Sequel to "More Than Just Friends". All credit to JK Rowling and my crazy brain.

Set Aflame
By: Weaselle7

Chapter 4
Grimmauld Place Number 12

"Oh, not again, Amos," said Mom in her usual tone when she found out her interlocutor was saying something ridiculous. "Not with that stupid Bus again!"

Turned out that Cecille wasn't the only one who would prefer anything to travelling with that wild Knight Bus. Mom wandered all around the kitchen, complaining about how the Knight Bus was an awful way to travel with anatomical explanation. Cecille ate fewer toasts than her usual portion, trying to fight her hunger so that at least she wouldn't throw up that badly on the Knight Bus. She conjured a plastic wrapping instead, packed the rest of her breakfast and pocketed them in her messenger bag.

"Helena, we can't floo to Williamson's house. What are we going to say if he questions our arrival?" Dad tried to convince his wife patiently.

"You work at the Ministry. You know him, and he knows you. Why on earth he would question it?" Mom answered as she sighed helplessly, probably a sight of being smacked by a luggage during the chaotic ride flashed on her mind.

"Aren't we avoiding as much attention from the Ministry as possible?" Dad asked as-a-matter-of-factly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Fine," Mom snarled quietly. "But don't blame me if I throw up."

The Diggorys went to the Order's Headquarters that Sunday, just exactly the following day after they talked to Dumbledore yesterday. They dressed in muggle outfits (Dad was the only one who had trouble managing a normal muggle fashion), floo'd to the Leaky Cauldron, as usual, and took the Knight Bus right to the muggle (much to Cecille's surprise) housing called 'Grimmauld Place'. Cecille knew several facts about the Blacks, she tried to recall some of which she heard from her History of Magic classes, which seemed poorly possible. All she knew that the Blacks seemed to be a phrase that brought the air of respect to the atmosphere when mentioned (although all the impression she got from "Black" was literal blackness).

But there was no indication that the place belonged to a royal family, not with the grimy surrounding plus the unpleasant exterior of the muggle housing. There were tiny hills of muggle litters that were covered with plastic bags laid there few steps from each front step of each houses, except one house, which was the twelfth house. The house still got its gloomy aura like the other houses, but its front steps were clean. The three of them walked forward to the front steps with Mom and Dad swishing their wands for purposes Cecille didn't know.

Finally Dad stepped forward, knocked his wand against the black door and brought chains of metal clicks to life. After what Cecille thought as the last click, the door creaked slightly ajar.

"You first, Cecille," Dad said and Cecille entered the house, finding no reason to touch the serpent-like doorknob because the door was opened already. Cecille pushed the door instead, stepped inside and greeted with the blackness of the house. Other than a parch of light that found a way out from under the gap from the other end of the corridor, the house was solidly dark.

The door on the end of the corridor swung opened and a figure carrying a lighted wand rushed towards them.

"Oh! Amos, Helena! Dumbledore told us about you!" Mrs Weasley (Cecille saw her several times at Platform 9 3/4) cried, enveloped Mom in a friendly hug and gave Dad an enthusiastic handshake. "Your daughter?" Mrs Weasley turned to Cecille as if Cecille wasn't there the other second. Mrs Weasley gave her a welcoming look though she could see that Mrs Weasley wasn't expecting her arrival.

"The youngest," said Dad. It broke her heart slightly noticing how her Dad refused to say 'the only'.

"Can't leave her home alone," said Mom, apparently catching the same impression like Cecille. "Not after-"

Mom left the sentence hung there.

"I'm Cecillia Diggory," Cecille introduced herself after she thought Mom and Dad would let her introduce herself. "So nice to meet you, Mrs Weasley," she added and returned Mrs Weasley's smile.

Even in the semi-darkness (her eyes adjusted to the darkness), Mrs Weasley was so confident when she said "You look a lot like your mother" and shook her hands. "Oh, have Dumbledore told you the meetings are for the members only?"

"Oh yes, he did tell me," Cecille said and immediately found her stomach did a somersault at the thought she would be asking Mrs Weasley to hang with the twins. "I think I'll be with Fred and George."

"Oh yes, yes, of course. They are in the third floor, first door to your right," said Mrs Weasley, pointing at the third landing. "Come, I'll show you the room."

