-͟͟͞☆ Chapter 3

𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴:
"Order of the Phoenix"
01:09 ━━━━●───── 02:17

ㅤ ㅤ◁ㅤ ❚❚ ㅤ▷ ㅤㅤ

🛸✮☄

THIRD PERSON POV 

"So you are my second cousin?" Regan asked, looking at the woman sitting on the chair, sipping her orange juice. 

"Yeah, precisely" She replied, diverting her eyes from Regan to Adalyn, who was sitting silently while staring at her. "You don't have to worry y'know, I am not like the others, if you know what I mean," She said waving her hands as the black haired girl just nodded. "Well, if it assures you anymore, I am a Hufflepuff." The woman shrugged as Adalyn just kept nodding. 

"Who's that?" Sirius asked his head tilting in question.

"Why are your hairs... pink?" Regan asked, staring at her with his brows furrowed. "I can turn them into whatever color I like, so it stays whatever I think suits for the time" She replied as the boy just nodded. 

"So you're a metamorphmagus?" Adalyn spoke as the woman nodded, "What was your name again?" She asked causing the other woman to groan hitting her head slightly on the table. 

"Please don't torture me with that question, it's nymphadora, but please call me Tonks" She said looking at the two of them with pleading eyes, as the two siblings glanced at each other. 

The four year old nymphadora looked up from her father's lap on the mention of her name and clapped loudly. "Me?" She asked pointing her finger at herself while looking at her father who leaned down brushing his nose against her, "yeah princess, that's you"

"I don't think your name sounds that horrible" Regan said as tonks just rolled her eyes. "Please, don't need to flatter yourself, I know how horrible it sounds" 

"I could practically feel the awkwardness from my room" Sirius said coming inside the living room as the three turned to look at him. "Well it's not everyday a member from your lunatic family comes to meet you " Adalyn mumbled sipping her own juice as she watched her father taking a seat at the table with them. 

"So nymph-" 

"No, please, don't call me that" tonks groaned as Sirius just blinked at her dumbfounded, "Um ohk? So Tonks, everything settled?" He asked as she nodded. 

"I can feel the awkwardness in your voice from twenty years before"James snickered causing Sirius to roll his eyes.

"Yeah, mad eye thinks one of us is gonna die, or maybe all of us, so he has a backup option too" Tonks said rolling her eyes. "What? What's happening? Why will anyone die?" Adalyn asked as Tonks glanced at Sirius, "You didn't tell them?" 

"Huh, why is anyone gonna die? Why is my daughter involved in something like that?" Andromeda said, her brows furrowing in irritation.

"Tell us what?" Adalyn asked now turning to look at Sirius who sighed rubbing his temples. "Harry performed the patronus charm three days back in presence of muggles, so the ministry wants him expelled from Hogwarts, tho dumbledore made some arrangements, he'll get a trial on 12th August" He said as the two kids stared at him dumbfounded.

"What the actual f*ck?" James bellowed looking at the book, his mouth agape in shock, "why would they want to expel him for protecting himself? The f*ck is wrong with this ministry?" He said looking outrageous.

"Everything is wrong with them. They don't want to acknowledge their mistake or the fact that two dementors were floating in the muggle world, but now want to expel him just because he protected himself and that boy, bloody hypocrites" Sirius scoffed rolling his eyes in irritation.

"What the- why will they expel him for? Obviously, he would have performed the spell for safety reasons, wouldn't he? And they can't just throw him out of Hogwarts," Adalyn exclaimed as sirius just took a deep breath. "Well we are talking about Fudge aren't we? What else can we expect from him?" 

"Dad, can't you do something?" She asked, "There's nothing I can do in this matter, the head of Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Amelia Bones, will proceed with his investigation, there's no say of any aurors there" He replied. 

"Ohk but what are you all gonna do? What is it that might get you killed?" Regan asked tonks as she looked towards Sirius, "Well, a bunch of aurors are going to bring Harry here from his muggle home, you can call it a rescue mission." 

"Floo? Apparation? Portkey? Have the ministry declared them illegal too?" Rabastan said raising his brows in surprise.

"But can't he apparate or floo?" He asked as sirius shook his head, "The Floos are being monitored and moody thinks it's best for him to not apparate"

"Well, that's moody we're talking about" Briony mumbled glancing at the man who sat there in the corner, his face etched in a permanent scowl.

"Oh by the way Sirius, Moody think it's best for you to not go" Tonkas the the said man gaped at her. "What? Why? Why in living hell am I not supposed to go?" 

