Chapter 5

The days passed quickly in Grimmauld Place, but as much as he hated this humungous reminder of the recent year, he couldn't help but have some fun.

A week after his birthday, Harry, the Weasleys', and Hermione had a great time just clowning around. They used most of their time looking up spells and hexes in the two brand new books he'd received from Bill and Remus, having chess matches against each other, and flying in the backyard. But today, it was raining, so they spent the day inside, away from the sticky humidity that early August brought along with it.

"I'm so bored, Harry, what do you say we all look at Chapter 8 in that book Bill gave you? I'm really want to look at that chapter!" pleaded Ginny.

"Alright, I can't wait to use the Acne curse on Malfoy on page 43. I'd love to see that ugly git face of his all red and splotchy!" said Harry.

They all laughed at the imagined sight of Malfoy and his cronies all red and splotchy, and spent the afternoon giving each other more pimples than ten Eloise Midgens' combined.

"Pimplytonia!" cried George, giving Ron a faceful of pimples that mixed in with his huge amount of freckles.

Soon, it was time for dinner and Mrs. Weasley was beckoning them to the kitchen. The smell of delicious steak and potatoes wafted throughout the kitchen and hall. As they entered, they were greeted by the faces of Mr. Weasley, Lupin, and Charlie.

"Hello, children!" greeted Mr. Weasley.

"What in the world has happened to your faces?" asked Lupin, through an amused smile.

"Ginny, dear, what in the world has happened to your face?" cried Mrs. Weasley, in an I-hope-those-aren't-permanent voice.

"Mum, honestly, they're nothing! These are just some of the leftovers, they'll be gone soon!" said Ginny.

"So, I'm assuming you've been practicing the acne spell in that new book of yours, Harry?" grinned Bill.

"Yes, yes we were! We were practicing for Mal—"He was halfway getting the rest of the words 'Malfoy' out, but stopped in mid-sentence to save Mrs. Weasley the time of disapproving. "Oh, just something to do on this boring day," lied Harry.

Bill, along with everyone else had realized who they were planning on hexing, except for thankfully, Mrs. Weasley, and just gave them all a smile, and Bill murmured a "good luck with that!"

The food was completely gone in less than a half of an hour. The steak was tender and cooked just right and the potatoes were buttery and spiced with herbs. After everyone had complemented on dinner, Mrs. Weasley began to set their dessert on the table. It was a large Shepard's pie and Yorkshire pudding. After everyone took their share, Harry decided to ask the question which was coming somewhat of a custom at dinner.

"So, any more news on the Death Eaters? Or Voldemort for that matter?" asked Harry, hoping that this time, he would be finally be answered.

He was used to the stares he got every time he dared ask this question. But everyone else was more than willing to know, so they just sat quietly and listened hard. But, as usual, Mrs. Weasley was listening as well while over at the sink cleaning up, perhaps even making an effort to overhear them.

"Time to clear out!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, giving no one even the slightest chance of answering Harry. Then, with a stern glare, she said, "Children, why don't you all go back into the sitting room and have a game of chess?"

"Mum, why can't you just let them answer us! I mean, we're even of age, but you still will absolutely refuse to have us join the Order. The least you could do is let us be somewhat clued-in!" yelled George, a tiny bit of his pudding splashing on the table after slamming down his eating utensils.

Just as Mrs. Weasley was about to retort back, Mr. Weasley help up a polite hand, trying to calm and silence her at the same time. "Molly, I think it's time we informed them, even if we leave out a fair amount of information. They have to at least have some clue on what we're doing."

"Fine," snapped Mrs. Weasley, who slammed herself down into an empty chair.

Everyone was surprised at how quickly she gave in, but quickly, had wholly given all attention to Mr. Weasley now.

"Okay, first off, you may be getting information, but that doesn't mean you're getting all of it, alright? You will just be getting, the tip of the iceberg." He thought for a moment, perhaps thinking about what he should leave out, and then gave a rather large sigh.

