AN: Here's another one. Not much action but as much as I struggle with non-action chapters they're still needed.

JohnMonty: Harry will definitely see some character development when he spends time with Anya, both in mindset and abilities, but it's going to take a while for that to happen.

Chapter 29 - Grimmauld Place

Harry watched as the car reversed out from the porch and to the street, driving down the sunset road until it was out of sight. He closed the front door, walking to the kitchen and raiding the fridge without a care in the world. Much like how the Dursleys first found out about Sirius being his godfather, having Anya threaten them at gunpoint had caused the Dursleys to leave him alone and give him the freedom to act as he pleased. Merlin be damned if he was not going to take advantage of it.

What was it? Best Kept Suburban Lawn Competition? Goodness, the things people come up with.

Finishing his snack and heading back to his room, he watched idly as the sun began to set. There was nothing else to do. Harry sighed, heading to bed. A hooting sound grabbed his attention.

"Hey Hedwig, quiet day, huh? Well, at least you've been busy."

He watched listlessly as his snowy owl gobbled down the mouse caught between her beak. Sending letters to Sirius, Ron and Hermione had been tempting, but he refrained from doing so. Anne's advice had been to sit still and wait for the storm to blow over. She had never given bad advice and nobody really gave a proper response to his letters so in the end, there was no point. He bit the insides of his cheeks. He felt too calm to be normal. Honestly, Anne must have rubbed off on him.

A crashing sound jerked him out from his listless daze. It was too early for the Dursleys to be back. He grabbed the Nokia lying on the table, no messages from Anne, she would have sent him a message if she was coming. That left one unsavoury conclusion, burglars.

"Come on Hedwig, out you go. I don't want you in danger."

Harry opened the window and Hedwig stretched her wings before flying out. Grabbing his wand, he fingered the coin portkey in his pocket that Anne had given him. Burglars should not be a problem, a Stunning Spell or two would resolve the whole issue, but magic was forbidden. One recent stain on his record was bad enough.

A call to the police would be a good option too, but if it turned out to be the Dursleys coming home early and not burglars, he would never hear the end of it. He heard a creak of the loose staircase being stepped on. They were coming up. Aiming his wand at the door, he waited in anticipation as the door slowly opened.

"Lower that wand, boy, before you take somebody's eye out."

That low growing voice sounded familiar, but Harry still kept his wand up.

"Professor Moody?"

"Don't know so much about 'Professor', never got around teaching after all," Moody growled. "Get over here, we want a good look at you."

Given Moody's track record of being impersonated, Anne's warning about the Ministry placing an assassination order after him and the Dementors, Harry was not keen on lowering his guard.

"It's alright Harry, we're just here to get you out."

Another familiar voice.

"Professor Lupin?"

"Not really a professor anymore," Lupin gave a wry chuckle.

"Why are we all standing here, talking in the dark?"

This voice was unfamiliar, but that same voice muttered out the word 'Lumos' and a soft glow lit up the room. Harry stared in surprise at the motley band of wizards and witches standing before him.

"You're right Remus, he looks just like James," said a bald black wizard.

"But with Lily's eyes," added a witch beside him.

One absolutely confusing whirlwind of introductions later, Harry found himself involved in a dizzying circumstance. Words like safety, Ministry and compromised reached his brain in a garbled mess. Soon enough, Harry was mounting his Firebolt at the porch of the house, surrounded by his escorts.

'Wouldn't be at Privet Drive. Moving to somewhere safe.'

He checked the message on his phone before sending it, no point having Anne swing by for nothing.

"There's the signal," said Lupin, pointing at the green sparks flying in the distance.

Everyone began moving, kicking off the ground and into the skies with Moody leading the pack. Harry looked around and saw that they had formed a protective circle around him.

The flight was uncomfortable to put it lightly, agonising to put it bluntly. Harry wished he had the foresight to request for a Cushioning Charm and a Warming Charm which would have made the journey infinitely more comfortable.

