Chapter 2

Arrivals

Listening intently at the door with his wand at the ready, Harry heard the hushed murmurs of more than one voice. It occurred to him then that if it were Death Eaters like he had originally presumed ,despite Dumbledore's numerous so called assurances that the 'blood wards' would keep them at bay, they would not be making that much noise. Wandlessly unlocking the several locks on his door, Harry crept stealthy out of his room to the landing on top of the dimly lit stairs of spotlessly clean Privet Drive, knowing that the narrow stair as well as the incline would give him the advantage in a fight, just in case it was actually the Death Eaters.

Out of the gloomy shadows at the bottom of the stairs, Lupin's face suddenly appeared as well as several other people that Harry could not recognize as well as a few he did. Pointing his wand at Lupin's head Harry ask in a voice that threatened violence if the answer was wrong, "What is the shape of my patronus?"

"A stag, Harry, I taught you during your third year," Remus Lupin answered.

"And just what exactly are you doing here and why in Merlin's name are there so many of you?"

"Well, Harry—you see Dumbledore has requested that we bring you to Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for the remainder of the summer, and there were a surprising number of volunteers to be your guards."

'Great, just great, it seems as if Lupin is Dumbledore's lackey as well...there is always the chance he might not agree with everything though.' Harry thought to himself secretly hoping he wasn't going to lose his connection with one of his father's best friends in the near future, then inquired "What is the Order of the Phoenix and how precisely are we going to get to its headquarters?"

"Don't tell him nothing till we get to Headquarters Lupin, never know who's listening in'," Moody said in a gruff voice, his magically eye rolling around rapidly as if he though Death Eaters would jump out from the shadows at any moment, from the back of the group.

"I wasn't planning on giving him details Alastor, just an overview," Lupin replied wearily. "Now Harry, the Order is a group of people who are working towards the destruction of Lord Voldemort and it's been around since Voldemorts' first rise"

It was then a pink haired, heart shaped witch, he would later find out was named Tonks, piped in "Yep, and Dumbledore's the founder of it."

"Okay, that still doesn't answer how we are getting there," stated Harry with mild inpatients although inwardly he was cringing his injuries were no laughing matter and he had now been standing on a broken leg and ankle for over fifteen minutes.

"We are flying, as soon as we get the signal, so you'll need to pack your trunk" said Lupin.

"I'll help" the pink haired witch said enthusiastically then tripped over her own feet on her way to the stairs.

"There's no need, I don't have much to pack," Harry said not wanting to deal with the her perky attitude at the moment, and it was true everything he owned could easily fit into his trunk except for Hedwig's cage which was currently empty as its normal occupant was out hunting and his Firebolt. Turning back into his room he gathered up the few books he had been studying and shirts on the floor and grabbed his invisibility cloak as well as his photo album from under the loose floor board and placed them in his trunk, wincing as his movements jolted his broken bones and reopened several cuts that were now weeping with blood. Finally he grabbed Hedwig's cage, and his Firebolt sighing softly. Normally, Harry would have loved the opportunity to fly but right now all he could think about was what a pain in the ass it was going to be, literally with his body still riddled with injuries that attested to his so called relative's treatment of him. Resigning himself to the fact that he had no other choice at the moment, he walked slowly and painfully down the stairs to where the members of the Order were waiting.

AN: Thank you to all of those people who have put my story on their alerts! Special thanks go to DebsTheSlytherinSnapefan for reviewing, the encouragement was very much appreciated :D and to ioname2you and Luna-and-Artemis for the favorites!!! Thank you all so much…I'll try to keep updating as soon as I can.