Remus had anticipated finding a small core of Order members to come to Grimmauld Place that night, mainly to get Sirius's mind off of his isolation.

He had not anticipated coming home to find the kitchen already crowded with Order members, each with a copy of the Daily Prophet, all in varying states of outrage. Mrs. Black was screaming from her portrait, but no one was bothering to shut her up.

Emmeline Vance came straight to him, waved the newspaper in his face, and looked like she was about to say something, then just made a growling sound and stalked to the other side of the kitchen, where she waved her fists at Bill Weasley, who was slowly shredding his own paper into dustbin. Molly was tight-lipped, sitting in a corner, and Hestia Jones was reading with wide-eyed disbelief. Dedalus Diggle jittered over to Remus in a manic way and said, "I can't believe it!" then skittered back to Emmeline.

Sirius, who was talking to a blonde witch who looked only vaguely familiar to Remus, waved him over, looking very much in control. "Arthur, Kingsley, and Dora haven't been able to get out of work yet," he said. "Have you picked up the Prophet??"

The blonde girl handed him a copy. From the front page, a square-jawed woman with a bow in her dowdy hair blinked at him slowly. Above her, the headline read:

Remus read the article, looking nervously at Molly when he noticed how extensively young Percy Weasley had been quoted and feeling a kind of dazed shame when Dumbledore's "eccentric decisions," cited as the reason for extra surveillance, "included the employment of werewolf Remus Lupin." Moody and Hagrid were mentioned as well. Moody would take it in stride, but Remus was glad Hagrid wasn't here to read it.

"'ow can zey do zees?" the blonde witch asked, her eyes wide. "Dumbledore eez known everywhere!"

"That's the problem, Fleur," Sirius said. "Like I told Harry last night, Fudge thinks Dumbledore is after his job. Have a seat, Remus."

Remus sat down on a spare log on edge of the hearth, as there were no handy chairs in the vicinity. His hips screeched in their sockets at the deep bend, but the dry heat of the fire helped them. Fleur Delacour--one of the younger members of the Order, who Dumbledore had working on international connections, if Remus recalled correctly--was biting her lip nervously, her bright blue eyes darting at him every now and then.

"The full moon was last night," he said dryly. "I'm perfectly safe for another four weeks."

She blushed. "Eh... I seemply.... "

"I shouldn't have made an assumption of what you were thinking."

"No, you were right. And I zhould know better. I am a part-'uman." Fleur smiled.

"Werewolves aren't part-human," Sirius said irritably. "They're all human, just with a damned illness."

"It's all right, Sirius. I know what what Fleur means."

The door upstairs opened and there was a fresh burst of screams from Mrs. Black. Filthy half-blood monster! Freak of nature!

"Oh, stuff it, Auntie!" Dora shouted over her shoulder as she came down into the kitchen. Her hair, a florid green today and tied up into a long, bouncy ponytail, flipped in a full circle as she turned her head sharply. She glanced around the room, found Remus and Sirius (and Fleur) and came straight over, only tripping over three people's strewn bags on the way. "Inquisitor?" she said. "Hullo, Fleur. Tonks."

"Thank you," Fleur said. "I thought eet was you, but..."

"You never know." She tossed her entire copy of the Prophet into the fire, and pointed her wand at it. "Incendio!" It flared up.

"It might have burned in the pre-existing fire," Remus pointed out.

"Not nearly as satisfying as killing it," Dora said. "How are you feeling today?"

"As expected."

She winced. "You should visit Mum at St. Mungo's. She can give you a nice ointment to help. She hasn't taught me to brew it yet. Is Mad-Eye here yet?"

"Who called the meeting?" Remus asked.

"Dumbledore sent Fawkes here," Sirius said. "But he can't very well come himself. So I took the liberty."

"Good idea."

"Good to be useful for once."

In short order after that, Arthur Weasley arrived, looking more furious than Remus had ever seen him, and went straight to his wife. Nearly in his wake came Kingsley Shacklebolt. Mad-Eye appeared from somewhere--Remus honestly hadn't seen him come in--and finally the flames turned green, and Mundungus Fletcher arrived, clutching an ill-looking (and even more frazzled than usual) Arabella Figg.

"That's everyone," Sirius said, then tapped his throat with his wand and said, "Sonorus," then, loudly enough to carry over the crowd, "Quiet!"

