Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the books belongs to JKR and her publishers, not me.

Authors Note: I would like to dedicate this chapter to a couple of people. First of all: fugirt, Dracobolt, and Conspirator46 for being my only reviewers. I would also like to thank Dracoblot, jon3776, Lord or All, Nevarine of the Ashlanders, and ratchet freak for adding this story to their alert list. Finally, I would like to thank Disco Jesus for adding this story to his favorites and Packed Mule for adding me to his C2 Enjoyable Stories Made Easy to Find. Thanks to all these people.

Chapter Five: Foreshadowing Meeting

"Yes! Yes! Yes!" George crowed as he threw himself to the ground and pulled something out from under Harry's bed, "I can't believe this worked, this is amazing."

Ron stopped in mid high five with Harry, causing the dark haired boy to stumble and nearly fall. "Wait!" Ron shouted at George over the noise of Ginny, Hermione and Fred. "This was your plan and you didn't even believe it would work?"

George ignored Ron and focused more on the object he had gotten from under Harry's bed. The object was an ear the size of a persons palm and many flesh colored strings extended from its center. George was busily poking at it with his wand. After quite a serious jab with his wand sparks shot out of the ear. "We get signal!" George suddenly shouted.

Fred abruptly broke out of the three-way hug with Hermione and Ginny, pointed at the ear on Harry's bed and struck a dramatic pose. "Main ear turn on!" he shouted foolishly.

With that done, he bounded toward the bed and jumped on it. He and George both got a flesh colored string and stuck it in their ears. The other teens followed the twin's example and got on the bed and stuck a string in their ear.

"Everything said during the meeting will be transmitted to this ear." George said with a triumphant smirk.

"You can find this and all other equipment used in this amazingly planed mission at Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes." Fred recited in the voice of a well-trained spokesperson.

"Promise to use them for bad deeds and-" George tried to continue, but was cut off by a shush from Hermione.

"I think it's starting," she hissed.

And indeed the voice of Albus Dumbledore could be heard through the ear.

----HPatBoH----

"Thank you all for coming." Dumbledore greeted as he looked out at the faces of the Order members, "I hope none of you were inconvenienced with the time or place of this meeting?"

General murmurings.

"You know we would rather be here than anywhere else." Spoke one voice above the rest.

Dumbledore focused his gaze on the young, pink haired auror who had spoken up. "I'm glad to here it Nymphadora," a flinch from Tonks, "but I'm sure you can't wait to get off medical leave and start working for the ministry."

Tonks made a sound of dismissal, "Sure I would." She replied with obvious sarcasm.

A few chuckles around the room.

The Room.

Dumbledore looked around The Room. At all the faces. Some of them old, some of them new, but all of them familiar and all of them friends. Friends fighting for the same goal, fighting to get rid of the same evil. The venerable wizard couldn't help but admire it.

The Order.

His Order.

"Well, I am sure Cornelius will be glad to have you back nonetheless." Dumbledore said, not missing a beat of the conversation.

Tonks rolled her eyes.

"Now I believe some of you have reports to give. Any volunteers for first?" a weathered hand has held in the air. "Ah, Remus. Go ahead."

The tired old werewolf leaned forward on the table. The war of brown versus silver that was his hair color seemed to have been won by the silver, which now covered a good three-fourths of his hair. He had dark bags under his eyes and his robes were even worse than ever. They looked as if they hadn't been cleaned in a while and had various rips and tears in places. "I'm afraid there isn't much to report today Albus." he spoke in the dull voice of a defeated man, "Greyback is still being stubborn. There were Death Eaters in The Cave the other day and he seemed more interesting in them than me. And they weren't even werewolves. Perhaps if Fudge would stop pushing to reinstate the Hunters Guild then maybe he would be more interested in our deal."

"I understand my friend," Dumbledore said, "I have tried and tried, but Cornelius still seems to want to do things his own way."

"You would think he would want your help after you were proved right about ol' snake face." Emmeline Vance spoke.

