A/N: I'm sorry this took awhile – I've been really busy lately. I'm not making any promises on when I'll have the next chapter done. It'll definitely be within two weeks, but that's all I can say for right now.

This chapter is sort of "bridge" between the last chapter and the next one. It covers some important stuff, but it doesn't catapult the plot forward. I hope you like it anyway!

SgtPepper592: Yes, I do plan to have Laura's family make an appearance. Remus does keep in contact with them, but he's not visiting one of them every other day. They have a good relationship, though, which is going to give him even more guilt issues … keep reading!

LinwëTook: There's no special reason, other than Sirius's search for his friends. He's lost a lot of his life, and he's trying to find it again anywhere that he can. Also, in life in general, everyone wants to know "who the baby looks like," and, as Sirius has admitted, he has trouble remembering that Laura isn't a baby anymore.

patsfan1254: Yes, they'll see each other again. Remember, Harry and the others never meet Olivia – that doesn't necessarily mean she's not there at the same time as they are. It's a big house!

highlandhottie: Laura and Harry won't get to meet in this story. Sorry, but I'm going to keep it canon.

LogicalRaven: Gulp. Remus is fourteen years older than Tonks, according to my first story, which is when she was born. I will admit to "soap opera aging" Tonks in my mind to make it closer to a ten or eleven year age difference, because fourteen is a bit much for me to handle! But, if you want to stick to straight facts (from my stories, at least), he's about 36 and she's about 22.

Thanks for reading and reviewing, everyone!

I don't own Harry Potter.

Organization

Olivia, Dana and Laura stayed with Sirius and Remus for hours. The adults reminisced about their childhood at Hogwarts and their adulthood in England while Laura listened raptly. She loved to hear stories about the time before her mother had moved to France, before her father had died. Many of their stories were about Lily and James; she loved those even more. The devotion that they still showed to their fallen friends so many years after their deaths amazed her.

"You were supposed to marry James and Lily's Harry, you know," Sirius grinned, nodding at Laura.

"What?" she asked, completely taken by surprise.

"Oh, yes," Olivia laughed. "Your mother and Lily spent hours discussing how the two of you would go to Hogwarts together and be the best of friends."

"Then, when you got older, you would start dating," Sirius continued with a grin. "Once you graduated, you were going to get married. I believe that they actually had a preliminary guest list for your wedding."

"Oh, Sirius, we did not," Dana laughed. A sadness crept into her eyes. "You know we never made it that far."

"But you really wanted me to marry Harry Potter?" Laura asked incredulously.

"Of course," Dana said with a smile. "He was my best friends' son. Naturally, we wanted the two of you to get married. It was mostly Lily and I who made the plans – James and your dad just laughed at us."

"I can remember James introducing Laura to Harry as his future wife," Remus put in. "They were so small . . . Sirius, do you remember that? It was when the girls went off shopping or something and left us in charge of Harry and Laura."

"Yeah," Sirius grinned. "That was the only other time that I met you, Laura. I can remember holding you . . . you were so little. And you were a beautiful baby. I knew you'd be the perfect match for Harry."

"But I've never even met Harry!" Laura exclaimed.

"It was all just a joke, really, sweetie," Dana smiled. "We didn't really expect you to marry him. Of course, if it happened that way . . ." She trailed off and smiled again. "But we live in France and Harry lives here. I knew, and Lily knew, that when I moved to France it became an impossible dream. But we didn't care, because we were never truly serious about it to begin with." She paused. "Every parent imagines their child marrying their best friend's child. It seems like the perfect way to unite the families. But no one ever really expects it to happen."

Laura smiled, her thoughts spinning around in her head. What if things had happened differently? What if she had grown up in England? What if she had gone to Hogwarts? Would she and Harry be the friends that their mothers had always hoped they would be? Would they have become "something more" than friends?

"There are a lot of unknowns in life, Laura," Remus said as though he had read her thoughts. "People like to guess at what might happen. But that doesn't mean they expect it to happen, or even that it should happen. I think that the life that we actually live is generally better than the life we could have imagined for ourselves. The uncertainty, the not knowing, makes it so much more interesting."

She looked at him with a smile. "I'm sure you're right."

"I know I am," he replied with a smile of his own. "Before you were born, I never could have imagined how incredibly special you'd become to me."

Her smile widened, and she blew him a kiss. He smiled, and blew a kiss back to her.

