(A/N: Sorry this one took a little longer than I had expected. It's not my best work either, but I've been suffering from a bit of writer's block. Enjoy anyway. Please Review)
::Chapter Three::
"Harry..." said a voice in the distance. "Harry." The boy opened his eyes, unable to distinguish anything but two heads of red hair.
"Where are my glasses?" Harry asked groggily.
"Here you are, mate," said George as he handed Harry a pair of spectacles. Harry rubbed his face where he had fallen asleep against the arm of the chair he had been sitting in during his visits to the hospital. Hermione was still laid out on the wooden bench next to him, shivering slightly under the thin blanket provided for them.
"What's going on?" Harry asked, spreading his blanket over Hermione.
"I think we're going to the Burrow to try and salvage some things," Fred informed Harry. "We just came to see if you wanted to come along." Harry rubbed his eyes before he stood up.
"Sure. Anything to get out of this depressing place. When are we leaving?"
"Pretty soon," George said.
"Okay. I'll meet you over there in a second. I just need to tell Hermione."
"She can come too if she wants," Fred offered. "Gabby's coming with us."
"I don't know if she will want to, but I'll tell her." Fred and George went back towards their room slowly, as they still weren't entirely back to normal. Harry turned to Hermione, who was sleeping silently for the first time in a few days. Lately she had been sleeping fitfully, unable to sleep for several days until she could no longer stay awake. Harry hated to wake her, but he knew that she would worry to no end if she woke up and found him missing.
"Hermione," Harry said, shaking her slightly.
"What is it?" Hermione asked, sitting up quickly. "What's going on? Is he awake?"
"No, not yet Hermione."
"What is it Harry?" Hermione said, squinting in the morning sun that was streaming through the window opposite them.
"I'm going back to the Burrow with Fred and George. We're going to try and salvage a few things. You're welcome to come if you want," Harry said.
"No thank you, Harry. I'll stay here," Hermione said.
"Okay, well, I just didn't want you to worry," Harry said.
"Thank you Harry."
"Bye."
"Bye." Harry walked down the hall to where Charlie, Bill, Fred, George, Gabriela, and Mr. Weasley were waiting for him.
"Ready to go Harry?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"Yeah. How are we getting there?"
"Oh. Yes, I'd forgotten that you can't apparate yet. Well, since the Burrow no longer has a fireplace, I guess we can't take floo powder. In that case, I guess we'd better take a quick walk over to, uh, the house. Come along then," Mr. Weasley said as he led the way towards the front of the hospital.
"Dad," Bill whispered to his father before shifting his eyes toward Gabriela. His father followed his eyes and smiled at the girl, who was discussing pranks with the twins.
"She can come too," Arthur told his son as they continued on their way. "I'll explain later."
So the group set off through Muggle London on their way to the head quarters for the Order of the Phoenix. They walked for what seemed to be half an hour to forty five minutes before they reached the dirty plaza where Number 12 Grimmauld Place was.
"What are we stopping for?" Gabriela asked, somewhat nervous because they were by no means in a very safe part of the city.
"This is where we're stopping for awhile, but first I have to ask you something. Do you promise that whatever you see or hear you will not repeat it to anyone outside of a safe vicinity?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"What are you talking about?" Gabriela inquired.
"Yes or no? This is a very important question. Some of the doings in this place, if discovered by the wrong people, could be disastrous. Yes or no?" Mr. Weasley repeated.
"Yes, of course," Gabriela said, still unsure of what she was agreeing to.
"Okay. In that case, please read this..." Mr. Weasley said, withdrawing a scrap of parchment on which was written The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.
"The Order of the–" Gabriela began questioningly, but she was cut off by Fred clapping a hand over her mouth. Charlie took the paper from her hand and burned it with the tip of his wand. Her green eyes widened as she looked up worriedly at the others when she saw a house appearing behind them. It seemed to squeeze itself between the two buildings beside it. George walked up the stairs and knocked on the black door. After a few moments and the click of many locks, the door opened and the group was ushered inside.
Fred let Gabriela go and she immediately jumped away from him.
"What is going on?!" Gabriela demanded. "What is the Order of the Phoenix?! A cult of some sort?"
"Not so much a cult as a secret organization, Miss Seraph," said a low growling voice. Gabriela turned to the door. Standing in the shadows beside it was none other that Mad-Eye Moody.
"Professor Moody?" Gabriela questioned, moving closer. It indeed looked like Mad-Eye Moody, but then again she had thought she was being taught by the unique Auror her entire sixth year, but the man she thought she knew had turned out to be a fraud.
