Metamorphosis
***N OTE: So sorry for the delay! I was busy ALL of Easter weekend! I tried to get this up on time, even when it was delayed and couldn't. I didn't realize how many plans my mom had made. O.O Anyway, promise the next update won't be delayed (unless it's of a VERY VERY good reason ^-^) ENJOY!
Warning: There are Order of the Phoenix spoilers!
Chapter 1: Remorse
The dark sky above the sleeping world began to wake at the sounds of unusual bird calls. There was only a crack of light in the sky as dawn was close to approaching. Had any muggle been awake to look outside they would've seen an unusually large bird the size of a swan with deep crimson feathers flying faster than any normal bird, leaving a trail of golden tail feathers in its wake as it rose toward the sky. None of them did as the bird made its way peacefully across the sky, looking around as it did so as if trying to find something out of place. The world seemed quiet and peaceful so it rose up, speeding toward a section of the sky that had a shimmering cloud. Gracefully, the large bird folded its wings and flew into the cloud, disappearing inside and not coming out the other end.
In a world parallel to the muggle world, the bird emerged, flying toward its destination through a similar dark sky. It let out a loud, song-like tune that echoed around the area as it approached the house that stood in shadows, clouded by the intense magic shielded around it. To just anyone looking the house wouldn't have existed, or have been seen in their sight, but with narrowed pupils the bird was able to see through the disguise and land gracefully on the windowsill nearby the cracked and peeled sign that read: 12 Grimmald Place.
Folding its wings, the bird pecked twice on the window waiting patiently until the window was decharmed and unlocked. A bright face greeted it with a lovely smile and frizzy morning red hair.
"Back from your trip all ready Fawkes?" Mrs. Weasley smiled, sticking out a somewhat plump hand for the bird to clasp on to.
Fawkes answered with a squawk but didn't say any more. Mrs. Weasley walked through the kitchen, after locking and putting up the charm on the window, and approached a large oak door in the very back of the house. She muttered an incantation and the door opened slightly, allowing her to stick her hand through.
"There you are. Dumbledore has been expecting your return," she smiled at the bird as it flew off her hand inside the room.
Carefully she closed the door and charmed it back up before entering the kitchen once more to finish her handiwork. Several dishes were all ready made, ready for eating. By the looks of the counters one would think she was cooking for an army. Humming an old tune, Mrs. Weasley set about preparing the last dish to be served for breakfast.
Up the creaky old stairs, down the long hallway and toward the second door on the left, a bedroom door was open slightly. Inside the much cleaner room (since Mrs. Weasley had dusted the entire upstairs with a cleansing spell), a figure sat atop one of the beds in the room, their face obscured by the Daily Prophet article held in their hands. Another bed was on the opposite wall of the small room, pushed up against the wall, but it was unoccupied. It was the only piece of furniture in the house, besides the attic that had yet to be cleaned because of a certain Hippogriff that was still housed there, that hadn't been dusted. The covers were still crumpled as if someone had been sleeping there ages ago; a very subtle imprint of a young body only slightly visible.
A page of the article was turned as the figure sat in silence, reading the news. The bed creaked in discontent as the figure suddenly shot up on the bed, red hair falling in a mess.
"I can't believe it! The Chudley Canons didn't win!"
The paper was tossed aside as Ron flopped back down on it with a sigh. He looked up at the ceiling in thought before his eyes turned to the empty bed in the room. His eyes dimmed slightly as he stared at the unmade and dusty bed that left the remains of a previous visitor.
"Wish you were here, Harry," Ron muttered tiredly.
A sudden knock at the door caused him to turn his head, his eyes lingering on the old door.
"Come in only if you're not Fred or George. I'm not in the mood to test out new creations."
The door opened and a smaller, thin figure entered. Straight red hair was combed neatly into a ponytail. There were traces of growth in the small figure, such as the more matured facial features and the slight height change. Other than that, Ginny Weasley stood as she normally did, clad in her pajamas.
"Oh, hi Ginny," Ron said, sitting up. "What are you doing up so early?"
She shrugged lightly and closed the door before approaching the bed and sitting on the end of it.
"I couldn't sleep, not with mum rattling pots and pans downstairs," Ginny said, referring to how her room was nearby the stairs and just above the kitchen.
"So the meeting is almost done then?" Ron asked, leaning up against the head board.
