Chapter 2
And Then There Were None



"'Ello Harry!" He said, waving his hand. He had looked the same since Harry had met him for the first time.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" Harry asked, getting up from his bed.

"Here to get you," he said. "Mum thought it was best that I do it instead of the twins. She didn't want them taking a detour to one of the muggle's rooms. Dumbledore'd just given the ok to come 'n get you. So, get ready."

"I'm ready," Harry said with much excitement. He picked up his trunk and grabbed Hedwig's cage. "Are we going to the Burrow?"

"Nope," Bill whispered, opening the door and looking down the hall. "Head quarters, and we'll be taking the night bus."

Harry's stomach gave a jump. Yet again, he thought of Sirius and how happy he was last Christmas at Number Twelve, Grimmuald place.

"You lead the way," Bill whispered, opening the door all the way. "I don't want to end up in one of 'their' rooms."

They walked down the stairs (hopping over the last, broken step), and quietly out of the front door. As Harry walked under the night sky, he felt relief wash over him, as he had finally left the Dursleys house, but he then remembered that he'd have to return next summer.

Bill raised his wand in the air as they reached the dimly lit street. Out of no where a triple decker bus appeared in front of them.

"'Ello and welcome to the night bus," said a familiar pimpled face, opening the bus door. "I'm Stan and-...'Arry!"

"Hello," said Harry, walking up onto the bus. It was completely empty except for an old man falling asleep in a chair towards the back. Bill led Harry to the very front, where they both took a seat.

"So how have you been?" Bill asked.

"All right," said Harry, quite plainly.

"Are you sure?" said Bill. "You know mum's been worried about you ever since-"

"Can I ask you something," Harry interrupted, hoping to change the subject as quickly as possible.

"Sure," said Bill.

"Do the letters for the O.W.L.S go out at different times?"

"No they all go out at the same time," Bill said, leaning back into his chair a bit. "Why?"

"It's just...Well, I haven't gotten them yet," said Harry.

"What?" said Bill, leaning forward a bit, to look at Harry. "That's impossible. I mean, even if you failed them all, they've still got to send you a letter. You haven't gotten anything?"

"Nope," said Harry.

"They couldn't have been intercepted," said Bill, looking forward in a pensive manner. "I mean, it shouldn't be anybody else's concern."

Harry thought of Malfoy and what he would do, just to find out if Harry had gotten a 'D' on one of his O.W.L.S.

The jerky bus ride was quite the rest of the way there. When Harry stepped off, he found himself with a familiar site, but it did not ease his pain. Bill went forward to open the door, and Harry followed.

Number Twelve, Grimmuald place was very different from what it looked like when Harry last left it. It wasn't dusty and grim, but neat and clean. There wasn't a speck of dirt in sight.

"They finally got rid of that horrible portrait," said Bill, closing the door behind him. Harry had noticed, that there had been no voice yelling "filthy" or "scum" at them when they walked through the door. "I'll bring your stuff up to you and Ron's room."

"Thanks," said Harry.

"Harry!"

Mrs. Weasley came trotting toward him and took him into a motherly embrace. "So good to have you here at last. And this place is, at last, suitable for living. Everyone is in the kitchen having breakfast."

Harry walked to the kitchen, and fount it also clean. At the table in the middle of the room, sat Fred, George, and Ron. They all looked at him in a sort of questioning manner.

"Hey mate," said Ron, as Harry sat down.

"Hey," said Harry, and the three of them smiled.

"Feeling all right then, are you?" Ron said, with a bit of relief.

"Better," Harry replied.

"Well good," said George.

"Because you are just the man we want to see," said Fred.

"About what?" asked Harry.

"Well, what d'ya think, Harry?" said George. "You're the one we owe our success to."

"Well, not all of it," said Fred, straightening his crocodile-skin jacket. "Would of been hard to manage it without ourselves."

"Very True that is," said George with a mischief-making Grin. " But without you, it would have never of happened."

"Well, it would have happened, just not as quickly," reassured Fred. "And without it happening like it did, we would have never been able to get that Umbridge woman like we did."

"Right you are, again," said George. "So, as an ode to your attribute to our success, we present you with this."

