The next couple days were both busy and mildly tense. The Order was almost split on whether it was time to bring Harry to the headquarters for the rest of summer. It wasn't that some people didn't want Harry around, it was that Dumbledore wanted Harry to stay with his aunt and uncle for some reason.
Hedwig was in a right mood since she arrived. Annabelle suspected she wanted to take a response back to Harry, but no one was writing one. If they tried writing him a short note, she'd nip at them and refuse to take it. A few people, namely Ron, Hermione, and Sirius, had bloody cuts and marks on their hands and fingers from Hedwig's beak.
Finally, about four days after Harry's letter, several people left to go pick Harry up. Anna personally thought they didn't need as many people as were going, but a lot of people wanted to get him. Finally, it was narrowed down to Moody, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Sturgis Podmore, and Hestia Jones.
"So, how long do you think it'll be before they get back?" Anna asked, plopping down on her back on Fred's bed.
"With Moody leading, they may not be back till midnight." George joked, sitting on the bed next to her.
"Don't joke. That could very well be true." Anna told him, even though she was joking, too. Of course, knowing Moody and his "constant vigilance!" lectures, he may make the group turn back five times to make sure no one's following them.
Fred sighed, sitting on George's bed across from them. "Wish I was out there. Flying. I'm going stir-crazy in here."
Anna smiled sympathetically. "As if your mum would've let you go."
Fred grimaced and nodded, grudgingly admitting she was right. "Still. We haven't been on our brooms since…our birthday! That's-what-four months?" he whined.
"Don't remind me." George grumbled.
The door creaked and they all looked up in time to see a familiar, hunchbacked house-elf in a loincloth shuffle into the room. He was gazing around blankly, as if not really taking in his surroundings.
"Bloodtraitors, werewolves, and filthy half-bloods. All rushing off to bring the Potter boy into my Mistress's home. Oh, how my beloved mistress would despise what has become of our home…" he was grumbling.
"Hi Kreacher." Anna said quietly before the twins could make a rude remark.
Kreacher made a very fake start and turned to look up at them. "Kreacher did not see the young Masters and Mistress." he told them, bowing so his long nose nearly touched the carpet. "Filthy little beasts. The girl isn't fit to be called a Black. Child of traitorous scum-"
"What was that?" Fred asked loudly, standing up and glaring down at the house-elf.
"Kreacher said nothing, young Master. Kreacher is cleaning." the elf said evasively.
"Well, there's nothing in here for you to clean." George told him sharply. "Go into another room."
"Of course, Young Master. Kreacher lives to serve the House of Black." the elf muttered, bowing low and backing out of the room again. Fred walked to the door and shut it with a loud click.
"You guys need to go easy on him." Anna told them quietly. "He can't help it. He's been here alone for a long time."
"That doesn't mean I'm going to sit by and let him say those things to you." Fred told her sharply as he sat down next to her this time, so she was sandwiched between the twins.
Anna just sighed, knowing there was no talking him or George out of their mindset. So, she just leaned her head on Fred's shoulder.
They worked on their Skiving Snackboxes for a couple hours, trying to figure out what to do about the Puking Pastilles. The puking end of the chews were working perfectly, but they were having trouble getting the antidote end down without puking it back up.
Fred made a note on a piece of parchment. Anna turned her head toward the closed door, having heard something. She focused for a moment and heard lots of voices downstairs, as well as the sound of the front door opening and closing.
"I think the meeting's going to start soon." she told the twins, turning back to them.
Fred and George exchanged a smirk before George pulled a few Extendable Ears out from under his bed.
"Well, let's see what we can hear." he suggested with a smirk.
They all stood up and crept quietly out of the room and onto the landing. They looked down over the railing, seeing the many flights of stairs spiraling down the walls and landings to the main floor below. George slowly lowered his Ear a few floors before sticking his end into his ear. Fred and Anna did the same.
There was a slight crackling like static for a few moments. Slowly, Anna picked up the muffled sound of several voices, all seemingly coming from a few different places. Then, suddenly all those voices were drowned out by one, loud, screaming voice.
