Harry Potter and the Crystal Fire

Chapter 04: Serious Discussions

Ron, who'd slept through Harry's departure to Hogwarts for the day, walked into the kitchen, yawning, in orange-striped pajamas that clashed violently with his bright red hair. He stopped short on seeing the kitchen completely empty save Charlie and Bill, who grinned at him and pushed a chair his way.

"Where's everyone?" Ron asked, sitting down in the middle of a face-splitting yawn. Bill laughed.

"Harry had to go to Hogwarts today to meet with Dumbledore, remember?" Bill asked. "Hermione is with her parents for once, Mum went shopping, and everybody else is at work. So you're stuck with us."

"You're usually at work by now," Ron pointed out.

"Yeah. I usually am. But not on important occasions," Bill said evenly. Charlie sent a mug of tea sliding along the kitchen table toward Ron, who stopped it neatly despite the fact that his eyes were only half-open.

"What important occasion? If it was that important, wouldn't everyone be here?" Ron managed, then drank half of his mug of tea.

"They don't get cut in on every important occasion," Charlie said mildly. "Mum left about half a ton of eggs and sausage, if you want some."

"Sure," Ron said, rubbing his eyes and finishing his tea. He was starting to wake up, and questions were starting to pop into his head with surprising speed for eight o'clock in the morning. "What's the important occasion?" he asked, looking at Bill, who rolled his eyes.

"He doesn't know what the important occasion is, Charlie," Bill said, looking over his shoulder at Charlie, who was heaping a plate with sausage and eggs.

Charlie waved his wand at the plate, which floated over to set itself down in front of Ron, and rolled his eyes again. "You're joking. Doesn't he know anything?" he asked, shaking his head sadly.

"Come on, that's a bit unfair. I know things," Ron protested, even as he began shoveling eggs into his mouth. "Lots of things, really," he added after a moment of chewing. He appeared to have to be thinking rather hard to come up with any of those things, and his expression grew more disturbed as he chewed.

"Easy does it, little brother. Don't get all hysterical on us," Charlie said mildly, then laughed. "You really don't know what the special occasion is?" he asked, just to needle Ron.

"No, I really don't," Ron replied, starting to sound distinctly irritable.

"Should have known the twins wouldn't let you in on it," Bill said with a sigh. Ron's head jerked up from his sausages and his bright blue eyes stared at his oldest brother.

"Wouldn't let me in on what?" Ron asked.

As though he hadn't heard Ron, Charlie shook his head again. "It's just like them," he told Bill, who nodded sagely.

"What's just like them?" Ron demanded. His attention, for the first time, was completely off of his breakfast.

"Not telling you," Charlie answered. He would have been willing to tease Ron a little longer, but Bill's raised eyebrow had him relenting. "About the Weasley brothers' career talk," Charlie continued, pretending to ignore Ron's wide eyes. "Well, we keep tabs on things, don't we?" Charlie said to Ron. "According to our records," he said, his brown eyes twinkling as he mimed going through paperwork, "you've taken your O.W.L.s and done well, you survived being a fifth-year prefect, saved the Quidditch Cup, you helped start D.A., you kicked some ass at the Ministry last month, and you're probably thinking about you're going to do after school." Ron's grin was as affecting as his apparent surprise at the fact that his two oldest brothers seemed to know anything at all about his life at school, and out of it.

"Being nosy and overprotective, we want to find out all about what you're planning. Plus," Bill said, not to sound too concerned, "we figure you're old enough now to have a conversation without being an annoying git," he added. Rather than being irritated by this last comment, Ron seemed to find it a compliment. He grinned at both of his brothers, then went back to his sausages for a moment.

"So," Charlie went on, sitting down at the table, "what do you want to do after school?"

Ron didn't even stop to think. "Be an Auror," he said instantly. "Or play Quidditch, that would be cool, too. Don't know if I'm good enough, though. Mal said he doesn't see why not, but he was probably being nice. I was awful last year," he said, somewhat cheerfully. Both of his brothers laughed.

"You were fine yesterday," Bill pointed out, and Ron's expression brightened further. "Made some good saves, didn't you?"

"Sure, well, it's easy when it's just for fun. But when everyone's watching, that's when it all falls apart."

"Well, that happens to everyone," Charlie said, nodding, though it had never happened to him. Bill, who knew this, bit the inside of his lip to keep his grin hidden. "It's just nerves, isn't it?"

Ron didn't seem to notice that Charlie sounded like he was guessing. He grinned at Charlie and pushed back his empty plate. "I guess it must be," he said. "Because all I ever think when we're playing at school is that everyone's waiting for me to screw up."

Charlie scoffed. That feeling he remembered well from his second year at Hogwarts, his first on the team. "Well, hell of course they are. That's just normal, isn't it? They're seeing what would happen if they were in your place," he said. Ron looked at him. This idea had obviously never occurred to him. Deciding to leave it for now, Charlie just grinned and raised an eyebrow at Bill while Ron stood up to get more tea.