He held out a bright green card. Harry took it and read it.

"Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes, life time supply card?" Harry looked up from the card, which had Fred and George's face on either side and fire works exploding in the background."

"That's right," said Fred. "A lifetime supply of anything you want from 'Wizarding Wheezes'."

"We owe it to you," said George.

"Thanks," said Harry, stowing the card away in his pocket.

"So what d'ya get on your O.W.L.S?" asked Fred.

"Yeah," sad Ron. "If I could get an 'E' in Transfiguration, you probably got 'O's in everything."

"I wish I could say," said Harry. "But I didn't get anything."

Ron sat up in his chair and looked at Harry. "You got D's in everything? That's impossible!"

"Even we did better than that," laughed Fred.

"No, I mean I didn't get anything," said Harry. "No letter at all."

"That's impossible as well," said George.

"Bill said the same thing," said Harry.

"I mean, they have to send out something," said Fred. "Even if you've gotten straight 'D's."

"We'll just have to look into it then," said George.

"How could you find out?" asked Harry.

"Members of the Order now," said Fred.

"Only for three months," said Ron.

"But still members," said George. "Unlike you can say."

"Mum finally couldn't stop us. Seeing as we've left Hogwarts," said Fed.

"'Left' being the opportune word!" said Mrs. Wesley, walking into the room. She shook her head at the two of them.

"I think you'd be proud of our success by now," said George.

"Yes, but you could have at least finished school, "she said, flicking her wand at the dirty dishes, which began to clean themselves. "Would it have been that horrible if-"

"Yes!" said Fred and George together.

"You try having Umbridge as a teacher," said George.

"All right," she said, walking to the door. "Enough of this. What's done is done. Harry, I want you to go and get some sleep, before lunch." And she exited the room.

"We've had that same conversation every other day for three months now," said Fred, resting his head on his hand. "I just wish I could have seen her face when she first found out."

"That would've been a sight to see," said George, and he began ranting in a mock tone. They all laughed.

Although Harry wished they all could have been sitting at the Burrow instead, he was glad to be with the Weasleys again. They were about the only thing that could help take Sirius off his mind.

Harry slept for most of the morning. When it was lunch time, Ron came in, to wake him up, and they walked downstairs together. Along with Fred, George, and Ginny, Lupin was also sitting at the table. He got up once they had entered the room.

"Harry," he said, walking over to him and clapping him on the back. "Good to finally have you here. You been holding up all right?"

"Yeah," said Harry, sitting down at the table, next to Ron.

"That's good," he said nodding. He seemed to want to talk about something but couldn't bring himself to it.

"We were just telling him about you not getting your O.W.L.S," said, a muffled, Fred, who had just stuffed a whole sandwich inside of his mouth.

"Don't talk with your mouthful," scowled Mrs. Weasley, who also took a seat at the table. Fred rolled his eyes.

"Yes they were," said Lupin, pushing his prematurely greying hair away from his eyes. "I've sent a letter to Arthur, asking him to look in the matter. It is just test scores, but there should be no reason for them to be delayed."

"Maybe someone took them," said Ginny, here mouth also full. Her mother gave her a scornful look, and she swallowed. "Sorry."

"But they are just O.W.L.S," said George, "Who would want them?"

"Malfoy," blurted out Ron.

"And the Daily Prophet," said Ginny, swallowing her food before speaking.

There was also another name on everyone's mind, but no one wanted to speak it.

"Voldemort wouldn't want them," said Harry. "They are just test sco-"

"Not necessarily," interrupted Lupin. "They are 'your' test scores."

"But still-"

"You never know," Lupin continued. "He might want to know what he is up against."

"I think you are all getting way to ahead of yourselves," said Mrs. Weasley, picking up, the once full, tray of sandwiches, and walking over to the counter.

The conversation ended there. Everyone began to file out of the kitchen. Just as Harry was about to exit the door, Lupin pulled him back.

"Harry, I'd like to have a word with you," said Lupin.

"All right," said Harry.

"Let's go up to Buckbeak's room," said Lupin, and they left the room, leaving the door swinging behind them.

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Sorry about the fast pace in the beginning. I tried to fix it, but you can only put in so much detail.