Anna flinched and yanked the Extendable Ear from her own ear. Fred and George did the same, rubbing their sore ears.
"Was it just me, or did that sound like Harry?" Anna asked, looking between them.
"Yep." they said together. Fred grabbed Anna's hand and, with a familiar tug in her navel, Anna and the twins appeared with a loud CRACK in Ron's room. Hermione screamed a bit in shock, and Ron's owl Pigwidgeon zoomed up to join Hedwig on top of the wardrobe.
"Stop doing that!" Hermione told them weakly.
"Don't look at me. I was held hostage." Anna told her, lifting the hand that Fred was still holding.
"Hello Harry." George beamed at the younger boy, who still looked mildly angry. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."
"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out." Fred suggested, also beaming. "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."
"You three passed your Apparation tests, then?" Harry asked grumpily.
"With distinction." Fred announced proudly.
"It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs." Ron told them.
"Time is Galleons, little brother." Fred told him. "Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears," he added in response to Harry's raised eyebrows, holding up the fleshy string. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs."
"You want to be careful." Ron warned them, staring at the ear. "If Mum sees one of them again…"
Anna winced at the reminder while Fred commented casually, "It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having."
The door opened and a head of long, red hair came into view.
"Oh hello, Harry!" Ginny grinned brightly at him. "I thought I heard your voice." Turning to her twin brothers, she added, "It's no go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door."
"How d'you know?" George asked, looking crestfallen.
"Tonks told me how to find out." Ginny told them, making Anna grin. Tonks had become very good friends with the other two girls, as well as most of the other kids. "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?" Harry asked quickly. "Is he here?"
"Yeah." George answered, closing the door and sitting down on one of the beds. Anna, Fred, and Ginny followed suit. "Giving a report. Top secret."
"Git." Fred added casually.
"He's on our side now." Hermione defended disapprovingly.
Ron snorted. "Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks as us when he sees us…"
"Bill doesn't like him either." Ginny pointed out, as if that settled it. Anna grinned next to the youngest Weasley.
Harry sat down on the bed across from them. "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." Fred explained. "He says he misses the tombs, but," he smirked, "there are compensations…"
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked curiously.
"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" George asked. "She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er' Eeenglish-"
"-and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons." Fred sniggered, making Anna elbow him in the ribs even though she was smirking, too.
"Charlie's in the Order, too," Anna added, "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.
Anna winced and glanced at the others, who were exchanging dark looks.
"Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad." Ron advised Harry in a tense voice.
"Why not?"
"Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying." Fred answered darkly.
"It's been awful." Ginny said sadly. Anna wrapped her arm around Ginny's shoulders and took Fred's hand in hers.
"I think we're well shut of him." added George with an ugly look that didn't look right on his normally-smiling face.
"What's happened?" Harry asked.
"Percy and Dad had a row." Fred explained. "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." Ron added. "We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted."
"You're kidding?" Harry cut in.
It made sense to be surprised. After all, Percy had faced some criticism by not noticing that something was wrong with his boss, Mr. Crouch.
"Yeah, we were all surprised," George agreed, "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?" Harry asked.
"That's exactly what we wondered." Ron agreed, looking relieved that Harry wasn't yelling anymore. "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." Fred added grimly. Anna squeezed his hand, rubbing her thumb over the back of his hand. They'd had a few discussions about Percy since him and George told her about it at the beginning of the summer, and Anna could tell that under all the anger and resentment, Fred and George were both deeply hurt by what Percy had done.
"Why not?" Harry asked.
"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore." George answered.
"Dumbledore's name's mud with the Ministry these days, see." Fred added. "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 out their desks." George said.
"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, and Wren. He knows they're both friendly with Dumbledore and you, and he's always thought Dad was a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession-"
"But what's this got to do with Percy?" Harry interrupted, looking 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 let out a hollow laugh.
"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?" Harry nearly shouted in shock, while Ginny made a noise similar to an angry cat.
"I know." Ron agreed 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 were 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 cursed under his breath and Fred's hand accidentally tightened around Anna's fingers. She leaned up and kissed his cheek before leaning her head on his shoulder.
