulate around there. And he's completely oblivious to all of it. He's so modest." She sighed. "But I'm afraid he sees me only as Ron's little sister, the stupid scared first year he rescued in the Chamber of Secrets." Ginny turned to Eva, a slightly desperate look on her face. "What should I do?"
Eva concentrated for a moment on the bubbling potion, weighing her words, then asked carefully, "Do you want him as a friend or your boyfriend?" Ginny looked sad, then thoughtful. "I want him to recognize me," she began slowly, "as my own person, to like me for who I am. I want to be Ginny, not Ron's little sister in his eyes." Eva nodded in understanding. "Just like he wants to be Harry, not the Boy Who Lived." She met and held Ginny's eyes. "He wants love, not mindless admiration for his name."
Ginny pondered these words as they continued on the potion, then glanced sideways at her companion who was sprinkling witch hazel on the surface of the bright orange concoction. "You love him, don't you?" Eva briefly thought about it, ^Good thing they don't know about what really happened last night. It might have been misconstrued, and they'd tell Harry.^ "Yes. Probably not the way you mean, though. I love him as a sister and a friend. And there's just something about him that makes me want to mother him. He can be such a lost little puppy at times." She glared sharply at Ginny, who was stifling giggles. "Don't you dare tell him I said that," she warned, shaking a ladle at her. "I promise," Ginny snickered.
Eva shook her head. "Anyway, just talk to him. Get to know him, share some things, let him see the real you. He's not stupid, but all men are oblivious to feelings usually. Harry could use a few more friends, and I believe he already sees you differently than you might expect. Just relax." For a few minutes they both focused on getting the potion to turn the correct shade of blue. "By the way, what is this stuff?" Ginny wrinkled her nose as a whiff of yellow smoke drifted by. "I've been experimenting with an old recipe, trying to improve on it. Hopefully it'll be a gift for Professor Lupin." Ginny's eyes widened in comprehension. "You mean like the Wolfsbane potion?" "Exactly."
"What about this one?" she indicated another cauldron full of a bubbling neon green gel. "You know that prank I pulled on your brothers this morning? I'm making it into a sweet." Eva laughed. "I think I'll let them sell it in their shop. Should be a popular one." Ginny rolled her eyes. "They don't need any encouragement from you." As the cauldrons of potions frothed and boiled, the girls laughed and talked, sharing stories and friendship.
From upstairs Eva heard a door creak open and slam shut. "Harry's back. C'mon." Ginny followed her up at a run. Harry stood in the front hallway, trenchrobe on the floor as he massaged one of his shoulders, muttering something about "Bloody frogs." Eva marched up to him, hands on her hips and demanded, "Alright, what happened?" He rolled his eyes and responded, "There's a reason why I hate France," groaning as he kneaded his shoulder. She led him to the living room and made him strip off his shirt. "It's nothing!" he protested, even as he winced when she probed the nasty looking gash.
"Like hell it's nothing. Stay still, I'll need to clean this out." Eva hurried and collected one of the potion bottles. By now everyone else in the house had heard Harry was back and gathered downstairs. Eva handed him a washcloth, ordering, "Clean yourself up," as she started on his shoulder. "Harry, what happened?" Ginny repeated.
Harry finished scrubbing the mud from his face and arms, took a deep breath and began once again to tell a story. "Near as I could tell, some local Death Eaters got pretty drunk and thought it would be fun to terrorize the Muggle village nearby. When I arrived, three houses were on fire and the idiots were sitting in the town square, torturing a Muggle family and laughing. One still had a bottle of wine in his hand." He shook his head. "I took care of them easily enough, but then things turned sour. I helped the villagers put out the fires and was trying to check the family when their Aurors finally showed up and confused me for a Death Eater.
