We gathered at the top of the stairs, and George handed out 3 extendable ears, to me, Hermione, and Demelza, and kept the other 2 for himself and Fred. Ron tried to protest this, but Fred made the argument that the 3 of us were less likely to react in an extreme manner to anything that was said. I bit my lip when he said this, as I wasn't sure that was a great argument about me specifically. I thought it was more likely that he was simply favouring me over him again. We were also going to tell him everything we heard anyway.
We extended them down to the kitchen door and I put the string up to my ear. I heard something which sounded like muggle radio interference for a few seconds, then a conversation, and it was Dumbledore who was speaking.
"Remus, I trust that you will resume your position at the next full moon?"
"Indeed Albus, I'm sure that Greyback will be looking to recruit as many fellow werewolves as possible for Voldemort, so I will do everything in my power to counter him" replied Lupin.
"Excellent. Kingsley, where do you have the Ministry looking for Sirius this week?"
"Vietnam. I've been telling them he's fond of the food" said a deep, calm voice. There was some laughter.
"Can I suggest Tibet next?" said Sirius "you can say I've always wanted to be a monk". More laughter followed.
"That is an excellent suggestion, I will certainly do it!" Kingsley said
"Arthur, are you keeping track of any dark activity in Muggle areas?"
"So far, it's been fairly quiet, but I'm keeping my eyes peeled" Dad replied.
"Nymphadora, I've been told you're eager for your first mission?" said Dumbledore
"Don't call me Nymphadora!" Tonks snapped, and my first thought was that she was extremely brave to talk in that manner to Dumbledore. "I go by Tonks only, thank you very much, and yes, I am very eager to get started!"
Dumbledore chose to ignore the rudeness. "I am sure you'll be pleased therefore, to know that we have a space open. We'd like you to tail Darius Avery if you can. See where he goes after his days at the ministry, what he gets up to. I'm sure you'll be aware that he, like Lucius Malfoy is very much in Fudge's pocket, so gain as much information as possible on how he's manipulating them and what type of information he is passing to Voldemort"
"Should I go now?" she asked, and I heard a crash, which sounded like she'd knocked her chair over in her excitement.
"Not just yet, it is past ministry hours now, so Avery will be long away from there. Emmeline, are you ok to take over guard duty tomorrow?"
"Of course Albus"
"Very good. This meeting is now concluded"
There were sounds of scraping chairs, so we quickly hoisted the ears back up again.
"What did you hear, and why have you stopped?" Amy's second question was answered as we heard the kitchen door opening and people walking out. We saw Dumbledore and McGonagall walking down the hall with a tall black man, who I assumed had to be Kingsley, and Mum bringing up the rear.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Mum asked them
"Oh no Molly I'm afraid I must get back, lots to do" Kingsley replied.
"As do Minerva and I" said Dumbledore, "but there is one thing I must do first"
He walked up the stairs, and it was lucky we had already put the extendable ears back in the twins room.
"I have something very important to tell you all"
We grew excited. Was he about to let us in on some of the Order's secrets?
"Whatever Harry says or does, you must not tell him anything that is going on here, or anything about the Order. Am I understood?"
I deflated. Not only was the answer to that question a no, but Dumbledore was now asking something completely unfair of us!
"Why?" we all said in unison
Dumbledore held up his hands and closed his eyes
"Please do not argue, I have very little time. I just want each of you to promise to obey me. It is far too risky to send anything in letters, they could be intercepted"
"But-" Ron began
"Professor-" said Hermione
"Do I have your word?" he said, now more loudly
"Yes" we all said.
"Good, now I must be off"
He left and we all went back to the room I shared with the girls.
"Come on, spit it out then!" said Ron, once we were all sitting down.