Dana glanced up as the grandfather clock chimed twelve. "My goodness, I didn't realize how late it was! Laura, we need to get home."

"Do we have to go?"

"Yes. You know that it's an hour later at home than it is here. Come on, we'll Floo back right now."

"All right," she sighed, standing up. She turned to Sirius. "It was nice to meet you."

"Still so formal," he grinned. He hugged her tightly. "I'm glad I finally got the chance to see you all grown up." He released her and touched her cheek. "You're even prettier than I imagined."

She smiled, flushing slightly. "Thank you."

"You'll come to visit me again, won't you?"

"If Mum lets me."

"What do you say, Mum?" Sirius asked, looking over at Dana.

She smiled. "You know we'll be back."

While Remus claimed Laura for a hug, Dana threw her arms around Sirius. "I'm so glad that I got to see you again," she whispered. "I'm so glad that now I know the truth. I never understood how you could have changed so much, so fast."

"I just wish things could have been different," Sirius sighed. He glanced over at Laura, who was saying good bye to Remus and Olivia. "It's so hard to think that she and Harry grew up without me."

"They've still got some growing up left," Dana smiled. "And I expect you to be right here for it."

"I will be," he grinned. "Come again soon?"

"Definitely."

Their goodbyes complete, Dana and Laura took their leave. Olivia, who was still sitting on the couch, slowly stood to her feet.

Remus crossed the room, and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you soon," he whispered. He squeezed her hand, then quickly left the room.

Olivia smiled after him, thinking that Remus never ceased to amaze her with his thoughtfulness. Then she turned to look at Sirius, and felt the tears filling her eyes.

"Hey," he said softly, crossing to hold her close. "Don't start that."

"I'm sorry," she said, trying unsuccessfully not to cry. "It's just too hard to say goodbye."

"Then don't," he said. He pulled back so that he could look into her eyes, and brushed the tears off her cheeks. "We don't have to say goodbye, love. It's so final . . . and we both know that we'll see each other again."

"When?" she whispered.

"Soon," he said. He leaned down to kiss her. "I want to see you as soon as I can."

"I'll come the next time I have time off," she promised.

"And I'll go to France to see you as soon as Dumbledore releases me from house arrest," Sirius grinned. "I'll think about you every day."

"And I'll be thinking about you," Olivia replied. She leaned up to kiss him again. "I'll miss you so much."

"I'll miss you even more," Sirius said, kissing her yet again. "I love you, Olivia."

She smiled tearfully. "I love you, too."

Then, after one last kiss, she Disapparated.

Sirius stood still in the living room for a moment, trying to recollect his thoughts. Then he left the room and climbed the stairs to Remus's room.

"Can I come in?" he called, pushing the slightly open door fully open.

"Of course," Remus replied. He looked up from the wardrobe, where he was unpacking the bag he had taken to Tonks's flat to make it seem like he really would be gone for the weekend.

"So," Sirius grinned, "you stayed with Tonks for the weekend."

"Only during the day," Remus said. "Get your mind out the gutter."

"Right," Sirius laughed. "And just where were you at night? Because I was here –"

"And I Apparated straight into my room, which had a silencing charm on it," Remus cut in. "Ha. Got you there."

"You think you're so clever," Sirius grinned.

"Well, I had help," Remus said.

Sirius looked at him for a moment. "Remus – thank you. What you did for me . . . you saved my life with this weekend."

Remus smiled. "It meant a lot to her, too."

"I know," Sirius said. "You know, I always knew that I missed her. I wanted nothing more than to see her again. But it wasn't until she was here that I realized how much I missed her. She means the world to me, Remus. Having her here . . ."

"I know," Remus said gently.

"Thank you," Sirius said again.

"You're welcome," Remus replied.

Sirius sat down on the bed, watching Remus put the last of his things away. "So, what did you and Tonks do?"

"We had a Muggle weekend," Remus grinned. "She took me to an amusement park, we rented movies . . ." He trailed off and grinned. "I had never done that sort of thing before. Like I told her, my grandmother tried to get me into it, but I'd never go for it. Now I feel a bit bad about that. I wish I had been more open to all the Muggle activities she wanted me to try."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Sirius counseled. "Children are incredibly close-minded. That's how it works."

Remus grinned. "I suppose you're right."

"And now that you've spent a weekend with her, are you willing to accept that Tonks has a crush on you?"

