The Uprising

Chapter 3: Discussions

The mark on Draco's arm was burning a deep and very distinguishable black, especially on his pale skin. The pain ached throughout Draco, but he ignored it the best he could. He looked up at the scarlet eyes that were focused at his arm.

Voldemort said maliciously, "You are officially part of my army. But I must warn you that you are highly privileged to be one of my loyal servants, and I will not accept any misbehavior. Do I make myself clear?" His eyes were squinted so narrowly, only the slightest bit of crimson glinted.

"Yes, my Lord," Draco answered quickly and clearly, trying not to upset Voldemort.

"As you are a newcomer, you will be trained more specifically in the Dark Arts and the Unforgivable Curses with MacNair here," Voldemort said while pointing to what looked like a bulky man in the middle of the crowd. Draco knew who MacNair was; his father and him were very close friends. He worked for the Ministry of Magic as an executioner for condemned creatures in the blank Office.

"MacNair, come and meet your new trainee," Voldemort said in what would be an amused voice underneath the cold approach and horrifying physical appearance. "You two are to start almost immediately. You, MacNair, are let off of all of your assignments in order to commit to training young Draco here. We are finished here." He turned back to his desk and sat down as if a business meeting was just over.

Draco walked out of the huge and clammy room with MacNair who turned to him when they had just exited the room and said to him, "We will start tomorrow, as it is already very late. I will Apparate to your manor first thing in the morning." He then turned on his heel and walked away briskly.

Draco walked on back the way he came with a solemn feeling. He felt uncertain, though he had convinced him many times that the decision that he made was the right one. It would make his family proud, and he would finally get what he had spent the whole summer dwelling on. The revenge that he craved from Potter.

Harry made his way as fast as he could down the stairs with Lupin. They were carrying his trunk and other necessary belongings as carefully as they could while trying to be fast, which was a very difficult task to do. He was also thinking about where he was about to go. He was going to be reminded of all the happy times he had with his godfather and then remember that he was gone. He would be reminded of all the people he had lost all for his cause. He was sick and tired of losing everyone he loved, and would do anything to get them back, or at least try to honor their cause.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Harry called to Aunt Petunia, "They have come to get me! I'm going now! See you next summer!" He trusted Petunia what he meant when he said they. He didn't even wait for a reply; she would know when he was gone, and where he was going anyway.

They successfully made their way out of the door and carried the trunk to Mrs. Figg's house as fast as they could to try to avoid any questioning as to what they were smuggling, as it was a rather unusual-looking trunk. When they were halfway up the path of Mrs. Figg's front yard, her door opened and she ushered them inside with an unusually vigorous agility, for an old woman. She then said as soon as she closed the door, "No time to talk, Harry, just grab a pinch of Floo powder and get on with it."

He grabbed a handful of Floo powder from the bag on Mrs. Figg's mantel, threw the stuff into the fire, and said firmly, "Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place!" He closed his eyes and felt the tingling sensation and spun. The next things he saw was the kitchen of the house he so dreaded going back to with Tonks, Moody, all of the Weasleys with the exception of Fred, George, and Percy, Hermione, and Crookshanks there to greet him. Hermione ran and almost knocked Harry over while she hugged him. "Oh we all missed you so much!" she exclaimed as she usually did when she saw her friend again.

"Oh, get off of him, Hermione you're going to make him faint from lack of oxygen!" Ron said jokingly, walking over to where she and Harry were so that he could literally peel her off of him. Once Ron successfully got Hermione off of Harry, he turned to him and pulled him into a tender but brotherly hug. "Welcome back, mate."

A huge clatter came from behind them and Harry then realized that Lupin came from behind him with his trunk. He quickly moved to the side so that Lupin could settle in and set down the trunk. Mrs. Weasley then came and said, "Well, why don't you three and Ginny go up and get settled, I'll have a special dinner ready soon."

Harry had no problem with Mrs. Weasley's order, and happily obliged by taking one end of his trunk while Ron took the other and they made their way up to the same room that he stayed in last year. He just remembered after the brief moment where he felt remotely happy, he was at Sirius's house again. He started to unpack his clothes with a heavy heart.

"So, did the muggles really treat you okay? Hermione and I were getting the idea....." Harry heard Ron somewhere talking to him, but his mind was drifting away to thoughts of Sirius and how he hated this house so much. It was cursed somehow, because it caused misery for him, and it was now causing Harry terrible guilt. Like godfather like godson, Harry thought to himself. But he then realized that someone was waving arms in front of his face.

"Harry? Are you all right? Come back to earth!"

"Okay, Ron, sorry, I was...thinking," Harry replied with a distant tone.

"It's not...him, is it?" Ron asked very timidly, looking at Ginny and Hermione for support. They were all trying to be cheerful and hopeful so that Harry wouldn't think about Sirius, and both girls were glaring at Ron with a you-took-it-too-far expression. Harry noticed what they were doing and said hastily so not to make them feel guilty, "Oh, it's okay, yes, I was thinking about him. To tell you the truth, I have dreaded coming back here, and now that I am here, well...."

