Here we are again. It's been a long road to get to this point and for that I am so sorry. But I'm so glad that I can give you the next in the series.

Thanks must go out to my team. My pre-reader Pienuniek and my Beta Alice's White Rabbit. I would be lost without the pair of you, truly.

I don't own Twilight, or Harry Potter, I'd be a richer person if I did. But I do so love to create my own places for them out in the world.

See you at the bottom ...

Chapter One ~ Summer Part I

The year at Hogwarts had been an interesting one for sure. We had survived our fourth year. Some of us by the skin of our teeth. We had made some new friends, met some new family, and competed for the "coveted" Triwizard Cup.

And Voldemort had risen from the dead. Seeking to end what he started years before—killing Harry Potter. Only to fail once again.

Because of all of that I had been looking forward to spending the summer at home. Some quiet time with my mate, Bella, deciding how we were going to handle the coming year, and celebrating the myriad of birthdays that seemed to occur during our summer break.

Instead, though, the first thing we would be doing was discussing what Alice had seen when she and Jasper had come to collect us from Kings Cross. The moment I had reached for the handle of Bella's trunk, a vision had come to her. Something that would scream trouble should it come to pass, not that I could think of a way to stop it, even if we had a date.

Alice had seen that sometime soon there would be a mass break-out from Azkaban aided by an explosion. Several of Voldemort's death eaters, ones that had been caught, arrested, and placed in Azkaban—probably the worst of the worst—were going to escape. One that, if I had any guesses, was engineered by Voldemort himself.

So now, instead of relaxing as I'd hoped, we were going to have to break the news of Alice's vision.

The ride home from Kings Cross Station was full of questions. Bella and Hermione—who had been standing closest to me when Alice's vision hit—knew we had seen something. They both had questions but neither of them was voicing them … yet. Jasper had, of course, sensed the shift, but because he was driving the other vehicle, he couldn't question us aloud either.

Neville seemed to be the only one who was oblivious to what was going on. The only thing he was registering was that we were all much quieter than we had been on the Hogwarts Express.

We should tell Dumbledore, Edward. This is something he should know, Alice thought as she looked at me through the rear-view mirror. I had taken the driver's seat, with Bella opting for the front passenger. Driving was the one thing I missed about living in the castle all year.

"I know," I murmured catching Bella's attention. Even though she didn't say anything. "And we will. We should see how many people can come to discuss this."

It's big news. Do you think this has to do with … Voldemort?

I sighed, hard. "Yes. This has everything to do with him."

Alice nodded and turned to look out the window. While it's true that Alice had missed us, right now, she was missing Jasper. But she knew if she had gotten in the car with him, she would have spilled the beans about what she had seen.

"Bella, when we get home, we need to round up as many of our owls as possible. We need to get as many of our friends over as soon as possible."

"Okay, Edward. This is to do with what you've seen?" I nodded as Bella spun around to look at Alice. "And that's why you're here with us instead of in the car with Jasper?"

Alice smiled. "Don't you want to see me, lil' sis? Didn't you miss me?"

Bella and Hermione cracked up laughing, but it was Hermione who answered Alice. "Of course, we did, but we aren't stupid either. What did you see?"

"This is something we need to talk about with everyone. Plus, I want to draw some of the key parts of the vision. To help explain." Alice sighed. Jasper had just sent her a wave of love and understanding. She knew he wouldn't have pestered her for answers if she'd said to wait, but she hated keeping things from him, even for just a short amount of time. That, and she had missed us.

We were silent for the rest of the short ride home. That was until we reached the front door. Esme was standing there, waiting on us. "Welcome home!" she sang, reaching out to hug each one of us. "Neville, you're welcome to stay with us for the afternoon, or Jasper can take you on home … although … by the looks on your faces, I'd say that isn't going to happen any time soon. What's going on?"

"Alice had a vision. We need to gather our family and friends." I kissed Esme on the cheek. "As soon as possible."

"Got it." Esme nodded. "Kreacher, do you mind unloading the cars?"

"Not at all, Mrs. Esme." Kreacher bowed and clicked his fingers, disappearing outside.

"Hi, Mum!" Bella and Hermione hugged Esme before going through the door to the back of the house to see what owls were in our owlery.

"Hi, girls. Well, let's get to writing these notes then." Esme led the way through to the kitchen table, grabbing paper and quills on the way through. "Who are we sending them too?"

"Everyone we know." I sat in a seat and picked up some paper.

By the time Hermione and Bella had everyone's owls rounded up, including borrowing Emmett and Rose's, we had all of the notes written and ready to go. Saffy flew to The Burrow because she was the smallest. Athan, as well as the owls belonging to Esme, Rose, and Alice would go out to Dumbledore, Remus, and Sirius. Remus would then let Shane know because they would be at the office together, and Athan would find Sirius wherever he was in the field.

