disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, just Arabella. This chapter is mostly told in Harry's POV with the ending in Arabella's. With this being Harry's official arrival at Grimmauld Place, I though it would be fitting to have most of it in his POV. Hope you all like it!

Harry Arrives

"Get in quick, Harry," Remus whispered. "But don't go far inside and don't touch anything."

Harry stepped over the threshold into the total darkness of Grimmauld Place. He could smell damp, dust, and a sweetish, rotting smell. The place had the feeling of a derelict building. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others filing in behind him, Remus and Tonks carrying his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Moody was standing on the top step and releasing the balls of light the Put-Outer had stolen from the streetlamps. They flew back to their bulbs and the square beyond glowed momentarily with orange light before Moody limped inside and closed the front door, so that the darkness in the hall became complete.

"Here –"

Moody rapped Harry hard over the head with his wand. Harry felt as though something hot was trickling down his back this time and knew that the Disillusionment Charm must have been lifted.

"Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here."

The others' hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding. It was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person. He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering flimsy light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls.

There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried toward them.

"Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. "You're looking peaky. You need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid…"

She then turned to the gang of wizards behind him and whispered urgently, "He's just arrived, the meeting's started…"

The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest and excitement and began filling past Harry toward the door through which Mrs. Weasley had just come. Harry made to follow Remus, but Mrs. Weasley held him back.

"No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron, Hermione and Arabella are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting's over and then we'll have dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall," she added in an urgent whisper.

"Why?"

"I don't want to wake anything up."

"What d-you –?"

"I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting – I'll just show you where you're sleeping."

Pressing her finger to her lips, Mrs. Weasley let him on tiptoes past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind which Harry supposed there must be another door, and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg, they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Harry that the heads belonged to house-elves. All of them had the same rather snout-like nose. Harry's bewilderment deepened with every step he took. What on earth were they doing in a house that looked as though it belonged to the Darkest of wizards?

"Mrs. Weasley, why –?"

"Ron, Hermione and Arabella will explain everything, dear, I've really got to dash," Mrs. Weasley whispered distractedly. "There" — they had reached the second landing — "you're the door on the right. I'll call you when it's over."

And she hurried off downstairs again.

Harry crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob and opened the door. He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceiling, twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy half. Hermione had thrown herself onto him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Pigwidgeon zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.

"HARRY! Ron, Arabella, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless – but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us – the dementors! When we heard – and that Ministry hearing – it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations –"

"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, grinning, closing the door behind Harry. He seemed to have grown several more inches during the summer, making him taller and more gangly looking than ever, though the long nose, bright red hair, and freckles were the same.

Hermione let go of him, but before she could say anything else, there was a soft whooshing sound and Hedwig landed gently on Harry's shoulders.

"Hedwig!"

Hedwig clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers.

"She's been in a right state," said Ron. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last latter to Arabella, look at this –"

He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut.

"I had to shove her into Ron's room," Arabella said softly, giving him an uneasy grin. She seemed exhausted, and yet calm. There were some bags under her eyes, but her smile was warm and inviting. She ran her fingers through her hair and Harry had to stop himself from reaching out.

He swallowed the lump in his throat before saying, "Right… Sorry about that, I wanted answers, you know…"

Arabella bite her lips before whispering, "I wanted to tell you, Harry. I did, I really tried but Dumbledore –"

"– made you swear not to tell me," said Harry. "Yeah, Hermione's already said."

The warm glow that had flared inside him at the sight of his best friends was extinguished as something icy flooded the put of his stomach. All of a sudden – after yearning to see them – he felt he would rather Arabella, Ron and Hermione left him alone.

There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked Hedwig automatically, not looking at any of them.

"It was for the best," Arabella said after a while. "At least that's what they kept telling me."

"Right," said Harry.

"I think Dumbledore thought you were safest with the Muggle –"Ron began.

"Yeah?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows. "Have any of you been attacked by dementors this summer?"

Arabella let out a short chuckle before turning away.

"Well, no –"Ron said uneasily, "but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time –"

Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had known he was being followed except him.

