Disclaimer

I'm just a visitor of the magical world of Harry Potter. JK Rowling is its owner.

Mysterious Ways and Cause for Celebration

Ron, Hermione and Ginny were ecstatic when they heard the news the following morning. They had all been sitting down to breakfast when Harry told them. Ginny and Ron were wondering out loud how their mother would behave on the first meeting, and Hermione's eyes were shining with anticipation. No doubt she was wondering whether she could help the Order with some book research.

'So, are you going to tell them about the prophecy?' Hermione said.

That thought hadn't even occurred to Harry yet, though probably it should have. He didn't know what Dumbledore had told the Order members about it.

'I guess I'll play it by ear. I don't have to tell them right now, do I?'

'Of course not,' said Ginny reassuringly. 'You can tell them whenever you think you're ready.'

'Yeah! Besides, it'll be fun, knowing something they don't for a change!' exclaimed Ron. Hermione threw him a look that left no doubt about what she thought of that comment. But secretly, Harry felt the same way. It wasn't right, of course, but it was a guilty pleasure.

The day passed fairly quickly, in anticipation of the first meeting. Their feeling of joy was shortly interrupted when Mrs Weasley found out that Dumbledore had asked them to join the meeting.

'Well, as long as you know I still don't agree with it. However, you father,' this was directed at Ron and Ginny, 'has "put his foot down", as he so nicely put it. Apparently, I'm smothering you. Am I smothering you? Because I don't think so.' Mrs Weasley's tone of voice had grown higher and higher as she spoke.

'You don't smother us, Mum,' said Ginny. 'But you've got to understand that we all care about Harry, and that we want to help him. And no one has to like it, but Harry is important in this. Even if you don't want to take that into account, then remember that we, especially Harry, Ron and Hermione, have been through more than many Order members. We deserve to know what's going on, Mum. But if it's causing problems between you and Dad,' she added in a small voice, 'we don't have to do this.'

'Oh, love,' Mrs Weasley exclaimed. 'No, no, of course not! I shouldn't have said those things about your father. Your dad and I are fine. We just have our disagreements, like all married couples do. I shouldn't have taken my temper out on you kids. I know you've gone through so many things already, and I wish you hadn't. All I want is to protect you, and keep you safe.' Mrs Weasley's voice now sounded dangerously tearful.

'You can't protect us from everything all the time, Mum,' said Ron. 'Because then nothing would ever happen to us.'

'Oh, I know, Ron, darling,' said Mrs Weasley, while pulling her two younger children in a hug. "I just love you so much.'

Harry and Hermione felt slightly like third wheels, and they started to back out of the room, but Mrs Weasley caught sight of them. 'Oh no, you don't!' she cried, pulling Ginny and Ron along as she walked over towards Harry and Hermione. 'You silly buggers! You mean just as much to me as my own flesh and blood. And she pulled all four friends in a giant hug.

Harry couldn't believe his ears, and stared up at Mrs Weasley with a startled expression. He had never heard Mrs Weasley say anything like 'buggers'. Mrs Weasley smiled at him. 'What?' she said. 'Where do you think my children picked up some of their more colourful vocabulary?'

They all laughed. It was obvious Mrs Weasley didn't like them being included in the Order, but she wouldn't be standing in their way either.

Friday passed in a blur as the time of the meeting drew ever closer. Harry was pleased to notice that time didn't only seem to speed up as you dreaded something, but also as you looked forward to it. Before he knew it, it was 5 o'clock, and they were making their way down to the kitchen.

The cavernous space was filled with people. Professor Dumbledore, Remus, Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Fleur, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Hestia Jones, Professor McGonagall and Snape were all there. The group took their seats as Professor Dumbledore sat down at the head of the table.

'I would like to open this meeting by welcoming our newest honorary members. If it hadn't been for them, everyone would still be in denial about Voldemort's return, and that fool of a Fudge would still be calling the shots.'

The members of the Order (with the exception of Snape) all applauded politely, but stopped suddenly as Fred and George stood up as if to make a speech. They made as small bow before starting to speak.

'Thank you. Thank you ever so kindly,' said Fred.

'We have tried our best turning our younger siblings into brave, righteous members of society. Our expression of undying love and devotion towards them made them who they are today,' said George.

'But let us not forget darling Harry and dear Hermione. Before they met they were like sheep without a shepherd,' said Fred.

'Ships set adrift in the dark night. But we found them, and took them under our wing,' said George.

