Chapter Two:
Hermione POV
When the door opened of Ronald's room, Hermione couldn't help but bound and leap towards the messy haired boy. She wrapped her arms around her best friend's neck. The move almost sent Harry flying back into the door that he came through. "Harry!" She smiled happily. "Ron! He's here! Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have... I know our letters have been useless—but we couldn't tell you so much, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't..." she could've continued but a pair of hands pulled her arms away from the Chosen One's neck.
"Let him breathe, Hermione." Ron closed the door behind Harry and smiled at his friend.
Hedwig flew into the room and landed on Harry's shoulder. "She pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this rubbish." Ron held up his right hand and showed off the sported deep cuts that were on his fingers from the owl.
"Sorry about that..." Harry said coldly. "I wanted answers, you know..."
Ron flushed slightly. "We wanted to give them to you, mate. We really did! Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us swear—"
"—swear not to tell me. Yeah, Hermione's already said that." Harry crossed his arms across his chest and Hermione's stomach dropped.
There was an awkward silence that filled the room as Hermione tried to think of what to say to make her friend feel better. She tried to imagine if the roles were reversed how she would feel if Ron and Harry were keeping information from her and she was abandoned in the dark by herself with no knowledge and answers. The thought made her shudder.
"I think Dumbledore thought it best you were with the muggles to stay away from all the evil right now in the Wizarding world." Ron suggested but that was clearly not the right thing to say.
Harry had a flame in his green eyes. "Yea? Safe huh? Were either of you attacked by dementors this summer?"
Hermione shook her head. "No... but that's why Dumbledore made sure that people from the Order of Phoenix tailed you all this time—"
"Didn't work that well, though, did it?"
The Gryffindor girl tried to continue and put her hand against her friend's shoulder, feeling the ratty flannel shirt under her palm. "Dumbledore was so angry when he found out. We saw him when he heard that Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. It was rather scary."
"Well I'm not. I'm happy it happened so I finally got answers. Why has Dumbledore been keeping in the dark anyhow?"
Ron shrugged. "He must've thought that was best. Besides, we have been left out of loads of stuff too! Mum won't let us anywhere near those Order meetings."
This was obviously not the right thing to say. Harry began to explode going on about how he has been through more than anyone in this room. Every bitter thing that Harry must've been stewing over the Summer cam rolling off of his tongue. Hermione put her hand down to her side, stung by the resentment that her friend was feeling towards her at the moment. "Harry... we're really sorry!" Hermione cried. She felt the pain of tears threatening to spill out over her eyelashes onto her cheeks. "You're right. I'd be furious if it was me."
If looks could kill, she would be dead. Harry turned to her and had to pinch the bridge of his nose to calm down. "What is this place anyway? Can you answer me that?"
Ron jumped up and offered the information immediately. "Headquarters of the Order of Phoenix. A secret society of people who fought against You-Know-Who last time."
"Who's in it?" Harry asked his eyes no longer burning with rage but instead lit with curiosity.
"We aren't exactly sure. We met 20 of them but I assume there's more." The girl smiled softly at her friend, thankful that he wasn't yelling anymore. "We are slowly finding more information, but Mrs. Weasley discovered the new object Fred and George invented, extendable ears and she has been stricter about us trying to find information—oh my god you two!" She screamed as a loud crack filled the room and the twins appeared out of thin air. "You have got to stop doing that!"
The twins ignored her complaints and turned their attention to Harry. "Hello, Harry! We thought we heard your dulcet tones." George smiled at the shorter boy.
"You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Mate, let it all out. There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you." Fred teased while beaming at Harry.
"We did come however because all the yelling is messing with the extendable ears." George held up the magical device in his hand.
The other twin wiggled his red eyebrows to Harry. "Would you like to try and join us in hearing what's going on downstairs?"
Ron stood up and shoved his hands in his jean pockets. "You need to be careful. If Mum sees one of them again..." he shuddered at the thought.
Fred smiled wickedly. "Oh, Ron. It is worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having downstairs."
The door suddenly opened and George shoved the ears into his pocket in case it was an adult that entered the room of teenagers. Ginny entered in the room and smiled brightly. "Harry! I thought I heard your voice." She smiled and crossed the room to the twins. "Mum put a Imperturable Charm on the kitchen door. The Extendable Ears won't work."
George let his shoulders drop and Hermione felt like he looked truly defeated for a moment. "How d'you know?"
"Tonks told me how to find out. You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed."
Fred slumped onto one of the beds in the room. "That's real rotten luck. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to these days."
"Snape? He isn't here, is he?" Harry's green eyes opened wildly.
