Chapter 22:

Inside Professor Shoney's classroom stood a large number of people, all buzzing with wonderment of what the meeting was about. Harry, for one, was quite upset about them all being in the castle. They didn't need spies following them everywhere! And it never worked, anyway, because the only moments when a spy would be quite useful, earlier this morning, for example, nobody was there, and it ended up taking hours to simply get anybody to believe them.

Professor Shoney was scowling at Harry with a great dislike from one of the desks. Lenore exchanged glances with Harry, which made him suddenly angry that he couldn't speak to her anymore in his head.

"Hello, Harry and Lenore!" exclaimed the Weasleys and other Order members immediately.

"Hi," said Harry, grinning as Mrs. Weasley enveloped him in a hug. Lenore was busy cooing over Austin and Aurora, Percy's baby whom Harry had forgotten about. Next to them were Bill and Fleur with Adele. Harry thought about the baby who had been kidnapped for a moment, wondering if there was any chance that it was still alive. He was then distracted by the entrance of Ginny and Neville into the classroom. He was sure that both he and Lenore didn't miss the slight exchange between Ginny and Draco. Harry sighed, wishing that the mess would just end.

Ginny enthusiastically embraced Bill and proceeded to play with her niece. Harry didn't know what it was with girls and babies- but at least these three were beginning to show some sign of resembling humans. Bill and Fleur's baby had curly, strawberry-colored hair and huge blue eyes. Harry supposed that they finally found something that could tame the Weasley hair- a Veela. And Percy's baby had sort of auburn hair and dark brown eyes, with a little bit darker skin than the pale Weasleys. Lupin's baby was quite funny looking. He had Evelyn's curls but Remus' hair color, and he had Evelyn's eyes.

As soon as Hermione, Ron, and Blaise entered, the meeting began. Professor McGonagall seemed extremely stressed- even more grave than usual.

"Can I have everyone's attention, please?" she asked sternly. Everyone became quiet, looking at her with trepidation at the news she was going to bring. Harry looked at Hermione and Ron uneasily.

"Thank you. Before starting the meeting, I would like to give Severus a message on behalf of the majority of the Order." She looked extremely upset. "We will- er- no longer be requiring your services. Severus."

"What?" he demanded fractiously.

"It was not my decision, believe me. But the Order of the Phoenix has voted, and think that they should be entitled to a democracy now that our leader is no longer… of assistance. It's either allow them do what they want and get away from the group, which is alarmingly made of Ministry officials, or we give Harry the authority that was left to him by Albus, which he is surely not ready for—"

There was a bit of an outburst at this. "I can too handle—" began Harry, but he was drowned out by the replies of several others in the room.

"Harry can handle it, Professor; he led the DA-" started Neville.

"I think that Harry could fulfill the job; he knows the risks and duties, and if he wants to take it on, then by all means," Lupin was saying, "allow him to—"

"No! Absolutely not! This year will be stressful enough with his NEWT's coming up; why can't we just give the poor boy a chance at a normal childhood; this is completely outrageous." Harry was beginning to get frustrated with Mrs. Weasley's attitude toward him. He may only be seventeen, but what was the problem?

"Quiet!" yelled McGonagall. "Honestly, this group is worse than a bunch of schoolchildren! Now, I think that our options should be made clear by Harry and Severus, and then we should take a vote—the adults should take a vote, rather."

"Why can't our opinions count?"

"After all we risked to save the school from that Umbridge woman—"

"At the very least we deserve to decide on our futures!"

It was Lupin who replied to this. "Listen," he sighed. "I know that you want to have a choice in this, but as you aren't even members of the Order to begin with, we shouldn't—"

"The only reasons we aren't members," began Ginny angrily, "is because of bloody St. Mungo's and—"

"Ginny, watch you language!" chastised Mrs. Weasley.

"Sorry, Mum, " said Ginny, rolling her eyes. Harry vaguely wondered what Mrs. Weasley would do if she found out about Ginny's display in the library the other day. He decided not to think about it, as Ron undoubtedly was, judging by the look on his face.