We also sent a message to Carlisle and Arthur through the floo network, letting them know they should come home as soon as possible.

"Right." Esme sighed. "Let's get some food sorted out. I think it's going to be a long night."

Esme, Bella—who gave me a sweet kiss—Hermione, and Kreacher went into the kitchen to prepare some dinner.

"We aren't going to have enough chairs nor a large enough table for this meeting," Jasper said, looking around.

I snickered, flicking out my wand. "Well, that won't be a problem, now, will it?"

It took a few minutes, but after a few carefully stated spells, I had enlarged our dining room, made the table long enough that everyone would fit, and replicated enough chairs for everyone to sit on. I expected that Molly would bring her children, that Shane would bring Harry, and that all our family would be home soon.

"We're here!" Emmett called, bounding in the back door. Saffy had returned after a relatively short time, so Bella sent her over to Rose and Emmett's house to let them know we were going to need them. "Bella, your owl can be extremely annoying when it wants to be." Bella snickered at Emmett. "Now, why are we here? Is this because of the reason you borrowed our owl?"

Rose had floated over to Neville and wrapped him up in a hug. Neville, who was still unused to such affection, blushed from the top of his head to the tips of his toes. Or so he thought. I couldn't help but chuckle at his embarrassment. I turned back to Emmett. "It is. The news isn't good. But we need to wait until everyone gets here." I gestured to the table and for them to take a seat.

Emmett sobered and looked at me. "What's going on? And how bad is it?"

"It will be bad," Alice whispered, coming downstairs, placing a pad of paper on the table and taking a seat next to Jasper. "But not yet."

"Oh. You've seen something?" Rose asked, sitting next to Alice. Rose reached out and held Alice's hand when she nodded.

Esme, Hermione, and Neville took seats at the table as well. We knew it wouldn't be long before the others arrived, so we made small talk. Alice and Rose asking about our time at Hogwarts and what we thought of the ball that we'd had for the Triwizard Tournament. Talk of the ball was okay; it was the tournament itself that was still a touchy subject for Bella and me. But talk of school made me wonder what we would face at the end of the summer.

Fifteen minutes later, Molly and her children arrived. Well … most of her children. It seemed that Ron wasn't going to be leaving the house for something he felt was beneath him. And spending his first summer afternoon at our house was just that—beneath him.

"Long time, no see!" Fred and George laughingly said together as they entered the dining room. "Miss us already?" they continued. Their siblings following along, laughing at the twins' antics. Ginny had taken a seat next to Hermione while Fred and George sat with a laughing Emmett. The surprise visitors, however, were Bill and Charlie. I thought Charlie had gone back to Romania, and Bill should have been at work.

"Always!" Bella replied. "But that's not what this is about."

Molly bustled in with a plate of something that smelled delicious. "I'm sorry. I would have been here sooner, but I was trying to get a hold of Arthur. Unfortunately, he wasn't in his office."

"That might be because we sent him a message via the floo network," Esme replied as she followed Molly. Esme reached out and took the plate of food she was holding, placing it on the table.

Ooooh, Molly's chocolate muffins. Yum, Bella thought, looking longingly at the plate.

"Oh," Molly breathed. "Thank goodness. I didn't want him to miss this. You all said it was important."

I stood from the table to shake Bill's and Charlie's hand. "We didn't expect you guys. Shouldn't you be at work?"

"Nah." Charlie shrugged. "I wanted some of Mum's home cooking. I'm off for a couple weeks."

Bill chuckled. "I didn't even go to work today. I was helping to retrieve the gang from Kings Cross."

Just as we all took seats, the fireplace flared in the family room, but it wasn't just one flare—there were several. It was almost comical the way we all looked toward the doorway.

"Oh, this must be serious. How are you, Arthur?" Carlisle must have been the first through.

"I'm well, Carlisle. I wonder what's serious enough to call us all in."

Another voice snorted. "We won't know unless we talk to Edward," Sirius drawled.

Chuckles broke out as they made their way to the dining area. We were all quiet as not only Carlisle, Arthur, and Sirius stepped through the door, but Shane and Remus as well.

"I didn't expect you to get here all at the same time!" I laughed, standing again and shaking everyone's hand. "But I'm glad that you have." Several mouths opened all at once, so I held my hands up. "Not until we're all here. We're still waiting on at least one more person."

It took me a few minutes after Remus, Sirius, Shane, and Arthur settled in to talk to the others that I realized Harry hadn't come through the fireplace with Shane. I was just about to ask where he was when the fireplace flared again, and Harry's thoughts appeared.

It seemed that when our owl had arrived, he'd been just getting into the shower. Shane had told him to come when he was finished. Harry'd had the fleeting thought about not coming at all but decided that he better. He didn't want to anger his father when he'd just come home from school.

