Chapter 4

The kitchen was dark, dingy and cold. Flickering at one end of the room, a large open fire was endeavouring to warm the thick stone walls, casting shadows that danced eerily across the ceiling. Harry shivered and rubbed his arms, trying to get some heat into them and dispel the goosebumps. During the day they had been busy cleaning one of the bedrooms and Harry had worked up a sweat, but now that he was sitting in the kitchen waiting for dinner he was really starting to feel the chill of the house settling in.

"Alright there, Harry?" Sirius asked him, the amused expression on his face turning to one of concern.

"I'm fine, just a bit cold," Harry smiled at him, feeling another involuntary shiver go through him. Sirius took one look at him shivering and got his wand out, whispering something under his breath. All of a sudden Harry was filled with a warmth as if he'd just been soaking in a hot bath. He grinned widely at Sirius, giving him a quick hug.

"Thanks, Snuffles!"

"No problem, Harry. Can't watch you sitting there shivering. I blame this house, it always was freezing in here, and my parents never did anything about it." Sirius' tone became flat and reproachful.

"Your parents? You mean—"

"Yeah, this is where I grew up. I'm the last Black descendent left so it came to me. I don't particularly want to be here but I don't have any choice at the moment, so I'm stuck." He sounded bored, almost petulant, and Harry couldn't help but relate to what he was saying.

"I know what you mean. Being stuck at the Dursley's was hell this summer." Sirius gave him a sympathetic look, but his face was still hardened in annoyance.

"At least you could go out, stretch your legs, get into a few fights," Sirius began.

"A fight with two dementors, you mean. You say that like it's a good thing!" Harry said incredulously.

"It would have made it more interesting, having a terrifying fight for my soul. Would've broken up the monotony. I've been inside for months now, it's really doing my head in," Sirius almost growled.

"How come?"

"Voldemort knows that I can turn into a dog, Wormtail will have told him by now. Plus, the Ministry are still looking for me, so it's safer for me to stay inside. That's what Dumbledore thinks, anyway." Harry detected a note of irritation in Sirius' voice when he spoke of Dumbledore, and he felt a sudden rush of affection for his godfather.

"At least you know what's going on. I've been left in the dark all summer," Harry grumbled.

"Yeah, that would be great if I didn't have to sit here listening to Snape give snide hints about him being out there risking his life while I'm sat at home all comfortable and lazy," Sirius snarled.

"Since when does it matter what that greasy bat thinks anyway?" Harry grinned at Sirius, trying to comfort him, and his grin widened as he watched Sirius let out a loud bark-like laugh. Sirius' smile really did make him look years younger, his handsome face lit up and there was a sparkle in his eyes as he swung an arm casually round Harry's shoulders and gave him a quick hug.

"You never spoke a truer word, Harry," he smirked.

Suddenly there was a loud crash from the hallway and the portrait of Mrs Black started shrieking. Remus and Bill rushed from the room to shut her up, while a blushing Tonks walked in followed by Mad Eye and Molly.

"I'm sorry everyone, it was that stupid troll's leg umbrella stand, I always trip over it!" Tonks apologised, slipping into a seat opposite Harry. "How are you doing, Harry?" she added, seeing him sitting across from her.

"Not bad, thanks. I like your hair today," he grinned, taking in the bright electric blue in a short spiky style that she'd chosen today.

"Thanks Harry! Do you think pink suits me more though?" she asked seriously.

"Er—" Harry began, but luckily Remus and Bill came back into the kitchen before he could attempt to formulate an answer.

"You look good with any hair colour, Tonks," Remus smiled at her and she promptly blushed bright red.

"You're just saying that, Remus," she chastised, but she grinned back at him nevertheless. Harry noticed Molly staring at the two of them with ill-concealed interest. Glancing at Sirius, he saw his godfather catch Remus' eye and give him an insinuating wink, which Remus promptly ignored and went to join Arthur Weasley in an in-depth conversation about how aeroplanes stay up.

After a few minutes of Sirius trying to tease Remus and being resolutely ignored by the werewolf, and Harry having an enthusiastic discussion with Tonks about the Quidditch world cup, Molly served the dinner and they all fell quiet for a while as they filled up with her delicious cooking.

