AN: Hope everyone had a great week.
Nightwing2013 - Glad you're always looking forward to more. I've got plans for Rita. Hope you'll approve when you see what they are.
GreengrassRebel - Thanks. Yeah, without the Dursleys there's definitely some changes for teh future.
Arctic Wolf Fury - Repercussions to Tonks and even Sirius? Maybe, we'll see.
scrappy8 - Thanks! Yeah, Fudge is awful.
MandoVet - Same old shit again . . .
Corrections - If you make it this far, I appreciate all the errors you have noticed and helped me fix.
Evymel - Yeah, that pairing would have been wild, but not quite what I'm going for. I don't know if it was out of character for Tom, but I do think what you said should have been added. Definitely something he would have enjoyed doing. Sadistic bastard indeed. As for your other stuff, I'm not super familiar with Morrigan. As for the others? Could be very useful and I will think about that for Lily. That is a great explanation for how she helped him survive.
Chapter 44Dora watched as members of the Order of the Phoenix walked into the dining area for what would be the first official meeting. Sirius had offered up his parents' old home, Grimmauld Place, as headquarters, since it had a great many protections on it, and was already mostly hidden even before Dumbledore. Dumbledore adding a Fidelius only made it nearly impenetrable, completely hidden, and perfect as a HQ location . . . even if it was dark, dingy, and depressing.
Harry was set to come home the next day, and so far things had been quiet on the Voldemort front. The past week had been dedicated to trying to find the people who would come to this meeting . . . people who believed Harry's claims or at least believed in Dumbledore enough to answer the call to arms.
There were a lot of the faces she would expect, especially after Dumbledore's taskings after the Seventh Task. Dumbledore had yet to arrive, but Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Madame Maxime, Molly, Arthur, Bill, Remus, Sirius, Mad-Eye, Alexis, and to her distaste, Snape, were in the room.
Beyond that, the room contained Emmeline Vance, Dedulus Diggle, Elphias Doge, Sturgis Podmore, Aberforth Dumbledore, Arabella Figg, and Mundungus Fletcher, all of whom she'd just been introduced to. Even Charlie had come in from Romania for this.
Lastly, and she couldn't decide if it was surprising or not, was that roughly half of whom she would consider the "good' Aurors were present in the room. This included Kingsley, Savage, Frank and Alice Longbottom, who had just rejoined the force, Hestia Jones, Kane Witcher, and of course herself, Sirius, and Alexis. She knew that many of the other "good' aurors not recruited were generally people that were sticklers for the law and wouldn't approve of a vigilante group or they just weren't sure about. Sadly, that included Kelly, and Dora's other Hitwitch friend Nicole. Dora had found that her other hitwitch friend, Stacey, was avoiding her like the plague and had seemingly ended their friendship, which told Dora all she needed to know about her one time friend. The only other person who probably would join was Lexie, but she was still off at the Mossad course and wouldn't know what was going on until next February when she finally came back to England.
Dora had hoped to recruit some of her other friends, but she hadn't been able to meet up with any of them in the previous week, and this was something that needed to be brought up in person. She honestly wasn't sure how receptive some of them would be. Penny wasn't much of a fighter, but she could see her being interested in helping on the support side. Chiara would be very affected by Voldemort's return, since Voldemort would definitely try to influence the werewolf packs, but again wasn't much of a fighter. Skye and Erika though . . . she wasn't sure they'd care enough . . . not without Voldemort's complete return to power, where people were dying or disappearing constantly. They just wouldn't feel it was their problem to combat, and while there was an argument for it being everyone's problem, the fact was they weren't aurors and thus it wasn't their problem to solve if they didn't want to get into the fight.
Conversation in the room stopped as Dumbledore walked in, looking as collected as ever, but those who knew him best . . . a great many people in the room . . . could see the concern in his eyes.
"Thank you all for coming," Dumbledore said. "Welcome to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Voldemort has returned and we need to counter his operations to the best of our abilities while the Ministry continues to deny his return."
Dora listened while Dumbledore gave a summarized account of Voldemort's movements since his first defeat all the way up through Harry's account of the Tournament and Voldemort's return in the graveyard.
"The most important goal of this Order is protecting Harry at all costs. Beyond that, our current objectives are to try and alert the general populace to Voldemort and the Death Eater's return, and counter Voldemort's attempts to recruit."
Dora frowned in confusion at that. Harry was certainly her top priority for protection, but she didn't understand why the Order would need to focus on protecting Harry.
"Why is Potter so important?" Sturgis asked. "I mean, it seems like he's a good kid who's been dealt a rotten deal, but he's only one kid . . . a kid who seems to be able to protect himself and currently has two Aurors as guardians and another Order member that lives with them."
"Fifteen years ago, a prophecy was made," Dumbledore said, and Dora's eyes narrowed. "The prophecy applies to Lord Voldemort and Harry Potter. I do not believe it wise to advertise the information of the prophecy, for Voldemort only knows the first half, but the prophecy tells of his possible downfall. It is imperative that Harry remains safe. It is also imperative that we stop Voldemort from obtaining the copy of the prophecy that is held in the Department of Mysteries."