Harry slunk into the dining room, not saying anything to anyone. He took a seat in the corner of the room, only nodding to a few who were there. He briefly made eye contact with me before looking down at the table.

I was about to say hello to Harry when the fireplace flared once more. It was almost comical how everyone fell quiet and looked toward the door, waiting to see who was going to come through it. I knew, of course, and if they thought about it, they would too.

"What can be so bad that we had to meet on your first day home from school?" Dumbledore asked when he stepped through the door.

His question caught many by surprise. With everything that had happened at the end of the school year, they thought he would be more concerned about any emergency meetings being called.

So, it was with that in mind I answered with, "Oh, I don't know. How about a mass breakout from Azkaban? Something like ten of the worst death eaters?"

The room froze at my words. Even thoughts froze for a split second before they exploded back into the room. On the tail of those thoughts, voices followed.

You probably could have broken that news a little more delicately, Bella thought, looking up at me with a smirk.

"Wouldn't have given the right amount of surprise."

Nor would it have broken through that attitude Dumbledore was giving off either.

"Exactly."

For a few minutes, Bella and I stood there and watched as panic ensued, as the adults around us argued about what to do but never asking the pertinent questions. The only other person not saying a word was Alice. In fact, she looked up at me, at that very second, and rolled her eyes.

You'd think they'd be past the panicking stage by now, Alice thought with another eye role. I mean, there's going to be a lot of bad news coming up in my visions for the next while; you'd think they'd ask questions first.

"You'd think," I replied. I let them go at it for a few more minutes before letting out a loud whistle. I felt a sense of déjà vu. I was sure I had gotten their attention like this before.

The room fell silent, and all eyes turned in our direction.

"Thank you," Bella said. "You were all giving me a headache." She held up her hand when several mouths opened to say something. "No. You all need to sit down and shut up."

I smirked slightly as mouths snapped shut and shuffling started as those around the table pulled out chairs and started to take their seats. It took me a few seconds of looking around to realize that Dumbledore hadn't been shocked—at anything that had happened—and was sporting a small, smug look of his own. And surprise, surprise, his mind was closed.

Hmph, that's not surprising, at all, Bella thought, noticing the same thing I had. Well, he's about to get an earful, just like the rest of them.

Bella looked around at all the people sitting at the table. "Is this how things are going to be every time Alice sees something? Or when something happens? Panic?"

Several faces looked down at the table with a grimace, mostly my family because we'd been through things like this before. We had never panicked; we'd always come up with a plan. The wizards around the table were also chastised. They knew that something would happen, but I think they'd been taken by surprise.

"Panic is going to get us nowhere," I spoke up, stepping to Bella's side and giving her a kiss on the forehead. "We need to realize that now that Voldemort has returned, things like this will be happening more regularly."

"And we are never going to get anywhere should we panic every time something crops up unexpectedly. We need to be efficient and proactive. Panicking is the opposite of that. Instead of doing all of that just now, what should we have done?" Bella asked. She looked around the room, seeing a few blank faces among our family and friends.

A new face walked in from the kitchen as Bella finished her last question. It seemed that Bella had thought to invite someone I had not. Opi glanced around the table and took stock of the faces and their countenances. He slid into a spot next to Bella with a nod in my direction and a kiss for my girl. I took note of Dumbledore's reaction now that Opi was here, and I was pleased to note that the smile had slipped from his face.

I sighed. It seemed no-one was going to take the bait. Just as I was about to ask the question everyone should have asked first, Opi spoke. "Alice, please? What did you see?"

"Some time in the next year, there's going to be a mass breakout from Azkaban, all convicted death eaters. Ten of them, according to The Truth; only a few according to The Daily Prophet."

There were a few beats of silence before Carlisle asked the next question. "And how clear was this vision?"

"What difference does that make?" Neville asked, then blushed at the attention. "What? I've never been around Alice when she's had a vision."

Alice giggled at Neville's question. "It's fine, Neville. Most of the people around the table don't know how my visions have worked in the past. My visions are subjective. They change as people change their minds."

"Ahh, so the clearer the vision, the more likely it's going to happen." Neville connected the dots that Alice had given him.

"Exactly. So, to answer your question, Carlisle, it was probably the clearest vision I've had since we've come into the wizarding world. Nothing is going to change it," Alice said pointedly, glancing at Dumbledore before looking back at Opi.

"Then we need to prepare. If Voldemort is reassembling his forces, we need to do the same." Sirius thumped his fist onto the table.

"I agree," Shane murmured. "We lost a lot with the last war; the last thing I want to do is lose more." Shane reached out and hugged Harry from the side.

The table fell quiet as we gave them a minute to reminisce on the fact that Lily was one of the ones they lost in the last war.

