The last safe-house was in complete chaos when Remus Lupin finally arrived there. Order members were still putting up and testing enchantments. Indignant witches and wizards demanded explanations out of ancient, dusty paintings. Fred and George Weasley were cramming highly dangerous potions ingredients into their pockets as they “cleaned” the place up. There was even a Dragon Egg lying forgotten near the fireplace.
Remus, momentarily free, edged closer to the fireplace, dodging spells and elbows. Molly Weasley brushed past him looking flustered. She was followed by young Ginny who was keeping up a constant stream of angry complaints. Remus saw the girl pocket an unattended piece of parchment without pausing in her speech. He finally reached the fireplace and sat on the edge of an old armchair, leaning forward to examine the egg.
“We think it’s a Welsh Green,” Charlie’s distinctive voice said from the depths of another armchair. “Not easy to tell when they’re this young, but I’m taking it back to Romania in a couple of days. Love to know how it got here, since the house hasn’t been used in years.”
“Whose house is it, do you know?” Remus asked.
“My mum’s old Aunt Muriel. She hasn’t lived here for years, though… these chairs are heavenly!” he suddenly added, pushing himself further into the comfortable armchair.
Remus tore his gaze from the dragon egg and sunk into his own armchair, mentally agreeing with the young dragon-tamer. “How long has it been since you’ve slept?” he asked tiredly.
“Days,” Charlie said, “If the meeting doesn’t happen soon I won’t be able to keep myself awake for it.”
“We’re just finishing up the enchantments and almost everyone’s here,” McGonagall joined the conversation. She sounded, if possible, even more tired than Remus felt. “Do me a favor, Mr. Weasley, and conjure me a proper armchair. I’ll go and get us drinks.”
Charlie pulled out his wand with a wry grin and duplicated the chair in which he was seated. Professor McGonagall was well known for her stiff-backed, uncomfortable chairs. She came back soon enough with a steaming pot of hot chocolate. By this time, several others had joined the circle around the fireplace and the noise and activity was winding down. “Refillable?” Kingsley Shacklebolt said hopefully, pouring himself a mug of hot chocolate.
“Of course,” McGonagall said almost sternly.
Finally, Bill Weasley arrived with Hestia Jones and the last few order members and there was a tense silence as everyone wondered who would take control of the meeting. There had been too many losses; Moody’s still hung over them oppressively.
It was Kingsley who cleared his throat and called the meeting to order. His deep voice could be calming and soothing at times, but today it commanded attention. “The Ministry of Magic was never cooperative or trustworthy, but its fall into the hands of the Death Eaters changes everything. Many of us have been compromised and can no longer return to the Ministry. Those who are still able to work there will not find it easy to maintain their covers, let alone get information or help the order in the same way as before. There are many families who have been torn apart, many people who are no doubt being attacked as I speak. Many are on the run. Communication has become almost impossible now. We need to adjust, and we need to do it fast, or else we lose everything.”
There was a painful silence, but Kingsley did not allow it to go on for too long. “Communication is essential,” he said.
“We must find a way to stay connected not just with Order Members, but also those on the run or in hiding, people we may not know, but who might need our help or be able to help us in return.”
“Ear, ear!” George Weasley said enthusiastically, “And we have just the thing, don’t we Fred?”
“Of course we do, George. It’s simple, but brilliant, as are all your ideas, brother-”
A resounding crash could be heard from the hallway and then an angry argument broke out between a grumpy Elphias Doge, who was on guard, and Tonks and who seemed to be accompanied by someone else.
Remus tore himself from the comfortable depths of the armchair and moved towards the door. He was halfway there when Tonks and Lee Jordan stumbled in, dragging a half-conscious young girl between them. “My goodness!” McGonagall leapt into action, pushing people out of the way and gesturing towards an armchair. “Bring her here!”
“Hannah Abott,” Tonks said as they set the girl down in the armchair. “Lee found her a few days ago – he contacted me just this afternoon, she seems to be getting worse.”
McGonagall was already forcing a calming draught down the shaking girl’s throat. Remus approached the girl. There were no bruises or burns, no broken bones, but he suspected Dark Magic. Mrs. Abbott had been attacked by Death Eaters and killed only a few months ago and it was possible that they had attacked the family again.
