& Chapter Two

Headquarters

That night I had wierd dreams about dementors and when I woke up, I felt strangely cold even though it was July. I got dressed in a black and white lacey dress and black heeled sandals. I put on my black bow head band and went downstairs. Ivette was sitting at the table as usual, reading The Daily Prophet.

"Mom's gone again," she reported, not looking at me.

"Ivette, I'm sorry about the things I said last night."

"Whatever," was her reply.

"Anyway...I'm going to Dudley's," I said. I turned away from her, about to leave when all of sudden, my owl swooped in through the open window.

"Oh! Lilly and Nik's replies!" I cried.

I went over to my owl and seized the letters. There was only two...dad hadn't sent me one. My heart sank when I saw that. Dad was probably very upset with me. Nik and Lilly's letters were almost the same. They said they'd miss me a lot and that they'd both write to me as often as possible. It made me feel very happy that my friends both cared about me so much.

"Well I'm leaving now," I announced to Ivette after I put the letters in my room and went back downstairs.

"You have fun," Ivette said in a tone that sounded like she didn't care if I had fun or not, or that she'd rather I didn't have fun.

"Don't worry, I will!" I snapped at her. I shut the door and headed down the street to number 4 Privat Drive. The day was warm and sunny and the heat felt wonderful on my body. I love summer time!

When I reached Dudley's house and rang the doorbell, Mrs. Dursley opened the door looking livid.

"Hello Mrs. Dursley!" I greeted her like I always did.

"Hi Tuesday dear, come on in," Mrs. Dursley replied. She was looking worried for some reason. She let me inside and closed the door behind me.

"Tuesday dear," she said, "I am very sorry to tell you but Dudley is not well. He was very sick last night."

"He was?"

"Yes," Mrs. Dursley nodded sadly, "You can visit him for a little while, but just so you know...he's not in his usual state."

"Uhm okay...I hope he's all right."

"I hope so too dear."

I went upstairs and walked down the hallway to Dudley's bed room. I passed Harry's room on the way. The door was closed and I noticed that he had a cat flap on the door. I would have to ask Dudley about that one.

I went into Dudley's room without knocking. He was lying in bed under the covers but he was not asleep. He was looking really dazed, staring off in a random direction.

"Hey honey," I greeted him, walking slowly over to his bed side, "How are you feeling?"

"Hey," Dudley's voice sounded a little distant.

I put his hand in mine.

"I'm sorry you don't feel good, is there something I could do to make it better?" I asked.

"I love you," was Dudley's reply.

"I love you too." I kissed his cheek and sat down on his other side of the bed. "Do you have the flu or something?"

Dudley shook his head.

"How did you get sick?" I wanted to know.

Dudley sat up in his bed.

"I'm not that sick anymore," he said.

"Well I'm glad," I replied, hugging him.

"Last night...we got attacked...by these things...I think my mom called them 'dementors'."

"WHAT!" I shrieked, "You got attacked by what?"

How in the Hell did Dudley know what dementors were? Muggles couldn't even see dementors...

"Who? Who got attacked?" I demanded.

"Me and Harry. We were walking home and then it got really dark and cold. I think I passed out or something...then we came home and I threw up...that's how I got sick."

"Dudley, how do you know what dementors are?"

"Because-" Dudley paused and gave me a funny look, "Hey wait a second-do you know what dementors are?"

I never would have beleived we were having this conversation. It was just that wierd. I sighed. This was it. The moment I had been dreading ever since the night I met Dudley...

"Dudley, you know your cousin is a wizard and there's something you need to know about me too...I am a wizard too, okay? I can do magic and spells and I have a magic wand and I use owl post and all that," I said in a rush. There. I had said it. I had finally confessed to him.

Dudley looked stunned.

"You...and Harry...you're both..." He looked like he wanted to say it but did not know how.

"We're wizards, that's right."

"But...how can that be...how is that possible?" Dudley sputtered.

"It just is okay? My mom and dad are wizards. My sister is a wizard...and I am too. I've been studying dark magic since the age of eleven. Oh Dudley!" I cried, throwing my arms around him, "I wanted to tell you! I really did! But I just...I just didn't know how!"

I started crying in his arms. I was so scared...what if he didn't like me anymore? What if he thought I was a freak? What if he was afraid of me? All I felt like doing at that moment was cry.

Dudley patted me on the back.

"These dementor things...they're real?" Dudley asked me all of a sudden.

I looked up at him, hardly beleiving what I was hearing.

"Yes, they are."

"What do they do exactly?"