"So, Potter's the key to defeating You-Know-Who?" Hestia Jones asked.
"Prophecies are never so straight forward," Kane Witcher said with shrewd eyes. "I find it hard to believe that all of our hopes lie on one person, no matter how incredible he might be, no offense, Tonks, Sirius."
"None taken," Dora said with a snort, before she glared at Dumbledore. "Why wasn't I told about this before?"
"It wasn't really relevant with Voldemort being in a corporeal form," Dumbledore responded simply, and Dora felt her anger rise.
"You don't get to decide what is relevant or not when it comes to Harry!" Dora shot back furiously. "He's not your responsibility."
"Tonks, I'm sure the Headmaster is perfectly capable -" Molly started to say.
"What if it was about one of your children?" Tonks cut her off. "Wouldn't you want to know?"
"He's not your child," Snape said snidely.
"No, he's not," Dora agreed, "but he's my family, and he's my responsibility, and I deserved to know about something that affects him," she finished fiercely.
"I agree," Kingsley said.
"I'd certainly want to know if it was my kid," Savage said firmly, "and Harry is her kid where it counts."
"I certainly feel like she deserves to know, and so do I," Sirius said, teeth clenched. "I assume this is the real reason James and Lily went into hiding? Frank and Alice too?"
"We certainly weren't told about a prophecy," Frank said, looking like he was barely containing his anger.
"When the Potters and Longbottoms went into hiding, who the prophecy pertained to was not certain," Dumbledore said. "I merely recommended they go into hiding as a precaution since it could have applied to them. Nothing was certain."
"The precaution was because the prophecy could have applied to our child or Harry?" Alice asked calmly.
"Yes," Dumbledore admitted. "However, it's also possible the prophecy could have applied to neither, since some prophecies have described events well into the future."
"And because Harry survived, that is why we know it applies to him," Kane concluded.
"Correct," Dumbledore said with a nod.
"Why didn't you tell me about the prophecy?" Dora demanded. "As Harry's guardian, I had a right to know!"
"You're starting to have Potter's arrogance," Snape said with a sneer, but Dora ignored him.
"My dear, I have done my best to hide that information, and I did not expect Voldemort to return this quickly. I had hoped to delay him until such time as Harry was able to come into his powers in his own time. I wanted him to enjoy his time at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said with a sigh.
Dora snorted in disbelief.
"He may have enjoyed bright spots in Hogwarts, but if you think he's had much to enjoy over his fourteen years since his parents were killed, you're delusional. Why didn't you tell Harry?"
"Because the truth is far too much of a burden for him to bear," Dumbledore said. "He's too young."
"Bullshit!" Dora said fiercely, getting mutters of anger at her harsh tone towards the Headmaster. "He's old enough to die fighting Voldemort, he's old enough to know."
"I disagree," Dumbledore said simply. "However, I am open to debating this with you after he has at least achieved his OWLs. For now, I would ask you to not reveal the prophecy, for I would not want him to worry unnecessarily. His time will come, one way or another."
"That may be, but I won't hide anything from Harry," Dora said with firmly. "I won't do it."
"I would urge you not to reveal its existence," Dumbledore said, "but I cannot stop you. However, I will not reveal it to him at this time, and the only copy of the prophecy is what we must protect from Voldemort."
Dora sighed, not exactly unable to disagree with the Headmaster there. She would reveal the existence of the prophecy to Harry, but she couldn't force the Headmaster to reveal what he knew.
"Fine," Dora said back sharply,, "but by the end of this next school year, Harry needs to know. You won't convince me otherwise."
"I understand and admire your commitment to Harry's wellbeing," Dumbledore said solemnly. "Now, we should talk about where Harry should live."
"Harry's well protected at our home," Sirius said firmly.
Dumbledore sighed. "It would have been better if he was still with his relatives, where he was truly untouchable by Voldemort or his minions.
"Yeah because he was so well protected at those animals' home," Dora nearly spat, and Dumbledore winced.
"Regardless, I still feel we must keep a watch on him even within your, I'm sure, admirable protections," Dumbledore said. "We also need to ensure that he isn't leaving the safety of those protections. Perhaps, we might even consider moving him here, where he is most secure."
"No," Sirius said, with a shake of his head. "I'm not going to have Harry feel like a prisoner in his own home, and he'll come here only as a last resort. Besides, he must still travel to Gringotts each day to continue his training towards becoming a mage. While I doubt he intends to leave our home, I don't want to restrict him."
"Besides, he isn't alone," Dora said. "He has consecrated much of our land, protecting it further, and he has his familiar. Astra won't let anyone hurt him and she can help him get out if need be."
"You're trusting his protection to a dog?" Molly nearly exclaimed, looking alarmed.
