So it looks like there's been an issue with the FFN servers for the last few weeks which has led to a number of my latest chapters having problems. Thankfully that looks to have mostly been fixed now so if you've missed anything since Chapter 34 I would go back now and read through again, though you may need to edit the URL to the correct chapter number... this is a really frustrating issue, so hopefully if there are still issues, they're very close to being fixed.

Back to the story though, and the second part of the split Chapter… and one I hope you all enjoy!

The first couple of days after their escape from Grimmauld Place was spent mainly exploring the wooded area that Sirius' house was located in. Goblin Combe was a woodland valley near Bristol, also only being around 50 miles away from The Burrow where, after the invasion of Grimmauld Place, the Order of the Phoenix had quickly set up as its new Headquarters. Finally, and more interestingly, Leo thought to himself, the house was located barely 10 miles away from Godric's Hollow. Though he was tempted to go and visit the historic village along with the extensive fairy colony that was rumoured to live in Goblin Combe, Leo stayed strict with himself and kept within the confines of the protective charms that surrounded the house, and when the wonders of seemingly endless trees at the border of those protections had worn off, he returned to work on his DA Coin.

It took around a week after they fled London until Leo was finally getting somewhere with the charms, managing to send messages to and from a couple of scraps of parchment much to his delight, when in the midst of his celebrations he heard voices coming from outside. Instantly he had his wand in his hand pointed out of his window in anticipation of another attack, but instead of the expected Death Eaters, Leo recognised his Father walking down the lane with a familiar red-headed Weasley. Dropping his wand arm down in relief he descended the stairs in time for them to enter the house.

"I've checked." Sirius said quickly, causing Leo to want to hit himself from annoyance at forgetting. The new Order protocols had been to check everybody upon a new meeting through a predetermined security question in order to determine if there was anything amiss, such as Polyjuice Potion. "It's him."

"Afternoon Leo." Bill Weasley said kindly, and Leo quickly made sure to shake Bill's hand. The Weasley's face still bore ugly scars of his encounter with Fenrir Greyback a few weeks previously, but thankfully he looked well enough within himself as he kept his warm smile up. "How are you keeping?"

"Going stir crazy stuck here." Leo admitted, to which Bill thankfully chuckled. "How are you, how is everyone at home?"

Bill moved to sit down at the kitchen table while Kreacher floated some teas over to the three of them. "Good, as good as we can be. Mum's thrown herself into the wedding planning of course, I think she likes the distractions. She was glad to hear you two were alright. You gave her quite a scare until I received your Patronus, Sirius. She keeps the radio on at all times now, listening for any news on Diagon Alley I reckon to keep an ear out for the Twins, but I can tell she's hoping that she hears nothing that could mean you and Harry are in trouble." He explained. "Percy's back too."

That surprised Leo massively. "Really?" He asked, eyes wide.

Bill nodded briefly. "Mum cornered him at the funeral… and to his credit he apologised there and then, says he'd been thinking a lot about Dad over the past year or so and what he stood for, and after Dumbledore's death things just… clicked within him." He sounded somewhat bitter. "Better late than never, I guess." He then turned to Sirius. "The protections look good Sirius, but there are a few things I just want to add in order to bolster them. Have you thought about the Fidelius?"

Sirius frowned. "I've thought about it and discarded the thought instantly. It's caused me nothing but grief, no thanks."

Bill looked concerned as he took a sip of tea. "It's the most secure…"

"No, Bill." Sirius said sternly, and that was the end of that. Leo took a sip as well, relishing as the hot liquid slipped down to give him something to do as the two adults stared at one another, before Bill finally nodded.

"Very well." The Weasley said, ending the awkward silence. "Then give me half an hour and I'll get this place about as protected as I can without the Fidelius."

He gulped down the remainder of his tea and walked outside, leaving Leo and Sirius sitting in the kitchen. Sirius pre-empted Leo's question by saying. "James and Lily died under the Fidelius, and I've been stuck at Grimmauld Place for years now because of it. No, no more."

It ended the discussion briskly, and they sat in relative silence other than the sounds of Kreacher muttering to himself as he cleared things away, so it was a relief when Bill walked back in and stated. "There we are."

Rising to his feet, Sirius was the one to shake Bill's hand first. "Thanks mate… I'm sorry, I shouldn't have snapped."

Bill waved it away nonchalantly. "It's fine. I understand."

"How much do you…" Sirius asked, his hand reaching into his pocket for his money pouch.