They started shooting Stunners everywhere, but just kept hitting the Muggles, their aim's so bad. Anyway, the villagers decided they'd had enough and started throwing rocks at us. One thing led to another, and soon it was a full out battle in the streets. One guy pulled out a rifle and fired a couple shots before they Stunned him. That's where I got this," he indicated his bandaged shoulder. "When I was Apparating out, one of the Aurors tried to hit me with another spell. It messed up my concentration, so I ended up somewhere in Asia, I think. I had to Obliviate a couple Muggles before I headed back."
Eva frowned. "I cleaned up the graze, but you should leave the bandage on overnight, just to be sure. It'll take a bit longer to heal than your normal cuts and scrapes. And did you know that the other shoulder's dislocated? Or that you pulled two muscles in your back?" Harry frowned, a bit sheepishly. "Actually, no I didn't notice." Ron gaped at him. "How could you not notice that?!" Ignoring him, Eva huffed, "You will when you release the blocks. Better keep them up and put what I taught you into practice."
Harry stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. "You hungry?" He shook his head tiredly, then cracked an eye open to survey those gathered around him. "Sorry about that. I know you guys were only planning on staying one night, but you're all welcome to stay tonight, unless you need to return home of course." Dumbledore spoke up, "I had planned on having an Order meeting tonight. We need to discuss several important matters that have surfaced."
Harry looked around. "Seems like you already have part of them here. If you want, you could have the meeting here. It's protected and undetectable." "Can you bring all of them here? I do not want to inconvenience you." "No problem, honest. Does Snape need to come too?" Dumbledore eyed him a bit suspiciously. "Yes, Severus' presence would be helpful, but he is in hiding. Not even I can contact him." Harry shook his head in amusement, then pried himself off the couch and headed for what appeared to be a blank wall.
Pressing his hand against it, he muttered a few words in Latin, and the wall rippled and wavered like a mirage over hot pavement. Suddenly a door appeared, and Harry pushed it open, stepping into a large war room. The others followed, amazed. Sirius murmured, "You're just full of surprises Harry." The room was huge, with giant screens on the walls covered with glowing, moving dots. One wall held a bookcase filled with various tomes and scrolls, with a few parchments scattered in for good measure. In the center of the room stood an enormous mahogany table surrounded by comfortable looking chairs.
Harry summoned his IMP to him as he checked one of the detection screens, noting the groupings of the green dots before scribbling quickly on the IMP. He asked without looking up, "When do you want the meeting to start?" Dumbledore checked his interesting pocket watch and calculated. "Say, in half an hour." Harry nodded, dashed off a final note and tapped it. "How many more are in the Order? Excluding Severus." "23. We've been recruiting more since Easter, including most of the Hogwarts professors and more Aurors." Collecting the requisite number of parchments and a quill, he dumped them in front of the headmaster. "Write a note calling the meeting on each one, include the names on the outside, and I'll send them. These'll also double as Portkeys to bring them here."
Dumbledore looked amused. "You seem to like parchment Portkeys." Harry shrugged, smiling a bit sheepishly. "Easy to create and discard when needed. The only problem is these will only bring them as far as the outside barrier. Someone will need to go out and meet them." Arabella volunteered, "Just as long as I can get back in." The next several minutes were spent waiting and sending the summons to the various Order members.
Ron leaned over and muttered in Hermione's ear, "They won't want us around for their secret meeting. What say we go check out the game room?" Despite his low voice, Dumbledore heard him. "Actually Mr. Weasley, I would like all of you to stay for the meeting. Some of it concerns you."
Btw, Death-Demon Xero, did you get a sneak peak on my hard copy before I typed this up? Because you were the only person who seemed to figure out what really happened. So for the rest of you, here's what really happened, plus more.
Shameless plug: go check out clifjumpr13. He's a good friend of mine, and we tend to inspire each other at times. Slightly dark and twisted, but gifted.
Dedicated to Pyre Pheonix.