"Because the owner of the house must be present to host the meeting" A noise came as they all turned to see a whole bunch of people standing at the door. 

Sirius gaped, his facial expression taking the form of a grindylow. "Play the host? Oh for god's sake I am disowned, that's not even my house" He said looking at his mother who, like moody, had her face etched with a permanent scowl.

"Owner my ass" Sirius scoffed looking at Moody, "I want to come with you all" It was moody's turn to scoff as he looked at Adalyn who was staring at him. 

"We are not going to hold a birthday party that you want to come Kid" He said as the girl narrowed her eyes at him, "I know what you all are going to do and I want to come along" She said. 

"No Adalyn you can't do that, it's too dangerous" Lupin said coming out of the crowd alongside Sagira who waved at Regan causing him to raise his brows. What was she upto?

"She's just waving kid" Evan snickered shaking his head.

"But Moony-"

"No, it's dangerous and there will be no kids allowed in this mission, you all are to stay here and do your own things" Remus said Adalyn scowled at him. "Fine then" Grumbling under her breath, Adalyn pushed passed the Aurors standing in the doorway and going up stairs causing everyone to stare at her. 

"Uhm don't worry about her, but why am I not supposed to go? The weasleys will be here in a few hours, Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall will be there too, why is there my need here?" Sirius asked looking at Moody who grunted something under his breath. 

"My orders Black" and that seem to end that matter there and then because no one had the guts to argue Moody, not even Sirius who muttered a fine in a grumpy tone. 

"Regan, Esmeray. Upstairs." Remus said as both the kids nodded moving slowly out of the living room and to their respective rooms. 

"What do you think this order is about?" Sagira asked while looking around the changes made around the horse. The heads of almost all the elves were removed, a few left which might have been fixed by the Blacks or something. 

Walburga's scowl deepened as she stared at Sirius with such loathism that he doubted any person, let alone a mother, was possible to have.

"I don't know, Padfoot didn't talk much about it" He shrugged looking at her silently absorbing her surroundings. 

"Is Arilene here?" She asked as they reached her room as the boy rolled her eyes, "She and Adalyn are basically together the whole day, tell a time when they are not together" Opening the door to Arilene's room to prove his point he stepped inside and sighed loudly. "See" He said waving inside the room as Sagira saw Adalyn and Arilene hurdled in a corner on the floor, whispering to each other with a frown on their faces. 

Sagira smiled widely and ran up to the two girls and tackled them in a hug. "Oh my god, Esmeray, How are you?" Arilene asked hugging the girl back with her one hand. 

"I am fine, what about you? How have you two been? I asked dad to come here sooner but he said he had some important work and won't be able to do that" She said coming out of the hug and staring at the two of them with a wide grin. 

"I am pretty sure this is about that bloody order and their mission" Adalyn said rolling her eyes. "Yeah? I think  so too... I heard dad mumbling about the order and tasks or something like that, very annoying if you ask me" She said sitting on the floor. 

Regan standing on the doorway, just huffed and went out of the room. What was he supposed to do between these many girls? 

"Oi reg, have you asked kreacher to prepare hermione's room?" Adalyn asked before he could go any further. "Granger is coming too?" He asked turning around and looking at her in confusion. 

"Yeah, she is" Arilene said , "I am the second kreacher of this house I swear" He grumbled shaking his head. What a day!

"I am pretty sure Kreacher doesn't have jumpscare because of a spider" Regulus muttered rolling his eyes.

Harry had no particular feeling about the Dursleys leaving. It made no difference to him whether they were in the house or not. He could not even summon the energy to get up and turn on his bedroom light.The room grew steadily darker around him as he lay listening to the night sounds through the window he kept open all the time, waiting for the blessed moment when Hedwig returned.The empty house creaked around him. The pipes gurgled. Harry lay there in a kind of stupor, thinking of nothing, suspended in misery. 

And then, quite distinctly, he heard a crash in the kitchen below. 

He sat bolt upright, listening intently. The Dursleys couldn't be back, it was much too soon, and in any case, he hadn't heard their car. There was silence for a few seconds, and then he heard voices. 

Burglars, he thought, sliding off the bed onto his feet — but a split second later it occurred to him that burglars would keep their voices down, and whoever was moving around in the kitchen was certainly not troubling to do so.He snatched up his wand from his bedside table and stood facing his bedroom door, listening with all his might. 