"No." Bill said firmly, his hand gripping Sirius' arm tightly. "This is on me, you've done more than enough for our family, Sirius. This is the least I can do." Now it was Sirius' turn to accept that he wouldn't have the final say, and Leo saw the starting of a grin appear on his face. "Will we see you on Friday?"

Sirius thought for a moment, looking over at Leo with a glance. "Yes, you will."

"Is this the Order?" Leo asked, interrupting.

Bill nodded slowly. "Yes, we've been in somewhat of a disarray since… well, since Dumbledore, but Mad-Eye is insisting…"

"I want to join." Leo stated bluntly, causing both of the adults to stare at him in surprise.

"The Order is for of age and graduated wizards, Leo." Bill explained. "The dangers…"

Leo scoffed derisively. "I fought just as much as you did at the Tower, Bill. And with…" He took a breath to steady himself, the green flash of light seared into his thoughts. "With everything that's happened, don't you think that the more wands the Order have, the better?"

"I think that you're grieving and angry." Bill explained, moving to place a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. "Trust me, I've been there, but you still have another year of Hogwarts left."

"A year where we don't know what will happen given that we don't have Professor Dumbledore there anymore." Leo argued back. "Keeping us in the loop so that the students can help out if needed…"

"We have teachers in the Order." Sirius was the one to respond now, though Leo sensed that his heart wasn't there to stop him.

Bill nodded at his point, however, and it only caused Leo to double down as he shrugged the Weasley off of him. "I know you think this is just me wanting revenge, but that's not all of it. I want to fight; I want to do my part and I'm going to join in a year anyway. Given the state of things… I don't see a need to wait. I'm 17 and I can be of some use, there are things that the Teachers can't be privy too, so eyes in the student body could be useful." He then looked to Sirius. "And we have a way of communicating that can't be tampered with or spied upon so I can be kept in the loop."

Bill looked to Sirius for back up, but to Leo's elation, Sirius simply shrugged, the arguments Leo had made seemingly working on him. "I've seen the kid fight off a pack of Dementors, if he wants to join, I certainly can't stop him." Sirius said, turning to Bill.

Sighing, the Weasley shook his head frustratedly. "I'd be lying if I didn't admit that Ron's been badgering me about joining too, he wants to be in the loop for whatever mission Dumbledore gave to Harry." He turned to Leo. "I don't suppose you know what that is?" Leo shook his head, though Bill didn't look like he believed him. "Right. Look, we'll bring it up at the next meeting, you're right we do need wands, but we need them where we can act, not stuck inside the Castle for months at a time."

"Unless you need something doing at the Castle that the teachers can't get away with." Leo grinned, and Bill just chuckled, shaking his head.

"I better get back, but I'll see you Friday, Sirius. And just you." He stared pointedly at Leo, grinning at their amused faces before waving to the pair of them and leaving the house.

Sirius waited until he saw Bill walk down the lane and Disapparate past the protections before he turned to Leo. "You lied just then."

Nodding, Leo explained. "Professor Dumbledore didn't even want us two knowing, but if it spreads too thinly, then there's more chance of You-Know-Who figuring out what Harry's up to."

He could see the cogs turning in Sirius' mind, but was glad to see an agreeable nod follow his words. "True, that's very true, and he has a powerful legilimens on his side in Snape." He stated bitterly, before his eyes widened in realisation. "Come on, through to the living room, I want to teach you something." They moved across the hallway into the room opposite the kitchen, with a pair of comfy sofas and an armchair the highlights of the room. Sirius, however, sat on the floor and patted the carpet in front of him, gesturing to Leo to sit down. When he had, Sirius continued speaking. "Now, I'm nowhere near an expert at this, but after Harry was tricked in your 5th year, I knew that I needed to at least try, for his sake as well, to understand occlumency. If we are going to keep this secret for him, then you need to know the basics too." It made complete sense to Leo, and so without a word he paid full attention to Sirius, happy to have both something that will aid the Horcrux hunt, as well as a much-needed distraction for the both of them.

The week's wait between Bill leaving Goblin Combe and Leo being allowed to apparate to the Burrow after the Order finally agreed to allow any of age Witch or Wizard with family already in the Order was spent by Leo focusing on either his Occlumency, or working on the DA Galleon, and as he walked up to the crooked, clearly magical dwelling he was relieved to have a break from the studying, and enjoy a change of scenery and additional company. Sirius had largely kept to himself, and though he hadn't reached the drunken heights of their time at Grimmauld Place, Kreacher was having to throw away multiple bottles of various drinks out each night.

As he neared the Burrow it was easy to admire the sheer scale of magic that had been put into building the Weasley family home. The building was so tall and yet so crooked it looked like it should topple over at any moment, but the magic was so strong and emanated from the building that it made Leo feel warm inside as he neared the red-roofed house. He was laughing at that as he spotted a pair of red-headed men standing outside of the doorway, recognising both Bill and Ron as he grew closer.

"Bill, Ron." Sirius greeted, with the Weasley's returning the greeting to the pair of dark haired men. "Are we late?" Sirius asked.

Bill shook his head. "We're still missing a few."

"Mum'll be glad to see you." Ron nodded at Leo after the pair quickly hugged. "Almost had kittens when she heard about what happened… did you really fight off a pack of Dementors?"

Sirius frowned at the reminder of the creatures, though a slight glint of mischief that Leo hadn't seen in a while appeared in his grey eyes. "Are you calling me a liar?"

Ron snorted, not taking the bait for a moment. "No, just surprised, that's all. It's a seriously impressive bit of magic."

Leo just shrugged. "I did what I had to do, I'm just glad we all got out safe."

"And managed to burn my Mother in the process." Sirius grinned at the same moment that the door opened, and out strode Mrs Weasley. She looked older than when Leo had last seen her around a fortnight before, with more grey streaks in her hair and a few extra lines adorning her face, but her hug was bone-crushing as she rushed towards him. "Oh, Leo dear, I'm so glad you are alright. When I heard the news… well, it was a relief when we heard you were safe."

He felt strange as he returned the hug, wanting nothing more than to lean into the motherly woman's body and just embrace the warmth. "I'm alright, thank you Mrs Weasley." He said softly.

She took a step back and took one look at his figure. "But not eating enough I bet, come, I've prepared food." She wrapped her arm around his shoulders and pulled him inside, sitting him down at the table forcefully as a laughing Ron settled beside him.

There were a number of the Order already sat down, with Leo recognising some faces from his time at Grimmauld Place, though naming them was more difficult. He recognised Mad-Eye Moody, gulping nervously as his magical eye was trained directly at him, and Remus Lupin gave him a warm yet tired smile. Also sat at the table were the twins Fred and George, a welcome pair of familiar faces as the food began to slowly soar towards them.

After digging into his meal, Leo used the conversation of the adults to his advantage as he leaned into Ron and whispered. "Have you heard from anyone?"

Ron simply shook his head as he gulped his food down quickly. "It's too dangerous, Bill says. Harry's being watched though, he's fine from what I've heard. And once we heard the news on the radio I realised you might not have a chance to contact Hermione so I managed to let her know you were safe."

While he was glad that she wouldn't have been worrying, that news only served to make Leo worry about Hermione being all alone in Muggle England, but before he could say anything else, and on top of that mention the fact that they had destroyed the locket in the process of the Dementor attack, Mad Eye Moody cleared his throat and slamming his staff three times onto the floor. Molly waved her wand and the plates began to fly through to the kitchen, leaving Leo sat there with a growing anticipation at what was to come. "Thanks Molly." Mad Eye stated gruffly, leaning forwards on his elbows as his magical eye began swivelling around, taking in everybody in attendance. "Right, first things first, we have two new members joining us tonight." All eyes turned towards both Leo and Ron. Like when he had first arrived, he recognised most of the group from his last couple of Christmas' at Grimmauld Place, though one or two faces remained entirely unfamiliar. "MacDonald, Weasley, let it be known that not all agree with your joining us here tonight, but the decision has been made, and going forward you must swear your wands to our cause, never to betray our secrets to the enemy."

It sounded like an Unbreakable Vow, but Leo was ready as he pulled his wand out, his right arm tingling as he and Ron said together. "I swear." As the tip of his wand lit up red.

"Good, now, onto the meeting." Moody began. "I've had contact with Granger, and she will join us after making arrangements for her family, but the more pressing matter is Potter. We have just over two weeks until he turns 17 and the protection around that house breaks once and for all."

Leo mainly sat back and listened as the Order of the Phoenix discussed various plans and ideas to get Harry to safety, from Polyjuice Potion and muggle transport to simply apparating out of there, until around 15 minutes into a conversation on working out how to stop the Death Eaters from getting to Harry once he's outside of the protections, a small, grubby man at the far side of the table cleared his throat. "Decoys." He seemed to seize up nervously as all eyes turned to him, but the man continued. "We whip up some o' that Polyjuice Potion, nick a bit o' the kids hair, yeah? Then when we come to smugglin' 'im outta there, we got a bunch of Potter's all leggin' it off in different directions. Confuse anyone tryin' to follow 'im."