"Mum's been in a right state." Ron continued dully. "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-ignores him, I s'pose."
"But Percy must know Voldemort's back." Harry argued slowly. "He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof-"
"Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row." Ron cut in, shooting Harry a cautious look. "Percy said the only evidence was your word and…I dunno…he didn't think it was good enough."
Fred suddenly released Anna's hand and slipped his arm around her waist, pulling her closer to his side so he could kiss the top of her head. Anna knew he was probably tense because Percy had apparently dragged her name into it, as well. Everyone refused to give her any details, all Fred would tell her was that Percy said things about her that pissed most of the family off. She didn't really care to know what he said. His opinion didn't matter to her.
No one else noticed Fred's movement, the conversation continuing around them.
"Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously." Hermione added tartly, and everyone nodded in agreement.
"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, looking at them all with confusion. Anna tensed as they looked warily back at him.
"Haven't-haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?" Anna asked him nervously.
"Yeah, I have!"
"Have you-er-been reading it thoroughly?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Not cover to cover." Harry answered defensively. "If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it?"
All the Weasleys flinched at the name, and Hermione hurried on, "Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they-um-they mention you a couple times a week."
"But I'd have seen-"
"Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't." Hermione shook her head. "I'm not talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke."
"What d'you-?"
"It's quite nasty actually." Hermione continued 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 kept her promise-not that she's got any choice." Hermione added almost smugly. "But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now."
"Which is what?" Harry demanded impatiently.
"Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?"
"Yeah."
"Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something." Hermione explained very quickly, as if she were ripping off a band aid. "They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears they say something like 'a tale worthy of Harry Potter' and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's '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 anyone to worship-" Harry started hotly.
"I know you don't." Hermione said hurriedly, looking frightened. "I know, Harry. But don't you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going."
"I didn't ask-I didn't want-Voldemort killed my parents!" Harry stuttered. "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." Ginny assured him earnestly.
"And of course, they didn't report a word about the dementors attacking you." Hermione continued. "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 thought 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," she added hurriedly, "you really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you."
Their conversation was interrupted by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
"Uh oh." Fred stuffed his Extendable Ear into his pocket and, with a pop, he and George vanished. Anna rolled her eyes, staying seated comfortably next to Ginny. A second later, Molly opened the door and looked in at them.
"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." Ginny answered easily. "He loves playing with them."
"Oh. I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. 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 before following her mother from the room. Anna followed quietly, seeing Ron and Hermione looking nervously at Harry. They probably needed a moment. She stopped out on the landing and looked over the banister. She could see the hall below was packed full of Order members. They were all whispering excitedly among themselves, and right in the very center of the mass…was Snape. Anna wrinkled her nose with distaste.
A few moments later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione joined her and peaked over the banister, too, clearly wanting to see if they would hear anything.
Something moved near Anna's forehead and her head snapped up to see a familiar fleshy string dangling in front of her face. Smirking, she let her eyes follow it up to the landing above, where Fred and George were cautiously lowering their Extendable Ear toward the crowd of people. Unfortunately, a moment later, everyone was moving toward the front door.
"Dammit." Fred hissed as he started pulling the ear back up.
Anna sighed in disappointment and started heading down the stairs, ignoring the younger trio's conversation as they walked behind her.
"We're eating down in the kitchen." Molly whispered once they made it to the bottom of the stairs. "Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall, it's through this door here-"
CRASH.
"Tonks!" Molly cried in exasperation as everyone looked behind her. Tonks was sprawled on the floor, the troll-leg umbrella stand toppled near her foot.
"I'm sorry!" Tonks wailed. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over-"
But as usual, her words were drowned out by the familiar bloodcurdling screeching. The curtains around Walburga Black's portrait flew open. She was screaming at the top of her lungs, drool dripping down her face, and eyes rolling.
Her screaming awoke the other portraits around her and they started yelling, too. Anna and the other kids clapped their hands over their ears to try and muffle the noise.
Remus and Molly hurried forward and tried to yank the curtains shut again, but they wouldn't close and her screaming got louder.
