Disclaimer: And again I say it ain't mine.

A/N: As promised, a nicely long chappie to make up for the shortness of the last one. I hope it meets with everyone's standards.

Contained herein is a meeting of the… um… 'Order of Harry?'

Chapter Twenty-Four: Confrontations and Plans

It took the better part of a week and a half for Remus to organize a meeting of all the key players. With Jenn's help, though, it went faster than he'd dared hope. They rented a small conference room at a local hotel, neutral ground for all involved. Jenn had originally offered use of her home for the meeting, but once she saw the guest list – on which there were seventeen names, counting herself and Remus – agreed with Remus that it would be too small to hold everyone.

On January 24, 1998, Remus collected Sirius from his house and piled into the back seat of Jenn's car. Allen took the front seat, next to his wife, and Harry was following them in Viridian. Chad was riding with Harry. The miniature caravan made their way through lightly blowing snow to the hotel. It was just after one in the afternoon. Allen had closed up the shop for the day – they weren't all that busy, after all.

Upon arriving at the hotel, Jennifer and Remus disappeared to make sure their request for refreshments had been processed, and to check on the location of the room they'd rented. Harry, Sirius, Allen, and Chad waited in the lobby – Allen was near the exit and Chad was glaring at him from across the room. While they were waiting, Albus Dumbledore arrived, Severus Snape in his wake, and trailed closely by Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. "Looks like the Hogwarts contingent has arrived," Chad muttered.

Following the unintentional example, Sirius and Severus took opposite corners of the room, glaring and scowling at each other. Harry, remembering his promise to Chad the week before, attempted to set aside his resentment of Dumbledore, and merely pretended the old wizard wearing the bright blue three-piece-suit was someone else. Jennifer and Remus arrived shortly thereafter. "Hey all. The room's ready. Remus'll show you to it while I wait for the others to arrive." Jenn smiled at everyone.

As the collected group followed Remus, the lobby doors opened once again, "Foul weather, isn't it?" Arthur said while brushing snow off his coat.

"Certainly, dear. Now, you're the one that knows who we're looking for…" A red-headed, motherly woman said. Jenn assumed she was Arthur's wife. Before she could greet them, though, the door opened once more.

"Bugger out of the way, Arthur. You're blocking the door." Jenn swallowed thickly, wondering just what had happened to the man that spoke. He was wearing an eye-patch on his heavily-scarred face and limped along, leaning on a stout walking stick. Behind him stood a tall, bald black man with a golden hoop in one ear.

Arthur, seemed to have no qualms about the scarred man's appearance. "Moody! Good to see you again!"

Moody grinned, "So, where's the meeting?"

Jennifer approached the group, forcing herself to address Arthur. "Afternoon, all. I'm Jennifer Kellerman. The meeting is in Conference Hall Three. If you go to that hallway and turn right, it will be the third door," she pointed in the proper direction.

"Thanks, Jenn. Harry's already here, I assume?" Arthur smiled.

Jenn nodded, "That's right. And if you'll hurry… I have the feeling that open war is about to descend, despite Remus' best intentions. Sirius and Professor Snape are already there, as are Allen and my brother."

Arthur chuckled, "It's always a bit astounding to see people who dislike one another working together, isn't it?"

Jenn nodded, "That it is."

The four new arrivals followed Jenn's directions and disappeared around the corner to the hall. "Interesting group." The desk clerk commented. "What's the organization?"

"What?" Jenn stalled for time. "Oh, sorry. It's the bi-millennial sub-quarterly fiscal conference on the uncertainties of quantum-flux in Alienware subroutines." Jennifer smiled sweetly at the brunette clerk.

The clerk blinked, "Oh," and returned his attention to his paperwork.

If you can't dazzle them with fact, baffle them with bullshit. She glanced at her mobile to get the time. The rest should be here any minute. As though her thought had conjured them, the door opened once more and Tonks, tripping over her own feet, stumbled through, followed by Andie and a man Jenn vaguely remembered meeting at the New Year's party. The man sighed and helped Tonks to her feet. Jenn noticed at that moment that Tonks' hair was a normal color for once. It was a dark honey-blonde, though it did have black streaks through it. When she was back on her feet she said, "Thanks, Dad."

"Jennifer, good to see you again." Andie greeted Jennifer.