It was brilliant, Leo thought, as he expanded on that idea. "Seven Potter's, all travelling to separate safe houses with pre-arranged portkeys leading him here." He added, knowing the power of the number 7, guessing that any additional form of luck would be needed to pull off such a daring idea.

"Surely Voldemort will be expecting some form of subterfuge?" Remus asked.

"We'll lure him away from the scent." Fred grinned, turning to Mad-Eye. "Everyone knows that after Dumbledore, you are the biggest threat."

"And that you won't exactly hold back when it comes to facing the Death Eaters." George continued.

"So if we make sure that you are there without any form of disguise."

"Then you'll be the first target. Able to handle yourself while Harry soars away to safety." George finished.

"A Potter and a guardian." Mad-Eye nodded. "Aye, there's something in that."

"Harry will never agree." Ron stated to them all.

"Harry, will be underage." Sirius countered. "For his own protection, he'll go along with it, like it or not."

Mad-Eye nodded once again. "Then we'll work on this, we need transport that the Ministry can't trace, and we need volunteers. I'll speak to Kingsley, see if he has any further suggestions to bypass the Ministry. We don't want those clowns impeding us in any way." He stood up, looking around to see if there was anything else to discuss. When it seemed like there wasn't, he leant back more comfortably and said. "Sirius, I want a word before you go. The rest of you. Dismissed."

Leo waited, looking at his Dad confused as the table began to clear quickly, with Mundungus among the first to leave as the echoes of Disapparation soon sounded from outside. Ron however used the dismissal to drag Leo upstairs one floor, pushing into Ginny's room to see her standing facing the doorway, her arms folded around an Extendable Ear. "Well?" She asked. "This bloody thing didn't work."

"Just stuff about getting Harry here." Ron explained. "You were right, I bet they agreed to keep it low key and Harry focused today, to get a taste of us before we get involved with anything bigger."

Ginny nodded, seemingly satisfied at being correct, though Leo recognised the look of worry in her eyes. "So they didn't press you on… you know?"

"Bill did when he came to see me last week." Leo said quietly, looking over at the door to make sure that nobody was listening in. "I don't know if he believed me when I said I had no idea."

"He doesn't, but he's past it I think." Ron explained. "He's been helping us get ready, transforming the ghoul in the attic to give me an excuse as to why I'm not at school."

A call came from downstairs to stop the students' conversation. "Leo! We're going!"

Sighing, Leo turned to the Weasley's again. "I'll see you next time. I'm working on something that will help us communicate securely, but I'm not there yet." He told them. "If you hear anything from Hermione…"

"We'll find a way to let you know." Ron insisted, nodding firmly. "But she'll be fine."

"I know she will, I just…" He sighed, not really able to put his feelings into the right words as his worry for her had only grown throughout the meeting. "I'll see you, guys." He gave them a wave before returning down the stairs, seeing Sirius whispering to Remus before falling silent as Leo approached. "Ready?" Leo asked.

"Ready." Sirius nodded.

"You did well today, Leo." Remus said with a half-smile, he looked tired, and Leo realised that he was in the last few days before his transformation. "That was a very good idea about having seven Harry's."

Sirius nodded, gripping Leo's shoulder proudly. "Come on, I'll see you Sunday, Remus."

"Sirius you don't need too…"

"I want to." Sirius said firmly. "You won't be alone."

Leo watched as the two best friends hugged firmly, before Leo was gently shoved outside, his thoughts as he walked remaining solely on his friend, and girlfriend, seemingly trapped in the Muggle World.

Reviews:

SkepticPrinceArthur: It's an odd one… FFN has been rife with issues recently so I'd put it down to that. Hopefully Chapters 36 and 37 are back to normal now as both of them had that same message on. The Muggles, I don't think, are not anybody relevant to Leo and the story but it's a point showing that things are ramping up. There will soon be some Muggles that go 'missing' of course that would be more relevant, but not quite yet… yeah the portraits being destroyed is a pretty important divergence of course considering one, very important portrait in Book 7. That incantation just seems a bit too long for me. I liked Malignus because of the short, angry nature of it which fits in nicely with how I imagine the casting process works.

Lightningscar: Early enough given the issues! Yeah the meaning is part of why I really liked it as the incantation, while the lore around it is as far as I can tell made up by myself. I don't think the Fiendfyre left much of the Locket so that shouldn't be an issue…

nintschibintschi: Hopefully 35 is back up now!