Disclaimer: I own a stick of gum, and a piece of string. That's pretty much it.
A/N: My piece of weird advice for this chapter is: Never let your aunt borrow your Harry Potter fifth book if she's moving to Texas. I haven't seen my book in ten months. And thank you to all you folks who reviewed! Do it again this chapter and I will love you even more!
Harry and Remus pulled up to Grimmauld Place a few minutes later. Harry followed Lupin inside even more depressed than before, because now Sirius was officially dead. Before there was still hope that this could be just a horrible nightmare, or Sirius was still alive beyond that bloody veil. However, none of those were options now. It's been far to long to be a nightmare, and Sirius wouldn't stay away for this long, not when Harry was feeling this way.
They walked inside and found Dumbledore sitting in the office. Harry tried as hard as he could not to look at the walls, because he knew they would only remind him of Sirius and bring pain. Dumbledore motioned for him to sit on the chair in front of the desk. Remus nodded to Dumbledore and left, closing the doors behind him.
"I understand that you are still in a great amount of pain, and this can't make it better, but we need to discuss Sirius's will. It was not the most complicated will by far, for he made it clear that everything in his possession would go to one person- I think you can guess who."
Harry continued to stare at Dumbledore, blankly, "So, Grimmauld Place is-?"
"Yours. So, we need your permission to continue to use this as headquarters."
A thought struck Harry.
"On one condition," he told Dumbledore.
Dumbledore fixed his eyes on Harry's, "And what would that be, Harry?"
"Let me join. Let me join the Order."
"We went through this last year."
"And last year, I didn't understand a lot of things. Things that I understand, now."
"And an example would be..." There was a long pause.
"Pain," Harry said slowly. Dumbledore gave a small, sad nod to this, but Harry knew he still wasn't convinced. Harry stood up and turned to face the window, unable to stand the strain of those blue eyes upon him.
"I know I should probably want to join to stop Voldemort and to bring peace to the Wizarding and muggle worlds, but if I told you that, it would be a lie. The truth is I don't want to be that little boy trying to save the world and be a hero. I'm more interested in revenge," He looked at Dumbledore who had no change in expression, "They have to pay."
After a long pause, Dumbledore spoke, "Whatever your intentions are, you do possess important qualities to the Order. You may be too young, but you are more mature and have seen more that most in the Order. Though it pains me to see you loose that boyhood innocence, I do understand where you are coming from. Very well, I shall have the Order vote at tonight's meeting, and I shall try to present your case fairly."
"Thank you, Professor...Umm, Sir, would you mind telling me what's going on with the Weasleys and Percy? Have they made up?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "Percy is very proud. He won't admit he's wrong in a hurry. Speaking of arguments, I heard you, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger were having disagreements."
"Yeah, but it's nothing."
"You're facing difficult times. I have a feeling that things are going to get worse. You need friends. You can't go through this by yourself."
"I can deal with it," Harry said, trying to convince himself as much as Dumbledore. Dumbledore, however, had seen enough of Harry's temper, and dropped the subject. He pulled out his pocket watch.
"I'm afraid we'll have to continue this conversation at another time. I've got to get to school. You can just stay here for tonight, but do not come downstairs unless you are told. We will be having our Order meeting. If you are voted in, then we will let you know."
Harry nodded and went upstairs. He decided to just take a nap. Staying awake in that house would just bring pain. He just hoped his dreams wouldn't bring more.
"Tell me the rest of the prophecy," The pale, red-eyed man ordered.
"Don't you wish you knew," the second man, much more rugged man said before letting out a laugh. A bark-like laugh.
"Tsk, tsk," the first one man shock his head and snapped his long, spidery fingers. Two cloaked men came and picked up the chair the second man was bound to.
"I could just do the Cruciatus curse, but that would be to easy and not as...fun. So, you see that pool right there. Yes, it's filled with human blood, an occasional other body parts. Now I'm going to put the Cruciatus curse on you and then we're going to let you have a little swim, but we don't have to..."