"You as well, Andie."

"This is my husband, Ted. I don't remember if we ever introduced you properly."

Jennifer accepted the proffered hand, "No time like the present. Pleased to meet you, again. I'm Jennifer Kellerman, but feel free to call me Jenn."

"Will do," the rather plain man affirmed.

"Where're we going?" Tonks asked.

"Since you guys are the last to arrive, I'll show you."

Andie grimaced and glanced at the clock behind the front desk, "We're not late, are we?"

Jenn shook her head as she lead the way to the conference room, "No. It's just that the rest of us were early."

Jennifer opened the door to the conference room and immediately ducked as a flash of bright light connected with the door frame. The conference room had apparently been declared as the grounds of World War Three. Shouting was heard coming from nearly all present. She saw that her husband and Chad were fighting – Chad had Allen in a headlock and Allen was beating at his arms while his face turned bright red. Sirius and Snape were circling each other in the middle of the room, shouting insults, interspersed with curses and hexes. Arthur was trying to break up the fight between Chad and Allen, while Ron argued loudly with his mother, the words of the argument lost in the cacophony of the general chaos in the room. Remus was alternately trying to stun Snape and get Sirius to calm down. The tall black man was watching everything with thinly-veiled amusement. Hermione and Harry had taken shelter under a table along the far wall. There was no sign of the scarred man, nor of the headmaster.

Jennifer saw all this in the split second before she ducked back into the hallway, hurriedly closing the door behind her. She could see that Andie was trying not to laugh and Tonks was shaking her head. Ted took a breath and reached for the door. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." Jenn warned.

Ted shrugged, "Don't worry about it." He opened the door and stepped into the room, dodging another stray curse. He raised two fingers to his mouth and whistled shrilly, then with a volume that few would suspect from the nondescript man, he roared, "THAT'S ENOUGH!"

Surprisingly, everyone halted in their tracks. Chad released Allen. Sirius tossed one last glare at Snape and pocketed his wand. Remus followed suit. Severus hesitated a moment then turned and strode over to where a stray curse blasted a hole in the carpet-covered floor and repairing the damage. Ron had quit arguing with his mother and was helping Harry and Hermione out from under the table. After a minute or two of uncomfortable silence, Snape quietly muttering repair charms in the background, all those present who possessed a wand set to helping right the room. Dumbledore and Moody showed up just as the last chair flew back together. Dumbledore smiled benignly at the assembly and leaned over to Moody's ear. Just loud enough for the rest to hear, he whispered, "Why do I get the feeling we missed quite a show whilst looking for the loo?"

Moody chuckled, "I agree completely, Albus."

Once everyone found their seats, most of the group turned towards Dumbledore. Harry, however, was the one that stood. "Thanks for coming on such short notice, everyone. I was the one that asked Remus to call this little concursatio. I simply felt it was time to make sure we were all on the same page." A round of nods and general agreement sounded. "To begin, I think it would be best to introduce ourselves, as I don't know all of you, yet, and I'm sure you don't all know each other. Except for maybe Headmaster Dumbledore."

There was some quiet chuckling, and Harry smiled, "I expect I'll begin. I'm Harry Potter." He turned to Allen, who was sitting next to him.

Allen stood and nodded to every one, "I'm Allen Kellerman. My wife and I took Harry in a while back," he grinned a little. "Though if we'd known what we were getting ourselves into, we might've rethought that!"

Jenn, laughing, stood as Allen sat. "I'm Jenn Kellerman, and ignore Allen, Harry. If we had it to do over, we'd still do the same."

Chad was next. "I'm Chad Thomas, Jenny's brother. I'm a profiler with the NYPD, and Jenn called me over to help out with your little Dark Lord issue."

Remus stood, "Remus Lupin." Then Sirius introduced himself, followed by Ron, Arthur, and Molly. Hermione stated her name, then Dumbledore – rather amused at the entire process, most of those assembled had worked together on numerous occasions. Moody and Kingsley Shacklebolt were next, followed by Severus. Just as Ted stood, however, the conference room door burst open. Thirteen wands and a large pistol were out in a flash.

Nigel Smythwick held his hands up, "Whoa there. Put the shooters away… If I'd have known this would be the reception I'd get, I wouldn't have been late!"

"Nigel? What the hell are you doing here?" Allen asked, confused.