The Calming Draught took effect, but Hannah would not speak. Lee only shook his head, “Hasn’t spoken since we found her. Her friends asked for help when she wouldn’t answer their owls and we found her in the rubble of her home. The place was completely destroyed. No Dark Mark, but we found the bodies of Death Eaters along with the bodies of her father and her aunt and cousins. She won’t say anything, but no one from the Ministry came to investigate, and this was before the Ministry fell, so we think some kind of concealment charm was put up around the place.”
“Hmmm…” Remus said, staring into the young Hufflepuff’s eyes. There was fear as he expected, but there was also a king of stubborn determination. She had chosen not to speak and he doubted that anyone could easily convince her to change her mind. “You said she’s been getting worse?” he asked Lee.
“Well,” Lee said, “She seemed to be doing fine at first, except for the talking, seemed to be getting better, and she started doing some wandless magic – little things like summoning charms and the like, but this morning…” he broke off and looked at Hannah, as if asking permission to speak or giving her the opportunity to explain herself. “I’m really not sure what she was trying to do, but it must have gone out of control because it seemed to drain her of all her energy and she panicked and kept coming in and out of consciousness, shaking the whole time…”
“Well,” Remus declared as calmly as he could though Lee’s description was troubling, “I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about. Mrs. Weasley and I will take a look at you and see what we can do and we’ll owl Madam Pomfrey to come in later this afternoon.”
“Let’s go upstairs, shall we?” Molly Weasley said kindly, helping the girl up. “There’s a cozy room on the second floor with a nice view where you’ll be comfortable and my daughter Ginny’s here too – you might know her from school.”
Hannah gave Molly a tight smile and allowed herself to be led up the stairs. They passed Ginny, who had obviously been eavesdropping on the meeting, and Molly enlisted her help to get her away from the door. Remus allowed them to lead the way up the stairs, going over some useful spells as he brought up the rear. The girl was either suffering from shock, which was affecting her magical power, or she was under some kind of curse or, most likely, both.
Molly had good knowledge of basic healing and Remus allowed her to do what she could for the girl first. He then tried some of the simple revealing spells he knew, but none of them showed any signs of dark magic. He did not want to try anything more complex before observing Hannah’s condition, especially since she now seemed stable and much calmer than before.
“What you need now is something to eat!” Molly declared at length.
Ginny jumped up, “I’ll go bring her some soup an-”
“You stay here!” Molly said in a frightening tone, “And help Remus. I’ll go fix Hannah up a nice meal!”
Ginny glared at her mother and sat back down in a huff. She tried to start a conversation with Hannah, who only smiled politely – and very silently – back. She straightened the cushions and tidied the room in a very motherly fashion. She looked out the window. And all the while her feet and hands would not stop fidgeting.
Remus suppressed the amusement that was threatening to break through. “Why don’t you go – ah, get ready for Hogwarts,” he said mock-casually, “…and on your way, I think they’ll be needing that piece of parchment you have in your pocket for the meeting.”
The youngest Weasley’s face and neck turned completely red, but she bounded out the door without a word.
…
Mum had placed an imperturbable charm on the door, of course, so Ginny wouldn’t be able to use the extendable ears anymore. She took out her wand and tried various different spells she had found in old books she had acquired at number 12 Grimmauld Place, but none of them helped. Finally, she decided that Professor Lupin has had the right idea. She opened the door and let herself in, putting on the most innocent and casual face possible.
“Professor Lupin sent this down!” she said, holding out the piece of parchment she had stolen earlier.
“Thank you, dear,” McGonagall said firmly, letting her back out and locking the door after her.
Ginny waited a few seconds and then pressed her ear to the closed door.
“…radio… but it’ll have to be protected somehow so only certain people can tune in…” Ginny grinned. The charm had broken. She stepped away before she could be found and crept noiselessly down the hall towards the stairs, reaching for the extendable ears in her pocket. At that very moment Mum came out the kitchen door looking flustered.
Something smelled good. Ginny stuffed the extendable ears back into her pocket and continued up the stairs, trying not to look suspicious.
