Gloves, Toaster and Toilets

Arthur apparated back to Grimmuald Place. After a quick survey of his surroundings, he saw that he was alone in the house, save for Sirius and Buckbeak at the top of the house.

He grabbed a quill, ink and parchment and headed to the basement kitchen. It was not very comfortable but it served its purpose and he about as far away from Sirius as he could get without actually leaving the house. It wasn't that he didn't like Sirius, but he needed to keep a distance so that he might not stumble onto the gloves; Arthur still wanted to keep the gloves a secret.

Arthur sat down at the table and spread out his things. The gloves didn't wait, but picked up the quill, dipped it in ink, and poised it over the paper, ready to write.

"I got my newspaper today and--"

You can't trust those things.

"That's not the point. You know what Azkaban is?"

Isn't that the prison?

"Yes. Some Death Eaters broke out of it."

That's not good. How many of them?

"Ten. But those were the high security prisoners because they're so high up with Voldermort."

Again, that's not good.

"They're blaming the breakout on Sirius."

That guy who is upstairs this very moment? Then why is he here?!

"People think he's a Death Eater and that he betrayed his best friends."

They think? So he's really on your side, right?

"Yes, he's perfectly harmless."

Do you usually get news like that?

"No. But that's not all that happened today."

Oh, no. What else?

"Bode was killed by a cutting of Devil's Snare. Don't ask who -- he worked in the Department of Mysteries and was probably tricked into going in there to get the prophecy. But since the prophecy wasn't about him, he went crazy and was in St. Mungo's. Then he was sent a cutting of Devil's Snare as a birthday present and it killed him."

That's not a pretty picture. Some people just don't have much luck.

"Ye--" A doorbell rang and the portrait of Mrs. Black started screeching. Arthur groaned and quickly put away his things and ran to get the door. It was Tonks and Remus. As soon as they got in, Remus ran to close the portrait and was helped by Sirius. Then, all four of them went down to the kitchen.

Tonks spoke first. "Did you all see the news?"

"Yes, of course, that was a little hard to miss. It's not everyday that I see my name in the front page." Sirius growled this, as if annoyed.

"No point in getting angry, Sirius," Remus chastened.

"It's not as if they had another choice. They can't just say that Albus was right and he had been hiding something."

"That's right, Arthur, but this isn't good. Now he has more followers and that certainly isn't something we wanted," Tonks said.

"Did you see the article about Bode?" Remus asked.

"Yes, that was a pity," Sirius said.

"That's right, we could have had an ally in him, but that's just the beginning of the killings." Arthur said quietly.

The group continued talking about Order business until it was time for them to leave. Sirius went back up to Buckbeak after all of his friends had left and though about what had happened for a while after everything was over.