Apparating to the front of Longbottom Manor, Harry walked its dirt path toward the door. Before he'd made it far, a second crack announced the arrival of someone else. James Potter brushed dirt off the sleeves of his heavy, buttoned coat.
"Evening," Harry greeted.
James looked over. After a miniscule pause, he said, "Good to see you, Harry."
That lag was there every time the two met. James was trying. So was Harry. They didn't dislike each other, they were just a tad confused.
They approached the front door, waving at Elphias Doge who had been stuck on guard duty yet again. Maybe the man enjoyed it.
"How's teaching?" James asked.
"More fun than I expected," Harry said. "I enjoyed doing it when I was in school, but I thought that was because it was more like a club. It turns out, it's fun watching others learn." he frowned. "I could do without grading all those assignments though. Oh, and the toad is meddling again."
"Educational Decree Twenty-Five. I read about that. High Inquisitor." James wrinkled his nose.
"I think her outfit choices gave away her terrible taste. The fact that it extends to names isn't a surprise."
"She does dress like she rolled around Madame Puddifoot's Tea Shop and walked out wearing the decor." The brief burst of good humor in James' voice faded. "That woman has a track record in the Ministry. It's more than a few careers she's ruined. If she's targeting you, will you be alright?"
Harry blinked. He smiled slightly. "That's exactly what I want, actually. I can take whatever she comes up with, unlike the students. The more time she wastes putting her pea-brain into thinking up schemes against me the better."
"That's a lot of responsibility."
Harry laughed. "You know me." James was one of two people in this world who truly did. "Compared to what I've dealt with in the past, this much is nothing."
Looking toward the end of the hallway, Harry's eyes briefly narrowed. He stopped and put a hand over his stomach.
"Oooh, this indigestion definitely isn't nothing, though! Every time I think the Stinkitus is done, I start feeling rumbles again. Go ahead without me."
James gave him a supportive shoulder pat and continued toward the meeting room. At the end of the hall, he passed an old woman who was waiting with a smile. Hames gave Augusta Longbottom the smallest nod possible, receiving an identical one in return. When he was gone, Harry moved his hand from his stomach and approached Augusta.
"Getting good mileage out of that silly excuse, I see."
"You don't believe I've spent the last week bedridden?" Harry asked.
"It's curious that a Portkey was arranged the day you turned absent." Augusta smiled warmly; invitingly. "What did he have you doing?"
"Trip to Minsk," Harry said, his honesty ending there. "A local politician was making suspicious friends. Novik, I think his name was. The situation fixed itself before I could even investigate him."
"Oh?" Augusta said.
"You'll probably hear more about it in the meeting than I could tell you," Harry said. "As soon as I got a few leads Novik went to negotiate with the giants. Never came back."
Augusta considered what he was saying, her eyes racing while her smile remained the same.
"A shame you went all that way for nothing."
"I prefer it this way! No chance for me to botch it if I don't have to do anything in the first place."
"Indeed." Augusta inclined her head. "The meeting will be starting soon. Walk with me, Harry."
She was short when she was standing up. Harry trailed behind her, looking down on the top of her absurd vulture hat. "You possess extraordinary skills," Augusta said.
"I think you're overselling me, ma'am."
"I'm not talking about anything with a wand. Marlene gave me a full report on that errand you ran for me. You kept a level head amidst a crisis. That's commendable. Even more commendable is your close relationship with the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement."
"Me and Amelia? I think you're exaggerating."
"If I am, it's because Marlene did so before me. I believe her exact words were, 'One step away from tearing each other's clothes and going wild.'"
Unlike his earlier stomach ache, the cough Harry developed wasn't fake in the slightest.
"I wouldn't put it like that—"
Augusta stopped. They were in a slight alcove in the hallway, close to the room where the other Order was gathered but out of sight and earshot. Augusta pursed her lips to the side, deepening the wrinkles on her aged cheek.
"Yes, that face of yours isn't bad," she said. "And I can hardly deny the results. You possess some kind of charm when it comes to women. We're not at liberty to be picky these days. Use that skill for the greater good!"
"Pardon?" Harry said.
