Next Time Around

Order Meeting

Mister Koll had burst out into tears. 'My son! My son is on the list! Please tell me there is a mistake!' He had turned himself to Harry, who was slightly uncomfortable by now. 'It can't be, Potter! There's been a mistake!'

Harry bit on his lower lip and looked away. He swallowed with difficulty. 'I... It's... unless he could lie though the truth serum I'm afraid it is the truth. Your son is a Death Eater.'

Koll gasped. 'no!' he choked out. 'No! Please...' a shiver wracked his body.

Moody growled. 'Damn it.'

Bill smirked and held out his hand. Grumbling, Moody pulled out two galleons and handed them over to Bill. The rest of the Order watched incredulously.

'Did you guys honestly bet if Rowan,' who was Koll's son, Harry quickly realized, 'was a Death Eater?' Arthur asked.

'Well...' Bill said with a glance at Molly, who was not looking happy in the slightest 'I mean he really didn't seem that trustworthy, right?' Molly's piercing stare turned into a glare.

'We do not judge people by how they "look" William.'

Bill gulped. 'Ehh...' he stammered 'well you see..'

Molly was rapidly turning red. 'WHAT ABOUT MUNDUGUS THEN? YOU REMEMBER HIM? HE DIED! FUNNY, HUH? WAS HE NOT TRUSTWORTHY EITHER, PERHAPS? DID YOU BET ON HIM TOO? WELL?' she was on the verge of crying. If it was in despair or anger, Harry wasn't sure. He decided not to mention that Molly hadn't trusted Mundugus either.

Bill coughed and turned red. He swallowed with difficulty as he looked away from his fuming mother. It was dead silent for a while. Then Molly gave him a grim smile and mouthed: 'We will talk later.'. From red, Bill's face turned white so fast Harry was afraid he might have fainted if it were not for the supportive backrest of his chair.

Moody, after checking Molly's legendary temper wouldn't descend onto him as well, went on cautiously. 'All right everyone. Focus. Please write down what you know about these people.'

For a while the only thing heard was the scribbling of quills and the sniffling of mister Koll. After a while Moody looked around and saw most people finished. 'Right then. If everyone is just about done, please give your parchments to miss Granger. Granger, it is your job to give an overview of this mess.'

Hermione nodded and gathered the papers, then packed them up to review later. 'On that note' she said 'I would like to proceed to the next point on the agenda. I have news from Charlie. He is in Romania. After some negotiations, the dragons there have decided on neutrality. Charlie said something about that being the most beneficial for them.' She pursed her lips. 'Well at least they are not allied with Vol- with You-Know-Who.'

Ah yes... the taboo... Harry hated the damn thing. He had taken to calling Voldemort the Dark Lord. At least that didn't express fear, merely respect. And Harry had lots of respect for Voldemort. Even Harry had to acknowledge that the man had dueling skills in spades and was an absolutely great leader. Unfortunately.

Harry turned his attention back to Hermione. She had not stopped talking, and had gotten deeper into her rapport about the information she had received from Order members around the world. Harry paid only a little attention and really only focused when he heard her mention Hogwarts.

'... at Hogwarts, I propose one of us goes to the Dark Forest, for Jimmy -Scrimgeour's child I mean. He has sent us a coded note telling us about the situation there.'

At this Rufus Scrimgeour, former Minister of Magic, leaned forward in his chair. 'What?' he whispered hoarsely, 'Jimmy is still alive? That can't be true- I... I need to see him.'

Hermione dipped her head a bit, biting her lip to contain a small smile. 'you just might. I can't say to much now, but he gave us a time. To meet him, perhaps.'

'Right...' Moody said shortly, uncomfortable with addressing the emotions hanging heavily in the air. 'On to the next point.' He started as his magical eye rolled to the back of his head. 'Hello Tonks,' he said, just before she rounded the corner.

Tonks had intended to slide into the room largely unnoticed, and smiled at Moody, a little annoyed. A far cry from her usual joyous vibe, but better than before. 'I found Remus' head' she said.

Arthur, who had just took a sip of water, spewed it out onto the table. 'You what? What in God's name would you do with his head?'

Tonks' face lit up. 'Morph my face into his and kiss myself through the mirror! Now I know exactly how he looked.'

Arthur, who had just recovered from his previous coughing fit and had taken another sip, again spit it out. He managed a weak smile and choked out 'lovely idea Tonks... really.'

'Are you ok?' She asked? 'You look a little green...'

'Fine, fine' Arthur said, waving her off weakly. Harry had a hard time keeping his laughter in- just like- it seemed, a couple of others. Scrimgeour looked slightly constipated. Bill's shoulders shook. Diggle fell out of his chair with silent giggles. McGonagall coughed. 'People. The meeting.' She said, looking around with her lips pinched into a thin line.

'... right.' Arthur said. 'Please, do go on.'

Moody looked pointedly at Bill. 'Right.' Bill said. 'I've been doing some research in Egypt... this was a little while back. I needed some people to go with me to break open an ancient temple, placed there by the Egyptians thousands of years ago. It seems like there were some ritual rooms and offering places there that might have given us a great help in the war. Unfortunately, the project was abandoned- there were far more pressing matters. But with everything going on lately, I was hoping that Moody and Tonk... well actually never mind... Moody and... Koll.' Bill cleared his throat, his face red and clearly rather embarrassed about the whole situation. He tried again. 'I hoped that Moody and Koll would accompany me there for a few days to break through the more intricate wards.'

Moody stared at him for a couple of seconds before blinking and offering Bill a smile, though it looked more like a grimace on his scarred face. 'Alright. We will go. There's some stuff we have to take care of first, but well go.'

'Now. Anyone else something to say?' Moody looked around. There was a soft murmuring on one side of the table, until Moody shot them a look clearly stating "I really don't want questions. Let's just end the meeting.". Eventually Molly said 'Gosh, would you look at the time! I really must start dinner.' And promptly walked away. That seemed like the incentive the others needed, and soon the meeting was adjourned.

Harry too stood up and left the table, feeling slightly useless. The only assignment he had gotten was to look after the people in the makeshift infirmary. Well. Better then what a couple of the newbies had gotten. Cleanup duties and administrative tasks. Ugh. Harry felt almost lucky in comparison.

Harry was about to exit the house to go to the big tables outside used for the meals, when Arthur stopped him, looking unusually grim. 'Harry, wait a second. I need to ask you something.'

Harry stood still and turned around. 'Yes?'

'Would you please help us with the interrogations? You are one of our best under stress.'

Harry hesitated. 'Mister Weasley... I can't...' he sighed and looked away. 'You know that's not true. Why are you asking me to... question... someone?'

Arthur looked at him pleadingly. 'it wasn't my decision, Harry. We all agreed that you would be the best candidate. And if not you, someone else will have to, and with your-' he coughed awkwardly- 'visions, we figured you knew how to... interrogate.'

Harry internally cursed his martyr-complex. He gave Arthur a long-suffering sigh. 'Ok. As long as that means no one else has to do it.'

Arthur let out a relieved puff of air and gave him a thankful half-smile. 'Thanks. Means a lot Harry.'

Harry scowled and started to turn back to the food banquet. 'Yeah sure. Now go. I want to eat. I will question the scumbags tomorrow.'

Yet another chapter done! I can't believe it! Liked it? Hated it? Tell me! Please leave reviews. Next chapter interrogation- interesting stuff guys, interesting stuff.

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