"An Auror, huh?" Bill asked, and Ron, sitting back down, nodded. "What's the draw there?" He hoped he'd managed to hit the right note, somewhere between interested and curious. The last thing he wanted to do was sound like a position in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement was out of Ron's reach. He'd just never suspected his little brother was interested in anything but Quidditch.

"Well, it's like putting a puzzle together, isn't it?" Ron asked, staring at his mug. "You get the clues and put the pieces together to figure out who did it, or where they are." He looked up at Bill. The hope in Ron's bright blue eyes, so like his own, tugged at Bill's heart. "Harry wants to be one, too," he said. "'Course, he did better on his O.W.L.s. So he'll probably make it in. Mine weren't so hot."

"They weren't bad at all," Bill protested, knowing that they hadn't been Auror-caliber either. "And it's not the final decision, either, Ron. If you can pick up your marks on what you didn't do so well at in your N.E.W.T.s, you'll have as good a chance as Harry." Bill hoped, anyway. He wasn't entirely sure how the Department picked out candidates for its Auror training program.

"It's just hard, you know, because Harry and Hermione both made it into N.E.W.T. Potions. And Hermione never seems to have trouble in any subject. And Harry squeaks by." Ron sighed. "I'm always the one who's hanging on by his fingernails."

"Well, you'll have plenty of help in Potions," Charlie pointed out, leaning back as he lit a cigarette. "Damn it all, what was that spell Morrigan had? Mum catches me smoking in here again and I'll pay for it with my life."

Bill rolled his eyes. Ron watched as Bill pointed his wand at the window and had it sliding open on the still-sunny garden.

"I guess what we've got to figure out is what you need work on, and how to catch you up," Bill said. Ron shrugged. "Look, Ron," Bill said patiently. "If you want to make it happen, you have to work at it. Like you did with Quidditch. Do you think we don't realise how much practice you put in last year? And look what you did--you not only made the team, but you saved the Cup for Gryffindor, didn't you?" Ron nodded slowly, as if the truth of Bill's statement had never really sunk in until that moment. "So you have to do the same thing with school, that's all. You don't have to be in the classes to take the N.E.W.T.s. So you take the N.E.W.T. classes you can, and you work on the rest. You know damned well any of us, and Harry, and Hermione, are more than willing to help. You just have to decide what you want."

"You guys would be willing to help me with school," Ron said skeptically. His expression was caught between disbelief and laughter. He couldn't to get it through his head that Bill and Charlie both seemed to think that he could make Auror if he really wanted to. That he was good enough.

"Why not?" Charlie asked, sounding as incensed as he could manage under the circumstances. Having seen reluctant amusement lurking in Charlie's eyes, Bill was impressed at how well his brother succeeded. "You're our brother, aren't you?" he asked. Ron nodded. "And we're yours, right?" Ron nodded again. "So who else would you ask, you great git?" Charlie asked, and had to give in to laughter. "You're talking to a former Head Boy and a former Prefect, aren't you? Who better to jump on the studying train?" In his own case, Charlie knew, this was pushing things a bit, but he decided the little white lie was worth it, all things considered.

Ron was grinning at both of them. "I really, really need work on Charms and Transfigurations," he said, as though testing their resolve.

"Let us know when you want to start," Bill said, as if that settled it.

The expression on Ron's face said that it did, indeed, settle it. Neither Bill nor Charlie had ever seen their youngest brother smiling so brightly at half past eight o'clock on a rainy summer morning.

***

"Are Fred and George in?" asked a tall woman with long black hair and blue wizarding robes that matched her eyes exactly. She had long, legs and nice curves, displayed admirably by the long black skirt and v-necked shirt she wore under her robes. Lee Jordan, grinning at her as he took a moment to appreciate her good looks, nodded and pointed her toward the back of the shop. Lee watched her glide through the crowd with admirable ease, her slim body slipping between customers carrying armfuls of Canary Creams, Skiving Snackboxes, Trick Mirrors, Ugly Pills, and other assorted jokes. She stretched to avoid what would have been a painful collision with two teenaged Wizards carrying larger boxes--one, a new version of Exploding Snap that turned the unlucky victim of the explosion different colours; the other, a new version of Wizard's Chess in which the pieces were charmed to speak phrases far more colourful than the comments of normal Wizard's Chess pieces.

Gracefully dodging threatening armloads of Weasley's Deluxe Gobstones sets, which squirted various substances that turned the players into different animals, and ducking to avoid a hanging display of trick wands, she headed toward the back of the store. She simply couldn't find an easy path through the shop. Every aisle was packed with young Wizards, and not-so-young Wizards, comparing packets of powders and sweets whose effects warmed the mischievous corner of her heart. The twins were hard at work stocking shelves in the back as Lee took care of customers up front. Sensing someone standing behind them, Fred turned around. George did the same, putting down the box he'd been pulling sweets out of.

"Hullo," Fred said appreciatively. "Can we help you?"