"From now on, do anything you can to warm Amelia Bones to our cause," Augusta said. "You've been so adamant that Hestia Jones did the work to capture the Carrow Twins, so bring her into my fold as well. Finally, the young Auror who killed Greyback. It's been ages since I've seen a talent like her. You must convince her to join the Order, whatever it takes."
"Recruit Nymphadora Tonks… That should be possible," Harry said.
"You must make it possible," Augusta said. "There is no room for doubt."
Augusta must have been in a hurry because of the meeting — she hadn't even lobbed many compliments to butter him up to her cause.
The two of them entering together didn't go unnoticed by the Order members who'd already arrived. Of course, Dumbledore just smiled.
Harry broke away to sit with Sirius and Remus. It had become his regular spot over the last few meetings. Just as his butt was brushing the bottom of his seat, Sirius spoke.
"I didn't know you liked 'em old, Harry," he said. "I'm not judging! Some wizards are into women as wrinkly as prunes."
"I wasn't, in fact, hitting on Augusta Longbottom," Harry said. "I'll leave flirting with anything on two legs to you.."
Sirius looked behind him at Remus. "How would Harry know I do that? Have you two been talking behind my back?"
Remus seemed bored. "Maybe it's just the aura you give off?"
Sirius sniffed himself. "Nah, nothing. You're full of it."
"Aura, Sirius. Not aroma."
Harry chuckled.
"So, what's she look like down there?" Sirius asked. "Is it just as wrinkly as her face? Even more wrinkled? Do you have to peel the folds apart one at a time to find where the magic happens?"
Harry developed the stomach ache he had faked earlier, giving his quasi-godfather a look of disgust that was matched perfectly by Remus on Sirius' other side.
They were still looking at Sirius like that, who was smiling deceptively innocently, when Marlene McKinnon slotted into the seat next to Harry.
"What's the scoop?" she asked. "Looks interesting."
"Guy talk," Sirius said. "No sharing I'm afraid."
"I wish you kept it to yourself," Harry grumbled. "How've you been, Marlene?"
"I haven't gone into any woods at night since we saw each other last, that's for sure," Marlene said.
"Why's that?" Sirius asked.
"Girl talk," Marlene said. "Top secret."
"But Harry's in on it!"
"He gets a pass on account of his cute face."
Sirius and Remus both lifted their eyebrows at the same way, in the same way. Sirius gave Harry a nudge.
Before Harry could think about how to respond, the meetin began, signaled as always by Dumbledore clearing his throat. It was incredible how quickly the room calmed down and listened.
"Thank you for making time in your busy lives," Dumbledore said. "Especially busy these days." His eyes twinkled. "On the topic of the many things we have all been up to, let us share. There's plenty to bring each other up to speed on. Would anyone care to start?"
As unhesitating as ever, Marlene was the first to stand up.
"We looked into a set of disappearances in this little village called Oldritch. Most of them were Muggles, but there was one wizard that went missing. Headed into the woods where he was last seen, and what do you know? It was werewolves."
Some of the members gasped, Molly Weasley loudest among them.
"You did well to return alive," James said.
Marlene grinned. "Better than that. We ran into Aurors in the forest, and one of them managed to kill Greyback. On a full moon."
"Doesn't work that way," Mundungus Fletcher said, the most audible out of the objectors. "Nobody could take that monster down then."
"Well, I saw it," Marlene said. "And I wasn't alone."
"It's true," Sturgis Podmore said. "Greyback was really there. We went into this cave, and down in the bottom he was laying on his side, already super hurt. Werewolves have red blood— I thought it might be silver or something. So Greyback was lying there, making these little noises, and the Auror was standing over him. She was young, too. The other one kept calling her a trainee. But somehow she hurt Greyback pretty badly. We tried to ask him questions, but the other Auror killed him before he could answer. It was a total waste. The cave stunk, too, so I was really hoping we could get some good information out of going in—"
"Greyback's loss alone is plenty we've gained, whether you were able to interrogate him or not," Augusta said. "Thank you, Sturgis. I believe we get the picture."
"Setting aside the heroic contribution of our brave Auror department, what were you doing there?" Sirius asked.