"Sirius, you really need to get off that," Remus said. He sighed. "Even if she did before, I'm sure she doesn't now."

"Were you mean to her?" Sirius asked with a teasing grin.

"I told her."

"Told her what?"

"About me. About my . . ." He smiled. "Well, as James would say, about my furry little problem."

"You told her that you're a werewolf?" Sirius asked in shocked disbelief.

"Yes," Remus said quietly.

"Wow," Sirius said, obviously at a loss for words.

"She asked how I got my scars," Remus said. "She saw the ones on my face."

"And you told her? Just like that?"

"We're going to be working together," Remus said. "I figured she deserved the truth. Enough other people in the Order know. It's only fair." He sighed. "And past experience has taught me that waiting to share this information only makes it harder when it comes out – and it always comes out. All secrets do in the end."

"How did she take it?"

"Quite well, actually. I was impressed. She said it's something that I can't control, and if she hated me for it, it would be the same thing as me hating her because she's a metamorphmagus."

"How very un-Black of her," Sirius said with a smile. "She definitely didn't learn that from Aunt Bellatrix."

"I got the impression that she didn't spend much time with your family as a child."

"Are you kidding?" Sirius laughed. "Andromeda kept her as far away from the family as possible. I can't blame her – I wouldn't let my kids know the family, either."

Remus raised his eyebrow. "What kids might those be, exactly?"

"Hey, I still have time," Sirius grinned. "You never know what the future holds."

Remus grinned. "I guess you really did have a good weekend! Are you and Olivia back together, then?"

"Yeah," Sirius grinned. "We're not engaged again, but I think we can find our way back there."

"I told Tonks you two could work it out," Remus smiled.

"Talking to Tonks about Liv and me, are you? Is that the jumping off point for your own relationship?"

Remus rolled his eyes. "She helped me plan this reunion, you know. Obviously we had to talk about you."

"And you really don't think she has a crush on you?"

Remus smiled sadly. "How could she? Sirius, do you realize how young she is? I know we had fun together this weekend, but there is no way that she can see me as a possible romantic partner. No way."

"But do you see her as . . . what did you say? A 'possible romantic partner?'"

Remus smiled his sad smile again, and when he spoke, the words were a bit forced. "Of course not. I'm too old for her, and now she knows that I'm a werewolf . . . She's a sweet girl, and she deserves far better than me."

Sirius shook his head. "Why do you always have to be so down on yourself? Don't you realize that you deserve someone like her?"

"I had my 'someone,'" Remus said quietly.

Sirius sighed. "I think we're all entitled to more than one 'someone.'"

"Just because you dated half of Hogwarts . . ."

Sirius laughed. "That's not what I meant."

Remus nodded. "I know what you meant. Just don't hold your breath waiting for a wedding invitation."

Sirius grinned. "We'll see, my friend. We'll see."

"Ginny, I think this is yours, right?"

"Yeah, Mum," Ginny Weasley said, taking the box that her mother was holding.

"Take it straight up to your room, and put your things away," Molly Weasley said. "I don't want to see your books, clothes and every other possession all over that room!"

"All right," Ginny called over her shoulder as she left the living room, her box cradled in her arms.

"Which room is ours?" Fred Weasley asked, using his wand to levitate his Hogwarts trunk ahead of him.

"Fred, put that down!" Molly exclaimed. "There are far too many people in here for you to move that trunk around like that! You're going to take someone's head off!"

"But it's heavy!" Fred complained, letting it fall with a clang.

"Then get one of your brothers to help you with it," Molly snapped in reply. "George, you know which room the two of you are in, right?"

"Yeah," George replied. "Come on, Fred, I'll show you." He grabbed one end the trunk, picking it back up off the ground. Fred picked up the other end, and they made their way out of the room.

"Where are Ron and Hermione?" Molly asked distractedly, pushing her hair back from her eyes.

"In the kitchen," Bill said as he appeared in the living room. "Ron was hungry, and Hermione wanted to make sure that he wasn't commanding Kreacher to cook him some elaborate snack."

"Hungry?" Molly repeated. "Don't they realize how much we have to do? We don't have time for snacks!"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a look. Things had been in a state of confused motion since the Weasley family and Hermione Granger had arrived at headquarters that morning.

"Whose idea was it for them to live here?" Sirius muttered.