"I don't think just pulling the forces in is going to be enough," Alice said, pulling us from our thoughts. "I think this vision was also telling me that things need to change."

Molly stood abruptly from her chair. "Wait! There are young children here. I don't think they should be present for this type of meeting!" All manner of voices rang out with her declaration. Bella's and Harry's being some of the loudest. "No, I mean it. They are children, not adults."

"Are you going to ban Edward from these meetings too?" Hermione blurted out, causing the arguing to come to a stop. "I mean, he's in school, classed as a child because he hasn't learned all his magic yet. But he's also seventeen, an adult in the wizarding world."

"And you know that if he's in these meetings, Bella is going to know everything. He won't keep anything secret from her," Ginny chimed in.

"And if that's the case, then we'll all know. Right, Edward?" Harry asked from his end of the table. He was remembering the promise we had made to him after the debacle at the Triwizard Tournament.

I sat back with a smirk because Molly was looking at me with a pleading expression. She thought if they were under seventeen, they should be kept in the dark, for their own good. She didn't think they should be involved with anything to do with war or Voldemort. And she was hoping I would be on her side in this. In fact, there were several around the table who agreed with her.

I crossed my arms and listened to the thoughts around the table. All while keeping eye contact with Molly. "I'm sorry, Molly, to many of you, but I don't agree with your reasoning at all. Sure, maybe, the younger ones shouldn't be doing the more dangerous aspects of what might be coming. But I believe we should all be prepared, and being prepared means knowledge. The more we know, the safer we would be.

"Besides … Voldemort might be coming for us all, but first and foremost, he's gunning for Harry. He should know everything that's going on."

Opi, Shane, Sirius, Jasper, and Emmett agreed with my thought processes. Esme, Molly, and surprisingly, Carlisle were rather against it. Arthur was on the fence. He wanted to keep the worst of it from the young ones but knew they'd need to know eventually. But it was Dumbledore I was watching. I could see that he didn't agree with what I had said. Not at all. And I'm sure if I could have read his thoughts, he would want to keep them in the dark as much as possible. Why? I had no idea.

"I think you're on the right track, Edward. The more we know, the better prepared we can be," Opi agreed with a note of finality in his voice, causing Molly to sit down slowly. "What do we do?"

"We need to bring the Order back together," Sirius stated with finality.

Chatter broke out around the table with Opi and Dumbledore being the only adults remaining quiet.

"What do you think, Albus?" Opi asked, steering the conversation in his direction.

The room fell silent once more, and every eye turned in his direction. We were all quiet, wanting to hear what he was about to say.

Dumbledore peered around at all of us. He carefully studied all our faces. Looking at me, then Opi last. "I do believe Sirius is right. The Order needs to be reinstated. Is there absolutely nothing we can do to stop this vision from happening, Alice?"

Alice shook her head hard. "No. This is going to happen whether we try to stop it or not. The best we can do is prepare for it to happen."

"How are we going to do that?" Harry asked. "We are going to be included, right?"

Several mouths dropped open to answer him. Sirius and I being two who agreed, but Molly beat us all to the punch. "No!" she declared vehemently. "He's just a boy; all of you are just children. You will not be included in the Order!"

"Yet, it's me Voldemort wants!" Harry stood and shouted back, tapping his thumb on his chest. "Would you rather leave me clueless about what is coming for me? Leave me open to attack because I don't know what's going on?"

Bella and I sat back with smirks on our faces, lacing our hands together, because Harry's words had shut down several arguments that had been on the tips of many tongues. What argument could they have when leaving Harry defenseless would only put him in danger?

"How about we do this …" Carlisle began. He was going to be diplomatic. I saw the idea form in his head and thought it was a decent compromise. "The order should be an adult's-only endeavor." Carlisle held up his hands when most of the young ones around the table began to argue. "Wait … wait. I think you should be seventeen to join, but—and I'm stressing this 'but'—Harry's right. He should be informed. All of them should be informed. It will be safer that way. Edward will be a part of the Order," Carlisle said, looking at me, to which I nodded. "He will relay the information back to them, one way or another. But all the dangerous parts will be done by the Order. And the research … because … because all of you children will have to go back to Hogwarts once the summer is over. Is that a fair compromise?"

I'm thinking the twins' "ears" will come in handy for the order meetings, Bella thought as she laid her head on my shoulder after nodding to the compromise Carlisle had come up with.

I leaned down to whisper in her ear. "Carlisle had a similar thought. After Harry pointed out that he should be informed, he changed his mind about all of you needing to know."

"What exactly do we need to research?" Arthur asked from his place next to Molly.

"All the death eaters who escape might be a good place to start," I noted, pointing at Alice. "We'll need a list of names."

Alice nodded and reached for the ever-present pad of paper and pen that we left sitting in the middle of our dining room table for this very thing. "Those names I don't know, I'll draw pictures of them."