"Don't be a dimwit, Fred," came a familiar, Scots-accented voice. Fred looked closer. The woman's eyes changed from bright blue to deep green for a second, then back. George's soft curse was entirely admiring. They headed into the shop's office--a small room cluttered with paper and crammed to bursting with a double desk and a few chairs. They closed and locked the door, and Fred cast a Silencing Charm as he and George sat down on the desk. Morrigan picked the only chair empty of papers--which was only empty because Lee had been using it earlier that morning. With a sigh, she went from black-haired and blue-eyed and considerably more curvy to her usual red-haired, green-eyed self. Fred and George sighed. They'd have been lying if they'd denied being a bit disappointed by the change.

"Thought you'd have been at work today," Fred managed, trying to get over being impressed at the ease of her transfiguration.

"I am, just not on Ministry business at the moment," she said, wincing at the high heels she hadn't bothered to change. "Thus the costume," she added, rolling her eyes.

"Right. So what brings you by?" George asked, so politely that she simply stared at him. He grinned and shrugged. "Mum's always telling us to mind our manners. Can't be too predictable. If we ignored her all the time, it'd get boring, wouldn't it?" he asked. She laughed.

"I've got a proposition for you both," she said. Fred and George looked at each other, then looked at Morrigan, eyes twinkling warmly. She rolled her eyes. "Please," she said mildly. "A business proposition." The twins grinned at her, and shrugged.

"Can't blame a fellow for trying," Fred said, so matter-of-factly that she couldn't help laughing again. "What's the proposition, then?"

"Well, Mal and I are looking for an investment. And we're all looking for a base of operations for the junior Order--you've heard about that?" she asked, and Fred and George nodded. "Anyway, we're looking in Hogsmeade. A friend of mine who lives there sounded out Zonko's. Looks like they're planning to retire soon. If you're interested, it would be a perfect place for another branch," she said. Even the twins, with their long experience in subterfuge, couldn't hide the gleam in their eyes.

"Love to, but don't think we could," George said after some thought. His voice was reluctant. "We've got capital, but we don't have enough to keep things running here and buy out Zonko's."

Fred nodded gloomily. "Just figures," he said. "They'll sell out to someone else."

"Did I ask if you had the money to do it? Of course a business that's barely been open six months doesn't have that kind of capital. I don't care if you're minting galleons in the back room here, you wouldn't have that kind of cash when you're still building up your stock. I asked if you're interested in opening a branch there."

"'Course we are, do we look stupid?" Fred asked, his blue eyes impatient.

"Even if we look stupid, d'you really think we are?" George asked. Morrigan laughed.

"Mal and I are always looking for investments. We're willing to buy out Zonko's if you're willing to take the place over and run it once it's bought. Our friend in Hogsmeade said Zonko's will probably be willing to take off so you can get in there before the first Hogsmeade weekend. Our only condition is that you keep our names out of it. We don't want it all over the place, for obvious reasons."

"Right. If Dumbledore doesn't want you seen around with Order members, or Weasleys," Fred said with a grin; being a Weasley these days was about as good as being an Order member, "it wouldn't be so good to be investing openly in a Weasley shop, would it?" he asked.

"Exactly," Morrigan said, nodding. "We'd need to be able to use the upstairs rooms for meetings--short meetings, maybe an hour every Hogsmeade weekend--and that's really about it. It's the best way to get them all in one place with the rest of us without it seeming suspicious."

"Right. And we need to talk about that junior Order thing, too. For one thing, we want in," George said, prepared to argue his position.

"Done," Morrigan said, surprising both twins. "The only reason we didn't ask you both yesterday was that you left before your Mum did. She's not really keen on the idea of letting anyone underage get any more information than they absolutely need."

"Right. Except that they absolutely need as much as they can get, and she doesn't realise it," Fred commented. His brother and Morrigan both nodded.

"So we'll definitely be getting together more about that. But for the moment, I'll have Tris--that's our friend in Hogsmeade, Tristan Hollis--work on the deal with Zonko's. The papers will be in his name and both of yours."

"And he won't draw suspicion?" George asked.

"Don't think so. He's a vampire, isn't he? About as far from wearing a sign with 'Order Member' painted on it as you can get."

"He's a vampire?" Fred asked, immensely interested. "Kind of dangerous to work with then, isn't he?"

"Hardly," Morrigan said. "He's a vampire like Remus Lupin is a werewolf. Not dangerous as long as he's taking his potions like he should."

"Didn't know they made a potion for that," George mused.

"Well, they didn't, before we all got together and made him one," Morrigan said with a shrug. "But he doesn't go around biting people's necks and never has, though morning and afternoon aren't his favourite times of day. We'll tell you the story sometime, when we have more time. I've got to be back to work soon or they'll wonder where I am."

"Right." Fred seemed to be thinking hard about something. He looked at George, then looked at Morrigan. "Listen, this isn't going to strap you guys for cash, is it?" he asked.

Morrigan shook her head. "Don't worry about the money. It's the one useful thing our Death Eater grandfather left us plenty of, through our grandmother. Kind of poetic justice, really, using it like this," she said, with more than a hint of amusement in her eyes. Fred and George, satisfied, grinned at her. "So we'll be in touch about the whole thing," she said, "but it's not as though we won't be seeing you around the house."