'Like a mother hen,' Fred said with an almost imperceptible nod to his mother. 'But let us not discard their personal merit. For surely we taught them everything they know, but they must have had some talents of their own, though we never saw great evidence of it.'

'So let us conclude by thanking you once more,' said George. 'The pleasure was all ours.'

They bowed again, and sat down, looking completely serious. Nobody knew exactly what to do until they heard a very awkward giggle. Dumbledore was teary-eyed, and obviously trying to suppress his amusement. Then everybody, save Professor McGonagall and Snape, burst out laughing. Even Mrs Weasley wasn't trying to hide her amusement. Harry could have sworn he heard her mutter 'those silly boys'. As the laughter died down, Dumbledore spoke again.

'Thank you, Fred and George, for that comical note. Now, let us continue. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny will promise to adhere to certain rules here and now.

The next half hour was spent with each of the four repeating the rules, and promising not to break them. The rules included letting the Order decide as a collective what was a correct cause of action in a case, letting the Order handle anything that would be dangerous, trusting all members of the Order, and trusting the Order to make the right decisions. However, when Harry got to the rule about letting the other members dealing with anything dangerous, he spoke up.

'I'm sorry, but I can't promise that.'

Dumbledore merely raised his eyebrows slightly, and Ginny whispered 'you don't have to, Harry.'

Harry smiled at her. 'Yes, I do.'

Snape sneered. 'Of course, our boy hero can't even make that little promise. He always wants to rescue everyone himself!'

Anger rose up in Harry, and he felt his cheeks flush. He opened his mouth to say something really foul, but was cut off by Dumbledore.

'I think Harry is speaking about the prophecy, Severus, so you might want to hear him out. Am I right, Harry?'

Harry nodded. 'I don't know what you already said about it though.

'Just that there is a prophecy that was made some 17 years ago, concerning you and Tom.'

'Right.' Harry took a deep breath. ' Well, this is basically what the prophecy said.

The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches… Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have a power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives… the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…'

Harry paused to take in the shocked expressions of those who had not heard about it before. Even Snape looked slightly disturbed.

'I know this sounds as though either I have to kill Voldemort, or he has to kill me. However, I've talked it over a lot with Ron, Hermione and Ginny, and they have given me some hope. They pointed out that a prophecy is not something that has been set in stone. Some might come true, and others not. In some cases, people might find a way around it. And that's what I intend to do. Just because some parts of the prophecy turned out to be true doesn't mean that it all will.' He avoided looking at Mrs Weasley, who was sniffling openly.

'Any questions about the content of the prophecy can be directed at Professor Dumbledore at the end of the meeting. If that's alright with you, of course, Professor.'

Dumbledore nodded. He had been smiling slightly at Hermione, who had very pink cheeks. 'Of course, Harry. Whatever you want.' He sighed, and continued. 'I know what Harry just told you comes as a shock, but I would like to ask you to focus on another important matter. It looks like there might be an attack on the Hogwarts Express. An attack on it might be the last way for Tom to get to Harry before term starts. He still knows nothing about the prophecy, of course, now that the recording has been destroyed.'

Harry hadn't even thought about this yet, but he was infuriated again when Snape spoke.

"I say we should get the Potter boy to school some other way. Without him, the other students should be fine.' Snape seemed to have recovered from hearing the prophecy, and was back to his vindictive self.

'That's not what you told me last night, Severus,' Dumbledore said, his voice quiet but stern. 'If you could please repeat to the Order what you reported to me last night?'

Snape looked thoroughly displeased, but started speaking nevertheless. 'There is talk among the Death Eaters of a hit on a high profile target. Something that would tear apart the heart of the community. All evidence seems to point towards Platform 9 ¾ as the target. It would probably be attacked minutes before the train takes off, ensuring that all the students are trapped in the train and have nowhere to escape to but the platform.'

There was a moment of silence, until Hermione hesitantly spoke. 'But surely there would also be the children of Death Eaters on the train. We know for sure that the parents of Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle are Death Eaters. Surely their fathers wouldn't want to see them hurt.'

'The infamous Miss Granger, always…' but Snape broke off at a look from Professor McGonagall, much to Harry's amusement.

Then she spoke. 'They would most likely have their kids be 'late', and get them to school some other way. Or they would instruct them about the attack beforehand.'

This sounded reasonable to Harry. As reasonable as anything about an attack on innocent people could possibly sound, anyway. 'So even if I wouldn't be on the train, it would still be attacked?' said Harry.