"Molly, Astra is quite intelligent, and I assure you that she is more than capable of protecting Harry, perhaps even better than some of us can," Dora responded. "She's not just a dog, as you very well know. She's a hellhound, and a servant of Hades, and I trust her to protect Harry . . . plus Harry's no pushover himself."
"He's just a boy," Molly retorted.
"That boy can fight and beat most students in Auror training," Mad-Eye said gruffly, to many people's surprise, "and I'm confident he could beat some of the active duty aurors. I'm sure he could beat a fair amount of people in this room."
"I wouldn't bet against that kid," Savage muttered.
"I've seen what he's capable of, but he's still just a boy," Molly shot back.
"A boy who's done more than most," Sirius said angrily.
"Professor," Dora said, "you sacrificed his childhood to protect him, and now he's entered his Hogwarts years, and he's nearly died a dozen times over and has been fighting Voldemort since he re-entered our world four years ago. I'm not going to let any more of his youth be sacrificed just for our peace of mind."
"Of course," Snape sneered. "Potter needs to be able to get out and see his friends and enjoy his holidays. Potter can do what he wants, regardless of other people."
"He's not this group's job to protect," Sirius said icily, glaring at Snape. "It's my job. It's Tonks's job. It's Remus's job. Hell, it's Mad-Eye's job. I'm not going to grant people access through my wards so that they can watch him while he's safe. The Order's focus should be on countering Voldemort and now protecting that prophecy."
Dumbledore's eyes met theirs, but neither member from the Black family backed down and Dumbledore finally nodded.
"Very well," he conceded. "We will trust Sirius and Nymphadora with Harry's safety."
"But Albus!" Molly said.
"No. They are right. We have no say in the matter, if they do not want to give us one," Dumbledore said. "Instead, we'll divide tasks between what remains."
From there it was straightforward. Hagrid was confirmed to meet up with Madame Maxime and they would act as an envoy to the giants. Remus was going to approach various werewolf packs. Those who worked for the Ministry were to keep their heads down and to try and recruit when possible while gathering information. They were also going to draw guard duty for the prophecy, making it so those who didn't work for the Ministry didn't have to sneak in. The rest of them were going to try and recruit outside of the Ministry, with people like Charlie and Bill focused on recruiting abroad, and Bill's focus was also on feeling out the goblins of Gringotts.
**HP**
The remainder of the term flew by for Harry, and looking back, he had pockets of shelter and relief, but overall, most of his memories of that time were painful, the worst being the next morning after the Third Task when he met with the Diggorys.
They did not blame him for what had happened or at least, didn't seem to. On the contrary, both thanked him for returning Cedric's body to them. Mr. Diggory sobbed through most of the interview. Mrs. Diggory's grief seemed to be beyond tears.
"He suffered very little then," she said, when Harry had told her how Cedric had died. "And after all, Amos. . . he died just when he'd won the tournament. He must have been happy. "
When they got to their feet, she looked down at Harry and said, "You look after yourself, now."
Harry seized the sack of gold on the bedside table.
"You take this," he muttered to her. "It should've been Cedric's. I never should have been in the Touurnament-"
But she backed away from him.
"Oh no, it's yours, dear, I couldn't . . . you keep it."
Harry returned to Gryffindor Tower the following evening. From what his friends told him, Dumbledore had spoken to the school that morning at breakfast. He had merely requested that they leave Harry alone, that nobody ask him questions or badger him to tell the story of what had happened in the maze. Most people, he noticed, were skirting him in the corridors, avoiding his eyes. Some whispered behind their hands as he passed. He guessed that many of them had believed Rita Skeeter's article about how disturbed and possibly dangerous he was. Perhaps they were formulating their own theories about how Cedric had died. He found he didn't care very much.
He liked it best when he was with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Alicia, Katie, Angelina, Astra (who almost never left his side in those days), Fleur, who had firmly attached herself to their group since the Third Task (not that anyone complained, though Ron had been a bit red in the face at first), and Fred and George, who likewise were standing with him, and they were talking about other things with him, or else letting him sit in silence while they played chess or read books, or they took him flying. He felt as though all of them had reached an understanding they didn't need to put into words; that each was waiting for some sign, some word, of what was going on outside Hogwarts - and that it was useless to speculate about what might be coming until they knew anything for certain.
What he did know was that they continued to provide him comfort and security within the castle, as they had done the whole year, and for that he was very grateful. With the end of term approaching, he decided it was finally time to make one of his friends an offer, an offer which already had approval from Sirius, Dora, and Remus, though Remus insisted his approval meant nothing. Harry did find it amusing that Remus still seemed to think he didn't live at their house full time, and wasn't in effect another guardian to Harry when he had definitely been living with them since he started teaching Harry last summer.
"Alright, Harry. What's going on?" Angelina asked, as he led her into an empty classroom.