"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-"
Tonks was apologizing over and over while picking up the umbrella stand. Molly abandoned Walburga's portrait and ran around Stunning the other portraits with her wand.
Finally, Anna saw her father come storming from the kitchen. "Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!" he roared, seizing the curtain.
"Yoooou!" the woman screeched at the sight of her son's face. "Bloodtraitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!"
"I said-shut-UP!" Sirius roared, finally yanking the curtains closed with Lupin's help.
Finally, peaceful silence fell over the hall and Anna sighed in relief, letting her hands drop from her ears.
Sirius was panting, sweeping his long, black hair from his face as he turned to greet Harry. Anna left them to it and headed to the kitchen. Most of the light was coming from the large fire at the far end of the room, and a haze of pipe smoke hung in the air. Several chairs had been crammed into the room for the meeting around the long wooden table. Arthur and Bill were talking quietly with their heads bent together at the end of the table. Mundungus was asleep slouched over the table.
Anna walked over to where her mum was working at the stove.
"How'd the meeting go?" she asked casually, leaning back against the counter next to the stove.
Wren smiled at her. "It went fine. Did you see Harry yet?"
"Yep. We talked for a while. He's, um,…not too thrilled about being left out of everything." Anna admitted.
Wren smiled sympathetically. "That's understandable."
Anna glanced up as her dad lead the way into the kitchen, Harry and some others following him. Molly saw her husband and eldest son at the table and cleared her throat. Arthur looked around and jumped to his feet. Anna slipped across the room to where Bill was hastily trying to roll up the several bits of parchment.
"Anything interesting?" she asked casually, lightly pulling on the end of Bill's ponytail. Since he joined the Order, he was around frequently over the summer and Anna had gotten the chance to get to know the oldest Weasley sibling a bit better.
Bill smirked over at her as he continued to hastily roll the parchment up in an attempt to keep anyone from seeing them. "Wouldn't you like to know?"
"Who do you take me for? Fred?" she teased. "I could help you clean those up if you want." she offered casually.
"Nice try. Why don't you help set the table?" he suggested, seeing through her little charade.
"It was worth a try." she said with a shrug, going back to the stove.
Arthur and Bill greeted Harry, and Tonks accidentally toppled a candle onto the parchments. Molly cleared the mess quickly and told her son off for not having the stuff cleared away at the end of the meeting. Meanwhile, Sirius introduced Harry to Mundungus.
Anna helped Ginny gather cutlery from the dresser and began setting places at the table. She paused to scratched Crookshanks on the head as he sat curled up on Sirius's lap.
"Ah, Fred, George, why don't you two help set the table, as well?" Molly suggested as soon as the twins entered the room.
Both grimaced but nodded consent and approached the counter.
Anna scooped a balled up piece of napkin off the floor and approached the trash can in the corner to throw it away.
"Fred-George-NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Molly suddenly shrieked.
Anna spun around in time to see that the twins had betwitched everything to fly to the table. A big cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy cutting board with a knife hurtle through the air. Harry, Sirius, and Mundungus dove from the table just in time as the stew skidded the length of the table, leaving a long, black burn on the surface, until it came to a stop just at the edge. The flagon fell with a crash, spilling butterbeer all over the table and floor. Finally, the knife slipped from the cutting board and stabbed into the table exactly where Sirius's hand had been seconds before.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Molly screamed, her face turning dark red. "THERE WAS NO NEED-I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS-JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" Fred argued, hurrying over and wrenching the knife from the table. "Sorry Sirius, mate-didn't mean to-"
Harry and Sirius were both laughing, and Anna couldn't help letting out a relieved laugh, too, now that no one had been stabbed or burned. Mundungus had toppled backward off his chair, and was now swearing as he clambered to his feet. Crookshanks was peaking out from under the dresser, glaring up at everyone with large, yellow eyes.
"Boys," said Arthur, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table, "your mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age. Anna doesn't cause any trouble with her magic-"
"-none of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Molly ranted at the twins, slamming a new flagon onto the table and nearly spilling it. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy-"
She stopped, her breath catching in her throat as she gave her husband a frightened glance. Arthur's expression was suddenly cold and stony.