"Harry, what would you like to do?" asked McGonagall, ignoring everyone. Harry thought for a moment. Could he really handle being the leader of the Order? The DA was hard enough.

"Well," he began, at first doubtful. He then looked into the faces of his friends, some of whom were risking so much. And he knew that he could do it. "I want to lead the Order," he said decisively. "I don't want people in it, though, who aren't serious about it or who are bigoted. Are we allowed to give people honorable discharges or anything?" Lupin laughed.

"No, we aren't," said McGonagall. "Actually, it's quite the opposite, as we don't want people being able to tell about us. So we would be keeping the same people in the Order. You, Harry, would be the only one to know their names. It would be a huge responsibility."

"I can take it," said Harry with determination. The Snape spoke up.

"I believe that we should have a small group lead us, where there are checks and balances. Power can easily go to a young person's head," he said silkily.

"To a Slytherin's head, maybe—" began Ron angrily.

"Hey! I'm a Slytherin and I'm not power-hungry," protested Draco. Nearly everyone in the room looked at him in disbelief for a moment, until Calli spoke up quietly.

"You guys? I have something to say before we vote. We all know that Vega came back last year, right?" Everyone nodded slowly. "Well, the purpose of the meeting today was that Vega… er, found several of the students this morning. And, apparently, she broke the Lenore/Harry and Harry/You-Know-Who connection. Harry's scar is gone.

"What?" asked several people quietly, in shock, all glancing at Harry's forehead. He sighed, hating it when this happened.

"It's true," he said. "And- well- the, er, key to defeating Voldemort is about 1000 years into the past. And if I help them, they help me. That's what the deal is. And Vega, who is really Amara, wants to go back into the past and probably take over or something, but the only way she will restore the links is if we bring her back, and then she apparently will help us defeat Voldemort. At least that's what she says." Calli sighed.

"My twin is extremely dangerous, surely some of you remember her? I know that Remus, Evelyn, and- er, Severus do. She is crazy. We've tried putting her in institutions, but she always escapes or sets it on fire or something like that. It's bad. And then she always wants revenge on someone or another- and with her power—" Calli shivered. "Let's say that if we make a mistake with her, the world could very well end in our lifetimes. Tsipora always said—"

"Tsipora?" asked Shoney quickly. "The spy in Azkaban?"

"Yeah," sighed Calli. "She was a student- Robyn- last year. Anyway, she's our sister, and she always said that once Vega did illegal magic on her when she was little. I don't know whether it is true or not, but… shall we vote now?" Everyone assented slowly, besides Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Neville, Lenore, Blaise, and Draco, all of whom were feeling quite put out.

Of course, a secrecy spell was placed on the room so that nobody could see what anyone else voted. When everyone finished uneasily, McGonagall collected the ballots, and read them all. When she finished, the room was extremely tense. "Harry," she began, "You lost by one vote. I'm sorry." Harry sighed, though he was truthfully a little bit relieved, and he searched everyone's face for some sign of happiness or whatnot. Nobody's face showed anything, though, except Remus Lupin's. The look in his eyes told Harry that he understood that Harry didn't want the job, and that it was his vote that kept Harry from being burdened with it.

"So—this is what we're doing: Remus, Hagrid, and myself will run the Order- as we are the ones chosen by Dumbledore should Harry be unable to fulfill his duties. Severus will be a secret Order member, and I believe that we can get you students initiated by Christmas." She smiled as everyone seemed to brighten up. "In the meantime, I would like you to continue the DA, but please only allow 5th through 7th years in it, though I know you'd like to take on more. Maybe it will be possible to have a junior member be the president of a Junior DA, so that they can help but be delegated some of the lesser tasks that will not put them in danger." Harry nodded slowly.

"I think that that could work," he confessed.

"Good, now that that's settled, will Tonks please notify the Aurors about Vega? We need her in custody if possible; hopefully the dementors will have some affect on her- the few that are even in Ministry Control, that is. Now, Heads of Houses that are here, go inform your students please about there being a criminal in the school. I will go to the staffroom. Severus, please escort Mr. Zabini and Mr. Malfoy to their Common Room, and would Calli please escort the Gryffindors?" Everyone nodded. "Thank you; the rest of you are free to leave."

