Hp: Hermione and Darkness

Mr Weasley did not speak at once. He removed his glasses and cleaned them slowly on his robes, not looking at his wife. Only when he had replaced them carefully on his nose did he reply.

"Dumbledore knows the position has changed, Molly. He accepts that Harry will have to be filled in, to a certain extent, now that he is staying at Headquarters."

Hermione watched Mrs Weasley slightly deflate on the inside but kept her head high.

"Yes, but there's a difference between that and inviting him to ask whatever he likes!"

"Personally," said Professor 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." Hermione knew precisely to whom Professor Lupin was implying, and one of those 'others' was her.

"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 Harry's best interests at heart-"

"He's not your son," Sirius said quietly, which seemed to strike Mrs Weasley more than an angered scream would.

"He's as good as," said Mrs Weasley fiercely. "Who else has he got?"

"He's got me!"

"Yes," said Mrs Weasley, her lip curling, "the thing is, it's been rather difficult for you to look after him while you've been locked up in Azkaban, hasn't it?"

Sirius started to rise from his chair.

"Molly, you're not the only person at this table who cares about Harry," said Professor 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.

"Very well," said Mrs Weasley, her voice cracking. Hermione's heart ached for her, even if she didn't agree.

"Ginny – Ron – Hermione – Fred – George – I want you out of this kitchen, now." Mrs Weasley's voice was sharp and unyielding.

Uproar ensued. Hermione decided to keep her mouth shut for the moment, knowing the Weasleys would have a more substantial impact.

"We're of age!" Fred and George bellowed together.

"If Harry's allowed, why can't I?" shouted Ron.

"Mum, I want to hear!" wailed Ginny.

"NO!" shouted Mrs Weasley, standing up, her eyes overbright. "I absolutely forbid-"

"Molly, you can't stop Fred and George," said Mr Weasley wearily. "They are of age."

"They're still at school."

"But they're legally adults now," said Mr Weasley, in the same tired voice.

Mrs Weasley's face turned scarlet. Hermione could see the struggle between her protective instincts and the harsh reality.

"I – oh, all right then, Fred and George can stay, but Ron-"

"Harry'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.

"Fine!" shouted Mrs Weasley. "Fine! Ginny – BED!"

Ginny did not go quietly. Her anger reverberated through the house, adding to the cacophony of Mrs Black's ear-splitting shrieks. Hermione wouldn't be surprised if Ginny had pulled the curtain on purpose. Professor Lupin hurried off to the portrait to restore calm. It was only after he had returned, closing the kitchen door behind him and taking his seat at the table again, that Sirius spoke.

"OK, Harry... what do you want to know?"

"Where's Voldemort?" Harry asked bluntly. "What's he doing? I've been trying to watch the Muggle news, and there hasn't been anything that looks like him yet, no funny deaths or anything."

"That's because there haven't been any funny deaths yet," said Sirius, "not as far as we know, anyway ... and we know quite a lot."

"More than he thinks we do, anyway," said Professor Lupin.

"How come he's stopped killing people?" Harry asked.

"Because he doesn't want to draw attention to himself," said Sirius. "It would be dangerous for him. His comeback didn't come off quite the way he wanted it to, you see. He messed it up."

"Or rather, you messed it up for him," said Professor Lupin with a satisfied smile.

"How?" Harry asked, perplexed.

"You weren't supposed to survive!" said Sirius. "Nobody apart from his Death Eaters was supposed to know he'd come back. But you survived to bear witness."

"And the very last person he wanted alerted to his return the moment he got back was Dumbledore," said Lupin. "And you made sure Dumbledore knew at once."

"How has that helped?" Harry asked.

"Are you kidding?" said Bill incredulously. "Dumbledore was the only one You Know Who was ever scared of!"

"Thanks to you, Dumbledore was able to recall the Order of the Phoenix about an hour after Voldemort returned," said Sirius.

"So, what's the Order been doing?" said Harry, looking around at them all.

"Working as hard as we can to make sure Voldemort can't carry out his plans," said Sirius.

"How d'you know what his plans are?" Harry asked quickly.

"Dumbledore's got a shrewd idea," said Professor Lupin, "and Dumbledore's shrewd ideas normally turn out to be accurate."

Hermione tried not to roll her eyes. She could already feel the slight tinge of annoyance.

"So what does Dumbledore reckon he's planning?"

....

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