"Let's eat." Bill suggested quickly.
"It looks wonderful, Molly." Remus told her, ladling stew onto a plate and handing it to Molly while Wren rested a hand on her back and gently guided her to a seat.
Anna sat down between the twins, and it was silent for a few minutes apart from the clinking of silverware on plates. Finally, Molly turned to Sirius and spoke.
"I've been meaning to tell you, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a boggart, but I thought we ought to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out."
"Whatever you like." Sirius said indifferently.
"The curtains in there are full of doxies, too." Molly went on. "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow."
While her father responded, Anna turned and raised her eyebrows excitedly at the twins. They both smirked in return, all three thinking of the doxie venom they'd been wanting to experiment with for their Skiving Snackboxes.
Across the table, Tonks spent a majority of the meal entertaining Hermione and Ginny by changing her nose, like she usually did. First it was beak-like, then like a button, and then she sprouted a bunch of hair from her nostrils.
Anna chose to join their conversation, seeing as the twins and Ron were listening to one of Mundungus's stories, whom Anna wasn't quite as fond of as her friends. So, her and Tonks began doing a sort of duel performance for Hermione and Ginny's entertainment.
After a while, Molly made Mundungus shut up, as she wasn't fond of his stories, either. However, to Anna's mild displeasure, Molly threw a nasty look at Sirius before standing up and getting dessert. It was probably because she didn't like Mundungus.
After everyone had eaten a few helpings of rhubarb crumble, Anna saw her mother eat four helpings, everyone was very relaxed and lazy. Arthur was leaning back in his chair, Tonks was yawning, Anna was resting her cheek in her hand, and Ginny was sitting on the floor and rolling corks around for Crookshanks.
"Nearly time for bed, I think." Molly finally broke the comfortable silence with a yawn.
"Not just yet, Molly." Sirius interrupted, turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."
The feeling in the air instantly changed. Everyone went from being sleepily relaxed to tense and alert. Anna sat up straight, her hands moving from the tabletop to her lap.
"I did!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "I asked Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so-"
"And they're quite right." Molly cut in, her back ramrod straight and fists clenched on her chair arms. "You're too young."
Anna refrained from grimacing while the twins both scowled at their mother.
"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" Sirius asked simply. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen-"
"Hang on!" George interrupted loudly.
"How come Harry gets his questions answered?!" Fred added angrily. Anna didn't voice her anger, but even she was glaring at her father. It wasn't fair that Harry gets to know things his first night while the rest of them had been needing to bend over backwards to eavesdrop for the last month.
"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" George continued.
"'You're too young, you're not in the Order,'" Fred continued in a high-pitched imitation of his mother. "Harry's not even of age!"
"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing." Sirius told them calmly. "That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand-"
"Um, hello, are you forgetting something?" Anna asked sarcastically, lifting a hand in the air. "You're my father. Why are you letting Harry know things, but you and Mum have insisted on keeping me in the dark all month?"
Sirius grimaced and glanced at his wife, who gave him a stern look back. "Anna, darling, your mother-" Wren cleared her throat, "I mean, your mother and I want to keep you safe. You don't need to worry about what's going on, and neither of us would feel comfortable with you in the Order. It's too dangerous."
"I'm of age. And so are Fred and George. We're old enough to leave school and live on our own. So technically, we should be able to join the Order with or without our parents' consent." she pointed out firmly, to which both twins echoed with 'yeah!'.
"That doesn't matter. Any of you joining the Order is completely out of the question." Molly insisted. "And it's not up to you to decide what's good for Harry." she added sharply to Sirius, her eyes dangerously sharp. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"
"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, yet knowingly. Wren smacked his arm with the back of her hand.
"The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know." Molly explained, putting added emphasis on the last few words.
Anna, Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione's heads turned from Sirius to Molly as they watched the interaction. Ginny had sat up on her knees in the middle of the abandoned butterbeer corks, watching the interaction with her mouth open. Remus and Wren both had their eyes fixed on Sirius's face.