Cecille and Mrs Weasley climbed the staircases together, leaving Mom and Dad who seemed to be greeted by another Order member Cecille was dying to know. The light from Cecille and Mrs Weasley's wands were the only thing that lit their way, sometimes helped by the faint sunlight that struggled to penetrate the dirty windows every time they were on a landing.

"There's the room," said Mrs Weasley, pointing at the first door to their right. It sounded as if she had got no other option. "Strange. Usually their room is filled with explosions. Fred! George! You've got a friend waiting here!" she knocked the door rather violently and shouted in hushed whispers.

A long moment passed.

"Oh, you can get in anyway, that's okay, might keep them not sleeping all day," said Mrs Weasley, and Cecille stared at her in a confused look which Cecille doubted Mrs Weasley could see it.

"Oh, uhm, I can hang with Ginny, don't worry," Cecille politely refused, blushed in maroon shade as she pictured herself entering the room and finding the twins asleep. How she would deal with Ginny didn't really bother her.

"Oh, sure, sure," but there was something in her tone that caught Cecille's attention; between doubt, wonder and curiosity. "Her room is on the second floor, second door to the left."

Cecille saw Mrs Weasley left the third floor landing, motioning Cecille to come with her instead of leaving Cecille to find her way out herself. Reluctantly and awkwardly, Cecille followed Mrs Weasley climbing down the staircases. But only after two mere staircases, they heard a bell rang and suddenly the atmosphere was filled with ear-splitting unpleasant verbal curses.

"I told her!" she could hear faintly, Mrs Weasley's desperate moans. By seconds, Mrs Weasley had disappeared through the staircases, leaving Cecille there unconsciously absorbing the painful and cruel curses from the screams that filled the air. Cecille couldn't help but wonder who had the heart to spit all of those scary vocabs.

"You vile, worthless scum and warts! Vermin whose blood is filthier than toad's entrails! How dare you befoul my father's house-"

Another equally loud screech filled the air, came from (Cecille thought) Mrs Weasley.

"Shut up, you old hag! SHUT UP!"

Even Cecille, who had spent half of her life hanging with Fred and George (who frequently swore), had the hair on her nape standing in awareness; she shivered and winced. She wondered who had screamed all of those violent swearing, but judging from Mrs Weasley's face when Mrs Weasley figured it out (and she really hoped she could rely on that fact), it wasn't really a serious deal. Cecille just realized, how dark and black, are the things in this house.

"Not again," she heard the voice of one of the twins behind her, and she gasped quietly.

"Sirius' mother," the other responded gloomily.

Cecille turned around to face them and they stared at her in confusion. In the same time, they uttered the almost identical sentence: "Ginny, what are you doing here?", "Tonks, what are you doing here?"

"Who's Tonks?" Cecille asked back. For one moment that seemed endless to Cecille, Fred and George swiveled from exchanging a serious look and then stared at Cecille. They made faces that were between serious surprise and mischievous grins.

"You joined the Order?" asked, Cecille guessed from his voice, George.

Cecille really hoped one of them would crack a joke to tease her instead of staring her like she was more fragile than a piece of dried fairy wing. They listened as the air that was filled with abusive swearing dropped into a hollow muffled silence.

"My parents, and they're so protective they can't see I'm not a toddler who can't take care of herself," said Cecille, making a face. A weird warm sensation squirmed just right below her stomach, as she pictured Fred ruffled her hair. But it didn't come. They gave her a worrying look instead.

"Come on, let's get inside." said the other, Fred, tentatively. He motioned her to get inside and Cecille did so.

As they got inside, Cecille's nose, that had adjusted to the scent of attic-like air and aging furniture, could detect the smell of burnt cauldron and gunpowder. The room was quite roomy, framed with two beds on both sides of the room and lit by a great fireplace. They settled themselves on the space between the two beds. Fred and George sat across of her.

"Who was that?" she finally broke the ice barrier.

"Sirius' mother," said Fred.

"Don't panic. Sirius is a good bloke," George added.

"And it was only a painting, his mother," Fred concluded.

"Don't worry. Dumbledore told me," Cecille said, throwing them a flat smile.

"Why didn't you owl us-"

"-that you're joining the Order?"

It couldn't have been clearer that they had been struggling not to burst into this question from the moment Cecille revealed herself. They grinned mischievously and Cecille ducked her gaze to the dirty floor. After Cedric was gone, she kept making herself as far as she could from the twins, from the pair she and Cedric used to be.

"I- Aguilo broke his wings," she replied with a tone of regret she managed to add without even trying. Fred and George exchange looks and decided to drop the topic. There were always curious things between pair of twins.