Next moment he jumped as the lock gave a loud click and his door swung open.Harry stood motionless, staring through the open door at the dark upstairs landing, straining his ears for further sounds, but none came.He hesitated for a moment and then moved swiftly and silently out of his room to the head of the stairs. 

His heart shot upward into his throat. There were people standing in the shadowy hall below, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door; eight or nine of them, all, as far as he could see, looking up at him.

"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," said a low, growling voice.Harry's heart was thumping uncontrollably. He knew that voice,but he did not lower his wand.

"Professor Moody?" he said uncertainly 

"I don't know so much about 'Professor,' " growled the voice, "never got round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly." 

Harry lowered his wand slightly but did not relax his grip on it, nor did he move. He had very good reason to be suspicious. He had recently spent nine months in what he had thought was Mad-Eye Moody's company only to find out that it wasn't Moody at all, but an impostor, moreover, who had tried to kill Harry before being unmasked. 

But before he could make a decision about what to do next, a second, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs."It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away." Harry's heart leapt. He knew that voice too. 

"Remus" he said disbelievingly. "Is that you?" 

"Boy is glad to have someone familiar with him" Marlene exclaimed. "But he did have his uncle and aunty with him" Mary said looking at her, "I would hardly call them someone who's family Mary, they're just some bloody host forced to keep him at home"

"Why are we all standing in the dark?" said a third voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman's. "Lumos."A wand tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical light. Harry blinked. The people below were crowded around the foot of the stairs,gazing intently up at him, some craning their heads for a better look.Remus Lupin stood nearest to him. He was smiling broadly at Harry,who tried to smile back through his shock. 

"Oooh, he looks just like I thought he would," said the witch who was holding her lit wand aloft. She looked the youngest there; she had a pale heart-shaped face, dark twinkling eyes, and short spiky hair that was a violent shade of violet. "Wotcher, Harry!"

"Yeah, I see what you mean, Remus," said a bald black wizard standing farthest back; he had a deep, slow voice and wore a single gold hoop in his ear. "He looks exactly like James."

"I really want to see him right now, does he look exactly like my twin or what" James said looking at Lily with a questioning gaze who frowned at him, "How would I know that James?"

"Except the eyes," said a wheezy-voiced, silver-haired wizard at the back. "Lily's eyes."

Mad-Eye Moody, who had long grizzled gray hair and a large chunk missing from his nose, was squinting suspiciously at Harry through his mismatched eyes. One of the eyes was small, dark, and beady, the other large, round, and electric blue — the magical eye that could see through walls, doors, and the back of Moody's own head.

"Are you quite sure it's him, Lupin?" he growled. "It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?" 

"Harry, what form does your Patronus take?" said Lupin."A stag," said Harry nervously."That's him, Mad-Eye," said Lupin. 

Harry descended the stairs, very conscious of everybody still staring at him, stowing his wand into the back pocket of his jeans as he came.

"Don't put your wand there, boy!" roared Moody. "What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!"

"Huh! Really?" Peter mumbled a look of confusion on his face. "Might be, it isn't like we know a lot of stuff anyway" Remus muttered with a small shrug.

 "Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?" the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly."Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!" growled Mad-Eye. 

"Elementary wand safety, nobody bothers about it anymore. . . ." He stumped off toward the kitchen. "And I saw that," he added irritably, as the woman rolled her eyes at the ceiling. 

Lupin held out his hand and shook Harry's. "How are you?" he asked, looking at Harry closely."F-fine . . ."Harry could hardly believe this was real. Four weeks with nothing,not the tiniest hint of a plan to remove him from Privet Drive, and suddenly a whole bunch of wizards was standing matter-of-factly in the house as though this were a long-standing arrangement. 

He glanced at the people surrounding Lupin; they were still gazing avidly at him. He felt very conscious of the fact that he had not combed his hair for four days.

"I'm — you're really lucky the Dursleys are out . . ." he mumbled."Lucky, ha!" said the violet-haired woman. "It was me that lured them out of the way. Sent a letter by Muggle post telling them they'd been short-listed for the All-England Best-Kept Suburban Lawn Competition. They're heading off to the prize-giving right now. . . .Or they think they are." 

Harry had a fleeting vision of Uncle Vernon's face when he realized there was no All-England Best-Kept Suburban Lawn Competition."We are leaving, aren't we?" he asked. "Soon?""Almost at once," said Lupin, "we're just waiting for the all-clear." 

"Where are we going? " Harry asked hopefully to get an ounce of information. 

"Too risky to say right now. We've set up headquarters somewhere undetectable. It's taken a while. . . ."

