Chapter One: The Third Army
Harish sat in the back of the room, watching the proceeds of a meeting with a mixture of curiosity and happiness. In the room before him, Voldemort was speaking to his Death Eaters. All of them were wearing masks and black robes. His father was at the front of the room, sitting in his high backed throne. On either side of him were Bellatrix and Lucius.
Harish himself sat on the floor near the doorway, careful not to draw attention to himself. At the beginning of that summer, the Dark Lord had started allowing Harish to sit in during the Death Eater meetings. It did not make much of a difference from before, for Harish had always found ways of spying on his father's private business, but he did have the pride in knowing that his father let him join them.
Harish groaned and wiggled his fingers as they fell asleep. His left hand had been taken out of its sling, but was still in a cast. It was a fact that peeved him very much. His arm was very hard to use when it was in that cast. Not to mention the fact that his leg was still bound, propped up on pillows, and unusable.
All summer Harish mainly found comfort in watching his father boss Death Eaters around and writing his friends, the Weasley twins.
The three mostly talked about their joke shop in their letters. With the winnings from the Triwizard Tournament, they were currently purchasing supplies to make the rest of the products they had planned. The three were intending on buying premises before the year was up.
Another topic of their letters was either Harish telling part of what was going on during the Death Eater meetings, or the twins writing about what was happening at their house. One such letter was sent to Harish on the first week of summer and read:
Dear Harish,
We are doing very well, thank you. Fred and I have just finished the recipe for our Puking Pastilles. We are getting ready to make them, and then we'll try them out.
On another note, the two of us have just discovered that our house will become the headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. It is a secret army run by Dumbledore. As I write this, members of the Order are working on hiding the Burrow. Luckily, since you have already been here, you will be able to come still.
Fred or I will write you after the first meeting. Until then, how is your leg? How are you faring? Is your father being annoyingly overprotective?
George
P.S. Fred says hi.
Of course, in return Harish had told them how he was doing and all about the Death Eater meetings he had witnessed. Or at least, he told them as much as he was allowed to.
A few weeks into the summer, Harish had invited Daphne and Draco over to his own house. He had had to stop sitting in on the meetings while his friends were over, but he reasoned that it was better than not having any other children to talk to over the summer (even though Harish was already considering himself a seventeen year old, as his birthday was less than two months away).
While they were over, they joined in on reading the twins' letters as well, and replied back. Then, they had left after two weeks, when there were still four weeks of summer. Later that week, he was sent to Hogwarts where Madam Pomfrey took the cast off of his arm and deemed him ready to walk around; as long as he didn't put pressure on his leg. Not that he complained; it hurt when he did walk on it.
As Harish sat there, watching the Death Eaters disappear from the room, he remembered the last letter he had received from the twins. He had received it one week after the others had left his house.
Dear Harish,
We have okayed it with our mum. You are allowed to stay over for the rest of the summer. At first George and I were afraid that you wouldn't be allowed to come because of the Order, but they never let us into their meetings anyway. All we've been able to scrape from the meetings were either things our parents have let slip, or something we heard over the Extendable Ears.
We have already invited Hermione and Ron's invited Neville, by the way. They will probably be here before you arrive. George and I guessed that Mum would be more okay with you here if we invited a Muggleborn as well, which we were right. She seems to be more comfortable with the thought of two more Slytherins in the house, knowing that one of them is a Muggleborn witch.
If you are allowed to come, owl us as soon as possible and it has been arranged for you to floo here next Saturday. If you are not allowed to come, then we will see you on the 1st of September.
Write soon.
Fred.
Harish had shown the letter to his father that evening and was, of course, allowed to go. Therefore, he was due to leave that Saturday, which just happened to be his birthday. He had already packed and his trunk was sitting in the center of his bedroom. After the Death Eaters had all left, Harish sprinted out of the room and up to his bedroom. There, he made sure he had packed everything before getting into bed.
The morning of the 15th of August, Harish woke up at eight o'clock and made his way down to the dining room. There, he was greeted by his father.
"Happy birthday," the man said over the copy of the Daily Prophet he was reading.
