Chapter 2

Dinner Guests

"I knew they'd let you off, mate," Ron slapped Harry on the back.

"Yeah. Guess so," Harry flung himself onto his bed and stared at the ceiling. Images of the girl invaded his thoughts: Her blue eyes; her brown hair, cascading over her shoulders; her soft, inviting lips that were constantly fashioned into a smirk; and the mysterious air that she had about her. It seemed impossible that Harry would ever stop thinking about this girl. That's when he realized he needed to know her. To talk to her. To be with her.

"Kids! Get down here and help with din-" Mrs. Weasley's shouting was cut off by a very loud rapping at the door and the portrait of Mrs. Black's shouting. Harry got off his bed and bounded down the stairs followed by Ron, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley children. They all chatted happily, rich scents filling their noses and when they reached the first landing Harry stopped abruptly causing everyone to stumble into each other.

"Jane, it's so good to see you again!" Mrs. Weasley hugged a tall woman with a mess of curly brown hair.

"And it's lovely to see you too, Molly!"

Harry's eyes fell on the girl that was standing next to the tall woman, who appeared to be her mother. But he did not need to strain himself to figure out her name or wonder who she was or why she looked so familiar because he had been thinking about her all afternoon. It was the girl that he had met at the Ministry earlier that day.

Within seconds a loud chorus of "SYDNEY!"'s filled Harry's ears and he was pushed aside as a flock of red heads flew down the remaining stairs.

Sydney didn't seem the least bit bewildered by this and instantly shouted back,

"WEASLEYS!" The four greeted her with a mess of hugs and well thought out secrete handshakes. The noise in the hallway was becoming over bearing and everyone retreated to the kitchen where pots bubbled and pans clanged as Tonks had attempted to resume the cooking.

"I'm sorry, Molly, but I think I ruined this pan," Tonks lifted a sauce pan off of the stove and revealed its black, bubbly interior.

"Oh don't worry, dear, it's nothing that can't be fixed," she grinned and half rolled her eyes. "Now, Jane, I insist you stay for dinner."

"Oh no no I couldn't impose on you like that! You seem as though you have enough on your hands," she gestured to the table set to accommodate a small village.

"Of course not! I know that you two haven't had a sit down meal in a while and it looks like the kids need to catch up. Sirius would say the same thing, I'm sure."

"What do you think, Syd?" Jane looked to her daughter who had been swatting at Fred and George for relentlessly playing with her hair.

"I'd love to stay! Well, if I don't have to sit next to these two beasts!" Sydney glanced up at the twins who were grinning wildly.

"Wonderful! I'll go get more plates." Mrs. Weasley said before she walked off with Jane and Tonks to rummage for more silverware and inform the rest of the Order about their dinner guests.

"So, Sydney, how's France been treating you?" Fred asked as he sat down. Everyone followed his example.

"It's bloody boring," Sydney collapsed into the chair next to Ron then added, "plus the food is nothing to give two craps about."

"Ugh. That would kill me," Ron said looking disgusted.

Sydney chuckled, "Got that right, mate."

"OH! How rude have we been? We didn't even introduce you to our friends!" Ginny leaned over Harry to address Sydney. "This is Hermione and Harry. Hermione and Harry, this is Sydney Wood."

"Pleasure." Hermione and Sydney smiled at each other as they spoke at the same time.

"Yeah we've met," Harry said smugly.

"Were you with us when me and Fred ran into them at the Quidditch World Cup last year, Harry?" George asked.

"No I ran into her at the Ministry this morning."

"That's right! Weird we'd run into each other twice in one day eh?" Sydney made circular movements with her butterbeer before taking a prolonged sip.

"Huh, could've sworn you had been there when we were talking to Oliver and Syd at the Cup," George said, obviously thinking hard to remember the affair.

"No Harry was with Ron, remember?" Fred elbowed George.

"Alright! Whatever!" George elbowed back.

"Oliver's my cousin by the way," Sydney cut in hoping to stop any form of a fight before dinner.

Just then Sirius walked in, Sydney's mother's arm linked with his and the rest of the order following him.

"Buckbeak's fine, Sirius. He just needs a bit of air and maybe so room to spread his wings," Jane informed him.

"And you won't tell anyone at the Ministry about this?" Sirius laced his fingers with hers.

"Of course not. I'm off the clock and plus I doubt they'd let me keep my job if they found out that I was helping an escaped prisoner and his hippogriff that was sentenced to death two years ago." Sirius chuckled,

"I suppose you would."

Fred, George and Sydney turned their attention to each other and began to sing, in a whisper,

"Secrete lovers…" However they stopped abruptly when Lupin sent them sharp looks from the other end of the table.

During dinner Harry really didn't say too much. Sydney kept mentioning how good the food was and how much she had missed England while Fred and George made jokes about anything that they felt would get under Sydney's skin. Every so often Harry found himself just gazing at the girl, trying to force the sound of her laugh or the way she held her fork into his mind. He caught himself doing this most times, but once or twice he received a strange look from Ginny or Hermione that snapped him out of this trance.

The night soon came to an end and the two Wood's adamantly claimed that they had over stayed their welcome. And after some hugs and a few handshakes were exchanged in the narrow hallway they disappeared into the darkness.

Harry and Ron were sitting in their room, after being shuffled upstairs by Mrs. Weasley, when Ron noticed that Harry was being unusually quite.

"You alright, Harry?" he asked as he sat down on the floor to face his friend. "Looks like something's bothering you. I mean you've barely talked all day."

"Yeah I'm fine I've just…got a lot on my mind is all."

"Oh okay-" Ron began to say but Harry cut him off.

"How do you know the Woods?"

"Well…Jane used to work is dad's department at the Ministry and they used to come over for dinner all the time. Then they moved to France…after her dad died, I guess. But I dunno we've been hanging around with them since we were kids, yah know...Sydney always got along best with Fred and George, even though she's our age, and her sister with Charlie…" Ron's voice faded and Harry looked at him quizzically.

"Sister?" Harry asked, trying to stay away from the topic of the girl's dead father.

"Yeah she's got a sister Charlie's age. Her name's Angelica."

"And she's really friendly with the twins?"

Ron nodded his mind clearly elsewhere.

The two sat in silence for a while before Ron stood and got into bed, leaving Harry to his own thoughts in the dimly lit room.