Chapter 16
After Sirius' pronouncement, there was a moment of dead silence in which everyone stared incredulously at the blanching teen and the telltale red blotch on his neck. Then Eva began giggling furiously as Harry blushed a dark crimson and clapped a hand to his neck. He turned to her with an accusing glance. She smiled sweetly, "Sorry honey, guess I got a little too frisky this morning." Everyone gaped at her with a mix of horrified and amused expressions, and Harry's eyes practically popped out of his head.
The twins grinned wickedly and George passed Fred a couple of Galleons, chuckling. Harry saw that and glared at them. "It's not like that at all. We were sparring early this morning." "Oh, is that what they call it now?" Remus asked innocently, and Arabella stifled a snicker. Eva broke in. "Yes. We were . . . sparring." She winked. "Harry is very good with his sword . . . and his hands." Eva's bright eyes sparkled mischievously, lacing her words with enough double meaning to make even Sirius flush. She directed her next comment back to Harry. "Frankly, I'm surprised you had enough stamina left over for your swim after the workout we had this morning."
Harry hid his now purple face in his hands, shaking his head in silent denial as most the Weasleys stared in shock and the twins hooted and catcalled. The professors, especially Dumbledore seemed to find this terribly amusing and were trying to hide their broad grins. Abruptly Eva yelped in surprise as she floated up in the air and was levitated over the water before she dropped, hitting with a huge splash. She surfaced, sputtering and cursing, and Harry leaned toward her at the edge, an evil grin on his face.
"Looked like you were getting a bit hot. I figured you needed to cool down a bit." She flashed a matching evil grin, then grabbed the end of his braid and yanked him back into the pool next to her. The resulting tidal wave from his impromptu belly flop drenched the people sitting nearest the pool, raising shrieks of surprise. For a few moments the two wrestled underwater, the turbulence in the water preventing the spectators from seeing what was happening.
Eva came up first, snickering and scrambled for the edge to pull herself out and collapse in the farthest seat, gasping for air around her laughs. Harry shot up a few seconds later, hauled himself out and knelt at the poolside, gasping. Eva had untied his hair underwater, loosing the entire mass from its restricting braid. Now his whole body was hidden from view by a streaming black curtain. Truthfully, he looked like Padfoot after a bath.
Sirius began laughing at his godson, and soon the gathered adults and teens all joined in. The sight was just too funny. Just to make matters worse, Harry got to his feet and shook his head violently, just like a wet dog, so water spattered everywhere. After managing to contain most of her giggles, Arabella turned to Eva, tears of mirth in her eyes, and inquired, "You two aren't really . . . you know . . ."
"What? Sleeping together?" Eva finished the thought loud enough to attract everyone's ears. "No, of course not." She snickered a bit. "This was just payback for an earlier prank, and I couldn't resist the opportunity for public humiliation." She laughed as Harry shot her a death glare. "The marks are actually from our hand to hand combat lesson this morning. I'm teaching him a couple new fighting styles, so for now I can still kick his ass. Just wait until next week, then I won't be able to touch him."
Harry stood by the pool in front of her, trying to wring the water out of his hair as he glared at her. "I thought I took care of those afterwards." She grinned. "I decided to make sure these ones stuck around for a little bit. Remember, I did warn you." He simply shook his head. "You have the most demented mind than I ever thought could possibly exist. Your insane innuendos could corrupt anyone." "Just remember what Snape said about corruption." "Don't you even bring that up. I'm going to change." He stalked off, pushing his wet hair back so he could see where he was going.
Remus leaned over to Sirius and stage whispered "I think we've found someone even more childish than you, Padfoot." Eva grinned cheekily at them. "I'll take that as a compliment." Dumbledore leaned forward to inquire, "What was that about Severus?" Eva looked at him. "Harry will explain that. It's his story to tell." For a couple minutes they sat and chatted and laughed, then Harry reemerged dressed in a comfortable-looking outfit of all black. "Okay, it's story time. Let's head to the garden, it'll be more comfortable there."