"Yes," Dumbledore agreed, "That would be a logical decision, but it seems Cornelius doesn't live his life by logic

More chuckles. Dumbledore remains straight faced.

"Is that all Remus?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so," the werewolf answered with a kind of defeated sigh. "I'll keep trying of course."

Dumbledore nodded, "Of course," he took a good look at Remus and added slowly, "Although I do think you could use a break."

"Nonsense, I'll-" Remus tried to refuse, but was cut off.

"It would be for the best Remus," Dumbledore said, "Don't worry, you are not the only werewolf I know. I'm sure my other young friend wouldn't mind helping me out."

Remus seemed to think it over for minute. "Well," he began hesitantly, "if you insist-"

"And I do."

"Then I guess I'll take a few days off."

"Excellent, spend your time well, friend," Dumbledore said with a wink in Remus's direction, "Now, I believe someone else had a report to give? Severus? Go on then."

The slimy potions master sat on the far end of the table, away from the headmaster. He was dressed in typical Snape fashion with his robes as dark as the dungeons he chose as his home. His hair was just as greasy as ever and his face seemed to reflect a constant bad mood. He cleared his voice before speaking, "I'm afraid the Dark Lord still doesn't place his full trust in me. I have-"

"He still doesn't trust you!" A skeptical order member called out, " I thought you fixed that problem already."

The bad look on Snape's face deepened as he seemed to use all his will power to stop himself from shouting at the man who interrupted.

"What do you expect of me Podmore?" Snape hissed, "How exactly do you expect me to win the favor of the Dark Lord? Surely even you, with your minimal intelligence, knows it's not something easily done."

Sturgis Podmore still gave Snape a suspicious stare. "Well you obviously aren't trying hard enough, you hardly ever have any new information"

Snape retuned the suspicious stare with a malicious sneer. " 'Not trying hard enough'," Snape repeated the words as if they were utter madness, "If I were to try harder that would mean the death and torture of innocents. Even you must realize that."

"Well I'm sure there are-" Sturgis was cut off.

"Gentlemen," Dumbledore spoke with a powerful force, "I will not have your squabbles at this table. Now, both of you calm down so we can continue on with this meeting."

Both men settled down at the calm yet powerful voice of their leader.

"Very good," Dumbledore said, "Now, continue on Severus."

Snape gave the old headmaster a nod and Sturgis remained quiet. "Thank you headmaster. As I said, the Dark Lord doesn't place his full trust in me, but luckily those he does place his trust in are foolishly loose lipped."

"And what is it that you have learned?" Dumbledore asked in genuine interest.

"Not as much as you are hoping for, I'm sure. He is still continuing his secret projects. I can't say for sure what it is that he is doing, but I believe I have an accurate assumption?"

"Assumption?" Mad-Eye grunted from his seat at the table, "you know what they say about assuming, don't ya lad?"

Snape looked at Moody with his patented sneer. Moody returned it with an un-phased look, "And you think you have better information, Alastor? Last I checked, you were here baby sitting a bunch of teenagers while the rest of us were out risking our necks." That got a reaction from Moody. He stood up quickly and with more grace than one would expect from a man his age. His wand was trained on Snape's heart. The other Order members didn't move, shocked by this sudden move of aggression.

"What was that, boy?" Mad-Eye hissed thorough gritted teeth, "I don't think I heard you correctly."

Snape slowly made his way to stand up and also began reaching for his wand, all without saying one word. Just as his hand had wrapped around the hilt, Dumbledore intervened yet again.

"Gentlemen!" He exclaimed in shock, "This is the second outburst today, I will not have this nonsense in my Order! Now, settle down!"

Everyone looked between Dumbledore and the two upstarts. A few other members had also reached for their wand in case things got ugly, but it wasn't needed. Ever so slowly Snape put his hands in a non-aggressive position and sat down, never breaking eye contact with Moody. Once Snape had sat down Moody also slowly put his wand a way and lowered himself into his seat. With both men seated the tension in the room dissipated and people in the room relaxed.