Ginny nodded, "Yes. And it's about time! We've been here for nearly a week without knowing what's going on in the world or with…"
Ron looked up at her as she stopped mid-sentence unable to form the words of the most feared wizard alive. He understood her fear since that's what they had been living with ever since the end of the previous year when it was reported that the Dark Lord still lived and was growing more powerful each day. So far nothing more than some Death Eater raids had happened, but they were worried since the Order, namely Dumbledore, had owled their family about heading to the secret location almost a week ago. They were afraid something bad had happened, or was about to happen.
Ron swallowed, trying to dampen his dry throat. He decided it was best to change the subject.
"I hope Snape doesn't come to breakfast again," Ron said distastefully. "He nearly gave me a summer assignment last time just because Fred and George put some of their Green-Tongue Chews in his drink!"
Ginny nodded, "He only was going to punish you because Fred and George aren't at Hogwarts anymore."
Ron snorted and folded his arms, brushing imaginary dust off his pajama bottoms, "That's why they don't mind pulling pranks, but I don't want to lose my Prefect badge and I know Snape would be more than happy to take that away so that I can't help take off points from Slytherins."
"I don't think he can take it away," Ginny said, folding her legs as she sat more comfortably on the bed. "Only Dumbledore could."
Ron just nodded and a somewhat comfortable silence fell between them. Ginny was silent in thought as her eyes strayed to the empty bed as Ron's had earlier. Without turning to him she voiced what he had hoped he wouldn't hear.
"Have you heard from Harry yet?"
Ron's eyes dimmed, "No. Dumbledore told me the first day we arrived here that he had sent a letter to Harry's relatives right after school saying that he wasn't allowed to write to us. I can't even imagine how he feels," Ron said shaking his head. "He's practically been banished to the muggle world with those awful…"
Ron refrained from using inappropriate words in front of his little sister and instead just made a face. Ginny seemed to understand and nodded, looking down at the bed with slight discomfort. By now nearly everyone, that is Fred, George, and every one at the Grimmald place, knew about Harry's relatives. Mad-Eye Moody even had a disliking for them and had had the urge to march over there and scare them silly with his magical eye (as he had done when he helped escort Harry back to them at the end of the previous year).
"I'm sure Harry understands," Ginny said quietly, after a small hesitation.
Ron glanced up at her, "Did you see how angry he was last year when he didn't know anything? He couldn't write to us then either and now he's being forced to stay there. We can't even go rescue him. What if they're thinking of keeping him there all year round?"
Ginny's eyes widened with shock, "T-they wouldn't?! I mean…Harry would go crazy with his relatives."
"I know, Ginny, but it's not like before during second year when it was safe to rescue him. You-Know-Who is out there and nearly in full power. It's not safe to go anywhere alone, or in small groups," Ron said, wrapping his arms loosely around himself. "I mean, what if you or Fred or George, or even dad end up like Si…"
Ron stopped himself short, lowering his eyes as silence ensured again. Ginny bit her lip in response, lowering her eyes as well. Neither one of them wanted to think about what could happen now that the Dark Lord was coming back as he had before. It was too painful to imagine losing anyone. The death of Sirius had been a slap of reality, so much that Fred and George didn't encourage Ron or Harry to do pranks anymore.
"Do you…think Harry's doing all right?" Ginny asked softly, referring to the death of his Godfather without saying it directly.
Ron hesitated but shrugged lightly, "Don't know. He seemed fine at the end of last year, but I don't think even he thought anyone would die…especially Sirius. I'm just glad we don't have to hear Mrs. Black cheering the death of her son. It was smart of Dumbledore to put that charm on her painting so it couldn't open."
"And Kreacher is gone too," Ginny said, shivering.
"Good riddance," Ron muttered.
"So, what about Hermione? She's coming here too, right?" Ginny asked, changing the subject to a less delicate matter.
Ron turned to her, "I think she's coming with her parents, but we haven't been able to write since we got here. We kept in touch during the beginning of the summer, and she of course was trying to get me to study. I don't know when she's coming, if she is. Maybe we'll just see her at school."
Ginny smiled slightly, her features lighting up as she did so. Very rarely did anyone there smile, if at all. It was almost a relief to feel something other than fear and uncertainty. Ron smiled back and reached out to hug his sister, something he hadn't done in so long. Just as they embraced lightly two loud pops startled them, causing Ron to yelp and lose balance, landing with a thud on the floor.
"Fred! George! Why do you always do that?" Ron glared at his two brothers, who were grinning widely at his "accident."
"Don't you know how to knock?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms disapprovingly.
Fred rose an eyebrow toward her, "Ginny, I think you've been hanging out with Hermione too much. She's starting to rub off on you."