We told them what we had heard. They didn't look particularly excited
"We could have probably worked that out ourselves" Ron said bitterly. "what a waste of time"
"Look, it was only their first meeting wasn't it?" said Demelza, "therefore they're not gonna have a huge amount to say are they? I think we should keep trying this over the next few days, we'll get some more juicy stuff then"
"I'm very keen on knowing what the bitch's dad is up to though!" I said "I bet he's trying to get Voldemort to start training Lillian up to join them. I'm sure they'll be impressed when he tells them what she and Sarah did to me last year!"
"I tell you what it's gonna be interesting next time I run into Sarah" said Amy. "Not sure what will happen"
"Hermione" Ron said suddenly "what have you told your parents about all this?"
Hermione chewed her lip
"Umm, I haven't said anything truth be told" she said, now playing with a strand of her hair. "I feel like if I do, then they'll pull me out of Hogwarts right away, and I can't have that"
"I think that's wise" said George
Before we could say anything else though, Steve entered the room.
"Dinner is ready" said Steve. "I also have to pass on the message to Ginny and Ron that under no circumstances are you allowed to sleep in a room with the opposite sex, and I have to agree. Ginny, you are to stay with the girls, and Ron, you will be staying with Harry when he eventually arrives. This will be magically enforced if required. Is that clear?"
I wanted to argue, but I knew it would be no use.
"Yes" Ron and I said defeatedly
"Come along then" Steve said
"Why didn't she give me the same warning?" Hermione asked as we walked downstairs.
"You're not her daughter, but as Ron can't sleep with you anyway it doesn't make any difference does it?" Demelza said
"True"
As we entered the kitchen we saw that Sirius, Lupin, Bill, and a woman who looked to be in her early 20s were sitting at the table alongside Dad, clearly staying for dinner. I sat down opposite the woman, the food already served.
"Wotcher" she said
"You must be Tonks" I replied "don't worry, I won't call you by your first name"
"Honestly, that's all I need to get on well with people for the most part. Who names their child Nymphadora? It's so embarrassing. Anyway, you one of Molly's children?"
"Yes, I'm Ginny, the youngest and only daughter. These are my brothers Ron, Fred and George, and my friends Demelza Robins, Amy Bagman and Hermione Granger.
"Steve's kid?" Tonks asked Demelza, who nodded
"You're a Bagman?" she then said to Amy
"Yeah, Ludo's niece. Not that I'm proud of that anymore"
"It was so sad seeing what happened to him. Been a Quidditch fan all my life you know. He was such a legendary player. Why did he have to go and disgrace himself like that?"
"Wish I knew"
"Fred and George like to pull a good practical joke, you two will be glad to know" Bill said to Tonks and Sirius.
"Don't let them get more ideas, Bill!" Mum said, but it was too late.
"Do you?" they both said at the same time, and that launched them into a long conversation about their various childhood misdeeds, including the revelation that Sirius had been one of the creators of the Marauders Map.
"No way!" Fred said
"You are awesome!" added George, "we're so sorry for ever thinking you were a killer!"
"Moony here helped too, but then he became boring" said Sirius
"No, I just grew up!" Lupin replied "anyway, if you thought I was boring we wouldn't be-"
"Don't go there!" said Sirius, turning slightly red
I wondered what that was about, but I decided to find out another time. Tonks then demonstrated her Metamorphmagus powers by turning into various animals and changing her hair colour, though she liked to usually keep it pink. I was disappointed when she told me that it was a genetic thing that couldn't be learned.
"It was so useful in my Auror exams!" she said "Passed Concealment and Disguise with 110 percent, yet did no studying whatsoever, it was wonderful! Very nearly failed stealth and tracking though, I can be quite clumsy at times! I really enjoyed messing about with the teachers when I was at school though, disguising myself as them, it was so much fun, yeah I got a lot of detentions but it was worth it!"
By the time I got into bed that night, I was very happy, that although Harry wasn't here yet, we weren't allowed to tell him anything, and I wouldn't be allowed to share a room with him, at least Bill had chosen a fun partner.