"Now," Dumbledore said firmly, "I will not have any more quarrels. Is that understood?" The entirety of the meeting room nodded and made noises of affirmation. "Very good. Now Severus, continue."

Snape took one last look towards Moody before continuing. "As I was saying, I have an assumption that the Dark Lord may once again be seeking immortality." He pronounced with a note of solemnity and finality.

The room was silent. Many people seemed to be contemplating the idea. The silence reined until: "Bah," Moody grunted, taking a swig of his flask, "and this is supposed to be news?" he looked towards Dumbledore, "What's the point in wasting time and resources on a spy amongst the enemy if this is the best we got?"

Dumbledore gave Moody a stern look, "Alastor, I will not have you belittle the jobs of your colleagues like that." Moody made to retort but Dumbledore didn't give him the chance as he went back to talking to Snape, "What is it that makes you think Voldemort is furthering his research in immortality, Severus?"

"Two day's ago I was given orders by the Dark Lord to gather some objects for what I assumed was a potion, but the ingredients I was told to gather did not make a stable potion. But, I delivered the ingredients to the instructed place as I was told, and it was at that location that I saw Tieh Hou, the Chinese alchemist who went missing weeks ago."

Everyone was silent. Their faces held looks of extreme shock. Dumbledore looked as if one of his worst nightmares had come true.

Then the muttering began.

"Tieh Hou? They really have him?" Spoke one Order member.

"Isn't he supposed to be the best alchemist since Flamel?" another asked.

"I thought he was supposed to be in hiding." Came the voice of another.

"If You-Know-Who has him, maybe he's after the Elixir of Life."

"Of course he is. What are you? Some kind of idiot?"

As a minute passed the independent conversation grew louder and louder and there was no control over it as Dumbledore sat in a kind of trance. Eventually he fazed back into reality and saw that the meeting room was devoid of any kind of order.

"Quiet!" He shouted over the dull roar of the various conversations going on, "Quiet, my friends!" He shouted once again, but it still had no affect. After another minute and more shouting Dumbledore managed to retain order over his Order. "Now," he said in his calm voice as if nothing out of ordinary had happened, "Severus, are you sure it was Tieh Hou you saw?"

Snape nodded. "I am very familiar with this man and his teachings. I am certain it was him."

The look on Dumbledore's face was as grave as ever, "My, this is bad. Voldemort-" A flinch from a majority of the room, "-could very well get his hands on the Elixir of Life."

"But I thought only you and Flamel knew how to mix the Elixir of Life." Tonks spoke up.

Dumbledore nodded, "That is true, Nymphadora, but Tieh Hou is a very talented and with the right… motivation he might just be able to unlock the secret of the Elixir of Life."

"And I guess a wand held up against you is 'the right motivation'?" Tonks asked.

"Indeed, it is."

"But we can't rule out the chance that he is willingly teaming up with You-Know-Who," Spoke the deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"While your input is appreciated, Kingsley," Dumbledore said, "I have known Tieh Hou for many years- in fact I spoke to him just a few months ago- and he would never willingly join Voldemort. I know you have never met him but him joining Voldemort willingly is just as preposterous as me joining him."

Kingsley nodded in understanding. "I see," he said, "So what are we going to do? If he is as good as you say then we can't just leave him there."

Dumbledore let out a defeated sigh, a sign that made many people in the room uncomfortable. "I'm afraid leaving him there is all that we can do. We have neither the time nor the resources to help him. He will just have to try and escape by himself."

"But what about the Elixir of life?" Kingsley asked, "If You-Know-Who is allowed to get his hands on that then we will be in an even worse position than before."

"Yes, my friend, I understand. I will think of a plan, I will just need some time. For now, let us put it in the back of our minds."

Everyone seemed to accept that as an acceptable action for now, although Moody could be heard muttering under his breath about something.

"Now," Dumbledore began, "is there anything else you have to add, Severus?"

"Yes, sir." Snape said, "I believe you know the origin of the man who attacked Potter a week ago?"