"Sure, we're hard to miss," George laughed. Grinning, they all stood up, shook hands, and headed back into the shop. Before the office door opened, Morrigan changed back into her black-haired, blue-eyed, curvy witch disguise with a wave of her wand, and both twins made a point of letting her precede them out of the office.

"Glad I'm not her older brother," Fred said, admiring the view as she walked out of the shop. "I'd never get a moment's sleep knowing she was walking around London looking like that."

"Spot on," George agreed. "Bet she gives Bill a run for his money," he added, returning reluctantly to his carton of sweets.

Fred looked at George, an eyebrow raised in surprise. "Bill hasn't looked at a single woman since he broke it off with Fleur," he stated, as though George didn't know this as well as he did himself.

"Well, that was true before Morrigan came along," George said, starting to whistle. "But I bet this is one lady who doesn't fall all over our big brother when he crooks his finger," he continued. "As far as I can tell, she barely even looked at him."

Fred grinned, enjoying the idea. "Wouldn't that be refreshing," he said, in a tone that indicated that he was half impressed and half insulted by the idea of his all-but-perfect oldest brother having to chase after any woman.

"Well, it'll make Charlie feel better, running around after Tonks the way he is," George pointed out. Laughing, Fred nodded.

"Won't it be fun to mess with Bill's head?" Fred asked, and George looked at his brother, starting to grin. "She's meeting us at the Wands, isn't she?" Fred added.

Identical gleams in their eyes, Fred and George went back to stocking shelves. Even the possibility of moving into Zonko's space in Hogsmeade wasn't quite as fun of an idea as the rare chance to make trouble for their oldest brother.

***

Harry followed Albus Dumbledore through the hallways, up to the stone gargoyle that marked the entrance to the Headmaster's office. After one of the best breakfasts Harry had ever had that hadn't been prepared by Mrs. Weasley, Harry was feeling far too full and not much like talking. He wanted to be back at Grimmauld Place, talking to Ron about Quidditch or the Potions lessons they'd be getting from the Carricks that night. Or sleeping. Anything but having what was showing every sign of being another long, serious talk. He waited while Professor Dumbledore spoke the password--Chocolate Frog--and followed the Headmaster up the moving circular staircase to his office.

"Have a seat, Harry," Dumbledore said, sounding somewhat amused. Harry wasn't even trying to hide his reluctance to be here, which, in Dumbledore's opinion, was a distinctly healthy sign for a 16-year old who'd been through what Harry had in the last few years. "We're really not here for any particular reason. There's no big, serious talk coming. I just thought that, while we had the chance, while things are somewhat peaceful, you might have some questions for me."

Now he was here, Harry was having a hard time forgetting his last time in this office. Sirius had just died, they had just returned from the Ministry of Magic, and he had been in the grip of grief and rage like he'd never known. He wished he'd never known it. It was still too close to the surface for him to feel comfortable here, where it had finally come out in a flood of fury that he hadn't even tried to control. Still, he thought, it was becoming a rare week for getting information. That wasn't an opportunity to pass up.

"I--I guess I'm not sure what to ask. I'll probably think of something soon," he said, evoking another smile from Dumbledore.

"Not used to getting information thrown at you from every side, are you?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully. Harry grinned.

"Not exactly," Harry admitted, pushing his glasses back up his nose and considering the situation. He half-wished he could ask Malcolm what to ask. That got him started. "Did you know about the Carricks? I mean, before they got hold of you?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry, and Harry thought he saw relief flicker in the old Wizard's eyes. "I didn't," he said, with a sigh. "Would that I had known. The Charm that your mother first cast, and that I re-cast, to protect you was nothing in the face of the Charm their grandmother cast to hide their relationship to you from the world. It's Elven magic, very ancient and very powerful." And, Dumbledore thought but did not add, it would have enabled Harry to live elsewhere than with the Dursleys.

"Do you think that's why I can do magic without a wand? Because of Elven blood?"

Dumbledore smiled. "It could very well be. I don't know enough about High Elves to know how many generations the blood would carry that kind of power to. But Morrigan seems to know quite a bit about it, and she seems to think that even the Muggles in your family might have some kind of ability to perform wandless magic." Dumbledore's lips twitched at Harry's appalled expression. The thought of the Dursleys being able to perform wandless magic was, indeed, appalling. Dumbledore considered suggesting Harry speak with Morrigan about the subject of Elven blood and wandless magic, and decided against it. Harry had enough to worry about at the moment. "Well, some of the Muggles, anyway," Dumbledore clarified. "We can only hope that the Dursleys are exempt from that rule," he added, making Harry laugh.

The sound of Harry laughing seemed to make Dumbledore relax, and Harry realised that the Headmaster had been as apprehensive about this meeting as he had. Somehow, that knowledge calmed Harry. He settled down into his chair and looked around the office, at the Sorting Hat and Godric Gryffindor's sword in their cases.

"I was wondering, err, if I had other family on my Mum's side that no one knew about, could I have other family out there, too?" Harry asked, his eyes intent on Dumbledore.