"Didn't work that well, though, did it?" said Harry, trying to keep his voice even. "Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?"

"He was so angry," said Hermione in an almost awestruck voice. "Dumbledore. He came here that night. We" – she pointed at herself and Ron –"saw him when he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary."

"Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

"Aren't you… aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?"

"No," Harry life defiantly.

Arabella let out another chuckle and turned around. "Liar."

Harry's nose flared as he walked away from them, looking around, with Hedwig nestled contently on his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his spirts. It was dank and dark. He then turned towards Arabella.

"So why's Dumbledore been so keen on keeping me in the dark?" he tried to make his voice casual. "Did you bother to ask him at all?"

"Never got a chance to talk much with the man," Arabella said swiftly. "I was busy that night."

"Too busy to care me?" Harry shot back.

Arabella raised her eyebrows. He was behaving just as he feared he would. It did nothing to improve his temper.

"We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on, mate," Ron said quickly. "That night we tried to write to you, but he made us promise. He's been really busy now, we've only seen him twice at the Burrow and once since we've been here. He didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted –"

"He could have kept me informed if he'd wanted to," Harry said shortly. "You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls."

Hermione glanced at Ron and then said, "I thought that too. But he didn't want you to know anything."

"Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted."

"Don't be think," said Ron, looking highly disconcerted.

"Or that I can't take care of myself –"

"Of course he doesn't think that!" said Hermione anxiously.

"So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while the three of you get to join in on everything that's going on here?" said Harry, the words tumbling over one another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every word. "How come you three are allowed to know everything that's going on –?"

"We're not!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young –"

Before he knew it, Harry was shouting.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSELYS' FOR WEEKS! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAT THE THREE OF YOU'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT – WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"

Every bitter and resentful thought that Harry had ever had in the past month was pouring out of him. His frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not told about it. All the feelings he was half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries. Hedwig took fright at the noise and soared off on top of the wardrobe again. Pigwidgeon twittered in alarm and zoomed even faster around their heads.

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!"

Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for words. Hermione looked like she was on the verge of tears. Arabella just kept on watching him, waiting for him to finish.

"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"

"Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did –"Hermione began.

"CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR –"

"Well, he did –"

'I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE FOR WEEKS, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON –"

"We wanted to –"

"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGHT, HAVEN'T YOU –"

"SHUT UP!" snapped Arabella, her face turning red.

Hermione jumped back, her eyes now sparkling with tears. Harry, however, met Arabella's glare, wishing, almost daring, for her to say more.

"How – how dare you think we've been having a laugh at you!" Arabella spat out. "How could you even think that? We've been worried about you! I've been trying to get it out of Remus and Sirius as to when you were finally going to get here. Bet that shocks you, doesn't it? That we actually care about you? And secondly, you're not the only one who witnessed Voldemort's" – Ron and Hermione winced –"return. This must have slipped your mind, but I was there too, okay? I was there, tied up by Crouch, and I had to watch him torture you, kill Cedric and nearly – I was there with you when we faced the dementors, when we saved Ginny from Riddle and when you saved the Philosopher's Stone. I stood between you and Voldemort because I actually care about you. Now, we're sorry – don't give me that look – we're all sorry but we couldn't –"

"You have no idea what it's like to be in the dark," snipped Harry through clenched teeth. "Especially about something as big as this. You have no clue."

Arabella's jaw was ajar for a moment before she bite her tongue and let out a throaty huff. She then swiftly turned around, threw open the door and left. He briefly heard the slamming of another door, but he had no idea where. Ron and Hermione stared at each other for a moment before Hermione looked out the door. Harry glared at empty hallway, still breathing deeply, before turning away from them, pacing up and down. Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creak of the floorboards below Harry's feet.

"What is this place anyway?" he shot at Ron and Hermione.

"Headquarters to the Order of the Phoenix," said Ron at once.

"It's a secret society," said Hermione quickly. "Dumbledore's in charge, he founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time. Are you, er, going to go after –?"

"Who's in it?" said Harry, coming to a halt with his hands in his pockets.

