Eagle's Flight // Frarry

Summer 4.23

Hi, everyone. I don't have anything to say, so on to the chapter

In the midst of all this, Remus and Sirius were very busy with the Order of Phoenix. Harry wasn't allowed to attend meetings since he was underage, and frankly, he was fine with letting the adults handle things.

It was toward the end of the summer when he received a delightful surprise.

A loud crack sounded directly in front of him, and Harry found himself being smothered in someone's arms.

"Surprise!" a familiar voice said.

"Fred!" Harry exclaimed happily. "I see you passed your Apparation test."

"With distinction," Fred said proudly.

"Let me guess, you Apparate everywhere you go now."

"No," Fred denied. "Almost everywhere."

"Eh, same difference." Harry sat down on the bed. "So how is everyone? You and George driving everyone nuts?"

"Of course!" Fred looked offended that Harry even thought to ask. "Bill applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order. He says he misses the tombs, but there are compensations..."

"Compensations?"

"Fleur Delacour's got a job at Gringotts and Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons."

"What about Charlie?"

"He's in the Order, too, but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off."

"And Percy?" Harry asked.

At once, the smile on Fred's face dropped.

"He doesn't believe Voldemort's back, does he?" Harry guessed, more resigned than surprised.

"No, he doesn't," Fred said heavily. "He and Dad had a row. Never seen anything like it. Percy was promoted, but Dad thinks it's only to keep an eye out on us. Make sure we aren't in contact with Dumbledore."

"Oh." Harry rolled his eyes. He was very aware that the Daily Prophet was making him out to be an attention-seeking person that couldn't tell the truth if it bit him in the arse.

The sound of footsteps hailed the arrival of Mrs. Weasley. "The meeting's over, you can come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. Come along."

Fred grabbed Harry's hand and they walked out onto the landing. "Wait," Fred said. "They're still in the hall."

They looked over the bannisters. A group of wizards and witches were whispering excitedly in the hallway, clustered around Professor Snape.

A thin piece of flesh-colored string descended in front of them. Raising his head, Harry saw George with Ginny, Ron, and Hermione.

"An Extendable Ear," Fred whispered as the knot of people moved out the front door. "Very useful. Unfortunately, Mum put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door. Wouldn't be able to hear anything."

They made it to the first floor and headed for the kitchen. Harry winced as Tonks tripped over the umbrella stand, causing the portrait of Sirius' mother to begin her caterwauling. Sirius came running up and scrambled to shut the curtains.

"Well, there's that one for the week," he said in false cheerfulness.

"For the week?" George whispered.

"She likes to remind us of her presence," Harry replied.

Ginny snorted. "Sounds like a lovely woman."