"It wouldn't make much sense to entirely rule it out, given the circumstances," Dumbledore admitted. "As far as I know, you don't have any family on your father's side who are still living. Your Potter grandparents died in Death Eater attacks while your father was still in school. That's how he inherited what is now your Invisibility Cloak. Your grandfather, Andrew, was an Auror, and it had been his Cloak. His parents, your great-grandparents, had him when they were considerably older. They died before your father even entered school.

"Your aunt and uncle on your father's side were too young to even have started school when the Death Eaters attacked Andrew's home. He, his wife, and their two youngest children were all killed. To the best of my knowledge, you had no other relatives on your father's side. The Potters didn't run to large families. Just good ones," he said, and Harry saw a shadow pass over Dumbledore's face. He'd never had any doubt that Dumbledore had mourned his father's death. Seeing the proof, especially after what Harry had seen in Snape's pensieve last term, eased Harry's heart.

Harry looked around the office again, then decided that he was going to embarrass himself crying if he didn't change the subject. "Whose idea was the junior Order?" he asked, his eyes returning to Dumbledore.

"It was something of a joint effort," Dumbledore said, then offered Harry a lemon drop. Harry shook his head with a grin, Dumbledore popped a lemon drop in his mouth, and went on. "I was concerned that we were hurting you and creating opportunities for disaster by keeping you, and by extension your friends, out of the loop." A pained look crossed the Headmaster's face, then disappeared. He understood the difference between giving Harry some information, and letting Harry in on everything. He was walking that line right now. "As I told you at the end of last term, I was at fault for not telling you about the prophecy in the beginning. I wasn't the only one who was at fault, but I was at fault. And I've spent the last month or so working out how to get you more information without completely disrupting everything normal in your life.

"We can't allow underage Witches and Wizards in the Order, Harry--I hope you understand our reasoning." Dumbledore's brilliant blue eyes found Harry's. Harry nodded. "So I was at a loss as to how we could share information with you. Arthur, Bill, and Charlie Weasley were of the opinion that we needed to create something formal, but no one was entirely sure how to manage it, given the secrecy surrounding the Order.

"Then the Carricks--who, to be fair to them, had been in favor of giving you all more information since they joined the Order last December--found out about your relationship, and got more heavily involved in things. They were the ones who came up with the idea of an entirely separate Order, a junior Order if you will, and how to keep it as secret as the senior Order.

"Not everyone was convinced that it was a good idea. Not everyone who thought it was a good idea was convinced it needed to be kept as secret as the original Order. The Carricks argued, and people agreed after a while, that the need for secrecy was at least as crucial for the junior Order, as you're all in day-to-day contact with people who have a direct line to Death Eaters." Dumbledore didn't tell Harry about how heated the debates had gotten; he didn't think it was necessary for Harry to know that only over the last few days had the Carricks' argument won the day.

"I received a message from Morrigan today. She and Malcolm are working on setting up a headquarters, and making it easily accessible to all of you during the school year."

"In Hogsmeade, then?" Harry asked.

Dumbledore smiled. "I can only assume that's true, as we don't communicate in enormous detail except in person. But in our previous discussions, Morrigan and I decided that the headquarters had to be in a place you wouldn't be questioned about walking into, had to be used for no more than an hour at any one meeting, and had to be used only when you and the others could get to it without breaking school rules. She's taking care of the rest."

"Professor, about the Occlumency," Harry began. "I don't know if Professor Snape--"

"Professor Snape will not be working with you on Occlumency, Harry," Dumbledore said gently. "Though I believe that he could now put his personal feelings aside, he is going to be far too busy with the Order to take the time to teach you correctly. I've arranged another tutor for you. One you'll have far less trouble working with, I assure you. And you're starting with Potions today, I believe?"

Harry nodded. "I don't know how much good it'll do, really. We're hopeless, except for Hermione."

Dumbledore's smile conveyed amusement rather than agreement. "Oh, I think you'll surprise yourself, Harry," he said, chuckling to himself. "I've taken the liberty of arranging for Mr. Longbottom to join you for the rest of the summer. I would have liked to see Miss Lovegood join you as well, but she and her father are still out of the country." Dumbledore took another lemon drop out of the dish on his desk and sighed with enjoyment after he'd popped it into his mouth.

"What about D.A.?" Harry asked, getting into the swing of being able to ask whatever questions he wanted.

Dumbledore smiled at him. "I was going to suggest that it become more of an open club," he replied, "now that...certain obstacles have been removed."

"Can we still keep it as it is?" Harry wanted to know. "I mean, not a secret anymore, but--" he paused, unsure of how to word his question.

Dumbledore seemed to understand. His smile grew for a moment, then he managed to control it. "There's no need for a professor to supervise," he said with a smile. "Although you should, of course, feel free to ask one for advice, should the need arise." He seemed to be considering whether to go on, and came to a decision after another moment.