'By all accounts, yes,' answered Professor Dumbledore. 'That's why I would like to ask all of you to think hard about this matter. That means you too.' He looked over to the four new members. 'This Sunday we will discuss our options.'

The remainder of the meeting was actually quite dull, Harry thought afterwards. The only other interesting subjects had been the Muggle disappearances and the new Minister for Magic.

The Order seemed to think the disappearances were done on Voldemort's orders, to keep his Death Eaters happy. He had to give them something to do, while lying low from the Ministry and saving energy for the next big attack. His plan seemed to work, as most people didn't think the disappearances were magic-related.

There were problems with finding an interim Minister. No one seemed to be too willing to take on such a major responsibility, in such a dangerous time. Harry learned that the only person who had volunteered up to this date was Mr Weasley. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny had exclaimed as one that he would be perfect for the job, while Mr Weasley smiled awkwardly, his cheeks glowing bright red. 'Just because I'm the only volunteer so far doesn't mean I will get the job. I would have to ensure myself of the trust of most of the wizarding community before I could even consider it.'

The following days were spent with working on improving the house, while trying to think of ways to prevent an attack on the Hogwarts Express.

In the Order meeting on Sunday Hermione was the last to lay out the plan she had come up with. All other plans that had been offered up had been discussed and, for now at least, discarded. She started off hesitantly. 'Well, it is sort of a long shot, and it might not work for all students…' She paused, looking both insecure and smug, something Harry had never before thought possible.

Hermione continued. 'I thought we might put a Temporus Charm on the Hogwarts letters.' She paused again, while Harry, Ron and Ginny were all looking equally nonplussed. Some of the other Order members however, were looking at Hermione most intently. 'I mean, the charm is not actually meant for something like this,' Hermione went on, 'but it might work. We could still let the time of departure on the letter say noon, but by charming it we could cause an irrepressible urge to board 15 minutes early for all who read the letter. Then the train could leave 15 minutes earlier than Voldemort expects.' She looked around expectantly, probably knowing full well it was the best idea of the night.

Professor Dumbledore nodded slowly. 'It might work,' he said. 'Obviously the Temporus Charm was developed to change people's perception of time, but with a few alterations it could very well work. Of course, we couldn't charm the letters of the Death Eater's children. It's not fair to them, but we can't risk the plan being discovered by any of their parents. Yes. Yes.' He nodded again. 'Yes, I think this will do very well. Thank you, Miss Granger.'

Hermione was trying very hard not to look too pleased with herself, but failed miserably. For once, Harry didn't mind though. It was a rather smart idea.

Snape scowled like never before (his idea had been discarded earlier), but didn't speak. That was probably the greatest compliment he could ever have given Hermione.

The weeks leading up to the start of term were filled with activity. Next to redecorating the house, Harry's training sessions and Occlumency lessons continued. Most of his free evenings Harry spent with Ron, Hermione and Ginny. Sometimes Hermione would read a book, while Ginny played with Crookshanks and watched a game of chess between Ron and Harry. Other, more disturbing, evenings, Hermione and Ginny would sit together, whispering and sometimes giggling. Harry wondered what it was they were discussing. Ron seemed to be interested in the topic of their whispered conversations too.

'Oh, how I would love to have some Extendable Ears right now! D'you reckon they're talking about us?' Ron whispered. He looked over at Harry expectantly, but Harry couldn't help but be shocked. Why would they be talking about them? If they has something to say surely they would say it directly to him, instead of behind his back? However, Hermione and Ginny were girls, and neither Ron nor he were very good at understanding the motives or thoughts of girls. It did open up a whole other realm of possibilities though… He had noticed that at times Ron and Hermione took off together for a while. He didn't know what they were doing, but Ron did seem a bit healthier again. He looked less tired and haunted. He would probably be joining Harry's training sessions soon. He hadn't been allowed to before he had some better control over the memories. Harry made a mental note to ask Ginny if these expeditions of Ron and Hermione's were what she and Hermione were whispering about.

Harry himself was still plenty tired, and the nightmares hadn't subsided much either, as he found out the morning the Hogwarts letters arrived.

Harry had woken up to furious screams of Ron. It sounded like fragments of sentences Ron didn't have the heart to finish, like 'You dirty…' , 'I never…' and 'My little sister'.

Harry couldn't understand what Ron was on about. He felt comfortable and safe in his bed, holding onto something warm. He inhaled the scent of something soft that covered his face, then leapt out of bed with a yelp. Ginny sat up, looking more sleepy and amused than shocked, while Ron advanced on Harry with his wand.

