(Y/N)'s POV

A St. Mungo's nurse came to check on me again, tutting at me for being loud, "Has anyone ever told you, you talk too much?" "Probably, but I wouldn't know, too busy talking" she smiled at me and asked me all the normal stuff.

For the thousandth time I asked her, "When can I leave?" she always answered the same, "Soon, be patient" "I know I'm a patient, I'm asking when I leave" I wanted to joke, but I couldn't, I hated it here.

They kept me cooped up, all I could hear was occasional groans and grunts of pain. It was giving me bad memories of being here a few years ago. Apparently, reattaching a hand nobody can find is no easy feat, especially for me.

So we had come to an alternative and even that wasn't perfect, and I needed to be psychologically evaluated every so often, but to be honest. All I wanted to do was go home. What did help, was my friends coming to visit me, and another visitor who was a patient of St. Mungo's.

They were a welcome distraction from the endless tedium. Ron visited most often, of course because his family was pureblood, Hermione had dropped by once or twice...Twice, not that I'm counting.

Of course Harry had yet to come, but seeing as he was under the thumb of the Dursleys and what Dumbledore had dropped by to tell me, I wasn't overly surprised. Another welcome visitor was Luna, she came by once with some weird charms and trinkets to aid my recovery.

A surprise visitor was Neville, who of course was here every chance he got, but not for me, it did help to see a friendly face every so often though, even if his grandmother was always rushing him every time we had a chat.

Mum and Dad were here every day, even when they both had to start work again, they made time to visit me, both telling me how their days had been and what recent things had happened in both the muggle and wizarding world. Winky dropped by a few times to thank me for her new job and fuss over me.

Surprisingly, there was someone I was missing a lot, she had been unable to see me since I left Hogwarts, Bones. Of course I got regular check-ins from mum and dad, but I hadn't been able to see her at all.

Now being separated from ones pet usually wouldn't seem like a big deal to some people, but me and Bones were basically a package deal, and to be honest, stroking her as she purred was my version of a muggle stress ball. And nothing stressed me out more than being stuck here.

In short. I was going insane. The events I had lived through at the end of the school year were still weighing heavily on me. I couldn't sleep some nights. The Mediwizards asked me all sorts of questions I didn't want to answer. I still had dreams of that flash of green light.

It had just turned August when I read a headline in the Daily Prophet and attempted to find liberation, then when that didn't work, I begged Mum, she offered me an opportunity I could never pass up.

Harry's POV

My heart shot upward into my throat. There were people standing in the shadowy hall, silhouetted against the streetlight glowing through the glass door; nine or ten of them, all, as far as he could see, looking up at him.

"Lower your wand, boy, before you take someone's eye out," said a low, growling voice. "Yeah Harry, we come in peace" said another I recognised immediately, my heart was thumping uncontrollably. But I still didn't lower my wand.

"Professor Moody?" I said uncertainly. "I don't know so much about 'Professor,' " growled the voice, "never got 'round to much teaching, did I? Get down here, we want to see you properly." I lowered my wand slightly but didn't relax my grip on it, nor did I move.

"Hurry up will you, we haven't got all day!" called the second voice from somewhere in the back. The reason I was being so cautious was the two people who had spoken to me are two people that either shouldn't be here or couldn't be entirely trusted.

I had recently spent nine months in Mad-Eye Moody's company only to find out that it wasn't Moody at all, but an impostor; an impostor, moreover, who had tried to kill me before being unmasked.

The second was my friend (Y/N) who, last time I heard from him, was getting ready for a long and painful recovery in St. Mungos. It made next to no sense for him to be here. I stepped out of the door-frame into the hallway.

A third, slightly hoarse voice floated upstairs. "It's all right, Harry. We've come to take you away." I knew that voice too, though I hadn't heard it for more than a year. "P-Professor Lupin?" I said disbelievingly. "Is that you?"

"Why are we all standing in the dark?" said another voice, this one completely unfamiliar, a woman's. "Lumos." A wand tip flared, illuminating the hall with magical light. I blinked. The people below were crowded around the foot of the stairs, gazing intently up at him, some craning their heads for a better look.