"Darn, if I had known, I would have brought my water wings-"
"Crucio!"
The second man started twitching unnaturally and turned white, but he wouldn't give the first man the satisfaction of screaming. The two cloaked men carried the chair to the side of the pool, hooked a rope to the chair, and threw it in.
Minutes went by before they pulled the rope and hauled him out.
"Definitely...should have...brought my water wings," the man panted with a small, triumphant smile," Oh, and by the way, I'm still telling you nothing. Did you honestly think I would break that easily?"
"My dear boy, I had no thought that you would break this early, but you will break eventually. You will tell me all about the prophecy. Then you will tell me all about your precious godson, and Albus Dumbledore, and all their plans. You will also tell me everything about the Order of the Phoenix."
"And you're really not evil, just misunderstood, right Voldy?"
"Laugh all you want, but you will and your godson will die."
"Kinda looses the effect after the first five times, doesn't it? I mean, do you ever get tired of saying that?"
Once again, Sirius Black was placed under the Cruciatus curse and nearly drowned.
"We don't have to be enemies. I could be a very powerful ally. You would be free. Why put your trust in the people who locked you up for twelve years for something you never did? Join me. I could give you things you never dreamed possible. I could bring back your best friends. I could bring back the Potters."
It took the man a moment longer to make up his mind and respond. He did this by spitting in Lord Voldemort's face.
"I've got news for you. I will do anything to protect Harry, and if that means dying, well I think that death would be well spent. I'm not afraid of pain, and I am not afraid to die. Especially to protect Harry."
"I guess we'll find out how long that will last."
"I guess we will."
"Harry. Harry. Harry, wake up."
Harry opened his eyes. Dumbledore was standing over him.
"Nightmare?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, but I'm nearly positive it was just Voldemort messing with my head."
"Well, if you're sure, I've something to tell you: Welcome to the Order."
-------------------------------------- -----
To be continued...
A/N: My piece of weird advice for this chapter is: Never let your aunt borrow your Harry Potter fifth book if she's moving to Texas. I haven't seen my book in ten months. And thank you to all you folks who reviewed! Do it again this chapter and I will love you even more!
Harry and Remus pulled up to Grimmauld Place a few minutes later. Harry followed Lupin inside even more depressed than before, because now Sirius was officially dead. Before there was still hope that this could be just a horrible nightmare, or Sirius was still alive beyond that bloody veil. However, none of those were options now. It's been far to long to be a nightmare, and Sirius wouldn't stay away for this long, not when Harry was feeling this way.
They walked inside and found Dumbledore sitting in the office. Harry tried as hard as he could not to look at the walls, because he knew they would only remind him of Sirius and bring pain. Dumbledore motioned for him to sit on the chair in front of the desk. Remus nodded to Dumbledore and left, closing the doors behind him.
"I understand that you are still in a great amount of pain, and this can't make it better, but we need to discuss Sirius's will. It was not the most complicated will by far, for he made it clear that everything in his possession would go to one person- I think you can guess who."
Harry continued to stare at Dumbledore, blankly, "So, Grimmauld Place is-?"
"Yours. So, we need your permission to continue to use this as headquarters."
A thought struck Harry.
"On one condition," he told Dumbledore.
Dumbledore fixed his eyes on Harry's, "And what would that be, Harry?"
"Let me join. Let me join the Order."
"We went through this last year."
"And last year, I didn't understand a lot of things. Things that I understand, now."
"And an example would be..." There was a long pause.
"Pain," Harry said slowly. Dumbledore gave a small, sad nod to this, but Harry knew he still wasn't convinced. Harry stood up and turned to face the window, unable to stand the strain of those blue eyes upon him.
"I know I should probably want to join to stop Voldemort and to bring peace to the Wizarding and muggle worlds, but if I told you that, it would be a lie. The truth is I don't want to be that little boy trying to save the world and be a hero. I'm more interested in revenge," He looked at Dumbledore who had no change in expression, "They have to pay."