Once they were all settled in the clearing in the middle of the spacious garden, Harry bean to pace like a classic lecturer. "Alright, I promised you the full explanation on all that has occurred since last year. First off, many of you only just remembered the conversation we had when I returned last October. That, like I said earlier, was a slight miscalculation on my part. I removed the mental blocks yesterday." Harry proceeded to refresh their memories, or in some cases created new ones, as he spun his tale of his missing months, this time with a few interjections from Eva.
He outlined what powers he knew he had, and his continuing campaign against the Death Eaters. Needless to say there was considerable shock for everyone, except for two teens who shall remain nameless, when he revealed that he was in fact the elusive Wraith. Molly almost fainted, recalling the stories her men had come home telling of his actions. Harry demonstrated the clone and his alter ego Wraith, much to the delight of the twins. They immediately began plotting the possible prank opportunities available with multiple Gred and Forge's running around. Fortunately Harry refused to teach them how to do it.
Harry let the exclamations over his measures die down as he sighed. "It couldn't last long." His audience refocused their attentions on him at that cryptic statement. "The reduction of his forces drove Voldemort to search for new ways to destroy me. He knows about the prophecy, so he has entered into an alliance with the devil himself, and gained control over the demon armies. Unfortunately they are not susceptible to normal magic, so wizards can't repel their attacks. They're tough buggers, even for me." He began to pace restlessly, agitated.
"Voldemort spoke of two talismans that, when used in the proper ritual, will allow Lucifer to completely possess him, granting immortality and invincibility. He has already found one, deep under the foundations of Azkaban. I fought him for it, but I was stabbed." A couple of gasps were heard as the Order members recalled that night, and Molly exclaimed, "You almost died that night!" Harry nodded briefly but pressed on. "He has found the archives that could help him discover where the second one was hidden, and currently has three Death Eaters working on translating them." He chuckled suddenly. "Bloody waste of time if you ask me, but I won't tell him that."
Dumbledore's eyes sparkled. "You've already recovered it then." Harry smiled. "Found it on my birthday." "But how?" Hermione inquired, intrigued. Harry grimaced. "That requires another long story, and it's past lunchtime. Let's eat, then I'll continue." Looking vaguely disappointed but eager for food, they trooped back inside and raided the well stocked kitchen. After a brief meal, they regrouped in the living room since a storm was brewing outside. Dark clouds were gathering, promising a good summer soaking.
Harry continued his narrative once they settled, telling of his visions and visits to the shadow realm, but leaving out any mention of the Lady Death, instead glossing over the initial meeting and skipping straight to the research. If asked, he honestly could not answer why, but just followed his instincts. He told of the exhaustive research and finally the discovery of the diary. He enthralled them all with the descriptions of the tests he passed to reach the talisman, and brought it forth to show, wrapped in a scrap of black velvet.
Remus asked about this, and Harry replied, "I don't want to touch it." Pressed further, he tried to explain what had transpired the first time he touched it. "It was like nothing I've ever felt before. I could literally see magic, feel it, reach out and play with it. Imagine if you could . . . understand . . . the whole universe for the first time, experience it all at once and know how it works. The way it binds together, like a tapestry that you could only see glimpses of before and can now see all of it. It was . . ." he shook his head, "overwhelming, to say the least. I kind of passed out." He scratched the back of his neck ruefully. "When I woke up a week later, I was on that hill over there. Don't ask how, because I have absolutely no idea."
He glanced over at Arthur. "I heard later that some sort of . . . magical disruptions were detected." Arthur nodded, looking slightly excited and relieved. "Waves of energy were felt all around the world, starting in South America and expanding, like a ripple effect." He looked askance at the black haired teen. "Surges and flashing lights were reported from Easter Island that night." The teen confirmed his unspoken guess with a nod. "Now if it reacted that way to me, I can't imagine what the effects would be if Voldemort got it."
Percy interrupted for the first time. "But can't you just destroy it?" You know, to keep him from ever getting hold of it." Percy had been a slightly surprising addition to the Order, due to his devotion to the Ministry, but after the public confirmation of Voldemort's resurgence last year he had become a tireless worker, talented at sorting through stacks of paperwork to track various suspected Death Eaters and spies. Not all the Order members are involved in the active side of the battles.
Harry ran a hand over his hair, a throwback gesture from when he still had a tangled mop residing on his head. "If only it were that simple. These talismans were used eons ago to destroy civilizations and banish cities to different realm altogether. The ancients couldn't destroy them, so they hid them as best they could. Their very presence slowly poisoned the surrounding areas with magic. Why do you think they built Azkaban where they did?" He sighed; it was getting to be a bad habit. "I was ordered to destroy it, but the ritual requires so much energy in the exact conditions that I can't do it now, and I'm not even sure if it'd work. Besides, once Voldemort realizes I have it, he'll have to come for it."
Dumbledore stared at him in stunned realization. "You mean to use yourself and this talisman as bait." Harry nodded slowly, meeting his eyes as the others looked horrified. "I'm trying to keep a strategic advantage. He has always chosen the battlefield, somewhere he had an advantage. I'm drawing him onto mine now, so I can have a few surprises waiting." Now the headmaster looked pensive. "I assume you are talking about Hogwarts." The young war mage watched him a bit nervously, as if asking permission. Dumbledore sat back and considered the ramifications. "You realize the risks inherent in that decision. We have to protect the students there, as well as the noncombatants in Hogsmeade."
He paused. "Then again, the castle is the safest place left anywhere, and is charmed and protected against unwanted invasion. I approve your decision Harry." "Thank you sir." Harry resumed pacing. "Once school's back in session, I'll increase the protection however I can." He fell silent, chewing his lower lip with his hands clenched behind his back. "Now, Eva mentioned something earlier about Severus. Have you had contact with him this summer?" Harry nodded distractedly at the old man's question.
"I believe he reported to you that his cover in the Death Eaters was compromised." It was clearly a statement, not a question. "Yes, but he was unforthcoming in how he escaped, only that he had help." "You could say that. I only pulled his sorry ass out of Voldemort's throne room," he snickered a bit. Waving down the shouts of "WHAT?!?!" especially loud from the twin's direction, Harry proceeded to describe the vision that ended with him somehow transporting the Potions master through two realms and places, again avoiding mention of Death. "I can't find any way to explain it. Even the shadow archives have no record of anyone pulling another person physically into the shadow realm and out again."
Eva interrupted, "What about the Dream Stand?" "That's different. Only your consciousness is there, even though it does affect the body." "Dream Stand?" Hermione looked puzzled, so Harry told of yesterday's confrontation with Voldemort and his subsequent escape just as he told Eva. He frowned as he recalled something, then paled as the implications became clear. He buried his face in his hands and muttered, "Oh shit."
Everyone was slightly shocked to hear him swear like that. Sirius asked, "What's wrong?" They were even more concerned when he collapsed bonelessly in an armchair, staring at nothing with wide glazed eyes. "I just realized something. The wandless magic, the Dream Stand, the invocation to get me there. That's far above the ability Voldemort is supposed to have. He should not have been able to establish it, let alone pull me into it. I doubt that I could have done it, even if I knew how." He drew a shaky breath. "That could only mean one thing. Lucifer's already been able to transfer some of his powers into Voldemort, probably using the first talisman as a focal point. And the longer he has it, the stronger he'll get." At that even Eva's eyes widened in horror. "Oh shit is right!" she agreed fervently.
A bright flash of lightning, followed by a loud rumble of thunder broke the uneasy silence that had fallen. The conversation had been so engrossing, nobody realized just how big a storm had been brewing. Eager to break the solemn mood, Charlie observed, "No Quidditch tonight." Fred snickered, "Oh, I don't know." George added, "Never stopped us before." "Never stopped Harry, you mean." Charlie looked confused for a minute, then brightened as the twins reminded him, "The Ravenclaw match for the finals!" Just for fun the twins regaled them with a very descriptive retelling of the Quidditch final and Harry's flying and the lightning.
Harry smirked slightly. "I'm never doing that again. It was the equivalent of drinking a lake full of pure caffeine." Hermione explained what caffeine was to the less Muggle-informed, and then launched into a textbook definition of its use and effects of the body. Right in the middle of her lecture Harry felt a burning sting on his left arm. Cursing mentally, he excused himself and checked the Detection Parchment. Sure enough, a small group of Death Eaters was attacking a town in France, no demons this time.
Rolling his eyes, he grabbed his trenchrobe and transfigured his clothes, then poked his head back into the living room. "I'm sorry, but I have to run a quick errand. Be back in a while." "Wait, where are you going?" Dumbledore asked quickly, standing up to face him. "France," he answered casually, pulling on the leather trenchrobe and straightening his weapons. "Why France? I don't believe you'd need that just to go pick up some mustard." Sirius gestured at his outfit.
"Some Death Eaters are having a party, so I'm going to crash it. Their Aurors have a slower response time than ours, so I might leave them something to clean up." Immediately most of the Order members present stood up, even as Harry morphed into Wraith. "We should come too," Sirius protested. "Why?" the disguised teen retorted. "There's only ten or so, and the French are already mad that the Order has been more effective than their forces. Don't worry, I'll be fine." With a "pop!" he Disapperated.
Sirius plopped back down with a frustrated huff of air. "I wanted to bust some heads tonight." Most chuckled, but as thunder continues to roll Remus leaned over to ask, "What's wrong Padfoot?" Sirius sighed. "Life's unfair Moony. At this age, Harry should be chasing girls, not Death Eaters. Chronologically speaking, he's the second youngest here, but . . ." He trailed off, and Dumbledore finished his thought, "If age was measured by experiences, Harry would be older than me."
Sirius nodded glumly. "He's acting more mature than I am. Look at this house." He gestured expansively around him, taking in the spotless but comfortable conditions. "He's living alone and it's perfectly clean. He's only sixteen, for Merlin's sake. I always thought . . . he'd be a miniature version of James. Y'know, a carefree prankster and ladies' man." He sighed heavily. "Well, it was a nice dream for awhile."
Eva got up and announced, "If anyone else is hungry, I'm going to whip up some dinner." Molly and Arabella jumped up to help when they all expressed that suddenly they were famished, but most likely just wanted to escape the suddenly somber atmosphere. As the women laughed and joked over the cooking food, the others split up around the house to occupy themselves. Eredfire found Ginny and settled on her shoulder for her to pet as she listened to the chatter. Fred and George plotted in the game room, while Ron and Hermione found that the Astronomy tower here was a good place to snog, without the traffic the one at Hogwarts generated. The men remained in the living room, conversing on anything from the Order to Quidditch, until the women announced the food ready for consumption.
Eva fixed a wonderful Italian dinner, and the conversations stayed light even as everyone kept an ear out for the front door. Harry had not yet returned by the time the dishes had been cleaned, so the guests split back up to their previous activities. Eva asked Ginny to accompany her down to the lab. "I'm brewing a couple potions and I would appreciate and extra set of hands. Want to help?" Ginny's eyes lit up. "Sure!"
As Ginny chopped up some wolfsbane, Eva glanced up from stirring the cauldron and inquired gently, "Is there anything you'd like to talk with me about?" The redhead looked slightly embarrassed. "Well, there's . . . never mind." She hung her head and concentrated on her knife, the tips of her ears pink. "Oh, come on," Eva encouraged her. "I know there is, and you don't have many opportunities for girl time with all those brothers running around. Spill it." Ginny blushed. "It's Harry," she admitted. "I've had . . . well, a crush on him since forever, but I thought I got over it last year. But as soon as we received the invitation to come here, it . . . came back . . . full force."
She gnawed her lower lip. "I can't help it, especially since he's gotten so . . ." "Sexy?" Eva suggested, slightly bantering. Ginny's eyes twinkled. "Damn sexy. He's brave, honest, smart, responsible, polite, a terrific dancer, and he has a great sense of humor." She giggled even as she blushed, and Eva pretended to fan herself, also giggling knowingly. "Every girl in Hogwarts wants him; you wouldn't believe the rumors and chatter that circulate around there. And he's completely oblivious to all of it. He's so modest." She sighed. "But I'm afraid he sees me only as Ron's little sister, the stupid scared first year he rescued in the Chamber of Secrets." Ginny turned to Eva, a slightly desperate look on her face. "What should I do?"
Eva concentrated for a moment on the bubbling potion, weighing her words, then asked carefully, "Do you want him as a friend or your boyfriend?" Ginny looked sad, then thoughtful. "I want him to recognize me," she began slowly, "as my own person, to like me for who I am. I want to be Ginny, not Ron's little sister in his eyes." Eva nodded in understanding. "Just like he wants to be Harry, not the Boy Who Lived." She met and held Ginny's eyes. "He wants love, not mindless admiration for his name."
Ginny pondered these words as they continued on the potion, then glanced sideways at her companion who was sprinkling witch hazel on the surface of the bright orange concoction. "You love him, don't you?" Eva briefly thought about it, ^Good thing they don't know about what really happened last night. It might have been misconstrued, and they'd tell Harry.^ "Yes. Probably not the way you mean, though. I love him as a sister and a friend. And there's just something about him that makes me want to mother him. He can be such a lost little puppy at times." She glared sharply at Ginny, who was stifling giggles. "Don't you dare tell him I said that," she warned, shaking a ladle at her. "I promise," Ginny snickered.
Eva shook her head. "Anyway, just talk to him. Get to know him, share some things, let him see the real you. He's not stupid, but all men are oblivious to feelings usually. Harry could use a few more friends, and I believe he already sees you differently than you might expect. Just relax." For a few minutes they both focused on getting the potion to turn the correct shade of blue. "By the way, what is this stuff?" Ginny wrinkled her nose as a whiff of yellow smoke drifted by. "I've been experimenting with an old recipe, trying to improve on it. Hopefully it'll be a gift for Professor Lupin." Ginny's eyes widened in comprehension. "You mean like the Wolfsbane potion?" "Exactly."
"What about this one?" she indicated another cauldron full of a bubbling neon green gel. "You know that prank I pulled on your brothers this morning? I'm making it into a sweet." Eva laughed. "I think I'll let them sell it in their shop. Should be a popular one." Ginny rolled her eyes. "They don't need any encouragement from you." As the cauldrons of potions frothed and boiled, the girls laughed and talked, sharing stories and friendship.
From upstairs Eva heard a door creak open and slam shut. "Harry's back. C'mon." Ginny followed her up at a run. Harry stood in the front hallway, trenchrobe on the floor as he massaged one of his shoulders, muttering something about "Bloody frogs." Eva marched up to him, hands on her hips and demanded, "Alright, what happened?" He rolled his eyes and responded, "There's a reason why I hate France," groaning as he kneaded his shoulder. She led him to the living room and made him strip off his shirt. "It's nothing!" he protested, even as he winced when she probed the nasty looking gash.
"Like hell it's nothing. Stay still, I'll need to clean this out." Eva hurried and collected one of the potion bottles. By now everyone else in the house had heard Harry was back and gathered downstairs. Eva handed him a washcloth, ordering, "Clean yourself up," as she started on his shoulder. "Harry, what happened?" Ginny repeated.