"Quite a few people –"

"– we've met a couple of them," said Ron, "but we think there are more… Arabella's known some of them from before if you want to go see her –"

Harry glared at them. "Well?" he demanded.

"Er – well what?"

"Voldemort!" Harry said furiously. Both Ron and Hermione winced. "What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?"

Just then Arabella entered the room, shoving her way through Ron and Hermione. She stopped a few feet in front of Harry and threw some papers at him. It slipped through his fingers. Before he could reach down and grab them, she tossed some phials at him. He didn't catch them before they flew onto the peeling carpet on the ground. They did not break.

"Don't you ever tell me I don't know what it's like to be in the dark ever again."

Her voice came harshly. She stood agitated in front of him, her nose flared and breathing heavily. She then left once again, her foot stomping all the way back to wherever she came from. Hermione stared after her, making sure she was safe, while Ron sighed and nervously scratched his head. Harry picked up the pieces of parchment and phials, and stuff it into his pockets.

"She, um, she's been in this place the whole summer," said Ron. "We've only just arrived a couple days before you got attacked by the dementors. She's been stuck here with Remus and Sirius –"

"She and Sirius got into a big fight a couple nights ago," added Hermione quietly. "I was sure one of them were going to start hexing each other with the way things escalated."

"And a lot has happened to her," Ron finished off. "It's been a rough summer for her."

"But she's been here, hasn't she?" shot Harry. "She's been to the meetings and –"

"We've told you, the Order doesn't let us in on their meetings," said Hermione nervously. "We don't know the details – but we've got a general idea – Arabella's been trying to listen in and –"

"Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears," said Ron. "They're really useful."

"Extendable –?"

"Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know –"

"– some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order –"said Hermione.

"– and some of them are standing guard over something," said Ron. "They're always talking about guard duty."

"Couldn't have been me, could it?" said Harry sarcastically.

"Oh yeah," said Ron, with a look of awning comprehension.

Harry snorted. He walked around the room again, looking anywhere but at Ron and Hermione. "So what have you two been doing if you're not allowed in meetings?" he demanded. "You said you'd been busy."

"We only just got here a couple days ago," said Hermione quickly. "We've been trying to decontaminate this house. It's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. Remus and Sirius did most of the bedrooms before we got here, so we're probably going to do the drawing room tomo – AARGH!"

With two loud cracks, Fred and George had materialized out of thin air in the middle of the room. Pigwidgeon twittered more wildly than ever and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the wardrobe.

"Stop doing that!" Hermione said weakly to the twins, who were stockier and slightly shorter than Ron. "You're lucky Sirius like both of you or you wouldn't be able to do this!"

"Hello, Harry," said George, beaming at him. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."

"Are you fight with milady?" said Fred, also beaming. "You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out. There might be a couple people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."

"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" asked Harry grumpily.

"With distinction," said Fred, who was holding what looked like a piece of very long, flesh-coloured string.

"It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs," said Ron.

"Time is Galleons, little brother. Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears" Fred added in response to Harry's raised eyebrows, holding up the string, which Harry now saw was trailing out onto the landing. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."

"You want to be careful," said Ron, staring at the year. "If Mum sees one of them again…"

"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," said Fred.

The door opened and Ginny appeared. "Oh hello, Harry!" she said brightly. She then glanced behind her shoulder and whispered, "Oh, come on…"

She exited out of the room and came back a second later, shoving and pushing a grumpy Arabella back into the room. Arabella stood by the closed door with her arms crossed and her eyes on the ground. Harry looked at her for a moment, wondering if she was going to meet his eyes. When she never looked up, he turned away.

"It's a no go with the Extendable Ears," Ginny told Fred and George. "She's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."

"How d'you know?" said George, looking crestfallen.

"Tonks told me how to find out," said Ginny. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."

Fred heaved a deep sigh. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."

"Snape?" said Harry quickly. "Is he here?"

"Yeah," said George. "Giving a report. Top secret."

"Git," said Fred idly.

"He's on our side now," Hermione said reprovingly.

Ron snorted. "Doesn't stop him being a git."

"Bill doesn't like him either," said Ginny.

