Year 5 at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
It had been a seemingly long summer, that was for sure, and I hadn't seen any of my friends during it. My parents and I had spent the entire two months in Italy where my mother's other sister lived, but it wasn't necessarily for good reasons. My parents wanted to move, and to them Italy seemed perfect.
To me it seemed terrible. It was so far away from everything and everyone I loved, the most important of course being Hogwarts. I told them I couldn't go, or to at least wait until I was done with my schooling, but they were adamant. They wanted to do it as soon as possible, but luckily nothing had become set in stone by the time the next school year arrived, giving me at least one more year.
A whole summer in Italy also meant a whole summer away from George, which had been hard considering things were a little shaky when I left. I was just so broken over the whole Cedric thing that I had been distant from everyone, and by the time I actually wanted someone around, I was miles away from everyone but my parents.
Heading up the steps of the small, creaky house, I located the bedroom that Mrs. Weasley had directed me to and opened the door to see two of my favourite people in the world. "Yavana!" Hermione ran over and gave me a hug as I dropped my bag to the floor, hugging her back.
"I missed you guys so much." I sighed, knowing that they both understood why I was slightly emotional. Like I had promised, I wrote to them, which pretty much just meant I kept them in the loop with the Italy plans.
Pulling me in for a hug, Ron smiled. "I feel like you never left. George's been talking about you coming back all summer."
The biggest news thus far however was not me possibly moving. No, it was the fact that Harry had used magic outside of school─which was against the rules for students under seventeen─because he had been attacked by a dementor.
As if on cue, Harry walked through the door right then. "Oh, Harry." I hugged him.
"Are you all right?" Hermione asked him. "We overheard them talking about the Dementor attack. You must tell us everything."
Ron sighed. "Let the man breathe, Hermione."
"And this hearing at the Ministry. It's just outrageous." Hermione added. "I've looked it up. They simply can't expel you. It's completely unfair."
"Yeah." Harry sighed as he carried his bag into the room. "There's a lot of that going round at the moment. So, what is this place?"
"It's headquarters," Ron answered, explaining why I saw people like Sirius Black sitting in the kitchen when I arrived. "Of the Order of the Phoenix. It's a secret society. Dumbledore formed it back when they first fought You-Know-Who."
Harry looked around the small room. "Couldn't have put any of this in a letter, I suppose? I've gone all summer without a scrap of news."
"We wanted to write, mate. Really, we did." Ron nervously shoved his hands in his pockets. "Only..."
"Only what?"
"Only Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you anything." Hermione spat it out, giving this information to Harry and me for the first time.
Harry stared at Hermione, his hair cut shorter than it was last year. "Dumbledore said that? But why would he keep me in the dark? Maybe I could help. I'm the one who saw Voldemort return...the one who fought him, who saw Cedric Diggory get killed."
"Harry." Fred and George popped into the room, making us all jump. "Thought we heard your dulcet tones. Don't bottle it up, though, mate. Let it out."
As soon as they stopped talking to Harry, they both turned to me and George's eyes widened. He hadn't known I was back yet on account of they were both nowhere to be found when I arrived minutes before. "George!" I practically jumped into his arms. "You cut your hair! You look so different. You, too, Fred."
George absentmindedly placed a small kiss on my cheek, obviously not really caring that there were four other people in the room. "So?" he looked me in the eyes. "Are you going? Are you moving?"
"Not this year." I smiled. "But my parents still want to go."
"Move?" Harry turned to me. "Where are you going?"
"Nowhere...yet." I sighed. "For now, let's not worry about it."
Fred nodded. "Anyway, if you're all done shouting...do you wanna hear something a little more interesting?"
Heading to the top of the staircase, Fred lowered down a magic ear on a string, which allowed us to hear what was going on in the kitchen below using a second ear. "If anyone has a right to know, it's Harry. If it wasn't for Harry...we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back. He's not a child, Molly."
"But he's not an adult either. He's not James, Sirius."
"Well, he's not your son."
"He's as good as. Who else has he got?"
Walking over, Ginny joined us before we heard Sirius' voice again. "He's got me."
"How touchingly paternal, Black." Snape huffed. "Perhaps Potter will grow up to be a felon, just like his godfather."
"Now, you stay out of this, Snivellus."
Looking up, Harry cocked a brow. "Snape's part of the Order?"
Ron nodded. "Git."
Seconds later, Hermione's cat started swatting at the dangling ear on the ground before biting down on it, tearing it from the string and running off. Hermione had tried to stop it, but there wasn't much she could do from two stories up.
"Hermione, I hate your cat." Ron reminded her just in case she'd forgotten.
After that, we all headed down the steps towards the kitchen. "Well, we'll be eating down in the kitchen." Mrs. Weasley smiled before Fred and George popped up behind her, them both being seventeen and allowed to use magic outside of the school now. "Ah!" she gave them a slap as they ran off. "Just because you're allowed to use magic now does not mean you have to whip your wands out for everything."
"You sure you're all right, Harry?" Mr. Weasley walked out. "Gave us quite a turn."
"Harry Potter." Sirius walked out with Lupin by his side.
"Sirius." Harry gave him a hug.
Turning to me, Mrs. Weasley rested a hand on my shoulder. "Any new news?"
"Not yet." I sighed. "They're still in Italy looking for somewhere, so I flew back alone. They just...they just don't feel Hogwarts is very safe anymore."
"If you ever need a place to stay, you know you are welcome here," she assured me. "And I also must congratulate you. Ron and Fred let it slip about you and George, and we are all very happy for you."
Heading into the kitchen, I sat down at the long table beside George as he glared at Hermione's cat. "This is very, very peculiar." Mr. Weasley said to Harry,."It seems your hearing in the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot."
"I don't understand." Harry sighed. "What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?"
"Show him." Professor Moody spoke up. "He'll find out soon enough."
The room went silent for a while before a man in odd-looking robes finally handed Harry a newspaper with accusations against Harry on the front cover along with statements from Cornelius Fudge. "He's been attacking Dumbledore as well," Sirius informed Harry. "Fudge is using all his power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet...to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned."
"Why?" Harry questioned.
Lupin linked his fingers together. "The Minister thinks Dumbledore's after his job."
"But that's insane. No one in their right mind could believe that..."
Lupin nodded. "Exactly the point. Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear. Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power...he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now he's returned, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth."
"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again," Sirius added. "Fourteen years ago, he had huge numbers at his command. And not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures. He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in. We believe...Voldemort may be after something."
"Sirius-" Moody warned.
"Something he didn't have last time."
Harry cocked a brow. "You mean like a weapon?"
"No. That's enough." Mrs. Weasley ordered. "He's just a boy. You say much more and you might as well induct him into the Order."
"Good. I want to join." Harry told her. "If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight."