Chapter Nine

There was a knock on Harry's bedroom door, he shifted uncomfortably on his bed. Now he'd had time to calm down he knew he'd over reacted downstairs; he just didn't seem to have a lot of control over his emotions at the moment.

"Come in." Harry said.

Lily poked her head round the door and smiled, "How are you feeling?"

Harry shrugged, that was a complicated question, "Ok. Sorry I yelled at Mrs Weasley."

Lily sighed, "I know it's been hard for you, having other people in the house so much."

Harry nodded, that sounded reasonable, so why did he feel like such a brat? Lily came and sat next to him, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"You know, I have something for you." Lily smiled, "As a… well, a sort of well done for getting through the trial and to replace the one you lost."

Harry looked at her in confusion as she left the room for a moment, grabbing something that was behind the door. She walked back in with a distinctly broom shaped parcel, wrapped in bright paper.

"No way!" Harry grinned, pulling the paper off, "A Firebolt! Really?!"

Lily smiled, "You like it then?"

Harry nodded, "This is amazing! Thank you!"

Lily smoothed his hair and kissed the top of his head, "Well, it's from Sirius and Nikka and Remus as well. You've had a rough time and we know how attached you were to your Nimbus 2000."

Harry gave her a big hug, "Thank you Mum."

"You're very welcome, now Tonks has just arrived, you should come down and have dinner with us." Lily said, "But if you'd rather eat in your room I will understand."

Harry wished his mother would just yell at him, it would be easier than this annoyingly understanding thing she did that just made him feel worse about his actions.

"I'm coming." he smirked.

Lily laughed and pulled him into another hug, "Come on."

Harry walked down stairs to see Nikka and Tonks's heads bent low over the table. Nikka saw him and quickly shoved something into her bag under the table. Harry glared at her, they were keeping secrets from him again.

"I can't wait to get our Hogwarts letters." Hermione said, cutting through his thoughts.

Harry nodded.

"Now we're sure you're coming back to school of course." Hermione smiled.

Harry grinned, "Yeah, I wasn't looking forward to being shoved in one of your suitcases and smuggled into the castle."

Hermione laughed. They moved into the dinning room and sat down at their seats. Danica was already there, sitting across from them, illustrating a very complex story she was making up and explaining to Remus as she was colouring.

"Clear the table." Molly said, briskly, "We're about to start bringing out the food. You can keep colouring later."

There were two loud pops, either side of Mrs Weasley, making her jump in surprise. Fred and George laughed and grinned, tucking their wands away.

"I wish you two would stop doing that!" she chinned, "Now sit down, all of you!"

Ron and Ginny also took their seats.

"Hi Harry," Bill grinned coming through, "Good to see you again." he reached across the table to shake Harry's hand.

Harry shook it, and smiled, "I didn't know you were going to be here."

Bill nodded, "Yeah got some last minute leave and wanted to see Fleur. I've been helping her with her English."

Molly Weasley had a distinct grumble at this information and muttered something under her breath; Ginny also rolled her eyes and started playing with the corner of her napkin.

"Well I'm sure that's very kind of you." Lily said, politely, "Danica, why don't you shuffle your chair up a little so they can sit together and I'll move the place settings."

"You really really don't have to do that." Ginny muttered under her breath.

"I don't mind." Danica said helpfully, moving along chairs, "Fleur can sit in my seat."

Harry gasped dramatically, "You never let me sit in your seat!" he placed the back on his hand on his forehead trying not to laugh.

"That's because you're-"

"Danica Rose James Snape do not finished that sentence." Lily told her.

Danica grinned evilly and pulled her tongue at Harry who pulled one back, leaning forward across the table and using his fingers to pull his ears out. Lily rolled her eyes and left them to it.

"Will someone come and take this pot through for me?" Mrs Weasley called from the kitchen.

"We'll do it!" Fred and George said jumping up and pointed their wands towards the kitchen.

"No it's-" Sirius started.

It was too late though. Fred and George flicked their wands and the large pot of tomato sauce flew in from the kitchen and smashed into the table. Fleur yelped and snatched Danica onto her lap as the pot crashed into the seat where Danica had been sitting, covering it in hot sauce. The pot crashed to the floor, knocking a crystal vase off the sideboard to the floor where it smashed loudly.