"You could simply say 'to Snuffle's' and he'll get it" James said looking pointedly at Remus who rolled his eyes, "As if I am present there, right Prongs?"

Mad-Eye Moody was now sitting at the kitchen table swigging from a hip flask, his magical eye spinning in all directions, taking in the Dursleys' many labor-saving appliances.

"This is Alastor Moody, Harry," Lupin continued, pointing toward Moody."Yeah, I know," said Harry uncomfortably; it felt odd to be introduced to somebody he'd thought he'd known for a year.

 "And this is Nymphadora —"

"Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," said the young witch with a shudder. "It's Tonks."

"— Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only," finished Lupin. 

"So would you if your fool of a mother had called you 'Nymphadora,' " muttered Tonks. 

Andromeda made a face and looked at her daughter who was cuddling Ted while staring at the back of the room.

"And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt" — he indicated the tall black wizard, who bowed — "Elphias Doge" — the wheezy-voiced wizard nodded — "Dedalus Diggle —"

"We've met before," squeaked the excitable Diggle, dropping his top hat. 

"— Emmeline Vance" — a stately looking witch in an emerald green shawl inclined her head — "Sturgis Podmore" — a square-jawed wizard with thick, straw-colored hair winked — "and Hestia Jones." Apink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved from next to the toaster. 

 Harry inclined his head awkwardly at each of them as they were introduced. He wished they would look at something other than him; it was as though he had suddenly been ushered onstage. 

"A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you,"said Lupin, as though he had read Harry's mind; the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

"Yeah, well, the more the better," said Moody darkly. "We're your guard, Potter." 

"Sirius wanted to come too, Moody told him off" Lupin said as Harry looked at him widely, "Padfoot? Why did moody tell him off? Why couldn't he come too? I wanted to meet him" He said as Remus just chuckled, "Don't worry, you'll meet him someday." 

"But-" but seems like only he was important to everyone, his thoughts and opinions weren't. 

"Ouch! I feel bad for the boy" Rabastan said as Evan raised his brows at him, "Cause you see yourself in him?"
"Shut up Rosier, I would rather die than even imagine myself in that hideous red"

"We're just waiting for the signal to tell us it's safe to set off," said Lupin, glancing out of the kitchen window. "We've got about fifteen minutes."

 "I want three-hundred-and-sixty degrees visibility on the return journey." 

"How're we getting — wherever we're going?" Harry asked ."Brooms," said Lupin. "Only way. You're too young to Apparate,they'll be watching the Floo Network, and it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorized Portkey."

 "Remus says you're a good flier," said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice.

"He's excellent," said Lupin, who was checking his watch. "Anyway, you'd better go and get packed, Harry, we want to be ready to go when the signal comes."

"I'll come and help you," said Tonks brightly. She followed Harry back into the hall and up the stairs, looking around with much curiosity and interest. 

"Funny place," she said, "it's a bit too clean, d'you know what I mean? Bit unnatural. Oh, this is better," she added, as they entered Harry's bedroom and he turned on the light. His room was certainly much messier than the rest of the house. 

Harry started picking up books and throwing them hastily into his trunk. Tonks paused at his open wardrobe to look critically at her reflection in the mirror on the inside of the door. 

"You know, I don't think purple's really my color," she said pensively, tugging at a lock of spiky hair. "D'you think it makes me look a bit peaky?"

"Er —" said Harry, looking up at her over the top of Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland."Yeah, it does," said Tonks decisively. 

She screwed up her eyes in a strained expression as though she were struggling to remember something. A second later, her hair had turned bubble-gum pink."How did you do that?" said Harry, gaping at her as she opened her eyes again.

"I'm a Metamorphmagus," she said, looking back at her reflection and turning her head so that she could see her hair from all directions. 

"Ohhh you're just like Sagira then" He mumbled to himself before picking his books again. 

"I was born one.I got top marks in Concealment and Disguise during Auror training without any study at all, it was great."

"She's an auror?" Andromeda mumbled a look of disbelief on her face. "Well, I'm proud of her" Ted said, kissing the top of the girl's head who giggled softly in his neck.

"You're an Auror?" said Harry, impressed. Being a Dark wizard catcher was the only career he'd ever considered after Hogwarts."Yeah," said Tonks, looking proud. "Kingsley is as well; he's a bit higher up than I am, though. I only qualified a year ago. Nearly failed on Stealth and Tracking, I'm dead clumsy, did you hear me break that plate when we arrived downstairs?" 