"I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly." Sirius informed her calmly. "But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back," there was a brief shudder around the table as the forbidden name, "he has more right than most to-"
"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" Molly exclaimed. "He's only fifteen and-"
"-and he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," Sirius cut in, "and more than some-"
"No one's denying what he's done!" Molly insisted, her voice rising with every sentence and her fists trembling on the arm of her chair. "But he's still-"
"He's not a child!" Sirius exclaimed impatiently.
"He's not an adult, either!" Molly exclaimed, her face turning red. "He's not James, Sirius!"
Anna winced and noticed her mother did, as well, both witches turning to look at Sirius worriedly.
"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks, Molly." Sirius told her coldly.
"I'm not sure you are! Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"
"What's wrong with that?" Harry asked.
"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!" Molly answered, her glare still fixed firmly on Sirius. "You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"
"Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?" Sirius demanded, his voice rising. Wren bit her lip, taking his hand in hers atop the table.
"Meaning you've been known to act rashly, Sirius. That's why Dumbledore is hesitant to give you certain missions."
"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!" Sirius suggested loudly. As far as Anna knew, Dumbledore had given her father a handful of 'missions' over the summer. But as they were rare, and since his training as an Auror was only a few days a week, he had a lot of time on his hands and often grew bored.
"Arthur!" Molly suddenly exclaimed, rounding on her husband. "Arthur, back me up!"
Anna half-expected Arthur Weasley to stutter and try to wiggle his way out of the conversation, but he remained remarkably calm. He took his glasses off his face and cleaned them slowly with his robes, not looking at anyone for several moments. Only when his glasses were back on his face did he speak. "Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in to a certain extent now that he is staying at headquarters-"
"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!" Molly argued.
"Personally," Remus finally spoke, looking away from his best friend at last as Molly looked at him hopefully, "I think it better that Harry get the facts-not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture-from us, rather than a garbled version from…others."
Anna bit her lip to smother her smirk, peaking between the twins out of the corners of her eyes to see similar expressions. Remus was clearly referring to their surviving Extendable Ears.
"Wren?" Molly, looking desperate, turned to the only other mother at the table. "You agree with me, don't you? Harry's much too young to know any of this."
Wren looked conflicted, chewing her lip much like Anna often did when she was thinking hard about something. Wren glanced over at Sirius, then Remus, Harry, Anna, and finally her eyes landed back on Molly.
"I want to protect Harry as much as you do, Molly." she started slowly. "But I also know that Harry, as well as all the kids at this table, will stop at just about nothing to find out what we say at meetings. And, to an extent, they do deserve to at least ask questions. Of course, if it's something we think they're not ready to know, we don't have to answer. But there's nothing wrong with asking questions."
"Well," Molly took a deep breath and visibly deflated as she looked around the table for some support, "well…I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart-"
"He's not your son." Sirius interrupted quietly.
"He's as good as." Molly countered firmly. "Who else has he got?"
"He's got me! And-"
"Yes." Molly cut Sirius off again, her lip curling. "The thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"
Anna's mouth fell open while her father started to rise from his seat.
"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry." Remus told her sharply, his voice cutting through the tense air around the kitchen. "Sirius, sit down."
Wren gently pulled on her husband's arm and Sirius slowly lowered himself back into his chair. Anna was worried when she noticed his face was very pale as he wrapped his arm around her mother's shoulders, pulling her into his side.
"I think Harry ought to have a say in this." Remus continued. "He's old enough to decide for himself."
"I want to know what's been going on." Harry answered as once, though Anna noticed he was awkwardly avoiding looking at Molly.
"Very well." Molly conceded, her voice cracking. "Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Anna, Fred, George, I want you out of this kitchen, now."
"We're of age!" Fred and George shouted together.
"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" Ron demanded.
"Mum, I want to!" Ginny cried.
Hermione and Anna remained quiet, but Anna turned and gaped at her parents. She half-wanted to shout that Molly wasn't her mother and couldn't tell her what to do, but instead she thought it'd be better for her to appeal to her own parents. She met her father's eyes and he glanced at his wife. Wren glanced at him, then her daughter, before sighing in defeat and nodding as she said firmly for the room to hear, "Anna is allowed to stay."