"If working with the Carricks goes well for you all during the rest of the summer, they've said that they're willing to come to school and continue tutoring you several times a week, as your schedule permits. They're very well-grounded in Defense Against the Dark Arts, in Potions, Transfiguration--to be honest, there isn't much, between the two of them, that they don't excel in. So when Professor McGonagall's duties don't permit her to tutor you, the Carricks can step in as needed." Dumbledore saw the gleam this brought to Harry's eyes, and smiled. "Now, they will be busy with the Order and with their jobs. But they don't work full-time for the Ministry, so their schedules are somewhat flexible."

Harry frowned. This was the first he'd heard of this. "How can you be a part-time Auror?" he asked, not understanding.

Dumbledore's expression became shuttered, his eyes moving to the multitude of silver instruments around the office. Harry, still trying to work out how an Auror could work part-time, didn't notice. Nor did he seem to pick up on the suddenly careful tone of Dumbledore's voice. "From what I understand, they were originally brought in to work on a very select group of cases. The number of cases has dwindled the longer they've been working for the Ministry, and no new cases have been assigned to them, so they requested to officially work part-time two years ago. They'd be the ones who could truly explain that," he told Harry. "It has to do with their cover at the Ministry," he finished, and sighed. Dumbledore sat forward in his chair, about to destroy the easy tone of their discussion and already regretting the need to do so.

"Harry, I did want to talk to you about Professor Snape," Dumbledore said, and watched Harry's face tighten into an expression that shouldn't have been at home on a sixteen-year old's face. The Headmaster stifled a sigh and went on resignedly. "I know that the two of you have had your problems. And I know that what happened in June didn't improve the situation. I'm not going to ask you to do anything but give him a chance. It may be hard to believe, given the situation between Professor Snape and Sirius." At the mention of Sirius' name, a flash of pain crossed Harry's face. Dumbledore, loathing the necessity of causing Harry any pain, sighed heavily. "They were never friends. In fact, they were usually enemies. The same could be said for Professor Snape and your father.

"But, Harry, Professor Snape has been suffering under his own load of guilt after what happened last month. I don't know if you can believe me, but at least consider what I'm saying. No matter how much he disliked Sirius Black, he never wanted Sirius to die. I know that he hasn't always seemed to feel that way. And as I said, I'm not asking you to suddenly become his best friend. I'm only asking that you consider that, as losing Sirius has changed you, his loss may have changed others as well."

Harry nodded reluctantly. He didn't believe it, not for one second. But above all, despite his lingering resentment about being kept in the dark for so long, he respected Dumbledore, and he would at least try to consider what Dumbledore was saying. However, he wasn't about to make any promises.

He was standing up to leave, and had nearly reached the door, when Dumbledore's voice called him back. He turned, and saw Dumbledore smiling at him. "Incidentally, Harry," Dumbledore said, and Harry found himself smiling back at the twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes. "I thought it might interest you to know that your lifetime ban from Quidditch has been lifted." Harry's brilliant smile seemed to float in the air hours after he'd left.

Harry bounded down the staircase from the Headmaster's office quietly, thoughts whirling in his head. He headed through the hallways and out onto the grounds, heading toward Hagrid's cabin. Knocking on the door, he noticed that the cabin looked deserted. He frowned. There was no sign of Fang, Hagrid's enormous boarhound. He looked around. The garden was full of plants Harry was reluctant to try to identify, well-tended. Harry guessed that Hagrid was probably in the Forest, with Grawp. Remembering his meetings with Hagrid's younger brother, a sixteen-foot tall Giant whose hobbies included pulling small pines trees out of the ground by their roots, Harry shivered. He decided that it wouldn't be a good idea to go searching out Hagrid in the Forest. As much as he wanted to see Hagrid, he wasn't confident of his chances at coming out of the Forest in one piece, between Grawp and the Centaurs. He pushed Hagrid's door open, planning on leaving him a note.

He found a piece of parchment on the table, and, seeing his name at the top of the note, leaned over it to read what was written there.

"Harry,

I was hopin' to be around when you got to

school with the Headmaster, but a little problem

came up with Grawpy. Had to go take care of

things in the Forest. Please don't come and try

to find me. Things are a little difficult in the Forest

these days. Take care of yourself. I'll see you in

three weeks. Tell Ron, Hermione, and Ginny I said

hello.

Hagrid."

Harry sighed. The note, which had obviously been written in a hurry, made him wonder exactly what kind of problem had come up with Grawp. The possibilities were somewhat staggering. Between Grawp and the Centaurs, even Hagrid had a very hard time in the Forest these days. And Hagrid was half-Giant. If he was admitting to having a difficult time in the Forest, Harry wasn't even going to attempt to calculate his own chances of making a successful trip in. Especially after his own run-in with the Centaurs at the end of last term.

He picked up the quill Hagrid had left with difficulty; it was really far too large for him to write with, but he turned over the parchment and did his best.

"Hagrid,

I got your note. I wish I could have gotten

here sooner. It would have been great to

see you. It's been an interesting summer so far."