Remus Lupin stood nearest to me. One broke the silence from the back, jumping up and down in excitement "Harry! You're so much taller!" It was (Y/N) who seemed to be excited about my recent growth spurt, he was still significantly taller than me, but the gap had lessened.

He continued to talk my ear off as we made our way downstairs, I don't know why I ever doubted it was him, only one person could ever be this loud. "Don't worry, I'm pretty sure this one's the real deal" he said, grinning madly and pointing to Moody, who grumbled.

(Y/N) looked much better than the last time I saw him, only a bandage covered his hand now and he seemed very happy, he saw me looking at it, "Yeah, it was a whole thing, there were some complications,"

"The Mediwizards had to work slowly, you know how painful it is to regrow bones, imagine everything else too, the hand has lots of bones..." He trailed off and I nodded, remembering my painful experience in the Hospital Wing in second year.

"The bandage is basically just so I don't freak anyone out, I'll show you later" I nodded again, "Why are you here?" I interrupted his ramblings. "I heard what happened at Little Whinging, I tried to break out of St. Mungo's to come help, but mum caught me" he frowned.

"Made it all the way to 'Artefact Accidents' though" he perked up "Then I asked if I could come get you and mum said yes, I've been going mental in St Mungos it's so boring in there" he said very quickly.

I suppose not having anyone to talk to must have been boring for him as well as me. "Why didn't you write?" He sighed, "Tell you later" I was disappointed at this but nodded. "Good to see you by the way" he said, pulling me into a hug.

Moody was grumbling "-It'd be a nice lookout if we bring back some Death Eater impersonating him. We ought to ask him something only the real Potter would know. Unless anyone brought any Veritaserum?"

"Sorry, fresh out, Mum might have some" (Y/N) said, "Quiet you" he hissed. "Harry, what form does your Patronus take?" said Lupin. "A stag," I replied nervously. "That's him, Mad-Eye," said Lupin.

As we made our way to the living room, I was suddenly very conscious of everybody still staring at me, I stowed my wand into the back pocket of my jeans. "Don't put your wand there, boy!" roared Moody.

"What if it ignited? Better wizards than you have lost buttocks, you know!" (Y/N) snorted and giggled "Who d'you know who's lost a buttock?" the violet-haired woman asked Mad-Eye interestedly. "Never you mind, you just keep your wand out of your back pocket!" growled Mad-Eye.

Lupin insisted on introducing everyone "This is Alastor Moody, Harry," Lupin continued, pointing toward Moody. "Yeah, I know," I said uncomfortably. "And this is Nymphadora —" "Don't call me Nymphadora, Remus," said the young witch with a shudder.

"It's Tonks." "— Nymphadora Tonks, who prefers to be known by her surname only," finished Lupin. "So would you if your fool of a mother had called you 'Nymphadora,' " muttered Tonks. "I like it!" piped up (Y/N), she shrugged, "You would."

"And this is Kingsley Shacklebolt" he indicated the tall black wizard, who bowed "Elphias Doge" "Dedalus Diggle " "We've met before," squeaked the excitable Diggle, dropping his top hat. "Emmeline Vance" a stately looking witch in an emerald green shawl inclined her head.

"Sturgis Podmore" a square-jawed wizard with thick, straw-coloured hair winked "and Hestia Jones." A pink-cheeked, black-haired witch waved from next to the toaster. I inclined my head awkwardly at each of them as they were introduced.

"Hi, I'm Merlin" (Y/N) shook my hand. "A surprising number of people volunteered to come and get you," said Lupin, "Plus, Mum said it was probably best if you saw at least one handsome face, so I'm here" Lupin sighed, "The word she used, was 'Friendly' " (Y/N) shrugged.

As I asked them what I was doing here (Y/N) scoffed, "Right 'We've come to get you' could mean a lot Professor Lupin" he nodded. Lupin explained the plan, we had fifteen minutes to pack all my belongings, then we would go to a safehouse, this is where I would stay until my trial and then if everything went well, I would go to Hogwarts in September.

