XXII
The Order of the Phoenix
"It's time," Harry said, appearing in the doorway of the library.
Hermione picked her head up from the Herbology text she was studying. "Dumbledore's here?"
Harry nodded. "McGonagall as well."
Hermione stood quickly from the couch, dropping her book and making her way out of the library, following shortly behind the bespectacled wizard. With her advanced hearing, she could already catch a hint of the voices coming from the dining room.
"Do you think Draco knows?" Harry asked as they walked.
"Probably," she murmured, knowing that Draco, while having been told to make himself scarce for the night, was bright enough to understand something of what was happening.
"What are you going to do during the full moon? He'll realize something's going on, won't he?"
She looked at her best friend, the young man that he now was, and nodded. "We'll deal with that when it comes." A large part of her feared what Draco would say after finding out she was a werewolf and that his father was at fault. Another large part of her, however, wondered if this was perhaps the final test they needed to determine if Draco had really shaken off all those Pureblood prejudices.
Harry and Hermione now stood outside the dining room, a loud stream of voices floating out from the room. "Shall we?" Harry asked, taking a deep, albeit shaky, breath.
"Let's," Hermione said simply, squaring her shoulders and following Harry into the room full of Order members.
Ginny and Ron were already seated at the table, talking quietly to each other. Hermione noticed that aside from Dumbledore and McGonagall, Kingsley, Mad-Eye, Bill, and Fleur were also present for the meeting.
Hermione was quickly seated between Harry and Tonks. Beside Tonks were Remus and then Sirius. Hermione shared a quick look with Remus, offering him a covert smile before bringing her gaze around the table. Just as she was turning away, Mrs. Weasley approached.
"Ginny," the woman bustled over, "Ronald," she leaned over the back of her children's chairs, "you know you don't have to do this, right? Come on, dears, we can get you out of here. You don't need to become a part of the Order today."
"Mum," Ginny said, her tone clipped, "we're doing this. There's nothing you can say that will stop us."
Mrs. Weasley let out a huff of annoyance before backing away, moving over to the other side of the table where her husband sat.
Not long after Harry and Hermione had arrived, Dumbledore began the meeting. First, he stood from his seat at the head of the table, looking around the room as if making sure everyone was present. At last, he spoke, "Good afternoon, everyone. Severus has informed me that things have been going quite splendidly here at the Estate." Across the table Snape sat frowning. Dumbledore continued, "In a moment we will address the reports from Kingsley, Alastor, and Severus, but first I believe we have some other business to attend to." With these words, Dumbledore turned towards the four youngest occupants of the room.
"You four will all be inducted into the Order of the Phoenix tonight," the Headmaster intoned, his voice somehow harder than before, "if any of you are unsure whether you would like to take on this responsibility and commitment, I urge you to say so now."
The room was dead silent. Hermione felt Harry shift beside her to clasp Ginny's hand under the table. Across the room, Mrs. Weasley looked positively irked. Beside her, Fred and George leaned back in their chairs, playing the part of the old, experienced Order Members.
"Very well," said Dumbledore, "we may move on with the ceremony. Minerva?"
Professor McGonagall stood from her position beside Dumbledore, smiling down genially at Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. From her pocket, she produced a roll of parchment, enchanting it to float in the air before her.
Dumbledore proceeded to explain the ceremony that was about to take place. From what Hermione understood, the induction involved two parts: a verbal oath and a wand oath. The verbal oath was easy enough; McGonagall would say the oath and then the four of them would recite it together. The magical oath was a little intimidating, having some similar factors in its appearance to an Unbreakable Vow. Still, Hermione was ready for this, and she knew that her friends were as well.
When it was time to begin, all eyes fell on the four young witches and wizards as they stood, raised their hand, and began to repeat the oath after McGonagall. It was a long, rambling oath about the fight against cruel forces in the Wizarding world and taking initiative against Death Eaters while also making sure to stand up against anyone who discriminated based on blood or magical ability.
"Now for the magical oath," Dumbledore announced, standing up and moving towards Ron, the closest to him. "Mr. Weasley," he said, extending his hand to Ron to shake. Hermione frowned at the similarities she saw to an Unbreakable Vow. Ron seemed just slightly uncomfortable as well.
"Do you vow," Dumbledore began, "to remain true to all that you have just agreed to, all that the Order of the Phoenix stands for?"
"Yes," Ron said, his voice brittle.
Dumbledore shook Ron's hand, and a wisp of white light encircled their hands for a moment. Apparently it was a spell meant to bind the inductee to silence about the Order. Hermione could see the hairs on the back of Ron's neck standing up.