Here Harry paused, and decided against telling Hagrid about his new cousins. He knew Hagrid's tendency to forget himself and tell people things best left secret. When it worked to his advantage--as it so often had during his five years at Hogwarts--he didn't mind it. Still, he didn't think it would be a good idea to spread information about the Carricks around, not in a note at least. He thought for a moment, and went on.

"I hope Grawp is all right in the Forest, and

hopefully he's getting along with his English

lessons. Please be careful in there, Hagrid!

Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Ginny said hi.

We can't wait to get back to school. We'll

come to see you as soon as we get here, but

we won't go into the Forest to find you if you're

not here. We'll see you in three weeks!

Harry."

Harry, feeling that he hadn't promised anything he couldn't deliver, set down the quill. There was no way Ron, Ginny, Hermione, or Neville would agree to go back into the Forest, even to see Hagrid. Wishing he'd found Hagrid in, but slightly glad of the chance to avoid turning down an offer of rock cakes, or Hagrid's treacle fudge, or anything Hagrid had baked, he left the cabin, carefully closing the door behind him, and went back up to the castle.

***

Malcolm and Morrigan sat on opposite sides of the kitchen table, with Moody sitting at the head of the table. If a night spent on guard duty, a full day of work, and an hour-and-a-half of Potions lessons with five energetic teenagers had exhausted them, they showed no sign. They were all business, discussing plans for their trip to Azkaban, and they drew maps and marked them up for a few hours. Moody finally let them go around midnight, and they headed into the garden, where Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George were sitting around a campfire that glowed alternately blue and green, depending on whether Fred or George had last pointed a wand at it. Grinning, Malcolm pointed his wand at the fire and had it turning scarlet. The twins looked up and grinned back.

"Grab a seat," George said, and conjured up two chairs.

"Err...I don't know if you'd want to sit on those. They're still working on conjuring. Their chairs tend to disappear too quickly," Charlie said, and howled with laughter when Fred's chair disappeared out from beneath him as if on cue. The Carricks grinned at Fred sympathetically, then Malcolm conjured up some chairs and he and Morrigan sat down.

"Already have a Silencing Charm on. Those damned Extendable Ears," Fred said, with entirely feigned irritation. Morrigan hid a grin. Malcolm didn't bother. "So you're still going to meet us Friday night, right?" Fred asked Morrigan. "At the Wands?"

"I said I would, didn't I?" Morrigan replied easily. Neither Fred, George, nor Charlie missed the quick look Bill gave Morrigan. Malcolm saw Fred and George grin at each other, and caught on quickly. Morrigan appeared to be completely oblivious. "What time were you thinking?" she asked the twins.

"Sometime around nine, I guess," George answered. "Did you want us to pick you up on the way?"

Morrigan raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I'll be heading there from somewhere else. So it'll be better if I meet you."

"Oh, that's fine, then," Fred said, grinning. "We'll save a table then, won't we?"

"That'd be good. It gets crowded when Grimoire's playing," she said, nodding. "I forgot to mention it this morning, but we're almost ready to start working on that other little project. They've decided on using Chocolate Frog cards."

"Oh, that's brilliant," George added, not having missed the look Bill gave her when she mentioned having met them this morning. "They're always carrying those around anyway, aren't they? Well, come on around when you're ready, and we'll get to work on them."

Fred frowned. "We'll be needing some help, though. The basics won't be too tough, of course, but making them reach anywhere, that's the hard bit."

"Not a problem," Malcolm said, nodding. He looked at Charlie and Bill and saw that they weren't following along. "The cards are to use," he explained, "for Harry, Ron, and the others to get hold of any of us. We can use anything for ours, but it's hard to find something they can keep around them on a regular basis without having people wondering why they're always carrying it. Mor and I have used mirrors before, but how do you carry a mirror around with you all day at school without people asking questions?" he asked. Charlie and Bill nodded, understanding.

"So they're using Chocolate Frog cards," Charlie mused. "That's better than perfect, as long as they don't confuse them with other Chocolate Frog cards."

"They won't. We're going to charm them to make sure of it," Malcolm explained. "They need passwords and all sorts of other things, in addition to the right spells to make them communicate back and forth. And we need to make sure that they only communicate with whatever we pick for ours. We don't want them using them to talk to each other at school, that would completely defeat the purpose of keeping them secret."

"We thought we could work out a spell that would make the cards recognise the user," Fred said. "It would be a backup to the password, to make sure that the wrong people aren't using it."

George nodded. "And a charm like the one Flitwick used on the school doors to recognise a picture of Sirius. So the cards would only work for one of the Order."

Morrigan thought about that, and nodded, grinning. "That's good," she said, and the twins beamed at her. "I knew you'd be the people to go to for that," she added, which made Fred and George grin so widely Charlie thought their faces might crack in half.

"Talked to Ron today," Charlie said casually. Morrigan's eyes flew to his. "Seems he wants to be an Auror."

The Weasley twins, who only a few months ago would have howled with laughter at this pronouncement, considered Charlie's statement for a moment, then nodded.