"Good morning, father," Harish replied with a grin. He sat down at the other end of the table and began eating. "What shall we do today?"
"I thought that perhaps you were finally old enough to take your Apparition Test, but perhaps I am mistaken," Voldemort said. "How old are you turning? Seven?"
"Seventeen, Father," Harish corrected, his grin growing wider.
Voldemort shook his head, wondering where the past fourteen years had gone.
That afternoon, after opening a present from his father and taking his Apparition Test, he flooed to the Burrow at four o'clock. When he walked out of the fireplace with his trunk, he saw that Hermione and the twins were waiting on him in the living room.
"Happy birthday!" all three of them chimed.
"Wow," George said sarcastically. "You've finally caught up with us then?"
"Shut up," Harish grumbled as his friends reminded him that he was the youngest in their year.
He limped over onto the rug where the three of them were standing. He was clutching his cane tightly in his good hand and putting a deal of his weight on it.
"Harish!" Hermione exclaimed. "It's good to see you! What does it feel like to be an adult?"
"Strangely enough, it doesn't really feel that different," Harish replied.
"C'mon, Harish," Fred said.
"We'll help you to our room," George finished.
Hermione disappeared into Ginny's room as the twins watched Harish limp over to the staircase. It seemed like it took forever to get up to the landing where the twins' room was. After about five minutes, Harish's good leg got tired and the twins had to help him the rest of the way.
When Harish entered the room, he saw a few sweets stacked on the closest bed, a few boxes in the corner, and a bubbling cauldron in an open cabinet. In the middle of the room were crammed three beds.
"What's in there?" Harish asked, nodding his head to the cauldron.
"Blood Blisterpods," Fred replied.
"Or at least, they'll be Blood Blisterpods when we're done with them," George specified.
"So you finished the Puking Pastilles, then?" Harish asked.
The twins nodded.
"Once we finish these—"
"We'll do Fever Fudge."
"Sweet," Harish said, nodding and sitting on one of the beds.
The way they had been inventing sweets, was that Harish would come up with the recipe of ingredients and send it to the twins, who would start making the sweets. Harish didn't make them himself, because he did not know how.
The twins had found a cookbook of their mother's in the kitchen one night that had contained instructions on how to make different sweets. They had copied it and hid the copy in their room, returning the cookbook to its home before it was missed.
"We've been really careful to keep everything secret, though," Fred said.
"When we aren't in the room, we have to keep the cauldron hidden," George told Harish.
"And lock the door."
"And speaking of," George started.
"It's about time to add the flavor and coloring to the sweets."
While George stood on a chair and added some red powder to the cauldron, Fred explained to Harish how they made the Blisterpods.
"So first we add the water and let it boil before adding the ingredients that give it its joke qualities. Then we let it boil some more before adding the flavor and the coloring. Then it thickens in a pan."
He held up the pan.
"Once we have our own place," George said. "We can do it by magic and have a hundred sheets at a time."
"So how's old Perseus doing?" Harish asked after a pause.
The twins gave each other looks.
"Whatever you do," Fred replied in a low voice. "Don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad."
"Why?" Harish asked.
George looked over his shoulder, still stirring the cauldron, and replied, "Because every time Percy's name is mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying."
"Why?"
"Percy and Dad had a row," Fred informed him. "I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts…"
"It was the first week back from school," George explained. "In fact, it was just after we sent that first letter to you."
"We had just been told the Order was going to be holding their meetings here, and Percy came home telling us he had been promoted."
"You're kidding?" Harish asked in surprise.
"Yeah we were all surprised," George said. "because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have known Crouch was off his rocker. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain…"
"So how come they promoted him?"
"That's exactly what we wondered," Fred replied. "He came home really pleased with himself—even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine—and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts—Junior Assistant to the Minister."
"So that's why he was following the Minister around that day!" Harish exclaimed. "But why was this so important that it caused a row?"
"Well, apparently Fudge has been storming around the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore's name's mud in the Ministry these days, see," Fred said. "They all think he's just making trouble saying that You-Know-Who's back."
"Which does us a whole load of favor," Harish piped up.
"Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore might as well clear out their desks," George continued as if he hadn't heard Harish.
"Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession—"
"Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on Dumbledore—and the family."
Harish let out a low whistle.
"I'll bet Percy loved hearing that," he said.
Both twins laughed hollowly.
"He went berserk," they both said.
"He said—well, he said loads of terrible stuff." Fred explained further.
"He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we always been—well, poor."
"He said that?" Harish asked. He didn't know how the twins took it, so he was careful not to show any emotion except surprise.
"It got worse," Fred said. "He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he—Percy—knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry."
"And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry, he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family anymore—"
"And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's been living in London ever since."
"Do you think this means he may join my dad?" Harish questioned.
Both twins shook their heads.
"I'm not sure," Fred muttered with a groan.
"I mean we all knew he was ambitious," George said, "but we never expected to say things like that to Dad."
"Mum's been in a right state ever since," Fred said angrily. "Crying and all. She tried to visit him once and he slammed the door in her face."
Harish shook his head and laid back, staring at the ceiling. The thing about the Weasley family was that they were all different, but they still stuck together. Sure, Ron was an annoying brat that was too Light crazy, but when it came down to it, he would never betray the twins. And the twins would never do anything to their parents. Harish was sure that they would convince Voldemort to spare them if they had to.
But Percy let his differences come before his family, and that was what made the twins so angry. The twins would never distance themselves from their family just to rid themselves of their bloodtraitor status, which was something they had been struggling with all throughout school.
Somewhere below them, they could hear the usual crack that was associated with Apparating. Fred, who was closest to the window, hopped off his bed and pulled the curtain aside, peering down onto the grassy lawn.
Then, he clapped his hands together and said, "C'mon boys!"
"Got it, Fred," the other redhead replied, grabbing a fleshy string.
"Thank you, George," Fred said.
The two of them slowly opened the door, making sure it wouldn't creak.
"What's going on?" Harish asked, standing and following them.
"The Order is arriving," both twins replied in unison.
Now the Burrow's kitchen was a little cramped, but had a table large enough to seat the entire family and quite a few guests. On one side was the sink, window, and icebox; and on the other was the door to the house and the foot of a very rickety staircase. At the top of the staircase was a door separating the kitchen from the rest of the house. There was a door in the back of the kitchen to the left of the staircase that led to the living room.
In the living room was the fireplace and two doors: one that led off to Ginny's room and one across from that that led to the bathroom. The twins' room was on a landing with Percy, one floor above the kitchen. Their parent's room was just above that with another bathroom, and Ron's room was on top.
The Order always held their meetings in the kitchen just before dinner. Then, most everyone would leave and the Weasleys would have their meal. The lucky thing about the Burrow was the staircases that went in every direction, leading to a different floor. The twins could stand at the railing of their landing, and drop something down the stairs that led to the kitchen. This came in handy when it came to eavesdropping.
The twins led Harish to the railing and George pulled out the fleshy string. He dropped one end down in front of the door that led to the kitchen and held the other close to his ear. Fred leaned in to listen and so did Harish. The flesh colored string was another invention of theirs, Extendable Ears.
All three boys stood there with their faces scrunched up, trying to listen.
"I don't hear anything," Harish muttered.
"Nor do I," Fred grumbled.
"Or I," George agreed.
"I wouldn't try," a voice said.
The three young adults looked around to see Ginny and Hermione walking up the stairs toward them.
"What are you doing here?" Harish asked.
"We got kicked off the first floor," Hermione replied.
"Why shouldn't we try?" the twins asked.
"She's gone and cast an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door," Ginny replied.
"How do you know?" George asked, looking crestfallen as he started pulling the Extendable Ear back up.
"Tonks told me how to figure it out," Ginny replied. "You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to hear through the gap."
Fred heaved a great sigh. "Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to."
"Snape's a part of the Order?" Harish asked curiously.
The twins nodded.
"So that's what he keeps going on about," Harish said. "He seems really proud of being in the Order."
"How so?" Hermione asked.
Harish looked up the stairs before beckoning the others into the nearest door, which just happened to be Percy's room.