He wanted to do this in private, so he'd pulled her aside and told everyone else to head on without them. Alicia and Katie, well aware of his plans, smiled and nodded with approval, while Ron and Hermione shot them speculative looks, and Ginny simply nodded, unconcerned, and willing to wait for him to bring it up, if he or Angelina ever would.
"I want to talk about this summer," Harry said, and Angelina frowned in confusion.
"What about it?" she asked.
"I know that you usually spend as much of your summer staying with either Katie or Alicia as you can," Harry started off a bit nervously, and Angelina frowned further, "but now that you're seventeen, if you don't want to, there is no reason for you to have to stay with your dad at all, not if you don't want to. Both Alicia and Katie said their parents would happily take you in, but I know and you know that since they aren't pureblood, your father has legal rights against them. Plus, they don't have any extra rooms, so you'd be sharing with either of them, not that they care, but I also know what it's like to not want to be a burden. So . . . if you want another option, and your own room, Dora, Sirius, and I would love it if you'd move in with us."
Angelina's jaw dropped.
"You want me to move in with you, with your family?" Angelina asked quietly.
"You are family," Harry said softly, but firmly, and he smiled a bit as she gasped. "I don't want you to stay in a house you hate, especially when I know what that is like. If you want to move in with the Spinnets or the Bells, I understand, but I'd really love for my sister to move in and really enjoy her summer with me. Sirius's family name will also be a shield from your father doing anything major. We can try and shield you at Alicia's or Katie's, but it will be more difficult and there won't be any guarantees."
"Harry . . . I . . . I don't know what to say," Angelina said haltingly, before she moved forward and hugged him. "I'm grateful . . . beyond grateful . . . I . . . I just don't know what to say."
"You don't have to say anything right now, Angie," Harry said, still holding her close. "Just think about it. Talk to Licia and Kate. No matter what, the three of us would really prefer if you move in with one of us. We can help get your things, and you'll never have to go back. Not if you don't want to. You can have a real home if you want."
"Okay," Angelina said back, a bit choked up. "I'll think about it. Thank you, Harry."
"No, thank you," he said back softly. "For everything."
Outside of his friends, the two people he talked to the most were Hagrid and Mad-Eye. He had taken to spending an hour or so each afternoon in Mad-Eye's office, drinking tea and talking with his mentor, especially since Mad-Eye understood all too well what it was like to lose a friend, and to blame yourself for it. Hagrid as well, was one of the few able to make Harry smile in those days, though part of that probably came from them trying to weasel out of Hagrid what job Dumbledore was sending him to do.
It was both with a heavy heart and yet with relief that Harry packed his trunk up in the dormitory on the night before his return home. He was dreading the Leaving Feast, which was usually a cause for celebration, when the winner of the Inter-House Championship would be announced. He had avoided being in the Great Hall when it was full ever since he had left the hospital wing, preferring to eat when it was nearly empty to avoid the stares of his fellow students. He also was dreading leaving his friends, even if he knew he'd see many of them over the summer and even though he was very eager to get home and see Dora, Remus, and Sirius.
The end of term feast was a somber occasion. The usual decorations were missing, and instead the Hall had black drapes on the wall behind the teachers' table, as a mark of respect to Cedric.
Karkaroff's chair was missing, as it had been since the night of the Third Task. Harry wondered if he was still evading Voldemort or if he had already been caught up to and dealt with.
Harry's musings were ended by Professor Dumbledore, who stood up at the staff table. The Great Hall, which in any case had been less noisy than it usually was at the Leaving Feast, became very quiet.
"The end," said Dumbledore, looking around at them all, "of another year."
He paused, and his eyes fell upon the Hufflepuff table. Theirs had been the most subdued table before he had gotten to his feet, and theirs were still the saddest and palest faces in the Hall.
"There is much that I would like to say to you all tonight," said Dumbledore, "but I must first acknowledge the loss of a very fine person, who should be sitting here," he gestured toward the Hufflepuffs, "enjoying our feast with us. I would like you all, please, to stand, and raise your glasses, to Cedric Diggory."
They did it, all of them; the benches scraped as everyone in the Hall stood, and raised their goblets, and echoed, in one loud, low, rumbling voice, "Cedric Diggory."
"Cedric was a person who exemplified many of the qualities that distinguish Hufflepuff house," Dumbledore continued. "He was a good and loyal friend, a hard worker, he valued fair play. His death has affected you all, whether you knew him well or not. I think that you have the right, therefore, to know exactly how it came about."
Harry raised his head and stared at Dumbledore.
"Cedric Diggory was murdered by Lord Voldemort."
A panicked whisper swept the Great Hall. People were staring at Dumbledore in disbelief, in horror. He looked perfectly calm as he watched them mutter themselves into silence.
"The Ministry of Magic," Dumbledore continued, "does not wish me to tell you this. It is possible that some of your parents will be horrified that I have done so - either because they will not believe that Lord Voldemort has returned, or because they think I should not tell you so, young as you are. It is my belief, however, that the truth is generally preferable to lies, and that any attempt to pretend that Cedric died as the result of an accident, or some sort of blunder of his own, is an insult to his memory."