"How're we getting...wherever we're going?" I asked. "Brooms," said Lupin. "Only way. You're too young to Apparate, they'll be watching the Floo Network, and it's more than our life's worth to set up an unauthorized Portkey."

"Remus says you're a good flier," said Kingsley Shacklebolt in his deep voice. "He's excellent," said Lupin, "Yeah, he ate a snitch once" (Y/N) added, my cheeks went a bit pink at that. "I didn't eat it" I clarified quietly.

Kingsley looked confused but nodded. "Anyway, you'd better go and get packed, Harry, we want to be ready to go when the signal comes." "I'll come and help you," said Tonks brightly. Packing while she was in the room was an interesting experience.

She had a very short attention span, she reminded me a bit of (Y/N), if he calmed down a bit. But I did learn some interesting stuff about her. She's a Metamorphmagus, I learned this when she suddenly decided she didn't like the colour of her hair, and changed it in front of my eyes.

She explained what that meant, then that she was an Auror, she was a relatively new one, who worked under Mrs (L/N). "Excellent," said Lupin, looking up as Tonks and I entered. "We've got about a minute, I think."

"We should probably get out into the garden so we're ready. Harry, I've left a letter telling your aunt and uncle not to worry —" "They won't," I assured. "That you're safe —" "That'll just depress them." "— and you'll see them next summer." "Do I have to?" Lupin smiled but made no answer.

"Come here, boy," said Moody gruffly, beckoning me toward him with his wand. "I need to Disillusion you." "You need to what?" said Harry nervously. "Disillusionment Charm," said Moody, raising his wand. "Lupin says you've got an Invisibility Cloak, but it won't stay on while we're flying; this'll disguise you better. Here you go —"

He rapped me hard on the top of the head and I felt a curious sensation as though Moody had just smashed an egg there; cold trickles seemed to be running down his body from the point the wand had struck. "Nice one, Mad-Eye," said Tonks appreciatively, staring at my midriff.

I looked down at my body, or rather, what had been my body, for it didn't look anything like it anymore. It was not invisible; it had simply taken on the exact colour and texture of the kitchen unit behind me. I seemed to have become a human chameleon.

"That's so cool, do me, do me!" (Y/N) said, then he paused as Tonks looked at him funny, "Sorry, I'm just excited, I've never been on an official auror mission before, always wanted to though" he said sheepishly.

"Plus, I haven't been out in a while." He rubbed the back of his neck, "And here I thought you just ate a lot of sugar before you came here" said Tonks teasingly. "That too, but don't tell mum." He laughed.

As we left, Tonks was still pestering Moody about who he had seen blow their butt off as we were stepping outside, when a voice called out "MOODY! That was one time! I was nervous, and they healed it good as new. There's not even a scar, I've checked."

It sounded more like a whine then anything. It took me a second to place who it was, (M/N), (Y/N)'s mother, of course she would have insisted to come with him on this 'mission' considering what happened at the end of last year.

She was stood just outside the door, eyes scanning the skies, crossing her hands over herself to keep warm when she saw me. "Harry, nice to see you love" she beamed at me, "Alastor, are you ok from here?" he nodded.

She smiled, "Tonks. Behave." She pointed a finger to the now pink haired woman, who straitened up and nodded "Yes Ma'am." "Nice hair by the way, love that colour" (M/N) smiled, then walked up to (Y/N) and kissed him on the cheek.

"Be safe" she said, with that she gave a wave and apparated away as he was trying to hold his blush in, he whispered to me "Tell. No-one." I cracked a smile. "Wait...that butt thing was a true story?" (Y/N) asked Moody, getting distracted. "I thought she was being metaphorical."

"Just once, I'd like to see her on a broom, just once" Tonks said as she left. (Y/N) got over his shock and nodded, "Yeah, but can you blame her? Apparition is awesome," he said, wiggling his fingers, which looked a bit odd, "But I admit, it's not as fun as this." He said.

"Mount up!" shouted Moody. Everyone whistled for their brooms, (Y/N) huffed and waved his wand, as he did, I saw a broom I quickly identified as a Comet 260 streak through the sky and into his hand.