Remus grinned. "We all agreed that it was for the best," he whispered. "Remember, this is for Harry."

"This is for Harry, this is for Harry," Sirius whispered to himself. He looked down at his feet, and picked up a box that was sitting there. "Whose is this?" he asked.

"Ron's," Molly replied. "Maybe he should get himself out of the kitchen so that he can take it up to his room!"

"What's wrong, Mum?" Ron asked as he walked into the room carrying half a sandwich.

"Ronald Weasley, do you honestly think this is the time to eat?" she yelled.

"I was hungry!" Ron replied defensively.

"You'd better be unpacked the next time I see you with food in your hands!" she yelled, swatting at his head.

"Ouch! Mum!"

"Come on, Ron, I'll help you," Sirius said, adjusting the box in his arms. "Hermione, do you have anything else down here?"

"I think it's all upstairs already," she said. "I'd better go help Ginny arrange our room."

She scurried out the room, with Sirius and Ron following behind her. Molly watched them go with a scowl.

"Make sure you leave space for Harry's things, Ron!" she called.

"I will!" came the reply.

She sighed, and brushed her hair back again before bending down to inspect another box.

"It's all going to be fine, Molly," Remus said soothingly. "You don't have to be completely settled in by the time the meeting starts."

"I'd like to be," she said honestly. "Goodness, Remus, I never realized how much effort it would take to get everyone here. This is worse than getting the children off to Hogwarts."

Remus smiled. "Just take it one box at a time. I'm sure you'll feel at home in no time."

"I don't know about that," she said, looking around with a shudder. "This house is in horrible condition, Remus. When was the last time it was actually cleaned?"

"Sirius and I have been working at it," Remus replied. "Tonks has been over to help a few times, too." He smiled apologetically. "It's in far better condition now than it was when Sirius and I moved in."

She shuddered again. "I don't even want to know what it looked like then. But don't you worry. We'll have it all the way it should be in no time."

"Thanks for your help, Sirius," Ron said as Sirius waved his wand to send books to the bookcase.

"Not a problem," Sirius replied, using another charm to put away Ron's clothes. "If I was better at these spells, I'd have your books alphabetized by author. Unfortunately, I'm just not that good."

Ron grinned. "Well, they look better as they are than any way I would have arranged them. At least they're all standing up."

Sirius smiled. "How's your summer been?"

"Good, I guess," Ron said. "It's been tough avoiding Fred and George's inventions, but other than that, it's been pretty quiet. Hermione came over last week, so that's made it more interesting."

Sirius raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, give it a rest," Ron said, his ears turning pink.

"Give what a rest?" Sirius asked innocently. "Did I say something?"

"Hermione and I are friends, okay?" Ron said defensively.

"I know, Ron," Sirius replied, still wearing his expression of complete innocence. "And you're both great friends to Harry. I know you mean the world to him."

"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure about that at this point," Ron said, looking relieved that the conversation had moved away from Hermione. "His letters are getting angry."

"Yeah, I've gotten some of that myself," Sirius sighed. "I know he wants to know everything, but there's no way we can send him the information that he wants in a letter."

"There's not exactly much to tell at this point, is there?" Ron asked.

Sirius hesitated. "No, I suppose not," he said at last.

A knock sounded on the open door, and both Ron and Sirius turned to see Hermione standing in the doorway. She looked at them for a moment before speaking.

"Professor Dumbledore's here," she said a bit uncertainly. "I just thought you'd want to know."

"Thanks, Hermione," Sirius said, giving her a grin. He turned to look at Ron, whose ears turned pink again when he caught Sirius's eye. "I'd better go say hello. I'll see you two later."

He winked at Hermione as he left the room, and she smiled back. He turned back after taking a few steps in time to see Hermione enter the room. He chuckled to himself as he made his way down the stairs.

"What are you laughing at?" Remus asked quietly, meeting Sirius in the foyer.

"Ron and Hermione," he replied. "They sort of remind me of you and Laura right before you started dating. You know – embarrassed by the suggestion that they like one another, but a little too quick to point out that they're just friends."

Remus grinned. "Ah. They've been like that at least since third year."

Sirius chuckled again. "So, Hermione said that Dumbledore's here?"

"Yes," Remus replied. "I think the meeting's going to start soon."

"Kitchen?"

"Yes."

"Well, we'd better get down there."

They had just turned to go down the stairs to the kitchen when the door opened. Sirius and Remus both looked up in time to see Tonks walk in.

