Chapter 29
An Unexpected Request

When Jamie and her father entered the dining room, the members of the Order of the Phoenix had already begun to sit down in their respected chairs. Jamie noticed Professors McGonagall and Slughorn sitting near the front of the room. She also spotted her mother, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, and her grandmother, Molly Weasley, sitting in the front row. Fred and George were sitting in the back row talking to each other. Bill and Fleur were talking with Charlie, all of whom were also in the back row. Tonks and Remus were talking to Kingsley Shacklebolt. Hagrid was standing in the back of the room. Next to Hagrid, Jamie spotted Jane and Joseph, both who looked worried and confused. She left her father's side and walked over to them.

"Do you know why we are here?" Jane whispered to Jamie.

"My father said it was a surprise," said Jamie, "But he also told Romeo that we were in here because they thought we should know what was going on."

"Your father talked to Romeo?" Jane asked.

"Yeah," said Jamie, "I was with him."

"Does your father know about... you know, you and Romeo?" Joseph asked.

"Yeah, I told him," Jamie said.

"All right," said Arthur, standing up, "I believe everyone is here that wants to be here."

"Not yet, Arthur," Harry said, "Our other guest is getting ready. He should be down soon."

As soon as he said this, the door of the dining room opened and Romeo walked in. He stared around the room quietly, as many of the Order members stared at him.

"It's okay, Romeo," Harry said, walking over to the door and closing it, "You may stand with Jamie and the others."

Romeo nodded silently and walked over to Jamie and the others.

"You okay, Romeo?" Jane whispered to Romeo, "You've been in that room for a couple of days now."

"I am fine, Jane," Romeo whispered, "What is going on?"

"We were wondering the same thing," Joseph whispered.

"All right," Arthur said again, "It looks like everyone is now here. We will continue the meeting, then. We went on break after discussing the future of the Order of the Phoenix. You all know what happened last night in the Ministry of Magic and the result of the Hearing with the Wizengamot. Former Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, and my son, Percy, will be arriving here a couple days after the Christmas Holiday. I have already told you that I do not trust the choices that the Wizengamot have made. The Wizengamot do not trust the Order of the Phoenix. We learned this many years ago, and they still have that same bigotry for the Order."

Arthur sighed then continued.

"I hoped that when I took the position of Minister of Magic," he said, "that I would be able to make the Ministry correct the past actions it had made. The conviction of Rufus Scrimgeour had shown us that secrets were still roaming through out the Ministry. I may be the Minister of Magic, but I do not hold all the power within the Ministry. For years I did not want to be Minister, and now that has backfired on me. There are few in the Ministry who are taking me seriously. Many do not trust me and I believe many of those people are members of the Wizengamot. I can tell you right now that the Order of the Phoenix would not be around tonight if I hadn't agreed that Scrimgeour and my son could become members of the Order. This tells me that the Wizengamot is using the Order for its schemes. The Wizengamot freed a man who was convicted of treason in order for them to get what they want. I still remember when treason was punishable by death if that treason was big enough to ruin the world as we know it. And what Rufus Scrimgeour did was enough to be sent to Azkaban for life. But no, he was freed from Azkaban and will not return if he does enough in the Order."

"Now," Arthur continued, "Percy and Rufus are smart people. They are also very loyal with the Wizengamot and will do anything to get a seat in the Wizengamot. I know right now that they are going to report to the Ministry about stuff that is going on here, and we will have to act very formal around them. Before they come, we need to decide what to do. That will take a couple of days. We do have time, but we will have to use it wisely. I do understand that it may take us from our main mission of tracking down Draco Malfoy, but I am sure everyone in here knows what I know: without the Order, the Wizarding World will not get through this."

Jamie thought this last bit from her grandfather was weird. What did he mean? How powerful was the Order? Could the Order really save the world? And if this was true, why was the Wizengamot interfering?

"All right," Arthur spoke up, interrupting Jamie's thinking, "Let's see.. what next? Aw, yes. Dear me, I almost forgot."

Arthur turned his attention to the back of the room where Jamie and the others were standing.

"Jamie, Jane, Joseph, and Romeo," he said, "Would you come to the front of the room please?"

Jamie looked around at her friends, who all looked back with surprises on their faces. She then led the way to the front of the dining room.

"Now," said Arthur, looking at Jamie and the others, "Through the years, we have watched most of you grow up and go through your young lives. You may not realize this, but you have a lot in common with some of the members of the Order. Jamie and Jane, as you already know, your own parents were your age when they were going through the Second War. They were around your age when they were given the right to be members of the Order of the Phoenix. When you become of age, it is a life-changing moment. You are given more responsibilities and privileges then you did when you were just a year younger. You are able to perform spells now legally that you weren't able to perform when you were younger. Oh, but you know this of course."

Arthur smiled and continued.

"But, for the four of you," he continued, "yes, even you Romeo... being of age gives you another privilege. You all grew up learning about the Wars and the events that took place during those years. You probably learned a lot about the Order, and what we did during the Second War. And now, at this very moment, another war is on the way. The Order of the Phoenix knows this, and you need to be aware of this as well."

Arthur looked at the members of the Order of the Phoenix and then turned his attention back to Jamie, Jane, Joseph and Romeo.

"The other members of the Order and I," Arthur said, "have been talking about something that could change the Order... as well as your young lives. Earlier this evening, we agreed on a decision. We have decided to bring four new members to the Order of the Phoenix."

Jamie was stunned by this. She looked at Jane and the others, all of whom had shocked looks on their faces, even Romeo.

"As the Leader of the Order of the Phoenix," Arthur said, "I want to invite the four of you to stand alongside everyone here as members of the Order of the Phoenix."