Harry finished scrubbing the mud from his face and arms, took a deep breath and began once again to tell a story. "Near as I could tell, some local Death Eaters got pretty drunk and thought it would be fun to terrorize the Muggle village nearby. When I arrived, three houses were on fire and the idiots were sitting in the town square, torturing a Muggle family and laughing. One still had a bottle of wine in his hand." He shook his head. "I took care of them easily enough, but then things turned sour. I helped the villagers put out the fires and was trying to check the family when their Aurors finally showed up and confused me for a Death Eater.
They started shooting Stunners everywhere, but just kept hitting the Muggles, their aim's so bad. Anyway, the villagers decided they'd had enough and started throwing rocks at us. One thing led to another, and soon it was a full out battle in the streets. One guy pulled out a rifle and fired a couple shots before they Stunned him. That's where I got this," he indicated his bandaged shoulder. "When I was Apparating out, one of the Aurors tried to hit me with another spell. It messed up my concentration, so I ended up somewhere in Asia, I think. I had to Obliviate a couple Muggles before I headed back."
Eva frowned. "I cleaned up the graze, but you should leave the bandage on overnight, just to be sure. It'll take a bit longer to heal than your normal cuts and scrapes. And did you know that the other shoulder's dislocated? Or that you pulled two muscles in your back?" Harry frowned, a bit sheepishly. "Actually, no I didn't notice." Ron gaped at him. "How could you not notice that?!" Ignoring him, Eva huffed, "You will when you release the blocks. Better keep them up and put what I taught you into practice."
Harry stretched out on the couch and closed his eyes. "You hungry?" He shook his head tiredly, then cracked an eye open to survey those gathered around him. "Sorry about that. I know you guys were only planning on staying one night, but you're all welcome to stay tonight, unless you need to return home of course." Dumbledore spoke up, "I had planned on having an Order meeting tonight. We need to discuss several important matters that have surfaced."
Harry looked around. "Seems like you already have part of them here. If you want, you could have the meeting here. It's protected and undetectable." "Can you bring all of them here? I do not want to inconvenience you." "No problem, honest. Does Snape need to come too?" Dumbledore eyed him a bit suspiciously. "Yes, Severus' presence would be helpful, but he is in hiding. Not even I can contact him." Harry shook his head in amusement, then pried himself off the couch and headed for what appeared to be a blank wall.
Pressing his hand against it, he muttered a few words in Latin, and the wall rippled and wavered like a mirage over hot pavement. Suddenly a door appeared, and Harry pushed it open, stepping into a large war room. The others followed, amazed. Sirius murmured, "You're just full of surprises Harry." The room was huge, with giant screens on the walls covered with glowing, moving dots. One wall held a bookcase filled with various tomes and scrolls, with a few parchments scattered in for good measure. In the center of the room stood an enormous mahogany table surrounded by comfortable looking chairs.
Harry summoned his IMP to him as he checked one of the detection screens, noting the groupings of the green dots before scribbling quickly on the IMP. He asked without looking up, "When do you want the meeting to start?" Dumbledore checked his interesting pocket watch and calculated. "Say, in half an hour." Harry nodded, dashed off a final note and tapped it. "How many more are in the Order? Excluding Severus." "23. We've been recruiting more since Easter, including most of the Hogwarts professors and more Aurors." Collecting the requisite number of parchments and a quill, he dumped them in front of the headmaster. "Write a note calling the meeting on each one, include the names on the outside, and I'll send them. These'll also double as Portkeys to bring them here."
Dumbledore looked amused. "You seem to like parchment Portkeys." Harry shrugged, smiling a bit sheepishly. "Easy to create and discard when needed. The only problem is these will only bring them as far as the outside barrier. Someone will need to go out and meet them." Arabella volunteered, "Just as long as I can get back in." The next several minutes were spent waiting and sending the summons to the various Order members.
Ron leaned over and muttered in Hermione's ear, "They won't want us around for their secret meeting. What say we go check out the game room?" Despite his low voice, Dumbledore heard him. "Actually Mr. Weasley, I would like all of you to stay for the meeting. Some of it concerns you."