A warm, content feeling had now fallen over the room, and the atmosphere was a relaxed one. Harry listened absent-mindedly to the other conversations around the table, feeling too sleepy to join in. Sirius was busy laughing with the twins about their latest prank, and giving them ideas that were fuelling the look of disapproval that Molly was sending their way. Arthur was telling anyone who would listen about his theory of how computers work, and Remus was having a serious discussion with Bill about werewolves and their rights. Molly stifled a yawn, and stretched.

"Time for bed soon, I think!" she announced to the room.

"Not just yet Molly," Sirius spoke up, glancing in Harry's direction. "I'm surprised you haven't asked anything about Voldemort yet, Harry. I would have thought that's the first thing you'd have wanted to know."

"I did ask!" Harry said indignantly. "I was under the impression that I wasn't allowed to know anything!"

"And you'd be right, Harry! Sirius, you know we're not supposed to say anything to him. Dumbledore clearly told us—"

"He said that we shouldn't tell him more than he needs to know. Harry was the one that saw Voldemort come back, I don't see why he shouldn't at least know the basics," Sirius spoke back to Molly with a bite to his tone.

"Hang on a minute!" Fred angrily chimed in. "If Harry gets to hear information then why can't we? We're of age!" he said angrily, and Molly sighed exasperatedly.

"I didn't say anyone could hear any information, actually! Harry, you're too young." Molly said adamantly.

"He's not a child!" Sirius butted in heatedly. "And it's not your decision anyway, he's not your son!"

"He's as good as!" Molly said fiercely, glaring at Sirius.

Harry watched as the argument heated up, Sirius and Molly staring daggers at each other. It was nice of Molly to say that he was as good as her son, but he was backing Sirius on this one. He was definitely not a child, and considering he was the one that had his blood forcibly taken from him, was made to watch as Voldemort come back to power, and even duelled with him, he figured that he had the right to know what Voldemort was planning now. It didn't look like Sirius and Molly were going to let up any time soon so Harry decided to chime in.

"Look, I think I have a right to know what's going on. I understand that you can't tell me anything but can't I at least have the basic facts?" he pleaded, hoping he would be able to win Molly over with reason. Seeing that she was being backed against a metaphorical wall, she looked desperately at her husband to help her.

"Arthur, back me up here!" she said desperately. He looked at her awkwardly, hesitating.

"Look, Molly, I think Harry is right. He's old enough to know the basic facts," Arthur said quietly. Molly huffed, knowing she was defeated.

"Fine, fine! You can tell him whatever you like, Sirius, within reason." Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Ginny, you can go to bed!"

A cacophony of noise and protest immediately erupted as they all started complaining at the tops of their voices.

"Hey! If Harry is old enough to hear about the Order, then so are we!" Fred said angrily to his mother.

"Yeah, we're of age!" George agreed. Arthur put a hand on Molly's shoulder and spoke gently to her.

"I really don't think we can stop Fred and George listening, Molly. They are of age, after all."

"FINE!" Molly shouted, she was fuming now. "Fine, but Ron Hermione and Ginny, you three are still going to bed."

"Harry will just tell us everything later anyway, won't you Harry?" Ron asked him, looking slightly worried when Harry hesitated. Why should he tell Ron and Hermione anything at all? They had kept him in the dark all summer, it would serve them right… Harry quickly suppressed the resentful thoughts that swam into his mind, reminding himself that it wasn't their fault that they hadn't told him anything.

"Of course I will!" Harry replied, and Ron looked relieved. Molly, recognising defeat, escorted Ginny up the stairs to make sure she went to bed, not trusting herself to talk. Ginny, on the contrary, made as much noise as she could as she stomped up the stairs, shouting and screaming about how it wasn't fair. Walburga Black joined in as they went through the hall, and it took a moment of ensuing chaos before everyone but Molly was sitting around the table again, ready to talk. Harry felt adrenaline pumping through his veins, he was both nervous and excited.

"Well, Harry, what do you want to know?" Sirius asked, looking at him seriously.

"What's Voldemort up to?" Harry replied at once. "I haven't seen anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or disappearances—" Harry began, but he was interrupted by Remus.

