Dinner was ready soon after the unpleasant encounter with the portrait of Walburga Black. I took a chair next to Ginny, and Tonks sat on my other side.
"Wotcher, Ella!" she greeted me with a smile. Her hair was a vibrant bubble-gum pink, much different than the violet color she had before.
"Hi, Tonks!" I grinned. "I love your hair."
"Thanks! I was getting a bit bored of the violet, and I reckon it makes me look a bit peaky."
"Maybe I should try out something different..." I thought aloud.
"Go for it!" Tonks said.
"Really?" I focused for a moment on a light rose color. Unlike Tonks, I preferred to keep my hair color easy on the eyes. "How does that look?"
"Wicked!" Tonks said enthusiastically.
"It looks great on you!" Ginny exclaimed.
I looked to Hermione, who was on the other side of Ginny, for her opinion.
"It's lovely, Ella," she said earnestly.
"Well, maybe I will take a break from the purple, then."
My ring flashed suddenly, and I looked down the table to see Fred grinning at me.
"What?" I mouthed to him.
"You're gorgeous," he mouthed in response.
***
After a filling dinner, Mrs. Weasley was eager to get us off to bed.
"Not just yet, Molly," said Sirius, pushing away his empty plate and turning to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first thing you'd do when you go here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."
My stomach tightened at the name. No matter how long I stayed at Grimmauld Place, I still wasn't used to people using his name.
"I did!" said Harry indignantly. "I asked Ron, Hermione, and Ella but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so—"
"And they're quite right," said Mrs. Weasley. "You're too young."
"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" asked Sirius. "Harry's been trapped in that Muggle house for a month. He's got the right to know what's been happen—"
"Hang on!" George interrupted loudly.
"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily.
"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George.
I nodded in agreement. If my sister and mother were in the Order, why couldn't I know what was going on?
"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing." said Sirius calmly. "That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand—"
"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply. "He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix! He's only fifteen and—"
"— and he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," said Sirius, "and more than some—"
"No one's denying what he's done!" said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising. "But he's still—"
"He's not a child!" said Sirius impatiently.
"He's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the color rising in her cheeks. "He's not James, Sirius!"
"Don't you think he knows that?!" the voice of my mother shouted from outside the kitchen.
She walked in looking furious. I wasn't sure where she had been at dinner, but clearly she had arrived as this argument began.
Miranda strutted in right behind her, looking excited. Clearly, everyone else's anger was entertaining her.
"I'm not sure he does!" said Mrs. Weasley. "Sometimes, the way he talks about him, it's as though he thinks he's got his best friend back!"
"What's wrong with that?" said Harry.
"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!" said Mrs. Weasley, her eyes still boring into Sirius. "You are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"
"Meaning I'm an irresponsible godfather?" demanded Sirius.
"Meaning you've been known to act rashly, Sirius, which is why Dumbledore keeps reminding you to stay at home and—"
"We'll leave my instructions from Dumbledore out of this, if you please!" said Sirius loudly.
"Personally," said Remus quietly, "I think it's better that Harry gets the facts— not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture— from us, rather than a garbled version from...others."
"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply, "well... I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much, and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interest at heart—"
"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly.
"He's as good as," said Mrs. Weasley fiercely. "Who else has he got?"
"He's got me!" my mother and Sirius exclaimed in unison.
"Yes," Mrs. Weasley looked at my mother, her lip curling. "The thing is, it's been rather difficult for you two to look after him while Sirius has been locked up in Azkaban and you've been running around on 'Auror business', hasn't it?"
In all my fifteen years of life, I have never seen my mother so angry. She balled up her fists and took a deep breath, like she was trying to submerge the rage inside her.
Miranda, on the other hand, had different ways of handling her feelings. She stomped right up to Mrs. Weasley with a dark look in her eye.
But before she could do or say anything rash, Remus jumped up from his chair and grabbed her arms, pinning them behind her back.
"Let me go!" she yelled, trying to squirm out of Lupin's grip. "She can't say those things about my mother! Let GO—!"
The screaming died down as Miranda was dragged out into the hall. After Remus returned and Miranda did not, my mother spoke.
"You can't judge me for what I did or didn't do for Harry." she said rather calmly. "I begged Dumbledore to give me Harry that night. But he insisted that I go into hiding almost immediately. If I had known..." she paused for a moment.
I glanced at Sirius, who looked completely crestfallen. Even Mrs. Weasley's expression seemed to soften.
"If I had known that was the last time I would have seen my godson, I would have put up a hell of a fight." she looked at Harry with a look in her eye I hadn't seen before. "I'm so sorry, Harry. Really, I am."
"Very well," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice cracking. "Ginny— Ron— Hermione— Ella— Fred— George— I want you out of this kitchen, now."
There was instant uproar.
"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together.
"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron.
Mrs. Weasley finally gave in, though she sent Ginny up to bed anyway.
"Okay, Harry..." Sirius said. "What do you want to know?"
***
According to Sirius, Mr. Weasley, and the remaining Order members in the kitchen, You-Know-Who has been trying to recruit more followers.
This meant the Order was also trying to get more people on our side as well. But the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, doesn't want to admit that You-Know-Who came back.
"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters, it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" asked Harry.
"Voldemort doesn't march up to people's houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," said Sirius. "He tricks, jinxes, and blackmails them. He's well-practiced at operating in secrecy. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in."
"What's he after apart from followers?" asked Harry.
"Stuff he can only get by stealth. Like a weapon. Something he didn't have last time." Sirius said.
"Like what kind of weapon?" said Harry. "Something worse than the Avada Kedavra—?"
"That's enough." Mrs. Weasley spoke up. "I want you in bed, now. All of you."
"You can't boss us—" Fred began.
"Watch me," snarled Mrs. Weasley. She looked to Sirius now. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway."
"Why not?" said Harry quickly. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight—"
"No." Lupin said at once. "The Order is comprised only of overage wizards. Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths. "There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you..."
I trailed behind the boys and Hermione as we left the kitchen. When we reached the hall, I stayed put, hoping to speak to my mother before I went to bed.
After five minutes and no sign of her, I hurried back to the kitchen door. It was open just a crack, and I leaned in to see inside.
Sirius and my mother were the only ones left in the kitchen. They were facing away from me, and Sirius was rubbing my mother's back.
"I want to be there for him," my mother said softly. "I want to be there for all three of them."
"They'll understand one day," Sirius replied. "They know you love them."
"My girls, sure. But Harry? I've been away from him for far too long. I broke my promise to Lily. Things aren't the same as they used to be, Sirius." my mother said, her voice breaking.
"I know."