"He'd be a good one, wouldn't he?" Fred asked. "It'd probably take him a bit to catch on, sure, but he'd be good at it. All that strategy and stuff. How's he going to manage the Potions bit?"

"Well, he doesn't need the class to take the N.E.W.T., does he?" Charlie pointed out. "So he's going to work with Harry and Hermione on the extra lessons. And we'll work with him on the Transfiguration and Charms stuff." Charlie nodded at Bill.

"What, we don't get to help?" George demanded, sounding genuinely wounded.

"Well, if you can help without making him feel like your incompetent little brother, you should help," Morrigan pointed out. "I know, I know, it's not your fault you're so cool, but if you can't help rubbing it in, you're not going to do him much good."

"Come on, give us a shot?" Fred asked Charlie and Bill.

"Join the club," Bill finally said, once he'd gotten over his surprise. "Didn't know you'd be interested in lessons, given your...er...attitude toward them when you were at school."

"Oh, that was just because we had different goals then," George assured his oldest brother loftily. "Getting out of school, to be exact." He and Fred grinned. "But we've got to stick together, don't we? And we can't do that if we don't work at it, can we?"

"Still thought he would have wanted to play Quidditch," Fred said, frowning.

"Well, it's on the drawing board, isn't it?" Bill asked, lighting a cigarette with a wave of his wand. "But he'd rather be an Auror, at least right now."

"He'd be a good Keeper," George mused. "Now he's gotten the hang of it, anyway," he added. "Not that it matters. He should do whatever the hell he wants to do, shouldn't he? I mean, we all did," he pointed out. His three brothers nodded.

"Right. So, well, he's probably going to be a bit put out with you," Charlie told the twins. Morrigan's lips twitched before she could control them; the looks of innocent outrage on the Weasley twins' faces were perfect. Charlie went on to give them a brief version of what Morrigan had told Bill and him the previous morning. After expressing the utmost contempt for Percy, Fred and George admitted that making it seem as though this was something all the Weasleys had gone through had been the best strategy.

"Couldn't have blamed it on the prat though, could you?" Fred muttered, making his older brothers grin.

"Wouldn't have been too believable," Bill pointed out. "Do you really think Ron would believe that Percy had wanted us to talk to him about his career?"

"Good point," George admitted, a bit unwillingly. Then he grinned. "So how'd they do in Potions today?" he asked the Carricks, who grinned back.

"They managed a pretty good Tranquilising Potion, once they got the jitters out. Well, except for Hermione. I don't think the girl ever has any jitters," Malcolm said. Morrigan nodded, grinning. "I think they're a lot better than they give themselves credit for."

"They just don't pay enough attention to the potions they're making, because they're so worried about Snape," Morrigan said, laughing. "You should have seen Neville once he got going. He was like a whole different person. And, of course, the new wand helps a lot," she said. Fred and George looked at her, surprised. "Well, his grandmother had him using his father's old wand, which didn't seem to get along with him very well. That got broken at the Ministry in June, so he's got a new one. He and Ron were having this fake duel, after they'd cleared up, and Ron threw a Jelly-Legs Jinx on him. Worked really well. But then Neville got him back with a full-body bind. Said something about having been waiting four years to get one of the three of them with it. And they all laughed like loons for ages. Well, at least they did once we took the jinx off Ron. I mean, he could hardly laugh with it on, could he?"

Fred and George laughed. "Good thing he didn't decide to duel with Ginny. She'd have kicked his ass good." Fred sounded like a proud father.

"No doubt. I've seen that Bat-Bogey Hex." Morrigan laughed. "I'm staying on her good side, let me tell you," she added. George beamed, as though he'd taught Ginny everything she knew.

"So what's the Potions schedule? We need to work out the schedule for Ron's extra stuff, don't we?" Charlie asked.

"You should work with all of them," Malcolm said. "Ron's not the only one who could use some work. We could just have two hours every night, half Potions and half everything else. Then we could all work on it together, and it wouldn't get to be too much."

"And it would be good practice for the school year, for you two," Fred said, grinning at Morrigan and leaning over to steal one of her cigarettes.

"Oh, has Dumbledore decided, then?" she asked, looking pleased. She held her wand out and lit his cigarette for him. Not to be outdone, George took one. She lit his as well.

"According to Harry he has," George said, nodding. "They're all buzzing about it. Are you two going to live in the castle, are you going to help them with D.A., are you going to do this, and are you going to do that. Neville seems to think that you're going to be teaching Defense this year."

At that, Morrigan laughed until she nearly fell off her chair. "They wouldn't let us within six miles of a real classroom," she said. "Dumbledore knows too much about our school days. He and Professor Wrightes--he's the Headmaster at Caerdys--know each other."

"Oh, we've got to hear more about this," Fred and George said at the same time, always willing to share school war stories.

Morrigan grinned. "We can talk all about it Friday. It's too late to start in on that now," she said, and yawned. "Got to be at the office early tomorrow. Some kind of meeting," she said. Disappointed, all four Weasley brothers said goodbye as she and Malcolm finished their cigarettes, pitched them neatly into the fire, Vanished their chairs, and Disapparated.