Chapter One Hundred And Twenty Six: Information Overload
The four left the bedroom with the intent of going downstairs but before they could Ron flung an arm out stopping them.
"Hold it!" Ron breathed "they're still in the hall, we might be able to hear something."
The four of them looked cautiously over the bannister. The gloomy hallway below was packed with witches and wizards, Lina scammed the crowd looking for Cedric but couldn't see him, though she did spot Snape right in the centre of the group, Harry saw this too and leaned further over the bannister.
A think piece of flesh coloured string descended in front of Lina towards the group of witches and wizards, Lina looked up and saw Fred and George leaning over the bannister above lowering the Extendable Ear, Lina ginned up at them and they grinned back.
A moment later, they all began to move towards the front door and out of sight.
"Damnit" Lina heard Fred whisper as he hoisted the ear back up again.
They heard the door open and then close.
"Snape never eats here," Ron told Harry quietly "thank Merlin c'mon."
"And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, harry" Lina whispered.
As they passed the row of dead house-elf skulls they could see Remus, Mrs Weasley and Tonks doing up the locks and bolts of the front door behind those who had just left.
"We're eating down in the kitchen" Mrs Weasley whispered meeting them at the bottom of the stairs "Harry dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall it's through this door here-"
CRASH.
"Tonks!" Mrs Weasley cried in exasperation looking back at her.
"I'm sorry!" Tonks wailed lying flat on the floor "it's that stupid umbrella stand, that'd the second time I've tripped over-"
The rest of her sentence was drowned out by the wailing of the now uncovered portrait of Lina's grandmother. All down the hall more portraits woke and started to scream.
"DAD!" Lina yelled, she clamped her hands over her ears and made her way over to Tonks, helping her up. "DAD!" Lina yelled again "grandmothers going mental!"
Remus and Mrs Weasley tried to recover the painting but Walburga only screamed louder. "Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half - breeds, mutants, freaks, be gone from this place! How dare you befoul this house of my fathers-"
"SHUT UP!" Lina yelled.
Tonks was apologising over and over again while putting the troll's leg back to a standing position. Mrs Wealsey abandoned her attempt to close the curtains and instead was stunning all the other portrait with her wand.
Lina took her place but the curtain wouldn't budge.
"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut up!" Sirius roared, Lina looked at her father in relief as he grabbed the same bit of curtain she was pulling.
At the sight of Sirius and Lina Wulburga changed what she was yelling.
"Yooooou!" She howled, her eyes popping at the sight of them "blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh! Filthy daughter should never have been born-"
"I said - shut up -!" Sirius roared, with great effort Lina, Sirius and Remus forced the curtain close.
Wulburga's screams died and an echoing silence was left, as well as a ringing in Lina's ears.
Panting slightly, Sirius turned to face Harry "hello Harry," he said grimly "I see you've met my mother."
"Your-"
"My dear old mum, yeah," Sirius said "we've been trying to get her down for a month now but we think she put a permanent sticking charm on the back of the canvas. Let's get downstairs before they all wake up again."
"But what's a portrait of your mother doing here?" Harry asked bewildered not moving.
Sirius looked back at Lina "you didn't tell him?"
"It didn't come up?" Lina said shrugging pathetically.
Sirius shook his head and looked back at Harry "this was my parent's house, but Angel and I are the last Black's left, so it's ours now. I offered it to Dumbledore for headquarters - about the only useful thing I've been able to do" Sirius sounded bitter as he spoke but he had every right to.
Over his shoulder, in the doorway leading down to the kitchen, Cedric stood, he was watching Lina with a mix of amusement and love.
Lina smiled when she saw him and immediately went to him, she buried her face into his chest "if you saw that and still want to be with me It's a bloody miracle."
Cedric chuckled and kissed the top of her head "it's going to take a lot more than a screaming portrait of your dead grandmother to scare me off."
"Cedric, what are you doing here?" Harry asked looking at the boy completely shocked.
Lina stood next to Cedric to allow him to approach Harry. "I'm apart of the Order," he said and held out his hand for Cedric to shake, Harry, looked so relieved that he was alright that Lina was sure he was going to hug Cedric.