Nigel smiled and grabbed a spare folding chair from near the door. "Heard about a little meeting today."

"From whom?" Harry asked.

Nigel shrugged, "Through the grapevine, I suppose." He opened the chair and sat down. "Hey, Kingsley. How's Shauna doing?"

Shacklebolt smiled, "Not too bad. Long time, no see. Where the hell'd you disappear off to?"

Nigel smirked, "Oh… Here and there, my friend. Here and there." He nodded to Dumbledore, "Headmaster."

"Just what on earth is going on?" Harry very nearly shouted.

"In a minute, Harry. I believe you were doing something when I so rudely interrupted?"

Harry sighed and motioned for Ted to continue. Ted, throwing a wary glance at Nigel, introduced himself quickly, his wife followed suit. Tonks stood, knocking her chair over in the process. "I'm those two's daughter. Tonks. Just Tonks."

"Nymphadora!" Dumbledore, Andie, Ted, and Sirius said simultaneously.

"Nymphadora?" Chad said in disbelief.

Tonks whirled, her wand pointing at the muggle. "You got a problem with it, friend?"

Chad raised his hands in a supplicating gesture. "No, Tonks. Just wondering what the hell your parents were smoking the night they named you, and where I could get some." Ted laughed, and Andie looked about ready to strangle him.

Tonks brightened and stowed her wand. "Oh. Sorry." She sat back down.

"Don't worry about it." Chad said.

Harry, meanwhile, turned to Nigel. "You were about to explain yourself?"

Nigel grinned and stood up, "Nigel Smythwick. Hogwarts class of '76, ex-dorm mate of Shacklebolt."

"And how, exactly, did you learn of today's meeting?" Severus asked.

"By remembering my roots, Severus. Overheard Allen talking with Remus at work yesterday." Nigel grinned at the man who echoed the boy that had been a couple of years below him at Hogwarts, "Thought I could be of some use."

"So, just what have you been doing with yourself, Nigel?" Kingsley asked.

Nigel shrugged, "A bit of this, a bit of that. Was in the States for a while. Got a couple of science degrees from MIT. Came back and met up with Allen and his band of merry mechanics. Been working at the shop ever since. It's something I'm good at, pays reasonably well, and I like the folks." He smiled at Harry. "Until Harry here showed up, I could have sworn I was the only wizard for miles."

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" Harry asked. MIT? I wonder what those degrees are… He might be able to help out with my other little project.

"The opportunity never surfaced, Harry. I apologize if you feel that I've been misleading you, but… I'd spent so long keeping it quiet…"

Harry sighed, and addressed the whole assembly, "I think one of our ground rules ought to be no keeping potentially important information from each other. And considering the altercations earlier, another one ought to be that if you can't say something productive – note, I didn't say 'nice' but 'productive' – don't say anything." He began to pace a bit, "I understand that Dumbledore has his own little group working on ridding us of the Dark Tosser. I also realize that many of you belong to that group. Why not just work with them, you ask?" Harry's eyes flicked to the Headmaster, "I'll answer. Most of you are here because I trust you. The rest are here because you've got information I'll need to finish things, or because you were thought to be potentially useful. Or, in Nigel's case – overheard something he really shouldn't have." He stopped pacing and turned to Nigel, "I'm not asking you to leave. Had I known earlier, you'd likely have been drafted long before now." Nigel smiled at his 'little brother.' Harry paused, glancing from Sirius to Arthur and then to Jenn. "I have some other dealings going on that a couple of you know about, and I'd like it if that's not spoken about for now." The three he glanced at nodded.

Harry removed his notebook from the bag near his chair. Tossing it at the headmaster he continued. "I've been having dreams of Voldemort," roughly half of the room winced at the use of the name. "Of him and some witch by the name of Bellatrix Lestrange. I don't know how or why I'm having these dreams, but I would like them to stop, even if they do give us useful information."

"What information is that, Harry?" Hermione asked, looking up from her notes.

Harry shrugged, "Well, for starters, he's planning something. He's mentioned a few names. It's all in the notebook. The first dream noted in the book happened just after the New Year's party. Remus was the one that suggested writing it down. Last night marked the twenty-third dream." There was a knock on the conference room door. Harry answered it. A couple of the hotel staff members pushed in some carts of tea and biscuits and finger sandwiches. Harry made sure to tip each of them generously before shutting the door behind them. "I suggest that you all read what I've got written in that notebook. While it circulates, the rest of us can take a minor break, have some tea, and get to know each other."

