A Stressful Day
And a long day it was. They had to stand in lines for every store. The bookstore and clothing store being the longest. Mostly since everyone needed the new books and more than likely grew. The other stores also had lines, just nowhere as long.
“Did you keep an accounting?” Sirius asked when he joined them.
“No,” Harry said with a smirk.
“I can guess, you know,” the dogman said with a smirk of his own. He knew what Harry was thinking. He was much the same way after he ran away from home. The Potters had tried to pay for his supplies, but his uncle had left him some money, so he never let them. “Fine, be independent. But I’m paying for the rest.”
“Fine,” Harry said, just glad that he had won that round. He knew that Sirius was just looking out for his best interest, but he liked his freedom.
“Fred, George?” Sirius asked, only to be handed a list of costs. “Good, I set up a vault that has about a thousand galleons in it. You can use it for whatever you like,” he said, putting the list in his pocket. “I’ll still pay for your school supplies. I’ll get this back to you tonight,” he added, patting the pocket with the list.
“Wait, that’s far more than 5%,” Fred said, glaring at Sirius.
“Yeah, that’s more like 20%,” George added, he too sending Sirius some not so nice looks.
“Fine, but only 10%,” Sirius said, looking to Harry who nodded in agreement.
“10% for both of you,” the twins said together.
“Fine,” Harry and Sirius said at the same time.
They settled back into the line for the clothing store. It was there they ran into the other Weasleys and Hermione.
“Harry, there you are,” Hermione said, like he had been missing. She went to hug him, but he held up his hand to stop her.
“Oh, you’re talking to me now?” Harry said, looking at his female friend with disdain. He was quite upset with her. First, she started the fight, now she was acting like she had done nothing wrong. That just pissed him off more.
“Of course, I am,” she said, like she hadn’t been ignoring his letters. “I never stopped talking to you,” she added, mostly honest, letters weren’t talking.
“You didn’t write back when I wrote you,” he said, standing with his arms folded over his chest, and his foot was tapping in agitation. He wasn’t going to back down on this. She was in the wrong.
“Well, yes, but I’ve decided to forgive you,” she said, using the tone that suggested she was making a grand gesture. She even smiled at him, in a mild condescending way. She wasn’t stuck up; she just had a know-it-all attitude.
“You’ll forgive me?” was the incredulous reply. “For what?” he demanded, almost stomping his foot. He refrained because it would make him look childish. He looked at Sirius and the twins and they looked just as shocked as he did. The other Weasleys didn’t seemed surprised at all.
“For not letting me in the library,” she said like it was obvious.
“That was not my call,” Harry stated, then looked around and saw everyone was paying attention to him. The three doxies hovering unseen by his right shoulder were tense. He could feel it on them. “I’m not having this out with you here,” he finally stated, shaking his head a bit to let the doxies know not to fire.
“You aren’t…” was as far as she got when she was interrupted.
“Not here,” Sirius said, knowing how uncomfortable this meeting was making Harry. Not to mention others around them.
“Fine,” she huffed, and she went to stand by Mrs. Weasley.
“Harry, good to see you mate,” Ron said, coming up to the other boy. “You too, Fred, George,” he added, nodding to his brothers and Sirius. They nodded back and let the two friends catch up. “Sorry about her,” he added, like he had tried to stop her but couldn’t.
“Not your problem. Besides that, you look like being home agreed with you,” Harry said in a way of greeting. Ron did look good, like he had spent every day outside in the sun. He was so tan his freckles had faded out, but there was a lot more of them.
“Yeah, I got to fly every day, and we got out of cleaning,” the redhead said, his smile was genuine. “Still had to clear out the gnomes, but it was outdoors, so I didn’t mind.”
“I’m glad to hear that,” Harry said, and the two talked while the line moved slowly. They weren’t as tight as they had been before summer started, but they were still friendly. Harry just hoped that Hermione came to her senses and realized that she was wrong. She had stood by him all last year. She just had a blind spot when it came to books. Her belief that all knowledge was hers for the taking was going to be the end of her.