After a long pause, Dumbledore spoke, "Whatever your intentions are, you do possess important qualities to the Order. You may be too young, but you are more mature and have seen more that most in the Order. Though it pains me to see you loose that boyhood innocence, I do understand where you are coming from. Very well, I shall have the Order vote at tonight's meeting, and I shall try to present your case fairly."
"Thank you, Professor...Umm, Sir, would you mind telling me what's going on with the Weasleys and Percy? Have they made up?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "Percy is very proud. He won't admit he's wrong in a hurry. Speaking of arguments, I heard you, Mr. Weasley, and Ms. Granger were having disagreements."
"Yeah, but it's nothing."
"You're facing difficult times. I have a feeling that things are going to get worse. You need friends. You can't go through this by yourself."
"I can deal with it," Harry said, trying to convince himself as much as Dumbledore. Dumbledore, however, had seen enough of Harry's temper, and dropped the subject. He pulled out his pocket watch.
"I'm afraid we'll have to continue this conversation at another time. I've got to get to school. You can just stay here for tonight, but do not come downstairs unless you are told. We will be having our Order meeting. If you are voted in, then we will let you know."
Harry nodded and went upstairs. He decided to just take a nap. Staying awake in that house would just bring pain. He just hoped his dreams wouldn't bring more.
"Tell me the rest of the prophecy," The pale, red-eyed man ordered.
"Don't you wish you knew," the second man, much more rugged man said before letting out a laugh. A bark-like laugh.
"Tsk, tsk," the first one man shock his head and snapped his long, spidery fingers. Two cloaked men came and picked up the chair the second man was bound to.
"I could just do the Cruciatus curse, but that would be to easy and not as...fun. So, you see that pool right there. Yes, it's filled with human blood, an occasional other body parts. Now I'm going to put the Cruciatus curse on you and then we're going to let you have a little swim, but we don't have to..."
"Darn, if I had known, I would have brought my water wings-"
"Crucio!"
The second man started twitching unnaturally and turned white, but he wouldn't give the first man the satisfaction of screaming. The two cloaked men carried the chair to the side of the pool, hooked a rope to the chair, and threw it in.
Minutes went by before they pulled the rope and hauled him out.
"Definitely...should have...brought my water wings," the man panted with a small, triumphant smile," Oh, and by the way, I'm still telling you nothing. Did you honestly think I would break that easily?"
"My dear boy, I had no thought that you would break this early, but you will break eventually. You will tell me all about the prophecy. Then you will tell me all about your precious godson, and Albus Dumbledore, and all their plans. You will also tell me everything about the Order of the Phoenix."
"And you're really not evil, just misunderstood, right Voldy?"
"Laugh all you want, but you will and your godson will die."
"Kinda looses the effect after the first five times, doesn't it? I mean, do you ever get tired of saying that?"
Once again, Sirius Black was placed under the Cruciatus curse and nearly drowned.
"We don't have to be enemies. I could be a very powerful ally. You would be free. Why put your trust in the people who locked you up for twelve years for something you never did? Join me. I could give you things you never dreamed possible. I could bring back your best friends. I could bring back the Potters."
It took the man a moment longer to make up his mind and respond. He did this by spitting in Lord Voldemort's face.
"I've got news for you. I will do anything to protect Harry, and if that means dying, well I think that death would be well spent. I'm not afraid of pain, and I am not afraid to die. Especially to protect Harry."
"I guess we'll find out how long that will last."
"I guess we will."
"Harry. Harry. Harry, wake up."
Harry opened his eyes. Dumbledore was standing over him.
"Nightmare?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, but I'm nearly positive it was just Voldemort messing with my head."
"Well, if you're sure, I've something to tell you: Welcome to the Order."
-------------------------------------- -----
To be continued...