Harry was abruptly awoken from what was a deep sleep by someone urgently shaking him.
'Harry! Wake up sleepy head,' came a voice.
'What? What's wrong?' Harry grabbed his wand from his bedside table ready for action.
'Woah, relax Harry. No fire or anything,' Ginny laughed at Harry whose hair was rather dishevelled.
'Well, that's ok then. It doesn't explain though why you seem to be waking me up at,' Harry squinted at the time on his watch. Without his glasses everything was slightly blurry. '9 'o' clock after only 5 hours sleep.'
'I couldn't wait any longer,' Ginny's face was lit up with a mixture of concern and excitement.
'Ginny, what on earth are you doing here?' Ron asked. Well that was what Harry thought Ron said but he couldn't be sure as it was mumbled.
'Good morning darling brother,' Ginny walked over to Ron's bed and flicked some water at him. 'Harry has something to tell us. It was distracting him all yesterday but he wouldn't tell me what it was. He promised though that he would today. You are going to tell aren't you Harry?' She looked questionably at him.
'Yes, shall we say half an hour after breakfast and showers in the garden?'
'Sounds like a plan, I'll tell Hermione,' Ginny hurried out of the room.
'Where she gets all her energy from in the morning is beyond me,' Ron mumbled, turned over and promptly fell asleep.
Harry left Ron there until he had showered. Breakfast was a quick affair. The rest of the house still seemed to be sleeping as the four of them stepped outside into the garden. It was a glorious sunny August day, the sky was clear and the sun was already blazing. They crept past the marquee to the outskirts of the Weasley's garden where they wouldn't be overhead.
'What a glorious day,' Ginny smiled.
Hermione nodded in agreement as they sat on the grass. The three of them looked expectedly at Harry.
'I received a letter yesterday,' Harry started. They didn't look all that surprised and waited for Harry to go on. It wasn't unusual for Harry to receive letters, in fact he had increasingly done so. Most of them were in support of him although a few spoke out in opposition. 'I suppose the easier thing is to just show you the letter.' He pulled it out of his jean's pocket and passed it to them. Hermione took the letter and read it aloud even though Ron and Ginny were reading it over her shoulder.
There were a few moments of silence as they took in what the letter had said.
Suddenly Harry couldn't take it any longer. He needed to know what they thought so in turn he could do something about it. 'Well?' He asked urgently.
Hermione thought carefully, her brow creasing up, 'was there an Andie at Hogwarts? I can't seem to remember one.'
'It could be a nickname, I suppose, but there definitely wasn't an Andie in Gryffindor was there?' Ginny answered.
'No, I don't remember there being one in our year anyway across the different houses. Or even anyone with a similar sounding name.' Hermione said.
'Same with my year,' Ginny and Hermione looked intently at the letter seeming to hope that it would reveal the answers to their questions.
Ron spoke up, 'aren't we losing the point here? Does it really matter whether Andie went to Hogwarts or not? He or she.'
'She, the ie suggests a girl,' Ginny interrupted.
'Ok, she, whoever she is, seems to know about the horcruxes which I am guessing is what she is referring to.' Ron looked for confirmation that he was on the right lines.
Harry nodded, 'although how she knows is beyond me. I don't think the vast majority of the Order know they even exist. Let alone that Voldermort has created seven of them. Or that Professor Dumbledore,' Harry swallowed 'was looking for them and had destroyed one of them.'
'This could all be a trap though Harry,' Hermione said slowly. 'The writer is vague in what she says, she could just be guessing that you will be looking for something, something perhaps that will bring down Voldermort. It just so happens that you are.'
'She says one of though,' Ginny pointed to the letter. 'She seems to know that there is more than one.'
'This, Andie, does seem to know something. I wonder though why her situation is so difficult,' Harry pondered.
'Maybe she is on 'their' side or something. Or connected to someone in Voldermort's ranks,' Ginny suggested.
'Which is why we should be careful,' Hermione warned.
Ron looked at Harry, 'what do you think mate?'