"I don't see that as a bad thing," Ginny sniffed, glaring at them.
George shrugged, "It's your life. Anyway, Forge and I have something to tell you."
Ron sat up in the bed curiously and Ginny adjusted her position as well. Fred and George took their places on the empty bed, staring at them before speaking.
"You know how mum threw away our Extendable Ears?" Fred began.
Ron and Ginny nodded, knowing too well how furious their mom was when Fred and George made concoctions.
"Well, we found one that had been left hidden inside the room where the Order meets," George continued, glancing at Fred. "We had hidden it in there after the last meeting the previous year when everyone had left hoping they would come back and wouldn't find the Ear."
"But they didn't," Fred broke in. "And the Ear had remained there untouched until we found it again the first day we arrived."
"We didn't want to move it, since it was in such a great hiding spot, so we snuck into the room every night since then to make a copy from that one and put a spell on the original one so it would be connected to the copy that we made. That way, one Ear stays in the room, the other stays with us so we can hear what is being said," George finished.
"You've been spying on the Order the whole time?" Ginny asked with wide eyes. "And…you weren't caught like last time?"
Fred and George grinned and shook their heads proudly. Ron looked at them suspiciously and shook his head.
"Wait, you mean to tell us that no one knew it was there last year? I'm sure someone would've found it," Ron said.
Fred and George exchanged uneasy looks as Ron studied the both of them.
"There was one person," Fred said uncomfortably, "that knew we had put it there."
"Who?" Ron voiced, watching as they exchanged glances, looking around to make sure someone wasn't there.
Fred finally looked back at Ron, "Sirius."
An uncomfortable silence reigned over them for several minutes as bad memories plagued their minds. All their eyes unconsciously went to the empty bed where Harry had slept the first time they had stepped foot inside the Grimwauld home.
"So, what did you hear?" Ron asked, after a small hesitation.
"Well, there's good news and bad news," Fred said.
"And then there's really bad news," George said.
Ron and Ginny exchanged looks before Ginny turned back to them, her eyes more calm about hearing reality about what was really happening than she had last year.
"How about…the bad news," she said, putting a little confidence in her voice.
Fred nodded, "There are several bad things, but they're kind of tied together. Are you ready?"
Ron and Ginny nodded, adjusting their positions to be more comfortable as they prepared to hear what they had wanted since the Order arrived: news on what was going on.
"The first one is that Dumbledore is afraid the Dark Lord will try and attack Hogwarts."
"Which isn't a surprise since Dumbledore is one of the few wizards really standing in You-Know-Who's way," George interrupted.
"Yes, well anyway," Fred continued, "he says that he's going to wait for more news about where You-Know-Who is headed. From what we gathered, Dumbledore has a couple spies on You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters. By the time the school year starts up again he'll send a message to every home telling whether the Hogwarts students will be moving their location to the Beauxbatons school, or Durmstrang, but most likely Beauxbatons."
"Move there?" Ginny asked surprised.
George nodded, "Yeah, all the teachers will move there as well, including Hagrid, who I think is very up to the idea," he smirked. "It's because the Beauxbatons' location is secretive and they've updated the charms after last year so that the incantations protecting it change each week. We'll be a lot safer there."
"Wait, you two are coming?" Ron asked. "But you're out of school."
"Yeah, but we're also out of business at Hogsmeade," Fred said, referring to their joke shop that had just started picking up real business. "Hogsmeade is going to close if they can't find something to block all entrances to it where Death Eaters can get in. Besides, I've wanted to check out one of those private schools. I've heard they have really nifty secret passages, some with puzzles you wouldn't believe."
George leaned off the bed and looked around as if telling some deep dark secret, "Our goal is to find the most difficult secret room of all, which is what they call The Moving Dungeon room. They call it that," he continued, seeing Ron's expression, "because it moves constantly so you have to be extremely quick and clever. I heard it's not really a dungeon, but rather a place where they keep very rare ingredients, potions, possibly even some dangerous stuff."
"That does sound kind of fun," Ron said cautiously. "I mean, we'd be able to sneak around that school because it has a hidden location, like this house, right?"
"Exactly," Fred beamed.
Ginny sighed exasperated, "Well, I'm sure Hermione won't approve. And you know she'll find out," she said responding to her brothers' glares. "Anyway, I think just for this year I'm going to follow Hermione's example and study with her. Who knows if You-Know-Who will get so powerful that he'll break into Beauxbatons. I just want to pass all my tests so that if we do survive the war and the Dark Lord is defeated then I'll have lots of good-paying job opportunities."