"They suck the soul out of you. They take all the happiness out of you. They're not nice creatures, dementors."

"That's what Harry said. Last night. Last night he said dementors take your soul..."

I nodded and hugged Dudley to me. I never wanted to let go...he put his arms around me and rubbed my back. We sat there in silence for what seemed like forever.

"Dudley, please say something," I said after awhile.

"I love you Tuesday."

"You do?" I cried. I stared at him, tears swimming in my eyes.

"Yes of course I do."

"Really?" I gasped.

"Yes really! You thought my feelings would change just because you can...well you can...you know what I mean."

"So they haven't changed?"

"No! And they never will either. I love you so much!" Dudley held me tight.

"I love you too Dudley."

We sat there for a few moments more, hugging onto each other tightly.

"Dudley...why were there dementors here in Little Whinging?" I asked him after a few minutes.

Dudley shrugged, "Like I said, me and Harry were just walking home. I thought he had done it to me at first...made everything get all cold and dark...but when I came home I heard everything. My mom and dad were yelling at him and stuff...and then mom said she knew what dementors were. I still don't get what happened really..."

"What did the dementors do exactly? They came after you and Harry?"

"Well I don't exactly know...I didn't know there were dementors at first because I thought Harry had done some magic or something...but it got all dark and wicked cold and I started hearing voices and then...it was a wierd feeling...like I just felt so unhappy it was insane. I thought I would never see you again."

"Dudley," I said softly, "Dementors make people relive the worst moments in their lives..."

"I heard laughing, like how people used to laugh at me...they don't anymore though. Now that I'm the Boxing Champion of the Southeast."

I giggled. Dudley was such a tough guy, it was awesome.

"Well I'm glad that you are okay! But what a dementor would be doing around here, I have no idea."

"Harry told my parents that he didn't know either...so did you know Harry was a wizard all this time?"

I chuckled, "Harry's wicked famous in our world. He's the boy who lived, the only survivor of the killing curse. But...Dudley, I'm sorry I didn't tell you."

"Tuesday, don't worry about it. Everything's fine. I don't care. I love you just like I always have. You doing...well you know-"

"You can just say 'magic'!" I told him, smiling in spite of myself.

"Well...yeah that...it doesn't change the way I feel about you."

"Oh Dudley!" I cried, once again throwing myself at him.

Even though Dudley had reassured me everything was the same between us, I still felt unsure. Magic seemed to be a touchy subject with him, but dementors attacking him seemed like a good reason to really beleive in the magical world. I wanted to show Dudley some cool spells, but since I am an underage wizard, I couldn't do any spells to show him. The only thing I could do was Apparate which I just knew would scare the shit out of him.

I spent the night at his house once again. I felt so protected in his arms and just so comfortable...and I guess deep down I knew everything was going to be all right between us.

The next morning, Ivette came back looking for me at Dudley's house. I kissed Dudley good bye and he reassured me once again that everything was fine. He even promised not to tell his parents because he thought that if he did tell them, he'd never get to see me again. That made me a little sad!

"Mom came back," Ivette told me as we walked down the street back to our house.

"Oh good. I have some things I need to tell her!" I replied.

But it turned out Mom already knew about the dementors. She sat me and Ivette back down on the couch again.

"I heard that there were dementors here in Little Whinging the night before last!" Mom said.

"Mom, Dudley and Harry were attacked by them!" I said quicky.

"No way!" gasped Ivette.

"Yes way!" I snapped childishly at her, "Dudley told me."

"Muggles can't even see dementors!"

"I know that! But they can feel them."

"I am guessing you told Dudley what dementors were? Which would also mean you finally told him that you're a wizard?" Mom said. She was smiling kindly at me.

"Yes," I replied with pride, "Dudley finally knows and the best news is that he's completely fine with it!"

"Glad to hear it," Mom replied, "But the problem at hand is that there were dementors here and that means that the dementors are clearly not under Ministry control anymore."

Ivette gasped, "See! What did I tell you? The Dark Lord is coming after us!" she screamed, "Mom we have to get the fuck out of here!"

"Yes, we do," Mom agreed.

"But mom! We can't just leave! Summer's not even over yet! We still have a whole month left!" I protested.

"I know honey, but it is not safe here...the dementors coming here to Little Whinging is not good news."

"Obviously!" I yelled, "But we can't just leave! Where are we going to go?"

"I have a place," Mom said, looking serious.

"When are we leaving?" Ivette asked in a hopeful tone.

I shot her a dirty look. She was really starting to piss me off.

