Chapter Twenty
United in Hope

"Now, it says 'ere that I need to think about what I just read on this other paper 'ere…that Harry Potter, he's a tricky one! I 'spose I could try though," Ivy laughed as she read the note from Harry outside of Grimmauld Place. All of a sudden, in between Numbers Thirteen and Eleven, sprang Number Twelve…

"Ebony, you can take Ginny and Hermione's room tonight. I'll clear out another room for you by tomorrow," Molly said when they first arrived at Number Twelve earlier that morning. The whole house was silent, but neither woman objected because they had grown quite fond of the idea of no portrait wailing insults at them all.

Ebony dropped her trunk by the door as she slipped off her sweater and placed it on the coat rack by the door. She smelled the citrus-y air as she walked through the kitchen. 'A citruscenta charm,' Ebony thought to herself as she sat down at the wooden table. She had seen pictures of how horrible the place had looked a few years before, and she couldn't imagine this clean, sweet-smelling house ever being that dingy and dirty. 'Molly wouldn't have had it any other way,' Ebony contemplated, her chin in her hand.

"No elbows on the table, dear," Mrs. Weasley reminded and Ebony sat up straight in her chair.

"Molly, I think it's so sweet how you take care of me like everyone else, even though I'm a few years older than you!" Ebony replied with a small giggle to herself.

"Well, you're almost like family now, dear, and I love to take care of my family. But you're not that much older than I am. Why, I'm one year younger than, than Arthur," Molly paused, and gulped, but continued on, "was, and he was the same age as Lucius Malfoy."

Ebony felt much sympathy for Molly and the rest of the Weasleys, for they were great people, and although they wouldn't dare show it, having lost two family members made them seem much smaller, and they probably secretly wished they had never joined the Order.

'But Molly is strong, and she'll be fine, especially with Dumbledore and the rest of the Order taking care of her and the children,' Ebony reassured herself as she summoned two coffee mugs and sugar and cream. She filled the mugs with rich, hot coffee from the tip of her wand, and motioned fro Molly to sit down and drink. They began talking about Ebony's husband, when they heard a knock on the door.

"Almost strange, not hearing Mrs. Black wailing and screaming dreadful things when someone's at the door. I almost didn't hear it altogether!" Molly set down her mug, and untied her apron as she made her way through to the front of the house. Ebony followed her through the front hall, where she then sent her trunk upstairs into the girl's room. Mrs. Weasley opened the door, and standing there was a woman in her mid-sixties wearing red robes, and iron-gray hair.

"Harry! Harry wake up! Your scar is bleeding, Harry! Are you alright?" Ginny shook Harry's shoulders violently and kept dabbing his scar with the end of her robes. It was the next morning around 10:00. Harry and Ginny had fallen asleep in the small shack the night before, exhausted from all the explanations

Harry opened his eyes wearily and smiled grimly as he looked up at Ginny who was sitting on his chest now, getting ready to slap him again. She stood up and stepped over him, and then walked into the far, dark corner of the room and folded her arms across her chest. Harry thought he heard her sob a few times, but he wasn't sure. He pressed his hand to his scar and felt the warm blood trickle down his arm. He quickly ripped off a piece of his T-shirt from beneath his wizarding robes and pressed it to his forehead to try and stop the bleeding.

He knew why his scar was bleeding. Voldemort was angry with the Death Eaters for yet again disobeying orders. Harry knew that Voldemort didn't sense him that time, and it was good thing, because he had learned something extremely important.

He had been Voldemort, shouting at a crowd of about a hundred Death Eaters telling them that they had failed and were all disgraces to Salazar Slytherin.

"You fools! I told you to find and kill the Weasley girl and bring Potter to me! But all you could do was kidnap the Mud-blood Granger? You're all filthy disgraces. If I had enough extras, I'd kill you all right now, but I'm forced to spare your lives. Lock the girl in the tower; she will be executed at midnight on July 31 for I must inform my FAITHFUL servants of their new directives. As for you worthless little toads, stay here and keep guard. I'm sure Dumbledore will send an army of duelists to try and get the girl back. And I warn you now; if you fail again, you will be turned over to the dementors who will dispose of you on my command…"

Then he had woken up to find Ginny sitting on his chest, slapping him in the face and pressing her robes to his forehead. He knew that Hermione was in trouble, and he had to inform Dumbledore immediately.

"Ginny! Hermione's been captured and will be killed if we don't do something. Send Hedwig to Dumbledore and tell him. I have to go now…"

"I'm coming with you then! I'm supposed to help you Harry, and if I'm not there, I won't be much of a help, will I!" Ginny retaliated, anger burning in her cheeks. Harry knew that he couldn't deny he could use her help, but he would rather leave on his own.

"Fine. Hedwig, take this to Dumbledore as soon as I've finished it. And go as fast as you can!" Harry took out a quill and a piece of parchment from his robes and began to scribble a note on it.

Ginny seemed to have cooled down, and she gathered her things and began to descend the stairs to leave the small room.

"Merlin! Is that Ivy Bellum?" Ebony exclaimed as she saw who was standing just outside of Number Twelve.

"A friend of yours, eh? Well now dear, come in, come in, and make yourself at home. I'm Molly Weasley, but you can just call me Molly. Ivy is it? Well, it's nice to meet you," Mrs. Weasley greeted as she ushered Ivy inside.

