"Bill! I need the book!" Harry called as he barrelled into the library. Catching his breath, Harry waited until the oldest of the Weasley siblings handed him the requested tome, and then he frantically flipped the pages.

"What happened?"

"I was nearly seen!"

After fourth year, despite Dumbledore's decree that he go back to the Dursley's, he had joined Sirius and Remus at Grimmauld Place, in the home Sirius had grown up in. The house had a ton of enchantments on it, many of them increasing the space available to well beyond what it should have been able to hold. His relatives, the Dursley's, had left the country, but not everyone knew that. Only Sirius, Remus, Arthur Weasley and his sons, well, some of them, knew. The same people were the only ones who knew he was in the house, rather than back in Privet Hell, as he called the former Dursley residence.

With a quick scan of the page, Harry found the needed spell and handed the book over to Bill, open to that page. "Can't cast it on myself yet, would you please?"

"Not a problem, Harry," Bill answered, quickly reading and casting the spell. Usually that fell to Arthur, Sirius or Remus, but since Arthur had taken both with him to the Ministry, for a clandestine meeting with Amelia Bones, the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, the task fell to the only adult present.

No one in their right mind asked Fred or George to cast on them.

During Harry's first year, it hadn't taken much for his friends to realize something was very wrong with the Boy Who Lived. Ron Weasley had been oblivious, but his older brothers, Fred and George, had noticed quickly. They, in turn, had talked to Percy, and the three together had written to their father at work. Arthur had asked for more information, and the boys had done their best to acquire it. Hermione Granger, once she'd become friends with Harry, had helped. As had her parents.

Arthur had taken to meeting with the Granger parents often that first year, discussing the situation and trying to find the best way forward when they knew they would be blocked by many of the magical courts. Albus Dumbledore held far too much political sway to get much past him, and Arthur had never quite trusted the man as much as his wife, Molly, did.

The Weasley patriarch had perfected the bumbling fool routine years before. Because he knew things weren't right and the best way to avoid attention would be to appear harmless. It allowed him to piece together more than many people at the Ministry would really like. But he hadn't yet been able to do anything about it. He was able to quietly reach out to a handful of others who had been close to the Potters, like Ted and Andromeda Tonks, their daughter Nymphadora, and Remus Lupin, but they knew there was little they could change on the surface. They had to be sneaky.

Working through the children wasn't ideal. But it was their only option for the moment. A quiet word with Poppy Pomfrey from Andromeda ensured that nutrient potions were being slipped into Harry's meals, along with others to counter the years of neglect and mistreatment. A trusted Hospital Wing house elf spelled any they couldn't hide in his food directly into his stomach while he slept.

A quiet visit to Privet Drive from the Granger parents ensured that things there might appear the same, but that there would be substantial changes inside the home, away from prying eyes. The threat of exposure, of the neighbors learning their darkest secrets, would keep the Dursleys in line, for a time. And as they knew that the Grangers were among those looking for a solution, to allow them to separate from the magical world, it bought their cooperation.

Sirius Black's escape, and the subsequent reveal of Pettigrew's survival, had given them some leeway to act more directly. They still couldn't go through the Wizard Courts, not with Dumbledore still in charge, but they could start reaching out to others. Like Amelia Bones. Arthur had been quietly keeping her informed of the situation, just to ensure someone had an idea of the legal side of things.

The return of Voldemort at the end of term, after the debacle of the Tri-Wizard Tournament had given more leeway. Harry's name coming out of the cup had allowed those helping him to do more, given that the Ministry had declared it for of-age contestants. Smuggling him into Gringotts after the Yule Ball, again with the help of Fred and George, had allowed a number of restrictions to be quietly lifted. And the other schools being present had allowed Dumbledore to be kept unaware.

When school ended, Vernon Dursley had picked Harry up from the station as usual, but instead of returning to Privet Drive, they'd met with the Grangers away from the station. The Grangers then met with Arthur, who Molly believed was at work while she picked up their children. Arthur took Harry to Remus and Sirius, who made sure Harry was safely ensconced in the Family Wing of the house well before anyone would think to look for him.

Percy's argument with his father had been faked. The two still spoke regularly, though Molly and the two younger Weasley children believed the estrangement to be real. Instead, Percy had taken the position with Minister Fudge to blunt some of the attention off of Harry. When other advisors suggested a smear campaign against the teenager, it was Percy who pointed out that Harry had not said anything unworkable. A traumatized teen could believe it was Voldemort, but he hadn't said anything further, not since the night it happened. Anything after was Dumbledore and only Dumbledore. Fudge saw the sense in this, though Percy noted that certain advisors were disappointed.

Meanwhile, Harry stayed hidden at Grimmauld Place. The spell was added when the others moved in, as not everyone in the house could be trusted to really have Harry's best interests at heart. Even Hermione couldn't quite be let in on the secret, just in case she let anything slip to Ron or to Ginny.

Ginny Weasley had an unhealthy fixation on Harry. It was something most of his truest friends were aware of, and those who had been helping him knew about it too. The family's trip to Egypt, after Harry's second year, had been an excuse for her to attend mind-healing outside of the country, where it could be kept confidential. But they hadn't been successful in breaking the fixation.

Of course, Arthur was fairly certain that was because Molly thought it harmless and encouraged the girl in her fantasies. And Ron, well, Ron thought it would be grand if Harry were really part of the family, so he didn't discourage her either. With that support, it was hard for the others to get through to the youngest child. So Neville had recruited some of the others in Gryffindor Tower to run interference for Harry, with varying results.

With the spell hiding Harry re-cast, he was a little more free to move about the family parts of the house. Kreacher, the unpleasant elf left to Sirius from his mother, was restricted to the areas where the Order met. In the family part, Dobby had happily taken up residence. Once Sirius had heard the story of how the elf was freed, he'd considered that the elf may have taken a voluntary bond, and Dobby had confirmed such. So the eccentric, excitable elf was brought in to take care of those with access to the most hidden parts of the house. And to keep Kreacher in line. Though the old elf was not nearly as unpleasant as he pretended in front of those not in on the secrets Sirius kept.

The family wing floo chimed an alert, and Harry shifted, wand popping into his hand from the holster he kept on his wrist. Bill came in from the library, wand in hand as the green flames flared and four people stepped out. Well, three people and an animagus dog, who quickly shook the soot off before shifting back into his human form. Harry's wand did not go back into his holster until security questions had been asked and identities verified.

It was time to reveal all.