Wishing only for the comfort of hot shower, warm food and bed, Harry was glad when Moody finally gave the order to start descending. A part of him wondered why they had not utilised a portkey, they said that an unauthorised portkey was illegal but Anne threw those out like spare cash - quite literally - without getting caught. Then again, she was not caught for underage magic to begin with.

They had landed somewhere in London, Moody passed him a piece of parchment.

"Read quickly and memorise."

The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"The Headquarters of the-"

"Don't read it out loud, boy," Moody growled. "Not safe out here, come on. Follow us."

Moody took back the piece of parchment, setting it alight with a prod of his wand. Vanishing the ashes, he led the group to the row of townhouses in front of them. Harry could see number eleven and number thirteen, but no twelve.

"Uh..."

"Think about what you've just read, Harry," prompted Lupin.

As soon as his mind reached 'number twelve, Grimmauld Place', an additional building came out from seemingly nowhere, pushing houses number eleven and thirteen aside.

Harry's jaw dropped as the rest of his entourage moved towards it. He followed along, nodding a quick thanks to Lupin who held the door for him as he entered. The place was dark, dusty and dirty with cobwebs everywhere.

"Harry. So good to see you," Mrs Weasley said softly as she appeared from a doorway, drawing Harry into a tight hug. "I trust that the journey was fine."

"Thoroughly unpleasant but no problems," Tonks sighed. "Is everyone here?"

"Yes, we were just waiting for you guys to arrive. The meeting is about to start."

Harry followed everyone else to what appeared to be a dining room but he was stopped by Mrs Weasley at the door.

"I'm sorry, Harry, but the meeting is for Order members only. I'm sure Ron and Hermione are waiting for you upstairs, just don't enter any locked rooms. Your room's on the second landing, on the right, you'll be sharing with Ron."

Harry nodded and made for the stairs, looking back as the doors to the dining room closed shut. He was still confused about everything. Going up, he looked around at the house's decor, grumpy wizards stared ominously at him from their portraits and a row of house elf heads hung on the wall. This placed seemed completely demented on multiple levels. Reaching his room, he entered it only to be tackled by a tight hug from Hermione. Ron sat at the back, giving him a grin.

"Harry! You're here! We were so worried. Dementors! And the hearing- how could they! But they can't possibly expel you. I checked it and there are clauses in the law where you can use underage magic in life threatening situations. I'm so sorry we could write back- Dumbledore wouldn't allow us. You must be so angry at us! I'm so sorry."

"Goodness Hermione," Ron chuckled. "Giving him some breathing room. How are you, mate? We really wanted to send the letter but-"

"Dumbledore said, I know," Harry cut in coldly. "You'd think I realised the pattern."

Ron and Hermione flinched at the cold tone, sharing a look and ducking their heads in guilt. Harry could not find it in himself to blow up in front of them, he supposed he would have had it not been for his periodic excursions with Anne, allowing him to vent out all the pent up steam through talking with her - regardless of how one sided the conservations could sometimes be. However, that was not going to stop him from giving them the cold shoulder.

"Look Harry, we are really really sorry that-"

Harry held up his hand to stop Hermione's rambling.

"Just... don't talk about it."

Both his friends nodded, looking at him anxiously.

"Where are we?" Harry asked.

"Number twelve, Grimmauld Place," Ron answered immediately. "Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix."

"And what is this Order?"

"Dumbledore founded it during the first war against You-Know-Who, it's supposed to be like a secret organisation to fight against him."

"And what's been going on?" Harry pressed.

"With what?"

"Everything!" Harry exclaimed, desperate for information he sorely lacked. "Voldemort! What is he doing!?"

"Well... we don't really know," Hermione shifted uneasily. "We're not exactly allowed in their meetings."

"They did mention something about guard duty," Ron added.

"Couldn't have been about me now, couldn't it?"

Silenced reigned the room as Harry laid down on the musty bed, sighing to himself.

"Anything else the Order has been doing that you happen to know?"

"Well, they have been trying to inform the people about the return of You-Know-Who," said Hermione.