Harry sighed, 'I go through being determined to meet her to wanting to destroy this letter and try and forget that it was ever sent. Part of me thinks that she has gone to this trouble to send this letter in what appears to be a difficult situation then the least I can do is hear her out. She seems to know something about the horcruxes and as we don't have hardly anything to go on the location of the remaining ones it could be definitely to our advantage. On the other hand though it could be an elaborate trap with her difficult situation being made up as an incentive to meet her given my somewhat undeserved reputation of being a hero. It works to an extent as I don't like the sound of her position and if I could help her then I would like to. I think that, I will meet her.'
'Harry? I am not sure,' Hermione started.
'I know, it is a risk but I don't know what else I could do. If I ignore this I will always wonder. It has come at the right time, we have no other leads apart from some initials and a copy of a locket. It just seems too good an opportunity to miss. I won't be completely vulnerable. I will have my wand.'
'I don't think you should do this alone,' Hermione bit her lip in concern.
'Hermione, I will be fine, I have met worse,' Harry said trying to reassure.
After much further discussion on the subject it was decided. Harry was to meet Andie on the date in the letter, 20th August, at 9 'o' clock. He was to go alone, he didn't want to frighten off Andie and besides as she had written in was a public muggle place. If anything untoward was to occur the Ministry would be forced to act and they were heavy-handed on such offenses that threatened the discovery of the magical world. He would, of course, be discreetly carrying his wand and having checked out the location of the cafe knew that there were several alleyways nearby should he need to get away quickly. Hermione, Ron and Ginny knew exactly where he was and knew to alert the Order if Harry didn't return. Harry hoped that all of this would just be precautions and wouldn't be needed but he knew that Hermione for one wouldn't be letting him go unless everything was in place to her satisfaction.
The week leading up to the meeting was another busy one in the Weasley household. Harry thought things would calm down after the wedding and seeing Bill and Fleur off on their honeymoon. However, a large proportion of the guests had decided to stay a little longer and relish in the escape from reality that the Burrow seemed to be creating. The Weasley's were more than happy to be hosts and Mrs Weasley was in her element making sure that everyone was being fed properly and was comfortable. In some ways, Harry was pleased in the distraction that the added guests provided. There were many impromptu Quidditch matches and chess tournaments to take part it that Harry found himself with little time to think about the upcoming meeting. It had gone unsaid among the four friends that the rest of the Order would remain in the dark about the letter, it just had to be like that for the moment. Harry knew that Ginny especially hated hiding things from her parents but hopefully this meeting would provide information about the horcruxes and then perhaps they could be told. He knew that they would try and stop him in his quest and that they wouldn't understand that he felt compelled to find and destroy the remaining horcruxes, hopefully finishing what Professor Dumbledore had started. Professor Dumbledore would not have involved Harry had he not wanted the hunt to be continued. Harry couldn't hide from the fact that one day, and the day was creeping closer, he would have to face Voldermort and that they would fight till the death. He wanted to be in the best position possible and destroying the horcruxes were his best option at the moment. He didn't want to be persuaded by the Order to return to Hogwarts as much as he loved the place he knew that what he needed to do was outside of the school. Besides, it would never be the same for him, not without Professor Dumbledore.
On the day of the meeting, the Burrow was quieter than it had been for a while. A number of the guests had left the night before in order to start back at work today. Everything was slowly returning to normal. Harry left quietly at 8am, ensuring that he only alerted Ron to his departure. They had finalised the details of the plan the night before, when Harry's departure was discovered they would say that he had returned to Privet Drive. He had wanted to do it quietly to avoid making a fuss and would be back by the evening. Harry walked down the country lane that the Burrow was down. He wanted to get some distance from the house before apparating so that if he was seen it would look like he was just going for a walk. He was quite grateful for the opportunity of stretching his legs as after a near sleepless night he was stiff. When he was happy, he apparated to London, and arrived at a place where it was common for wizards to apparate to. It was down an almost unused alleyway that muggles were unable to see. Harry slowed down as he walked to the cafe, it wasn't far and he had more than enough time. He couldn't help but feel his heart pounding and his stomach was churning. After pretending to window shop and consulting his watch Harry decided that it was time to head to the cafe and find out whether this was a good idea or the worst mistake of his life.
A/N - Please Review :) Next chapter will have the meeting of Andie and Harry