It was dark, empty, and beginning to gather dust. All that was in the room was a bare bed that was sitting in the corner. Catching Harish glance around, Ginny said, "Mum's kept the room empty hoping Percy will change his mind."
Harish nodded and closed the door behind them.
"Snape has been going on to the other Death Eaters about how he's infiltrated the enemy over and over again."
"So who's side is Snape actually on?" Hermione asked.
"Ours, I think," he replied. "He's been acting differently toward me since the beginning of summer."
"Are you sure that's not just because you're the Dark Lord's son?" George asked skeptically.
"Yes," Harish replied. "I asked him about his behavior change, and all he said was that I have my mother's eyes. Then he Disapparated. I think he is honestly working for my father because he knew my mother."
"He knows who you are, doesn't he?" Hermione asked.
The twins, Harish, and Hermione were all remembering that day two years previous when Harish had attacked Snape for calling him "Potter". Harish nodded in reply.
"He knew my—progenitor," the young man said. Everyone nodded, not commenting on Harish's choice of words, as he was uncomfortable calling anyone other than Voldemort his father. "So why shouldn't he have known my mother?"
"What does Hermione mean, who you actually are?" Ginny asked, confused.
"Nothing," Harish and the twins said quickly.
Ginny opened her mouth angrily to retort, but was stopped by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.
George stuffed the Extendable Ears all the way into his pocket. Hardly a second later, the door opened and Mrs. Weasley came in and said, "The meeting's over now, you can come down and have dinner. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?"
"Crookshanks," Ginny replied smoothly. "He loves playing with them."
"Oh," Mrs. Weasley said. "I thought it might have been the twins," she gave them a an evil eye. "Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please…"
Ginny grimaced and followed her mother out the door. Harish laughed quietly, surprised by Ginny's streak of cunning he had never seen and how slow their mother was. Then, he said, "I just remembered! I am of age now!"
He and the twins looked at each other for a moment before all three of them Disapparated, reappearing in the kitchen. Hermione shook her head when they disappeared with a pop and walked down to the kitchen herself.
A haze of pipe smoke hung in the air like battle fumes, through which loomed several figures, already seated for dinner. Rolls of parchment littered the table along with goblets, empty wine bottles, and a heap of what appeared to be rags. Mr. Weasley and Bill were talking quietly with their heads together at the end of the table.
Mrs. Weasley cleared her throat. Her husband looked around and jumped to his feet.
"Harish! Nice to see you!"
"And you," Harish replied politely.
"Summer all right, Harish?" Bill asked, trying to gather all twelve scrolls at once.
A girl near their age with spiky pink hair walked up, most likely wanting to help, but knocked a candle onto the last piece of parchment.
"Oh no—sorry—" she mumbled.
"Here, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, sounding exasperated, and she repaired the parchment with a wave of her wand.
"That's Tonks," Fred muttered in Harish's ear. "She's only a few years out of Hogwarts."
Harish nodded and sat down as Bill vanished the scrolls with a wave of his wand. Across from him was a squat man with strawberry colored hair and a droopy face.
"And that's Dung," George told Harish, sitting beside him. "Mundungus Fletcher."
"Some'n say m'name?" Mundungus muttered sleepily. He raised a grubby hand. "I agree with Bill."
Ginny giggled.
"The meeting's over, Dung," Bill said.
"Eh?" Dung asked, squinting around at the teenagers. "So it has."
He reached into his grimy robes and pulled out and enormous pipe. He stuck it in his mouth, lighted the end of it with his wand, and gave a deep pull on it. Great big clouds of greenish smoke engulfed him within seconds.
"For the last time, Mundungus," Mrs. Weasley called, "will you please not smoke that thing in the kitchen, especially not when we're about to eat!"
"Ah," said Dung. "Right, sorry Molly."
The cloud of acrid smoke vanished as he stowed his pipe back in his pocket.
"And if you want dinner before midnight, I'll need a hand," she announced to the entire room.
Harish glanced around. By then Ron had slouched into the room, followed by Neville. Harish had no idea how many adults were in the Order of the Phoenix, but the only ones that remained were Tonks, Dung, Lupin, Bill, Molly, and Arthur. Tonks, Dung, and Lupin would be leaving after the meal as they lived elsewhere. Bill wasn't going to be staying, as he had gotten an apartment in Diagon Alley near Gringotts, where he had been transferred to.