"I told you." Marlene's voice was terse. "People had been going missing, so we went to see why. The Ministry had already given up on the case. At least, we thought they had."
"I thought we were supposed to be taking things slow, that's all," Sirius said
"We didn't exactly plan to run headlong into Britain's most dangerous werewolf, now did we?"
Emmeline Vance stood up on the other side of the table, interrupting before Sirius could respond. "Mistakes happen," she said. "We should remain grateful that everyone made it home, and focus on being prepared for next time. I've been surveilling the manors of certain 'reformed' Death Eaters from the first war. The Parkinsons have been accepting many more guests than usual, many of whom are staying overnight, while the Nott family has been taking house visits from Borgin of Borgin and Burke. It seems they're bolstering their collection of dark artifacts. Possibly in preparation for something."
As one of the most experienced members in the room, Emmeline's calming presence righted the course of the discussion. She calmly sat down when she finished, clearing the way for the next person to share. Harry listened carefully. It was interesting to see what the rest of the Order had been up to. Their missions were certainly less thrilling than the ones he'd been on, which was good. Otherwise they'd be looking at a lot more empty seats.
Harry was a little surprised at how much they knew. Death Eaters had been building a safe house in a residential part of London, until Daedalus Diggle burned it to the ground, covering it up with the guise of a faulty firework going off. An envoy had been sent to Eastern Europe to make contact with the vampires, but Dorcas Meadows managed to trace where his Portkey was set to arrive, setting an ambush and subduing him.
These were only the successful missions. Most of the people in the room had been on stakeouts that amounted to nothing and done investigations that hit walls. Still, Harry was impressed.
During a particularly dull report that probably didn't have to be made, listening to Elphias Doge talk about how close he was to finding evidence of Lucius Malfoy bribing officials (Doge wasn't close at all), Harry leaned over to Sirius.
"Nymphadora Tonks is your cousin, isn't she?"
Sirius blinked, shifting to whisper back. "That's right. You know her?"
"She's the Auror trainee that Marlene talked about. I'm thinking about inviting her to the Order."
"Little Nymphadora got Greyback? I'm not sure I believe that. Doesn't mean that she wouldn't be good to have on our side. Andromeda would kill me if I got her involved in this stuff, but Tonks is old enough to make her own choices. Ask her. Just don't expect me to be your backup if Andromeda gets upset."
"Ah-hem!"
The two of them flinched, finding themselves under the heavy gaze of Professor McGonagall from a few seats away.
"Sorry, Professor!" Sirius and Harry whispered loudly.
Afterward, Sirius looked back, glancing at Harry from the corner of his eye. McGonagall's brow furrowed. She eventually turned back to Elphias Doge, who was only now getting to the end of his report. Nothing of substance had been added by the man.
Only one person was left. Unlike everyone who went before him, Severus Snape remained seated while speaking.
"The Dark Lord's mission to recruit the giants was a massive failure," he said. "Ten Death Eaters were dispatched. They joined a local pureblood who was interested in taking the mark. The group ventured into the mountains, at which point none of them returned. All eleven are presumed dead."
For once, the meeting room was completely silent.
"They died just like that?" Marlene asked. "We didn't even do it?"
"My associate and friend Madame Maxime was in the area at my request," Dumbledore said. "She reported by letter after a prolonged period of silence that there was an unexpected change in Gurg— that is, the leader of the giants for those unaware. A new Gurg was crowned who didn't take very kindly to Voldemort's servants. The giants ate well that night."
Dumbledore said it with a cheerful voice, reporting it all almost casually.
"What of Maxime?" McGonagall asked.
"She spoke very highly of the new Gurg," Dumbledore said. "She has complete faith that the tribe will not be supporting the Dark Lord this time around."
They better not be. Harry had been pretty clear before he, Maxime, and Apolline left the Urals. Gathering the giants together, speaking in a way even their limited brains could understand, he'd hammered his message in: Giants, stay. No fight wizards. You no like it? Then fight me.
With Golgomath's body laying in the background beside the lake, there were no takers.