"How are you?" Harry asked regaining his composure.
"I'm alright, felt a bit weird when I first woke up and sometimes I struggle with sleep but Eve's been a great help," Cedric said, he looked down at Lina fondly and kissed the top of her head, Lina grinned up at him. Even when Cedric couldn't sleep just looking at a picture of Lina would help.
"So you two are-" Harry said looking between the two.
"Together yes," Lina said "sorry I didn't mention it before."
"It's alright," Harry said, "Cedric I'm really sorry, I-"
"Harry what happened wasn't your fault," Cedric said interrupting Harry "you couldn't have known the cup was a port key if anything I owe you, you saved me multiple times in the maze and you brought me back to Eve."
"Kinda gave us a second chance," Lina said cuddling into Cedric's side "because we were both too dumb to admit our feelings when we should have done so at least a year prior."
"As much as I love hearing about this" Sirius said sarcastically "we should probably go down to the kitchen, there's still a risk the portraits might wake up."
The group went down to the kitchen, Mrs Wealsey cleared her throat and Mr Wealsey who was talking to Bill at the end of the table jumped to his feet.
"Harry!" Mr Wealsey said hurrying forward to greet him and shook his hand "good to see you."
"Journey alright Harry?" Bill called trying to gather up twelve scrolls at once "Mad-Eye didn't make you come via Greenland then?"
"He tried," Tonks said striding over to help Bill, she immediately toppled a candle over the last parchment "oh no - sorry-"
"Dora!" Lina sighed, she rushed forward to help but Mrs Wealsey had pulled out her wand and with a wave of it fixed the parchment. In the flash caused by the spell, Lina caught of glimpse of what looked like a plan for a building.
Mrs Wealsey caught both Lina and Harry looking, she snatched the plan off the table and stuffed it into Bill's already overflowing arms. "This sort of thing ought to be cleared away promptly at the end of meetings" she snapped and went over to the ancient dresser to start unloading dinner plates.
Bill told Lina which spell to use and she pointed her wand at him. "Evanesco!" She said and the scrolls disappeared.
"Sit down Harry," Sirius said, "you've met Mundungus, haven't you?"
The man, who could have easily been mistaken for a pile of rags, gave a prolonged snore and jerked awake "some'n say m'name?" Mundungus mumbled sleepily "I gree with Sirius."
Ginny giggle at the man.
"The meetings over, Dung," Sirius said as they all sat down. Lina in between Cedric and Bill.
"Eh?" Mundungus asked "blimey, so e as. Yeah...you all right, Arry?"
"Yeah" Harry replied.
Mundungus fumbled nervously in his pockets, still staring at Harry he pulled out a black pipe. He stuck it in his mouth, ignited the end of it with his wand and took a deep pull on it. Great billowing clouds of greenish smoke came from it. "Owe you a pology" he grunted.
"For the last time Mundungus" Mrs Wealsey called "will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we're about to eat!"
"Ah," Mundungus said "right, sorry, Molly." The cloud of smoke disappeared as Mundungus out the pipe away but the smell of it lingered.
"And if you want dinner before midnight I'll need a hand," Mrs Wealsey said to the room "no you stay where you are, Harry, dear, you've had a long journey."
"What can I do Molly?" Tonks said enthusiastically bounding forwards.
Mrs Wealsey hesitated "er - no, its all right, Tonks, you have a rest too, you've done enough today."
"No, no I want to help," Tonks said brightly, she rushed towards the dresser which Ginny and Lina were collecting cutlery from, in the process knocking over a chair.
"You're so clumsy," Lina said to her cousin.
Tonks stuck her tongue out at Lina and took the cutlery from her hands.
Lina after getting some more cutlery began to lay it at the end of the table where she was sitting.
"Had a good summer so far?" She heard Sirius ask Harry.
"No, its been lousy" Harry replied.
A ghost of a smile spread across Sirius's face "don't know what you're complaining about, myself."