"Oh — yeah," said Harry, grabbing up a few more books."Don't be stupid, it'll be much quicker if I — pack!" cried Tonks, waving her wand in a long, sweeping movement over the floor.Books, clothes, telescope, and scales all soared into the air and flew pell-mell into the trunk.

"It's not very neat," said Tonks, walking over to the trunk and looking down at the jumble inside. "My mum's got this knack of getting stuff to fit itself in neatly — she even gets the socks to fold themselves — but I've never mastered how she does it — it's a kind of flick —"

"Well you get used to being perfect when you have a mother like Durela black and the head of the house as Walburga Black" She muttered staring at the said woman with nothing but pure detest.

She flicked her wand hopefully; one of Harry's socks gave a feeblesort of wiggle and flopped back on top of the mess within. 

"Ah, well," said Tonks, slamming the trunk's lid shut, "at least it's allin. That could do with a bit of cleaning, too — Scourgify —" She pointed her wand at Hedwig's cage; a few feathers and droppings vanished. 

"Well, that's a bit better — I've never quite got the hang of these sort of house holdy spells. Right — got everything? Cauldron?Broom? Wow! A Firebolt?"

Her eyes widened as they fell on the broomstick in Harry's right hand. It was his pride and joy, a gift from Sirius, an international standard broomstick. 

"And I'm still riding a Comet Two Sixty," said Tonks enviously. "Ah well, wand still in your jeans? Both buttocks still on? Okay, let's go. Locomotor Trunk."

Harry's trunk rose a few inches into the air. Holding her wand like a conductor's baton, Tonks made it hover across the room and out of the door ahead of them, Hedwig's cage in her left hand. 

Harry followed her down the stairs carrying his broomstick.Back in the kitchen,  Lupin was sealing a letter addressed to the Dursleys.

"Excellent," said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and Harry entered."We've got about a minute, I think. We should probably get out into the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry —" 

"They won't," said Harry.
"That you're safe "
 "That'll just depress them."

"God, I love these kids" Briony chuckled, shaking her head, "I wish I could meet and live with them in real life too," She muttered as Lily held her hand tightly in hers, "We'll do it bry, one day, we'll surely do"

" and you'll see them next summer."
 "Do I have to?"

Lupin smiled but made no answer.

 "Come here, boy," said Moody gruffly, beckoning Harry toward him with his wand. "I need to Disillusion you."

"You need to what?" said Harry nervously."Disillusionment Charm," said Moody, raising his wand. "Lupin says you've got an Invisibility Cloak, but it won't stay on while we're flying; this'll disguise you better. Here you go —" 

He rapped Harry hard on the top of the head and Harry felt a curious sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; coldtrickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wandhad struck. 

"Nice one, Mad-Eye," said Tonks appreciatively, staring at Harry's midriff.Harry looked down at his body, or rather, what had been his body,for it didn't look anything like his anymore. 

It was not invisible; it had simply taken on the exact color and texture of the kitchen unit behind him. He seemed to have become a human chameleon."Come on," said Moody, unlocking the back door with his wand.They all stepped outside onto Uncle Vernon's beautifully kept lawn. 

"Clear night," grunted Moody, his magical eye scanning the heavens. "Could've done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you," he barked at Harry, "we're going to be flying in close formation. Tons will be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin will be covering you from below. I'm going to be behind you. The rest will be circling us.We don't break ranks for anything, got me? If one of us is killed —"

"Why is he so keen on the possibility of someone getting killed? There's something knows as positive thinking and vibes" Alice whispered to Frank who snickered glancing at Moody, "well, that's just how he is maybe"

"Is that likely?" Harry asked apprehensively, but Moody ignored him. "— the others keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."

"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously," said Tonks, as she strapped Harry's trunk and Hedwig's cage into a harness hanging from her broom.

"I'm just telling the boy the plan," growled Moody. "Our job's to deliver him safely to headquarters and if we die in the attempt —"

"No one's going to die," said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep,calming voice."Mount your brooms, that's the first signal!" said Lupin sharply,pointing into the sky.Far, far above them, a shower of bright red sparks had flared among the stars. 

Harry recognized them at once as wand sparks. He swung his right leg over his Firebolt, gripped its handle tightly, and felt it vibrating very slightly, as though it was as keen as he was to be up in the air once more.  

"Second signal, let's go!" said Lupin loudly, as more sparks, green this time, exploded high above them.Harry kicked off hard from the ground. The cool night air rushed through his hair as the neat square gardens of Privet Drive fell away,shrinking rapidly into a patchwork of dark greens and blacks, and every thought of the Ministry hearing was swept from his mind as though the rush of air had blown it out of his head.