Anna sighed in relief.
"Very well." Molly said stiffly. "But I absolutely forbid-"
"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George." Arthur reminded his wife wearily. "They're of age, and-"
"They're still in school-"
"But they're legally adults, now."
"And let's be honest. Anna will tell them everything, anyway." Remus added knowingly.
Anna kept her face carefully blank, but she could see the twins smirking proudly out of the corner of her eyes.
Molly was not impressed, and her face was dark red.
"I-oh, alright then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron-"
"Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything, too!" Ron pointed out hotly. "Won't-won't you?" he added, looking uncertainly at his best friend.
Harry was silent for all of a second before answering, "'Course I will." This caused Ron and Hermione to beam.
"Fine!" Molly shouted. "Fine! Ginny-BED!"
Anna bit her lip as Ginny stormed from the room, ranting and raging at her mother as she stomped upstairs. Mrs. Black's screeching added to the noise when the young redhead reached the hall, and Remus hurried from the room to silence the portrait. Anna's father spoke only when it was quiet again and Remus returned to his seat at the table.
"Okay, Harry…what do you want to know?"
Harry took a deep breath before asking, "Where's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything-"
"That's because there haven't been any suspicious deaths yet," Sirius answered, "not as far as we know, anyway…And we know quite a lot."
"More than he thinks we do anyway." Remus added.
"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.
"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself at the moment." Sirius explained. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed is up."
"Or rather, you messed it up for him." Remus said with a satisfied grin.
"How?" Harry asked in confusion. Anna thought it should've been obvious.
"You weren't supposed to survive!" Sirius exclaimed. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness."
"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore." Remus explained. "And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."
"How has that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" Bill asked in disbelief, taking the words right out of Anna's mouth as she stared at Harry. "Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"
"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned." Sirius added.
"So what's the Order been doing?" Harry asked, looking around at everyone.
"Not telling us a bloody thing." Fred muttered so only Anna could hear, making her bite her lip to hide a smile.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans." Sirius assured him.
"How d'you know what his plans are?" Harry asked quickly.
"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea, and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate." Remus admitted.
"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"
"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again." Sirius explained. "In the old days he had huge numbers at his command; witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of Dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well, they'll be just one group he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."
"So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?"
"We're doing our best." Remus answered.
"How?" Anna couldn't help asking before Harry could. Why should he be the only one allowed to ask questions? She wanted to know what her friends, family, and other Order members were doing.
"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who really has returned, to put them on their guard." Bill answered, glancing between his siblings and their friends, "It's proving tricky, though."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Because of the Ministry's attitude." Tonks answered. "You saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."
"But why?" Harry asked desperately. "Why's he being so stupid? If Dumbledore-"
"Ah, well, you've put your finger on the problem." Arthur cut in with a wry smile. "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is frightened of him, you see." Tonks explained sadly.
"Frightened of Dumbledore?" Harry repeated incredulously.
"Frightened of what he's up to." Arthur clarified. "You see, Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister of Magic."
"But Dumbledore doesn't want-"
"Of course he doesn't." Arthur agreed. "He's never wanted the Minister's job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular support Dumbledore had, even though Dumbledore never applied for the job."
"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice." Remus explained. "But it seems that he's become fond of power now, and much more confident. He loves being Minister of Magic, and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."
"How can he think that?" Harry demanded angrily. "How can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up-that I'd make it all up?"
"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly fourteen years." Sirius answered bitterly. "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself Dumbledore's lying to destabilize him."
"You see the problem." said Lupin. "While the Ministry insists there is nothing to fear from Voldemort, it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumor-mongering, so most of the Wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."
"But you're telling people, aren't you?" Harry asked, looking around at all the Order members at the table; Arthur, Sirius, Wren, Bill, Mundungus, Remus, and Tonks. "You're letting people know he's back?"
They all smiled grimly.
"Well, as many are still wary of me due to my time in Azkaban, no one would take me very seriously." Sirius answered grimly.