Everyone immediately fell silent, except of course Mrs. Black's portrait upstairs, which took advantage of the pause in conversation to inform them all that they were Traitors! Miscreants! Filth! and Trespassers!

Sirius rolled his eyes and took the Charm off his throat, and Molly Weasley pointed her wand at the kitchen door and put an Impervius Charm on it. Mrs. Black's screeches were immediately muted down to background noise.

"Everyone please sit down," Sirius invited, spreading his arms to indicate the table. "We have quite a lot to talk about."

Remus took a seat, and glanced around the room. Nearly everyone was outraged, grumbling, or even a bit nervous... but not Sirius. Sirius simply relaxed into his role as host and leader.

Remus hadn't seen him look so happy since he'd come back to Grimmauld Place.

"Can we still count on communication?" Emmeline Vance asked with no preliminaries.

"We have Fawkes," Sirius said. "That's how Dumbledore reached me. It seems that it hasn't occurred to anyone that phoenixes aren't as easily tracked as owls. And so far, there's been no suspicion about our other means of communicating. At least according to Phineas Nigellus."

Kingsley nodded. "We should still be careful. Too many messages--too much contact--would cast suspicion on them and us."

"What about the students?" Molly asked quietly. "Can I reach my children?"

Remus reached over and patted her fingers. (She smiled at him in a distracted but genuine way; for some reason, she was willing to accept comfort and friendship from him despite her plain dislike of werewolves, and Remus liked her for that. It was never easy to ignore one's prejudices.) "You can write them the same sorts of letters you always have. I don't think even Dolores Umbridge could object to a mother writing a letter to her children." When he pulled his hand back, a pain shot through his shoulder.

"But assume they'll be read," Moody growled. "No news about anyone else, even if you think you have a clever code."

"And if Harry needs a warning?"

"Harry and I have developed some sneaky ways to keep in touch," Sirius said, flashing her a grin. "I can get word to Harry if we need to. And Ron and Hermione. And they can reach the twins and Ginny."

Molly looked dubious.

"'N I can keep an ear t'the ground in Hogsmeade," Dung piped up. "Got plenty of, er, business there. I know where they'll gossip about the folks up't the school."

"We should still keep it to a minimum," Emmeline said. "It will come down on them harder than on us if we're caught. They're a captive audience there."

Hestia Jones raised her hand cautiously. "May I ask something?"

"What is it?" Sirius asked.

"How..." She bit her lip and her rosy normally rosy cheeks became flaming red. "How bad is it?" she asked. "Maybe it's because I don't have children and I'm not a teacher, but unpleasant as it is to have Dolores Umbridge at Hogwarts, it is just a school. How much of an impact will it have on us if it's under close scrutiny?"

"Aside from filling a generation's head with ridiculous lies?" Sirius snapped.

Kingsley raised a hand for quiet. "I know what Hestia means. And the simple answer is that they're at this for one reason and one reason alone: they want Dumbledore, and they'll keep hounding until they catch him at something. He's our Secret Keeper, among other things. Without him, we can't add anyone to our roster. And he's... Dumbledore."

"Snape and Professor McGonagall will be caught in it, too," Dora said, nodding. "I reckon old Snape can grease his way out of it, but McGonagall won't sit still for it."

There were fond smiles all around; most of them had been Minerva McGonagall's students at some point. Remus could imagine her stubborn fuming and sharp tongue earning her some very close attention.

"Not to mention Harry," Sirius pointed out. "You do realize that Harry Potter is in the hands of the people who most want him silenced?"

After some uncomfortable shifting around, Hestia abruptly slammed her hand down on the table and stood up. "Doesn't it bother anyone else how much we're counting on a fifteen year old child to do our work for us? Maybe it's better if he's kept out of it. Let him have a life!"

Sirius looked deeply offended, but Remus cut off the oncoming response with a sharp look, then turned to Hestia (his neck tried to resist the command, but he wouldn't let it). "I think that the one thing Harry would like more than anything is to have a normal life, and worry about Quidditch and pretty girls. He certainly tries to when he's given a chance. But Voldemort drew him into this, and if I know Harry--"

"Which he does," Sirius said, "better than anyone here except me."

"--as long as the fight is out there, he'll seethe if he's not in it. It's personal for him."

Hestia sighed and nodded. "I know. I suppose I just feel guilty, pulling a child into this."