'My own sister!' he yelled. 'Right under my nose.' Harry wasn't sure he had ever seen Ron this furious before.

He racked his brain, trying to remember what caused Ginny to be in his bed. But for the life of him, he couldn't remember anything. He had gone to bed the previous night, extremely tired from a long lesson with Professor Dumbledore. He had been asleep as soon as he sat down on his bed, and had the best night's sleep he could remember having for a long time. He had only dreamt about Sirius falling through the veil once.

'Ron… I…' He started, looking desperately at Ginny, who was just sitting there, smiling. He didn't know why this was so amusing to her. With a sigh she got up and firmly walked over to Ron. Somehow, she reminded Harry very much of her mother at that point.

'Ron, put that wand down right now, and let me explain. I highly doubt you will get answers from Harry.

Ron still looked extremely angry, but he lowered his wand and faced Ginny. 'What? He? You? Ewww!' was all he seemed capable of saying.

' Last night, I got up for a drink of water. When I passed your door, however, I could hear Harry talking and moaning. I decided to take a look inside, and I saw Harry was having a nightmare. I figured I'd sit with him for a bit until the nightmare had passed, but I must have fallen asleep myself.'

'Nonsense,' Ron managed to blurt out. 'Harry always puts a Silencing Charm on his bed, and you know it.'

Harry shook his head. It finally started to make a bit of sense. 'No, mate. I was completely knackered last night. I fell asleep immediately and must have forgotten to perform the charm. I did have a nightmare though, I remember that.' He felt his face flush. He didn't like it when anyone noticed his troubled sleeping.

Ron collapsed on his bed with a sigh, still looking angry, though a lot less than before. 'So, you didn't…? I mean… Nothing…?'

Ginny shook her head. 'No, Ron. You have to trust me. Harry is like a brother to me.' She gave a deep sigh and left the room.

For some inexplicable reason Harry felt extremely hurt when Ginny said he was like a brother to her. He should have been glad that he meant so much to her, but instead he just felt sad.

'Sorry, Harry.' Ron said. 'It's just that… well. She's my little sister, you know.'

Harry didn't know, but he did remember how Ron had reacted when he found out Ginny had a boyfriend. 'It's all right, Ron. Let's get dressed.' For some reason, he didn't want to continue this conversation.

In the afternoon the Hogwarts letters arrived. It was only five days until the start of term. Harry knew as soon as he read his letter that it had been charmed as well. He could clearly see that the time of departure of the Express was at noon, but he felt he just had to be there at 11:45. He walked down to the kitchen, where he found Mrs Weasley. She hadn't spoken much to him since he had told everyone about the Prophecy, but every time she looked at him her eyes got all misty.

'Harry, dear,' she said, with a slight tremble in her voice, 'I see your letters have arrived. Give it to me and I will see to it that you get everything you need from Diagon Alley.'

'Mrs Weasley,' he said, avoiding her stare, 'why are our letters charmed as well? We already know we have to be there early.'

'Professor Dumbledore thought it would be best to see if you all react the same way to the charm. It would be a disaster if some of the students somehow are immune to it, and arrive at the wrong time. We couldn't tell you, because then the effects might not be the same.'

That made sense, though Harry still felt annoyed at the fact that there were still things that he didn't know about, even now that he was in the Order.

He soon found out that Ginny had been made prefect, and Mrs Weasley's happiness almost surpassed that which she had displayed the previous year, when Ron had gotten his badge.

'Oh, my darling little baby!' she exclaimed. 'My little baby, all grown up and a prefect! Oh, it's too much! I'll send an owl to your father right now! He will be so pleased, so very pleased. Tell me, what do you want? Ron got a broom last year, remember?' Mrs Weasley was bustling all through the kitchen, pulling everyone present in big hugs while she was leafing through cookbooks.

Ginny flushed. 'Well, if it's at all possible I would really like a broom as well. I want to try out for the Gryffindor Quidditch team again. Not as a Seeker, of course,' she looked over hesitantly as Harry. 'But as a Chaser. They need 2 new Chasers, and I reckon I might be quite good.'

'Of course, of course,' Mrs Weasley said distractedly. 'Lovely, lovely. Well then, I'll be off to Diagon Alley to get all of you your school supplies, and a new broom for Ginny then.'