George carefully closed the door after his sister. "Yea... giving a report. Top secret information. Which is why we were trying to sneak some information." He plopped down on the bed next to Hermione and she felt the warmth of the teenager next to her.
"He's on our side now..." Hermione reminded everyone in that room.
The 5th year Weasley snorted. "Doesn't stop him from being a git. The way he looks at us when he comes to visit." He kicked a shoe across the room with his foot.
Ginny crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the dark wardrobe in the corner of the small room. "Bill tells me he doesn't like him either."
"Is Bill here? I thought he was working in Egypt?" Harry cleaned his glasses and looked like he was trying to understand ancient ruins in his head with all the odd information that was being thrown at him.
Fred shook his head. "He got a desk job so that he could come home and work for the Order." He smirked. "There are compensations of course for this job..."
"Remember old Fleur Delacour?" George added seeing Harry's confusion. "She's got a job at Gringotts to improve her English apparently."
Fred sniggered. "Oh yea... Bill is giving her plenty of private lessons."
Their conversations stopped abruptly at the sound of footsteps on the stairway. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a big hug and invited everyone downstairs now that the meeting was over. The twins apparated in a pinch which made Mrs. Weasley bite her tongue from yelling after them.
When they all got downstairs, Hermione found herself sitting in between Ginny and George at the dining table and across from Harry and Ron. The other members of the Order were talking in hushed voices around the table which Hermione could tell was going to make Harry explode. She attempted to distract her friend, "Water, Harry?" She poured her friend a glass and handed it across the table.
Molly was having everyone help out with something and the small kitchen was filled with life. Her screams filled the room as she began to scold the twins. "Just carry them!" The twins had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden breadboard and it was coming hurtling towards the table.
Hermione rolled her eyes and looked at the twins in a disapproving mannor as Mrs. Weasley began to scold them. "Oh no, Hermione!" Ginny pointed to her jumper she was wearing. A large spot of butter beer and splashed onto the white knitting and stained it.
"Oh no. I just got this for the upcoming school year with my mum." Sadness filled Hermione's chest as she thought of the item that was reminding her of her mother being ruined already before the term could begin.
The twins were back in their seats looking sheepishly. "Sorry, Hermione. Would you mind if I fixed it for you?" George held up his wand and looked at the girl with kind eyes.
She was hesitant, worried that it would be some sort of prank. "Have you done this before?"
He smiled. "Oh yea, loads of time! When we are experimenting with our products, we spill all the time. I wouldn't have any non-stained clothing if I didn't know how to magically take care of it."
The girl took a deep breath of faith. "Alright, Weasley. Show me what you got." Hermione raised one of her eyebrows and looked into George's brown eyes.
He seemed taken aback before clearing his throat and saying the incantation. Just as quickly as it had stained her jumper, it disappeared. She smiled and looked down. "Thank you, George! My mum bought this jumper for me and I was excited about wearing it this term."
He winked at the girl. "Anytime, Granger."
George POV
The older boy could've sworn he saw the 5th year blush before being pulled into a conversation with Ginny. Fred elbowed him under the table and raised an eyebrow. George shrugged in response. The twins often had these silent conversations with each other. Everyone else at the table seemed clueless about the exchange.
There was only the sound of forks scraping against plates as everyone devoured the food at the table. Their mother turned her head to Sirius. "There's something trapped in the writing desk in the drawing room, it keeps rattling and shaking. I thought we out to ask Alastor to have a look at it before we let it out. Probably a boggart..."
Sirius shrugged. "Whatever you like, Molly."
George turned his attention to Hermione and Ginny's giggles which were much more entertaining than the boring conversation about cleaning tasks. Tonks was transforming her nose between mouthfuls of Stew. Soon, Tonks began to take requests from the girls and the twins who were now laughing along with them.
He was enchanted with the sound of Hermione's laugh. He had noticed that she was quite different this year than last. She had grown a lot in the Summer and was more open to happiness. Serves her right, there was so much darkness in the world that you had to be a little joyful.
Fred tapped his elbow with his own and motioned his chin towards the heated conversation that was going on in front of them between Harry, Sirius, and their mother. Mrs. Weasley was sitting upright in her chair with her fists clenched tightly. "He's too young. He's just a boy."
Sirius fumed. "Since when did someone have to be in the Order of the Phoenix to ask questions? Harry's been trapped inside that awful Muggle house for a month. He has a right to know what has been happening."
George felt anger and frustration ripple through his body. "Hang on!" He put his butter beer back down on the table.
"How come Harry gets his questions answered?" Fred added angrily.