"That's because there haven't been any yet. He's laying low at the moment, biding his time."

"But why? How come he isn't going around killing and torturing muggles?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"Because he's trying not to draw attention to himself at the moment," Sirius said. "His great come-back didn't go exactly the way he planned it to."

"Why?"

"You messed it up for him, of course! The first thing you did after you saw it happen was to tell Dumbledore, and he's the last person Voldemort wanted to know about his return. Dumbledore is the only wizard Voldemort was ever afraid of, remember."

"How do you know what Voldemort's thinking?" Harry asked interestedly.

"Dumbledore has a shrewd idea, and his shrewd ideas usually turn out to be pretty accurate," Bill supplied with a wry smile.

"So if Voldemort isn't busy killing people, what is he doing?" Harry asked, fascinated.

"Well, a large part of his plan is trying to gather together followers to build up his army again. He had huge numbers at his command during the first war, including Death Eaters and Dark creatures. After the war a lot of them were killed, or deserted him when they believed him to be dead."

"So the Order is trying to stop him getting followers?"

"We're certainly trying," said Remus.

"How?"

"The main idea is to convince as many people as possible that Voldemort is back. Fudge isn't making that very easy, however," Sirius muttered.

"How come?"

"It's his attitude to this whole situation. He's still flatly refusing to believe that Voldemort is back."

"But why?" asked harry desperately. "Why is he being so stupid? Dumbledore—"

"That's exactly it, Harry. Dumbledore. Fudge is scared of him, he thinks he wants to overthrow him, to be Minister of Magic." Sirius spoke with a twisted note of amusement in his voice.

"What?" asked Harry incredulously. "Dumbledore doesn't want that—"

"Of course he doesn't!" Remus said. "He never has. Dumbledore was a very popular candidate for the role when Millicent Bagnold retired, but he didn't want it. Fudge got elected instead, and it seems the power has gone to his head. He finds it much more comfortable to convince himself that Dumbledore is making up rumours than to admit to himself and everyone else that Voldemort is actually back."

"But how can he think that Dumbledore made it all up? That I made it all up?" Harry asked angrily.

"Because that would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't seen for nearly fourteen years," Sirius said bitterly, "he just doesn't want to accept it."

"You see the problem, Harry. If the Ministry keep telling everyone that there's nothing to fear from Voldemort then it's very difficult to convince the public that there's anything wrong, especially when they really don't want to hear it in the first place." Remus sounded defeated.

"So, that's why the Daily Prophet keeps trying to discredit Dumbledore?" Harry asked, "Because he's trying to put the news out about Voldemort coming back?"

"That's right, Harry," Sirius said with a tight smile. "But if he keeps defying the Ministry then he'll have a lot worse than a bad reputation. They'll put him in Azkaban, and we really can't afford to have him locked up. With Dumbledore around trying to stir up the truth and ruin Voldemort's plans, he's held at bay. If Dumbledore gets sent to Azkaban then Voldemort will have a free reign," Sirius said grimly.

Harry looked at the floor, fear and anxiety causing adrenaline to continue pumping through his veins. His brain was working overtime, and a thought occurred to him.

"Earlier you said that gathering followers was part of his plan at the moment. What else is he up to?" Harry asked suspiciously. He didn't miss the meaningful look that Sirius and Remus shared.

"We think he's after something…something he can only get by stealth." Sirius said slowly, and it was obvious that he was choosing his words carefully.

"Like what?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time."

"What kind of weapon? Something worse than the killing curse?" Harry asked.

"That's enough." Molly's voice came from the shadows and Harry jumped. He hadn't heard her come back into the room. She looked furious, and she glared at everyone. "I want you in bed, now. All of you," she added, looking round at Fred, George, Ron and Hermione. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Tell him anything more and you might as well just induct him into the Order."

"Why not? I want to join, I want to fight!" Harry said quickly.

"No." It was Remus that spoke this time. "The Order is for overage wizards only Harry. Wizards who have left school," he added, when he saw Fred about to argue. "I think we really have said enough, Sirius."

Sirius shrugged, but didn't argue. One by one they all got up and walked towards the stairs, and Harry followed, recognising defeat.

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