Soon after the funeral, we all boarded the Hogwarts Express, ready to go back home, knowing that nothing was going to be the same as it had been before.
Ron, Ginny, and I met Mrs. Weasley in King's Cross station and she got us back to the Burrow.
"Thank you so much for taking me in all these years, Mrs. Weasley," I said as we walked toward the house.
"Of course, dear." She gave me a kind smile. "You're one of us now."
Feeling my heart lift up at those, I stepped into the Weasleys' house along with the others.
That night, we were joined by Mr. Weasley, Sirius, and Bill who walked around supported by Fluer. But no one talked much and there was no sign of cheerfulness among them.
"Why have you come alone, Sirius?" Mrs. Weasley asked him the moment Sirius walked into the house just in time for dinner.
"She went to the Ministry undercover to see what's been happening on Voldemort's side now that Dumbledore's dead," Sirius explained, joining the rest of us inside the kitchen.
Ginny, Ron, and I looked around at each other, confused. I could only assume that he was talking about his new girlfriend, if that was what she was called.
"Well, good that you could make it," said Mrs. Weasley, smiling. "Remus sent an owl earlier and said he has an announcement to make when he arrives."
Mrs. Weasley then waved her wand, causing the plates to fly toward the table and landed in front of each of us as she placed the food dishes there as well.
"I just got news from Moody," said Mr. Weasley as he filled up his plate. "The Order will come here first thing tomorrow to put the enchantments on the house for Harry's arrival."
"So it's settled, then?" Mrs. Weasley asked. "Harry will be moved here?"
"Yes." Sirius nodded. "Moody's still working out a plan on how we're supposed to get Harry here. We obviously can't use the Floo Network or Apparition, because Voldemort has probably had his men in the Ministry by now."
"So when will he be moving?" Mrs. Weasley asked them apprehensively.
"Before his birthday," Mr. Weasley answered. "We'll probably have to Confund someone at the Ministry to give out false information about the date of his transfer. Once Harry's here, You-Know-Who can no longer reach him."
"Unless the Ministry falls," said Sirius. "That way, if Voldemort gets control over the Ministry, they can more easily break the protective enchantments around the house."
"How come?" Ron asked, slightly frowning.
"Because half of the enchantments that's around this house at the moment has been set by the Ministry last year, under Dumbledore's orders," Mr Weasley explained. "But members of the Order will show up tomorrow to make it better protected."
"W-well, I'm sure everything will turn out all right," said Mrs. Weasley, trying to sound hopeful to ease the tension that had taken over the atmosphere of the room.
But our moods were surely picked up when after an hour or two, there was a small knock at the door and Lupin came in along with Tonks.
"Hello!" Tonks said cheerfully as they walked into the living room where the rest of us were gathered.
"Er..." Lupin started rather uncomfortably as everyone in the room stared between them, waiting to see what their big news was. So he cleared his throat, saying, "We have a little announcement —"
"WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!"
Tonks cut him off loudly and wiggled her left hand's fingers to show us her ring, causing everyone's eyes to widen out of shock, but I only smiled broadly.
No one said anything due the sudden surprise, probably because none of them expected the two to get engaged so quickly.
But the first to break the silence was Sirius, who promptly got to his feet and sprang forward, bringing Lupin into a hug.
"Congratulations, Moony," Sirius said quietly as Lupin chuckled and hugged him back. "You finally got the girl."
"Thanks, Padfoot." Lupin smiled warmly and I felt happy tears glimmering in my eyes.
Smiling, Sirius then pulled away to hug Tonks. "Congrats, cousin."
"Oh, Lord! This is wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, clapping her hands together as she went forward to hug the couple in turns and we all congratulated them.
Mr. Weasley quickly went to the kitchen to get us all Butterbeer to celebrate the amazing occasion.
Around an hour later, Fred and George showed up as well after they had closed their shop for the night, joining us in the celebration.
"So have you picked a date for the wedding yet?" Sirius asked them cheerfulness.
He and Lupin had a few glasses of Fire Whiskey and seemed giddier than the rest of us with happiness.
"The sooner, the better," said Tonks. "And we've decided to keep it quiet. Because of — you know..."
"The Ministry of Magic has recently passed an anti-werewolf legislation that's not much favorable to us," said Lupin rather gloomily. "So we'll have to get married as soon as possible."
"Let me guess," Ginny started angrily, "it was drafted by that Umbridge woman, wasn't it?"
"Umbitch," Fred, George, and I corrected her at the same time.
Sirius snorted in laughter. "Nice one."
"Well, now that we're announcing stuff," I started, clearing my throat to grab everyone's attention, "Fred and I also wanted to tell you guys something."
Fred gave me a confused look sideways. "We do?"
"Yes." I nodded with a chuckle before turning back to face the others again. "Fred's been asking for quit some while, and I thought there was no point in waiting, seeing as I'm almost seventeen and have no official home —"
"Get to the point!" Sirius snarled through gritted teeth and broke me off, already seeing where this was going.
So I grinned, saying, "I thought I would move in with Fred."