-Chapter Two-

After Chapter One, Stupid!

Apparating is, and always will be, an amazing experience, as many people will happily state. Apparating for the FIRST time, however, can be an extremely disorientating experience (1) as Harry found out. After what seemed like an eternity travelling in a whirlwind of colour it abruptly stopped with a loud CRACK and Harry stumbling away, feeling as if his whole body had just been slammed together.

"Ah, sorry about that Harry. Don't worry, it gets a lot smoother." he heard Lupin say.

Harry steadied himself and looked around. He was outside a very familiar house… The Burrow! Happiness leapt up inside of him like a happy thing leaping up. Even though he had been to the Burrow several times now he still got extremely excited when he thought of spending time with the Weasleys. It always felt like he had come home. Lupin began ushering him to the door, looking around keenly. "Best get inside, these days it's not best to be outside after dark." They reached the house and Lupin knocked quickly on the door. After a few moments of silence Harry heard some movement and then heard Mrs. Weasley's nervous voice.

"Who's there?"

"It's me." said Lupin "I'm dropping Harry off."

The door opened instantly, revealing a relieved looking Mrs. Weasley. "Remus! Didn't have any idea how long you'd be!" She began to usher Harry inside. "Come in, come in, it's nice to see you Harry. Are you not coming in Remus?"

Harry looked behind him and saw Lupin still outside. "I can't Molly, I've got to go and see Slughorn."

"Oh, yes, I was forgetting. Will you come back for tea later?"

"Yes, I'll tell you how it goes." At this he glanced at Harry but quickly looked away and apparated away without another word. Harry turned to Mrs. Weasley to ask her who Slughorn was only to find himself being bustled into the room. "Now come in here where it's warm, Harry, and I'll fix you a meal. You must be starving." Harry was about to protest when he realised that despite eating not too long ago he was absolutely famished. (2)

He sat down at the table while Mrs. Weasley busied herself at the stove. "Ron and Hermione have been looking forward to you coming here."

"Hermione's here?"

"Yes, she arrived yesterday." Mrs. Weasley walked over and placed some cutlery on the table. "They'll be thrilled in the morning." She looked out the window and lapsed into silence.

For a full minute neither of them moved or said anything. Harry looked at Mrs. Weasley in growing concern. "Mrs. Weasley?"

Mrs. Weasley shook herself out of her reverie and looked around n confusion. "Sorry Harry, I was… was… was just trying to think of what I had to do. I'll… er…" she looked at Harry for help.

"Fixing a meal?" he asked hopefully.

"Yes!" she laughed and went back to the stove. With a wave of her wand several chopped vegetables leapt into a large iron pot which began to bubble contentedly.

"So who's Slughorn?" asked Harry.

"Hmm?" Mrs. Weasley shook herself awake. "He was a teacher at Hogwarts for a while. Dumbledore is hoping to get him to resume his old position."

Old position? That could only mean… "Defence Against The Dark Arts?"

Mrs. Weasley grunted noncommittally, staring at the pot and waving her wand at it half-heartedly, as if she wasn't sure what to do. Harry look at her worriedly. The return of Voldemort seemed to have affected her more than others. She must be worrying about her family all of the time. Harry glanced at the gigantic clock that displayed the locations of the all of the Weasley family and was alarmed to see that aside from Percy's hand, which seemed to have unscrewed itself and was lying on the floor, all of the hands were pointing at mortal peril.

"It's always like that now." said Mrs. Weasley, giving Harry a plate of soup so quickly that he jumped and nearly spilt it. "Just have to get used to it I suppose." she sighed. Harry wanted to comfort her but he was starving and tucked in. The resulting silence was broken a few minutes later by a small knocking on the door. Instantly Mrs. Weasley was on her feet. "Oh dear, is it time already? Harry dear, could you finish that upstairs? You're in Fred and George's old room."

"Is this to do with the -" began Harry, but Mrs. Weasley cut him off.

"I'm sorry Harry, but what we have to discuss is extremely important. Goodnight."

Harry wanted to protest further. Surely after, everything that had happened at Hogwarts, he should be allowed to be a part of things? But the look Mrs. Weasley gave him was final, and he reluctantly complied.

Fred and George's room, despite no longer being occupied, was full of unmarked boxes which contained several items Harry could only guess at. He was briefly tempted to have a look inside but decided not to. Knowing Fred and George, those items would probably be lethal in the wrong hands. Thankfully his trunk was also present in the room. Part of Harry wanted to go to straight to sleep, but another part was keen to hear what the members of the Order were saying. Why the secrecy? Was it about him? Perhaps he could sneak to the kitchen door and listen… With only a vague idea of sorts Harry left his room, determined to listen in in some way. It wasn't too late just now… He stopped short on the landing. Come to think of it, where was everyone? He listened intently. The house was dead quiet, the air completely still. Yet he had just left Mrs. Weasley with someone just a few minutes ago…

As if on cue, He heard a door open on the floor above and heard a familiar voice call "Is someone there?" Harry grinned and said back as loudly as he dared. "It's me, Ron." There was a strangled cry and a flurry of footsteps before his best friend Ron appeared in view, grinning broadly. "How long you been here?"

"Just got here" replied Harry, also grinning. After months of being trapped at the Dursley's it really did feel good to see Ron again.