Harry was not sure his anger had abated yet. But his thirst for information was now overcoming his urge to keep shouting. He sank onto an empty bed. "Is Bill here? I thought he was working in Egypt."

"He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order," said Fred. "He says he misses the tombs, but," he smirked, "there are compensations…"

"What d'you mean?"

"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" said George. "She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish –"

"– and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons," sniggered Fred.

"Charlie's in the Order too," said George, "but he's still in Romania, Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"Couldn't Percy do that?" Harry asked.

At these words, all the Weasley and Hermione exchanged darkly significant looks. Arabella instinctively reached towards the door, but froze the moment her eyes made contact with Harry's. Her guarded eyes turned blank for a moment before she looked away.

"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad," Ron said tensely.

"Why not?"

"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned," said Fred, "Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying."

"It's been awful," Ginny said sadly.

"I think we're well shut of him," said George with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.

"What's happened?" Harry said.

"Percy and Dad had a row," said Fred. "I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts…"

"It was the first week back after term ended," said Ron. "Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."

"You're kidding?" said Harry.

"Yeah, we were all surprised," said George, "because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realized Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain…"

"So how come they promoted him?"

"That's exactly what we wondered," said Ron. "He came home really pleased with himself – even more pleased than usual if you can imagine that – and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts: Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think."

"Only Dad wasn't," said Fred grimly.

"Why not?" said Harry.

"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore," said George.

"Dumbledore's name's mud with the Ministry these days, see," said Fred. "They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back."

"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear their desks," said George.

"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession –"

"But what's that got to do with Percy?" asked Harry, confused.

"I'm coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family – and Dumbledore."

Harry let out a low whistle. "Bet Percy loved that."

Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way. "He went completely berserk. He said – well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been – you know – not had a lot of money, I mean –"

"What?" said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny made a noise like an angry cat.

"I know," said Ron in a low voice. "And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he — Percy — knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now."

Harry swore under his breath.

"Mum's been in a right state," said Ron. "You know – crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work – probably ignore him, I s'pose."

"But Percy must know Voldemort's back," said Harry slowly. "He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof –"

"Percy said the only evidence was yours and Arabella's word," said Ron, "and I dunno… he doesn't think it was good enough."

"Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously," said Hermione, and the others nodded.

"What are you all talking about?" Harry asked, looking around at them all.

They are all regarding him warily. Arabella finally spoke at last, her voice strained. "Haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?"

"Yeah, I have!" said Harry.

"But have you been reading it?" asked Arabella, leaning away from the wall and moving closer towards him. "The whole thing through and through?"

"Not cover to cover," said Harry defensively. "If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it!"

The Weasleys and Hermione flinched at the name.

"You need to read it cover to cover," said Hermione anxiously. "They – um – they mentioned you a couple times a week."

"And they did a number on Arabella," mumbled Ginny.

"But I'd have seen –"

"Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't," said Hermione, shaking her head. "I'm not talking about big article. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."

"What d'you –?"

"It's quite nasty, actually," said Hermione in a forced calm voice. "They're just building on Rita's stuff."

"But she's not writing for them anymore, is she?"

"Oh no, she's kept her promise — not that she's got any choice," Hermione added with satisfaction. "But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now."

"Which is what?" said Harry impatiently.

"That you're a joke," said Arabella quickly. "That you're this deluded, attention-seeking, tragic hero or something. They just keep slipping you in comments. Like if there's a crazy story, they'll say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter' and if someone has a funny accident they'd say 'let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next' –"

"I don't want to be worshiped –"

"I know," snapped Arabella. She then heaved a heavy sigh before continuing, calmly, "We know. They're trying to turn you into someone nobody in their right minds would believe. Harry, Fudge is most likely behind it, he has enough money and power to buy them. They want witches and wizards on the streets to think you're just some stupid little boy who's a joke, who keeps telling ridiculous stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going."

"I didn't ask – I don't want – Voldemort killed me parents!" Harry spluttered. "I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't they think I'd rather it'd never –"

"We know, Harry," Arabella said softly, the hardness from her face disappearing. "But… this is how they work now. This is how they operate now."