Stunned and frightened, every face in the Hall was turned toward Dumbledore now. . . or almost every face. Over at the Slytherin table. Harry saw Draco Malfoy muttering something to Crabbe and Goyle. Harry felt a hot, sick swoop of anger in his stomach. He forced himself to look back at Dumbledore.
"There is somebody else who must be mentioned in connection with Cedric"s death," Dumbledore went on. "I am talking, of course, about Harry Potter."
A kind of ripple crossed the Great Hall as a few heads turned in Harry's direction before flicking back to face Dumbledore.
"Harry Potter managed to escape Lord Voldemort," said Dumbledore. "He risked his own life to return Cedric"s body to Hogwarts. He showed, in every respect, the sort of bravery that few wizards have ever shown in facing Lord Voldemort, and for this, I honor him."
Dumbledore turned gravely to Harry and raised his goblet once more. Nearly everyone in the Great Hall followed suit. They murmured his name, as they had murmured Cedric"s, and drank to him. But through a gap in the standing figures. Harry saw that Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, and many of the other Slytherins had remained defiantly in their seats, their goblets untouched.
When everyone had once again resumed their seats, Dumbledore continued, "The Triwizard Tournament's aim was to further and promote magical understanding. In the light of what has happened - of Lord Voldemort's return - such ties are more important than ever before."
Dumbledore looked from Madame Maxime and Hagrid, to Fleur Delacour, and her fellow Beauxbatons students at the Gryffindor table, to Viktor Krum and the Durmstrangs at the Slytherin table. Krum, Harry saw, looked wary, almost frightened, as though he expected Dumbledore to say something harsh.
"Every guest in this Hall," said Dumbledore, and his eyes lingered upon the Durmstrang students, "will be welcomed back here at any time, should they wish to come. I say to you all, once again - in the light of Lord Voldemort's return, we are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided. Lord Voldemort's gift for spreading discord and enmity is very great. We can fight it only by showing an equally strong bond of friendship and trust. Differences of habit and language are nothing at all if our aims are identical and our hearts are open.
"It is my belief- and never have I so hoped that I am mistaken - that we are all facing dark and difficult times. Some of you in this Hall have already suffered directly at the hands of Lord Voldemort. Many of your families have been torn asunder. A week ago, a student was taken from our midst."
"Remember Cedric. Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory."
**HP**
Harry's trunk was packed; Hedwig had already left to fly home, rather than ride the train. He, Ron, and Hermione were waiting in the crowded entrance hall with the rest of the fourth years, waiting for the carriages.
"'Arry!"
He glanced around, already smiling as Fleur hurried up the stone steps of the castle to him. Past her, he could see Hagrid helping Madame Maxime to get her abraxans into their harnesses.
Fleur pulled up to him and hugged him, which he returned, knowing he really was going to miss seeing her around the castle the next year, though with her being a seventh year, he would have missed her regardless of her being from Beauxbatons.
"We will see each uzzer again, I 'ope," said Fleur, and Harry nodded.
"Of course we will," Harry said confidently. "Maybe I can come visit your home, and you're always welcome to visit me."
Fleur beamed at him. "I am 'oping to get a job 'ere, to improve my Eenglish, so 'opefully I will be able to take you up on zhat offer."
"It's very good already," said Ron in a strangled sort of voice.
Fleur smiled at him; Hermione scowled, and Harry wanted to sigh. She never had quite warmed up to Fleur, but Harry knew it had nothing to do with Fleur as a person.
"Good-bye, 'Arry," said Fleur, kissing on the cheek, smiling, and then turning to go. "I am very glad zhat I met you, and I will always be grateful for what you've done for me!"
"I'm very glad I met you too," Harry said softly. "Goodbye, my friend."
Harry's spirits couldn't help but lift slightly as he watched Fleur hurry back across the lawns to Madame Maxime, her silvery hair rippling in the sunlight. He would see her again. Of that, he was sure.
"Wonder how the Durmstrang students are getting back," said Ron. "D'you reckon they can steer that ship without Karkaroff?"
"Karkaroff did not steer," said a gruff voice. "He stayed in his cabin and let us do the vork."
Viktor had come to say good-bye to Hermione. "Could I have a vord?" he asked her.
"Oh. . . yes. . . all right," said Hermione, looking slightly flustered, and following VIktor through the crowd and out of sight.
"You'd better hurry up!" Ron called loudly after her. "The carriages'll be here in a minute!"
He let Harry keep a watch for the carriages, however, and spent the next few minutes craning his neck over the crowd to try and see what Viktor and Hermione might be up to. They returned quite soon. Ron stared at Hermione, but her face was quite impassive.
"I liked Diggory," said Viktor abruptly to Harry. "He vos alvays polite to me. Alvays. Even though I vos from Durmstrang - with Karkaroff," he added, scowling.