"Yes. He was a member of the Wizarding Mafia, was he not?"

There was a collection of shocked muttering at the mention of the Mafia. Apparently, not many people had been briefed.

"The Wizarding Mafia," Hestia Jones spoke up, "I thought that was just a urban legend."

"I'm afraid not young Hestia," Dumbledore spoke to the dark haired witch, "the Wizarding Mafia is very real, as I'm sure Kingsley will tell you."

Kingsley nodded. "As Dumbledore said, the Wizarding Mafia is very real. I've dealt with them on quite a few occasions. They aren't as bad as Death Eaters, they usually tend to commit crimes that involve Galleons instead of random murder, but they are still no laughing matter."

There was even more shocked muttering.

"Yes," Snape said, taking control of the meeting table again, "The man who was hired to kill Harry Potter was a Hit Wizard for the Wizarding Mafia. But, as you all know, he failed and the Dark Lord doesn't take kindly to failure."

"Was he killed?" Asked a random Order member.

"If you would let me finish." Snape hissed, "He was followed by a group of Death Eaters. When he got to his home his family was attacked, tortured and killed; all while he watched. Then he was brought back to the Dark Lord and his torture was continued. Strangely the Dark Lord decided not to kill him and actually let him go."

There was shock amongst the table. But Dumbledore seemed to understand what was going on.

"The Wizarding Mafia believes in very strong family ties," Dumbledore explained, "For that man, seeing his entire family tortured and killed while he watched helplessly was a fate worse than death."

"Yes," Snape continued, "When the man made it back to the Don and told him what happened, the Don was outraged. He has now declared a war against The Dark Lord and his Death Eaters."

"Oh my," Dumbledore said in slight shock, "that is very bad."

"Bad?" Moody barked, "What's so bad about it? Let them fight with each other and kill each other off. It makes our job easier."

"No," Dumbledore said, shaking his head, "we must not allow that to happen Alastor; many innocents could lose their lives."

Moody just shrugged and went back to mumbling to his self.

Dumbledore was silent for a long while. He stared down into the table as if he were examining the wood for something. None of the Order members bothered him, as they had grown quite used to this happening. Times like these meant that Dumbledore was doing some quick planning. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.

"We will need some one with strong connections to the Mafia to infiltrate them," He spoke to his Order, "Normally finding such a person would be an impossible task, but luckily for us we already have one." He focused his sight on the part of the table that seemed to be enveloped in a haze of smoke. The smoke was slowly cleared a way by the waving of a small hand and Mundungus Fletcher was revealed to be occupying the space.

"Me, Dumbledore?" Mundungus asked, pointing a finger to himself, "I ain't got no connection to the Mafia. What do you think I am? Some… kind…of…crook?" He slowly trailed off as he saw the looks everyone seemed to be giving him.

"Don't worry Mundungus, we all know we have associations with a … seedier crowd. Why do you think you are apart of this Order?"

Mundungus scratched his head of scraggly hair. "I though it was my amazing dueling skills," He said lamely, causing everyone to laugh. Once the quick bout of laughter settled down he let out a defeated sigh. "All right, I'll do it for ya Dumbledore."

"Very good, see me after the meeting for a more detailed briefing." He turned his look back to Snape. "Was there anything else, Severus?"

"Nothing we don't already know." The potions master replied.

"Very good," Dumbledore nodded, "Now, I believe Hestia has something to report."

The young dark haired witch began shuffling through her parchment. "Nothing terribly exciting going on in my department." She said, "I've got a small batch of new recruits ready to join. So whenever your ready to initiate them let me know, sir."

"Of course," Dumbledore said, "We will have to get it done before the school year starts or it may never happen."

"Yes, sir," she replied, "just give me an exact date and I'll get them ready."

"Indeed, do you have anything else to report?"

"No sir, nothing else."

"Then there are no more reports to give, correct?" Dumbledore asked.

No one answered.