"Yeah... but that's been a bit hard," said Ron.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked quizzically, sitting back up. "Why is it hard? Professor Dumbledore told everyone the whole thing before we left for the summer holidays."

"That's the thing actually," Hermione replied. "The Ministry has been getting the Daily Prophet to counter that, I mean you have read-"

"What? The Daily Prophet?" Harry interrupted with a puzzled look.

"You have read them, right?"

"Just the covers, all the important bits would be there," Harry shrugged.

"They've been mocking you and Dumbledore, mate," Ron said bluntly. "What? I am not wrong, Hermione."

"What do you mean by mocking?"

Hermione took her withering glare away from Ron and answered the question. "They just have these side articles where they write offhand comments about you and Dumbledore, saying that you're an attention seeker and Dumbledore has gone senile."

"Who? Rita Skeeter?" Harry spat venomously, upon seeing Hermione's timid nod he scowled. "I thought you dealt with her."

"I thought I did," Hermione grumbled. "I dropped the Ministry a note when I saw her writing those toxic articles again, but they replied saying that she had been a registered animagus. I think Rita Skeeter just registered for an animagus at first opportunity, but why would the Ministry just accept that without any questioning or investigation and charge her for breaching the privacy of others given her muckraking record- oh wait! It's the Ministry."

"Told you we should have fed the beetle to Crookshanks," Ron quipped.

Harry groaned, not Rita Skeeter again. He had enough of that hag in Fourth Year, he could already imagine the contents of the articles.

"Ron, Hermione- oh, you're here, Harry," Ginny appeared at the doorway. "Mom says it's time for dinner."

"Ugh, best get going," said Ron. "At least Snape doesn't eat here with us."

XXXXX

Dinner was good, Harry was sure there was not a meal that could top Mrs Weasley's. At the moment, everyone was at a post-meal stage, simply lounging on their seats and nibbling on desserts.

"So how was your summer?" Sirius asked, he looked much healthier compared to the last time Harry had seen him.

"Alright I guess," Harry answered. "Just a few smatterings of lousiness here and there."

"Don't know what you're complaining about," Sirius gave a slight grin.

"Are you taking the mickey?" Harry asked incredulously.

"Not at all," Sirius stretched his arms. "A nice Dementor attack would have broken the monotony just fine. You try sitting your arse here the entire summer with nothing productive to do."

"Ministry still out for you?"

"Yep. Not that bad with Kingsley feeding false information to the Aurors - he's in charge of catching me. But Dumbledore still thinks it's too dangerous for me."

Harry heard the bitterness in Sirius' voice and felt a surge of affection for his godfather, he could empathise after all.

"I know all too well," Harry raised his cup of butterbeer.

"Of course you do," Sirius gave a bitter bark of laughter, clinking his own cup of butterbeer with Harry's.

There was a moment of silence between them as Sirius nursed his butterbeer.

"Harry," Sirius whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Should we tell Moony?"

"About what?"

"Her."

"Oh... yeah... shit, that's a dilemma. He wasn't there was he?"

"Heh, no need to tell me that." Sirius shook his head. "Been tearing me up for some time now. He deserves to know too, much more than Snivellus that's for sure."

"I'll ask her the next time I see her."

"The next time?" Sirius asked shrewdly.

"I've met her," Harry said evasively. "Just... on and off throughout the summer."

Sirius frowned. "The Order has been keeping watch on you throughout the summer."

"Uh..." Harry stalled slightly, but knowing Sirius, he decided to just run with it. "You do know you're talking about the two children of a Marauder?"

Sirius blinked once, then twice, and he snorted into his butterbeer, shaking his head.

"Prongs, you would have been so proud," he muttered to himself with a grin. "I'd recommend keeping that a secret, but you're going to have to tell me how the two of you accomplished that."

"Sure," Harry smiled, reminiscing the moments he got to spend with Anne.

"That explains why you aren't that glum."

"Jealous?" Harry ribbed jokingly.

"Screw off," Sirius chuckled.