"Have you got a new headmaster yet?" said Harry
Krum shrugged, and held out his hand, which Harry shook, and then he shook Ron's hand as well. Ron looked as though he was suffering some sort of painful internal struggle. Viktor had already started walking away when Ron burst out, "Can I have your autograph?"
Hermione turned away, smiling at the horseless carriages that were now trundling toward them up the drive, as Viktor, looking surprised but gratified, signed a fragment of parchment for Ron.
It was a beautiful day for the journey back to King"s Cross. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny found themselves a carriage for themselves, with Pigwidgeon once again hidden under Ron's dress robes to stop him from hooting, while Crookshanks was curled up in a spare seat, and Astra slept under Harry's feet. Harry was a bit surprised that the three older girls hadn't joined them, or the Weasley Twins, but he figured they had other people to say goodbye to, and they'd certainly spent a lot of time with each other over the year. Or maybe Angelina still was talking with Alicia and Katie about her upcoming summer, since she still hadn't given Harry an answer, nor had she given one to either of the girls, as far as he could tell.
Their discussions mostly focused on what Dumbledore might have planned to counter Voldemort and what various people might be doing, but the conversation broke off when the lunch trolley arrived.
When Hermione returned from the trolley and put her money back into her schoolbag, she dislodged a copy of the Daily Prophet that she had been carrying in there. Harry looked at it, unsure whether he really wanted to know what it might say, but Hermione, seeing him looking at it, said calmly, "There's nothing in there. You can look for yourself, but there's nothing at all. I've been checking every day. Just a small piece the day after the third task saying you won the tournament. They didn't even mention Cedric. Nothing about any of it. If you ask me. Fudge is forcing them to keep quiet."
"He'll never keep Rita quiet," said Harry. "Not on a story like this."
"Oh, Rita hasn't written anything at all since the third task," said Hermione in an oddly constrained voice. "As a matter of fact," she added, her voice now trembling slightly, "Rita Skeeter isn't going to be writing anything at all for a while. Not unless she wants me to spill the beans on her."
"What are you talking about?" said Ron.
"I found out how she was listening in on private conversations when she wasn't supposed to be coming onto the grounds," said Hermione in a rush.
Harry had the impression that Hermione had been dying to tell them this for days, but that she had restrained herself in light of everything else that had happened. Eager to hear though, he and Ron listened as she explained that Rita was an unregistered animagus, a beetle, which is how she'd been listening in to people's conversations all year.
Hermione happily pulled out a glass jar which had the small beetle inside, a beetle which had all the markings of Rita"s glasses, and was buzzing angrily. Harry grinned at that, even if he was a bit impressed with how ruthless Hermione was being.
"I've told her I'll let her out when we get back to London," said Hermione. "I've put an Unbreakable Charm on the jar, you see, so she can't transform. And I've told her she's to keep her quill to herself for a whole year. See if she can't break the habit of writing horrible lies about people."
Smiling serenely, Hermione placed the beetle back inside her school bag. The door of the compartment slid open.
"Very clever. Granger," said Draco Malfoy.
Crabbe and Goyle were standing behind him. All three of them looked more pleased with themselves, more arrogant and more menacing, than Harry had ever seen them.
"So," said Malfoy slowly, advancing slightly into the compartment and looking slowly around at them, a smirk quivering on his lips. "You caught some pathetic reporter, and Potter's Dumbledore's favorite boy again. Big deal."
His smirk widened. Crabbe and Goyle leered.
"Trying not to think about it, are we?" said Malfoy softly, looking around at all four of them. "Trying to pretend it hasn't happened?"
"Get out," said Harry.
He had not been this close to Malfoy since he had watched him muttering to Crabbe and Goyle during Dumbledore's speech about Cedric. He could feel a kind of ringing in his ears. His hand was tensed, and he was ready to give the flick of his wrist that would bring his wand into it. Astra growled from under his feet.
"You've picked the losing side, Potter! I warned you! I told you, you ought to choose your company more carefully, remember? When we met on the train, first day at Hogwarts? I told you not to hang around with riffraff like this!" He jerked his head at Ron, Ginny, and Hermione. "Too late now, Potter! They'll be the first to go, now the Dark Lord's back! Mudbloods and Muggle-lovers first! Well - second - Diggory was the f-"
It was as though someone had exploded a box of fireworks within the compartment. Blinded by the blaze of the spells that had blasted from every direction, deafened by a series of bangs, Harry blinked and looked down at the floor.
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were all lying unconscious in the doorway. He, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were on their feet, all four of them having used a different hex. Nor were they the only ones to have done so.
"Thought we'd see what those three were up to," said Fred matter-of-factly, stepping onto Goyle and into the compartment. He had his wand out, and so did George, who was careful to tread on Malfoy as he followed Fred inside.
"We were coming to spend some time with the rest of you lot," Katie said, stepping into the compartment over Crabbe from the other direction with Alicia and Angelina right behind her.