Minutes went by as they all flew, laughing, shouting and yelling at each other throughout. "Time to start the descent!" came Lupin's voice. "Follow Tonks,Harry!"Harry followed Tonks into a dive. They were heading for the largest collection of lights he had yet seen, a huge, sprawling, crisscrossing mass, glittering in lines and grids, interspersed with patches of deepest black.

 Lower and lower they flew, until Harry could see individual headlights and streetlamps, chimneys, and television aerials. 

"Here we go!" called Tonks, and a few seconds later she had landed. Harry touched down right behind her and dismounted on a patch of unkempt grass in the middle of a small square. Tonks was already unbuckling Harry's trunk. Shivering, Harry looked around.

The grimy fronts of the surrounding houses were not welcoming; some of them had broken windows, glimmering dully in the light from the streetlamps, paint was peeling from many of the doors, and heaps of rubbish lay outside several sets of front steps.

"That's Grimmauld Place" Harry gasped a small smile soon taking over his face, "Moony you didn't tell we were coming here" He said turning excitedly towards Remus. Lupin said quietly, "yeah, circumstances"

Moody was rummaging in his cloak, his gnarled hands clumsy with cold. "Got it," he muttered, raising what looked like a silver cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it. The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He clicked the unlighter again; the next lamp went out. He kept clicking until every lamp in the square was extinguished and the only light in the square came from curtained windows and the sickle moon overhead.

"Borrowed it from Dumbledore," growled Moody, pocketing the Put-Outer. "That'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now, come on, quick."

He took Harry by the arm and led him from the patch of grass, across the road, and onto the pavement. Lupin and Tonks followed, carrying Harry's trunk between them, the rest of the guard, all with their wands out, flanking them.

"Here," Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of parchment toward Harry's Disillusioned hand and holding his lit wand close to it, so as to illuminate the writing. "Read quickly and memorize."

"Well I know how to do it" Harry whispered under his breath, but this time the address was changed.

Harry looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said: The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.

"Order of the phoenix? What's that? Sounds peachy to be honest" Sirius mumbled cracking his knuckles while leaning back against his seat.

"Headquarters of the order? Isn't it sirius's ho-"

"Nope, it's not mine" Sirius muttered rolling his eyes.

"Not here, boy!" snarled Moody. "Wait till we're inside!" He pulled the piece of parchment out of Harry's hand and set fire to it with his wand tip. As the message curled into flames and floated to the ground, Harry looked around at the houses again.

Harry thought, and no sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows.

"Get in quick, Harry," Lupin whispered. Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. It felt just the same as it did a year back when he came over.

Moody limped inside and closed the front door, so that the darkness in the hall became complete. "Here —" He rapped Harry hard over the head with his wand; Harry felt as though something hot was trickling down his back this time and knew that the Disillusionment Charm must have lifted. "Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here," Moody whispered.

There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried toward them, though Harry noticed that she was rather thinner and paler than she had been last time he had seen her. 

"Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. 

"You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid. . . ." She turned to the gang of wizards behind him and whispered urgently, "He's just arrived, the meeting's started. . . ."

The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past Harry toward the door through which Mrs. Weasley had just come; Harry made to follow Lupin, but Mrs. Weasley held him back.

"No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Other kids are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meeting's over and then we'll have dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall," she added in an urgent whisper. "I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting — I'll just show you where you're sleeping."

"Mrs. Weasley, why — ?"

"Ron, Adalyn, Arilene and Hermione will explain everything, dear, I've really got to dash," Mrs. Weasley whispered distractedly. "There" — they had reached the second landing — "you're the door on the right. I'll call you when it's over." And she hurried off downstairs again.

"Well I hate when they do that, like you tell us what's happening or what it is, but when our curiosity is ignited and we want to know, we are suddenly kids who are too dumb to face the world" Briony whispered shaking her head, "Did tina say something to you again?" Lily snickered as briony just rolled her eyes, "Don't even ask"

Harry crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob, which was shaped like a serpent's head, and opened the door. He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room, then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair — Hermione had thrown herself onto him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.

"HARRY! Ron, Arilene, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless — but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us — the dementors! When we heard — and that Ministry hearing — it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations —"

"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, grinning, closing the door behind Harry.

Hermione, still beaming, let go of Harry, but before she could say another word someone else engulfed him in a tight hug. "How are you? Are you safe? I heard about the dementors-"

"It's alright Arilene, I am alright and safe" Harry said softly hugging back the girl. 