"What?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Personally, I'd have welcomed a Dementor attack. A deadly struggle for my soul would have broken the monotony nicely. You think you've had it bad, at least you've been able to get out and about, stretch your legs, get into a few fights...I've been stuck inside for a month."
"How come?" Harry asked frowning.
"Because the Ministry of Magic's still after me, and Voldemort will know all about me being an Animagus by now, Wormtail will have told him, so my big disguise is useless. There's not much I can do for the Order of the Phoenix...or so Dumbledore says."
Lina placed the cutlery down and gave Sirius a hug from behind. Sirius smiled slightly and gently tapped his daughter's arm.
"At least you know what's been going on," Harry said.
"Oh yeah," Sirius said sarcastically "listening to Snape's reports, having to take snide comments about Angel and how he's out there risking his life while I'm sat on my backside here having a nice comfortable time being a stay at home dad."
"Git," Lina said and continued to lay the cutlery out.
"Asking me how the cleanings going-"
"What cleaning?" Harry asked.
"Trying to make this place fit for human habitation," Sirius said waving his hand around "no one's lived here for ten years, not since my dear mother's died, unless you count her old house-elf, and he's gone round the twist - hasn't cleaned anything in ages."
Lina finished with the cutlery and sat back in her seat next to Cedric.
"Fred - George - NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs Weasley shirked.
Lina looked at the head of the table just in time for her and Cedric to dive away from the table, Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer and a heavy wooden breadboard complete with a knife to soar through the air towards them. The stew skidded the length of the table and stopped just before the end leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface, the flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash spilling the drink everywhere, the breadknife slipped as the board landed and went point first into the table right where Sirius's hand had just been.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Mr Weasely screamed, "THERE WAS NO NEED - I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS - JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC NOW, YOU DON'T HAVE TO WHIP YOUR WAND OUT FOR EVERY TINY LITTLE THING!"
"We were just trying o save a bit of time!" Fred said hurrying forward to wrench the bread knife out of the table "sorry, Sirius, mate - didn't mean to-"
But Sirius was laughing as was Harry, Lina and Cedric. Mundungus who had fallen backwards off his chair was swearing as he got to his feet.
"Boys," Mr Weasley said, lifting the stew back into the middle of the table "you're mother's right, you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age, like Lina."
"Please don't drag me into this" Lina mumbled so quietly only Cedric heard. This wasn't the first time her name had been dragged into the middle of an argument while everyone was staying at Grimmauld Place.
"None of your brothers caused this sort of trouble!" Mrs Weasley raged at the twins as she clammed a fresh flagon of butterbeer onto the table, almost spilling as much as the first one. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't charm everything he met! Percy-" she stopped dead, catching her breath she gave a frightened look at her husband, whose expression had turned wooden.
"Let's eat," Bill said quickly.
"It looks wonderful Molly," Remus said loading stew on to a plate for her and handed it over the table.
For a few minutes, there was silence, everyone just ate their food. Lina was thinking of something to say when Mrs Wealsey turned to Sirius.
"I've been wanting to tell you, Sirius, there's something trapped in that writing desk in the drawing-room, it keeps rattling and shaking. Of course, it could just be a Boggart but I thought we ought to ask Allister to have a look at it before we let it out."
"Whatever you like," Sirius said indifferently.
"The curtains are full of Doxys too" Mrs Wealsey carried on, "I thought we might try and tackle them tomorrow."
"I look forward to it," Sirius said sarcastically.
Next to Cedric Tonks was entertaining Hermione and Ginny by transforming her nose between mouthfuls. Next to Lina, Bill, Mr Weasley and Remus were having an intense discussion about Goblins. In the middle of the tale, Mundungus was telling stories to Fred, George and Ron much to their amusement and Mrs Weasley's displeasure. She scowled at Mundungus and then shot Sirius a very nasty look.
Lina scowled in her seat, she loved Mrs Wealsey but she loved her dad more and hated when anyone spoke badly of him or gave him nasty looks. Over the weeks she had been living at Grimmauld Place with the Weasley family, Lina picked up the feeling that Mrs Wealsey wasn't too fond of her father.