"Mom," I said loudly before she could answer Ivette's stupid question, "How did you know about the dementors?"

"I can't tell you now, but I will tell you more later once we get there."

"Get where?" I demanded.

"To a much safer place," Mom answered.

"But we can't leave! I can't leave Dudley!" I cried.

"You're gonna have to leave him sooner or later," Ivette said.

I glared at her.

"Shut the Hell up!" I yelled at her.

"Girls please!" shouted Mom, "Look, we'll be leaving tomorrow night okay? So you can hang out with Dudley today and tomorrow okay Tuesday?"

"Fine," I snapped. I slumped on the couch and folded my arms across my chest. How was I gonna tell Dudley I was leaving him again?

Saying good bye the next evening was extremely painful. Dudley and I laid in his bed for hours. I nervously twirled my wand in my hands, trying hard not to think of how much I'd miss him. I was so attatched to my Dudley it was insane and now that he knew that I wasn't really a Muggle, I felt so much closer to him than ever. Those dementors had brought us closer...it was very strange.

With a heavy heart, at seven o'clock, I got up from Dudley's bed and stretched. He wasn't sleeping, though I thought he had been. He got up from his bed and stretched too.

"I'll walk you there," he said.

He had done that last summer too, only now I was leaving him earlier than expected. I even told him why too. I didn't tell him about mom being a Death Eater of course, but I did tell him that it was because of the dementor sightings that she felt we needed to leave.

When we got to my house, I hugged Dudley for a long time and when we kissed, it seemed like hours had gone by. I started crying in his arms one more time.

"I'm going to miss you so much!" I sobbed.

"Me too Tuesday," Dudley said quietly.

"Dudley...I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner!" I cried again.

"Tuesday, it's fine! You know I still love you."

"I know," I sobbed, "Just wanted to make sure..."

"I love you."

"I love you too!"

We stopped hugging and Dudley kissed me on the forehead and started back down the drive way.

"Write to me okay?" he called.

"I will! Once a week I promise!" I shouted back.

Dudley blew me a kiss and then turned away and started walking home.

"I love you!" I yelled and then I went inside my house.

Ivette was standing there, shaking her head at me.

"You make me sick," she spat.

"Shut the fuck up. You're just pissed becausse no one loves you."

"A Muggle loves you," said Ivette, "That's pretty pathetic."

"Better than nothing," I said and I didn't feel like talking to her anymore.

"We're leaving in half an hour!" Mom shouted from some where in the house.

I glared at Ivette and then went upstairs to my room. I opened my window and light filitered into the dusty room. Not living in my bed room for a year seemed to have made it more dark and old. I threw all my school things into my trunk: spell books, parchment, ink, quills, and notes. I put all my blood red colored Durmstrang robes into the trunk. I threw in my make up box, my hair brush, as much clothes as I could fit, and whatever else I could find. I stuck my money and my wand inside my purse so I knew where it was. I grabbed my owl's cage and the little tank that contained my pet toad. I brought everything downstairs. Ivette was already there with her cage and the basket with her kitten in it. She wasn't cool enough to have an owl!

Mom didn't have anything with her.

"Ready to go? We're going to be Apparating a few feet away...Just try and concentrate on a safe place if you can," Mom said. She grabbed my wrist in one hand and Ivette's wrist in the other hand and in a quick flash, we had landed in a small square.

The houses were grey and the place had an omniscent feeling to it. I wanted to ask about where we were but I didn't just yet.

"Now hurry," Mom whispered loudly, "We don't want to draw attention to ourselves."

Mom walked at a quick pace, me and Ivette were slower because we had to drag our trunks behind us. I wish mine had wheels. We followed mom over to a couple of the houses.

"Here," Mom dug her hand into the pocket of her robes and took out a peice of ripped parchment. "Read it and memorize what it says."

The parchment read:

The headquarters of the Order of the Pheonix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"What's-" began Ivette but Mom shushed her.

"Just think about what you just read," Mom whispered.

I looked at the two houses in front of us. Number eleven and number thirteen. I closed my eyes and repeated the words in my mind. When I opened my eyes, there was number twelve-right in between houses number eleven and thirteen. Mom led us up the stairs and went inside. Ivette and I dragged our trunks inside. We were in a long hallway and before I could ask about whose house I was in, the door at the far end of the hall opened and a short, plump woman with red hair came out into the hall to join us.

"Oh Friday you're here!" she said in a hushed voice, "I'll show the girls where they're staying."

"Just a moment Molly, I need to speak with them first," Mom replied.

"Oh all right."