"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community." Remus added. "It's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."
Anna grimaced with dislike.
"Tonks, Wren, and Arthur could lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," Sirius added, "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry, because you can bet Voldemort will have them."
"We've managed to convince a couple of people, though." Arthur pointed out. "Tonks here, for one-she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage-Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset too."
"But if none of you's putting the news out that Voldemort's back-"
"Who said none of us was putting the news out?" Sirius interrupted Harry. "Why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"
"What d'you mean?"
"They're trying to discredit him." Remus explained. "Didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but it's not true, he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamot-that's the Wizard High Court-and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."
"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the Chocolate Frog cards." Bill added with a grin. Anna instantly returned the smile, completely amused that out of everything, that was the thing Dumbledore cared about keeping.
"It's no laughing matter." Arthur said shortly. "If he carries on defying the Ministry like this, he could end up in Azkaban and the last thing we want is Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to, he's going to go cautiously for a while. If Dumbledore's out of the way-well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field."
"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters, it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" Harry asked desperately.
"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry." Sirius explained. "He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, gathering followers isn't only one thing he's interested in, he's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quietly indeed, and he's concentrating on them at the moment."
"What's he after apart from followers?"
Anna could've sworn her father and Remus exchanged a glance before her father answered the question, "Stuff he can only get by stealth." Harry, along with all the kids at the table, continued to look confused, so Sirius continued, "Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."
"When he was powerful before?"
"Yes."
"Like what kind of weapon?" Harry asked. "Something worse than the Avada Kedavra-?"
"That's enough."
Every head turned toward the doorway, where Molly was standing in the shadows by the door, her arms crossed angrily. No one had seemed to notice her return from taking Ginny upstairs.
"I want you in bed, now. All of you." she added, looking around at all the kids.
"You can't boss us-" Fred started to say.
"Watch me." Molly snarled while Anna gently squeezed Fred's wrist to silently tell him to calm down. She could see that Molly was worked up. She was trembling slightly as her eyes moved to Wren and Sirius. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."
"Why not?" Harry asked quickly. "I'll join. I want to join, I want to fight-"
"No."
Anna turned her head back around to stare at Remus, who had been the one to speak this time.
"The Order is comprised only of overage wizards." he said. "Wizards who have left school." he added when Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you…I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."
Wren rested her hand on her husband's and nodded in agreement, so Sirius half-shrugged.
Molly waved all the remaining kids out of the kitchen, and they all followed her in defeat.
"At least we found some stuff out." Anna whispered to Fred and George as they made their way up the stairs.
"S'pose so." they muttered, still looking disappointed.
"I want you all to go straight to bed, no talking." Molly ordered them as she followed them up the stairs. When they reached the first landing, she continued, "We've got a busy day tomorrow. I expect Ginny's asleep," she added to Hermione and Anna, "so try not to wake her up."
Molly continued past and headed up the stairs after Ron, Harry, and George.
"Goodnight." Hermione whispered to everyone before entering the bedroom.
"Asleep, yeah, right." Fred muttered, referring back to his mother's comment on Ginny. "If Ginny's not lying awake waiting for you two to tell her everything they said downstairs, then I'm a flobberworm…"
"Really? Well, that explains a lot." Anna teased quietly.
Fred glared playfully at her, a smirk tugging at the corners of his lips. "You're hilarious."
"I know I am." she boasted jokingly.
"Guess I'll see you in the morning. We've got a busy day tomorrow." Fred added in a mock-serious voice.
"I guess so." Anna sighed, already dreading whatever Molly Weasley had in mind.
Her thoughts were cut off by a set of soft lips touching hers. Anna smiled into the slow kiss, one hand coming up to rest on his chest while his thumb brushed her cheek. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before he pulled back and kissed her forehead.
"Goodnight." he whispered, looking down at her.
"Night." she whispered back, smiling up at him before turning and going into her room.
XXX
Sorry there wasn't really any new stuff in this chapter, despite how long it was. But the next chapter, which I plan to post on September 1, has a lot of Anna-related stuff to make up for it.