"Hi, guys," she whispered.

She then promptly tripped over her own feet, which sent her careening into the umbrella stand. Remus, who was standing closer to her, lunged forward to catch her before she fell. Sirius made a wild dive in an attempt to stop the troll's leg from falling; he missed, and managed to fall over himself. Between both Sirius and the umbrella stand hitting the floor, the crash was deafening. After a split-second of silence, Mrs. Black's portrait began to scream.

"Bloody hell!" Sirius yelled. He picked himself up off the floor, and ran forward to stun the portrait. "We weren't interested when you were alive, Mother! Stupefy!"

Tonks, who was still clinging to Remus, giggled. "Thanks for saving me, Remus."

"You're welcome," Remus smiled.

They stood there looking into one another's eyes for a moment. Then Sirius laughed, bringing an end to their moment.

"You could have saved me, Remus," he laughed.

"My policy is to only save one member of the Black family a day," Remus replied with a laugh. "Sorry, mate, but you're out of luck."

"You just need to be more clumsy," Tonks said to Sirius. "Then you would have fallen sooner, and Remus would have saved you and not me."

Sirius looked at the two of them, who still were holding on to one another. "I'm not so sure about that."

Realizing what Sirius was getting at, Remus dropped his hands from their position on Tonks's waist. She let go of his arms, her face turning slightly pink.

The foyer then filled with noise as the Weasley family came in from various points in the house, all questioning what the crash and screaming had been. Remus looked at Sirius.

"You didn't tell them?"

"I didn't think about it," Sirius said. "Okay, everyone, listen up!"

The questions and conversations died as everyone turned to face Sirius. He smiled at them.

"I guess I need to introduce you to a couple of my family members. We'll start with the good one." He looked back at Tonks with a grin. "This is my cousin, Nymphadora Tonks. Her mother is my favorite cousin, Andromeda – and she's a close second on the favorite scale." He paused, then grinned again. "Oh, yeah, and if you call her anything other than Tonks, I think she'll hex you into next week."

"Good ending, Sirius," she grinned. "Hi, everyone."

"These are the Weasleys," Sirius clarified.

"I know Bill from school," she nodded. "Charlie's not here?"

"He's in Romania, working with dragons," Bill said, coming forward to hug his old friend. "How have you been, Tonks?"

"Fine," she smiled. "So, this is your family?"

"Yup," Bill said cheerfully. "These are my parents –"

"Molly and Arthur, dear," Molly said as she and Arthur came forward to greet Tonks.

"These are my brothers, Fred, George and Ron – they'll all be back at Hogwarts soon – and this is my sister, Ginny. She'll be going back to Hogwarts as well. And this is Ron's friend, Hermione Granger."

"She's my friend, too," Ginny said, rolling her eyes.

"Right," Bill agreed with a grin. "This is Hermione Granger, friend of Ron and Ginny."

"What, Hermione's too good to be our friend?" Fred asked indignantly.

"Yeah, we like Hermione," George said, looking highly offended. "Has she been telling you that she's not our friend?"

"Fine," Bill said testily. "Hermione is a friend of every Hogwarts-attending member of the family, and is well-liked by all the rest of us. Does that make everyone happy?"

Tonks giggled. "It's really nice to meet all of you. I suppose we'll be seeing a lot of each other with Order business and all."

"Are you in the Order?" Ginny asked.

"Yes," Tonks replied. "I'm also an Auror."

"Wicked!" Ron said.

"You'd like to be an Auror?" she asked, surveying him mildly.

"I think it would be a cool job," he replied.

She nodded, and smiled. "If there's anything I can do to help you, I will."

"Thanks!" Ron said cheerfully.

He did not speak louder than anyone else, but the charm that Sirius had used had to silence his mother's portrait apparently worn off. Shrieks filled the room as the velvet curtains in front of the painting flew back.

"Blood traitors! Befouling the home of my fathers –"

"Oh, hell," Sirius sighed. "STUPEFY!"

The portrait froze, and Remus and Tonks pulled the curtains closed around it again. Sirius testily shoved his wand into his robes.

"If Tonks was the good of the family introductions, that woman was both the bad and the ugly," he said. "That, ladies and gentlemen, was my mother."

"Your – your mother?" Molly asked in shock.