"Interesting effect," said George, looking down at Crabbe. "Who used the Furnunculus Curse?"
"Me," said Alicia.
"Odd," said George lightly. "I used Jelly-Legs. Looks as though those two shouldn't be mixed. He seems to have sprouted little tentacles all over his face. Well, let's not leave them here, they don't add much to the decor. Though, that's nicer than whoever used the Delos curse on Malfoy."
"Me," Harry said. "Figured he can't open his big fat mouth if he doesn't have a mouth to open."
"I'm sure his parents will appreciate that," Fred agreed with a grin, as he, Ron, Harry, and George kicked, rolled, and pushed the three unconscious Slytherins out into the corridor, and then returned to the compartment, and shut the door.
Unfortunately, that made their compartment one person past max capacity, but Angelina solved this issue easily, much to the grin of some, the slightly scandalized look of Hermione, and the slightly revolted look of Ron, when she pushed George into a seat, and then settled down on his lap, smirking.
"Exploding Snap, anyone?" said Fred, pulling out a pack of cards.
They were halfway through their fifth game when Harry decided to ask them.
"Are you going to tell us what's been going on with you two all year?" Harry asked. "Who you've been sending secretive letters to, who you were blackmailing?"
"Oh," said George darkly. "That."
"It doesn't matter," said Fred, shaking his head impatiently. "It wasn't anything important. Not now, anyway."
"We've given up," said George, shrugging.
"Guess that means you have no reason not to tell us then," Ginny said impishly and the two twins smirked at her.
"Fair enough, baby sister," Fred said with a wink. "We've been trying to talk to Ludo Bagman all year."
"Why?" Ron asked with a confused frown, which was copied around the room.
Fred hesitated, then said, "You remember that bet we had with him at the Quidditch World Cup? About how Ireland would win, but Krum would get the Snitch?"
"Yeah," said Harry and Ron slowly.
"Well, the git paid us in leprechaun gold he'd caught from the Irish mascots."
"No . . ." Alicia said sadly, while Angelina and Katie both gave the twins sad looks, Angelina leaning back into George, and grabbing his hand sympathetically.
"So?" Ron said.
"So," said Fred impatiently, "it vanished, didn't it? By next morning, it had gone!"
"But - it must've been an accident, mustn't it?" said Hermione.
George laughed very bitterly.
"Yeah, that's what we thought, at first. We thought if we just wrote to him, and told him he'd made a mistake, he'd cough up. But nothing doing. Ignored our letter. We kept trying to talk to him about it at Hogwarts, but he was always making some excuse to get away from us."
"In the end, he turned pretty nasty," said Fred. "Told us we were too young to gamble, and he wasn't giving us anything."
"So we asked for our money back," said George glowering.
"He didn't refuse!" gasped Hermione.
"Right in one," said Fred.
"But that was all your savings!" said Ron.
"Tell me about it," said George. "Course, we found out what was going on in the end. Lee's dad had had a bit of trouble getting money off Bagman as well. Turns out he's in big trouble with the goblins. Borrowed loads of gold off them. A gang of them cornered him in the woods after the World Cup and took all the gold he had, and it still wasn't enough to cover all his debts. They followed him all the way to Hogwarts to keep an eye on him. He's lost everything gambling. Hasn't got two Galleons to rub together. That's why he helped out Crouch - or er - fake Crouch without even questioning it. He had a bet on you to win, and Crouch was going to help him win it."
"And because he got arrested, he can't pay you back," Harry said with a sigh.
"Partially right, but nope," George said. "Jail didn't help, but it turns out the goblins play as dirty as him. They say you tied with Diggory, and Bagman was betting you'd win outright, so if Bagman hadn't been arrested, he would have had to run for it as it was."
George sighed deeply and started dealing out the cards again.
The rest of the journey passed pleasantly enough; Harry almost wished it could have gone on all summer, the peaceful joy of sitting with friends, but eventually they pulled into platform nine and three-quarters. They all didn't mind struggling past the Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's fallen forms, carrying their trunks, however Harry let everyone else pass first before he stopped Fred and George.
"Fred - George - wait a moment."
The twins turned. Harry pulled open his trunk and drew out his Triwizard winnings.
"Take it," he said, and he thrust the sack into George's hands.
"What?" said Fred, looking flabbergasted.
"Take it," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't want it."
"You're mental," said George, trying to push it back at Harry.
"No, I'm not," said Harry. "You take it, and get inventing. It's for the joke shop."
"He is mental," Fred said in an almost awed voice.
"Listen," said Harry firmly. "If you don't take it, I'm throwing it down the drain. I don't want it and I don't need it. But I could do with a few laughs. We could all do with a few laughs. I've got a feeling we're going to need them more than usual before long."
"Harry," said George weakly, weighing the money bag in his hands, "there's got to be a thousand Galleons in here."
"Yeah," said Harry, grinning. "Think how many Canary Creams that is."
The twins stared at him.
