After Harry had talked to Dudley he apperated back to the Burrow. When he walked through the door he smelled Mrs. Weasley's famous cooking; a roast, potatoes and some sort of pie, it was almost like one of their family gatherings. Unlike the gatherings, though, the home was nearly silent.
"Where is everyone?" Harry asked Mrs. Weasley, walking into the kitchen.
"In the living room, dear," she replied, wiping her hands on her apron. Harry saw she had bags under her eyes and other obvious signs of stress.
For the first time he could remember, his children were sitting quietly, not running and screaming. James was sitting next to Teddy, Albus was half-heartedly playing a game of chess with Rose and Lily was sitting by her mother. Nobody else seemed to be doing much either; they were all sitting on the couch looking deep in thought.
"Where have you been?" Ginny asked, moving to make room for her husband.
"Nowhere," Harry muttered.
"Everyone's going to be staying here tonight," Ginny told him. "And mum's told me that our lot can bunk here as long as we need, seeing as it will take some time to get the house back to the way it was."
Harry nodded.
"We'll probably need to go into the underground ministry soon," Ron said to Harry.
"I know. We need to start planning what we're going to do next right away," Harry nodded.
"Wait until after dinner," Ginny said softly, taking his hand.
Harry gently squeezed her soft hand. "Okay."
"Ron, Harry, Hermione," Mrs. Weasley said, coming into the living room. "You have a visitor."
The three slowly stood up and headed into the kitchen where Kingsley stood, waiting for them.
"Thought I'd find the three of you here," Kingsley said.
"Do you need us to come in?" Hermione asked.
Kingsley shook his head. "After everything's that happened today, I think the most important thing is that everybody takes care of their families right now. I'm giving everybody the rest of the day. We'll start working on our counterattack tomorrow."
Harry nodded. "All of the Aurors already know the location of the underground ministry. Do all of the other workers?"
"Yes," Kingsley nodded. "However, that's the reason I wanted to talk to you three. I know you all remember the problem we had when Voldemort was taking power."
"Of course," Hermione said softly. "Infiltration."
"Yes," Kingsley said gravely. "I know for a fact that Claridina has implanted several of her workers into out Ministry and has taken in some of the older workers. I believe there's some in every department. Magical Law Enforcement, International Cooperation…even with the Aurors."
Harry's eyes grew wide. "No. I've worked with those Aurors for years. There's no way-"
"They could be under the Impirius Curse," Ron pointed out. "Or just really good actors."
"I've written down the names of the ones who I believe are spies," Kingsley said gently, handing Harry a slip of paper. "Look it over tonight and tell me what you think tomorrow."
Harry didn't respond, but simply pocketed the paper.
"If there are spies in our ministry," Hermione said. "How can we possibly plan a counterattack? They'll just go and tell Claridina what we're planning and she'll be able to stop us."
"That's the dilemma," Kingsley said.
Harry ran his fingers through his messy hair and took a deep breath. "I don't think we have any other choice then."
"What are you talking about?" Ron frowned.
"I'm saying," Harry said. "I think it's time that we reinstated the Order of the Phoenix."
"The Order?" Hermione repeated.
"We can gather as many of our old members as we can," Harry nodded. "And take in any of the ministry workers that we're positive aren't spies and will be dedicated to the Order. We could use Sirius's place again; I'm sure it's what he want it to be used for anyway."
Kingsley pondered this. "I think," he said after a moment. "That you're right."
…..
Dudley looked at what remained of his small home. The Thestral had completely destroyed one of the walls and half of the roof, and upturned all of the furniture; it looked like a disaster, to say the least. From what he heard, his neighbors had been told there was a minor gas explosion from his stove. He sighed and began to sift through the scattered remains of his property. He had left Alexandra in their new, secure home (which was even smaller than their old one) and had returned to see how many of their personal belongings he could salvage.
From the looks of it, it wouldn't be too much.
"Need any help?"
Dudley turned around and saw Harry standing at the foot of the driveway.
"I could use a hand," Dudley nodded.
"If it makes you feel any better," Harry said, stepping through the mess. "My house is in worse shape."
"Those things got to your place too?"
"Not exactly," Harry said. "What are you looking to take back to your new place?"
"At this point, anything that's still in tact," Dudley said, looking at what used to be his television.
"What about these boxes?" Harry asked, kneeling down to examine a bunch of boxes that were on their sides, the contents spilling out.
"I think those are from the attic," Dudley told him, picking up his coat that was covered in plaster but luckily still in tact. "They're just filled with old junk. Dump one out and toss it to me; I can use it to put stuff in."
Harry picked up the biggest one and poured everything out of it and gave it to Dudley. He was just about to move away when he caught sight of an old gold picture frame. He picked it up, but when he did, he nearly dropped it back down.
"Dudley," Harry said. "What-What's this?"
"Oh, that," Dudley said as Harry showed him the picture. "That's-that's just my ex-wife, Alexandra's mother."
"Your ex-wife?" Harry frowned, looking back down at the picture.
"Yeah, Mildred," Dudley nodded. "We met at a bar about an hour away from here."
"Dudley," Harry said seriously. "The lady in the picture…her name's not Mildred."
"Of course it is," Dudley said. "What are you talking about?"
"The lady in this picture," Harry said shakily. "Is Claridina Wretermoust."