"Good thinking little sister," George nodded. "We've got to have another smart one in the family."
"Hey! What the bloody hell does that mean?" Ron glared at them.
"Nothing, honestly," George said, feigning innocence.
Ginny rolled her eyes, "All right you three, mum's going to have a fit if she hears you fighting. She'll give us another lecture on proper discipline while the Order is here. Now, finish telling us the news."
"Oh, right, right," Fred said. "Anyway, the second bad news is that they don't have Quidditch at the Beauxbatons' school."
"WHA— " Ron nearly shouted had Ginny not put her hands over his mouth.
They listened but they didn't hear anything besides the clanking of dishes. Ginny let go of Ron's mouth and he stared at his brothers with a dumbfounded expression.
"What do you mean they don't have Quidditch?" Ron whispered. "Everyone has Quidditch."
George shook his head, "Not the private schools. I mean, they have courses where you can take private lessons if you want to have that as a career but it doesn't compete against other schools or classes, mainly because they're just all one class and not divided like Hogwarts. It's because of the founder of the school who was some big rich guy, or girl."
"Is there any other bad news?" Ginny asked, somewhat annoyed.
Ron glared at her, but she ignored him.
"There's one more," Fred said darkly.
They paused for suspense and Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Fudge has been getting suspicious about the meeting, so it's likely sooner or later he'll find out about this place."
Both Ginny and Ron's mouths dropped open, their eyes wide with shock.
"What…how…Dumbledore wouldn't allow that bumbling fool to come here during a secret meeting," Ron said, glancing from Fred to George.
George shrugged, "Apparently he has no choice. The Minister got some tip of Dumbledore meeting with the old Order of the Phoenix and he decided to participate."
Ron snorted, "He's only doing it so he can hear everything that's going on with You-Know-Who. The moment he hears the Dark Lord is going to attack he's going to go into hiding and leave us all to defend for ourselves."
"We'll have the Beauxbatons," Ginny encouraged, "and there are plenty of really good and powerful aurors and witches and wizards. There has to be more of us than the number of Death Eaters."
"You're not counting the creatures and Dementors You-Know-Who is getting on his side," George said darkly.
"Can we please not think about that right now?" Ron asked, swallowing hard.
"Fine with us," Fred commented. "So, what'll it be? The good news or the really bad news?"
"I'm sick of bad news, please give us some good news," Ron said, leaning up against the wall.
George nodded, "All right. The good news is that Dumbledore has managed to get more than half of the giants on our side, and right now is thinking of doing something really big in order to stop You-Know-Who. We don't know all the details, but something about getting him in one place with his army and then creating a very powerful wall to surround him and trap him."
"It's not a wall," Fred said, "it's more like a really large shield that will be too powerful for even You-Know-Who to get out of. I'm not sure why, or how it's used, but they were talking about it coming to that. There are some difficulties with it, that it takes a while for it to actually work so the Dark Lord might be able to escape it before it activates."
"What are they going to do once he's trapped?" Ginny asked.
"That we know. They're going to send him into a parallel dimension, and you know how many dimensions there are. It would take him thousands of years to get through them and back to our dimension. By that time I'm betting everyone will be very powerful sorcerers."
"Evolution," George grinned. "Maybe there won't be any more muggles. Or maybe muggles and wizards will be living peacefully together. You never know."
Ginny smiled, "That was good news. Is there any more?"
"Well, a couple minor things," Fred smiled. "Snape won't be teaching potions this year."
Ron and Ginny exchanged surprised glances before a huge smile took over Ron's features. He looked as though Christmas had come early.
"Not that I'm complaining, but why?" Ginny asked.
"Because he has a full time job as a member of the Order. Fred and I think he's a spy against the Death Eaters, but we're not certain. Anyway, he won't even be at the school with us because he'll be on too many missions and reporting back to Dumbledore. So you're going to have a Beauxbatons teacher for that. Hogwarts students and Beauxbatons will be combined for that class. Otherwise there's a separate wing for all the Hogwarts teachers so you can have your normal classes, unless you switch into different ones and go to the ones the Beauxbatons are. They do have pretty interesting classes," George stated.
"And guess who's going to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" Fred winked.
Ginny and Ron's eyes lightened immensely, "Remus!" they chorused.
"It's professor Lupin," Fred imitated with exaggeration.
Ginny laughed lightly at their impression and when the laughter subsided the silence wasn't as uncomfortable as before.
Ron groaned, "Do we have to hear the really bad news?"
Fred shrugged, his smile disappearing, "It's your choice."
"We need to know everything, Ron. We can't just be blinded by the good news," Ginny said seriously, before turning to Fred and George. "What's the really bad news?"
The twins exchanged uneasy looks before nodding, George taking a deep breath.
"Well, first there's another rumor going around. I'm sure you heard about the trial coming up, with the Death Eaters who were caught last year?"
Ron, "I think so."
"Wasn't Draco's father arrested as well?" Ginny asked.
The twins nodded and Ron's eyes bulged out. "We heard one of the members say that they saw Malfoy's father with the rest of the Death Eaters, who weren't at the Ministry last year; the ones that weren't caught. That means that somehow Lucius Malfoy is getting out of the cell in order to attend the gatherings, which means someone is working as an undercover spy against us. Probably someone guarding Azkaban."
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered under his breath.
Ginny let out her breath, "They have to catch him sometime. And besides, he can't get out for very long because the other guards do checks."
"That's true, but there's more really bad news," George said uneasily. "We overheard Dumbledore talking also about…," he hesitated, "about Harry. There's a rumor that the Dark Lord is trying to figure out where Harry's relatives live so that he can get him when he's unguarded in the muggle world."
Ginny gasped, turning wide-eyed to Ron, who was looking slightly pale.
"As far as we know that's just a rumor," he said, allowing Ginny and Ron to breathe sighs of relief. "But that means that You-Know-Who has Harry on a careful watch so if he sees any sign of knowing where he is, muggle or wizard world, then he'll attack. So…Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Harry to come to school right away."
"He's not coming?! He has to stay in the muggle world and not go to Hogwarts…er..Beauxbatons?!" Ron exclaimed. "They can't do that to him!"
"It's just temporary Ron, to fool the Dark Lord and wait until he's distracted so that Harry can get here safely."
"Yeah, I just hope Fudge doesn't screw something up," Fred muttered. "If anything about the Order's plans to sneak Harry in behind the Dark Lord's back leaks out then Harry can't come at all. And if the Dark Lord finds out where his relatives live…"
"We won't let that happen," Ron said firmly. "We won't allow Fudge to squeal, even if we have to erase his memory of everything that the Order said. I know you two are good at sneaking temporary memory-loss taffies into people's drinks."
Fred and George nodded in agreement with knowing smirks on their faces.
"Oh yeah! We forgot to tell you! Hermione's family just got back from wherever they went. So she'll probably be coming soon."
"That still doesn't solve Harry's problem," Ron retorted.
"Hermione might have an idea of how to help Harry," Ginny suggested.
Ron sighed, "I hope so."
Before any of them could say another word they heard a familiar voice shouting up the stairs.
"Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, breakfast!" they heard Mrs. Weasley shout.
Grudgingly, Ron and Ginny got off the bed ready to walk down the stairs. Fred and George, per usual, apparated immediately. As Ron and Ginny descended the stairs they could hear Mrs. Weasley yelling at the twins.
"YOU COULD'VE GIVEN ME A HEART ATTACK!"
"Please lessen the apparation, boys," Mr. Weasley said gently.
Ron and Ginny sat at their respective seats at the long table just as members of the Order began filing in. Tonks came in first, having been shooed away from the kitchen by Mrs. Weasley who said she had everything under control, followed by Kingsley Shacklebolt, and other members that had been there previously. Ron knew Shacklebolt mainly from the previous year when he had been in charge of the search for Sirius Black. With his help, Sirius had remained hidden. That fact was the same since no one yet knew Sirius was dead; at least no one outside the Order. Not even Cornelius Fudge knew, which was why he continued to search for him.
There was also a noticeably larger number, since many had joined since the report of the Dark Lord's return. The only new member Ron had seen before was Professor Sinistra, who taught at Hogwarts in the Astronomy department, though he had never had any class with her.
Ron nearly jumped as the table began to grow in size to fit the number of people getting ready to eat. Ron sighed and looked around, noticing that Dumbledore had yet to make an appearance, probably talking to Mr. Weasley in the kitchen. He suddenly froze when he saw Snape emerge from the kitchen. Quietly, he leaned over toward Ginny and pointed him out.
"Oh no, Snape's staying for breakfast," Ginny gave a pained look.
Ron sunk into his chair to try and hide himself, staring down at his plate. Even though Snape couldn't give him homework, since Ron had found out he wasn't teaching, just hearing him speak was bad enough. Ron had mostly worried over the summer that Snape would be hinting about Sirius' death to Harry, knowing full well that Sirius and Snape hated each other since they were young. Harry most certainly wouldn't take it that well. Ron was pale now, looking for some excuse to leave the table and get as far away from Snape as he could.
