An: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews. I sort of finally answered the question, though it's not a very satisfying answer but hey, I got to keep the mystery right?
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Chapter 5 - The Order
Ron was angrily stabbing away at his chicken or whatever type of meat it was. He wasn't sure; he just loaded his plate with food. He was hoping that eating might give him a temporary escape from this nightmare reality he had returned to.
He had a hard time digesting the fact that his father was gone and Malfoy was the family's new best friend. To make matters worse, he was feeling extremely guilty about Fleur as he had once again put his foot in his mouth and accused his brother of being insensitive to his pain since his brother had a nice half veela wife to take care of him. It was then that Bill had informed him about Fleur's death and his subsequent firewhiskey problem. Ron felt like the biggest idiot in the world and he repeatedly berated himself for letting his jealousy of his brother's successes dictate his life.
He also refrained from glancing at his mother's end of the table. His parents had been in a happy loving marriage for over half a century, how could she have moved on so quickly? Bill had told him that he had moved on with Arianne and that he was happy again. His last piece of advice for Ron was that their mother also deserved to be happy and if Sol could make her happy, they should be happy to because that's what their father would have wanted.
Unable to glance at his mother's end of the table, he decided to look up at the other end and found Hermione and Draco in a whispered conversation. His stomach turned. How could she stand to sit next to that vile creature? It hurt him to see his ex-girlfriend chatting so easily with Malfoy. Since that direction didn't hold any pleasant thoughts he was left with staring across the table at Charlie's wife and he racked his brain to remember what her name was. He knew it began with a S and he thought back through the previous introductions.
"So Sam, how did you and Charlie meet?" Ron asked trying to strike up a conversation with her.
"We met through your dad. We both shared a common interest in Muggle Artefacts and he invited me over for a family picnic. Charlie was here and we hit it off right away." She said with a fond smile.
"So let me guess after a whirlwind romance, my brother decided to propose on a romantic evening and after a big Weasley wedding you were married!" Ron said casually as he stuffed some mash potatoes in his mouth.
"Ron, this is real life not some romance novel, my relationship with Charlie is nothing like what you described." Sam replied evenly.
Ron looked at her confused. He couldn't picture Charlie doing anything different.
"Like any normal couple Ron, we have our problems. Though some of our problems were the size of dragons, as Charlie likes to put it, but we do have our problems." Sam said with a wry smile.
"Problems, what could be wrong?" Ron said. They looked perfectly fine to him. The twins seemed happy and they got along with everyone unlike what the problem Arianne had said she was having.
"Let's see, Molly thinks I trapped her son because I got pregnant before we got married. Charlie proposed to me while I was pregnant and I turned him down deciding that we should live together first and then decide later if we should get married. Naturally, your mother disliked that option and when I had volunteered to take care of Thomas while Bill was dealing with his loss, I swear she almost had a heart attack. We only officially married about 5 months ago in a very small wedding, nothing like what you experienced when Bill got married the first time." Sam stated offhandedly before she realised that she had mention Bill's tragedy and tried to back track but Ron indicated that he already knew.
Ron felt like a bigger idiot now for believing that his brothers had it easy and only his life was difficult. He found it hard to believe that Charlie got her pregnant before they were married and he could only imagine his mother's reaction. Ginny always lectured him and Harry about the use of the contraceptive charms reminding them that their mom wouldn't like it if they returned unmarried with grandchildren.
Ron was spared any more guilty thoughts when the doors opened and three men walked in. He barely recognized them as Neville Longbottom, Seamus Finnigan and Dean Thomas and he was surprised by how different they looked. His last memories of them were when he was in the hospital recovering from the war. He had no clue what happened to them after his hospital stay.
"You're late." Hermione admonished in her usual bossy tone and Harry couldn't help but smile at hearing the Hermione he knew.
"Blame Neville." Seamus responded as he headed over to Hermione where three empty seats had magically appeared.
"It's not my fault, Cheryl got a little upset and we had a fight." Neville said casually as he joined Seamus.
"She finally ended things." Dean informed the table.
"About time!" was the general consensus from the dining room table which elicited a deadly glare from Neville.
"She wasn't that bad." Neville said defending his ex-girlfriend.
"Neville, she was a nightmare." Hermione said as she nibbled on a carrot stick.
"No Grawp is a nightmare." Neville corrected her as anyone who had ever had any interactions with the giant would know that he could be quite temperamental.
"Where is Grawp?" Hermione asked as she glanced around the ballroom.
"He's a giant Hermione, he isn't that hard to miss!" Seamus said sarcastically.
"You weren't there the time Draco put a disillusion charm on Grawp!" Hermione responded pointing a finger a Seamus. Draco let out a hearty laugh at the memory and Hermione scowled at him.
"Grawp is preparing the lesson for tomorrow. I swear he is worse than Hagrid. You should see the creatures he has behind the hut!" Neville said answering Hermione's question.
"But all the students love him." Hermione declared delightfully.
"I hate to break up your little conversation but is Grawp teaching at Hogwarts?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Yes, Grawp took over both Hagrid's position as game keeper and teacher. He's a good teacher and surprisingly gentle with the students. There were a lot of concerns about how he would treat the students considering the rough qualities that are associated with giants but he's been nothing but fantastic." Neville explained.
"That wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that not a single student would dare step out of line in his class." Seamus interjected.
"He's a good teacher, he isn't crazy like Wood." Neville retorted defending his friend.
"Wood is teaching at Hogwart's too?" Harry asked astonished. He couldn't quite picture Wood teaching. He could get a bit too obsessive when he focused on something.
"Yeah, he took Madame Hooch's position." Dean explained. "His injury from the war prevented him from playing professional Quidditch so Flitwick offered him the position at Hogwarts and needles to say Wood jumped at the opportunity to get on a broom."
"More like flew at it." Harry heard Hermione mumble under her breath and he could tell she still wasn't fond of Quidditch.
"So what do you do now?" Harry said directing the question to Dean.
"I work in spell reversal." Dean said proudly. "You wouldn't believe the type of things wizards accidentally do with magic."
"I work with the Ministry as an Auror. I'm officially Hermione's partner, though I think sometimes she forgets that." Seamus said as he threw and accusing glance over at Hermione.
She rolled her eyes at him. "I can't help it if you are too slow to keep up!"
This was the first bit of information about Hermione that Harry had gathered and he carefully locked it away in his brain for review later.
"What about you Neville?" Ginny asked with a polite smile.
"Isn't it obvious!" Seamus said.
"She asked me not you." Neville retorted.
"Oh, attitude Neville, maybe if you had a bit more you might have been able to ditch Cheryl earlier." Seamus replied.
"He works as the Herbology teacher at Hogwarts." Dean said interrupting the verbal spat between Neville and Seamus, leaving both wizards glaring at each other.
"Everyone is here, let's get down to business." Severus said firmly.
"Yes, you are quite right Severus." Molly said as she stood up from her seat and signalled to Tonks.
Tonks stood, "Let's go play upstairs." She said cheerfully and soon they were all gone.
"I would like to call to order the monthly meeting of the Order of the Phoenix." Molly said as Fawkes appeared in a burst of flames. He circled round the room before landing next to Harry. Fawkes sang a welcoming melody and then flew towards Mrs. Weasley where he stayed.
"The order still exists?" Ron blurted out.
"Yes, three months after Fleur's death, we officially restarted the order." Bill explained.
"But why? Voldemort was gone." Harry said darkly reminding Ron and Ginny of their first few months travelling with Harry.
"Voldemort wasn't the only threat to the Wizarding world Harry." Remus said kindly.
"There's another dark lord?" Ginny questioned worriedly.
"No, but Voldemort left a huge mess for us to clean up." Sam said.
"Mess?" Ron questioned.
"There have been many wizards that haven't been able to recover from the physiological effects of the war. I believe you remember how strongly the war could affect a person's emotional state." Remus said
Harry nodded. He had been through it.
"Quite a few wizards have gone mad but the problem lies with the wizards that hid in the muggle world. They picked up very bad habits and brought it back into our world." Molly said
Draco snorted, he disagreed with Mrs. Weasley's assessment. "The real problem is the remaining Death Eaters who started organizations similar to muggle organized crime communities."
Ginny looked at Draco as if he were speaking Mermish.
"Basically," Neville said, drawing Ginny's attention to him. "The Death Eaters have formed their versions of the Mafia. There are several other gangs including the Wizarding Yakuza!"
Ginny stared at Neville. He had certainly grown into a handsome man. He still had the round face and Ginny could see a slight potbelly through his robes but his eyes held a certain kindness that Ginny found intensely attractive. Seamus wasn't bad looking either and Ginny could tell he was as toned as Draco was. Seamus's Irish accent was still strong and she briefly remembered her friend Lizzie who loved Irish guys.
She had met her in South Africa. Lizzie was an AIDS activist and was working on reducing the HIV rate in South Africa. They became friends quickly and Ginny soon discovered Lizzie's thing for Irish guys.
"We can debate the ills of the English wizarding society all night but the point is no one was prepared for the aftermath of the war." Sol said wisely.
"Quite right," Molly said as she turned her gaze to her children, " The point of tonight was to celebrate the return of my children and welcome them back to the Order."
"They will need to take the vow, Molly." Severus said sternly causing Mrs. Weasley to fidget a bit before continuing.
"Yes, … well, … we'll get to that later. Let's just rejoice in the fact that they have been returned to us safely." Mrs. Weasley said as she raised her glass to toast to her children.
The glasses were raised and Snape again opened his mouth to make a comment but Molly quickly cut him off.
"That's all there is on the agenda for today's meeting. I officially declare this month's meeting closed!" Mrs. Weasley said in a rush. Fawkes rose into the air and disappeared in a similar fashion to the way he arrived.
"It's getting late and everyone has work tomorrow." Mrs. Weasley said firmly giving the cue for everyone to leave.
Bill and Arianne rose from the table first and after a quick goodbye left to collect their children. The other adults soon followed in a similar fashion and pretty soon the dinning hall was empty except for Harry, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Seamus, Dean, Luna and Draco.
Harry sighed, Hermione had fled the room as if it were on fire. She volunteered to help Sam with the twins and Sam didn't look too pleased at all. As Harry got up to leave with Mrs. Weasley he was told that he, Ron and Ginny were to stay at the Manor until they figured out how to reintroduce them to the Wizarding community in England.
Needless to say they weren't thrilled with the idea of sleeping at Malfoy Manor but they had no other option. There were strong anti-apparition wards up and they couldn't remember the way back to the floo chamber. There was some sort of magic blocking portkeys so that wasn't an option either. They were stuck there and had to make do with the options they had.
The table had dramatically shrunk and everyone was seated close together. Ron mysteriously found himself seated next to Luna and after a moment or two of trying to figure out how that happened, he decided to stop trying and just attempt to enjoy the rest of the night. Seamus and Dean had started up a game of exploding snap and soon everyone joined in.
Even though Harry had a huge dinner he still felt a bit peckish and asked Luna for directions to the kitchen. Luna volunteered to accompany him but before leaving she threw a cautionary look at Draco to warn him to behave himself with Ron. She took the lead and Harry followed behind her.
"Why isn't Hermione happy to see me?" Harry asked Luna.
"It isn't that she doesn't want to be, she can't." Luna replied cryptically.
"That makes no sense Luna." Harry pointed out.
"Harry, ever since you've known Hermione she's always put her friend's welfare above her own." Luna tried to explain as they turned left down a corridor lined with pictures of previous Mrs. Malfoy's.
Harry nodded, there was no disputing the lengths to which Hermione would go to keep her friends safe.
"I don't see what that has to do with anything?" Harry replied.
"How can one be happy for a friend when they've foolishly put their life in jeopardy? Oh look, the door to the kitchen." Luna said as she pointed to a small door that reminded Harry of the entrance to his old room under the staircase in the Dursely's house.
"You can't expect me to fit through that?" Harry asked surprised.
Luna nodded and walked up the door. The closer she got the larger the door became until she could safely walk through it without bending.
"It's one of the charms we had to add to the Manor. The Malfoy's never visited the kitchen and thus left the door the size of a house elf." Luna said as she opened the door and walked into the kitchen.
Harry walked forward and the door moved upwards to accommodate for his taller frame. He walked through the doorway and was instantly greeted by Dobby throwing himself at his feet.
"Oh the great Harry Potter, how Dobby has missed you." he said as he clung to Harry's feet.
"Ah Dobby this really isn't necessary, I was just wondering if I could get an apple to munch on." Harry said as he was wondering if it would be rude to shake him off his leg but a mental picture of Hermione admonishing for such an action popped into his head and he opted to stay still.
"An apple, of course Harry Potter can get an apple. Harry Potter can get anything he likes." Dobby said as he summoned a tray full of apples.
Harry looked at the tray that contained every type of apple imaginable and randomly picked one as he wanted to make a hasty exit away from the excited elf. He headed back to the door that hey had come through but was stopped by Luna.
"That's the wrong way." She said in a far away voice.
"But we just came from that direction." Harry replied.
"I know but it's still the wrong way." Luna said
Harry looked at her questioningly.
"The Malfoy's were paranoid about the Ministry raiding their house and thus they designed the interior to make it extremely difficult for an outsider to move within the Manor without an escort." Luna explained.
"Some of the corridors shift position and some of the doors aren't real, the corridor outside just shifted. There are multiple doors that take you to the same room. The dinning hall has 23 doors that open into it. The kitchen has only one as the Malfoy's never anticipated needing to enter the kitchen." Luna continued
Harry stared at her.
"If you think that's bad you should see upstairs. It's designed as a maze to make it extremely difficult to get to the master bedroom. I have only seen the door to it once when I first got here. I was lost and happened upon it. It's not a nice part of the house to be in. It's still sealed shut." Luna said
"Sealed shut?" Harry questioned
"Yes Lucius sealed it before the final battle. We don't know how to open it but we aren't in any rush to find out either. We don't spend much time upstairs. I think Molly asked you guys to stay here in hopes that you might help us clean out most of the bedrooms." Luna said as she stopped in front of a door that appeared in the wall opposite to the one that they had come through.
"She wants us to help you clean this place!" Harry said disgusted at the thought of cleaning.
"Yes." Luna replied as she moved her hand to the doorknob.
"Wait, what you said earlier about being in jeopardy." Harry asked.
"That remains to be seen but you need to give her time. She's been put in some very precarious and difficult positions lately and the Auror office has been overworking her. She's barely had time to register the consequences of your return and I don't think she's stopped to think what it means to her." Luna paused and appeared to be contemplating her next words carefully.
"It was extremely hard when you left. She had no one to turn to. You picked the worse possible day to leave. Mr. Granger died that day." Luna said sadly.
Harry's heart stopped beating for a second. He wasn't sure how much bad news he could take in one night.
"B bbbutt he was fine when I left." Harry said
"It was complicated. She was a mess Harry. Her view on life has become a bit jaded since then." Luna said as she turned the door handle and walked into the empty corridor.
Harry stared out the door at her and she tilted her head for him to follow her. He absently walked behind her as he tried to calm the turmoil of emotions he was going through. His gut had told him got come back long ago and recently the feeling to return home had been increasing steadily but it wasn't until that dream that he knew he needed to return. He cursed himself for ignoring his instincts. This was all his fault.
Luna stopped by a plain white door and Harry noted it was different to the grand door she had lead him to. This must be one of the twenty six that she had referred to earlier. They casually entered through the door and Ginny immediately called them over.
"You wouldn't believe some of the things Dean has had to deal with." Ginny said with a huge smile from her seat between Seamus and Dean.
Harry just nodded, he seemed to be incapable of happy feelings at the moment and wondered if there was a dementor lurking somewhere around.
"As nice as this little reunion has been I can't pretend anymore. I need to know." Ron said seriously.
"Why did Hermione kill my father?"
"He was dying." Draco answered coldly.
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