On the 2nd of August, 1995, Harry Potter and his cousin, Dudley Dursley, were attacked by dementors in Little Whinging. The news spread inside of the Order of the Phoenix headquarters almost as soon as it happened, what with many of its members being employees at the Ministry of Magic. Once again, Analeigh and the other teenagers were left in the dark, but they managed to figure out that the Order would be rescuing Harry from his awful family soon enough.

It was four days later that Analeigh, Ron, and Hermione found themselves anxiously waiting for Harry's arrival. Of course, they knew that he would be in good hands since many skilled witches and wizards, like Nymphadora Tonks and Remus Lupin, had volunteered to transport him to Grimmauld Place — but, that still did little to ease their worries. They had no idea where Voldemort was and what his followers were up to, so all the crazy scenarios of what they might do to Harry if they caught him on the way to the headquarters raced through their minds.

It was eerily quiet both inside the house and out in the streets, so the three friends weren't sure when Harry would arrive. Their questions were quickly answered when the door slowly clicked open. While Analeigh and Ron merely perked up at the sound from where they sat on the bed, Hermione stood up right away and ran to the door, engulfing a certain green-eyed boy the second he entered.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, catching him by surprise. "Are you all right? We overheard them talking about the dementor attack. You must tell us everything."

"Let the man breathe, Hermione," said Ron as he and Analeigh approached them as well.

"And this hearing at the Ministry — just outrageous. I've looked it up. They simply can't expel you. It's completely unfair."

"Yeah. There's a lot of that going round at the moment," mumbled Harry, walking further into the room. Analeigh watched him carefully, noting that he didn't look all too happy. As she expected, he was most likely annoyed at them for not writing to him the past few weeks. "So, what is this place — this headquarters?"

"It's of the Order of the Phoenix," Analeigh replied. "It's a secret society Dumbledore formed back when they fought You-Know-Who."

"Couldn't have put any of this in a letter, I suppose? I've gone all summer without a scrap of news."

Analeigh, Hermione, and Ron all shared uncomfortable glances. They knew Harry would be angry at them for that, but that expectation didn't make them feel any better now that he was actually confronting them about it.

"We wanted to write, mate. Really, we did. Only..." Ron trailed off.

"Only what?" Harry demanded.

"Only Dumbledore made us swear not to tell you anything," Hermione answered quickly.

"Dumbledore said that? But why would he keep me in the dark? Maybe I could help. I'm the one who saw Voldemort return... the one who fought him, I'm the one who saw all those Death Eaters —"

A pop sounded as the Weasley twins Apparated directly behind Harry, one of them even placing a hand on his shoulder. It startled the poor boy and he flinched away, only to realize that it was just Fred and George.

"Hi, Harry," George grinned.

"Thought we heard your dulcet tones," said Fred, plopping down on the bed.

"Don't bottle it up, though, mate. Let it out."

"Anyway, if you're all done shouting..."

"Do you wanna hear something a little more interesting?" George finished. The younger ones of the group shared curious looks, but with nothing better to do in that house, they agreed anyway.

Next thing they knew, Analeigh, Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Fred and George were leaning over the railing of the large staircase. The twins were dangling one of their latest creations called Extendable Ears, which would allow them to listen in on the meetings that usually took place in the dining room of the first floor.

"If anyone has a right to know, it's Harry. If it wasn't for Harry, we wouldn't even know Voldemort was back," they heard Sirius Black say. "He's not a child, Molly."

"But he's not an adult either," Mrs. Weasley retorted. "He's not James, Sirius."

"Well, he's not your son."

"He's as good as. Who else has he got?"

Ginny eventually joined them, having heard the commotion going on outside of her room. She made her way to stand in between the twins, which was when Harry noticed her.

"Hey, Ginny," he greeted. She smiled back at him warmly.

"He's got me," Sirius was saying.

"How touchingly paternal, Black," Snape drawled. Analeigh had to resist the urge to groan — even just his voice itself was annoying, and she could see that everyone else thought the same with the way their facial expressions changed into bitter ones. "Perhaps Potter will grow up to be a felon, just like his godfather."

"Now, you stay out of this, Snivellus."

"Snape's part of the Order?" Harry said incredulously.

"Git," Ron muttered.

"... about your supposed reformation," Snape kept on going.

"I know better."

"So why don't you tell him?"

Too busy eavesdropping, they didn't notice until it was too late that Crookshanks had made its way down the stairs and took interest in the Extendable Ear. He started pawing at it playfully, causing the adults' voices from the kitchen to distort.

"Get off it," Fred hissed.

"Quick, get it up!" George whisper-yelled.

"Crookshanks!" Hermione tried, but the kneazle-cat continued to jump around and play with the ear, causing static noises to come out from the other end. "Stop it!"

"Get off, you bloody cat!" Ron said.