"Ron!" Ginny elbowed him.
"Ow! What?" he turned abruptly toward the other end of the room.
Thoughts about Snape immediately vanished, as well as his troubled worries when he saw a head of somewhat bushy, but smooth head of hair emerge. The murmur of voices was still going on as members of the Order seated themselves. Needing no other signs of encouragement, Ron jumped up out of his chair and made his way toward Hermione, who was currently remaining hidden behind the masses of individuals trying to seat themselves.
"Hermione!"
She turned suddenly and caught sight of him, a small smile on her face. He grinned and approached her, sticking out his hand like he usually did when greeting friends.
"Oh, Ron! I'm so happy to see you!" Hermione exclaimed hugging him tightly.
Ron was a bit startled but patted her back gently. He and Harry were used to her sudden outbursts that showed she was still sensitive beneath her firm, intelligent mask. He pulled back after a moment and his fade nearly faded as he saw the concern and fear etched into her features.
"Hermione, what's the matter?" Ron asked.
"I have to talk to you and Ginny," she said in a hushed voice, her eyes dimming.
"Right now? It's breakfast," Ron said.
"This is urgent Ron," she emphasized, staring at him seriously.
Ron nodded, a bit uneasy by her worry and motioned Ginny over to them. Ginny slipped out of her seat and approached them curiously, dodging people as she went.
"It's nice to see you, Hermione," Ginny smiled, giving her an affectionate embrace.
Hermione returned it equally, "I'm glad I could make it. My parents will be coming shortly, but I had to get here as soon as possible."
Ginny's smile also faded as she noticed the tone of her voice, "What's going on?"
Ron shrugged, "Don't know."
Hermione dragged them away from the room to the corner by the entrance. She made sure they were alone before she turned to them, fishing in her robe for something. She pulled out a somewhat crumpled piece of paper and handed it over to Ron.
"I got this yesterday night," she said in a shaky voice.
Ron opened it up and allowed Ginny to read over his shoulder. It wasn't long before the letter was long forgotten and the three of them were tearing into the dining area.
"Everyone please be seated!" Mrs. Weasley announced, as the voices calmed down.
With a snap of her fingers all the dishes from the kitchen filled the table, looking similar to a Hogwart's feast, though naturally not as big.
"Before we begin to eat, I would like to say that I'm touched all of you could make it to supper. I know most of you are clearly busy with work, and I am grateful for those that have tried to help me," she said, smiling toward Tonks who nearly knocked over her glass while returning the smile. "Now, dig— "
A loud crash broke her off as Ron, Ginny and Hermione raced into the room, nearly knocking over the coat hanger (luckily though it jumped out of the way in time).
"You three, what is the meaning of this? You were supposed to be seated a while ago!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.
All eyes were turned on them, including Snape's who looked half amused. Most had their focus on the three of them, not touching the food in the dishes, except for Fred and George who had began to eat. Ron, however, was pale as a ghost, clutching the forgotten letter tightly in his hand.
"Ron dear, are you feeling all right?" Mrs. Weasley asked, her anger turning into concern.
"Mum! G-get Dumbledore!" Ron shouted fearfully.
"What is it, Ron?" Remus asked concerned, sitting beside Mad-Eye Moody, who had both eyes fixed on them.
"It's Harry! He's in danger!" Ron shouted.
Murmurs went around the table at Ron's outburst, wondering what the problem was. Mrs. Weasley hushed them firmly and turned back to Ron.
"What do you mean? He's safe in the muggle world, Dumbledore made sure of it."
"NO!" Ginny shouted suddenly, her lip trembling. "His relatives left him alone in the house, mum! And You-Know-Who knows where he lives!"
Mrs. Weasley's face visibly paled and Tonks covered her mouth with a gasp of shock, surprisingly not knocking anything over.
"How do you know this?" Remus asked calmly, despite his eyes alight with concern and something else.
Ron thrust the letter in his hand up in the air for them to see, "Hermione got this from Harry last night! He says so right in the letter. It's Harry's writing!"
"We have to tell Dumbledore!" Mrs. Weasley cupped her mouth with worry.
In less than a minute she rushed off toward the kitchen in order to find him. The voices broke out at once and Fred and George had ceased eating, shocked looks on their faces.
"Calm down everyone! There's no need for panic!" Remus shouted, surprising everyone with his unusually loud outburst. "Dumbledore will be here shortly."