"Like it? brand new, just in case I needed one, figured I'd stick with brand loyalty since I probably wont use it much, used the ministry's money to pay for it too. They had to pay big time for this" he gestured with his arm. I nodded, nothing compared to the Firebolt, but it was still a brilliant broom.

"Come on," said Moody, "Clear night," grunted Moody, his magical eye scanning the heavens. "Could've done with a bit more cloud cover. Right, you," he barked at Harry, "we're going to be flying in close formation."

"Tonks'll be right in front of you, keep close on her tail. Lupin'll be covering you from below. I'm going to be behind you. Loudmouth'll be above. The rest'll be circling us. We don't break ranks for anything, got me?"

"If one of us is killed the others keep flying, don't stop, don't break ranks. If they take out all of us and you survive, Harry, the rear guard are standing by to take over; keep flying east and they'll join you."

"Stop being so cheerful, Mad-Eye, he'll think we're not taking this seriously," said Tonks, "So unprofessional" added (Y/N), shaking his head. "You sure you're up for this (Y/N)?" Tonks said, (Y/N) put a thumb up and stuck his tongue out, "Wouldn't be here if I wasn't"

We took to the skies almost immediately. Feeling the wind in my hair was oddly freeing, I had forgotten how much I missed it. The wind whipped at my face; the cold chill of the air invaded my lungs.

I loved every second, Tonks was in front of me the entire time, leading me to my objective, every so often I would look at (Y/N), he was directly above me, every time I saw him he was in a different position, laughing gleefully.

Once he was upside down, the next time, he was spinning on his broom like a drill. It was quite the show. But eventually it was over, we touched down somewhere in London.

"Where are we?" I asked, but Lupin said quietly, "In a minute." Moody was rummaging in his cloak, "Got it," he muttered, raising what looked like a silver cigarette lighter into the air and clicking it.

The nearest streetlamp went out with a pop. He clicked the unlighter again; the next lamp went out. He kept clicking until every lamp in the square was extinguished and the only light in the square came from curtained windows and the sickle moon overhead.

"Borrowed it from Dumbledore," growled Moody, pocketing the Put-Outer. "That'll take care of any Muggles looking out of the window, see? Now, come on, quick." "Here," Moody muttered, thrusting a piece of parchment toward my Disillusioned hand and holding his lit wand close to it, to illuminate the writing.

"Read quickly and memorise." I looked down at the piece of paper. The narrow handwriting was vaguely familiar. It said: "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London."

"Can we go inside now? Its freezing out here" (Y/N) said as the door to Grimmauld place materialised in front of us. We all quickly hurried inside, Moody lifted the charm on me and then hurried off down the hall, followed closely by Tonks, who tripped on her way past a troll leg umbrella stand, (Y/N) snorted at her and she stuck her tongue out at him.

After walking down the very dingy and dimly lit corridor, I followed the sound of frustrated voices, I saw a group of people sat around a table, arguing, a few were turned away from me, but a few I would recognise anywhere.

The most noticeable were Mr. Weasley, Mrs (L/N), and Sirius, who I managed to make eye contact with, he smiled at me and they all paused, (Y/N) waved at his mother, who returned it, and then Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall.

She was beaming as she hurried toward us. "Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling me into a rib-cracking hug, then the same for (Y/N) who returned it happily before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically.

"You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid. . . ." She turned to the gang of wizards behind her and whispered urgently, "He's just arrived, the meeting's started. . . ."

The wizards behind me all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past us toward the door through which Mrs. Weasley had just come; Me and (Y/N) made to follow Lupin, but Mrs. Weasley held us back.

"No, the meeting's only for members of the Order" (Y/N) groaned and muttered a swear under his breath. "Ron and Hermione are upstairs; you can wait with them until the meeting's over and then we'll have dinner."

I went to protest "I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting, Ron will show you where you're sleeping." I crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob, and opened the door.

(Y/N) stood to the side of the door frame, hiding himself with the door as it opened, I looked at him puzzled, he just put a finger to his lips. As it opened I caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room.

There was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and my vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair,  Hermione had thrown herself onto me in a hug that nearly knocked me flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round our heads.