"It's alright" Cedric whispered into Lina's ear.
Lina jumped slightly and tore her gaze away from the witch, blushing slightly at having been caught "I know" she whispered back looking at her boyfriend "it's just he's my dad."
"He can look after himself, besides we both know it's about Mundungus."
"True."
Cedric looked around to make sure no one was watching the couple as someone usually was "what are you doing tomorrow?" Cedric asked.
"Didn't you hear? I'm cleaning the curtains" Lina said leaning closer to Cedric.
"That's a shame. I was hoping I would get you to myself" Cedric said mimicking Lina's movements.
"Not tomorrow you're not. So..what was the meeting about?"
Cedric chuckled and grinned lazily "you know I can't tell you."
"I can always make you."
"I'd love to see you try."
Lina leaned forward and kissed Cedric hard but at a loud deliberate cough, they broke apart. Sirius was glaring at Cedric, his hand clutching his spoon tightly.
"Dad" Lina said embarrassed, for a second she considered kicking him under the table.
Sirius without saying a word looked away and started a casual conversation with Harry.
"I am never kissing you in front of your dad again," Cedric said.
"Fine by me," Lina said and took a sip of her butterbeer wishing it was pumpkin juice.
Three helpings of rhubarb crumble, in which Lina only the crumble and Cedric ate the rhubarb, they both ate the custard, Lina was feeling full and sleepy.
So was everyone else, Mr Weasley was leaning back in his chair looking relaxed, Tonks was yawning widely, her face back to normal, Ginny was sitting on the floor rolling butterbeer corks for Demeter and Crookshanks to chase and Lina was curled up and leaning in Cedric the best she could.
"Nearly time for bed, I think" Mrs Wealsey said with a yawn.
"Not just yet, Molly," Sirius said pushing his plate away and turned to look at Harry. "You know, I'm surprised at you. I thought the first time you'd do when you got here would be to start asking questions about Voldemort."
The atmosphere in the room immediately changed from sleepy and relaxed to alert and tense.
"I did!" Harry exclaimed, "I asked Lina, Ron and Hermione but they said we're not allowed in the Order, so-"
"And they're quite right," Mrs Weasley said, "you're too young." She was sitting upright in her chair, tense and with her hands balled into tight fists.
"Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions?" Sirius asked "Harry's been trapped in the 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?" Fred said angrily.
"We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing! The only one of us who has gotten close is Lee."
"You're too young, you're not in the Order," Fred said in a high pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mothers "Harry's not even of age!"
"It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," Sirius said calmly "that's your parent's decision. Angel and Harry on the other hand-"
"It's not down to you to decide what's good for them!" Mrs Wealsey said sharply, the expression on her face dangerous. Lina sunk closer into Cedric not feeling comfortable with being dragged into the conversation. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"
"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but he was ready for a fight.
"The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know" Mrs Wealsey said with a heavy emphasis on the last three words.
Ron, Hermione, Fred and George's heads were turning from Sirius to Mrs Weasley. Ginny was kneeling amid the pile of abandoned corkscrews and was watching the conversation with an open mouth Lina and Remus were only looking at Sirius.
"I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly," Sirius said, "but he was the one who saw Voldemort come back, he has more right than most to-"
"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" Mrs Wealsey "he's only fifteen and-"
"And he's dealt with as much as most in the Order, and more than some."
"No one's denying what he's done!" Mrs Wealsey said, the colour rising in her cheeks "he's not James, Sirius!"
"I'm perfectly clear who he is, thanks Molly," Sirius said coldly.
"I'm not sure you are! Sometimes, the way you talk about him, it's as though you think you've got your best friend back!"
"What's wrong with that?" Harry asked.
"Harry, probably best to stay out of this" Lina whispered.
"What's wrong, Harry, is that you are not your father, however much you might look like him!" Mrs Weasley said, her eyes still glaring at Sirius "you are still at school and adults responsible for you should not forget it!"
"Meaning I'm a bad godfather?" Sirius demanded, his voice raising "why not go the full hog and say I'm a bad father too!"