"Thanks," Mom said. Me and Ivette followed her through the door the red haired woman had come out of.

The room appeared to be an old kitchen. Mom, Ivette, and I sat down at the big table.

"Where are we?" Ivette asked at once.

"You are at the headquarters of the Order of the Pheonix," Mom answered.

"What's that?" I wanted to know.

"It's a secret society made up of the people who fought the Dark Lord last time. Dumbledore advised that I join. He said my services would come in useful, being an ex Death Eater. I have been of quite the use," Mom said beaming.

"And we're staying here?" Ivette asked, "In this moldy old house?"

Mom nodded, "Until it is time for you two to leave and go to Hogwarts. But everything is fine. Sirius said it's all right if you two stay."

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Sirius Black, he owns this house. He's a member of the Order as well...and from what I gather...he's Harry Potter's godfather too."

"Is Harry here?" I asked.

"Not yet," Mom said, "But I think a few members are going to retrieve him from Privat Drive as well in a few days time."

"So what are we supposed to do while we're here?" demanded Ivette. She sounded kinda pissed off.

"You can hang out with the other kids. They all go to Hogwarts, maybe they can tell you some things about it."

"Who's here?" I asked.

"Molly's kids. They're friends with Harry I think. But...everything should be all right," Mom said, "You're going to be very safe here. Aurors come and go all the time."

"Are you staying with us?" I wanted to know.

"No. I'll be in and out though, going to meetings. There's a meeting in a few days, that's when I'll be back," Mom said. She got up from the table. "Molly is going to show you where you'll be sleeeping. I must go now."

I ran over and gave mom a quick hug. "Bye mom, I love you."

Ivette gave mom an even quicker hug.

"Bye girls," Mom said and she left the kitchen and went back into the hallway.

The red haired woman came into the kitchen just then.

"Hello girls, how are you?" she asked kindly. She had a very kind face.

"I'm fine," I said. Ivette chose not to reply.

"Well we'll be having dinner soon. I'll show you up to your room. You girls are sharing with Ginny and Hermione. Ginny's my daughter and Hermione is a friend of Harry's," the woman said.

She waved her wand and the trunks were floating in midair. Ivette and I followed her back into the hallway and up a dark stair case. On the wall was a row of shrunken house elf heads. I saw Ivette cringe as we passed them. When we reached the second floor, the red haired woman led us over to a door and opened it. The room was pretty dark, even though there were two windows, but they were covered in dust and grime. The floor had no rug and there four small beds and one large paint chipped wardrobe. There was an old dresser with a dusty mirror above it.

Two other girls were in the room. One of them looked like she was my age. She had bushy brown hair and was sitting on one of the beds reading a thick book. The other girl had long, straight red hair and lots of freckles. She looked a little younger than me and was sitting on one of the other beds looking bored.

"Hermione, Ginny," the woman spoke and the two girls looked up. "These are your new room mates for the summer."

"I'm Tuesday," I spoke up.

"Ivette," said Ivette, not looking at the two girls.

"Well you girls make yourselves at home, dinner will be ready soon," the woman said and she left the room. I dragged my trunk over to the bed that was near the brown haired girl's.

"I'm Hermione Granger," she introduced herself.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

Ivette just frowned and dragged her trunk to the other bed.

"So do you go to Hogwarts? I've never seen you around. What year are you in?" Hermione asked me.

"This is going to be my fifth year," I replied, "And me and Ivette are actually transferring to Hogwarts this year."

"We used to go to Durmstrang," Ivette spoke up.

"Oh really? That's Viktor's school!" cried Hermione.

"Yeah, yeah we know," I laughed, "The only good thing about Durmstrang."

"Why are you transferring?" asked Ginny from the other side of the room.

"Our mom wants us too. She says it's a lot safer because it's Dumbledore's school," I explained.

"She's got that one right," said Hermione.

I sighed and sat on the bed.

"What year are you in?" I asked Ginny.

"Fourth."

"Guess I'm the oldest," said Ivette, "I'm starting sixth."

"My brothers are the oldest. They're in seventh," said Ginny.

"You have older brothers?" asked Ivette. She sounded interested!

"Yeah, Fred and George. They're twins and I also have two other older brothers-Charlie and Bill, but they don't go to Hogwarts anymore. Oh yeah, and there's Ron. He's a fifth year. Almost forgot about him."

"You're going to like Hogwarts," Hermione said to me, "There are a lot of great courses offered."

"Nice," I replied.