"We're of age and we've been trying to get stuff out of you all for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing." George said in a frustrating tone that he knew wasn't fair to be talking to his mother like that but the passion of the moment couldn't get him to stop his feeling of anger roll off of his tongue.
Fred mimicked his mother in a high-pitched voice. "You're too young, you're not in the Order."
"Harry's not even of age." George pointed out.
Sirius calmly looked between the two fired up Weasley's. "It's not my fault you haven't been told wht the Order's doing. Thaty's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand—"
"It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" Their mother said sharply and had a dangerous look on her face. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbeldore said, I suppose? You know, the part about not telling Harry more than what he needs to know."
Hermione gulped loudly and began to wring her hand nervously from the tension. All of the children were now turning their heads from side to side as the Order members argued. "I don't intend to tell him more than what he needs to know, Molly."
"He's not James, Sirius."
Lupin cleared his throat. "Personally..." His calm eyes turned between Sirius and Molly in a kind manner that showed he was not picking any side. "I think it may be better if Harry gets the facts—not all the facts but the general picture—from us, rather than a garbled version from... others." He flashed a look at the twins that they were sure their mother had not seen.
George panicked and reached for his pocket where the Extendable Ear was. Had Lupin known that they were listening into the meeting the other day?
"Very well." Mrs. Wealsey said shortly. "Ginny, Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George. Out of this kitchen, now."
Fred and George jumped to their feet with rage. "We're of age!"
"No! I absolutely forbid you to be in here." She said sternly.
The twins looked to the other Order members for support and their father sighed as if he was tired of having this conversation. "Molly, dear, you cannot stop Fred and George. They are of age..."
"They're still at school!"
"Legally they're adults now."
Their mother looked like she was going to cry. "Fine. The twins may stay. The rest of you. Out. Now."
Hermione cleared her throat and said in a respectful but authoritative voice. "It would be rather silly to send Ron and I out. Harry will just simply rely all of the details to us once we are all alone. Professor, you said it yourself. You'd rather information come from the Order instead of a garbled version."
Mrs. Weasley turned red with rage and George smiled down at the witty and smart Gryffindor girl. She noticed and flashed him a quick smile. "Fine." Mrs. Weasley cried out. "But Ginny. You are leaving. Now."
The youngest girl went kicking and screaming all the way upstairs. Lupin closed the door behind the young girl and turned to the Chosen One. "Ask away. What would you like to know, Harry?"
Harry began to rattle off questions faster than he could breathe. The Order Members answered him as honestly but secretly as possible. The Gryffindors discovered that there haven't been any suspicious deaths surrounding Voldemort and his followers. They also discovered that Harry had messed up all of his plans by surviving. Hermione sucked in a breath at this and George patted her back to comfort her without putting much thought in the gesture. She looked at him with thankful eyes. This was a lot of information for anyone to take in. Hermione was always taking care of Ron and Harry and it seemed that the thought of losing one of them was too much for the girl.
They also found out that the Order was making plans to make sure Voldemort cannot carry out whatever plan he had put into place before the Tri-Wizard Tournament last year. There were to be a large army filled with witches and wizards that were dark and evil. The Order was attempting to stop the army from growing in size. Sirius turned to Harry at the end of the all the information and leaned forward. "Voldemort is after something."
"Like a weapon?" Harry asked. "Something worse than the killing curse?"
Sirius opened his mouth like he was going to answer when Mrs. Weasley shouted. "That's enough! I want you in bed, now. All of you."
Fred shook his head. "You can't boss us—"
"Watch me." She snarled and began to tremble slightly. Their mother turned her death glare from the twins to Sirius. "You might have well inducted him into the Order straightaway with the amount of information you just gave, Harry."
"Why not?" The dark-haired boy asked. "I'll join. I want to fight—"
Mrs. Weasley shook her head. But it wasn't her who spoke but Lupin. "No. The Order is comprised only overage wizards." He added when the twins leaned in. "Wizards who have left school. There are many dangers that surround this which you have no idea. We've said enough for now."
As the teenagers were getting shooed out of the kitchen Hermione was mumbling about needing to get to a quill and parchment right away to right everything down for her to study and analyze latter. Ron and Harry had their heads tucked together as they followed the young girl up the stairs to their rooms.
The twins tested out the door by throwing a dung bomb at the door and were disappointed when it did not stick. Their mother was surely not letting anyone spy on the rest of the meeting tonight. They did however get something, information. It was more than they've had all Summer and it made George feel powerful. He looked at Fred and it was obvious his twin was thinking exactly the same thing.