"Then it is time to discuss a problem that has come to my attention. As you may know, I am considered somewhat powerful and influential in the Wizarding world."

A few people chuckled.

"As such, I have made some equally powerful and influential friends. One such man has been a valuable partner and friend of mine for many years. His name is Erik Hoffen. Some of you may recognize him for he is famous for being the last surviving elemental.

There was some shocked muttering.

"He was also one of the many wizards with me during the battle that lead to Grindelwalds fall."

More shocked muttering.

"As I said, he has always been a valued friend of mine and just recently he was approached by Death Eaters and offered the chance to join. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem for him but one of the Death Eaters happened to be holding his beloved child at wand point. My dear friend cares deeply for his family and would do anything to ensure their safety, even join Lord Voldemort."

"He didn't join, did he?" One Order member cried out.

"No," Dumbledore answered, "he was luckily able to find a way to chase them off but he still fears their return and what they might do to his family. I have promised him that we will keep watch over his family for him, as I believe it is the only way to keep him from joining Voldemort. Those of you who would like to volunteer for the job of protecting Erik's family, please see me after this meeting. Now, the tragic story of my friend leads us into even more pressing matters. I have been keeping an eye out on the recruitment of Voldemorts forces and have found an interesting trend. Voldemort seems to be going after the more powerful mages. Already some of the most powerful of our kind have been propositioned by his forces. Some have even given in. Erik and Tieh are only a few examples. Through my connections I have found out that the most powerful Ninjutsu master of Japan has been propositioned, as was a great African Shaman. We must put a stop to this. I would like your ideas."

The room was silent for a moment before Tonks spoke.

"Well it's kind of obvious, isn't it?" The pink auror began, "we just need to get to these guys before You-Know-Who."

The leader of the Order nodded towards the young Auror. "Yes Nymphadora, that is the most obvious plan, but also the most flawed."

Tonks' face fell.

"The biggest problem is that many of these wizards don't care about Voldemort. Many of them don't care about joining this organization. Sure, we could try and offer them membership, but many of them wouldn't be interested. Any other ideas?"

This time a voice came from behind the haze of smoke. "Well then, we just gotta send them some protection, make sure no Death Eaters don't get 'em."

"Another good plan," Dumbledore said, "but just as equally flawed as the first. The problem with this plan is that we do not have the resources needed to send out protection to these people. And even if we did they would not except it because most of them don't think they need it."

"With great power comes great ego." Kingsley said.

"Exactly. Any other ideas?"

Everything was quiet. Everyone seemed to be trying to come up with a good plan.

When no ideas came, Kingsley spoke again, "Just what will we do, Dumbledore?"

Dumbledore let out a defeated sigh. "I'm afraid there is no plan. There is nothing effective we can do with the number of men and resources we have. If Minister Fudge was a bit more cooperative things would not be so bad, but…" he trailed off.

"But Minister Fudge is a complete idiot." Moody finished for him.

"Yes." Was all that came from Dumbledore's mouth.

Everything was silent for a moment.

Then Dumbledore spoke: "I believe that is all that we are going to accomplish for today. Meeting over!"

For a moment there was no movement. Then one member got up, followed by another and the room was slowly emptied.

---HPatBoH---

Remus Lupin made his way out of the house and towards the apparition point that had been set up in the back yard. He made it outside into the warm dark night. Mostly everyone had already left as Remus had stayed after the meeting and talked with Dumbledore for a while. As he stepped outside a few friends shouted a farewell to him before they apparated away.

"Bye Remus! Have a nice break."

He returned their farewell with one of his own, "Thank you, have a nice night."

He stood on the back porch for a few minutes alone. Starring at the sky, or more specifically the moon, which was half-full.

"Yes, have a nice break wolf." Droned a slimy voice from the shadows. "Use it well."

Remus didn't even turn around, "I was wondering what you were doing back there Snape, I was beginning to think you were just going to stand there all night."

Snape emerged from the shadows that he hid in. "Ah, of course you would notice, those enhanced senses of yours must come in handy quite often."