"Well, the Death Eaters are still making their Muggle-born attacks, it's more of a festivity for them, really. But we've been getting information from an inside source that's told us that You-Know-Who has gotten almost complete cooperation with the dementors. The only reason not all cooperation, is because some are doubtful they'll be getting to kiss more and drain happiness. Since the dementors have almost completely crossed over to his side, there isn't much help in Azkaban. And they have all abandoned their stations at the prison. So it's becoming harder for us to keep a close watch on the prisoners."

Mr. Weasley stopped, and looked over to Lupin, feeling it was his turn to talk.

"So, we have a feeling that the prisoners are bound to escape soon if we don't do something to stop it, and soon."

"So...there's going to be an outbreak at Azkaban?" said Harry, who broke the thoughtful silence. "Do you think that Voldemort will come himself, or will it be just the dementors and Death Eaters? Do you think the dementors will kiss anyone who doesn't want to be a Death Eater or will the others just kill them?"

"Okay, all of you, that's enough! They don't need those thoughts put into their heads just about now! Time for bed children, now," and without a second look Mrs. Weasley ushered them out of the kitchen. Despite their objections, they were all soon at the foot of the stairs, where they were all slightly pushed to move to their rooms. "And no talking either."

As Ginny and Hermione parted for their room on the level they were on, the boys headed up the next flight of stairs, towards their rooms.

"So, we'll be in in a minute. We just have to make it look like we are asleep," said George with a wink.

"Whatever," said Ron, turning the knob to their room.

They went inside a put on their pajamas and crawled into bed, with no intention on falling asleep, neither of them were tired at the moment. And no more than a few seconds later, the twins appeared with a small pop and each sat down at the foot of their beds.

"So, you two, when do you think there's going to be a jailbreak? I personally think it will be on Halloween, you know, as a celebration." said George.

"George, there's as much chance of them doing it on Halloween as it is for you two to join the Order, honestly, with everyone being extra alert on Halloween, do you really think they'd do it on a holiday?"

"You never know little brother, what those Death Eaters have got up their sleeves, well, other than the Dark Mark, of course. But, that lot can be quite the unpredictable, although they shouldn't be, with Snape being the Order's spy and all," said Fred, who sounded a little more than suspicious.

"Do you think that Snape isn't on our side?" asked Ron.

"We don't know what to think of him anymore, do we George?" said Fred.

"Yeah, that greasy git of a man is always a little more than foul, especially toward Lupin anymore these days," added George.

"But why? I mean Remus has never done anything to him, why be rude to him?" asked Harry, thinking back to last year's visit in Snape's pensieve.

"Who knows, maybe because, well...it may be because Sirius isn't here anymore, so there's no one left to daunt," said Fred, who sounded more than a little anxious about the answer.

"Yeah...probably, that slime-ball is always in need of someone to terrorize. But maybe Lupin won't have to deal with it as much after we get back to school, I mean, we all know he's bound to make my Potions experience a living-nightmare, that is, if I make it into NEWT Potions," said Harry, who now had the thought of OWL results in his mind, just another worry to add to his list of uncertainties.

Just as Ron was about to reply, they heard footsteps down the hall and a voice calling out to them.

"Ron, Harry, what did I say? No more talking! Is someone else in there, because I could've sworn someone else's voice in there..." she said, with a note of annoyance in her tone.

The twins needed no more hint than that, that before opening the door to check on Ron and Harry, she'd be checking on them any minute afterwards. So with a nod, and quick "Goodnights", they were gone with a small crack.

And with nothing left but some thoughts drifting in their heads about when there would finally be a jailbreak, and the first of them at Azkaban. Within minutes, Harry could hear the loud rasping noise of Ron's snores.

"Man, that kid has some nose problem..." whispered Harry, before laying his head down on his feathery soft pillow. And within seconds he too, was sound asleep.