"Awww a reunion" Marlene cooed with a soft pout on her face.

Suddenly, there was a soft whooshing sound and something white soared from the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on Harry's shoulder.

"Hedwig!" The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers. 

"She's been in a right state," said Ron. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this —" He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut.

"Oh yeah," Harry said. "Sorry about that, but I wanted answers,you know. . . ." 

"Why do I feel like he's going to combust?" James whispered in Sirius ear who nodded grimly, "Knowing him, probably feels like that"

"We wanted to give them to you, mate," said Ron. "Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us —"

 "— swear not to tell me," said Harry. "Yeah, Hermione's already said." 

The warm glow that had flared inside him at the sight of his two best friends and sister was extinguished as something icy flooded the pit of his stomach. All of a sudden — after yearning to see them for a solid month — he felt he would rather them left him alone. 

There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked Hedwig automatically, not looking at either of the others."He seemed to think it was best," said Hermione rather breathlessly. "Dumbledore, I mean."

 "Right," said Harry. He noticed that her hands too bore the marks of Hedwig's beak and found that he was not at all sorry. "I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles —" Ron began."Yeah?" said Harry, raising his eyebrows. "Have either of you been attacked by dementors this summer?" 

"See I told you, it's starting" James mumbled with a look of 'I told you so' on his face.

"Well, no — but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time —" Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had known he was being followed except him.

"Didn't work that well, though, did it?" said Harry, doing his utmost to keep his voice even. "Had to look after myself after all,didn't I?"

 "He was so angry," said Hermione in an almost awestruck voice."Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary."

 "Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly. "If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer."

 "Aren't you . . . aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?" said Hermione quietly.

"No," Harry lied defiantly. He walked away from them, looking around, with Hedwig nestled contentedly on his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his spirits. 

"So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?"Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. "Did you —er — bother to ask him at all?"

He glanced up just in time to see them exchanging a look that told him he was behaving just as they had feared he would. It did nothing to improve his temper. 

"We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on,"said Arilene "We did, Harry, really we did. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just the owls might be intercepted —"

 "He could still've kept me informed if he'd wanted to," Harry said shortly. "You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls." Hermione glanced at Ron and then said, "I thought that too. But he didn't want you to know anything."

 "Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," said Harry, watching their expressions."Don't be thick," said Ron, looking highly disconcerted. 

"Or maybe he knows something none of you know and is actually protecting you" Alice said, "Or maybe he's just bluffing around as usual" Frank said as alice turned to give him a sharp glare.

"Or that I can't take care of myself —"

 "Of course he doesn't think that!" said Hermione anxiously. 

"So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you all get to join in everything that's going on here?" said Harry, the words tumbling over one another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every word. "How come you all are allowed to know everything that's going on — ?"

 "We're not!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young —"But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL!YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU ALL'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT — WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE?WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED THREE OF YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"

"Just to tell you all that he's shouting, but I am not going to scream at the top of my voice" Briony said as Lily sighed shaking her head.

Every bitter and resentful thought that Harry had had in the past month was pouring out of him; his frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not told about it: All the feelings he was half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries. 

Hedwig took fright at the noise and soared off on top of the wardrobe again; Pigwidgeon twittered in alarm and zoomed even faster around their heads. 

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!" Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, Hermione looked on the verge of tears, while Arilene stood beside him staring at him worriedly. 

"Where's Adalyn? And Regan and Sagira?" Sirius asked as Briony shrugged, "not mentioned yet"

"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?"

 "Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did —" Hermione began. 

"CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR —" 

"Well, he did —"

 "FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE,NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON —"

 "We wanted to —" 

"I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH,HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER —" 

"No, honest —"

 "Harry, we're really sorry!" said Hermione desperately, her eyes now sparkling with tears. "You're absolutely right, Harry — I'd be furious if it was me!"

Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away from them again, pacing up and down. Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creak of the floorboards below Harry's feet. 

"Why is Sirius's home now called order of phoenix" he shot at the three.  "Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix," said Ron at once."Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order of the Phoenix — ?"

 "It's a secret society," said Arilene quickly. "Dumbledore's incharge, he founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know Who last time." 

"We are in the order too right? It was mentioned in the third book" Briony said as James nodded, "Yeah, that's how we went into hiding and made Padfoot the secretkeeper" He said but soon realized the fragility of the situation they just came from and glanced at Sirius. "Yeah well, let's continue" Sirius said once he felt everyone of their group boring their eyes into his head.