"And of course, they didn't report a word about the dementors attacking you," said Hermione. "Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control dementors. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy – we though they would, it would tie in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off – we think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town – I mean, if you're expelled, obviously. You really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you."

"Uh-oh."

Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug. There was another loud crack and he and George vanished. Seconds later, Mrs. Weasley appeared in the bedroom doorway.

"The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now, everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"

"Crookshanks," said Ginny. "He loves playing with them."

"Oh," said Mrs. Weasley, "I thought it might have been Kreacher, he's a bit odd, isn't he? Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please…"

Ginny grimaced at the others and followed her mother out of the room, leaving Harry, Arabella, Ron and Hermione alone. Arabella glanced at the others before muttering something about changing under her breath.

"Look, mate," Ron began at once. "You've got to go easy on her."

"It's been a rough summer for her," said Hermione instantly. "From Abel to her mother –"

"– and her uncle getting fired from her job –"

"What are you talking about?" said Harry, looking at them incredulously.

Hermione sighed before whispering, "You really need to read the Daily Prophet. A couple weeks ago they wrote an article on her. It's was… it was –"

"Brutal," finished Ron, looking uncomfortable. "They made her look like some lunatic who's going to murder someone or something."

"They talked about what happened that night, you know, with her mum," Hermione said nervously. "And kept making claims that she's going to turn out like Bellatrix Lestrange."

"That's a load of crap!" Harry exclaimed.

"We know, Harry," said Ron. "But it's been a rough summer for her as well." He then glanced at Harry's pockets and added, "You should really read that letter she threw at you."

"You'll understand everything then," said Hermione quietly. "And we really don't blame you about being upset. We knew you'd be angry, but we did try and persuade Dumbledore, you've got to understand –"

"Yeah, I know," Harry said grudgingly.

He cast around for a topic to change the subject from Dumbledore – the very thought of him made Harry's insides burn with anger again. He thought about going back to Arabella, but that was something he knew he had to discuss with her, not Ron or Hermione.

"Who's Kreacher?" he asked.

"The house-elf who lives here," said Ron. "Nutter. Never met one like him."

Hermione frowned at Ron. "He's not a nutter, Ron –"

"His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on a plaque like his mother. Is that normal, Hermione?"

"Well – well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault –"

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry. "Hermione still hasn't given up on spew –"

"It's not 'spew'!" said Hermione heatedly. "It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, and it's not just me, Dumbledore told us that we should be kind to Kreacher before we came here too –"

"Yeah, yeah," said Ron. "C'mon, I'm starving."

He led the way out of the door and onto the landing, but before they could descend the stairs –

"Hold it!" breathed Ron, flinging out an arm to stop Harry and Hermione walking any further. "They're still in the hall, we might be able to hear something –"

The three of them looked cautiously over the banisters. The gloomy hallways below was packed with witches and wizards, including all of Harry's guard. They were whispering excitedly together. In the very center of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired, prominent nose of his least favourite teacher at Hogwarts – Snape. Harry leaned farther over the banisters. He was very interested in what Snape was doing for the Order of the Phoenix…

A thin piece of flesh-coloured string descended in front of Harry's eyes. Looking up he saw Fred and George on the landing above, cautiously lowering the Extendable Ear toward the dark knot of people below. A moment later, however, they began to move toward the front door and out of sight. Fred cursed before hoisting the Extendable Ear back up again. The heard the front door open and then close.

"Snape never eats here," Ron told Harry quietly. "Thank God. C'mon."

As they passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall they saw Remus, Mrs. Weasley, and Tonks at the front door, magically sealing its many locks and bolts behind those who had just left.

"We're eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley whispered, meeting them at the bottom of the stairs. "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here –"

CRASH.

"Tonks!"

Arabella excused herself and quickly made her way back to her room. She locked her door and rested her forehead on the cool surface. She… she didn't expect that. She was so excited to see Harry, but after all that happened… she felt as though her insides were going to burst. There was a strange sensation in her stomach and she gently banged her knuckles against the wood.