Fred and George looked guiltily at the mess and horrified at Danica and what could of happened.

"Sorry Mrs Snape." Fred said, white faced.

"And sorry Mr Black." George added, as they sat down quietly.

Sirius waved his hand, "It's fine, it was my mother's. Lily said I couldn't just throw all of her stuff out so you could be counted as helping."

Lily glared angrily at him, she flicked her wand and the vase repaired itself, taking it's place once more on the sideboard.

"Are you all right Danica?" Lily asked, worriedly.

Danica unburied her head from Fleur's hair and looked at where she had been sitting, "Woah, that was a close one! I'm OK Mummy."

"Thank you for grabbing her." Lily said, "I think it would be better, in future, if you two either did the spells one at a time or possibly just carried things in the boring way."

Fred and George nodded and apologised again, as well as apologising to Danica.

"Well I just 'ad to react or she would 'ave been oeufs à la provencal!" Fleur said.

Mrs Weasley came through from the kitchen and saw the mess, "What on earth did you two do!?" she yelled, "How many times do I have to tell you that you are using too much magic? What a mess you've made! Kreacher spent hours making that! And you've thrown it over the place! You stupid boys!"

"Really Molly, it's all right." Lily said gently.

"You're just being so irresponsible!" Molly stormed, "You never think about the consequences!" she smacked her hand down on the sideboard sending the vase, once again, crashing to the floor, "And now look what you've made me do! We are guests here for goodness sakes!"

Lily sighed at the smashed vase.

"Just leave it Lily." Sirius sighed. He flicked his wand and the pieces flew into the dustbin.

"I could of fixed it for you." Molly said, a little put out.

Nikka waved her hand dismissively, "Don't worry about it, that thing just got more and more ugly every time we fixed it, and it didn't start as the prettiest thing."

Kreacher glared at the spilled sauce, he clicked his fingers and it flew back into it's pot which landed neatly in the middle of the table, steaming gently.

"Peoples should be more carefulls." he grumbled, taking a bowl of food, "I wills eats in my room."

Lily sighed and quickly served everyone else before smiling, "Dig in everyone."

The pasta and tomato sauce with chicken was lovely, Harry had his with a generous sprinkling of cheese.

"They're cracking down again at the Ministry," Tonks sighed, "Yet another search of our desks, a couple from other departments actually got dragged into interviews."

"Why?" Ron asked, helping himself to more garlic bread, "I mean, I don't see what the big deal is."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "You mean apart from the fact that Voldemort is back?"

Harry managed to stop himself from smirking as the Weasleys all flinched.

"The Ministry don't believe he's back, which is in many ways the problem. They honestly think that Harry and Dumbledore are just making it up." Arthur explained.

"Well then they're stupid." Ginny said simply, "Harry wouldn't lie about something like that."

"Plus there's proof, with Professor Snape and Mr Malfoy." Hermione pointed out.

Molly shook her head, "They're scared, it's easier to pretend it's not happening, you're all too young to really remember what it was like last time. We lived in constant fear, it never stopped, worried if it would be you next, or your family or someone you knew."

"I remember." Bill said, holding Fleur's hand, "I was eleven when the war ended remember, and I agree, they're afraid, Mum and Dad were talking about not even letting me go to school after our uncles died."

Molly looked down at the table, remembering her brothers, "No one wants to go back to that time, but burring their heads in the sand isn't going to help matters. Now eat up."

There was a few moments of silence.

"Then what do they think is going on?" Harry asked, "I mean, they're plastering my face all over the papers, tried to get me kicked out of school, if not arrested but why? It makes no sense if they honestly just think I'm lying then it would be better for me to remain invisible, at least as invisible as I ever was. And how does Dumbledore fit into this?"

"Fudge was not first choice for Minister of magic. He has always worried about someone coming along and taking over." Lily said delicately, "Dumbledore has been offered the position, several times."

"So this is all because Fudge thinks that Dumbledore is trying to take over?" Ginny said, "That's insane."