That evening there was a feast to celebrate Ginny becoming a prefect. Order members dropped in to extend their congratulations, and enjoy some of Mrs Weasley's wonderful cooking. Almost towards the end of the party, Mr Weasley came home from work. He gave Ginny a big hug before speaking.

'Well, it looks like we received two bits of good news in one day. I have just received word that I will have the full support of the Wizengamot, the International Confederation of Wizards and the heads of most of the Ministry departments if I decide to take the office of interim Minister.' He looked around the kitchen, beaming.

When all the shrieks, hugs, applause and congratulations were done with, Harry managed to isolate Ginny from the others. He had been avoiding her all day, but he still wanted to know what Ron and Hermione got up to when they were by themselves.

'Ginny, I wonder if I could ask you something. Something… personal…' he began.

'Sure Harry,' she said, her eyes sparkling, 'you can ask me anything.'

'Well, you know, Ron and Hermione, they,' was it just his imagination, or did she look somewhat disappointed, 'well, they sometimes take off together, and I was wondering if you know what they are getting up to.'

Ginny huffed. 'Yes, I do know. But why don't you just ask them?'

Harry didn't like the coldness that had crept in her tone, and he flushed.

'Oh, I didn't mean that. I'm sorry, Harry. Hermione is helping Ron sort through the memories the brains inserted in him. You know, giving them a place so that he can deal with them better.'

'Oh,' Harry was happy that Hermione was helping Ron, but he couldn't help feeling a bit disappointed. 'So that's not what you whisper and giggle about during the evenings.'

Ginny smiled. 'No, Harry, it's not. But I won't tell you what we do talk about either,' she continued at seeing Harry's hopeful look. 'It's girl talk, and if I told you about it then we would lose all our mystery, wouldn't we? And what are women without their mystery?'

Harry couldn't answer that question, but he couldn't help feeling that Ginny hadn't told him everything about Ron and Hermione either.

The days before the start of term were so packed with last minute activities that he didn't give the matter any more thought.

Mr Weasley had been accepted as interim Minister for Magic, until there was a possibility for elections. He had kicked off by informing the Prime Minister of England about the threat of Voldemort. The Prime Minister was the only Muggle politician who knew about the wizarding world. Together, the Prime Minister and Mr Weasley had decided to present the threat as an ongoing terrorism alert. This way the greater presence of police at train stations and public gatherings could be explained to the public. Hermione had been the one who informed Mr Weasley about the Muggle fear of terrorism. They had spent a whole evening going over the basics and dynamics of it.

Mr Weasley had been unable to find a way around Muggle police officers shooting Death Eaters if they would attack a public place. The Prime Minister had given the order to shoot any 'terrorists' wearing robes and masks, or any other people shooting green light out of sticks, on the spot, and ask questions later.

His second big activity was to subject all Ministry workers to Veritaserum. The Daily Prophet spoke shame of the decision, they wrote it would interfere with the right to privacy. Mr Weasley responded with a public statement in which he said that he understood the concerns. The questions that would be asked while the subject was under the influence of Veritaserum would be focused solely on any knowledge of Death Eater activities. He proceeded by taking the potion himself, under the watchful eye of the reporters. Then he was questioned about any knowledge about or involvement with Death Eaters by Professor Dumbledore. Of course it became clear soon enough that Mr Weasley had nothing to do with Voldemort, and the reporters backed down a bit.

The operation wouldn't start until the first week of September, but several Ministry workers had already stopped showing up for work. Their names were added to those of the known followers of Voldemort.

Before Harry knew it, the day of departure had dawned, and he was making his way down the stairs with his trunk.

Author's Note:

There you have it then. A whole new chapter! I'd started on it a year ago, but finished recently as I needed a break from my thesis. If there are any inconsistencies please point them out. I wrote this without chapters 1-6 at hand.

Reviews and all readers are much appreciated.

I will have to explain again that I set out the storyline over a year ago. So anything JKR might have said about the content of HBP was not included. Back then, number 6 didn't even have a title yet! I'm hoping to finish this whole story before July 16. I'll have vacation after the 23rd, so if my muse doesn't leave me I should be able to finish.

Other than that, thanks so much for reading!

Next Chapter: Attack on the Express

'Were those bodies, outside on the Muggle side?' Neville whispered, though Harry still didn't know why.

'Yeah. Yeah, I think so,' Harry said. 'I don't know if they were Death Eaters or Muggles, though. Those loud bangs we heard, those are like Muggle Killing Curses. They might have fired them at the Death Eaters. I don't expect we will find anything out until the feast tonight. Let's go and find a compartment.'