After Ron came Ginny, then Harry, and Finally Hermione. When she shook Dumbledore's hand she noted the prickling of magic running through her hand, almost as if it was dissolving into her skin. She shivered after Dumbledore dropped her hand, sitting down in her seat quickly and glancing over at the others to gauge their expressions. Ron and Ginny looked proud as they glanced across the table towards Fred, George, Bill, and their parents. Mrs. Weasley looked deeply troubled, but the rest of her ginger-haired family members wore varying expressions of satisfaction or pride. Hermione's eyes fell on Harry again, noting the troubled way he watched Professor Dumbledore.
Hermione felt a tap on her wrist. She turned to look at Tonks, who wore a sloppy grin. "You did well," the Metamorphmagus whispered, winking. Hermione nodded, offering Tonks a conservative smile.
"Splendid," Dumbledore smiled, clapping his hands together and surveying the four newest additions to his group. He moved back to the head of the table, leaning over the old wood of it and facing the rest of the group. "Now we may begin the reports. Kingsley?"
Hermione turned to look down the table where Kingsley sat, her eyes drifting towards Remus. He was smiling at her in a similar way to Sirius. They both looked relieved, like they had been waiting for this to happen and worried it wouldn't go over as well as it did. Hermione smiled covertly at Remus before pulling her gaze away, towards Kingsley, who now stood at the far end of the table, ready to give his report from the Ministry of Magic.
"The Ministry is not doing well," Kingsley said, gazing around the room with a grim expression. "The Death Eaters are not making their presence outwardly known at this point, but I'm sure Alastor will agree with me when I say that we have weeks, at most, until they do something far more drastic."
Hermione could almost feel the tension radiating off of Harry beside her. Across the table Mr. Weasley leaned forward, "but surely you can't be certain of this, Kingsley? Are there any definite signs of Death Eater presence?"
"Signs?" Mad-Eye scoffed, "Walden Macnair has been placed at the right hand of the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement! Amycus Carrow has virtually taken over the Department of International Magic in Galleon Brown's absence! Just yesterday I saw Lucius Malfoy speaking with the Minister himself!"
Hermione stiffened in her seat, feeling several sets of eyes turn towards her at the mention of Lucius Malfoy. To her left she could feel Ginny bristle with discomfort as well.
"There are definitely people with Death Eater ties in the upper ranks of the Ministry," Kingsley said, thankfully drawing the attention away from Hermione. "If you want more evidence than just that- well there's also the Muggle-born Registry."
Hermione frowned. She'd been informed of the Muggle-born Registry just that morning through the Prophet. It was a truly awful thing: rounding up Muggle-borns and putting them on trial for "stealing magic." Hermione had wanted to vomit upon first seeing it.
Kingsley continued. "I've been hearing whispers of it for weeks, and I know that the Death Eaters are planning something. I only say this so that everyone knows that we must be ready to take more drastic measures- either to end this war or to continue hiding from You-Know-Who's attacks."
Harry sat up straighter in his chair. "We shouldn't be hiding," he interjected, his voice thick with emotion, "we need to put all of our efforts into ending this war before anyone else gets hurt."
The room was silent for several seconds.
It was Remus who spoke first. "That is a very noble thought, Harry, but the war can't just be ended on a whim. This will require planning and work. We must hide here for a while in order to come out stronger in the end."
"But people are dying," Harry continued, raising his voice and looking between Remus, Kingsley, and Dumbledore. "We can't let the Death Eaters rule the world like this while we keep just the Order safe and ignore all the others. What about all the Muggle-borns who are being captured and put on trial?"
"Harry…" Hermione whispered lowly.
"You can't save everyone, Harry," Remus said somberly, "and it's not your job."
"It doesn't mean we shouldn't be trying to do something about this!" Harry looked around the table as if searching for an advocate.
"I agree," Ron piped up, "we shouldn't just sit here every day and do nothing."
"That is actually something else I had wanted to address, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore spoke up, his eyes twinkling. "Remus, Nymphadora, would you mind explaining the recent assignment I've given you?"
Remus and Tonks stood up and promptly begun to explain the initiative for dueling practice. Ron and Ginny were both ecstatic at the thought of being able to spend their time dueling rather than cleaning the Estate like their mother wanted. Harry appeared to like the idea, but he still wore a troubled expression throughout the rest of the meeting. Hermione knew that he would not drop the things he had said only moments ago; Harry was anything if not valiant, and his Hero Complex would not have him continue living like this with his conscience in the dark.
In the end, everyone agreed that it wonderful idea to have some dueling practice. Remus and Tonks were to lead the charge, with Sirius and Professor Snape helping whenever they had the chance to. Snape begrudgingly accepted this, saying that he would only assist when his potions did not need immediate attention.
The meeting wound down after Mad-Eye and Professor Snape gave their reports. Mad-Eye talked about the Auror department, recent arrests that had been made, and a few disturbances involving notable Death Eaters. Snape gave a brief description of how things were going at the Estate and how the wards were holding up. Finally, Professor Dumbledore ended the meeting.