"What I mean Sirius," Mrs Wealsey said, "is that you have been known to act rashly, even when you were married and Lina was a baby, 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!" Sirius said loudly.
"Arthur!" Mrs Weasley said rounding on her husband "Arthur, back me up!"
Mr Weasley didn't reply at once. He took off his glasses and cleaned them on his robes, when he placed them back on he spoke. "Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at headquarters."
"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes."
"Personally," Remus said quietly, finally looking away from Sirius. Mrs Weasley looked at him hopeful that someone was about to be on her side. "I think it better that Harry gets the facts - not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture - from us, rather than a garbled version from others" as he said that he looked fleetingly at Lina who just shrugged innocently back at him.
"Well," Mrs Wealsey said breathing deeply, she looked around the table for support but none came "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 Harry's best interests at heart-"
"He's not your son," Sirius said quietly.
"He's as good as," Mrs Wealsey said fiercely "who else has he got?"
"He's got me!"
"Yes," Mrs Wealsey said her lip curling "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you took to look after not only him but Lina, your daughter while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"
Lina mouth slightly opened in shock, her and Sirius had, had a similar conversation not too long ago more or less about the same thing, it had been horrible for Sirius then, Lina could only imagine how he was feeling now. Sirius started to ride from his chair.
"Molly, you're not the only one at this table that cares about Harry," Remus said "and I think it's best if we leave Lina out of the conversation when she isn't the topic of conversation. Sirius sit down."
Mrs Wealsey was trembling with anger.
Sirius slowly sunk into his chair, his face white.
"I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this" Remus said, "he's old enough to decide for himself."
"I want to know what's been going on" Harry immediately said.
"Very well," Mrs Weasley said her voice cracking "Ginny - Ron - Hermione - Fred - George - Lina - I want you out of this kitchen now."
"Actually Molly," Sirius said loudly "Lina is my daughter, therefore, I get to decide if she gets to stay and I say she can" he looked over at Lina and winked.
"Fine!" Mrs Weasley exclaimed, "the rest out!"
There was an instant uproar.
"We're of age!" Fred bellowed.
"If Lee gets to stay we should be able too as well!" George yelled.
"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" Ron shouted.
"Mum, I want to hear!" Ginny wailed.
"NO!" Mrs Weasley shouted standing up "I absolutely forbid-"
"Molly you cant stop Fred and George" Mr Wealsey said wearily "they are of age."
"They're still at school."
"But they're legally adults now," Mrs Wealsey said in the same tired voice.
Mrs Wealsey was red in the face "I - oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron-"
"Harry'll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!" Ron said hotly "won't - won't you?" He added uncertainly, meeting Harry's eyes
"Course I will," Harry said.
Ron and Hermione beamed at him.
"Fine!" Mrs Wealsey shouted "fine! Ginny - BED!"
Ginny did not go quietly, she screamed and raged at her mother all the way up the stairs to the hall. Ginny's wails awoke Wulburga's portrait, her shrieking screams added to the noise. Remus ran upstairs to shut her up and when he came back downstairs and closed the kitchen door did Sirius speak.
"Ok Harry...what do you want to know?"
Harry took a deep breath and asked "were's Voldemort? What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything."
"That's because there haven't been any deaths yet," Sirius said, "not as far as we know, anyway...and we know quite a lot."
"More than he thinks we do, anyway," Remus said.
"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.
"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself," Sirius said "it would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see, he messed it up."
"Or rather you and Cedric messed it up for him," Remus said with a satisfied smile.
"How?" Harry asked perplexed and looked at Cedric.
"You two weren't supposed to survive," Sirius said "nobody apart from his Death Eaters were supposed to know he'd come back. But you and Cedric survived to bear witness."
"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," Remus said, "and you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."
"How has that helped?" Harry asked.
"Are you kidding?" Bill asked incredulously "Dumbledore was the only one You-Know-Who was ever scared of!"
"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," Sirius said.
"So what's the Order been doing?" Harry asked looking around the table.