The twins talked to Ginny and their mum. She was still harping, but it was milder than usual, like she too didn’t want to have it out in public. For which everyone was grateful. If Molly got started, she could peel paint off the wall.
Standing in line was a nightmare. Harry and Sirius had to put up with the frightened and admiring looks everywhere they went. Sirius mostly sneered at them, not helping his case at all. Harry ignored them, but he didn’t have any issue voicing his dislike at being stared at to his godfather and the twins. They had no problem playing along.
Harry did have the doxies shoot a few of the more aggressive people. Too bad Malfoy wasn’t among them. He would have loved to see that git with pink hair. Draco was probably still trying to figure out what to do without his father around. At least, Harry hoped the man was still in prison.
The rest of the shopping went as well as it could, what with all the staring, and they were home in time for dinner. Dobby made sure they were well fed with roast beef, carrots, and potatoes. They chowed down after such a stressful day.
“Harry, since this is the last meeting before you go back, do you want to sit in?” Sirius asked, wiping his mouth with his napkin. “Thank you, Dobby,” he said to the air as his plate disappeared.
“How? Dumbledore will kick me out,” the teen said, finishing off the last of his potatoes. “It was great again, Winky,” he added, knowing that the female elf did the cooking.
“Your invisibility cloak,” Sirius said, his eyebrow raised a bit in a ‘duh’ like manner. “What else would you use?” he asked, not sure what the issue was.
“Dumbledore can see me with it,” Harry complained, complete with a dejected slouch. “Every time I used it in the past, he found me,” he explained at the confused looks.
“That’s not right,” Sirius said, concerned. “Go get it and bring it here,” he ordered in a no-nonsense manner. He was hopping mad. How dare that old man violate the cloak. It was a family heirloom. He wondered how the old man got it in the first place. He knew James didn’t lend it out for any reason.
Harry could tell that his godfather was serious, no pun intended, so he went upstairs and got the cloak. He all but ran up and down the stairs, not caring that he set off Mrs. Black. One day they’d take care of that portrait, but it was the least of their worries right now. “Here,” he said, thrusting the cloak in Sirius’s arms.
Sirius held it out and ran his wand over it, there it was, a tracking charm on a thread that wasn’t part of the cloak. “Spelled,” he said, taking the thread out and the charm off. Then he handed it back to Harry. “James used that cloak the entire time he was in Hogwarts. Dumbledore never caught him. I don’t know what he’s playing at with you, but it has to stop.” He pounded his fist on the table, he was that angry.
“You and me both agree on that,” Harry said with a huff. He sat back down with the cloak in his lap. “So, meeting?” he asked instead of venting. It was like beating your head against the wall. It did nothing in the end, except give you a headache.
“I have a few things to get off my chest. I want you there, so you can hear the excuses yourself,” the other man explained, putting his hands back on his lap, no longer feeling like abusing the table.
“I’ll be by the fireplace, that way I’m hidden better. I’ll just sit on the floor over there,” Harry said, pointing to the right side of the fireplace, which had a huge vase next to it.
“Good call,” Sirius said, and they finished their dessert, which was a German chocolate cake.
The twins will already be at the meeting. They weren’t going to let anyone tell them no.
Hphphp
Six-thirty came, and people started arriving, both by the front door and the fireplace. Soon enough, the kitchen was full of noisy people. They were all talking about the lateness of the school list. Most of them had children or knew someone who did. It was not going to look good for the headmaster, who had yet to show.
“Settle down, everyone,” Sirius said, holding his hands up for silence. “Albus will be here soon,” he added, making everyone nod their heads, quite used to the old man’s ways. “Let’s calm down and get to business.”
He then picked up the teapot and poured a steaming cup of tea. There were also biscuits and sandwiches on the table. Sure, it wasn’t the spread that Molly used to put out, but they weren’t here for socializing, they were supposed to be the resistance against Voldy.
Others followed his example and the talks died down and there was only a few that were still discussing things.
Albus Dumbledore came through the floo a moment later. “Good evening, everyone,” he said as he went to the head of the table. Sirius sat at the foot, only because Albus was in charge of the Order. “Does anyone have anything to report?” he asked as he took his seat.