She heard her mother open the door and Kingsley’s voice saying something about Harry, Hermione, and her thoughtless brother, but the door did not close right away. Ginny resisted the temptation to turn around and see why her mother had left the door open.
Suddenly the extendable ears zoomed out of her pockets.
She turned on the spot, her face hot with rage. “Hey!”
Molly Weasley slammed the door shut without even acknowledging her.
“Fine!” Ginny shouted back at the door, “Just Bloody Fine!” She stomped up the stairs loudly and then set about looking for the room that would be directly above the meeting room. A very thorough investigation did not turn up any cracks in the floor or anything else she could use to listen in. At one point McGonagall’s voice rose loud enough for her to hear a few disconnected words: “…can’t rely…no, of course Dumbledore didn’t say anything! … must have meant something or he never would have remembered them in the will…”
However, after long minutes of waiting, this outburst was not repeated. Ginny scanned the room again and her eyes fell on the window. Of course. There was no way her mother would have thought of imperturbing the windows. She opened the window and looked down. The downstairs window was closed, but a muffling charm and a simple Alohomora did the trick. It opened a crack and mumbling voices began to float up towards Ginny’s ear. They were still too faint to be distinguishable. If she cast a voice magnification charm on the window then any sound she made would also be magnified for the order members to hear. She swung her legs up and sat curled up in the window will, in as stable a position as she could manage.
“Muffliato!” Ginny whispered, waving her wand at her own face, and then she turned it towards the downstairs window and said, “Sonorous!”
“No, it’s absolutely out of the question!” her father was saying, “Hannah Abbot must go back to school and so must Ginny… the new law is clear, Molly, and anyone in violation will be hunted down. If we want to keep our cover, if we don’t want to be on the run, then Ginny has to go back.”
Ginny’s mother made the growling sound she always made when she was defeated in an argument, but wanted you to know she didn’t like it one bit and would be waiting for the next opening.
“Don’t worry, Molly, I’m going back as are all of the other teachers. Even Slughorn has decided to stay on as Potions Master and you know how scared he was last year. Hogwarts has dealt with a vile head before, we’ll do so again. What I want to know is if we can do something about Miss Abbott’s magical power before September…”
“I’ve got an extra wand-”Tonks began.
“Actually, Tonks, I wanted to see if we could develop her wandless magic first. From what I gather from Lee she seems to have a rare talent for it, and we need all the extra talent we can get right now.”
There were murmurs of agreement before George spoke up. Ginny had figured out long ago that it was George who always spoke up first. “Speaking of talent, I think we should be helping Harry out.”
“The question is,” Fred said, “How? We all know Harry and Dumbledore were doing something the night Dumbledore died, they were definitely out of school. If we can just find out-”
“I understand the need to have someone to rally around,” McGonagall said, “But we have no way of knowing what those three are up to or where they are at this moment.”
“If it was important enough – if we could help in any way - Dumbledore wouldn’t have left it in the hands of three teenagers,” Arthur Weasley said, “Or any three people no matter how old or skilled they may be. I think that whatever those three are up to it has to do with Harry’s survival, Harry preparing himself to one day face He Who Must Not Be Named. What we need to focus on is how to get the rest of the Wizarding World through this. We need to get the word out about the Taboo on his name… we need to take an inventory of the resources we have and the things we need…”
Ginny sighed in frustration as they began loudly calling out names of Order supporters and suspicious characters and other boring things. She still took out the small piece of parchment on which she was keeping notes and wrote down any new names she didn’t have yet. She had to admit that the meetings lately had been pathetic- she had not learnt anything new after days of spying on the order.
The most interesting things she had so far were the two leads she had gathered from when Harry, Ron and Hermione were still at the Burrow. She knew that Dumbledore had left Harry the Sword of Gryffindor and that Scrimgeour had refused to give it to him. She also knew that the trio were looking for something with the initials R.A.B. The fact that they had used initials and not the full name of it meant that it must be something very important, something they wanted to remain completely secret. Well, they would have to do a lot better than that to keep a secret from Ginny Weasley. She was determined to help Harry whether he took her along or not. It wasn’t just his world that Voldemort threatened and those three weren’t the only ones capable of fighting back.