I spent the next hour unpacking all my things. I was a little uncomfortable being here and I was a little homesick too, but the placed seemed okay. When Ginny's mother came up to tell us dinner was ready, we went back down to the kitchen. There were a lot of people sitting at the table now. I felt slightly nervous. I wished mom was there. A man with long black hair stood up when me and Ivette came into the kitchen.

"You two must be Friday's girls," he said, coming over to us.

"Yeah we are," I replied.

"Welcome to the headquarters," the man said, "I'm Sirius."

"I'm Tuesday."

"And I'm Ivette," Ivette said nervously.

"Well uhm...let me just introduce you to everyone," said Sirius, "I think you already met Molly."

"Just call me Mrs. Weasley dears," she said.

"That's Arthur next to her," Sirius went on.

"Mr. Weasley!" the man called over to them.

"That there is Mad-Eye Moody," Sirius gestured towards a very strange looking man with scars all over his face and a fake eye ball. Mad-Eye gave us a short wave.

"That's Remus-" A man wearing shabby robes waved to them, "And that's Tonks."

"Sup?" the woman said loudly. She had short, spikey purple hair and was smiling brightly at them.

"And these are my children," spoke up Mrs. Weasley, "Ginny, Ron, Fred, and George."

"Nice to meet everybody," I said nervously, trying hard to smile but it was difficult because I was so nervous.

"Come and have a seat girls," said Mrs. Weasley, "There's plenty to eat." She gestured towards to empty seats that were across from the twin boys, Fred and George. I was pretty hungry, so I just sat down quickly and loaded my plate up. Ivette did the same. The food was really great, but I was still nervous sitting with everybody. But I knew these were the people I was going to have to spend the rest of the summer living with so I tried to make the best of it. Hermione kept asking me questions about Durmstrang and Ivette seemed comfortable enough talking to the twins since they were close in age.

"I hope Harry comes here soon," Hermione said to Ron, whom she was sitting next to.

"We'll be retreiving him in a few days," said the man named Remus, "Dumbledore's already made the arrangements for us to go and get him."

"I feel so horrible not telling him anything about the Order," sighed Hermione.

"Why is Harry coming here?" I asked Hermione.

She gave me a funny look. "Do you know Harry?" she asked me curiously.

"Yeah, he's my boy friend's cousin. I live down the street from him," I told her.

"Besides, who doesn't know Harry Potter?" added Ivette, "Just because we lived in Bulgaria doesn't mean we don't know anything about the wizarding world."

"Have you seen Harry? Is he okay?" asked Hermione, looking deeply concerned.

"I've seen him and I'm pretty sure he's okay," I said.

"Your boyfriend is Harry's cousin?" asked Ron.

"Yeah."

"She's dating a Muggle in other words," said Ivette.

"Shut up!"

Ivette stuck her tongue out at me and went back to eating.

My first two days at Grimmauld Place turned out to be pretty entertaining. I was very interested in the house I was staying in. I took a liking to it, finding it to be pretty comfortable. Dinner with everyone in the house became slightly less akward, it was pretty nice. I felt kinda special to be able to stay here and it was nice. We met the old house elf who lived at Grimmauld Place, Kreacher. He creeped me out a bit. He was the most unpleasant house elf I had ever met.

I mostly spent the days in the bed room I shared with my sister, Hermione, and Ginny. Hermione kept asking me for details of the times me and Harry actually spoke and I told her all I could which wasn't much.

"Harry and I aren't exactly close friends," I reminded her.

"He's my close friend and me and Ron have been so worried about him! Dumbledore made us swear not to tell him anything about the Order or where we are staying or anything! Oh it's been horrible...and Harry must be so mad!" Hermione ranted on.

"Have you actually heard from him?" I asked.

"He did send me and Ron letters...but we couldn't give him any information because Dumbledore made us promise!"

"Aww that sucks. I'm sorry...are you Harry's girl friend or something?"

"No! We're just really good friends," said Hermione.

I shrugged, "Okay."

On our third night at Grimmauld Place, I found myself being bored already. I layed on my bed, feeling sad and homesick. I missed my mom and I missed Dudley. These thoughts made me want to just Apparate and go back home. I know Ivette hated it at Grimmauld Place. She was on her bed trying to read in the dim light of our only oil lamp. Ginny was on her bed writing in her journal. The place had a dull, strange quietness to it that kinda creeped me out.

I was about to pass out and go to sleep when all of a sudden the silence was broken by an all to familar voice screaming at the top of his lungs, "I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU , ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER--"

I sat up straight in bed.

"What the Hell!"

"Harry must be here," Ginny announced.