“I do,” Bill said, standing to be heard. “The goblins have found two more of the horcruxes and they think one of the last ones is in Hogwarts.” He sat after giving that bombshell. He continued eating the small sandwich he had been eating on before he stood.
“I thought I asked that that subject be kept secret,” Dumbledore stated, giving his patented disappointed look.
“From the Order?” the redhead asked in confusion. “I thought you trusted them enough that you didn’t feel the need to take vows?” he said, waving to the room at large.
“I do trust them,” Albus said, looking everyone in the eye. “However, there are some things that no one should know.” He gave them his ‘I know best’ look.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Alastor asked, very put out that this information was kept from him of all people. “I know what they are, and I could have been looking for them this whole time,” he added, his magical eye swirling around its socket. Like he was making sure there weren’t any here in the house.
“A secret is only a secret if it is not shared,” Dumbledore stated, still looking at Bill like the redhead had killed his puppy. This was information he wanted only a few to know. He was still upset that Harry’s was gone.
“But…” was the protest of many.
Harry was sitting by the fireplace as planned. He thought that Moody could see him, but the man seemed to not care that he was there. He was really interested in how the old man would get out of this one.
“I did what I had to do,” Albus said, like that would end the discussion. To him this was not to be debated. He was the leader, they should follow him, no matter what.
“How did you find out?” Alastor asked Bill. For him it was not over. Damn what Albus wanted. He knew what needed to be done, and he was getting tired of the pacifistic attitude. He was one of the ones that wanted to have the splintered group, and after this bombshell, that was going to happen. He’d make sure of it.
“There was one here,” was the calm answer. He didn’t care what Dumbledore thought either. His parents might revere the guy, but Bill was still pissed over the whole diary incident.
“And you took it to the goblins?” Moody wanted to know. That was information he did not have. If he could get the one in Hogwarts, he now knew where to take it.
“Yes,” Bill said, with a wicked grin. It was his job, after all. “The goblins were up in arms right away. They were more pissed that there was one at the bank. The Lestrange’s are now poor as dirt. Not that they needed the money since they are locked up.” His grin split his face it was so big.
“And they took care of it and two others?” For Moody that was good news.
“Yes,” the redhead said again, this time with a smirk.
“And there’s only one left and they think it’s at Hogwarts?”
“Yes,” he answered again. “No, wait, there’s another, but they already know what it is. They’re saving it for last,” he added, thinking about the snake.
“Why?” Moody asked, not sure if he liked that.
“It’s next to You-Know-Who,” was the answer.
“Oh,” came the response from many.
“Well, Albus, I think you’ve been hiding too much. Look at what got done in such a short amount of time,” Alastor accused his old friend.
“I had my reasons,” was all the old man would say.
“Tonks,” Sirius said, turning to his cousin, “what happened to Malfoy?” He knew that the horcruxes were now taken care of, for the most part. He wanted to get a few things cleared up before he really laid into the old man.
Harry leaned forward to hear the answer to that. He still had the man’s cane. He had no clue what to do with it. He might just give it to Bones. She might need the wand. Or he’d give the wand to her, and he’d keep the cane. It was a cool cane.
“Azkaban,” the pink-haired woman said, smiling like Christmas had come early. “He sang like a bird after Bones told him she had him dead to rights. He couldn’t plead Imperious because he was there at the rebirth of You-Know-Who. There was no time to curse him. Bones said that all the ones that were identified will be rounded up and put in prison,” she finished, grinning at everyone who looked pleased.
“Couldn’t happen to a better man,” Moody said, growling under his breath that the man should have gotten Kissed. The only good Death Eater in his book was a dead one.
“I have another issue,” Sirius said, changing the subject again.
“What?” was the cautious question from the old man. Sirius had been causing discontent for the last few meetings, and he was wary as to what the man wanted now.
“Why do you insist on Harry using Voldy’s name when you know about the taboo?” Sirius asked, his eyes hard.
Harry perked up at this question. He wanted to know the answer to that too. Why was the headmaster so insistent on that? He didn’t think Dumbledore would tell the truth, or at least not the full truth. Still, it would be interesting what he said.