"Is it true? Does the Dark Lord know where Potter lives?" one wizard voiced in concern.
"Our spies would've seen it coming," Shaklebolt said, leaning back in his chair. "They've been watching the Death Eaters like hawks."
"That doesn't mean that it's not true," another voiced.
The voices continued to rise in volume as one began arguing with another. Ron, Ginny and Hermione were still too stunned to move, or even open their mouths. Snape seemed to be the only one in his own thoughts, not saying a word. A sudden loud bang caused Tonks to screech out, nearly falling backward in her chair had Shaklebolt not caught her. The voices immediately calmed as they saw Dumbledore enter the room. All was silent for a minute as Dumbledore stood in front of them all, looking older but wiser, with Mrs. Weasley trembling beside him and Mr. Weasley helping to hold her upright.
Dumbledore looked around the room, his eyes settling on Ron, Ginny and Hermione before he spoke.
"Is it true?" he asked, not needing to direct toward one person, since his eyes were glinting toward them.
Hermione made a sound but nodded, biting her trembling lip to keep from crying. Ginny was all ready close to tears, but she too was trying to prevent them from coming down. The atmosphere became tense as reality sunk in.
"We have no choice," Dumbledore said wearily. "We must bring Harry here."
"But wouldn't that put him in greater danger?" Tonks spoke up quietly.
Dumbledore turned to her, "If Voldemort all ready knows where he lives it is better if he is near the protection of the Order, including myself. But first," he said turning to look back at Ron, Ginny and Hermione, "are you certain he is in this serious of danger?"
Ron shakily held up the letter. Dumbledore crossed the room quickly for a supposed man his age and read it.
"This is indeed Harry's writing," Dumbledore announced, turning to those seated at the table. "We will send a group out to retrieve him. Until Harry is safe with us we will worry about what to do about Voldemort, when the time comes."
Nods were issued around the table as several stood up, including Remus, to be the ones to retrieve Harry. Most of the ones that stood up were the same group that helped Harry escape the Dursleys the previous year: Hestia Jones, Shaklebolt, Tonks, Elphias Doge and others.
"Kingsley, you will stay here," Dumbledore said sternly. "I will go myself as well to retrieve him. And you three," Dumbledore turned back to them, "please stay here. I know you are concerned about Harry's safety, but you must remain here."
Ginny whimpered and Hermione pulled her into an embrace to comfort her as Ron nodded for them. Mrs. Weasley made a strangled gasp and held onto Arthur for dear life. He patted her shoulder and looked down sadly, wishing there was more he could do.
"We must go quickly," Dumbledore ordered.
Before anyone could even speak or comply, a loud pop alerted them. A witch, who Ron and Ginny had only seen there once, appeared, panting for breath. Her name was Emmeline Vance and she had helped Harry escape the Dursleys as well the previous year, but she had, over the summer, been helping the other spies for the Order.
"Dumbledore!" she gasped. "There is bad news floating around!"
"Is the Dark Lord?" Tonks asked suddenly.
She shook her head, "No, but it's just as bad. Cornelius Fudge has announced that he's putting up the barricade from the wizard world to the muggle world."
"WHAT?!" Mad-Eye roared.
Several sounds of astonishment and disbelief went around the room. Ron's face visibly paled even more as he suddenly wheeled around toward Dumbledore.
"If he blocks it, how will Harry be able to get here?!"
Dumbledore's face had hardened as he remained silent, "I will have to deal with him later. We must get there before the barricade is sealed."
"I'm afraid the Minister is on his way here right now," Vance said quickly, lowering her eyes. "I have no idea how he figured out the location of the Order. He somehow managed to get Mundungus Fletcher drunk and then slipped a truth potion in his drink. We couldn't stop him in time," she said desperately.
The sound of the door opening as charms were quickly moved out of the way, caused everyone in the room to turn. Footsteps echoed against the creaking floors until two figures emerged, whom nobody wanted to see. Cornelius Fudge took off his hat as he stepped into the room, led by his personal "bodyguard."
"Ah, Dumbledore, good you're here," Fudge said calmly, setting his hat on the hat stand that was trying to move away from him.
"I believe you weren't invited," Mad-Eye said coldly, his magical eye glowering at the man.
"You should watch your tongue, Moody," Fudge said calmly. "I have a right here as anyone else. I am the Minister after all, and it's very important I know what's going on. But that's not really the reason I came here. I have very important news for you all. You might want the children to leave though," he said glancing down at Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.
"They have a right to hear whatever you say, Cornelius," Dumbledore said firmly, but still calmly. "They have been through much more than you could fathom."
"Right, well, shall we get started?" Fudge said. "How about we eat first? This might spoil your appetites."
Mad-Eye snorted, "Spare us, Fudge! We all ready know what you're planning to do."
Fudge blinked, his eyebrows furrowing, "Excuse me?"
"You can't do that! It's too dangerous, for anyone!" Vance spoke up from where she was standing. "You can't seal off the muggle world from the wizard world."
Fudge stood up straight, "And why not? Muggles shouldn't even have an opportunity to find out about us. Besides, it's just temporary."
"Cornelius," Dumbledore said firmly, "this is much larger than yourself. A decision like that needs a proper meeting."
"I've all ready had one, and have gotten all twelve signatures," he said pulling out a piece of parchment from his cloak. "I decided not to have the regular formal meetings since this was urgent. And I did it for the good of the wizard world."
"Wait a minute…," Ron spoke up, his voice higher than normal. "You…You all ready did it?"
"No, no, it's being done right now, my boy."
"I'm sorry Cornelius, but I can't allow you do this," Dumbledore spoke up, his eyes alight with emotion.
"I'm afraid it's all ready been worked out, Dumbledore," Fudge said calmly. "And I don't see what the problem is."
Ron angrily stepped forward, "We have to get Harry! He's in danger!"
Fudge glanced down at him, "Well, yes I know he's in danger. That's why I have come here."
Whispers were exchanged as well as looks of curiosity and confusion. Dumbledore stared at him deeply.
"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked.
Fudge sighed deeply, pulling something else from inside his cloak, "I hate to be the bringer of such tragic news, especially now, but I was given no choice. I had to let you know right away. As you will see with this proof," he said, pulling out what looked like a newspaper article, "this article was written by myself, witnessed by more than a dozen aurors and witches and wizards who were beside me. Your protégé, Harry Potter, was indeed in great danger and I am terribly sorry that I hadn't noticed sooner. Had I not been so busy trying to calm the public about the news of the Dark Lord's return, perhaps…Well, it's best not to think about such things," he said quietly, unfolding the article.
"I am terribly sorry, for you all, and for the loss of this world," he said remorsefully, holding out the article to the front page. "But I'm afraid that just late last night the home on 4 Privet Drive was found demolished with the Dark Mark above it and no sign of any living person within. I wished I would never have to say these words, but…Harry Potter is dead."
TO BE CONTINUED…
*** I should put up in my profile, in a couple days, the next update to this and other stories. I do have several other stories over break to update, so I hope this won't take too long to be updated. Definitely not any longer than I've made you guys wait for this chapter. ^-^
To Reviewers:
Paradox01: Thanks! ^-^ I know *sighs* I didn't want it all to happen fast, but I didn't want to make it boring, or repetitious by explaining day after day Harry's depression at being with the Dursleys without contact from his friends. That happened in the beginning of the third book, I believe it was, and would've been a little too tiring and boring to write. ^-^ Anyway, I hope this chapter was better and I hope not to delay the next update!
Sailor PPearl: ^-^ I can't spell either. That's why it's great to have a spell-checker, huh? *grins* I'm sorry I made you wait for this! I was soooooo busy! Next update should be sooner.
Geminia: Thank you! I'm glad you like the action. I know this didn't have any action in it, but it will. I'll be working on getting the next chapter up sooner. ^-^
Sxybichic18: thanks!!!!!!!!! Keep reading this, or else….muahhaha! Just kidding. ^-~
Starlight Dreams: Well, I usually like to keep most chapters fairly long, sometimes I do two-part chapters which are extra long. I know I'll be doing that in this story. Maybe not the next update, but after. ^-^ I'll make sure to update sooner!
Bookworm2000: Hey! ^-^ There's a lot of stupid people huh? (Voldie, Death Eaters, Fudge, Dursleys…Snape. Hehe. ) I'm sorry I took soooooo long in updating this. Gosh, I hope I reach my other estimation goals (on my profile) *sighs* I should get started so I can update Sick Pleasures on time. ^-^ *runs off to go write more*
C.thorne: You haven't read the fifth book? *eyes widen* There are some major spoilers. I put another note up just in case. Believe me I know what it's like to have something spoiled and it's not good. Anywhoo, hope you enjoyed this (and I'm not sure if you'll still read it because it has spoilers and characters you might not know). But thanks!
Yoli: Thanks! ^-^