"Not quite 'professor,' but yes," the mangled old man said.
"What in the world is going on here?!" Gabriela nearly shouted. As if on cue, the painting just down the hallway began to scream.
"BLOOD TRAITORS!!! SCUM OF THE EARTH!!! FILTH IN MY HOUSE!!!" Gabriela turned quickly while George rushed to pull the curtains closed over the portrait of Mrs. Black.
"Come, let's go into the kitchen and I'll explain everything," Mr. Weasley suggested quietly, leading Gabriela into the dungeon-like kitchen. Once everyone had situated themselves around the dark wooden table, Mr. Weasley began to explain.
"Gabby, this is a secret organization that was founded several decades ago, but until a few years ago, it was viewed as unnecessary and therefore dormant. We work to help keep our world safe."
"Isn't that what the Ministry does? Don't they have Aurors for that?" Gabriela asked.
"Yes, they do... to some extent, but not to the extent that we do. They have begun to work alongside members of our Order, but only recently."
"I don't understand. The Order sounds just like an extension of the Ministry of Magic? Why must you be so secretive if you are in league with the Ministry?"
"Because we aren't like the Ministry," Bill responded.
"But he said–"
"Gabby," Harry interrupted, "The Order works to protect people from Voldemort." Gabriela clapped her own hand to her mouth to keep from screaming, while everyone else at the table flinched.
"Tea anyone?" asked a girl with electric blue hair as she came down the stairs. Gabriela jumped.
"Good idea, Tonks," said Mr. Weasley. He got up from the table to help the girl named Tonks.
"Who is this?" Tonks asked.
"Tonks, this is Gabriela Seraph. Gabriela, I'd like you to meet Nymphadora Tonks," George said.
"Nice to meet you Gabriela," Tonks said cheerfully.
"Nice to meet you too, Nymph–" Gabriela began stoically, but she was interrupted by Tonks.
"Call me Tonks, please," she pleaded. Gabriela smiled softly.
"Here's the tea," Mr. Weasley said, placing the tray of tea and sandwiches on the table.
"So, when are we leaving for the Burrow?" Fred asked.
"We need to be there at three o'clock because the first shipment of lumber is coming," Mr. Weasley said.
"Shipment of lumber? What for?" George asked.
"To rebuild the Burrow of course. Can't let something like this keep us from having a home, now can we?"
"Well, it's two forty now. Should we start going?" Bill asked.
"Yes, I suppose we should," Mr. Weasley said.
"I'll whip up a portkey," Tonks offered eagerly, picking up an old bottle of butterbeer..
"Maybe I ought to do it," Moody said, taking the bottle from her. He tapped it and gave it to Harry. "Let's go then," he said before he disapparated with a pop. Everyone followed, leaving Harry standing with Gabriela.
"Since I have no idea where we're going, I guess I'll take the portkey with you," Gabriela said, touching the top of the bottle. A moment later they were being dragged through time by their navels. They landed with a thud on a disastrous sight. The little garden that had once boasted a small garden was now a plot of weeds and the driveway was now covered with stray boards. The once tall, proud home that stood here now lay strewn across the patched lawn like road kill. The Weasley men wandered over the site, looking broken. The others just took in the sight with weary eyes. After a little while, they began to work, moving boards to clear the foundation.
The boys had separated, going their different ways, seemingly seeking solitude from each other as they cleared the remains of their ruined home.
"Are you okay, Fred?" Gabriela asked as she carried her armful of scrap wood to the pile they were creating. Fred didn't seem to hear her, so she approached him. "Fred?" she asked, touching his shoulder. He wearily turned his eyes to look at her. He lifted his hands to show her what he had been looking at. It was the sign that used to stand in front of the Burrow, proudly announcing their nickname for the rickety old house.
"I was just going to save this. Wouldn't want it to get thrown away," he said sadly. He went to set it aside from the heap of broken lumber when he stopped suddenly. "Gabby, come here." Gabriela did so and looked back at the sign that Fred was still holding.
"What is it?"
"Look at this," Fred said pointing to a lighter area of wood. Carved clearly into the wood with what looked like a rock, was a message.
GW – R
"What does it mean?" Gabriela asked.
"GW... Ginny Weasley. There's an arrow pointing to an R...r...r...r," Fred repeated.
"Ron!" Gabriela said.
"But what does Ron have to do with this?"
"I've seen this happen before. Magic linking two people together. If one person gets sick the other person will, and when one gets better, so does the other," Gabriela said.