"Just don't tell your mum where you got it. . . although she might not be so keen for you to join the Ministry anymore, come to think of it. . . ."
"Harry," Fred began, but Harry pulled out his wand.
"Look," he said flatly, "take it, or I'll hex you, and you both know that even together you can't take me, so you really should take it, and then do me one favor, okay? Buy Ron some different dress robes and say they're from you."
He left the compartment before they could say another word, stepping over Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were still lying on the floor, covered in hex marks.
Dora and Sirius were waiting for him, with Mrs. Weasley close by. Harry walked over to the group of adults, and received a tight hug from Mrs. Weasley before Dora and Sirius both hugged him each.
"Keep in touch, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said. "I'm sure we'll be seeing you this summer."
"See you. Harry," said Ron, clapping him on the back.
""Bye, Harry!" said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek.
Apparently not to be outdone, Ginny walked up to him and also kissed him on the cheek, something which had little effect from Hermione other than feeling like genuine care from his friend, but felt warmer from Ginny, and he felt himself flush slightly.
"Seeya, Harry," Ginny said brightly.
"Bye, Ron, Hermione, Gin," Harry said quietly.
"Harry - thanks," George muttered, while Fred nodded fervently at his side, and Harry winked at them as the Weasleys left and Hermione went over to her parents and they also departed.
Harry looked around, noticing Katie and Alicia's families next to each other, and the two girls smiled at him before they glanced over towards their other best friend, and Harry looked over to see Angelina talking with her father, and Harry grimaced. He understood her hesitance to leave her family, but at the same time, she made it sound like they weren't even family, not in the ways that mattered.
"Don't worry, Harry," Dora said softly. "We'll keep the room ready, just in case."
Harry nodded, and started to turn, only to see Angelina and her father start clearly arguing. Harry turned back towards Angelina, and started moving forward when Angelina fell back, grasping her face from where her father had slapped her
Harry, Dora, Sirius, the Spinnets, and the Bells might have all been watching and started rushing that way, but nobody was as fast as a pissed off hellhound, and Astra burst out of Angelina's shadow, putting herself between Angelina and her father, snarling, her hackles raised.
Mr. Johnson took a step back and started reaching for his wand when Harry and his group made it up to them.
"Don't even think about it, Kenneth," Dora said dangerously, her wand already in her hand.
"Stay out of this, Auror Tonks," Mr. Johnson said back frostily. "This is a family affair."
"And Angelina's family to us," Harry said back just as coldly.
"She's no family of yours," Johnson spat. "She will no longer associate with you, that's for sure, and I've obviously left her to her own devices too much. It's time for my daughter to learn her place."
"She's of age, Kenneth," Sirius said with a dark look. "She can do as she pleases, and you decided to hit her here in public, which means Dora and I are well within our rights to bring you in for physical abuse and assault."
"You wouldn't dare!" Kenneth shot back. "I'm a Lieutenant. You can do nothing to me."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Dora said, scowling. "I assure you that Captain Savage won't like your insinuations or actions, and I am confident that Director Bones really won't like your insinuations or actions, if you want to make this a bigger deal."
"Let this go, and we'll let your actions go," Sirius said, his eyes narrowed.
Johnson stared at them all, his eyes cold and he glanced at his daughter.
"If you want to stay with these good for nothings and deranged beings over your own father, then be done with you. I have no daughter now, but I don't want to ever see you around my home again. You are no longer welcome."
"I never felt welcome to begin with, Kenneth," Angelina responded coldly, and Johnson glared at her before he spun and marched off.
Angelina's cold look faded, and she looked defeated and exhausted, as Alicia and Katie swarmed past Harry and hugged her. Harry glanced down to see Astra was leaning against Angelina's legs, giving her own form of attention and comfort.
"Thank you," Angelina said, wiping at her eyes before she turned to Harry, and glanced at Dora and Sirius, while she reached down and started rubbing Astra's back. "Is - is that offer still good?"
Harry smiled and nodded firmly.
"Of course it is," Harry said, and he moved and joined the three girls in a group hug.
"Thanks, Harry," Angelina whispered.
"Anytime," Harry whispered back.
"Lina, I still expect quite a few visits from you this summer," Mrs. Bell said sternly, her eyes twinkling. "Am I understood?"
"Of course, Mama Bell," Angelina said, with a smile, her eyes a little wet, and she hugged Katie's mum.
"You better not forget about visiting me either," Mrs. Spinnet said with a grin.
"Of course not, Mama Spinnet," Angelina said with a watery laugh, and she hugged her as well.
Sirius waved his wand, and Angelina's trunk was banished to her new room at their home, and he smiled at Angelina.
"I know I speak for both of us when we say we expect you too, Harry," Mrs. Bell said, and Mrs. Spinnet nodded in agreement, and Harry blinked at them in surprise before he smiled, and nodded.
"Alright then, Harry, Angelina," Sirius said. "Let's head home. We've got a lot to talk about."