"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless — but we couldn't tell you anything."

"Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got to tell us — the dementors! When we heard — and that Ministry hearing — it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't."

"There's provision in the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations —" "Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron, she did as he asked, but seemed oddly nervous, after a few seconds she couldn't contain herself.

"Have you seen (Y/N)?" I was befuddled at this question for a second, he was right beside me, but then I realised what he was planning, "No, why?" she sighed, "Well, you know what he's like" said Ron.

Hermione frowned, "We haven't heard from him in a few days, he isn't replying to letters" she added "even mine..." in a slightly quieter voice "we were getting worried, especially because..." she held up Bones the cat, who mewled tiredly to announce herself, then jumped down.

I could see how that would worry them, he would never leave her if he could help it. "Are you sure you haven't seen him?" she asked, turning her back to the door as I made my way inside, "No" I lied. I barely had time to clap my hand over Ron's mouth before (Y/N) made his move.

He stood in the door frame behind her "aawww, Hermione! You do care!" he said, wrapping his hands around her waist and lifting her off her feet, she squealed and threw a panicked elbow behind her, hitting him directly in the nose, he dropped her to hold it in pain.

"DON'T DO THAT!" she screamed, then calmed down a little as he chuckled, "sorry, old habit, couldn't help myself" she huffed "Where have you been?" she said, sounding strangely concerned. He pointed to me, "went to get him didn't I..." he said, shuffling into the room.

(Y/N)'s POV

That really hurt, but it was worth it, I hadn't seen any of my friends since they last visited me in St. Mungo's, I had to make a flashy entrance, I saw Ron for the first time in a while over Hermione's shoulder.

"RON! You have grown so much!" The second I closed the door I was bombarded, I turned back, and a flash of black fur invaded my eyesight, Bones had jumped from a nearby cabinet onto my face.

Bones was all over me, purring loudly, tail swishing violently, he had been staying with mum while I was recovering, so she must have missed me a lot, of course, I returned the affection "BONES!"

I leaned into her face, she licked my cheek "Missed you princess" I said, hugging her against me. After a while of cuddling we settled down, with crossed legs, she sat in between them, and I stroked her. We weren't the only ones having a reunion.

"Hedwig!" The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled Harry's ear affectionately as he stroked her feathers. "She's been in a right state," said Ron. "Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this-"

He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut. "Yeah, the St. Mungo's nurses were not happy with the sudden bird attack" "Oh yeah," Harry said. "Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know. . . ."

"We wanted to give them to you, mate," said Ron. "Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us —" "— swear not to tell me," said Harry. "Yeah, Hermione's already said."

"Well, since everyone's here, show and tell time!" I announced. I pointed to Ron dramatically, "DRUMROLL PLEASE!" he obliged but seemed very confused. I unwrapped my bandage shouting "Taa-daaah" I did not get the reaction I expected.

Hermione shrieked and clapped a hand over her mouth, Ron visibly flinched and said, "Bloody hell" and Harry looked visibly disturbed. Now I think of It I hadn't told them about my hand, so they probably weren't prepared for what they saw.

It was more elaborate then Mum's because it was my whole hand, cut off at the wrist, replaced by a full hand prosthesis. It was a bit bare-bones now. Dad built it for me after they couldn't fix me at St. Mungo's.

It was essentially steel in replacement of my fingers and hand, each lined with copper plating on the knuckles to make them seem more lifelike. "Once we get to Hogwarts I'm going to ask Flitwick and McGonagall to make it fancy" I smiled.

"Why didn't they grow it back!" said Ron still looking a bit concerned, "Well, that was more my fault then theirs." I admitted, they gave me a look as if to ask me to explain, I wasn't about to tell them the nitty gritty stuff.

But I explained the general issues. "Well, because of my Legilimens stuff they couldn't give me proper treatment, because I can shake off most magical pain killers, so any regrowth would be very painful"

Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but I continued. "Which led to its own problems, If I was in too much pain my body, or more accurately, my brain, would lash out which can do loads of bad stuff to anyone nearby, even if I don't mean to."

