Harry awoke late in the morning next day, full of food and content. The feast Mrs. Weasley had prepared for the members of the Order, and obviously Harry, was magnificent. Harry couldn't seem to stop eating.
Leaving the room he and Ron shared and going down to the kitchen in hopes of having some breakfast, something made him stop on the landing. Beneath him, he could see members of the Order whispering frantically as they came out of the kitchen. It was the end of a meeting. He had seen people come out of meetings here before, but this seemed different somehow. The people down in the hall seemed tenser, more worried, and maybe even scared. It gave Harry the familiar sense of foreboding. He kept trying to listen to the whispered conversations below, but was unsuccessful in making out any specifics. As he glanced to his right, he saw a piece of flesh coloured string being lowered from the landing above him. He knew it was Fred and George's extendable ears. He kept silent hoping that they would pick up something he couldn't.
The piece of string got lower and lower as Harry stood there, watching the scene below. By the time the crowd dispersed Ron and Ginny had joined him on the landing. The piece of string was raised, and they all proceeded down to breakfast.
"What did you pick up on those things?" Ron asked as the twins joined them.
"They were talking about Hermione," said Fred.
"Apparently someone went to her house yesterday and found it deserted," George said.
"Anything else?" asked Ginny.
Fred smiled. "Some of them were musing about how Mad Eye still doesn't know you're here," he said to Harry.
"Yeah," added George, "some of them are starting a pool to see how long it lasts."
"We should bet on that," commented Fred vaguely as they entered the hall.
"Yeah," agreed George, "we could just lock Harry in a cupboard –"
"Under the stairs?" Harry asked, as they all entered the kitchen. Everyone laughed.
Mrs. Weasley was just setting down a huge platter of waffles in the centre of the table as they took their seats. She looked much more stressed than the night before, and seemed close to tears.
"What's the matter, mum?" Ginny asked her as she sat down.
"Oh, nothing dear, nothing," she replied. She sounded as though she had a head cold.
The twins gave Ron a significant look. They knew that if they were to say anything, Mrs. Weasley would know there were extendable ears still lurking around. Ron took the hint.
"Is it something about Hermione?"
Mrs. Weasley looked over at her youngest son as her eyes filled up with tears.
"Yes," said Mr. Weasley, getting up to comfort his wife. "I think you should all know that a couple of members went to her home yesterday and found it empty."
They all pretended to look shocked at this statement. Mr. Weasley gave them all a look that said, quite plainly, "I know you already know."
"We didn't find any evidence of a struggle, however," added Lupin, "so that makes us believe they left of their own free will, or at least didn't fight."
"And now that you don't need a guard, Harry," piped in Tonks, "we can have a guard at her house, in case they come back."
"So there's nothing else we can do?" asked Harry desperately.
"I'm afraid not, Harry," said Lupin. "All we can do now is to wait for something to happen."
"Like we usually do," said Fred furiously. "That's all we do around here is wait. Why can't we take action?"
"Firstly," said Lupin, "we don't have a course of action to take, and secondly," he continued over George's 'but –', "even if we did, we couldn't do it until we know all the facts. If the Malfoys really have threatened them, we can't do anything that would let them know we know. We would be putting the Grangers in danger, and that's the last thing we want to do."
A heavy silence followed this explanation. Harry looked at Ron and knew they felt the same thing. Worry. Harry was so worried that he lost his appetite.
"Where are you going?" asked Mr. Weasley, as Harry got up.
"I'm not hungry anymore," he said. Lupin looked at him.
"Don't try to contact her," he said, "any of you." Harry nodded.
"Yes, master," said George sarcastically, getting up in unison with his twin.
"And where are you two off to?" asked Mr. Weasley.
"Work," they replied simply, and left the room after Harry.
Harry went up to his and Ron's room to find an occupant sitting in the usually empty frame on the wall. Harry recognized the clever looking wizard from the year before. His name was Phineas Nigellus, Sirius' great-great-grandfather, as well as the least popular headmaster of Hogwarts. Harry tried to ignore his gaze as he crossed to his four poster bed. Unable to stand Phineas staring at him in the silence, he spoke.
"What do you want?" he asked, rather rudely, not looking at him.
Phineas gave him a very calculated look before responding. "You miss him, don't you?" he asked.
Harry ignored him. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about Sirius, what with Hermione weighing on his mind. "You didn't answer my question," he said, still not looking at the portrait.
"You didn't answer mine," replied Phineas. "But of course, you're too stubborn to –"
"Shut up," cut in Harry, his back still turned.
Phineas gave him a satisfied yet reproachful look. "Fine," he said, "I won't tell you what Dumbledore's message to you is."
Harry turned round to face the picture. "He has a message for me?" he asked.
"Yes," said Phineas, eyeing the boy-who-lived.
"What is it?" asked Harry growing impatient at Phineas' stalling.
"Do you really want to know?" he asked.
Harry froze. Remembering the conversation he and Dumbledore had had after Sirius' death, he did not know whether he wanted the message from his headmaster. "No," he said.
"Good," said Phineas with a rather twisted smile, "because there was no message." And with that, he left his portrait, smirking in a very satisfied way.
Disgusted with Phineas' taunting, Harry sat down on the bed, feeling defeated. He didn't want to talk to Dumbledore. He gave Harry the worst news any fifteen year-old could get after losing the closest thing to a parent he had. That stupid prophecy, he thought savagely, now lying on his back, looking up at the canopy above him. No one should have a burden like that on them. To be murdered or to be the murderer, he mused, that is the question. And against Voldemort, as well.
It was too much for Harry. He needed to get out of this house, even if just for a little while. As he descended the stairs, he thought he had better tell someone what his plans were. As he neared the kitchen, the sound of his name made him stop and eavesdrop at the door.