"Yeah," Sirius said, running his hand through his hair. "Lovely woman, isn't she? I guess I should warn you all right now – she will shriek like that every time she wakes up. So, please keep the curtains closed over her portrait, and be as quiet as you can when you walk through the foyer."

"Noted," Arthur said. "Now, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Hermione, you'd all better go finish arranging your rooms. The rest of us have a meeting to get to."

"Can't we go, too?" Fred asked. "George and I have talked about it, and we want to join the Order –"

"Absolutely not," Molly said, giving them a look that made them take a step back from her. "Get upstairs. All of you."

With much grumbling about the injustices of life and age discrimination, the four Weasleys and Hermione made their way up the stairs to their bedrooms. Molly waited long enough to be sure that they were actually going up before following her husband, Bill and Tonks to the kitchen. Sirius watched the teenagers go with a sympathetic smile.

"I'd be fighting just as hard to get into that meeting if I were them," he said.

"I wouldn't expect them to give up so easily," Remus said in a low voice. "I've taught those Weasley twins, and you can just bet that they're not going to take this lying down."

"Ron said something about their inventions . . ."

"They weren't into inventing when I taught them – at least not openly. But they're definitely practical jokers – and you know as well as I do that means that they're very . . . industrious. If they want something, they're going to find a way to get their hands on it."

"Well, I'm not saying anything to their mother," Sirius replied.

"Neither am I." Remus grinned. "I think we're safer that way."

"Come on, let's get down to that meeting."

The full Order, such as it was, was in attendance for the meeting. The members of the original Order, from Moody, who was sipping something from his hipflask, to Snape, who was sitting alone in corner, were all present. The new members, Tonks, Kingsley and the three Weasleys, were all invited to take seats around the table.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Dumbledore said as he rose to his feet, "welcome to our first official meeting of the full membership of the Order of the Phoenix. I am sure that you will all get to know one another very well in the coming weeks and months, but for the moment, I believe your names will do. Please, introduces yourselves to the group."

Each member stated his or her name. When Bill said his own name, he added that his brother, Charlie, would be doing foreign fieldwork in Romania. Remus wondered why Percy was not present or mentioned. He had only just begun to consider why the third Weasley brother would not be an Order member when Dumbledore spoke.

"We also have Olivia Alexander working for us in France," he added. "I believe that is everyone. Now, then, let us begin."

The room fell silent as Dumbledore paused. He looked at them not with his usual smile, but rather with a very grave expression.

"We are among the few, ladies and gentlemen, who are willing to admit the truth of what happened in June. We are among the few who acknowledge that Lord Voldemort has returned, and what his return will mean for our world. We are also among the few who realize exactly how much danger Harry Potter is facing."

"Why is it always Harry?" Molly asked as Dumbledore paused. "It seems that You-Know-Who has been after him since he was a baby . . . Why can't he just give up on Harry?"

"Because of a prophecy that was made shortly before Harry was born," Dumbledore said. He paused. "I apologize to those of you who have heard this information before, but I will make it a bit more exciting for you by elaborating more this time. I suppose it goes without saying that this information does not leave the room."

A murmur of general assent filled the room. Dumbledore nodded.

"This prophecy states that Harry must destroy Voldemort or that Voldemort must destroy Harry," he said. "Voldemort knows of it, and has heard part of it . . ." He trailed off; his eyes flicked ever so quickly to Snape's face. Snape met the older man's eyes, showing no shame or remorse for his part in allowing the Dark Lord to know of this prophecy.

"But there's more to it than You-Know-Who knows?" Bill asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore said slowly. "One of the most vital things we will do in the coming days and months is to make certain that he does not hear the rest of that prophecy. "

"You want us to keep him away from the record of the prophecy?" Arthur asked.

"Precisely. That will be the first of our missions as the Order of the Phoenix."

"But no one could touch it but Harry or You-Know-Who," Kingsley stated. "All the records in the Hall of Prophecy are protected by a very powerful curse. Only the ones they refer to can touch them without losing their minds."

"Very few people know that," Dumbledore said, looking rather impressed. "How did you come by this knowledge, Kingsley?"

"I dated an Unspeakable for about a year," he said. "I didn't learn much about the Department of Mysteries, but I did learn that."

"Well, we are currently working under the assumption that Voldemort is unaware of that fact. I assume that he will use any means possible to try to break into the Hall of Prophecy short of going himself to retrieve the record."