Jasper kissed Alice's head and took a deep breath. He knew the next words out of his mouth were going to be met with resistance. "We should also research dark magic …"

Before Jasper could finish his sentence, pandemonium broke out. Every single adult who was a part of the wizarding community stood and started arguing. They were determined that not one single one of their children, or the children we knew, would know anything about the world of dark magic. I could see that, although they weren't arguing; Dumbledore and Opi were the only ones not arguing. Dumbledore had that smirk on his face again. I could imagine that he thought the parents were going to win the argument. Opi, however, was watching Dumbledore, and from what I could see on his face, he wasn't happy with what he was seeing. He waited a few minutes to see if Molly and the others would give Jasper some time to explain, but when it didn't happen, he was the second one to silence the room with a loud whistle; he even thumped the table to give it extra emphasis. Everyone froze before turning in his direction.

Opi sighed before gesturing to Jasper. "Professor Whitlock, if you please. Can you tell me why you think we should research dark magic?" It didn't escape anyone's notice that Opi leaned on the words "Professor" and "research", but they couldn't understand why he thought this was a good idea.

"Thank you, Opi. I've done a lot of research into the wizarding world in the years since we've joined, more so since becoming the History of Magic professor, and do you know the one thing that I've found consistent?" Jasper had steepled his fingers under his chin and peered around the table. "That when faced with dark magic, the wizarding world runs the other direction. You all bury your heads in the sand."

"How so?" Opi smirked. The children were sniggering because many mouths had dropped open at Jasper's insinuation.

"Instead of answering that question, how about I pose one of my own. How can you fight against a dark spell if you have no idea which one is being cast? Especially since the majority of adult wizards can cast silently." Jasper paused for a beat before continuing. "Would you lose as many good skilled wizards if you taught your children, aurors, and defenders exactly what to look for when facing a dark wizard?"

"You want to teach our children dark magic?" Molly asked scandalized.

Jasper was already shaking his head before Molly had finished. "That's not what I'm saying at all. Do not put words in my mouth, Molly. What's the likelihood that any of these children can cast a shield spell strong enough, and fast enough, to deflect every spell coming at them?"

I could, Bella thought.

"That may be, Bella, but do you think Ginny can? Fred, George, or Hermione?" I asked aloud, looking down at her. "We vampires might be able to survive the spells thrown at us, and even jump in front of some of them to save our friends"—I gestured around the table—"but we can't be in every place, all at once. Wouldn't you prefer that your family, and friends, could identify a spell and be quick enough to defend themselves?"

Bella looked at everyone around the table but lingered on Molly. "Oh, most definitely. I don't even know why this is a debate. Why wouldn't you want the most vulnerable of us to be able to defend ourselves? Wouldn't that be a big surprise?"

Neville snorted. "Besides, like Harry said, it's not really you who Voldemort and his followers are going to be after, is it? Harry will be first."

"And we'll be close after," Fred and George said together before George continued, "Because he won't be fighting alone. We'll all be there together."

"So, what's the plan, Jasper?" Hermione asked after she nodded her head in sync with the rest of us.

"You kids will be the ones who will have to fight regardless …" Jasper paused before he raised his voice to speak over the arguing adults. "Regardless of the fact that the adults will be involved as well." Jasper's voice trailed off as the arguing stopped. "As much as you don't want it to be, you can't stop it. It's just how it's going to be. Children have been going to war long before this one, and they will be going to war long after. What I think they should be doing this summer is learning about the spells they might come across and learn the counter curses."

"And what will we be doing?" Molly fumed.

"That's easy," Opi answered her. "In between gathering forces, trying to learn what Voldemort is doing, and monitoring the Ministry, you will be learning the difference between what you call light and dark magic. I want you to learn what it is that makes them different.

"There is no light without dark. We all have both light and dark; it's up to us to choose which part we want to act on. So, spells shouldn't be excluded because they're perceived as dark. To know the difference between light and dark—everyone should be given the choice."

"Oh, is that all?" Shane muttered under his breath.

Opi slammed a book down on the table. He'd reached into his robes to pull it out. "No, that is not all. While all of you naysayers are reading and learning about dark and light magic, I want you to take a serious look at the state of our schooling and tell me if you think it's good enough. If you think giving your own children no option except for learning about light magic is a good thing, then this journal, from an older ancestor, may just change your minds."

"Well then, hand it over!" Molly demanded, causing mouths to drop open. I had never heard Molly speak like that—to an adult at least—before. "Let's just see what this ancestor has to say about this nonsense."

With a hard push, Opi slid the journal into Molly's waiting hands. He was wearing a scowl at her attitude. Her children couldn't believe that she would speak to someone like that. As far as they were concerned, their mother was mild mannered and soft spoken. Arthur was just as surprised but leaned forward to see the journal all the same.