"Crookshanks, leave it alone!"

"Get it up!" the twins said urgently. But Crookshanks managed to tug the Extendable Ear from its string and put it into its mouth.

"Hermione, I hate your cat," Ron rolled his eyes. "Leigh's is way better."

As if on cue, Analeigh's white cat purred lowly as it passed in between their legs before disappearing into the darkness of the corridor. She was certainly much calmer and unbothered than Crookshanks — or maybe Analeigh was just biased towards her own pet.

"Bad Crookshanks," Hermione scolded, but he was already trotting away happily with the toy ear.

A few minutes later, Mrs. Weasley called for the kids to go down for their meal. Cedric Diggory exited his room and trudged down the stairs, seeing Harry for the first time in weeks as well. They greeted one another with good-natured smiles and a little small talk as they all descended the staircase.

"Well, we'll be eating down in the kitchen," Mrs. Weasley repeated as they made their way there. Fred and George chose this exact opportunity to Apparate again, appearing behind their mother who yelped in surprise.

"Just because you're allowed to use magic now does not mean you have to whip your wands out for everything!" she shouted, but the twins ran away from her reach.

"I'm surprised you haven't been showing off your magic recently," Analeigh mused to Cedric who had fallen into step next to her after talking to Harry.

"Do you want me to conjure some ropes for you again?" he questioned with a raised eyebrow, making her glare at him. She did not want Fred and George to overhear them and make innuendos again. They just would not listen to Analeigh when she tried to explain what had happened, and she was just glad that the twins didn't tell the others what they saw.

However, she had spoken too soon, because Ron said, "Ropes? Merlin, Leigh, what have you been doing?"

Cedric snickered while Analeigh blushed profusely.

"Nothing," she insisted.

"Of course she's not going to tell you, Ronald," Hermione chastised.

"Thank you —"

"As long as they're safe, let's not bother them," she added in a lower voice. Analeigh's jaw dropped in horror. Now, even Hermione and Ron thought she and Cedric were doing a lot more than talk in his bedroom.

Analeigh wanted to protest once again, but they had reached the first floor where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were awaiting them, so she chose not to say anything anymore. If they heard her, they would misunderstand what really happened and they would undoubtedly tell the other adults about it. She couldn't imagine how her parents — especially her father — would react to all that.

So, she merely huffed at Cedric as they entered the kitchen to take their seats, passing by a number of the Order members: Arthur and Molly Weasley, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, Alastor Moody, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and even Altair since they had all been present at the meeting. Analeigh waited until she had sat down with Cedric on one side and Hermione on the other before she spoke again.

"This is your fault," she grumbled to him. "Now, everyone thinks we've — well..."

"What's wrong with that?" Cedric teased, leaning dangerously close to her.

"Stop flirting and start eating already," said Tonks who had come up to sit across them. She winked at Analeigh, probably aware that she was growing flustered because of Cedric.

The large group consisting of the Order and their families ate their dinner noisily. Each section of the table seemed to have something going on; one side was making small talk about Mrs. Weasley's famous cooking, another section had Tonks entertaining the teenagers by using her metamorphmagus abilities, and the far end was discussing more serious matters to Harry who had been the out of the loop for most of the entire summer.

"This is very, very peculiar. It seems your hearing in the Ministry is to be before the entire Wizengamot," Mr. Weasley said with a frown.

"I don't understand. What has the Ministry of Magic got against me?" Harry asked. The men sitting around him paused.

"Show him," Moody said gruffly from where he stood by the table, not in the mood to eat. "He'll find out soon enough."

It seemed that Moody's words caught the attention of everyone else there. The light conversations died down as they watched Harry and the Order members. Then, Kingsley unfolded an issue of the Daily Prophet and handed it to Harry.

"He's been attacking Dumbledore as well," Sirius explained as Harry read the headline: ALL IS WELL, which was a quote from one of the Minister of Magic's recent interviews. "Fudge is using all his power, including his influence at the Daily Prophet, to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned."

"Why?"

"The Minister thinks Dumbledore's after his job," said Remus.

"But that's insane," Harry said. "No one in their right mind could believe that —"

"Exactly the point," Remus cut him off. "Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear. Now, fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power, he almost destroyed everything we hold most dear. Now he's returned, and I'm afraid the minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth.

"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again," Sirius said bluntly. Analeigh could see that some of the adults — especially Mrs. Weasley — didn't approve of him saying everything so openly.

"Fourteen years ago, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had huge numbers at his command," Altair said next. Analeigh briefly made eye contact with her father — it was only she and some of the Order members that knew that he had once been one of them. "And not just witches and wizards, but all manner of dark creatures."

"He's been recruiting heavily, and we've been attempting to do the same," Sirius continued. "But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in. We believe... Voldemort may be after something."