"Speaking of owls, Alicia said in her letter you two aren't replying her letter," said Cecille, feeling thankful the sudden realization struck her.

"Oh yeah," Fred began, and Cecille was glad he was back with his amused tone again; "This Order is so secretive."

"We're not allowed to owl anyone!" George added with a hint of bewilderment.

"Not a single person, even though that means we aren't breaking our vows," said Fred.

"Oh, and if you're allowed to owl her if you're home, just tell her that little stupid owl of Ron's beat it," said George. Cecille laughed, but she had the impression that the twins were blaming their brother's owl for the effect from whatever they force-swallowed into the bird.

"So, tell me, who's already in this Order?" asked Cecille.

Feeling happy, and above all, grateful, Cecille allowed the pointless barrier she had set between Fred and George to melt down. They probably knew that Cedric's death would trouble her to no end, but the mere fact that they were here, hanging with her, helping her to resurface from the sea of self-pitying, seemed to be the only thing that existed in this world. They talked about the Order and the members that were mostly unknown to Cecille, including the Tonks girl George mistook her for.

"And then there's Lupin," said Fred.

"Ooh! Professor Lupin?" Cecille asked.

"Yeah, Professor Lupin," George teased.

"Well, he's the best teacher we've got, isn't he?" Cecilled reasoned.

"Uh uh, and then there's Snape," said Fred.

"What?!"

"Yes, yes, Professor Snape, Ms Diggory," said George.

"No, I'm not impressed with it!" Cecille said. "More like, I don't know, I don't really like the idea of working with a Slytherin," she added bitterly. Fred and George gave her an approving smile.

"Bill doesn't like him either," said George.

"Your brothers are here?" she asked them tentatively. Fred and George exchanged looks and decided to go on with it.

"Yeah, Bill's here, applying a desk job," said Fred.

"Charlie's in the society too. Only that he's still in the Romania, recruiting foreign wizards, and..."

George's voice tailed off.

"You must be curious about Percy," said Fred.

"That git who gives his everything for moronic things," George concluded and rolled his eyes.

"Actually," Cecille started, afraid of driving the twins into series of mockery. "Actually, Dad told me that he saw Percy and your father sometimes in the Ministry, and they..." Cecille went out of the words to describe that certain pair of father and son, and decided to hang it unfinished.

"We know," the twins sighed together.

"Anyway, I think McGonagall's here too," said Cecille, once again feeling thankful the sudden realization flashed in her mind.

"What- Really?" asked Fred.

"That's dangerous! She might extend her House Head privileges to give us detention if she spotted us," George said with artificial horror carved on his face. Cecille laughed and explained the two about her meeting with Dumbledore and McGonagall.

"Her own house? But I thought House Heads have their own cabin in the castle," said George. Fred threw him an amused look as he tilted his head.

"You sound like you've been reading your dear Hermione's Hogwarts: A History," Fred teased.

"Look now who's talking. Speaking like he's been listening to his dear Hermione's promotion of the book," George backfired.

"I can hear you, Fred, George," a muffled feminine voice found its way to penetrate the bedroom door. Cecille looked at the door, feeling slightly startled as the thought of being eavesdropped occurred in her mind. The said girl then knocked the door. George brought his wand out and swished it against the door. The door swung opened violently and the said girl shrieked.

"Chill, Hermione," said Fred. Hermione glanced at Cecille before her eyebrows twitched with doubt. Fred, who noticed the missing piece of Hermione's puzzled thought, introduced Cecille to Hermione. "Oh, she's Cecillia Diggory. Guess what, her parents are joining in!"

"Oh," said Hermione, shaking her head as if cursing herself inwardly in silence. "Of course, I'm sorry. Well-" (her voice turned into somewhat cheery like she had been practicing to introduce herself before) "-I know we've met before but let me introduce myself properly. I'm Hermione Granger."

"Cecillia Diggory," Cecille replied and smiled awkwardly. "We met at the Quidditch World Cup."

"That sounds like we don't really share a Common Room," said Fred with a clear hint of sarcasm, remembering that all of them were actually Gryffindors.

"Well, firstly, Fred, or George, you can simply open the door with your hand!" Hermione shouted at the twins, still standing by the doorframe with her hands folded on her chest.

"You'll be singing the other song the moment you turned seventeen," George explained fairly.