From the other end of the dining room, Ginny let out a large yawn.

"Time for bed, I think," Mrs Weasley called out.

"Not yet," said Sirius. "You know Harry, I'm surprised. I thought the first thing you would do here is to start asking about Voldemort."

The mood in the dining room changed perceptibly, everyone tensed up.

"I did," Harry exclaimed. "I asked Ron and Hermione but they said you have to be in the Order."

Mrs Weasley stepped in, Sirius replied in kind. One thing led to another and Harry watched as the dining room descended into a verbal spar. The Weasley twins were arguing. Ron, Hermione and Ginny joined in. Mr Weasley and Lupin gave their thoughts and the argument was settled, though the atmosphere remained just as tense. But finally, Harry was allowed Order information, information he had been starved from.

The situation was simple but problematic. Voldemort was simply trying to consolidate his power and prepare for the incoming open war. The Order in turn was conducting subterfuge and sabotage operations against Voldemort, trying to convince people that Voldemort had returned. However, hurdles came in the form of nobody believing that Voldemort had returned, with the Ministry discrediting Dumbledore and Harry.

"On top of that there's the Russians," said Mr Weasley.

"What do you mean by that?" Harry asked.

"They grabbed the entirety of Britain's attention," explained Lupin. "It's even harder to convince people that Voldemort came back. They'll just say it was the Russians, the Black Mark syndicate."

"And that provides You-Know-Who more free room to move about," Mr Weasley added.

"You don't think they're working for Voldemort?" Harry asked nervously.

"There's a possibility," Lupin nodded. "We have information of cooperation between them and some people in the Russian Ministry, it would be safe to assume that Voldemort's taking the opportunity to infiltrate the Russians as well."

"Oh," Harry sighed. "And what are the Russians doing?"

"We don't keep as much of a close eye," said Bill. "But so far, they have been doing their own thing, handling the Black Mark and building ties with Britain."

"Is there anything else regarding Voldemort?"

"Yes," said Sirius. "He's after something."

"Something?"

"Yes, something he couldn't obtain back when he was in the height of his power. A kind of weapon, something-"

"I think that's enough," said Mrs Weasley. "More information and you'd might as well induct him into the Order."

"Why not?" Harry exclaimed. "I want to join. I want to fight."

All around him the teenagers nodded vigorously as well.

"You're too young," Mrs Weasley insisted.

"Mom, age doesn't mean you can't do anything," Ron cried out. "Harry's faced You-Know-Who and he still comes out on top."

"Ronald, it's not about what you can or cannot do," Mrs Weasley shook her head. "It's final, you are all too young."

"What!?" Fred yelped. "Where's the logic in that?"

George opened his mouth but Mr Weasley cut him off.

"What your mother meant was," he said calmly. "She is very worried about all your safety and nobody wants to see their children dead on a battlefield. Ron, you're right, Harry has faced a lot. But we are not here to promote child soldiers."

A ripple of uneasy silence went across the room, Ron shifting nervously in his seat.

"Everyone in the Order is putting their lives on the line just so that none of you here will ever have to sully your hands with blood," Mr Weasley finished slowly, letting his words sink in. "Is that clear, everyone?"

A soft chorus of 'yes, dad' came from the redheads.

"Bed time, I think," said Lupin, ending the tension.

Everyone got up from their seat and left the dining room, leaving Mrs Weasley, Sirius and Lupin to tidy up the dishes.

"Mate, that was..." said Ron as they climbed up the stairs.

"Yeah, I know," said George who was behind him. "Never feels good when dad's actually serious."

"Come on, let's move along before mom blows up even more," muttered Fred.

There was a unanimous decision to gather in the room Harry and Ron shared. Harry and Ron sat on their own beds, the twins plopped themselves on Ron's bed while Hermione drew a chair for herself.

"Well, we've heard most of it from the Extendable Ears," said Fred.

"Just the weapon Sirius let slip," said George. "That one's new."

"What'd you reckon that one is?" Ron asked.

"Don't honestly know what else You-Know-Who needs," Harry muttered.