"So Ron's health is linked to Ginny's health?"
"It's possible," Gabriela said, looking at Fred.
"HEY EVERYONE! COME HERE!" Bill yelled to the others. He was standing near the post where the sign used to be nailed to. In his hands were two pieces of wood that had been dirtied over the past few weeks, but were still shaped like...
"A wand!" Gabriela proclaimed.
"Ginny's wand," Harry said more quietly as he recognized the wand. "She wouldn't have gone anywhere without her wand."
"But look. It's broken clean in half," Bill said, fitting the pieces back together. They fit together perfectly. "I think that someone took the wand from Ginny and broke it in two. How else could you explain such a clean cut?"
"We've found something too," Fred said, showing the others the message scratched into the sign.
"GW to R?" Mr. Weasley asked.
"GW... Ginny Weasley. And the R means Ron," Fred said.
"But what does it mean?" Charlie asked.
"Gabby thinks that it means that Ginny and Ron are linked physically," Fred announced, causing the others to look to Gabriela for an explanation.
"Sometimes when traumatic things happen people can be linked together so that if one person is hurt the other will be hurt as well. I think it may have happened between Ron and Ginny."
"So Ginny's still alive?!" Harry demanded.
"If my theory is correct, then yes," Gabriela said with a weak smile.
"That's enough investigating for one day. Let's go back to the house and we'll discuss this with Dumbledore," Mr. Weasley suggested before making a portkey for Harry. The adults disapparated, while Gabriela and the twins remained back with Harry for a moment, waiting for the portkey to take effect. Just before being pulled back to Grimmauld Place, Harry stooped and picked something up from the ground. He straightened, but as he did the portkey pulled him to Head Quarters. Intrigued by what he had found, the others immediately disapparated to the Order house.
When they arrived at Grimmauld Place, they were surrounded by people moving around, trying to get things ready. In the midst of the commotion, no one noticed the teenagers.
"Harry, what did you find?" George asked. Harry held out his hand to show the others. Lying in his palm were two objects that looked like they had been mashed together to form an odd coin. On one side there was crest and on the other an advertisement for Undiluted Blood Whiskey.
"It looks like a bottle cap on this side," Gabriela said. "Undiluted Blood Whiskey?"
"Undiluted Blood Whiskey?!" Fred and George said in unison.
"There's only one place that you can get that," George said.
"Knockturn Alley," Fred finished.
"How do you know that?" Harry asked suspiciously.
"Well, Harry some of the ingredients for our products are not exactly Class A Tradeable Items," Fred explained before picking up the item and turning it over. He did not recognize the marking. "It looks like it was a button of some sort, but I don't recognize whose button it was."
"Do you think we should tell them?" Harry whispered, motioning to the adults with his eyes.
"Probably," Fred said.
"Do it now. The meeting is starting soon," George said, pointing at Mr. Weasley's figure retreating down the stairs to the kitchen.
"Mr. Weasley!" Harry called. He turned around and looked down at Harry, trying to hide his worried expression.
"Yes, Harry?"
"We've found something at the Burrow. We think it might be a clue," Harry said, showing him the object. Mr. Weasley glanced at Harry's palm before he spoke.
"It just looks like a bottlecap, Harry. I wouldn't read too much into it," he said before going to close the door.
"Dad, wait for us," Fred said, before his father closed the door.
"Sorry boys. This is a serious meeting. I'd rather you two not attend," Mr. Weasley said before closing the door.
"What's he playing at? We're members of the Order! How can keep us out of the meetings like that?!" George said in an outrage. Meanwhile, Fred was glaring at the door.
"We can't just wait all night for them to finish their meeting! We could lose the trail by then," Harry said, running up the stairs to the drawing room. The twins followed him, tailed closely by Gabriela.
"Harry, what's your plan?" Fred asked as Harry began pulling books from the shelves and flinging them over his shoulder when they didn't end up being what he wanted.
"If they won't listen to us, then we'll just find Ginny ourselves," Harry said adamantly.
"What?!" the twins exclaimed.
"Listen, I won't just let Ginny and Ron die because the Order can't seem to come to the right conclusions. If they won't listen to the clues we have, then we'll use them ourselves to find her. Ah! Here it is!" He said, opening the thick black book and thumbing through the pages.
"What is this?" Gabriela asked.
"It's a listing of all the known family crests," Harry replied as he ran his finger down a page of crests. "There it is..."
"Whose crest is it?" George asked. Harry looked up with a sad look on his face.
"Riddle."