There was no doubt in her mind Hermione and Ron were warning Harry about her, about how he should go easy on her with everything that's happened over the summer. She overheard Nymph quickly telling them about Kassandra, Abel and Ted getting fired the other night. Arabella didn't confront any of them about this, preferring to pretend she didn't know. But then she threw the letters at his face. The thought actually made her angry. He knew how much she hated secrets and saying that none were kept from her was a complete and utter lie. Why would he say something like that?

"Because he's angry too," Arabella whispered to no one. She sighed and paced her room, running her fingers through her hair. "What I am going to do?"

She had no idea. She didn't want to lose Harry, that's for sure. She didn't want to lose any of her friends. But she's barely talked to Ron and Hermione since they've arrived and she doubt Harry was going to forgive her for ignoring him the whole summer.

"I didn't know he was writing to me," muttered Arabella. "Or else I would have written back."

There was no doubt in her mind that she was telling herself the truth. But she didn't know if Harry was going to believe her. She would have written to him. She would have visited him. She would have brought him here sooner if she could have. Of course she would have. But he made her doubt herself.

But that, that wasn't her Harry. That was not the same Harry who danced with her at the Yule Ball. That was not the Harry that kissed her with his arms wrapped around her waist. This wasn't her Harry, who made her feel as though there were a million butterflies in her stomach, or the one who made her feel as though she had a shot at a normal life. This wasn't the Harry that made her cheeks blush or got back at Nikola Stefanov for her. This Harry was a product of the Daily Prophet, Fudge, isolation and frustration. He just needs… he just needs to be here with her, Hermione, the Weasleys, Remus and Sirius. He needs to be here in order to be himself again. She needs him to be her Harry again.

"Tonks!"

Arabella groaned loudly, waking up Shay, before throwing her door open.

"I'm sorry! It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over –"

Arabella leaned over the banister and saw Remus and Mrs. Weasley dashing forward, trying to tug the curtains shut over Walburga. But they would not close. Walburga's screech was louder than ever, piercing Arabella's ears.

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers –"

"Shut up, you miserable old wrench, shut up!" Arabella screeched, her fists curled up.

Walburga's glare now solely rested on Arabella. Her eyes widened as she now howled, "You! Half-blood breed! Abomination! Shame of my flesh! Stain on my ancestors –!"

Arabella groaned loudly and screamed, "I said SHUT UP!"

She took a small jump and changed into her Animagus in the air. She bared her teeth and leapt towards Walburga's portrait. Walburga screamed as Arabella scratched the frame. She let out a loud growl and snapped her jaw as the curtains closed around Walburga instantly. Arabella changed back and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Always effective," Nymph whispered to Remus.

"You're – you're –"spluttered Harry, staring wide-eyed at Arabella. "You're an Animagus?"

"A coyote to be exact," came a voice from the doorframe to the kitchen. Sirius swiped his dark hair out of his eyes, watching them with a smile. He then said, "But she keeps missing the face."

Arabella gave a sheepish grin before saying, "If I do, Kreacher'll have a heart attack."

"How tragic," Sirius mumbled under his breath. He then looked at Harry and said, "Hello, Harry. You've just met my mother."

"Your –?"

"My sweet, old grandmother," mumbled Arabella, sighing. "Lovely person, isn't she?"

"Dear old mummy," said Sirius. "We've been trying to get her down for a while but she put a Permanent sticking Charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get down stairs, quick, before she decides that she's brave enough to face Arabella."

Thank you so much for reading! Tell me what you guys think of this chapter!

The last couple of chapters I had Harry POVs because Harry and Arabella were separated and I thought it added well to the storyline to see how their separation from each other and their friends affected Harry, since we haven't seen him in a while. Going forward, especially with them heading back to Hogwarts soon, there might be less Harry POVs since they're going to be with each other a lot, but I'm going to try and add them whenever I can here and there. Tell me what you think of this.

Also, let me know what you think of Ron and Hermione in this chapter sort of teaming up here, especially with them being protective of Arabella. I've always liked them together and writing them as this duo was fun.

The next chapter will have a heart-to-heart conversation with Arabella and Harry.