Tonks eagerly bounded forward and asked, "What can I do, Molly?"
Mrs. Weasley looked apprehensive.
"Er—no, it's all right, Tonks, you have a rest, you've done enough today—"
"No, no, I want to help!" Tonks protested brightly, knocking over a chair as she hurried toward the drawer from which Ginny was collecting cutlery.
Soon a series of heavy knives were chopping meat and vegetables of their own accord, supervised by Mr. Weasley, while Mrs. Weasley stirred a cauldron the sat atop a bed of flames and the others took out plates, more goblets, and food from the pantry. Harish was left at the table across from Mundungus.
"Is that real silver?" Dung asked, pointing at the head of Harish's cane.
"Even if I did know, why would I give it to you?" Harish asked, lifting his injured leg for the man to see. Dung looked crestfallen.
"Fred—George—NO, JUST CARRY THEM!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked.
Harish looked around before diving away from the table. Fred and George had bewitched a large cauldron of stew, an iron flagon of butterbeer, and a heavy wooden breadboard, complete with a knife, to hurtle through the air toward them. The stew skidded the length of the table and came to a halt just before the end, leaving a long black burn on the wooden surface, the flagon of butterbeer fell with a crash, spilling its contents everywhere, and the bread knife slipped off the board and landed point down and quivering ominously where Harish's injured hand had been moments before.
"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE!" Mrs. Weasley screamed. "THERE WAS NO NEED—I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS—JUST BECAUSE YOU'RE ALLOWED TO USE MAGIC DOESN'T MEAN YOU CAN JUST WHIP YOUR WANDS OUT FOR EVERYTHING!"
"We were just trying to save a bit of time!" Fred protested, hurrying forward and wrenching the knife out of the table. "Sorry Harish, mate—didn't mean to—"
Harish was laughing too hard to hear it. Mundungus, who had toppled backward off his chair, was swearing as he got to his feet.
"Boys," Mr. Weasley said in a chastising voice. "Your mother is right; you're supposed to show a sense of responsibility now you've come of age—"
"—none of your brothers gave us this sort of trouble!" Mrs. Weasley raged at the twins, slamming the flagon of butterbeer down and spilling almost as much again. "Bill didn't feel the need to Apparate every few feet! Charlie didn't Charm everything he met! Percy—"
She stopped dead, catching her breath with a frightened expression as her husband's face became stony.
"Let's eat," Bill said quickly.
"It looks wonderful, Molly," said Lupin.
For a few minutes there was silence but for the chink of plates and cutlery and the scraping of chairs as everyone settled down for food. Then conversation slowly rose. Mr. Weasley, Bill, and Lupin were having an intense discussion about goblins while Mrs. Weasley spoke to Hermione about food recipes. Across the table, Tonks was entertaining Ginny by making her appearance contort every few seconds—apparently she was a Metamorphmagus. Dung was not talking to anyone, but was content examining the silverware, trying to see if they were genuine. Meanwhile, Harish and the twins were having a quiet conversation about the attack that had taken place at the end of the school year.
"So he did say he was working for someone?" Fed asked.
"Yes," Harish replied. "He specifically said 'employer' and apparently his employer is a 'she' as well."
"Is there any way we could find out who 'she' is?" George queried.
"I dunno," Harish said dully. "I expect my father's looking into it, though."
"Still, I wish I knew who this third party in the war was," Fred muttered.
"Me too," Harish sighed.
LINE—BREAK
A crowd of people stood in a room that was dimly lit. Everyone's faces were dark, and shadows were thrown at odd angles along the walls. The walls, ceiling, and floor were all a dirty concrete. The place had an all-around underground feel to it.
Then, a woman's voice broke the silence.
"The time is coming near when our revenge will be complete," she said. "Our time will come when we will have justice on those who destroyed our lives and killed our loved ones. A war is brewing, and with success we may even be able to stop it."
And the unknown force of people shouted their agreement.