Soft conversations broke out around the table as Molly opened the cover and stopped all together when both she and Arthur let out shocked gasps. "Oh, my goodness. How did you get something like this?" Molly asked softly, looking up at Opi.

"Doesn't matter," Opi replied as several voices rang out with different versions of "What?"

Arthur looked up. "This is Godric Gryffindor's journal." Arthur pulled it forward and flipped open to the first page to begin reading.

"I want all of you adults to read every word in this journal, and then we're going to discuss your findings," Opi said. "Molly and Arthur first. Now if we are going to pull this Order together, where are we going to hold its meetings?"

"How about at our house?" Rose suggested.

Dumbledore shook his head. "It's not secure enough, and with squibs and muggles coming and going, that's probably not the best idea."

"What about here …" I was shaking my head as the thought had entered Carlisle's mind. "Why not, Edward?"

"I have a feeling that wherever headquarters ends up, there will be people there at all hours of the day. Discussions will be happening, training going on, and researching happening at all hours of the night. I don't want that at home. This should be a place for us to come and escape everything that's happening out there." I wave my hand around, indicating the world around us. "Besides, any spells, or protective enchantments, that would be placed here on Swan Manor will exclude Emmett and Rose's house, which leaves them unable to get in and vulnerable. We can't have that. We need a place to unwind, and Hermione and Bella need a place to sleep without the threat of interruptions."

"It's also why the Burrow won't make a good meeting place either," Bill said pensively from his seat across from me. "We all need places to unwind."

There were nods around the table, but I noticed that Shane and Sirius were making eye contact. They had hidden their thoughts from me but were having a quiet conversation between themselves.

"You don't have to, James," Sirius murmured. "It can stay the way it is."

As I watched the conversation happen, the polyjuice potion started to lose its affect. As Shane looked around, his features began to morph and change until they melted away and James appeared.

James looked back at Sirius. "I know I don't have to. But I don't know that I will ever live there again. It should be used before it falls apart. Besides, we can use every charm known to wizard kind to hide it because nobody needs to know where it is." With a deep sigh, James looked up. "I want you to use Potter Mansion for the Order. It was built by my ancestor generations ago. The last Potters to use it were my parents. After they died, I sealed it up and hid it from the world. We can keep it hidden, but I will just have to show each and every member where it is. It'll probably need some work though."

"Then we'll all chip in where we can." Bill looked over at James. "We will help to get your family's house back in perfect condition."

With agreements from around the table, it was decided that Potter Mansion would become the new headquarters for the re-introduction of The Order of The Phoenix—the group dedicated to finding, and preparing for, the return of Voldemort.

~*~UHS~*~

The next few days were much quieter than our return from Hogwarts. While we knew that getting Potter Mansion up and ready for the Order was important, the younger ones all needed to decompress from the year we'd had at school. And that included me.

Bella and Hermione rested for the first couple days. Sleeping whenever they wanted, reading books they wanted to read, and Bella sitting on the couch in our sitting area and listening to me play the piano. We unpacked our trunks, spent time with the slowly growing menagerie of animals in our yard, and got to know Salem—my new kneazle—who tended to spend most of his time lounging around our sitting room, much like a normal house cat would do.

"Morning, Salem," Bella said, running her hand down his head and back as she walked by. Salem purred, loving the tender touch she used. She took a seat on the piano bench next to me. "What are we doing today, Edward?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Are you feeling up to going out?"

Bella smiled, giving me a small kiss. "I wouldn't have asked the question if I wasn't. I've unpacked, I've rested, and I've recharged. I'm ready when you are."

"Okay then." I laughed, pulling my hands from the piano. "I'd like to go and wander around Diagon Alley. We should check in at The Truth too."

"Date time?" Bella asked.

"Yeah, baby. Let's go have a lunch date."

Bella squealed quietly. "I just have to change clothes!"

"But you look beautiful as you are!" I stated as Bella jumped up and ran toward our wardrobe. She was wearing a pair of jeans and a singlet top in a delicate pink.

"Doesn't matter! I want to be date beautiful."

I shook my head and went back to playing. It wouldn't make any difference. She was stunning; she could have been dressed in a burlap sack, and I still would have thought her date-ready.

Ten minutes later, I heard Bella step out of the bathroom. I stood and spun around to look at her. She was wearing a deep blue, almost navy-colored dress with a small leather jacket over her shoulders. Her hair was clipped back from her face but flowed down her back in large wavy curls, and she had placed the smallest amount of makeup on.

"My God, Bella. You look stunning."