"Sirius," Moody warned.

"Something he didn't have last time."

"You mean... like a weapon?" Harry said.

"No, that's enough." Mrs. Weasley stomped over to them and snatched the newspaper from the table, folding it back up. "He's just a boy. You say more and you might as well induct him into the Order."

"Good. I want to join If Voldemort's raising an army, then I want to fight," Harry said determinedly.

Sirius leaned back in satisfaction, smiling at Mrs. Weasley as if he had won the argument.

★ ★ ★

Harry's hearing took place on August 12 at the Ministry of Magic before the entire Wizengamot. The fact that all those important people were present at his trial made him feel all funny on the inside. His only source of comfort had been Mr. Weasley who accompanied him to the Ministry, but he wasn't allowed inside venue. Thankfully, Mrs. Figg had stood as Harry's witness during the hearing, and Dumbledore arrived soon after. With their help, they were finally able to prove Harry's innocence and that he had no choice but to use magic because of the dementors that attacked him and Dudley.

"I knew it!" Ron punched the air after Harry finished telling them what happened during his trial."You always get away with stuff!"

"They were bound to clear you," Hermione said, looking as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders now that Harry was cleared. "There was no case against you, none at all."

"Everyone seems quite relieved, though, considering they all knew I'd get off," Harry smiled. He seemed happier than he had been the past few days, which was understandable since his anxiety must have been over the roof on the days leading up to his trial.

"Relieved? They're practically rejoicing," Analeigh said in amusement. In unison, the four of them looked at the Weasley twins and Ginny, who were dancing in circles and chanting in the middle of the kitchen.

"He got off, he got off, he got off!" they sang. Meanwhile, the adult were attempting to calm them down as they tried to discuss the more serious matters on the side.

"That's enough, settle down!" Mr. Weasley raised his voice, but they could see that he was hiding a smile. He cleared his throat to compose himself then said, "Listen, Sirius, Lucius Malfoy was at the Ministry —"

"What?" Sirius said sharply.

"He got off, he got off, he got off —"

"Be quiet, you three! Yes, we saw him talking to Fudge on level nine, then they went up to Fudge's office together. Dumbledore ought to know."

"Absolutely," agreed Sirius. "We'll tell him, don't worry."

"Well, I'd better get going, there's a vomiting toilet in Bethnal Green waiting for me. Molly, I'll be late, I'm covering for Tonks, but Kingsley might be dropping in for dinner —"

"He got off, he got off, he got off —"

"That's enough — Fred, George, Ginny!" Mrs. Weasley said firmly as her husband left the kitchen.

"Lucius has been lingering in the Ministry quite a bit," Altair told Sirius in a low voice so that only the two of them could hear.

"Has he confronted you?" Sirius asked curiously.

"No, I've managed to avoid him. But if he keeps coming into the Ministry, I'm afraid he's going to try recruiting me again. After all, he was there the night of You-Know-Who's return," Altair replied thoughtfully.

"Then we really need to inform Dumbledore as soon as possible."

The pair continued to talk in hushed tones whereas the other side of the room was still filled with joyous voices.

"Harry dear," Mrs. Weasley said warmly. "Come and sit down, have some lunch, you hardly ate breakfast."

Analeigh, Ron, and Hermione surrounded Harry as they sat themselves down at the dining table. With their moods having been significantly lifted since Harry's return, they piled loads of food onto their plates without a care.

""Course, once Dumbledore turned up on your side, there was no way they were going to convict you," Ron beamed. He was placing large servings of mashed potatoes onto everyone's plates, giving away how happy he was.

"Yeah, he swung it for me," Harry said. He paused for a brief moment before he clapped a hand to his forehand with a wince.

"What's up?" Hermione said in alarm.

"Scar," Harry mumbled. "But it's nothing... it happens all the time now..."

Analeigh and Hermione exchanged worried glances, both of them wanting to say something about that, but Ron beat them to it.

"I bet Dumbledore turns up this evening to celebrate with us, you know," he said, still smiling and not thinking much about Harry's scar.

"I don't think he'll be able to, Ron," Mrs. Weasley said, setting down a plate of roast chicken in front of them. "He's really very busy at the moment."

"He got off, he got off, he got off —" Fred, George, and Ginny continued to chant and dance.

"Shut up!" Mrs. Weasley roared. Just like that, they all forgot about Harry's scar and the whole hearing at the Ministry of Magic. Everyone was simply in such high spirits to bother, and Analeigh could only hope that her fifth year at Hogwarts would be just as happy and carefree as she felt at that moment.

A/N: Pretty random, but I really like that scene in the book where Ginny and the twins chant after Harry's hearing so I just had to add that here :') I wished they'd portrayed Ginny that way in the films — she had such an entertaining personality and it's a shame we couldn't really see that on screen :<