A/N: I'm leaving for vacation tonight, so this will be my last post till July 31st or August 1st. I'll be taking my notebook with me on vacation so I can write more story and then when I get back, I'll have lots of story to post for my readers! D
As the evening wore on, many people began arriving at Number 12, Grimmauld Place. All of them were members of the Order of the Phoenix, and most of the witches and wizards greeted the Weasley children and Hermione warmly. Although Mrs. Weasley wouldn't allow any of her children or Hermione to come anywhere near when the Order had a meeting, she did permit them to meet all of the Order members.
"Hey Tonks," Ginny said waving as she walked into the room. The teenagers had meet Tonks on the first day they had arrived at Number 12 Grimmauld Place; all of them had immediately liked her.
"Hi!" Tonks replied. Today her hair was bright, electric blue and shoulder length.
"Is there a meeting tonight, Tonks?" Ron asked, staring at her bright hair.
"Ron, how thick are you?" Ginny asked. "Why else do you think all the Order members are coming here tonight?"
"Shut up Ginny," Ron replied, blushing.
Tonks laughed. "Yes, Ron, there is a meeting tonight," said Tonks. "And it's a very important one too. All members are required to attend, and almost everyone will be giving reports. I expect that this meeting will last for a coupled of hours," Tonks added with a sigh; she didn't look too thrilled about having to sit in a meeting for hours.
"Well I don't know what you're complaining about," Fred replied. "I'd love to get into one of those meetings."
"Yeah, that would be cool," Ron stated. "But Mum won't let us near one."
"Well, I should think not," Lupin said as he walked into the room where the Weasleys, Tonks and Hermione stood. "You lot are too young, and you're not in the Order."
"But Fred and I are of age!" George cried. "We'd love to join!"
"No," said Lupin firmly. "You're still in school and you're mother would never approve. Being in the Order is extremely dangerous, and there are too many things that you lot wouldn't understand."
George muttered something darkly that no one could understand.
Lupin smiled and said. "Well, come Tonks. We should be in the meeting now."
"Okay," Tonks replied; she turned and followed Lupin down the hallway.
Moments later Mrs. Weasley appeared in the doorway. "I want all of you upstairs now!" Mrs. Weasley stated loudly.
"But Mum," Fred whined, "why can't we just stay down here?"
"There's a meeting tonight, and I don't want you lot hearing anything!" Mrs. Weasley shouted.
"But-"
"No 'buts!' Get upstairs now and stay there until the meeting is over!" Mrs. Weasley yelled loudly. "And do be quiet on the stairs! I don't want anything woken up," she added before turning on her heel and leaving the room.
Ron began muttering under his breath as the teenagers climbed the stairs. Ginny and Hermione frowned and climbed silently up the stairs.
When they reached Ginny and Hermione's room, Ron followed them in. However, the three of them sat glumly in chairs and said nothing.
After a few minutes of silence, two loud 'cracks' filled the room; Hermione, Ginny, and Ron jumped. A second later, Fred and George sat on either bed in the room.
"What are you doing in here?" Ron asked, staring at the twins.
"Well, we thought that you three might want to listen in on this meeting," George explained, looking around the room at his siblings and Hermione.
"But how are we going to do that?" Hermione asked. "You know Mrs. Weasley won't let us anywhere near the meeting room."
"We know that Hermione," Fred said. "But if we use are Extendable Ears we won't have to go near the room."
Hermione looked slightly nervous at the idea of going behind Mrs. Weasley's back, but interested all the same.
"Well, ok, I suppose a little listening wouldn't hurt," Hermione replied, watching Fred and George as they pulled flesh colored string from their pockets. "But if we're caught-"
"We won't be caught, Hermione," Ginny said reassuringly, taking an Extendable Ear from Fred.
Once everyone had an Extendable Ear, the five of them made their way quietly onto the landing of the stairs.
"…Bill, have you got any of the Goblins convinced?" asked someone.
"I don't know. Most of them are still mad about the Bagman cover-up that the Ministry did. You know—Bagman owed them Galleons and Galleons, but he never paid them a Knut. A few of them are leaning towards our side, but there are others who are trying to convince them that joining Voldemort would be a good idea. Personally, I think they have it better on our side…"
"We'll simply have to try harder," added another unrecognizable voice. "We're going to need some help from non-human creatures if we want to win this war against Voldemort-"
"We're not in war yet!" cried the person who had asked Bill about the Goblins.
"Well we're pretty damn close!" Moody's voice cried.
"Anyways," said the speaker who had been interrupted, "the Dementors are already outside of Ministry control. We can't let Voldemort take control of every other non-human creature. If we did, the entire wizarding community would be destroyed…"
Suddenly, without any warning, the bottom stair creaked.
Fred swore and Appariated, as did George. Ginny, Hermione and Ron pulled the Extendable Ears out and ran into their rooms.
Ginny and Hermione had just pulled out a pack of cards to play Exploding Snap when the door of their room opened and Mrs. Weasley walked in.
"Hello girls," she greeted. "You weren't trying to listen in on the meeting where you? I thought I heard something on the stairs."
"No, Mum," Ginny replied. "Hermione and I have been in our room the entire time.
"Well, okay. Did you hear anyone else on the stairs?"
"No, Mrs. Weasley," Hermione replied.
"Okay, just stay up here then. I'm going to check on the others."
When Mrs. Weasley had left the room, both girls sighed.
"Thank God she believed us," Hermione said, her hand resting on her chest.
"Yeah, I know," Ginny replied, setting down her cards.
"I don't think we should try that for awhile."