When the War is Over: Chapter Three
(I don't own any copyrights to the Harry Potter series, or anything to do with it)
It's about three o'clock in the morning when we alight gently in the abandoned square in front of headquarters. My hands are frozen, my teeth are chattering, my legs feel stiff enough to shatter beneath my weight. I should have remembered to dress more warmly, as the nights are still pretty cold this time of year. Hermione ushers us to the front door. her black robes billowing out behind her as she takes long strides; She knocks three times on the ancient metal doors and waits. A slit in the door the length of my index finger slides open, a grotesque, red-rimmed, veiny eye glares out at us.
"Password?" A muffled voice asks sharply from within.
"Frog Spawn," Hermione confirms. The eye disappears and the door slides shut, I can hear the sounds of a dozen locks being undone on the other side of the door.
"We have passwords now, for our protection," Hermione explains, helping me to gather my things as we shuffle into the dark entranceway. "They change every hour on the hour, usually thought up by the person on duty, and no sooner than about ten minutes beforehand."
"How do I know what the password's changed to if I'm out when it changes?" I ask, feeling a little stupid.
"You get one of these," Ron replies, dropping something into my hand. It's a smooth silver coin, but it looks ordinary, small enough to slip into my pocket. "See the little pictures around the rim?" Ron points out, and I examine the coin to, indeed, see small shapes around the rim, "Each picture represents a different password, and they light up according to what the password currently is. Make sure to learn them all."
"What if the enemy gets a hold of this coin," I ask, trying not to think about falling into the hands of the death eaters.
"Well, if your ever in danger, you just squeeze your coin, and certain peoples' coins's that are linked to yours will turn red, alerting them to the fact that one of their team members is in danger. Everyone is linked to a certain group, that way, if one group is jeopardized, the entire order is not itself jeopardized. I think you can probably guess, but your coin has been linked to your family's, all your brothers, and us." Hermione looks very pleased with herself, lost in an explanation of the one thing in the world she honors about all else...rules.
"That's a good system," I admit, "who thought of it?"
"Harry," Ron and Hermione reply together. There is an awkward moment of silence between the three of us, and than Mad-Eyed Moody shuffles up.
"Bout time you showed up with the new arrival!" He grunts, "Remus and I were starting to get nervous."
"Sorry," Ron mutters, breaking the silence, "we doubled back a couple times just for saftey's sake. Well, what do you say we get Gin settled in, and find something to eat?" Both Hermione and I agree at once.
Grimauld place has changed a lot since I was last here. The corridors are still drafty, the rooms drab, but everything is clean and well organized. I feel a strange sense of peace in this place. This is the place I spent the summer with him, just before he admitted his feelings to me in front of the whole common room. I can still feel the heat of my body as he suddenly gathered me into his arms, the way his cheeks colored red after he'd kissed me. I can still see my brother's shocked face, feel the way I kissed him back, with all my heart...
There is a knock on my door while I'm sitting on the floor, surrounded by all my unpacked things. Somehow I found the courage to pack that picture of us, and now it's sitting on top of an antique dresser across from the my bed. When I wake up in the morning, it will be the first thing I see, a reminder of my promise to find him.
"Do you need some help unpacking?" Hermione walks in, carrying a stack of clean, folded clothes; I can just make out her bushy hair behind them. I only mummer a reply, lost in organizing things.
"He looks so happy in that picture," Hermione's voice is dreamy. I'm momentarily caught off guard, snagged on the one moment I wasn't thinking about him. I look up, and she's staring at the picture of us. She shakes her head, and bends down next to me.
"C'mon, you can finish unpacking later, let's get down to the kitchen and see if there is anything to report!"
The kitchen hasn't changed much. Mum sends care packages all the time, so there is plenty of good food to eat; Soon, I'm full, and I lean back in my chair contentedly. Moody glances around, and when he sees that we are, for the most part, finished, he stands up. Crookshanks dashes between his legs, nearly toppling him, and he snaps a curse before moving to stand at the head of the table. For the first time in a long time, I almost feeling like laughing, but I suppress my giggles, ready to get down to business.
"Whenever your ready Moody," Lupin gestures. Moody utters something like, 'accio today's reports', and a full stack of papers appear on the table in front of him.
"First oder of business," Moody begins briskly, "we've got a new member, the Weasley's youngest is finally joining the ranks. Second, we got a report today that a teacher at Hogwart's went missing."
"--Which one!" Hermione interjects, suddenly distressed, and I understand why. Living among the teachers at Hogwarts for so many years has made many of them dear to us, almost like family members we've come to rely on for support and comfort.
"Trelawney," Moody replies. I never thought Hermione could become distressed over a teacher she obviously hated so much in her time at Hogwarts, but she does. She claps her hands to her mouth and gasps. Even Ron sits forward intently.
"What would they want with Trelawney? How did they even get her! Hogwarts is still safe isn't it?"
"As to how they got her," Moody replies, "we have no idea. She might have become lost in one of her trances, and wandered outside the safety of the castle, evading our guards somehow. We have an idea that they might want her because of something to do with the prophecy surrounding Potter; Hogwarts is far safer than other places right now, but even it can, and has, been penetrated by spies of the enemy."
"I think," said Lupin, standing up, "that perhaps right now we should try to concentrate on finding out where they might have taken her."
"Agreed," Hermione responds, "but than, what about Master Olivander? Are we proponing the search for him temporarily? Who will be taking over the search for the Hocrux's?"
"Harry's still our main concern," Ron jumps in, "Even if we're balancing Olivander, Trelawney, and the last Hocrux's, I'm not giving up the search for my bestmate."
"Same here," I reply meekly. Moody and Remus study us intently.
"You realize that you are choosing to follow a path that might very well lead you to find him--" but he doesn't finish, because Hermione cuts him off.
"We can't defeat You-Know-Who without him," she argues, glancing at me worriedly. She shouldn't worry, mere words would never make me believe him dead; They'd have to show me his unmoving body to make me believe. "I think we should continue the search for Olivander, because wherever they've taken him is probably where they're going to take her, which in turns means that the both of them might lead us right to Harry. We can continue to split our resources between finding them, and finding the last Hocruxes."
"Hermione," Remus smiles, pleased with her logic, "Sirius was right when he said you really are the brightest witch of your age. Now, where are you planning to start looking for Olivander?"
"I thought we'd go back to his store and dig around for some clues."
"We'll arrange for a group to go with you," Moody says. "You'll leave in three days, that should be enough time to gather them."
We are about to leave the kitchen when Lupin pulls me aside and asks for me to stay behind a moment. I'm confused, did I do something wrong? The others shrug, and Moody herds them out of the room.
"I've some things to give you," he says gently, looking me directly in the eyes. I've always liked Professor Lupin, his eyes are gentle, his manner humble and kind, and most of all, he was a friend to Harry when Harry was in need. He protected him, mentored him, restored a little bit of faith in him. He hands me one of our secret coins, it feels smooth, cold to the touch.
"What--?" I begin, but he silences me.
"It was his coin. Hedwig brought it to us just before we realized he was missing; We have no idea where he was at the time, off on buisness of his own, or where she came from, but she was nearly dead when she dropped on the doorstep. If you'd like, you can see her later, she's still recovering."
"I'd like that very much," I reply, determined to care for Hedwig until he comes back. I take a few steps out of the kitchen.
"He loves you very much," Lupin calls out. I'm warmed by the fact that he says it in present tense. He believes like I do that Harry is very much alive. "He spoke of you often, in confidence to those he trusted the most."
"I know," I can smile a little as I clutch his coin to my breast. It's just another little piece of him that I'll treasure until I can see him again. "Goodnight," I say.