A sound strangely like a growl emanated form Remus's throat, but he didn't say anything. He just began to walk towards the apparition point.

"What's the matter Lupin," Snape asked as he followed the werewolf, "In a bad mood? I guess thats only a natural side effect of having to spend time being chummy with the man who cursed you for life. Or perhaps it's because your dog died."

Remus stopped and spun around with an unnatural speed. His wand was pointed between Snape's eyes before he could even blink. Snape showed no reaction. His face remained a calm mask with a small smirk that only served to infuriate Remus even more.

"The temper of a wolf." Snape hissed.

Remus continued to stare the potions master down with cold fury in his eyes. That strange growl once again came from his throat. The look on his face was reminiscent of a snarling wolf. After a long minute of hate filled glaring Remus stuffed his wand away quickly and without warning. He spun on his heel and made his way towards the apparition point.

"You just love to pick fights with people, don't you Snape?" Remus asked without looking back.

Snape watched as the werewolf made his way into the designated area and apparated away. "It's what keeps me alive." Snape hissed into the empty darkness.

He stood alone for a few minutes before also apparating away to his home.

---HPatBoH---

Downstairs in the Library a second meeting was taking place. A much smaller meeting that only included a few people. Those people were Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, and Alastor 'Mad-Eye' Moody. Kingsley and Tonks sat at the reading table in the middle of the small library while Moody leaned against a bookcase drinking from his flask.

"So," Tonks began, "what did you think?

"Bloody useless!" Moody grunted bluntly.

Tonks looked towards the old auror and with a voice dripping with sarcasm said, "I love the way in which you speak so elegantly."

Kingsley chuckled deeply, "Despite his bluntness Moody is right."

" 'Bloody useless', " Tonks repeated with a questioning look, "it wasn't that bad."

"We were in that room for over an hour and what did we accomplish?"

"Well," Tonks said thinking, "we learned a lot of new info."

Kingsley nodded, "Yeah, we did." He agreed, "But what did we do with that information? What plans did we form? How did that meeting help us actually stop You-Know-Who?"

"You make it sound like we should be out there throwing curses at Death Eaters. What do you think this is? This isn't…" She trailed off.

"War?" Moody grunted. He pushed himself off the bookcase he was leaning on and looked Tonks in the face with both his eyes set firm. "I don't know where you've been lass, but this is war. Battles are gonna be fought and people are gonna die. That's how it is." He turned around and made his way to the door. "I'm going to bed. See you in the morning." He walked out the door and left the Aurors alone.

Tonks sat with Kingsley for a while; both of them were absolutely quiet. Tonks had a look of intense thought on her face. Eventually, Kingsley left without a word, leaving Tonks alone with her thoughts.

---HPatBoH---

"Well," Hermione said, "That was…"

"Bloody useless?" Ron offered.

"Erm…Not exact-"

"Exactly," Harry said, cutting Hermione off. At the moment he was pacing his room. He was entirely frustrated with the way the meeting had gone.

"Now Harry," Hermione tried, "you know that's not true."

"Of course it's true," He said looking around at all of his friends, "we all heard the same meeting. The only thing that happened was a bunch of adults squabbling like children." Everyone in the room but Hermione seemed to agree with him.

Hermione stood up and faced Harry with her hands on her hips. "That's not true, they did lots of stuff."

"Like what?" Ginny asked from her position on the bed.

Hermione thought, "Like…" She faltered.

"Exactly," Harry said.

Hermione groaned and sat back down, "All that time wasted…" She mumbled.

"I hope you aren't referring to our supremely superb plan as wasted time." Fred said.

"Because that plan was amazing." George continued.

"If we do say so ourselves."

"And we do."

"We hope you aren't dissatisfied with the plan Harry."

Harry shook his head, "Everything worked out perfectly. I'm just…disappointed in the meeting, is all."

Ron walked over and slapped a hand on Harry's shoulder, "I hear you mate," He said, "All that planning and work and hardly any new information."