"So, I told the Healers that they could stop, I didn't want to hurt people who were already in the hospital for being hurt, that would be horrible, so, for now at least, I'm going to use this as a compromise" I finished, wiggling my fingers.

"Does it do anything?" Harry asked, I nodded "Yeah it does something really cool, come close" they all huddled closer to it, I pretended to put some effort in and flipped them off, they were pretty mad at that, so I just said I didn't need it to do anything fancy until I let Flitwick get his hands on it. So, we moved on to Harry.

We spent the next few minutes explaining everything to him, how Dumbledore swore us into secrecy, how we knew about the order, that he was being tailed constantly, he didn't seem very happy.

"Well, no — but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time —" "Didn't work that well, though, did it?" said Harry, almost shouting. "Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?"

"He was so angry," said Hermione in an almost awestruck voice. "Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary." "Well, I'm glad he left," Harry said coldly.

"If he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer." "See, silver lining" I said, he glared at me. After that I tried to stay quiet, he needed to vent, but he continued to rise in anger.

"Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted," "Don't be thick," said Ron, looking highly disconcerted. "Or that I can't take care of myself —" "Of course he doesn't think that!" said Hermione anxiously. "So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you three get to join in everything that's going on here?"

"How come you three are allowed to know everything that's going on — ?" "We're not!" Ron interrupted. "Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young —" But Harry wasn't seeing reason, he was seeing red.

"SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT — WHO SAVED THE SORCERER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?"

"WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!" Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, while Hermione looked on the verge of tears.

"BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?" "Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did —" Hermione began. "CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR —"

"Well, he did —" "FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON —" "We wanted to —" "I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER —"

I had had enough. "Oh, shut your goddamned mouth!" they all stared at me in shock. I stood up and glared at Harry, despite Hermione trying to pull me back. "The only reason you even came close to doing any of that stuff is because we've been there to help you."

I pointed between Myself, Ron and Hermione, "and even then, you're not the only one" I held up my hand, Hermione tried to stop me again but I shushed her, "What, you think you're the only one who could have done that stuff? Because you're Dumbledore's golden boy?"

"Who are you fooling Harry? The whole time I've known you, you keep insisting you're not special, but from what I just heard you think pretty damned highly of yourself" "That's not what I-" he started.

"Oh ok, so you're the only one suffering, got it" I nodded, "Y'know, it's not like some of us have been lying in agony for the past month, not knowing if we would ever be able to use our hand again, but still managed to come and help you."

"It's not like there are twenty people downstairs who have uprooted their lives to keep the people they love safe, to protect you, it's not like people have DIED. To protect you" "Don't you dare-"

I put my hands up feigning surrender "it's not like they have been fighting to keep you safe at every turn" I got in his face. "I'm sorry you have it so hard Potter, I'll remember that next time I need some motivation."

I turned to the others "Because after all, compared to the Harry Potter, my life as a mere mortal is insignificant compared to the hardships he suffered this summer. How could it even compare to the pain of not getting a few letters."

I stormed out of the room, I couldn't look at him right now, Bones mewled after me, I picked her up and went across the hall, the room I entered was all but empty, there were a few pieces of covered furniture. But it beat sitting in there listening to him wallow in self-pity. So, I sat down in an old armchair and waited for dinner, stroking Bones, trying to calm down.

After a while I heard a commotion outside, taking the form of a loud "CRASH!" "Tonks!" cried Mrs. Weasley exasperatedly. "I'm sorry!" wailed Tonks. "It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over —"

I ignored the rest, deciding to just sulk until dinner. Mum came into the room, probably to check in on me, she didn't seem very happy. I suppose the meeting was over then. "So. How do you think your first Auror mission went?"

I knew it was a loaded question, I could tell by the tone of her voice, but I answered anyway. "It was pretty fun." I said, "Fun. FUN!" she shouted, "Idiot, you could have died!" her voice began to rise.

"Oh, yeah I forgot that the second I touch a broom the whole world becomes a death-trap." I countered, she paused for a second, "Don't you dare make this about your brother" I was about to say, "Why not, everything else is" but I saw the look in her eyes I bit my tongue.