"Goodness, I didn't know if I'd ever see ya again, Ebony. Molly, it's a pleasure. I don't suppose Albus Dumbledore is here?" Ivy replied as she looked around the hall.

"He should be here soon. Why don't you two do some catching-up in the drawing room while I prepare some lunch for us? I expect my boys and Dumbledore will be joining us shortly," Mrs. Weasley suggested as she strode off into the kitchen. Ebony and Ivy thanked her graciously as they made their way into the drawing room, not knowing where to begin.

"Afternoon, Albus. A woman by the name of Ivy Bellum is here; she's in the drawing room with Ebony right now, I suppose. My, my, you're all here! I'd only been planning on Ron and the twins, but the more the merrier!" Mrs. Weasley chimed a half hour later as she greeted Dumbledore, Fred, George, Ron, Charlie and Bill at the front door.

They all wandered over to the drawing room, and watched Dumbledore gently tap the door with his wand. Ebony opened the door and merrily greeted the new arrivals.

"Albus, hello! This is Ivy Bellum, everyone. We were best friends at Hogwarts. And these handsome boys are Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, and Ronald Weasley." Ebony beamed at them all, and Ivy shook each of their hands.

"Excuse me, but Albus, could I have a word with you?" Ivy bellowed in her raspy voice after greeting everyone. Dumbledore nodded and led Ivy out of the room, leaving the rest of them by themselves.

Ebony followed Molly into the kitchen to finish making lunch, and the boys settled themselves on the sofa and armchairs.

"I wonder who she is?" Ron whispered after making sure the women and Dumbledore were out of sight.

"Um, let me think…she said her name was Ivy, but I wonder who she is…? You git! What do you mean?" Fred asked in a menacing whisper after backhanding Ron in the head.

"Oy, Fred!" Ron replied, rubbing his forehead. "I know what her name is, but I wonder what she's doing here."

"She's probably come to join the Order. What else could she be here for?" Bill answered, leaning his head back in his chair, his fanged earring dangling close to his shoulder.

"I 'spose so. But maybe she knows something helpful, too. I mean, Ebony did," Charlie suggested, shrugging his shoulders.

George looked around the room, squinting.

"Something wrong with your eyes, George?"

"Nah, just looking. For what? I don't know. Just anything to make this place more exciting," he replied. But a swoop of owls flying through the house was enough to satisfy all their excitement levels.

Ginny walked all the way down the stairs and waited outside for Harry to come out. A few minutes later, Harry emerged with a look on his face that told Ginny he was thinking. He walked past her and almost got hit in the head by a branch of the Whomping Willow.

"Harry!" Ginny called. But just as Harry narrowly missed the first branch, the second one hit him squarely in the face. Ginny dropped her broom and shrunken trunk and rushed over to Harry. With a wave of her wand she wrapped tiny straps around Harry's wrists and dragged him away from the violent tree. Her wand was knocked out of her hand by a small, yet powerful branch of the tree, and she didn't have time to scramble around looking for it.

"Accio broom! Accio trunk!" Ginny cast her spells and her belongings flew over to her and placed themselves at her feet gracefully. Harry's face was bleeding and he had a bruise around his right eye. His glasses were completely smashed, and as Ginny scooped up all the pieces into her pocket, she heard a loud POP coming from somewhere ahead.

"I 'spose we should leave in a moment?" Ivy asked Dumbledore as they made they way to the kitchen.

"Goodness, no! You mustn't leave until you've tried Molly's fabulous cooking," Dumbledore replied with a grin on his face. Ivy chuckled and nodded. But the pair rushed into the drawing room after hearing the boys scream.

"Ruddy owls! Where'd they all come from?" Ron yelled as he clasped his hands over his head and crouched to the floor.

Molly, Ebony, Dumbledore and Ivy ran in from separate doors all shocked to see the house now filled with owls of many colors.

"Just look for one you recognize!" Dumbledore shouted as he scanned the room for any familiar owls.

"Albus, this one 'ere's got a letter for yeh. It's such a pretty one, eh?" Ivy removed the letter from the snowy owl's claws and handed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore's face lost its color as he read the letter. Ebony grabbed a tawny barn owl and untied the letter from its leg.

"This is my owl! I wonder if Gerald's sent me a letter. It doesn't look like his handwriting though…"

Ebony removed the seal and read her letter. Her face grew tense and her knuckles white as she gripped the letter tightly with both hands. Dumbledore waited for Ebony to finish the letter before he told everyone the news.

"That was from Harry. The Death Eaters have captured Hermione Granger. Harry doesn't know exactly where they are, but he said it reminded him of Knockturn Alley. She is to be executed at midnight on July 31-that is if Voldemort is still alive at that time. But we mustn't trust that instruction for Voldemort could change his mind at any moment. Ivy, you must leave with Ebony now. Hope for the best, of course, and stay together. I need to find the rest of the Order and D.A. and question them about Hermione's disappearance.

"Ebony…is yeh alrigh?" Ivy questioned as she furrowed her brow trying to think what was so mysterious about Ebony's letter.

"My mother…she's been killed. So has Gerald. And now they're coming after me. He knows, Albus: he knows I'm helping. We need to protect Harry and Ginny. Ivy, you're here for the same reason as me, aren't you? He'll be after you next. We have to unite in hope that we won't be found and we can still help Harry before it is too late. Farewell, all. I hope to see you again."