"Do you think he would try to kidnap Harry and force him to get it?" Sirius asked, his voice tight.

"That is certainly a possibility," Dumbledore replied. "And that takes us to the second of our missions: to guard Harry."

"Shouldn't we bring him here, then?" Sirius asked. "That way we can all be here to keep an eye on him."

"We will bring him here eventually," Dumbledore affirmed. "But, for now I think he is just as safe with his aunt and uncle as he would be here. Living with them . . . let us say, it affords him a certain protection that he would not find elsewhere. While he is with them, Voldemort cannot hope to touch him."

"But you said that you want us to guard Harry?" Molly asked.

"Yes," Dumbledore said. "Arabella, you will, of course, be a vital link in this process."

"I've been keeping a sharper eye on him than I have in the past," she promised. "I've asked him for tea again, but he's turned me down." She shook her head. "If I had just been kinder to him before . . ."

"You have done your job admirably," Dumbledore said. "Ever since Harry was taken to live with his aunt, you have done has I have asked. And we will all help you. All members will be assigned guard duty over both the prophecy and Harry. We will need to work out a schedule –"

"I can take care of that," McGonagall said quickly. "I'll just need to know everyone's schedule preferences."

Remus almost sighed with relief. After working with her on scheduling issues during all his time as a prefect at Hogwarts, he knew that she would never schedule him for guard duty around the full moon.

"That settles that, then," Dumbledore said. "However, those are not the only things we need to worry about. We will also need to work with recruitment."

"Are we trying to find new members?" Dedalus Diggle asked in surprise.

"No," Dumbledore replied. "We are going to attempt to convince others of Voldemort's return. But this will be a tricky process. We need to do it in an inconspicuous manner, and in a manner that will ensure that word of the Order's rebirth does not escape." He surveyed all of them with his penetrating stare. "I would like to keep our organization a secret for as long as possible. Voldemort is working in secrecy; I would like for us to do the same."

Everyone nodded their agreement, and Dumbledore nodded with them.

"I do have a bit of cheerful news for you this evening," he said. "I have just received word that Madam Maxime has returned to her school in France."

"But where is Hagrid?" McGonagall asked before anyone else had a chance to speak.

Dumbledore's smile faded. "We haven't had any word from Hagrid," he admitted. "Madam Maxime assures me that he was in good health and spirits when they parted, and I have no reason to believe that anything has happened to change that. I am sure that we will hear from him soon."

"Were they successful?" Remus asked. "Did they make contact with the giants?"

"They did make contact," Dumbledore said. "They did not, however, manage to achieve their goal."

"So the giants remain loyal to Voldemort," Remus said quietly.

"As of now, yes," Dumbledore replied. "But I am not going to give up hope, just as I am sure that Hagrid would not give up hope."

"You do think that he's safe, don't you?" Tonks asked anxiously.

Remus glanced at her, surprised that she was so concerned for Hagrid. She looked away from Dumbledore's face to meet Remus's eyes. He gave her an encouraging smile, and she smiled back.

"I have no reason to believe that he is not safe," Dumbledore said.

"And there's no way to reach him?" Tonks asked.

"If there was, I would have used it long ago," Dumbledore said. "May I consider this matter closed?"

A general murmur of assent rippled through the room.

"Very well. Severus, do you have a report for us?"

"You have touched on the most important issue that the Dark Lord is concerned with," Snape replied from his corner. "He is desperate to obtain that prophecy, and I do not think that he will rest until it is in his hands." He paused. "Don't you think, Headmaster, that it would be safer to move the prophecy . . .?"

"No," Dumbledore said at once. "I will not use Harry to retrieve it, and that is the only way it could come into our possession. And even if I was willing to use him in such a manner, there is the matter of security. I will not put my school in such danger by keeping an object that Voldemort wants inside it – not again."

"You will have Potter there," Snape said a bit impatiently. "One could argue that he is the object that the Dark Lord most desires."

"Voldemort has no hope of getting near Harry while he is at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said evenly. "You know that as well as I do – and as well as Voldemort himself does."

"Yes, of course," Snape replied.

"Is there any other information we should know?"

"Not at this time, sir."

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well. This meeting is adjourned. I will contact you regarding the next meeting."

"And I will contact you with your guard schedules," McGonagall added.

Sirius pushed back from the table quickly. "How much do you want to bet we're going to find five teenagers outside the door?"