She spoke again, "I thought you could handle this" she rubbed her eyes, "Guess I was wrong." "I can handle it! I'm stronger than most people my age could ever dream to be!" she scoffed, "Strong?" she laughed, "You don't know the first thing about it" now it was my turn to scoff.

"I was just trying to enjoy myself" "Oh, I see, you think it's a game?" "no, but I-" she looked at me very sternly, "just because your strong, it doesn't make you indestructible" she said, gripping my wrist.

As soon as she said those words, I was taken back to the image of Cedric Diggory, lying motionless before me, as I heard my mother speak. "I figured you would have learnt that, but I guess you are just a kid, in your own little bubble, where nobody gets hurt and you can breeze through life because you're so strong."

"IM NOT A KID" I shouted "You could have fooled me!" I averted my eyes and tried not to look upset, a lump in my throat the size of one of Hagrid's rock cakes. "Moody told me about how you were acting, he was furious!"

"You could have compromised the mission, gotten everyone killed, I hope you know that!" I averted my eyes, I felt very guilty "Sorry mum, I know, just got excited is all" she sighed. "I know, its ok, I'm sorry for shouting" she said, putting a hand over mine.

"I just want you to be safe, but you are right, you're not a kid anymore, but the people out there" she pointed out of the window, "Wouldn't care anyway, remember that" I nodded. "And remember, even if you're not a kid anymore, you're still my baby" she started to cuddle herself against me and smother me with kisses, "mum! gerroff" I said out of embarrassment.

She smiled and unlocked the door. Opening it very suddenly, three figures collapsed into the room, "Dinner will be ready in five, or whenever you've finished eavesdropping" she said, stepping over a very embarrassed Harry, Ron and Hermione.

"Really?" was all I could say, making my way past them to dinner. It was lovely, the food was amazing, that was until Mrs Weasley and Sirius got into an argument about how much Harry could know about the Order's plan. Sirius insisted that Harry should know everything.

"Hang on!" interrupted George loudly. "How come Harry gets his questions answered?" said Fred angrily. "We've been trying to get stuff out of you for a month and you haven't told us a single stinking thing!" said George.

" 'You're too young, you're not in the Order,' " said Fred, in a high-pitched voice that sounded uncannily like his mother's. "Harry's not even of age!" "It's not my fault you haven't been told what the Order's doing," said Sirius calmly.

"That's your parents' decision. Harry, on the other hand —" "It's not down to you to decide what's good for Harry!" said Mrs. Weasley sharply. Her normally kindly face looked dangerous. "You haven't forgotten what Dumbledore said, I suppose?"

"Which bit?" Sirius asked politely, but with an air as though readying himself for a fight. "The bit about not telling Harry more than he needs to know," said Mrs. Weasley, placing a heavy emphasis on the last three words.

Ron, Hermione, Fred, and George's heads turned from Sirius to Mrs. Weasley as though following a tennis rally. Lupin's eyes were fixed on Sirius. "I don't intend to tell him more than he needs to know, Molly," said Sirius. "But as he was the one who saw Voldemort come back "he has more right than most to —"

"He's not a member of the Order of the Phoenix!" said Mrs. Weasley. "And by that logic so should I-" I started, Mum hushed me "He's only fifteen and —" "— and he's dealt with as much as most in the Order," said Sirius, "and more than some —"

"No one's denying what he's done!" said Mrs. Weasley, her voice rising, "But he's still —" "He's not a child!" said Sirius impatiently. "He's not an adult either!" said Mrs. Weasley, the colour rising in her cheeks.

They continued to argue back and forth until a new voice added in "Personally," said Lupin quietly, looking away from Sirius at last, as Mrs. Weasley turned quickly to him, hopeful that finally she was about to get an ally, "I think it better that Harry gets the facts — not all the facts, Molly, but the general picture — from us, rather than a garbled version from . . . others."

"Well," said Mrs. Weasley, breathing deeply and looking around the table for support that did not come, "well . . . I can see I'm going to be overruled. I'll just say this: Dumbledore must have had his reasons for not wanting Harry to know too much and speaking as someone who has got Harry's best interests at heart —"

"He's not your son," said Sirius quietly. "He's as good as," said Mrs. Weasley fiercely. "Who else has he got?" "He's got me!" "Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," said Lupin sharply.