The stunned look on Jamie's face continued to remain there. She looked from her grandfather to her parents, both of whom were smiling.

"I understand that this might come as a bit of a shock to you," said Arthur, "And that is why I will give you some time to think it over. In fact, I want you to think it over. I want you to give it some thought. Every single member of the Order of Phoenix, and those who have passed on that were Members, had to do the same thing you are doing. They had to think it over before they answered. It is just what is expected. Now, before you think it over, I want to tell you this. You may think that you will be expected to do alot while you are members. But everyone here knows that you are still in Hogwarts, and that you still have a few months of learning left. I do not want you to answer tonight. I want to see that you have put a lot of thought to it. It is quite understandable that you are in a state of shock, and that is why I can not accept an answer from you right now. Now, you make take a seat and we can continue."

Jamie smiled and walked slowly over to her parents and sat down. Romeo sat down next to her. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. But through the smile, it was obvious that a million questions were going through his mind. In fact, a million questions were going through Jamie's mind. She had just been offered a spot in the Order of the Phoenix. She had only been seventeen for a few months and she was already seen as an eligible member of the Order. Was this just because she was her fathers' daughter. But if it was... then why was Romeo asked to be a member?

Maybe it is so the Order can keep an eye on Romeo, the voice in Jamie's head said, You know that Romeo is probably next on his father's death list. The Order wants to protect him. And what better way then to ask him to be in the Order of the Phoenix?

Jamie didn't know what to think about this. The fact that she had been invited to be a member of the Order was still going through her mind. She would need time to think about it, yes. She looked at her parents again, both whom were smiling at her. Jamie smiled back in re-assurance.

----------------------------------------------------
The meeting ended thirty minutes later, and many of the members of the Order left the dining room. A few of the members, including Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Lupin, and Tonks, remained behind with Jamie and her friends.

"How are you all feeling?" Harry asked to Jamie and her friends.

"Well, the Minister was right," Joseph said, "We are a bit shocked about this whole thing."

"We knew you would be," Remus said, "But Arthur was right. We all want you to think about this. Sleep on it. You will find that it might be easier to think about in the morning."

"Good idea," Jamie said.

"Now," Harry said, "We want to tell you something before you go. We do not want you to tell James or Richie about this. They will not understand. They will want to join the Order as well, but they are too young. I want you to keep this secret from them. They are not to know about what happened tonight. You all understand me?"

"Yes, Dad," Jamie said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"Good," Harry said, "You may go."

Jamie, Romeo, Jane and Joseph left the dining room. James and Richie were waiting for them out in the hall.

"So?" James said, "What happened? You have to tell us!"

"No... we don't," Jamie said.

Richie and James jaws dropped to the floor.

"What... why?" Richie asked, "Jane, I bet you can tell us. Joseph?"

"I could tell you," said Joseph, "But I would have to kill you."

"I get it," said Richie, "They made you take an oath or something. You step into a room where a meeting is taking place and you have to swear not to tell anyone what you heard. I get it now. That is why we never hear anything about what goes on in the meetings."

"Richie," said Jane, "I think you better check your butterbeer. I think you might have taken a Babbling Beverage."

"Hmmph!" Richie grunted, "Come on, James, they aren't going to tell us anything."

Richie and James walked away and disappeared around the corner.

"They wouldn't believe us if we could tell them," Jamie whispered, "I mean... would you believe it? We are only seventeen. We are probably the youngest members to be invited into the Order... that is... if we do become members. Well, I don't know about you, but I need some time to think about what just happened in there. I am going up to my room."

"I will go with you, Jamie," Romeo said.

Jamie smiled and nodded. She took Romeo's hand and they made their way to the second floor of the house. As they walked up the stairs, Jamie noticed that Romeo was being silent.

"What are you thinking?" she asked him.

"I don't know," said Romeo, "I would have never expected to be asked to be a member of the Order. I don't have any connections with the Order. It's strange, isn't it? Everything is happening to my family, and now I have been invited to be in the Order. I am suddenly an important person."

"What are you talking about?" Jamie asked.

"Don't think that I don't know what is going on here," Romeo said, "The Order is hunting down my father. I was brought to this house so I could be safe."

"Romeo, you were brought to the house because you couldn't go back your place," Jamie said, "For one thing, there are many things going on there. Investigations and such. For another, you would be alone! Do you know how safe you would be in that house, Romeo! And don't tell me that you think they invited you into the Order just to keep an eye on you. They respect you and see that you aren't like your father. You want this war to end. You want your father to be captured. That is why you have been invited into the Order! You... do want your father to get caught, don't you?"

"Yes, Jamie," said Romeo, "I do want him to be captured. I know he murdered my mother. But how is the Order going to capture my father by inviting me into the Order? Think about that. I am bait, Jamie. That is all I got out of that meeting."

"Romeo, you aren't..." Jamie began.

But Jamie couldn't finish. Romeo had walked ahead of her and up the stairs. When she ran up the stairs after him, she saw the door of the guest room close from down the hall. Jamie walked past the door and toward her room. She decided to not say anymore to Romeo. She knew he needed to think. Perhaps she would get her answer tomorrow. Jamie decided she couldn't worry about that. She had bigger things on her mind. She had to decide if she was ready to be a member of the Order.

Jamie walked into her room and shut the door. She would stay in her room for the rest of the day.

Aww, our favorite couple had another fight... sorta.

Yes, there was plenty to think about in this chapter. What will be the response of Jamie, Romeo, Jane, and Joey? You will have to wait to find out.

Feedback appreciated... as always.