"Who's in it?" said Harry, coming to a halt with his hands in his pockets."Quite a few people —"

"— we've met about twenty of them," said Ron, "but we think there are more. . . ." 

Harry glared at them."Well?" he demanded, looking from one to the other."Er," said Ron. "Well what?"

 "Voldemort!" said Harry furiously, and both Ron and Hermione winced. "What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?" 

"We've told you, the Order don't let us in on their meetings," said Hermione nervously. "So we don't know the details — but we've got a general idea —" she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face."Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see," said Ron."They're really useful."

 "Extendable — ?"

 "Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realized what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, youknow —"

"I love those twins, I really do" Sirius whispered as the other three nodded, "Wish I could buy some of their prank stuff"

 "— some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order —" said Arilene sighing. 

"— and some of them are standing guard over something," said Ron. "They're always talking about guard duty."

 "Couldn't have been me, could it?" said Harry sarcastically."Oh yeah," said Ron, with a look of dawning comprehension.Harry snorted. He walked around the room again, looking anywhere but at Ron and Hermione.

 "So what have you all been doing,if you're not allowed in meetings?" he demanded. "You said you'd been busy."

 "We have," said Hermione quickly. "Well sort of, we are helping sirius with cleaning this whole house considering it wasn't used for - AARGH" With two loud cracks, Fred and George, had materialized out of thin air in the middle of the room. 

 "Stop doing that!" Hermione said weakly to the twins, who were as vividly red-haired as Ron, though stockier and slightly shorter.

"Hello, Harry," said George, beaming at him. "We thought we heard your dulcet tones."

"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out," said Fred, also beaming. "There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you."

"Imagine the people sitting in the meeting and hearing a teenager combust on the floor above" Evan snickered joined by Rabastan as Regulus just rolled his eyes, done with the two of them.

"You two passed your Apparation tests, then?" asked Harry grumpily."With distinction," said Fred, who was holding what looked like apiece of very long, flesh-colored string. 

"Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears," he added in response to  Harry's raised eyebrows, holding up the string, which Harry now sawwas trailing out onto the landing. "We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs.""You want to be careful," said Ron, staring at the ear. "If Mum sees one of them again . . ." 

"It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having," said Fred.The door opened and a long mane of red hair appeared."Oh hello, Harry!" said Ron's younger sister, Ginny, brightly. "I thought I heard your voice." Turning to Fred and George she said, "It's no go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door." 

"How d'you know?" said George, looking crestfallen."Tonks told me how to find out," said Ginny. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed.I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap."Fred heaved a deep sigh. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."

"Did I hear Harry?" Someone said from the doorway as they all saw Sagira standing there with a huge grin, "Harry, you're finally here" She said running towards him and engulfing him in a hug. 

"Hey there esmeray" Harry whispered, he didn't wanted to pent out his anger on her. "Hey there Potter" He looked and saw Regan saluting him from his one hand. "Hey there Black" Harry whispered and nodded in his direction. 

"I was waiting for that baby black, I am missing their conversation tho" Marlene said as Marry nodded, "yeah they're so cute together"

Talking about Black, Harry looked around the room in confusion. Almost everyone was there, where is?

"Adalyn's in the library, apparently she found it out while exploring two days back, so she's in there" Arilene said noticing his brother's expression. 

"Well, where's it then?" Harry asked already moving out of the door as everyone looked at each other, "What? Don't give off looks, she's been the only one who gave me some information" He said as Arilene looked at him wide eyed. 

"Huh? She's done what? Why would she-" 

Harry cut off Hermione and looked at Arilene, "Where's the library?" 

Arilene sighed looking at her brother, "First floor, search for the door looking the darkest, almost black" 

"Well we are finally going to have the reunion of the year" James his mouth stretching into a huge grin causing Sirius to groan, "Merline James give it a rest"

"Not until they're together" James said looking at Sirius haughtily.

"I'll read next then" Remus said taking the book.

Next chapter sneak peek:

"You do realize I'm Seeker, right?" Harry called, amusement laced in his voice.

Adalyn rolled her eyes, suppressing a grin. "Good thing I am not a snitch then" she whispered to herself, moving deeper into the labyrinth of shelves.

She reached the far end of the library and pressed herself against the cold wooden shelf, forcing herself to breathe quietly.

Silence.

Had she lost him?

Then—a whisper, right behind her.

"Caught you."

Before she could react, an arm shot out, grabbing her wrist.