"It's easier for them to believe than the truth right now." Tonks sighed.

"What about Voldemort?" Harry said, he ignored the look Molly gave him, "And Bellatrix and the others? What are they playing at? We saw Rodolphus at the Ministry today, that can't be a coincidence."

Sirius sighed and leaned forward, thinking for a moment, "We think that Voldemort may be looking for something."

"Right, off you go, all of you." Mrs Weasley said, standing up quickly, trying to shoo the children from the room with their half eaten dinners.

"No, wait, I need to hear this." Harry said, "I'm staying."

Mrs Weasley looked to Lily for support but Lily shook her head.

"Harry, you have a right to hear this." Lily said, "Hermione I can't really send you out either. The rest of you have to do what your mother says. Fred, George will you take Danica with you?"

"Wait! I want to stay too!" Danica cried, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Danica you are too little." Lily said simply.

"They're all too little." Molly snapped.

Lily took a deep breath, "Harry is in the middle of this, he has a right to know."

"Well I'm still going to protect my children, come on all of you, out!" Molly said, tapping Ron and Ginny on the shoulders to get them to stand up, "You too Bill, come along."

"Mum! Come off it, I'm twenty four not a child." Bill said jokingly.

Molly glared at him, "You may be part of the Order, meaning you can come to meetings but you can't listen to everything!"

"Come on Molly dear." Arthur said softly.

"No!" Molly said.

Bill rolled his eyes, "Fine. Fleur, would you like to show me your room?"

Molly looked horrified at him as he lead Fleur from the room, grinning. Molly sat back down next to her husband and refolded her napkin.

"You were saying?" Harry said, shaking his head to stop thinking about how weird the Weasleys were sometimes.

Sirius nodded, "We think Voldemort might be looking for something, a weapon, really."

"Harry, before you were born, there was a prophecy." Lily said, "It was the reason Voldemort attacked us, the night that James died."

Harry nodded, "Ok… well what did it say?"

Sirius opened his mouth to speak.

"No one know." Lily said quickly, "Voldemort managed to hear, or rather hear from… someone else, part of the prophecy but not all of it. We believe he's trying to get the rest, to have a glimpse of what is to come so he can fight against it."

"But no one heard it?" Hermione asked, "So how will he find it?"

"There's a record of the prophecy." Sirius told them, "We have to under protection, he wont be able to get it."

Harry nodded, none of this seemed so terrible that everyone had to be shooed from the room, he had the feeling he was missing something.

"So that's it?" He asked, "Voldemort just wants this prophecy that we're protecting from him but have no idea what's in it? Then shouldn't we be trying to find out what the prophecy says? It might have clues on how to fight him, or it might just say that he was destined to have a huge power spike in 1994 and that's why he didn't think twice about attacking you and James that night."

Lily smiled, "It might do. Dumbledore has just told us that it's just important that we keep it safe, and the information away from Voldemort and his followers."

Harry wasn't happy with that answer. It was bad enough that Dumbledore was giving him the cold shoulder, ignoring him, even at the trial he might as well of not been there for all the attention that Dumbledore had paid him, and now he was trying to avoid and keep secrets from everyone else as well.

"So, really, we know nothing?" Harry snorted, "I mean, Dumbledore could actually just be trying to take over the Ministry."

"See I told you." Molly said, "He's too young for this!"

"Thank you, Molly." Sirius growled.

Harry took several deep breaths, "Sorry. It's just, I feel like, like I have no idea what's really going on."

"I know it's hard, Harry." Lily said, "But we will keep you safe, I promise and we will get through this."

Harry nodded, he knew they would try and keep them safe of course but he wasn't safe last term and they couldn't promise he'd be safe in the future.

"Time for bed I think." Molly said, yawning dramatically.

Harry rolled his eyes, "I get the hint, come one Hermione."

Hermione nodded and gave them a half smile, "We should go and have a look over the lists I was making, of things we need to pick up for school."

Harry nodded, it was a good excuse to leave the room but he wasn't going to sit with Hermione and go over lists yet again. He was going to go and flop on his bed and try and think about what could possibly be so important in a prophecy that apparently no one knew.