Bill Weasley smiled. "I think you have yourself confused with You-Know... Voldemort."

Molly shuddered involuntarily.

Arabella Figg cleared her throat. "I've got to wonder, with all this nonsense at the Ministry... is Harry still watched on Privet Drive? If he's not, you're all welcome to use my house to keep an eye on him--"

Kingsley shook his head. "The Ministry was allowed to think itself useful by closely monitoring his underage magic and so on, but the real magic protecting the house has nothing at all to do with them. It's worked through Lily Potter's charm and her sister."

Arabella wrinkled her nose at the mention of Petunia, but made no other comment.

"What shall we do?" Fleur asked, speaking up for the first time. "I could ask ze French ministry to take it up wiz Fudge..."

"No," Arthur said. "For one thing, they get their British news from the same sources as people here do... they may well agree with Fudge, and you'll cast suspicion on yourself. For another..."

"I can't imagine a quicker way to get people to rally around Fudge," Sirius said with a grin. Arthur nodded.

Fleur looked puzzled, but didn't say anything more.

Bill sniffed. "I don't suppose there's a scenario in which it would solve all our problems if I wrung Percy's neck."

"Don't," Molly said. "Please, Bill."

Bill took her hand and squeezed it. "Sorry, Mum. He's just being such a git."

"He's your brother," Molly said implacably.

Arthur was conspicuously silent on the subject.

After an awkward moment of silence, Dora (who had even less tolerance for silence than Sirius did), conjured a scroll and unrolled it with a definite air. "It seems to me that the first thing we need to do is establish some counter-scrutiny," she said. "We'll get Dung on the ground in Hogsmeade as often as possible--I'll even let him use my wardrobe if he can't show his face."

There was some laughter at this.

"Hestia, there's a woman substituting for Hagrid who lives off the school grounds. Someone-or-other Grubbly-Plank. Don't you know her?"

"Yes. I apprenticed to her when I started studying magizoology."

"Would she think it was odd if you got back in touch and asked some questions about what's happening?"

"No. We haven't lost touch. We see quite a lot of one another. That's a good idea."

Dora kept running the meeting for perhaps ten more minutes before Sirius took control back from her and started working on chains of command and communication that would bypass the Hogwarts members.

Remus himself started doodling a map of Hogwarts from memory--Harry needed the Marauder's Map more than they did, but it would be useful to have a new one if this nonsense was happening. After an hour of talk, he found himself forgetting the passageways and byways, and paying more attention to his elbows, hips, and knees, which were burning with the stress. His fingers on the quill felt like red hot wires had been attached to the bones. He noticed the flames of the fire, seeming to slow down in their strange dance. It seemed too warm somehow, too...

The room swam out of focus, and then went dark.

He was distantly aware of being lifted and trying to protest that he could perfectly well walk to somewhere that he could rest, but all that came out was a slurred, "Ik'nd'wit." There was a great deal of commotion, but he couldn't quite bring himself up to tell them to stop.

After that, there were stairs, and Mrs. Black screeching at the end of some long, dank tunnel, and then he was deposited on a sofa. He heard a female voice say, "Incendio," and there was a crackle of flames, and then there was darkness again.

He had no way of knowing how long it was before his mind started to notice things more specifically. He could hear the ticking of a clock, and voices of the Order droning on downstairs. It had apparently been long enough for them to get back to business.

He opened his eyes. There was a vaguely female shape in the shadows by the fire, and he said, "Dora?"

The woman laughed to herself and stood up. "No. Tonks wanted to stay, but I told her she ought to get herself back to the meeting. Sirius as well. I wasn't doing much there."

"Molly. I'm sorry. You were in the shadows and--" He tried to sit up, but his head swam and he laid back down. "I never know what Dora will decide to look like. And when it's a woman around here..."

"Yes, of course." Molly Weasley came to the couch, and pressed a cool cloth on his head. "It really works you over, doesn't it?" she asked. "Transforming, I mean."

It was the first time she had actually acknowledged his lycanthropy, and she did it rather calmly, though he noticed that she didn't look at him. He nodded. "It can."

"What were you doing up and about the day after? Sirius said you were at work! And that you shouldn't have been."

"Assignment," Remus said. "Honestly, I was doing better than I expected. I didn't expect to faint."