"True," Fred nodded. "He has the Killing Curse."

"And the Cruciatus Curse," George continued. "What more could a dark lord want?"

"An efficient method for systematic mass murder?" Hermione shrugged. "Sorry, that was a bit dark. You-Know-Who just reminds me of a certain fascist leader."

"What's a fascist?" the Weasleys chorused.

"Well, it's-"

"Hush," Fred interrupted Hermione, bringing a finger to his lips. "I think I heard mom."

"We'd best get going then," said George.

The twins leapt off the bed and spun on the spot, disapparating away to their rooms. The pitter-patter that the twins heard grew louder and Hermione gave a muffled squeak.

Thinking fast, Harry dug into his trunk and threw his invisibility cloak to Hermione who vanished under it. Following Ron's lead, he ducked under the blankets and feigned sleep. The door creaked open shortly and Harry could spy Mrs Weasley peeking through the crack. Apparently satisfied, the door closed and the trio came out from their hiding spots.

"But... the weapon," Ron asked. "Any ideas?"

"Something he couldn't get during his height of power," Harry echoed Sirius' words. "What couldn't he get during the height of his power?"

"Hogwarts?" Hermione suggested.

"Thanks Hermione," Ron shuddered. "Now I feel perfectly safe going back there when school starts."

"You will be safe," Hermione retorted. "Professor Dumbledore will be there."

"Honestly," said Ron worriedly. "How long before the Ministry kicks him out from Hogwarts too?"

"They can't do that," Hermione cried, scandalised. "The Ministry has no control in who acts as the Headmaster of Hogwarts."

"Yeah, sure," Ron shot back. "I don't know but I doubt the Ministry has control on who acts as the Supreme Mugwump of the ICW - mind you, 'I' stands for international - and look at what still happened."

Hermione gave a worried sigh. Harry kept silent, staring blankly at the space between his two friends. His mind was slowly wondering away when he heard Dumbledore's name, recalling a set of similar and familiar green eyes.

"Harry, Harry?"

Hermione's voice broke him out from his trance.

"Huh, yes?"

"Are you alright?"

"Yes-"

"You're thinking about her, aren't you?"

There was no further elaboration as to who 'her' was, they both knew what the subject was.

"How would you know?" Harry asked defensively.

"The look on your face," Hermione mumbled. "It's kind of obvious. You're worried aren't you?"

"Kind of hard not to," Harry sighed, shifting about uncomfortably.

He realised he was uncomfortable talking about Anne with his friends. It was like a family thing. Sure, Ron and Hermione had been great - though not as much with the recent 'not answering his letters issue' - but there was always a line between family and friends. He never knew it until he started receiving letters from Sirius, the closest he had to a family. With Anne, the distinction grew bigger, being with Anne and being with Ron and Hermione had been two mutually exclusive things.

"The Black Mark problem?" Hermione prompted.

"It's just... she left Russia, came here as... with..."

Harry fumbled for the right words as his friends waited patiently, doing their best to repay for the cold shoulder they had given him the whole summer.

"I just thought she was finally safe here in Britain, but it's like Russia caught up with her."

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry," Hermione said softly.

Ron thumped him in the back sympathetically. "Come on mate, your sister's tough. You've seen her carry herself in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Not like it's really safer here with Voldemort," Harry spat bitterly.

"You can't say it's safer back in Russia," Hermione said indignantly. "I've read up the wizarding history of Russia, she grew up in a civil war."

"But how did she even end up there?" Ron asked. "Russia is a long way from Britain."

Now that was a topic Harry did not even want to approach. Instead, he laid back down on the bed and gave a groan.

"I'm tired," he said. "Let's continue this tomorrow or something."

Ron and Hermione nodded, the latter standing up and tiptoeing out of the room to avoid the attention of Mrs Weasley. Ron bade him goodnight before ducking snuggling the best he could into the musty beds of Grimmauld Place.