"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans>"
"How'd you know what his plans are?" Harry asked quickly.
Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea" Remus said, "Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."
"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"
"Well, firstly, he wants to build up his army again," Sirus said "in the old days he had huge numbers at his command. Witches and wizards he'd bullied or bewitched into following him, his faithful Death Eaters, a great variety of dark creatures. You heard him planning to recruit the giants; well they'll be just one of the groups he's after. He's certainly not going to try and take on the Ministry of Magic with only a dozen Death Eaters."
"So you're trying to stop him getting more followers?"
"We're doing out best," Remus said.
"How?"
"Well, the main thing is to try and convince as many people as possible that You-Know-Who has really returned, to put them on their guard" Bill said, "It's proving tricky."
"Why?"
"Because of the Ministry's attitude," Tonks said "you saw Cornelius Fudge after You-Know-Who came back, Harry. Well, he hasn't shifted his position at all. He's absolutely refusing to believe it's happened."
"But why?" Harry asked desperately "why's he being too stupid? If Dumbledore's-"
"Ah well, you've put your finger on the problem," Mr Wealsey said with a wry smile "Dumbledore."
"Fudge is frightened of him, you see," Cedric said almost sadly.
"Frightened of Dumbledore?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Frightened of what he's up to," Mr Wealsey said, "Fudge thinks Dumbledore's plotting to overthrow him. He thinks Dumbledore wants to be Minister for Magic."
"But Dumbledore doesn't want-"
"Of course he doesn't. He's never wanted the Ministers job, even though a lot of people wanted him to take it when Millicent Bagnold retired. Fudge came to power instead, but he's never quite forgotten how much popular Dumbledore had, even tough Dumbledore never applied for the job."
"Deep down, Fudge knows Dumbledore's much cleverer than he is, a much more powerful wizard, and in the early days of his Ministry he was forever asking Dumbledore for help and advice," Remus said "but it seems he's become fond of power, and much more confident. He loves being Minister for Magic and he's managed to convince himself that he's the clever one and Dumbledore's simply stirring up trouble for the sake of it."
"How can he think that?" Harry asked angrily "how can he think Dumbledore would just make it all up - that I'd make it all up? What about Cedric, is anyone listening to what he has to say?"
"Because accepting that Voldemort's back would mean trouble like the Ministry hasn't had to cope with for nearly thirteen years," Sirius said bitterly "Fudge just can't bring himself to face it. It's so much more comfortable to convince himself that Dumbledore's lying to destabilise him. And as for Cedric, the Ministry did report him waking up but they said that the events of what happened have left Cedric's mind foggy and unstable."
"Foggy and unstable my ass" Cedric grumbled, Lina, rubbed her thumb over his knuckled "I know what happened," Cedric said louder "and they can silence me but it's only gonna bite them in the ass."
"You see the problem," Remus said "while the Ministry insists that there is nothing to fear from Voldemort it's hard to convince people he's back, especially as they really don't want to believe it in the first place. What's more, the Ministry's leaning heavily on the Daily Prophet not to report any of what they're calling Dumbledore's rumour-mongering, so most of the wizarding community are completely unaware anything's happened, and that makes them easy targets for the Death Eaters if they're using the Imperius Curse."
"But you're telling people aren't you?" Harry asked looking around the table "you're letting people know he's back."
They all smiled humourlessly.
"Well, as everyone thinks I'm a mad mass murderer and the Ministry's out a ten thousand Galleon price on my head, I can hardly stroll up the streets and start handing out leaflets, can I?" Sirius said restlessly.
"And I'm not a very popular dinner guest with most of the community," Remus said, "it's an occupational hazard of being a werewolf."
"Tonks and Arthur would lose their jobs at the Ministry if they started shooting their mouths off," Sirius said "and it's very important for us to have spies inside the Ministry because you can bet Voldemort will have them. We're trying to get Cedric into the Ministry too but that's taking a bit of time."
"Yeah due to my foggy and unstable mind," Cedric said bitterly.
Lina craned her neck up and kissed his forehead.