"Hermione's here as well, I don't she's asleep yet. She'll be thrilled to see you!" said Ron, grabbing Harry and dragging him up the stairs before Harry could protest. Ron stopped at a door Harry vaguely remembered as Percy's old room and knocked on it furiously. "Hermione! Harry's here!" There was a sound of frantic movement from inside and the door was flung open and Harry suddenly found himself nearly falling over as Hermione barrelled into him. "You didn't tell us you were coming!" She cried loudly, and Harry frantically shushed her. "I've only just got here." he whispered. "Don't be too loud, I don't want to them to hear us downstairs." Ron and Hermione looked at him in confusion. "Your mother's meeting with someone downstairs" Harry said to Ron. "I think it's to do with the Order."

Ron's eyes widened in excitement. "Really? Wow. They've been going all secretive again, Dumbledore's orders I think." He flung his hands up hastily at Harry's angry look. "We haven't been told anything at all, not even seen Dumbledore at all this summer." Harry believed him, but it was still odd. After their discussion following the events of last year Harry had got the impression that Dumbledore would be more open to Harry and include him in his plans. What had changed?

"Hang on, give me a minute, I think I've got some things we could use." Said Ron, turning and running up the stairs towards his room. Left alone, Hermione looked at Harry sceptically. "Are you sure it's important? Now that everyone knows that Voldemort is back why should they be so secretive?"

"I don't know." Harry admitted. "But there's some odd things going on. Dumbledore was supposed to bring me here tonight." He told Hermione everything that had happened. Even after he had finished Hermione still looked undecided. "I'll admit that does sound odd but I'm sure there's a good reason behind it all." She stared at him in silence for a few seconds as if trying to say something. "I hope you're ok Harry, after… well, you know…"

Harry's heart sank. She wanted to talk about Sirius. In all of the confusion of being invited to the burrow unexpectedly Harry hadn't really thought about Sirius at all, and now was not the right time to discuss it. Fortunately, Ron's sudden return seemed to put Hermione off the subject. "Been keeping these around just in case." said Ron, holding up what appeared to be three pieces of very long, flesh coloured string. Harry grinned. Fred and George's Extendable Ears: Able to hear conversations up to 20 metre away and can listen through anything up to and including a block of concrete, now available from Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes for as little as five galleons a pack! (3) Heading to the top of the stairs, Harry placed the Extendable Ear to his own ear, pointed it at the kitchen door and found he could suddenly hear Mrs. Weasley's voice as clear as day.

"… I must say though, it's all very odd Arthur, Dumbledore suddenly changing things around so much."

"Well, you know how it is Molly," said another voice that Harry recognised as Arthur Weasley's. "No one seems to know Voldemort quite like Dumbledore. I'm sure all of these unusual orders make sense to him. We just don't know the full story behind everything."

"Well I can understand that, but what about tonight? He said he'd pick Harry up and then tells Remus to do it at the last minute without any kind of-" a knock on the door interrupted Mrs. Weasley. "That'll be him now. Its open!" She called. Harry heard the door open and the sound of someone coming in and sitting down heavily. "Tea, Remus?"

"Thanks Molly, I could definitely use one." Harry heard Lupin sigh heavily. "No luck with Slughorn I'm afraid. There was no changing his mind."

Arthur groaned. "I knew Dumbledore should have gone. I bet if he'd taken Harry like he said he was going to…"

A chill ran through Harry's body. So Dumbledore had intended to involve Harry in his plans. Then what had happened? He turned his attention back to what they were saying.

"Arthur, we've got no choice." Lupin was saying. "I'll come with you to the Ministry tomorrow, we'll have to speak to Rufus Scrimgeour. Is it alright if i come round tomorrow morning, Molly?"

"Of course!" replied Mrs. Weasley. "I'm sure we'll all be up early, what with the O.W.L.s arriving tomorrow…"

But whatever else they were saying quickly became irrelevant as Hermione emitted a high pitch squeak and was quickly shushed by Ron. "I'd forgotten it was O.W.L.s tomorrow!" she gasped.

"Be quiet, they'll hear you!" hissed Ron. Hermione nodded and forced herself to calm down, but the damage was done. "What was that?" Lupin was saying. "I thought I heard a noise."

The few seconds before Mrs. Weasley opened the door and looked through it gave enough time for Harry, Ron and Hermione to look at each other in horror, and then scramble frantically for their rooms. They made it just in time and when Mrs. Weasley looked up to all intent and purposes no one had been there.

For a few minutes Harry sat in his room in silence, waiting for Ron and Hermione to emerge from their respective rooms. It soon became apparent though that they weren't going to. Harry sighed. There probably wouldn't have been anything else to have learnt anyway. Harry got into his pyjamas without really paying attention to what he was doing, his mind was still a whirlwind of confusion. Just how much did Dumbledore intend to involve him? Why was he suddenly being so secretive, even to the Order? Would Harry be able to speak to him at Hogwarts this year? Harry was so caught up in these thoughts that he wasn't even aware of putting his glasses in the forgotten bowl of cold vegetable soup beside his bed as he slipped into bed. I wonder how I did in my O.W.L.s he thought sleepily as he drifted into sleep.

Appendix

(1) It is an unspoken rule that you take an airbag of some description along with you in such situations. The reason it is unspoken is because after their first trip most people aren't really in the mood for talking.

(2) Blueberry custard is not especially filling.

(3) Currently on a 2-for-1 deal! Simply go find them in Diagon Ally or log onto their website at [this website address can only be read by someone from the Wizarding World].