"Come to the drawing room in a few minutes," Sirius murmured, approaching Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione with a sly grin on his face, "I've got a surprise."
Hermione didn't know if she liked the look Sirius wore, but after turning to Remus and seeing that he wasn't worried about what his friend was up to, she let it go.
The group filed out of the dining room, Ginny telling Harry and Ron how exciting it was that the twins and Bill could no longer keep secrets from her about the Order. Hermione was only half-listening to her friend, however, because her attention was otherwise focused on none other than Draco Malfoy, who was currently descending the staircase and making his way towards the four of them.
"So," Draco sighed, watching the group that was filing out of the dining room, "anyone want to tell me what all that was about? It seems awfully mysterious of you lot."
"Nothing you need to worry about, Draco," Hermione hummed, leading her friends off towards the Drawing Room.
"I don't know," Draco mused, "Weasley looks a little too proud of himself for me to not be suspicious." The Slytherin's gaze was directed at Ron, who still wore the vestiges of a proud smile, similar to the one he always wore after a successful Quidditch match.
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron grumbled after a pause.
"Don't be rude, Ronald," Hermione hissed. The last thing she wanted was for an old childhood rivalry to resurface now. Ron had been doing so well around Draco these past couple of days…
Draco stepped back in mock surrender, "Whatever. I doubt that it's anything that would interest me much anyway." With that, he retreated towards the kitchens.
"It's bloody weird having Malfoy lurking around this house," Ron murmured as they progressed toward the Drawing Room. "It's like having another Snape."
"You really should try to avoid starting any fights, Ron," Ginny said, "Hermione's right."
They were standing outside the drawing room now. Hermione could already hear Sirius, Remus, and Tonks chatting inside. She followed Harry inside, noting that he hadn't spoken a word since they'd left the meeting. She placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Harry," she murmured, "are you okay?"
He shrugged, shaking his head, "I'll be okay. I just- it's hard to know what's going on out there and be trapped in here… doing this." His hand gestured towards where Sirius stood, pouring champagne and laughing merrily, "how can he expect to celebrate anything at a time like this?"
Hermione frowned a little, realizing that long ago, in their fifth year of school, she had tried so hard to get Harry to see the irresponsible side of Sirius. Now it seemed that Harry was starting to catch a glimpse of that very thing and it actually made her quite sad for his lost innocence. She tightened her hand on his shoulder. "There will be time to take action and work towards winning this war, but I think for tonight you can relax." Her eyes followed Ginny and Ron as they took drinks from Sirius and laughed at something Tonks said.
"Yeah," Harry sighed, mustering a slightly less troubled expression and nodding once more, "I'll try, Hermione, but only as long as you do the same." He lifted his gaze from Sirius and brought it to her.
She smiled warmly. "I will."
Harry let out a breath, turning back to the group and making his way to Ginny's side, putting an arm around her shoulders and taking a glass of champagne from Sirius with the other. Hermione's eyes fell on Remus, standing behind Sirius and shaking his head at the Animagus' antics. Without giving herself time to hesitate, she approached Remus and stood just beside him.
"You did very well at the meeting," he murmured, his eyes roving around the room with mild interest. Sirius continued traipsing around, passing out champagne and humming to himself.
"Thanks," she replied, resisting the urge to step closer to him or reach for his hand. "Harry's upset about it."
He nodded. "He has a reason to be upset. With time, though, I think he'll understand that there's not much we can do while staying here."
"Maybe Harry's right," she mused, turning to face Remus, "maybe we shouldn't be hiding here, pretending that there isn't a war going on in the outside world."
He regarded her closely for a long second. "We'd be in so much more danger if we were out there," he finally said, "they want you and Harry and Ron dead more than anything else. We have to stay here for a little while and hide – even if it's not the Gryffindor thing to do – if only for the sake of self-preservation. If only so that we can win this war when the time comes."
Hermione was assaulted by a well of emotion- fear and sadness and rage about this horrible war. She wanted to launch herself into Remus' arms. She wanted to pull her body close to his and inhale his scent and feel his skin against hers. The noise of Fred and George clinking their champagne glasses together in a toast brought her back to the present. This room was full of people who didn't know anything of her relationship with Remus. So much hung in the balance with him that she shouldn't have even been holding eye contact for this long.
Luckily, Sirius swooped in at that moment.
"A drink for the lady," he announced, doing a mock-bow and handing Hermione a glass. She took it hesitantly. "And a drink for my dearest Moony," Sirius continued, giving Remus his own glass.
Hermione must have been looking at her champagne in a sort of displeased way, because Sirius noticed. "What's wrong, Hermione? Bad experience with alcohol in the past?" Although the way he said those words was the picture of innocence, something about his grin made her suspicious of what he knew.