Molly looked at him, a cross expression on her face that didn't seem to be directed at him. "This assignment business--I suppose I'm not cleared to know what it is, but I think you should tell Dumbledore that he can't ask you to go do it the day after the full moon. He's asking altogether too much. You're frail."

"I'm not frail. Not really."

She gave him a disbelieving frown.

"Really, Molly. It's bad the day after, but most of the time, I look a lot more ill than I am. I just don't get enough sleep."

"Well, get some." She pulled back the cloth, Charmed it cold again, and dabbed at his face. "Let's not help You-Know-Who by killing ourselves."

Remus smiled and winked. "Yes, Mother Molly."

Molly laughed. "Well, it is something I know how to do. I've nursed seven children through fevers and aches and pains. I can handle one grown-up man who needs to be reminded to take better care of himself."

"Thank you, Molly."

"You were kind to Harry," she said as if it explained anything at all.

"I've known Harry since he was an infant," Remus said.

"A pity he couldn't have stayed with you rather than those wretched relatives of his. Though I suppose... a baby... well, you couldn't have..." She blushed and turned away.

Remus shrugged. "It's true enough. What would I have done with a baby when the moon was full?"

"Is that why his parents named Black his godfather?"

She said it with studied casualness, but her disapproval of Sirius came through anyway. And her jealousy--the two of them had been eyeing one another suspiciously since it became apparent that Harry needed them both. Remus did his best with Sirius when it came from that direction; he decided to do his best with Molly as well. "They named Sirius because he was like James's brother. And because he loved Harry absolutely and James and Lily both knew he would die for Harry without so much as asking why. You must know that, Molly."

"Yes," she said. "I suppose I do. Though he doesn't need dying for nearly as much as he needs feeding and loving and..."

"Mothering?"

"Yes."

"Luckily, he has you for that. I think that Lily"--if she could get over her own jealousy, he didn't say--"would be grateful to you. And I know Harry is. Did you see his face when you said he was as good as one of your sons?"

"I wasn't looking."

"Look, Molly. Look at him. He loves you."

She smiled. "Oh, I'm sorry. I'm awfully silly about this, aren't I?"

"Not at all."

"It's petty to be jealous over something like that. Harry can choose who he wants to talk to and trust."

"He does trust you."

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Don't mind me. Goodness, Black is your best friend, and here I am being nasty about all of this. He..." She sniffed and said firmly, "He obviously loves Harry and wants to take care of him."

"Right."

"Right." She pulled the cloth away again and started to Charm it. "Are you feeling better?"

"A bit. I could probably go back to--"

"Oh, no you don't, Mr. Lupin. You're staying right here. It sounds like they're getting out, anyway."

Indeed the door that led to the kitchen opened just then, letting up the babbling voices (all abruptly dropping in volume as they entered Mrs. Black's vestibule), and the parlor door sprang open a moment later.

"Remus! Are you all right?" Dora asked, coming into the room, Sirius in in her wake.

Remus tried to get up, but Molly tapped him back down, gently but firmly. "He'll be fine."

"I'm informed that I'm to get a full night's sleep," he said, as Dora sat on the floor by his head and Sirius hooked leaned over the back of an armchair to look at him. "What do you say, Molly? Will I be allowed to get up at seven?"

Molly checked the clock, which read ten, and nodded. "It should be enough."

"Ten to seven," Dora marveled. "I'm so jealous. It's exotic! You must tell me all about it tomorrow. And I'll want details." She smiled and kissed the bridge of his nose. "Good night, sleepy head. I'll go let everyone out and then go home."

"You could stay," Sirius said. "Really. There are quite a few empty rooms."

Molly looked shocked, but bit her lip against commenting.

Dora shook her head. "I've my flat, and the rent's paid up." She stood up and kissed Sirius's cheek, giving him an awkward hug over the back of the chair, then left the room to bid the other Order members a good night.

"Do you need anything?" Molly asked Sirius.

"More people living in this house. I don't suppose Bill and Fleur would want to come?"

"Not together," Molly said firmly.

"You and Arthur?"

"Our rent's paid up as well. But thank you for the offer."

They gave one another an odd, tentative smile, then Molly left for the night.

Sirius came around the chair and sat in in sideways, his knees hooked over one arm. "No more moon days," he said. "I'll fight it out with Dumbledore."

Before Remus could answer, Sirius transformed into a dog and curled up beside an end table.