Bella smiled her shy, sweet smile. The one reserved just for me. "Thank you, Edward." She gave a little twirl. I noticed she was taller than usual, so my eyes dropped to her feet. They were encased in blue peep-toe pumps that matched her dress. When I saw them, my eyes slowly climbed back up her legs. They were gorgeous, shapely, and built in all the right places. I followed the line of her legs up over her curvaceous hips and hourglass figure to her beautiful face. Which I found smirking at me. "Are you ready?" she asked as she walked toward me with an extra swing in her step.

"Uh … yeah, yes. Yes, I'm ready." I held out my elbow to escort her to our fireplace. "Let's get going."

Bella giggled at my lack of coherency but linked her arm through mine and pulled me toward the fireplace. "The Leaky Cauldron or somewhere else for lunch?"

"Uh …" I shook my head. "What are you doing to me?" I growled lowly.

"What I'm supposed to do. Render you speechless!"

"Not yet!" I growled back playfully into her neck. "Give a man some warning, Bella. You're still only fourteen."

Not for much longer, Bella thought, looking at me through her eyelashes. "Things are changing between us, Edward. I can feel it. But I don't want you to be hung up on how old I am; I want you to see me as a young woman as I grow, not just the ten/eleven-year-old I was when we met."

I stopped as Bella moved into the fireplace after picking up a handful of floo powder. She looked at me for a few seconds. And I took those few seconds to think about her words.

"Diagon Alley," she whispered before disappearing in a flare of green flames.

After the flames died down, I stepped into the fireplace and copied Bella's actions. Once I landed at Diagon Alley however, it was a different story. Bella had been right. I could see where I had been holding back, a little, because of perceiving her as the young girl I had first met. So, once I landed, and I spotted her waiting for me, I launched out of the fireplace, reached for her face, threaded my fingers through her hair, and kissed her as hungrily as I could without tongue. It was hard. It was hungry, and it was everything.

Bella's hands flew up to grab a hold of my arms, and she kissed me back with just as much fervor. She had been surprised by my attack from the fireplace but melted into the kiss, giving me the dominant position. After a few seconds, I pulled back but placed smaller, more loving kisses on her lips, cheeks, and eyelids.

"What was that for?" she asked breathless.

"Because I realized you were right. Some small part of me was holding back. For that, I'm sorry."

Bella nuzzled her nose against mine before wrapping her arms around me and burying her face in my neck. If that's what happens when I'm right, I'll have to be right more often. We both laughed at her thoughts. "Thank you, Edward."

I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her tight against me. I reached for her chin and tilted her face up and kissed her lips again. "You're welcome. Now let me take my beautiful young woman out for a lunch date."

The smile that Bella let loose as I tucked her into my side caught the attention of many men around us. Although, she only directed that smile at me, and every single one of them saw it. On the short walk to The Leaky Cauldron, we talked quietly, whispering in each other's ears and dropping kisses on each other. The intimacy of the walk was something I'd been looking forward to for the last few years. This was something I'd been anticipating, so I wasn't going to hold back anymore.

When we took our seats at a table, I sat next to Bella instead of across from her and kept her wrapped up in my arms. The meal was another lesson in intimacy. We shared our food as readily as we shared our kisses, and our talks were, once more, quiet whispered conversations between the two of us.

"So where to now?" Bella asked as we walked back into Diagon Alley.

"I want to check in with Remus at The Truth. I want to see how everything's going."

"Sounds good. Though I might go and visit Mr. Wiseacre and see what he's got since we've been at Hogwarts."

We stopped outside of our printing shop, The Masen Consortium of Publishing. "Meet me back here when you're done?" I whispered as Bella stood up on her toes and wrapped her arms around my neck. My arms automatically wrapped around her waist.

"You bet, Teddy. Love you."

"Love you, too, love." I gave her three more kisses before watching her walk away from me. I hated to see her go but loved to watch her leave. After allowing myself the permission not to hold back anymore, I could see the gorgeous woman my Bella was becoming. She was filling out in all the right places.

I huffed to myself before turning and walking into our printing shop. I had a feeling Bella would be the absolute end of me, and to be honest, I was looking forward to every minute of it.

I froze when I walked through the door to find Remus standing there. He had his arms crossed and was smirking at me. "Growing up is she, Edward?"

"Oh, my God, yes! And she's doing my bloody head in already!" I lifted my hands, then let them drop, slapping my thighs.

Remus snorted. "All the good ones do."

"I'll remember this amusement when you find your match." I pointed at him as he led the way back to his office.

"For once in my life …" Remus trailed off. His thoughts taking on a softer edge when he thought about having a life partner, a wife, and eventually children. I could see that it was something he had avoided at all costs before, but now, with the lycanthropy all but a distant memory, he was looking forward to it.

I patted him on the shoulder as I stepped around him to take a seat. "I'm glad I could give that back to you, my friend."