Harry stood up slowly, saying goodbye to Draco and Blaise. He then looked worriedly at Hermione and Ron. This couldn't be good, all of this instability. And they could be transported back in time at any second, which was making him more and more uneasy.

After they bid farewell to all the Order members in the room and to Calli outside the Gryffindor Common Room, Room turned to Harry.

"What d'you reckon?" he asked slowly.

"I have absolutely no clue," whispered Harry. The moment they reached the common room, the group was bombarded with questions.

"Harry, why are we in lockdown?" asked Colin Creevey.

"Hey- what did they say to you in that room?"

"What's happening? Are we under attack?"

"Do we need to gather the DA?"

"No, no," frowned Hermione. She then started yelling to get everyone's attention. "Everything is fine! There was a criminal in the school, but she's gone now, so—"

"Who?"

"A criminal? Was it Bellatrix Lestrange?" asked someone worriedly.

"NO!" yelled Hermione. "You wouldn't know her. McGonagall will come in and explain later—" This seemed to not satisfy everyone's needs to know, for as they turned away they were all grumbling angrily.

"Hey," whispered Harry to Hermione, "Let's have a meeting in the boys' dormitory for the seventh years and Ginny and Colin…"

"Good idea," whispered Hermione. "I'll spread the word around. Go on up."

Harry and Ron climbed the stairs in silence. "I hate this," said Harry. "I thought that it would be good without the link, but… it's gone in an almost sinister way- like it's Voldemort's advantage…" Ron cringed.

"Well, we're here for you, mate. We'll all figure something out." Harry nodded in thanks, grinning a bit. After everyone reached the room, Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny began explaining- though not in detail that the students shouldn't know. They just described the topic of Vega, and that she was dangerous and power-hungry, but not of going back in time or the necromancy. That was just too dangerous to spread. After they were finished, everyone was shocked.

"Wow," said Lavender softly. "I never would have guessed that there was more to this bloody mess than You-Know-Who and Harry and maybe Dumbledore… and with Dumbledore gone…"

"What hope do we have?" finished Dean.

"Don't say that," argued Hermione. "We can do it, okay? We just can't give up; that's exactly what V-Voldemort wants. We need to stick together and be united against Voldemort, not divided against each other."

"Well-put, Hermione," complimented Seamus. Hermione smiled, rolling her eyes, and Harry suppressed a chuckle when he saw Ron get a bit of a jealous expression on his face.

The group of students then began slowly dissipating. Harry, however, felt no desire to return to the common room and just sat on his bed, thinking. Everyone but him and Lavender had gone about five minutes later.

"What's the snake's name?" she asked quietly, startling Harry. He sat up, surprised, and looked at Ivy, who was showing off by curling up his bedpost. Harry rolled his eyes.

"That's Ivy," he said.

"She's really beautiful. I never really liked snakes, but… in real life they seem different, I suppose."

"Yeah, they do," said Harry thoughtfully, thinking of both the creature and a Slytherin.

"So…" began Lavender quietly again, looking at Harry shyly. "You look really upset and stressed. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but, if you do…"

Harry looked quickly into her blue eyes. She looked so honest; innocent. "I- it's fine, really- I'm just under a lot of stress, you know? With him being back… it's like everything depends on me."

Lavender nodded, smiling. "I have faith in you, though, Harry. I always have. I believe that you are going to- I don't know- save the world, I suppose. Anyway- let's talk about something a bit nicer, shall we? Have you ever tried the bubble ice cream and Fortesque's? It is so divine; my brother sent me some the other day in a frozen package, and it's like the little bubbles that float off the ice cream, and they pop ins your mouth, and it is so good!" She then sighed happily, and Harry was overcome at how- well, cute she looked. He looked at her for a moment, unsure of what to do. She then giggled and jumped up.

"I- er- have homework, Harry… I guess I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," said Harry, mouth dry. "Later."

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A/N: Yes! Fast update! :-D Now, tell me your opinion- since Ginny can't be the only girl Harry ever dates, should he and Lavender go out for a bit? Anyways, hope you liked. Please review!