"Yeah, I just-" Harry stopped. Footsteps could be heard outside the door. "Quick," he hissed at Fred and George, "Stash the stuff!"

His words were unneeded though because Fred and George-like the true pranksters they were-had already thrown the stuff under Harry's bed. Harry and Ron took random seats on the floor and tried to look nonchalant.

The door unlocked with a squelch and Dumbledore walked in. All six teenagers looked at the old wizard. No one said anything for a moment.

"What you attempted today was very wrong." Dumbledore began, "There are things said at those meeting that are of no concern to you and there was no reason for you to try and pull such dastardly tricks. For that wrong doing you four," he indicated Ron, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny, "shall receive a months detention with Professor Snape and Fifty House Points each will be deducted at the beginning of the school year."

He gazed at the teens for a reaction. There was none. They were all ready to face the consequences of their actions.

"Legally," he continued, "Neither I nor your parents have the right to punish you two," He spoke to Fred and George, "But as the owner of this house I reserve the right to forbid you access from now on."

The twins nodded with slightly depressed looks, "We'll be out of here by morning," Fred said.

Dumbledore nodded. "That will be all. I hope you have learned your lesson." He then turned and walked back out of the room.

Everything was quiet as the old wizard left. Harry looked towards the twins. They both had their eyes cast to the floor. Hermione was also starring at the two jokesters, as were Ron and Ginny. Harry sighed and opened his mouth to say something when both the twins' heads snapped up at the same time. Each had an identical grin.

"Well it was worth it!" George exclaimed.

"Definitely!" Fred agreed with an enthusiastic nod.

"Although it sucks we wont be able to spend time with our favorite siblings." George said.

"Yeah," Fred agreed. Both brothers stood up at the same time. "See ya Harry, Hermione, Ginny." He waved at each of them.

"Hey we might even miss Ron too." George added as the two brothers made their way to the door.

"Yeah, maybe if he stops being such a turd." And with that the two twins exited the room leaving the others in silence.

Harry broke the silence with a chuckle. "I guess nothing ever phases those two."

Ron also chuckled, "Yeah, those two sure are something.

Ginny laughed. "They were pretty calm considering they know that they will have to face mum eventually."

"Speaking of which," Ron said, getting up, "I think I'll try and get to bed before mum has the chance to yell at me."

"That sounds like a good idea, brother," Ginny said, also standing up. "Night Harry. Night Hermione."

"Night."

"Good night Ginny."

Ron also bade Harry and Hermione a good night and left with his sister. Then, Hermione gave Harry a good night hug and walked out the door. Just as she steeped out of the room she stopped, picked something off the ground and brought it back to Harry with a smile.

"It looks like our operative has returned to home base," she said, holding a small snake in her hand. Harry's snake.

"Well, well," Harry said with a smile, taking the snake from Hermione, "it looks like you turned out to be lees annoying and more helpful that I thought you would be."

Danny spoke back to him, "That is good to know, Master Harry. But, would you be so kind and remove this contraption from my body?"

Harry nodded and took the magical receiver from around the snake's body. Once that was done he looked up at Hermione who still stood in front of him. She looked at him with a strange expression on her face.

"What?" he inquired.

"It's just weird," she said, her eyes on the snake in Harry's hand. Harry just shrugged and set his snake on the floor.

"English. Parselmouth. I can't really tell the difference."

Hermione nodded, told Harry good night once more and left his room. Finally alone, Harry got out of his clothes and put on his pajamas. He turned off the lamp that keep his room illuminated and crawled into bed with a last good night to Danny the snake. He was asleep in minutes with a smile on his face.

And that night, he dreamt. Not of Dark Wizards and death, but of snakes and magnificent golden lights.

Next time on Harry Potter and the Book of Homunculus: Training continues and Harry hasa meaningful chat with Remus. Time flies by and Harry's birthday comes up. That means OWL results! And a tripto Diagon Alley lets Harry know just how much the Wizarding World is changing.

Read? REVIEW!