"He should know the truth," he heard Lupin's voice say angrily. "For God's sake, he deserves –"
"He's too young," interrupted Mrs. Weasley, sounding as, if not more, angry than Lupin.
"That's no excuse," said Lupin sharply. "He's nearly sixteen, and after all, it is his friend we –"
"He doesn't need another burden on him," Mrs. Weasley snapped. "He doesn't need to know what the Order is doing. We all agreed last year that he didn't need to know more than he needed."
"I know that Molly," said Lupin in a voice of forced calm, "but circumstances have changed. Dumbledore said he knows what the prophesy entails, and he's lasted this long without cracking, so why –?"
"I'll tell you why," said Mrs. Weasley in a very dangerous voice. "Because he's just like his father. He'll end up wanting to go in search of her, and we can't put him in any more danger than he's already in."
There was silence for a few moments. Then Lupin spoke. "Fine," he said, "we won't tell him, yet."
"Yet?"
"As soon as news comes, good or bad, we have to tell them. You can't expect teenagers to settle for the explanation we gave them for long. We'll just have to do as they are and wait."
Harry thought this would be a good time to proceed, so he entered the kitchen to find only Lupin and Mrs. Weasley sitting at the kitchen table, papers strewn about on the surface.
"Hello Harry, dear," said Mrs. Weasley with a smile. "What can I get you? Are you hungry?" she asked, rising out of her chair.
"Nothing, no," said Harry. "I was just wondering if I could go for a walk or something."
"Sure," Lupin said. "Who would you like to come with you as a watch?"
"You can," said Harry.
Lupin smiled. "Invisible or not?" he asked.
"Not," he answered. "It might look weird if I start talking to mid-air," he added with a smile.
As Lupin got up, Mrs. Weasley gave the werewolf a very significant look that said, quite plainly, 'Remember what I said.'
Harry led the way out the front door and into the bright sunshine, something none of them noticed in the house. They walked in silence, no particular destination, both of them mulling things over in their minds. After fifteen minutes of only their muffled footsteps on the pavement breaking the silence between them, Harry spoke.
"I heard you talking with Mrs. Weasley about Hermione," he said.
Lupin smiled. "I thought you would have," he replied. "Like father like son."
Harry looked at Lupin, who still had a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. "Am I really like him that much?" he asked.
"Yes," said Lupin immediately. "It's remarkable, really, how much alike you two are, even though..." He broke off.
Harry looked down at his feet and silently agreed. Even though he never knew his father, it was amazing that he had so many of his traits, not all of them physical. It must run in the family.
"So," Harry said, after another two blocks of silence, "what's going on with Hermione?"
"You heard what Molly said," Lupin reminded him, "I'm not supposed to tell you about it. And didn't you see the look she gave me?" He shuddered, pretending to be frightened. "She'd kill me if I said anything to you. She's a dangerous lady."
Harry looked at him, disbelievingly. "Oh, because what you did in school wasn't nearly as dangerous as crossing Mrs. Weasley," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Well," said Lupin, giving Harry a very sly smile.
"Come off it," Harry laughed, "just tell me. I really want to know," he continued, coming to a stop in an abandoned park. He turned to face Lupin, who was walking towards the swing set.
"I'm not supposed to tell you," Lupin repeated, sinking into a swing and wrapping his arm around the chain. "Dumbledore would have my head."
"He also would have had your head in school for letting your friends become illegal animagi," Harry said, noticing a smile come over Lupin's face.
"Yeah, I suppose," he said, "but this is different."
"How?" asked Harry, "you can't say that someone's in danger, because someone was in danger when you went running around at school."
"I know, which is why I want to tell you," Lupin said, looking Harry in the eyes. "Do you know what Hermione's family background is like?" he asked. When Harry shook his head, Lupin continued. "Well, everyone thought that Hermione's mother was muggle-born, but that's not the case."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, but before Lupin could elaborate a voice spoke from behind them.
"Remus, I told you not to tell him anything!"
Lupin jumped. "Molly!" he said outraged, as he stood up. "What are you doing, following me around?"
"Well," she said, looking from Harry to Lupin, "apparently Harry's not the only one who should be under watch."
"And what, exactly, is that supposed to mean?" asked Lupin, an uncharacteristic ugly look spreading across his face, making him look like the monster he became every full moon.
"Exactly what you think it means," Mrs. Weasley said, beginning to resemble the sabre-toothed tiger Fred and George would sometimes compare her to.
"What, that you don't trust me?"
"Not only me," she said, an evil smile, not unlike the one the twins sometimes wore, replacing her tiger-like look.
"Oh," said Lupin, "I get it, Dumbledore doesn't trust me either." As Mrs. Weasley nodded, Lupin's temper flared. "Fine!" he shouted, causing the birds in the nearest trees take flight. He turned around from Mrs. Weasley and faced Harry. "Whose side are you on?"
"Yours," answered Harry immediately, taken aback by Lupin's sudden outburst.
"There you go," said Lupin, turning back to Mrs. Weasley. "At least somebody's going to be on my side."
"And since when are we all taking sides?" asked Mrs. Weasley, losing her patience. "Don't you think you're being a bit childish about this, Remus?"
"No," said Lupin, turning away.
Mrs. Weasley looked extremely miffed.
"Can we just go back, then?" Harry asked, seeing as how he wouldn't be able to get any information about Hermione now that Mrs. Weasley was with them.
"Yes," said Lupin, "we better, or they'll have the whole Order out here making sure I'm following the rules." He threw a dirty look at Mrs. Weasley over his shoulder as he left the park.