Harry stared at the ceiling as he slowly allowed the gentle embrace of sleep to take over him, thoughts still lingering on Anne. Eventually, dreams occupied his mind in a dizzying whirlwind of Hogwarts, family and that long corridor he kept trying to enter.

He woke up the next day to find Hedwig nibbling his ear rousing him gently from his sleep. He sat himself up and stroked the owl's feathers before said owl gave a soft hoot and flew back to her cage. Harry grinned, reminding himself to get the smart owl some treats soon, she had figured out where to go on her own.

A few minutes to freshen himself up, change into new clothes and he was ready to head downstairs for breakfast. Harry checked his phone and to his dismay, Anne had not answered. There was either too much magic in Grimmauld Place or she had not replied. Passing by a muttering Kreacher, Harry entered the dining room to find Sirius already lounging at the table. The sizzling of what sounded like bacon emanated from the direction of the kitchen, likely the work of Mrs Weasley.

"Morning to you," Sirius nodded, raising his mug of coffee in greeting. "Molly's made most of the breakfast already, tuck in."

Harry nodded, taking a seat. Sirius promptly drew his wand and gave a casual flick.

"Muffliato."

"What was that?" Harry asked, accepting the plate of french toast that Sirius pushed towards him.

"An old spell from my Hogwarts days," Sirius grinned. "Mostly to chat with your dad in classes without being caught."

Harry threw a glance at the kitchens and gave a grin of his own.

"Neat."

"So... how has Anne been?" Sirius asked, lines of worry making its way to his forehead.

"Fine," Harry answered. "She honestly seemed much better outside of Hogwarts."

"Really?" a look of relief washed over Sirius. "How did you two sneak under the Order's nose? How did you two even contact one another? We watched all forms of communication."

Despite the reminder of the Order watching him without consent, Harry found himself grinning smugly, Sirius saw the grin.

"Don't think so highly of yourself Harry," Sirius snorted in amusement. "If I had been there, I would've caught the two of you easily."

Harry dug into his pocket and pulled out his Nokia, sliding it into Sirius' reach. Sirius caught the phone and stared at it for a full five seconds. Then, he burst out laughing.

"Merlin's sake," said Sirius. "That's genius! Bloody simple but genius! You even fooled Moody with that! I can imagine the look on his face if he ever finds out."

Harry ate his french toast with content as he watched Sirius shake his head in amusement.

"If that's how you two communicate, I can't imagine how you two snuck past your guards undetected."

"Me too."

"Huh?"

"It's always Anne who snuck me out, if you could even call that sneaking."

"Why? What does she do?" Sirius frowned.

"Called me to let me know she's free," Harry answered. "Then, she meets me at the nearby playground and we just walk out from there."

"Surely someone would have noticed," said Sirius. "You would have to..."

Sirius paused halfway, a realisation dawning upon him.

"Sirius, what?"

"You would have to incapacitate your guards undetected to simply walk out unnoticed. But she couldn't have."

Sirius locked his gaze at Harry who began to fidget, nervously ruffling the hair at the back of his head.

"She told me she hit Mr Weasley with a sleeping spell when we first met."

"She what!" Sirius yelled, bringing his hand up to palm his face.

"Merlin's sake," Sirius groaned. "She should have never grown up in Russia, she should have been by your side."

His words stirred up a memory in Harry's mind, Anne's words when she was making dinner for the both of them.

"We have Dumbledore to thank for that," Harry spat venomously.

"You found out as well?" Sirius grimaced.

"You knew?"

"How else did Anne end up in Russia when I entrusted both of you to Dumbledore? Took awhile to realise that but it eventually happened."

"And Dumbledore?" Harry asked.

"I've had words with him," Sirius said grimly. "A few disagreements here and there, but he would never be endangering Anne again."

Harry gave his godfather a small smile, glad that Sirius was doing his best to protect those he cared for.

"But enough about that," Sirius shook his head, grinning again. "What have the two of you been doing?"

"Nothing spectacular," Harry chuckled. "Just wandering the neighborhood and the town."

"We have the whole day for you to share stories," Sirius gave a smile.