While the headmaster opened the notebook, the others got up and began to raid the carts of food. Harry grabbed two cups of tea and caught Sirius' and Arthur's eyes. He motioned with his head to an unoccupied corner of the room. He walked over to Nigel and handed him one of the cups of tea, "A word, if you please?"

"Sure thing, Harry." Nigel sipped at the tea and followed Harry over to where Arthur and Sirius stood. "What do you need?"

"I was just wondering what degrees you got from MIT?"

Nigel shrugged, "I ended up with a Master's in Elementary Physics as my highest degree. I'm also certified to teach. Why?"

Harry exchanged glances with Sirius and Arthur. "I don't know what you're on about, Harry." Sirius said.

Arthur just nodded. "I think, if he wants to, we could use him." Arthur knew a bit more about science than Sirius did, and though he'd not heard of MIT, he knew that Nigel was probably the best candidate to approach about Black Kettle Enterprises.

"What?" Nigel was confused.

Harry grinned. "You want to put those degrees of yours to work?"

He arched an eyebrow, "Doing what?"

"Merging magic with muggle stuff. Kind of like the Wizarding Wireless sets that already exist, but on a broader scale. I want to eventually introduce computers to the wizarding world." Harry wisely kept the rest of the company's purpose to himself.

"A magical computer? Hmm…" Nigel was suddenly interested, then lost in thought.

Sirius chuckled, "Let us know later, won't you?"

Nigel nodded absently and wandered off. Arthur tapped Harry's shoulder, "I was thinking, Harry."

"About what?"

"Well… We'll need somewhere to set up shop, so-to-speak. And we will also need a couple of employees… Oh, and I forgot to tell you that my two weeks' notice is up on Wednesday."

"And did you ask around about our other goals?" Harry asked.

Arthur nodded, "Yeah, I did. A close friend of mine is going to see about laying some groundwork for us to build from at a later date. About those employees, though…"

Harry had been nodding in agreement to what Arthur was saying, but stopped at his last comment. "Who did you have in mind?"

Arthur grinned. "Fred and George. They're always coming up with new stuff for their pranks – they really want to open a joke shop, but they haven't saved the money for it, yet. Much to Molly's relief, I might add. I think they'd jump at the chance to invent things for a living, though you'd probably lose them at some point when they did save up enough."

Harry thought for a moment. "I like the idea, Arthur, though I'd prefer to hold off on hiring them until I meet them."

"Of course, Harry. Of course." Arthur wandered back over to his wife and whispered in her ear, presumably telling her he had a job offer for their twin sons.

Ron hurried over to where Sirius and Harry still stood, Hermione close behind him. "What were you talking about with Dad?"

"Nothing much, just some stuff we've been working on. The computers and whatnot, you know?"

"Oh. Anyway, I was wondering if you were going to be in Hogsmeade next weekend."

Harry shrugged, "I'm not sure what I'll be doing then, but if I'm not busy, I'll see if I can drop by."

Hermione was talking with Sirius about the animagus transformation. Ron and Harry exchanged a look and left them to it. The talked a bit about their respective plans for the future – Ron wanted to be a healer, and Harry wanted to go into science – he didn't yet want to bring Ron in on it, not while he was still within the doubtable grasp of Dumbledore. He'd promised to set aside his feelings for the headmaster long enough to work with him, should the need arise, but he'd never said he would blindly trust the man. When it came to be Ron's turn to read the dream journal, Harry spent some time talking with Hermione, and then Andie. To Andie, he asked, "You doing anything tomorrow night?"

Andie shook her head, "No. Why?"

"Well… Sirius and I were looking to start a business and wanted your input."

"It's a plan, then. Mind if I bring Ted? His specialty is Business Law. He'd likely be of more use to you than I."

"No, I don't mind. Have a suggestion as to where to meet, though?"

Andie thought a moment. "There's a wizard-run restaurant about a block and a half from the Leaky Cauldron. It's called The Magic Menu. Mostly Italian food, with some seafood. Sound good?"