"And I was just wondering, have you seen Crookshanks?" she asked, still eyeing the twins with an unpleasant glare.

"Negative," said George lightly.

"How would Crookshanks get in here when we don't even use the door for in-and-out way?" asked Fred.

"If I find Crookshanks-" said Hermione, but George interrupted her.

"You said it yourself that Crookshanks is a part sneezle-" (Cecille could hear Hermione hissed the word 'Kneazle') "-and I'm quite sure he wouldn't fancy lingering near our stuffs."

Hermione sighed deeply with an indication of defeat before continuing to next note. "Your mother has sent a tray of sandwiches to Ron's room, by the way. He's playing a game of Wizard's Chess with Ginny and insists me to tell you about it."

"That's unfair!" said Fred.

"Why can't Mum send one to our room?" asked George, more to his twin rather to Hermione who had left with a deep sigh.

"Hungry, Silly?" asked Fred as he winked at her. Cecille noticed that the twins started to use her stupid nickname again and found herself smiling. It was when she remembered how hungry she was.

"Well-"

"You're hungry. Ready to Apparate?" asked George. And then the bit of Hermione's conversation flashed on her mind. They hadn't used the door for in-and-out way because they were Apparating everywhere in this house. Every particle of her shoulder that she splinched last year began to soar unreasonably.

"Are you crazy? I haven't even-"

But she hadn't the chance to finish her sentence. Fred and George seized her left and right hands and brought her into a whirlwind of dimension. They travelled through space and she couldn't say the trip was nice. Everything was non-existence and uneven yet the substance around her body pushed her harder than any metal being. It was barely a second before they fell onto a solid floor with a deep thud.

A scream filled her ears and she wasn't really certain it wasn't hers. She discovered that she was gasping for air and the screaming belonged to Hermione.

"Calm yourself down, Hermione," said George.

"Calm myself down! You just Apparated before me!" she said helplessly.

"Didn't know you were on your way, Hermione, sorry," George said. It was good that Hermione didn't acknowledge Cecille's failure for Apparition test last year.

Fred helped her to her feet again and she found herself in another room. The room was nearly the same as the twins' room, with two beds and the fireplace, though she couldn't detect the smell of gunpowder here. She saw two redheads by the fireplace with a board of Wizard's Chess between them.

"Hi Cecille!" the girl, Ginny, greeted her. Ron nodded at her and greeted her too.

"You two are dating, then?" asked Ginny with a sly smirk on her face, eyeing to the spot where Cecille and Fred's finger were still intertwined. Cecille felt her heart leapt and ignited as she stupidly eyed her own hands.

"What? No, no, of course!" Cecille stammered, almost gasping for air as she said so. She pulled her hands from Fred's with effort and looked away. "We were Apparating."

Ginny nodded but Cecille couldn't help but noticed the faint snort Ginny made. "Ginny Weasley," Ginny introduced herself and turned to her brother in front of her.

"And I'm Ron Weasley," Ron said and nodded at her. "The sandwiches are there."

Cecille felt like burying her face in the mount of sandwiches on the plate. She needed to hide her boiling face and in the same time needed to feed herself some food. After a long moment, all they could hear were the sound of the rustling burnt woods in the fireplace and the commands Ginny and Ron voiced towards the chess pieces.

"So, where did you know about the Headquarters?" asked Ron, after a few moments. Cecille raised her head and she could see Hermione and Ginny glared at Ron, she even thought she could decipher the silent murmured Ginny made that pretty much looked like she was mouthing "Her twin!"

"Dumbledore told us about the new Headquarter," said Cecille, pretending she hadn't noticed anything. Hermione and Ginny spun their heads so quickly as if Cecille was launching a pair of wings from her spine.

"Us?" Hermione asked.

"New headquarters?" Ginny questioned, also in the same time.

"Well, yes, my parents have been a member," Cecille said.

"Have been?" asked Ron.

"Yeah," Cecille said. "Apparently, I assume, the Order is regathered."

"What do you mean?" the twins took the role to bombard her with questions.

"I suppose that means that this society has been founded ages go," Cecille explained, enjoying her involvement as time went by. "Maybe on the first Wizarding War."

Silence fell upon them and Cecille noticed how they exchanged worried looks. It was Hermione who broke the ice.

"We didn't know that..."

"Neither did I," said Cecille.

A/N: OOKKAAY, fourth chapter is up! I hope the jokes I made for the twins' dialogues work. Review please?