"It's okay, Harry, we understand," Ginny said with a knowing and sad smile. "Well, Fred and George have been dying to see you; they wanted to personally present you with another birthday gift. I expect they'll be here any minute now, their shop closes at six thirty--"

Ginny was interrupted by a loud CRACK! , and two stocky young twins appeared with pompous grins on their faces and wearing identical emerald robes, clashing with their orange hair. "Jolly good to see you, young Harry!" Fred said while vigorously shaking his hand like a greedy businessman, and George patting him on the back. Harry was glad to see the both of them; he had the idea that in the wake of the past year, they felt that they should be the comic relief to all of these people, and he was grateful for it.

Another second later, he heard Mrs. Weasley call them all down for dinner. They went down very willingly, especially Harry, as he felt very uncomfortable and wanted to avoid talking about anything that had to do with Sirius. He entered the kitchen, sat down at the table next to Ginny and Ron, and was immediately horded by Mrs. Weasley with food and her fussing about how "very skinny indeed" he was. He gratefully accepted her servings, and although his breakfast was better than most that he had at the Dursleys, he loved the feeling of actual freedom to eat what he wanted to when he ate.

Most of their dinner was eaten quietly, which was very unusual for all of them, all knowing the Weasleys, and the Weasleys were anything but quiet. Harry had the idea that it was either something to do with him or Sirius, or even the both of them combined. But towards the end of dinner, Lupin spoke up with, "Harry, after you finish, I would like to speak with you for a little while," as quietly and casually as he could, to not draw any more attention than he had unfortunately succeeded in overly. Harry had nodded as best he could to indicate a "yes" and look as normal as possible while doing it.

Everyone else at the table got the hint, and as soon as they finished, they left the room to go attend their own "business." Harry helped Lupin clear the table, and they didn't speak for a little while until Lupin said, "Look, Harry, I know this is hard for you, coming back here and all, and we can all sense it. But there are a few things I need to talk to you about, and they include Sirius. I would like to start off with telling you that you cannot keep going on like this, being quiet and helpless so that you make all others around uncomfortable and apprehensive. We all knew Sirius, too, and we miss him too. We also understand that he was as close to a family that you ever have had before." He paused to observe how Harry was taking this.

He saw that the boy was concentrating hard on the clearing the porcelain plates of any grime, and could tell that Harry was on the verge of a breaking point. He was dreading this talk all summer, and expected worse from the boy when he started, but the boy sullenly listened.

Then, he finally spoke quietly but clearly, "I know, Professor. I just can't stand knowing that I am sleeping in the house that belonged to the man that died for me. I can't help thinking that he is ashamed of me and--"

"For one, Harry, he would never be ashamed of you. If anything, he would be very sad that you are leading this kind of life. He would want you to move on and try to embrace his memory. He wouldn't want you to forget him, but just remember the advice that he gave you, and use it to the best of your ability. I remember him once telling me about how much you had grown, just after you talked to us about what you saw in Severus's Pensieve. He was very proud about your reaction, and spoke very highly of you. You will only betray him by being sad and wallowing in self-pity. I know I should be the last one to say that, but--"

"It's okay, Professor Lupin. You are just trying to point out what he would want for me. I am just sick and tired of putting all the people I know and enjoy being with in danger, just by interacting with them," Harry said shakily, with his head down. Tears had started to form in his eyes, and his throat was starting to hurt from his fight to keep his voice stable. He started to shake uncontrollably from crying.

Lupin just stood there, giving Harry his space, and Harry understood that Lupin was trying to respect him the best he could by giving him his space. He expected to feel embarrassed about crying in front of his former teacher, but he actually felt refreshed. He hadn't vented his sadness at all since his last visit to Dumbledore's office. After a few quiet moments filled with Harry's cleansing and grief-filled tears, he stopped, turned to Lupin, and said, "Thank you." It was all he really needed to say. He trusted that the werewolf would understand exactly what he was thankful for. They were beyond words.

Harry then asked in a voice barely above a whisper, "Does that exactly mean that you are now my official guardian? I mean, did Sirius have a certain reading of the will, or how does it work?"

Lupin took a breath, and said quietly so that he and Harry were the only ones to hear, "I don't know as of now, I really should, but Sirius never really did say who would look after you if he were to pass. He did write a will recently, but he never did say what was in it. We will find out the day after tomorrow. You, I, and the Weasleys got summons letters to go to downtown London for his will reading."

"How do you know that he wrote a will?" Harry asked, suddenly getting morbid ideas about why a thirty-six year old man would want to write his own will.

"Well, I thought that you would already understand that the Order is a very dangerous society to join. You never know if you are going to die when you go on missions. So, naturally, we would all need to handle our affairs in case we die. That is exactly what Sirius did, and I really don't need one, as being a werewolf, I don't have many assets to take care of, but I am still making one."