Harry nodded, "Sounds fine. Around six, then?" Andie nodded and excused herself to find her husband and let him know what was going on.

About an hour and a half later, all present had read the recording of Harry's visions. When the notebook was handed back to him, he tucked it back into his bag. "Thoughts?"

"It's scary as hell, Harry." Tonks supplied in the ensuing silence.

"Thanks for the obvious, Tonks. I was thinking more along the lines of what you think should be done about it." Harry leaned on the table.

"Aside from seeing if that info on Barty Crouch, Jr. was accurate, I don't know what else to tell you, kid." Moody said.

"I believe occlumency would be of benefit," Dumbledore mentioned. "It should allow you to block the thoughts that aren't your own." Snape nodded in agreement.

"In the broader sense, I think he ought to set about completing his OWLs and NEWTs as quickly as possible, then we'll be able to see about training Harry in some of the more advanced defensive magics." Kingsley supplied.

"I'm about ready to take the OWLs, I'm just waiting on Professor Snape to say I'm good enough at Potions." Harry replied.

"If that was all you were waiting for, Mr. Potter, I could have perhaps saved you a bit of time. You should have no problem managing a passing grade on the potions OWL." Unnoticed by anyone but Sirius, Ron's mouth dropped open in astonishment at the near-praise coming from Snape.

Sirius leaned down and whispered, "I know, I know. The slimy bat almost sounded nice, but close your mouth before something lands in it." Ron blushed and did so.

Harry was talking again, "In that case, then would you, Remus, see about setting up a day for the tests?"

"He ought to learn to apparate, too," Tonks said.

"We'll be getting to that," Remus answered, "And I'm sure we could get the testing out of the way sometime this week."

"What of animagus training?" Hermione asked.

Ron scoffed, "Then his form would have to get registered, Hermione. Wouldn't be much use if everyone knew about it."

"Not completely true, Ron." Andie stated, "There's a five-year moratorium on registering one's form. After that, it's a fifty-galleon fine for each month you remain unregistered." Sirius looked alarmed. Andie laughed, "Don't worry, Sirius. You had extenuating circumstances. I checked for you, the Ministry is considering your time spent at Azkaban as suspended from your five year limit, so you've still got however much time remaining that you did on entering that foul place."

Sirius did some quick calculations and grimaced, "Then I guess I owe them a hundred galleons already."

Andie quirked an eyebrow. "You became an animagus while still in school?"

Sirius shrugged and smiled a little, "I had motivation."

"As interesting as all this may be, I happen to agree. Animagus training – should he prove to have that talent – is another thing to be added once the NEWTs are out of the way." Snape said. Hermione made a note.

Ron looked thoughtful. "Hey, Harry? How good are you at chess?"

Remus laughed, "He isn't."

Harry shot a dark look at Remus, "Despite Remus' amusement, he is right. I'm not good at it. Why?"

"What about other strategy games? Checkers? Backgammon?"

Harry shook his head, "Never really had the chance to play. I repeat – why?"

Ron suddenly realized that he had the entire room's attention. He flushed a bit. "Um… well… it just occurred to me that you'll need some sort of strategic thinking and whatnot…" He trailed off.

"By the gods, did something moderately comprehensible fall from Mr. Weasley's mouth?" Severus asked the ceiling.

"Professor," Harry's tone was warning, "productive comments only."

Kingsley nodded at Ron's comment, "The kid's right, though. Some lessons in strategy ought to come in handy."

"This is all well and good, but why am I learning all this?" Harry asked.

"Because, Harry," Nigel answered, "according to that prophecy Remus told us about, you've got to either kill Voldemort, or die trying. Everything you learn is going to help ensure the former and avoid the latter."

For what was likely to be the first time, Harry felt the full weight of the prophecy crash down around his ears. He'd known it before, of course, but knowing something and realizing it was true were two separate and unrelated things. "Good point," he said weakly and leaned back in his chair.

By the end of the meeting – which had continued past dinnertime, supplied by the hotel staff once more – everyone felt as though their brains were stretched to the limit. Harry, in particular, wanted nothing more to curl up and sleep for a good twelve hours or so.

A/N2: And this, like I said last chapter, is longer. Better, too, in my opinion. I managed to cover a lot of ground. Hope y'all enjoyed it!

Reviews are what I see in the Mirror of Erised.