The Order meeting adjourned soon after that. There wasn't much more to share, honestly. The mood had taken a noticeable boost after the last report. Ten Death Eaters disappearing was a boost, but ensuring giant neutrality was at least twice that valuable. One of the Dark Lord's greatest weapons had just been neutralized without having to cast a spell.
Only Harry and Dumbledore knew that it hadn't been quite that simple. Still, the results were easily worth the effort Harry put in. In his opinion, Apolline had more than compensated him for any of the task's rougher portions.
"Running away again?"
Harry had been ready to head home, but Sirius stopped him. There was something debaucherous about the man's grin.
"I was planning to head home. Why?" Harry asked.
Sirius surged up, throwing an arm over Harry's shoulder. "It seems like you've forgotten, but you promised me a drink after the first meeting. I'm cashing that in now!"
Harry only had to think for a second. "I'm in. Pick the place."
It was a good night for it. No missions or clandestine tasks on the immediate horizon that a hangover might ruin. Remus was clearly in on it too, walking beside them as Sirius guided Harry to the door.
"Drinking? Without me? Not allowed, I'm afraid."
Marlene shamelessly attached herself to the group with so much confidence that no one could question it. Not that any of them minded her coming along.
"M-Me too!"
Hestia Jones hurried after them, having a hard time looking them in the eyes.
"Where did you come from?" Sirius asked.
"I was sitting on the other side of Marlene," Hestia said. "I just…" She blushed. "I couldn't find the right time to join the conversation. Hi, Harry…"
"Hey Hestia," Harry said. "Have you been well?"
"Oh, I can't complain." She smiled, rubbing her hands together. "I can come, can't I? That wouldn't be too much of a bother?"
"Why not!" Sirius said. "It'll be a party! I like those."
Suddenly, Harry had an idea. Before leaving the room he turned around one last time.
"James!" he said. "Drinks?"
Sirius and Remus winced, the latter hiding it better.
"He doesn't drink, Harry," Remus said quietly.
"Really?" Harry asked. "But it looks like he's coming over."
Sirius' jaw dropped. James joined them, giving them a strange look when nobody else moved.
"Are we going or not?" James asked.
"You want to come?" Sirius asked.
"Yeah, well… I can't think of a reason not to right now," James said.
Sirius and Remus dragged him out of the room before he could change his mind. Harry and the girls followed at a more relaxed pace. Harry found himself smiling. It wouldn't be bad to relax for a night and unwind among friends as a change of pace.
O-O-O
Minutes later, outside the bar Sirius had chosen, Harry started to question how relaxing this night was going to be.
"Here?" he said. "I know I said you could pick, but are you sure this is the best idea?"
"Worried someone'll recognize you, Mr. Professor?" Sirius teased.
"This has been our favorite spot ever since we were seventh years," Remus said. "Even earlier, if you cut out the drinking part."
"Not that we weren't drinking before then!" Sirius rushed to say, as if anything else would be an insult. "We just had to do it more secretively."
Marlene was staring at the Three Broomsticks sign the same way that Harry was. Her hands were balled into fists. "We could give the Hog's Head a chance. It's right down the street…"
"And it's a shithole," Sirius said. "Unless you're Hagrid, nobody would ever choose that dirty old place. C'mon already!"
He led the way into the Three Broomsticks. Everyone followed him one by one until it was just Harry and James outside.
"Do you have something against Rosmerta?" James asked.
"It's kind of the opposite," Harry admitted.
James smiled softly. "An old school crush? It won't be that embarrassing. Just talk to her normally and you'll be fine."
Harry wanted to point out that he was still misunderstanding things, but James looked so happy at being able to offer advice that Harry didn't have it in him to contradict the man. They went into the bar.
"Look who it is!"
A blond blur flew through the area and latched onto Harry. Rosmerta hugged him in greeting, uncaring that his left arm had become wedged deep between the halves of her bust.
"It's been a while," she said. "I thought you'd gotten bored of me."
"I've been pretty busy," Harry admitted, rubbing his head with the head that wasn't stuck.
"Tsk," Marlene hissed, looking away; Hestia was watching on with adorably wide eyes.
Harry's worries were proving themselves founded. His relaxing night of drinking was off the table— one way or another, this was looking like a long night.