Lupin hesitated for a moment, and then said, "But there is a bit more that I need to address with you. See, now that you know about...certain things, we would like to make you an unofficial member of the Order. And that will include a lot of explaining about what is going on. So I guess you can ask me anything you would like, and I will explain from there."

"So let me get this straight. You and Dumbledore are going to let me be a part of the Order? But--"

"Well, sort of. Now that you know about...the prophecy," Lupin said this very quietly and nervously, "there are really no more bombshells that we can drop on you," Lupin answered quietly and almost to a loud whisper. Harry knew that he didn't want the others listening on the Extendable Ears. "Now that you know about what you have to do, you need to know about these things that are going on. You won't go on any missions or anything like official Order members do, but you will be briefed on these things, and will be able to go to some meetings. But you will continue your schooling at Hogwarts, and you will do extra training for obvious reasons."

"So, the weapon that you were talking about last summer that the Voldemort had was the prophecy?" Lupin nodded with a wry smile. "So, that means that he will never know about the rest of it?"

Lupin said, "No, he won't know the rest of it, unless he gets it out of any of us, or there was someone else who heard the prophecy. Neither of which is very possible. We have reason to believe that he is even more interested in going after you, after these two years. You first defied him in front of his faithful Death Eaters, which hurt him by showing his weakness, and now you destroyed most all of his chances of finding out what the prophecy said about you. So, you would imagine that he is very angry and exasperated that you have ruined his chances of gaining any more power through knowledge."

"Has he succeeded in building his army? And now that it's out, people are more aware of him to the point where it's harder for him to get any more ranks, right?"

"Exactly. He has gained quite a lot more since last year, before it all got out. He has corrupted many more people to join his Death Eaters, but we can't tell who just yet. But he hasn't been so successful with creatures, and nor have we. The giants, goblins, and trolls have decided to stay neutral from what we see, and you know that the Dementors have joined him. The merpeople aren't exactly much help, if you know what I mean, but we have made sure that envoys are sent to them, seeing as we might need their help, and they haven't ever done anything to us in the past. The centaurs seem to be hostile to anyone who comes their way, so they aren't taking sides that we know of, looking at their bad blooded history between themselves and humans."

"Have we gotten more followers over this year as well?"

"Yes, Charlie Weasley has recruited many foreign people who are very prestigious and useful. He has Anton Bohm, who is a very close with the Romanian Minster of Magic, as well as Dimitri Kiriakis, who works for Gringotts in Bulgaria and is friends with Viktor Krum, who also has joined us. They are keeping tabs on what is going on in their regions and reporting to us. Fleur Delacour has also joined us, thanks to Bill Weasley. They are both checking what is going on in Gringotts as well. Gringotts is one of our most important assets to keep up with. We need to know if there was anything unusual going on there, in case the Death Eaters have ransacked anything important that we need to know about. Although a few people have joined us, it is a lot. Only people we can trust can be part of the Order. People know that the Ministry of Magic is 'fighting Voldemort's ranks the best that they can', but they cannot know about the Order. We are the most dedicated to fighting and some of us are elite and the most important of all to protect."

"You are saying that although the Death Eaters are stronger than us in people and power, we have the power of knowledge with the prophecy?" Harry asked, trying to sum up what Lupin was saying.

"Yes, and that makes it much more evened out from before, when Voldemort had the strength in numbers and knowledge of power on his side. But we are trying to lay low currently because Severus says that he is on the verge of finding out what Voldemort's current plans are."

Lupin looked at the weird clock on the wall that read 9:00. He then said, "Harry, as much as I know Ron, Hermione, and the others will be dying to know, I don't want you repeating any of this to them. As much as I respect them, they cannot know about it. I am risking a lot telling even you about these things, the most important one who needs to know. You're going to need to go upstairs now so they don't suspect too much about what we were talking about. I know I am asking a little too much, but I cannot stress how important it is that you not tell. We'll talk more tomorrow, okay?"

Harry merely nodded. He knew that he was going to have a huge problem doing this successfully, but he nonetheless understood how important it was, and obliged. He said his "good night" to the werewolf and went into the room that he and Ron were staying in. He walked in to find not just Ron, but Fred and George in there deep in a conversation that he could tell was about him. They all quickly stopped and turned their attention to him.

"So, what was that all about?" Ron asked, with a tone of avid curiosity.

"Nothing really, just talking about what a few things that I am going to do with Occlumency this summer," Harry said, quickly thinking of something that was likely and really not lying, as he knew that he was going to be working on more Occlumency somehow.

"Are you going to be in the Order?" Fred asked excitedly, "We reckoned that Dumbledore was hinting toward it."

"What are you talking about?" Harry asked, bewildered.

"Oh, you don't know?" George asked with an amused expression on his face. "We're in the Order too!"