Remus laughed. "We'd better check it out before Molly has a chance."

"Where are you two going?" Tonks asked, hurrying to catch up with them.

"To warn the kids," Sirius said cheerfully.

"Warn them? About what?"

"The fact that eavesdropping is a good way for to make Molly angry."

Tonks grinned. "Yeah, I'm sure they got quite a bit of information."

They opened the kitchen door, and moved out into the hallway. To the untrained eye, it looked empty. Sirius and Remus, however, were experts in this sort of thing; they both immediately looked into shadowy corners and spaces behind doors.

"Ha," Sirius laughed, pulling Fred up by his arm. "Gotcha."

"Let go!" Fred said, wrenching his arm from Sirius's grasp. He sighed. "The jig's up, guys. They found us."

One by one, the other four stepped out of their shadowy hiding places. They joined Fred to form a line facing Sirius, Remus and Tonks.

"You're going to tell Mum, aren't you?" Ron asked sullenly.

"Of course we're not," Sirius said, looking scandalized. "We came out so quickly to make sure that we found you before she did."

"But you can't keep doing this," Remus said. "If we wanted you to have this information, we would invite you to the meetings."

"How much did you hear?" Tonks asked.

"Not much," George admitted. "You guys could talk a bit louder, you know."

"Yeah, we'll get right on that," Tonks said sarcastically. "Remus is right, guys. You shouldn't know this stuff. It's safer for you not to know."

"I know it's killing you to be in the dark," Sirius said. "But think of how much harder it would be to write to Harry if you did know everything. You'd have to send him these letters swearing you don't know what's going on when you really do."

"And," Remus added. "You're bound to get caught. We just found you, didn't we?"

"They're right, guys," Hermione said at last. "Come on, let's get upstairs before your mum comes out here and sees us."

Grumbling once again about injustice, the five of them made their way upstairs. Sirius shook his head.

"Thank God I'm not in their place," he said. "I'd probably have had my ear up against the door to listen. I know that James's parents were in the Order and told us nothing, but at least we didn't have to live in headquarters."

"They'll make it," Tonks said. "They'll just have to get better at spying, that's all."

"Don't give them any ideas," Remus said. "They're good enough as it is."

"Give them a break," Tonks grinned. "They're good kids, Remus."

"I know it."

"They're good friends to Harry," Sirius said. "For that, I'll always think they're the best kids in the world."

A few other members came out of the kitchen; Kingsley immediately engaged Sirius in conversation. Remus looked at Tonks.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"Of course," she said brightly. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know . . . I was worried about you for a minute in there. You seemed really upset when Dumbledore was talking about Hagrid."

"Oh," she said, "that. Well, I'm worried about him, Remus. It doesn't seem right that we would go this long without hearing anything. And now that we know that Madame Maxime is back . . . I'm afraid something has happened to him."

Remus didn't hand her empty promises of Hagrid's safe return. He knew, and she knew, that no one could promise that Hagrid would be home soon, or that he would be home at all. He merely touched her arm and said, "Do you know him well?"

She grinned. "I served a lot of detentions with him when I was at Hogwarts. He always requested me when I was assigned to detention, and so McGonagall always let me go with him. After a few years, I did get to know him quite well. He's one of my favorite Hogwarts staff members."

Remus smiled. "He really is a good person. He loves his job – loves the kids."

"Yeah, he does," Tonks replied. She smiled sadly. "I just hope he has the chance to keep on loving his job and the kids this year."

Remus sighed. "So do I."

Across the room, Molly stepped over to talk to Sirius, who had just ended his conversation with Kingsley.

"Hi, Molly," he smiled.

"Are Remus and Tonks . . .?" she asked uncertainly.

Sirius looked over to see his best friend and his cousin deep in conversation. He grinned. "I keep telling Remus that she has a crush on him, but he refuses to admit it."

"Oh, well, I'd say she does," Molly said, a sparkle jumping into her eyes. "And I'd go so far as to say the feeling is mutual."

"Yeah, I thought that, too," Sirius said, still grinning. "And I'm glad that you've seen it, too. Now I can tell Remus that it's not just me thinking that something's going on."

"Oh, no," Molly said, holding up her hands. "Don't you involve me in this. I stay out of other people's romantic relationships."

Sirius laughed. "All right, I'll keep you out of it. But I won't forget what you said. There's definitely something going on there – definitely."