"Something like that," she mused, remembering that night after the Quidditch final when she'd made the awful mistake of going to Remus' rooms.
She could hear Remus let out a huff of uncomfortable laughter beside her, but didn't meet his gaze. Her attention was drawn to Fred and George instead, as they began an elaborate toast to the newest Order members.
It was a long time until Hermione finally slipped out of the drawing room. She'd been sitting with Ginny and Tonks on the couch for a while, just talking and allowing Sirius to refill her glass every so often. Sometime after Fred and George made their toast she'd decided that it wouldn't hurt to have a drink or two of champagne. It wasn't like getting drunk and kissing Remus again would hurt anything… as long as she didn't do it in front of anyone else.
A couple glasses of champagne and a few hours later, Hermione was ready to leave the ruckus of the drawing room. She said goodnight to Harry and Ginny, both of whom were entangled in the other's limbs in a half-intoxicated mess on the couch. With a wave towards Remus, she slipped into the hallway.
The house felt quiet as she tiptoed not in the direction of the staircase leading to her bedroom, but in the complete opposite direction. Finally arriving at the familiar door, she turned the handle and entered Remus' bedroom.
Her plan had been to make herself comfortable and lay on Remus' bed for a little while, giving him a suitable amount of time so that it wasn't suspicious when he left the Drawing Room. Once he entered his room, she would pull him down onto the bed and kiss him deeply. She would kiss him until he was moaning her name, until he couldn't resist her anymore.
What Hermione didn't plan for, however, was how drowsy the alcohol made her. Upon plopping down onto Remus' bed, she immediately felt how soft and inviting it was, along with how the pillows smelled of Remus and the simple cotton sheets felt like satin against her skin.
"I think I'll turn in for the night, then," Remus said, sighing and standing up from his place in front of the fire. Ron, Fred, and George were all playing an intoxicated game of Exploding Snap, which they had, for some drunken reason, re-named "Exploding Snape." On the couch, Harry and Ginny were speaking quietly to each other and looking quiet content to be in the other's arms. Harry wasn't even slightly uncomfortable with the idea that three of his girlfriend's brothers were just a few feet away. In front of Remus sat Sirius and Tonks, sharing the last bit of champagne out of the bottle.
"You're going to bed?" Sirius asked, scandalized, "it's only half eleven!"
"I'm tired," Remus replied shortly.
"The full moon's in a few days," Tonks added, elbowing her cousin as if that would force some consideration into him.
"Fine," Sirius grumbled, watching Remus stretch his legs out with a growing smile. "Say hi to Hermione for me, will you?" The proud smile was enough to prove that Sirius thought he was being quite clever.
Remus glared at Sirius, noting the way Tonks perked up and narrowed her eyes at Sirius. Even though Tonks had drunk plenty tonight, she wasn't that drunk. She would remember that Sirius had said that. It seemed that Sirius, in all his graceless drunkenness, hadn't cared to notice that.
Before Sirius could say anything else, Remus shot his friend another icy glare and left the drawing room.
His bedroom was dark and silent when he entered it. "Lumos," he whispered, a dimmed light emitting from his wand. The room became visible, and so did the form of the young witch in his bed.
Hermione was spread out beneath the duvet, her wild hair fanned across the pillow and her limbs doing the same beneath the covers. Remus found it endearing that she slept like this while drunk (or at least half-drunk). Normally, she slept curled up under the covers, her arms clutched to her chest. Tonight she was in the complete opposite position, as if she was trying to take up as much space as possible with her arms and legs.
Remus approached the bed, sitting on the edge of it and removing his shoes first. The dip of the mattress appeared to rouse her awake. She picked her head up, looking at him with half-opened eyes.
"Sorry," he murmured, removing his socks now, "didn't mean to wake you up."
"S'alright," she replied groggily, "I didn't mean to fall asleep."
Remus removed his shirt and trousers next, feeling her eyes on him. He moved to his dresser, digging out a pair of flannel sleeping pants and pulling them on. When he turned back to the bed she was watching him with her half-lidded eyes. "You look upset," she observed.
"It's nothing," he shook his head, "just something Sirius said. Move over a little."
She obliged, scooting away from the edge of the bed. Remus climbed in. She immediately moved back to his side of the bed, wrapping her arms around his torso and practically fanning herself across the whole mattress. He chuckled lightly.
"Wha's funny?" was her slurred response.
"You're drunk."
"I know," she nearly groaned, "it's awful, isn't it?"
The way she said the word "awful" combined with her sleepy tone made it very hard to tell whether she was being sarcastic or completely serious. Remus settled for a nod in response. He pulled his arm out from beneath the weight of her torso and wrapped it around her waist. She sighed, settling into him.
He was asleep within minutes.
Author's Note: Reviews are lovely, as always. The full moon arrives in the next chapter, and we all know what that means...