"Sirius, sit down." Mrs. Weasley's lower lip was trembling. Sirius sank slowly back into his chair, his face white. "I think Harry ought to be allowed a say in this," Lupin continued. "He's old enough to decide for himself."

"I want to know what's been going on," Harry said at once. "Dumbledore's golden boy gets his way again" I muttered, Hermione nudged me, "praise be to Potter" He turned and glowered at me. I just glared at him.

"Very well," said Mrs. Weasley, her voice cracking. "Ginny — Ron — Hermione — Fred — George — I want you out of this kitchen, now." There was instant uproar. "We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together.

"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron. "Mum, I want to!" wailed Ginny. "NO!" shouted Mrs. Weasley, "I absolutely forbid —" "Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," said Mr. Weasley wearily. "They are of age —" "they're legally adults now," said Mr. Weasley in the same tired voice. Mrs. Weasley was now scarlet in the face.

Everyone else got up, I stayed."(Y/N), you too" "No, it's not fair, if he stays so do I." I said, pointing to Harry, Mrs. Weasley suddenly turned very red, "BED" she commanded, I stayed but turned a pleading eye to Mum who seemed to be weighing the decision but saying nothing.

Finally giving up, I stood up in protest, banging my fists on the desk "This is BULL-" I started, "He can stay" said Mum quickly, Mrs Weasley looked very sternly at Mum but then she nodded, "Fine."

"I — oh, all right then, (Y/N), Fred and George can stay, but Ron —" "Harry and (Y/N)'ll tell me and Hermione everything you say anyway!" said Ron hotly. "Won't — won't you?" he added uncertainly, meeting Harry's eyes.

" 'Course I will," Harry said. I nodded, Ron and Hermione beamed. "Fine!" shouted Mrs. Weasley. "Fine! Ginny — BED!" Ginny did not go quietly. We could hear her raging and storming at her mother all the way up the stairs.

They didn't tell us much, or at least, not anything important, I expected that, but at least now we knew something. They sat us down and explained the current position we were in. Since Harry and I were able to whistle blow on Voldemort's return.

Dumbledore was able to gather the order because if we hadn't, everything would have been covered up. The only problem is the Ministry, which were denying the truth, it was mostly Fudge, because he thought Dumbledore was after his job, but it still didn't help.

The most important piece of new information was the fact Voldemort was looking for something. Something he didn't have last time, a weapon, or an object, we didn't know what it was, but if he got it. Game over.

"Like what kind of weapon?" said Harry. "Something worse than the Avada Kedavra — ?" I nodded, looking to Mum "Yeah, we talking, flip the board, kill the other player type weapon here? Or..." I said, kind of teasing her about the whole, 'thinking this is a game' thing.

She just looked away. That was not a good sign, that was never a good sign. There were only a few times I had ever seen my mother do that, she was normally quite an upfront person, for heavens sake, I knew what the unforgivable curses were at age six.

"That's enough." Mrs. Weasley spoke from the shadows beside the door, return from taking Ginny upstairs. Her arms were crossed, and she looked furious. "I want you in bed, now. All of you," she added, looking around at Me, Fred, George, Ron, and Hermione.

"You can't boss us —" Fred began. "Watch me," snarled Mrs. Weasley. She was trembling slightly as she looked at Sirius. "You've given Harry plenty of information. Anymore and you might just as well induct him into the Order straightaway." "Why not?" said Harry quickly. "I'll join, I want to join, I want to fight —"

"No." It was not Mrs. Weasley who spoke this time, but Lupin. "The Order is comprised only of overage wizards," he said. "Wizards who have left school," he added, as Fred and George opened their mouths.

"There are dangers involved of which you can have no idea, any of you . . . I think Molly's right, Sirius. We've said enough." Sirius half-shrugged but did not argue. Mrs. Weasley beckoned imperiously to her sons and Hermione, Mum coaxed me upstairs. One by one we stood up, recognising defeat. "Well, that was cheery" I said as we made our way up the stairs.