Remus and I shared a smile. "Obviously, you're not here to talk about Bella, so what are you here to talk about?"

"I just wanted to catch up on how everything is going with the store and the paper mostly."

"Mostly?"

"Yeah. I have a feeling that Fudge is going to fight the news that Voldemort has returned for all that he is worth. I also think he's going to crack down on security at The Daily Prophet, making it harder for us to get The Truth in there."

Remus nodded. "The thought had crossed my mind, and I might have a solution to that problem."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, but I'm going to need another year's supply of the wolfsbane potion you made for me. The one that helped turn me to an animagus."

I smirked. "You got it."

~*~UHS~*~

Remus and I discussed the logistics of his idea for the remainder of the early afternoon. In fact, I hadn't realized how long it had been until Bella wandered in to get me at three-thirty with an armload of shopping bags.

"What have you two been discussing? World domination?" She giggled, giving Remus a kiss on the cheek before kissing my lips.

I chuckled at her. "Something like that. Only on a much smaller scale."

Bella's interest was piqued, and she looked between the two of us. "Oh? How so?"

"You'll find out in a couple days, if things go according to plan." Remus smirked at her.

"But that's when the Order is meeting for the first time to get Potter Mansion ready!" She pouted adorably, causing us to laugh at her. "I want to know first!"

"Sorry, sweetheart, you'll just have to wait and see." I leaned down to kiss her once more when she started to protest. I pulled back when her thoughts wavered and started to concentrate on the feel of my lips.

Not fair, she thought before her eyes opened. I want more of those.

"Then I guess we better get home. See you later, Remus. I'll get everything to you in the morning. I've still got stores at home."

"No worries. See you later, Edward, Bella."

We waved as we walked out the door and began to make our way to the fireplaces to return home. "So … what did you buy today?"

"Mr. Wiseacre had lots of new things. He'd gone on a trip while we were at school. While he was away, he found a few extinct potion books for you, so I bought those. He also had some other obscure ingredients, which I grabbed also."

I kissed the top of her head and pulled her against my side. "Thank you, beautiful. Did you thank Mr. Wiseacre for me?" Bella nodded. "What else did you get?"

"I picked up some normal potion stores, as well, and Mr. Wiseacre had some new styles of phials, as well as some of our favorites." Bella's voice dropped to a whisper. "I think he gets them on purpose just to entice me to buy them."

I chuckled at her observation because it was something I had thought on many occasions.

"He had also come across a couple of pensieves. We live long lives, and I thought one could be helpful to us."

"That sounds like you bought more than one."

Bella nodded. "So far, the pensieve works by people placing their heads into it to see the memories, what if I can change that? What if I can make it so that the image projects instead? So that more than one person can view them at a time without having to enlarge it. If I can get it to either pop out or project on the wall …"

"Then it would be easier to show others," I finished for her. "It would certainly help to maintain a connection to the outside world while also viewing the memories in the pensieve. So, you have one to work on?"

"Yeah."

I kissed Bella's lips softly as we stood in line for the fireplaces. "Then you shall get time to do so, my love."

~*~UHS~*~

Bella and I went our separate ways when we got home. She was off to her laboratory, and I went for what I was now calling my daily run around the perimeter. Ever since we'd gotten home, I'd made a conscious effort to check for new scents surrounding our house.

Voldemort had known a lot about our family and the things that had been going on around our property. I wanted to make sure we weren't being spied on by any of his dutiful followers. I knew the house was as hidden as we could make it. But that didn't make me any less uneasy with the knowledge that he had. At least, for now, he thought I was dead. It was an advantage I wanted to keep for a little while.

From what I could sense—and see—there was nobody observing, nor had they planted anything that could be construed as observing our property and the people within it. I think what Voldemort had known about us had come from that weasel Wormtail. Thanks to him being Ronald's rat for the first three years, he had come to know quite a bit about us and what we had here.

"All good?" Jasper asked as I stepped through the back door. I had confided in him when he noticed that I'd started these runs every day. He was helping me by taking the morning run.

"Yeah, nothing. Thank goodness."

"I'm not sure we have anything to worry about, Edward. In the state Voldemort was in, I doubt he thought any further than getting his body back."

I sat across from him at the dining table. "And now?"

"Now?" Jasper asked, looking up at me. "Now, he'll be too busy trying to get his empire and followers back in order to focus on anything else. Besides, he thinks you're dead. You, and us for that matter, aren't even on his radar."

"So, what do we do now?"

"Now, we strategize, we plan, and we come up with ways to counter everything that Fudge, Voldemort, and any of his supporters can come up with." Jasper smirked. "And we all know that strategies are my strong point."

I laughed. "I'm grateful you're on our side, that's for sure."

~*~UHS~*~

So ... what do you guys think of the start of this journey? And who's looking forward to their fifth year at Hogwarts?