"We've managed to convince a couple of people though," Mr Wealsey said, "Tonks here, for one - she's too young to have been in the Order of the Phoenix last time, and having Aurors on our side is a huge advantage - Kingsley Shacklebolt's been a real asset too, he's in charge of the hunt for Sirius, so he's been feeding the Ministry information that Sirius is in Tibet."
"But if none of you are putting the news out that Voldemort's back-" Harry began.
"Who said none of us are putting the news out?" Sirius asked, "why d'you think Dumbledore's in such trouble?"
"What'd you mean?" Harry asked.
"They're trying to discredit him," Remus said "didn't you see the Daily Prophet last week? They reported that he'd been voted out of the Chairmanship of the International Confederation of Wizards because he's getting old and losing his grip, but that's not true; he was voted out by Ministry wizards after he made a speech announcing Voldemort's return. They've demoted him from Chief Warlock on the Wizengamont - that's the wizard high court - and they're talking about taking away his Order of Merlin, First Class, too."
"But Dumbledore says he doesn't care what they do as long as they don't take him off the chocolate frog cards," Bill said grinning.
"It's not a laughing matter," Mr Weasley said sharply "if he carries on defying the Ministry like this he could end up in Azkaban, and the last thing we want is to have Dumbledore locked up. While You-Know-Who knows Dumbledore's out there and wise to what he's up to he's going to go cautiously. If Dumbledore's out of the way - well, You-Know-Who will have a clear field.
"But if Voldemort's trying to recruit more Death Eaters it's bound to get out that he's come back, isn't it?" Harry asked desperately.
"Voldemort doesn't march up to peoples houses and bang on their front doors, Harry," Sirius said "he tricks, jinxes and blackmails them. He's well practised at operating in secret. In any case, gathering followers is only one thing he's interested in. He's got other plans too, plans he can put into operation very quickly indeed and he's concentrating on those for the moment."
"What's he after apart from followers?"
Sirius and Remus shared the most fleeting of looks.
"Stuff he can only get by stealth" Sirius answered. Harry looked at his godfather so Sirius elaborated "like a weapon, something he didn't have last time."
"When he was powerful before?" Harry asked.
"Yes."
"What kind of weapon? Something worse than Avada Kedavra?"
"That's enough!" Mrs Wealsey snapped. Lina hadn't noticed her return from taking Ginny to bed. Mrs Wealsey arms were crossed "I want you in bed, now. All of you" she added looking at Lina, Fred, George, Ron and Hermione.
"You can't boss us-" Fred began.
"Watch me" Mrs Wealsey snarled. She was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius "you've given Harry plenty of information. Any more and you might just as well induct him into the Order straight away."
"Why not?" Harry asked quickly "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight."
"No," Remus said "the Order is comprised only of overaged wizards," he said "wizards who have left school" he added as Lina, Fred and George opened their mouths "there are dangers involved in which you can have no idea, any of you...I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough."
Sirius half shrugged but did not argue.
Mrs Wealsey beckoned the kids up and one by one they rose.
"Angel doesn't have to go to bed yet is she doesn't want to," Sirius said, he crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair looking at Mrs Wealsey challengingly.
"Sirius" Remus sighed as Mrs Wealsey opened her mouth to argue.
"She's my daughter" Sirius argued.
"Who's very tired," Lina said loudly, she wasn't a bit but if it stopped an argument from brewing she'd swear she was about to fall asleep at the table. "I'm going to go to bed" she turned to Cedric "do you want to stay over tonight?" She asked him quietly.
"Ye-" Cedric caught sight of not only Sirius shaking his head but Bill who was glaring at him "not tonight," he said instead.
Lina glared at Bill, her gaze softened on Cedric "fine" she leant up and kissed him "I love you."
Cedric pecked her lips "I love you too."
"Are you staying tonight Dora?" Lina asked as she stood up.
"Nah" Tonks replied, "best go home, I'll say hi to mum and dad for you though."
"Thanks."
Lina said an individual goodnight to everyone in the room, Bill's included a half effort slap on the head and left the kitchen following the other upstairs.