Tonks nervously watched Dumbledore unlock the door to Grimmauld Place, unsure of what was going to go down inside. She knew what was waiting for them, and wasn't certain about how Madam Bones' presence would affect it.

The sitting room was completely dark and silent, something that didn't go unnoticed by Harry, who took his wand out. "Why is it so quiet in here, sir?"

"I assure you Harry, it is not anything that requires any worry," Dumbledore answered in the usual maddeningly vague manner. Tonks smiled as Harry reluctantly put his wand away. The world might have been in store for another Mad-Eye.

Madam Bones, however, made no effort to put away her wand, and looked ready to pounce if Dumbledore had a trap to spring on her. Tonks held back a grin, because what Bones expected was far from what was awaiting in the dining room. The four of them crossed the kitchen.

"I believe you should go first, Harry."

The teenager stepped forward, still cautious. He put his hand on the door and pushed, and at once the room ahead of them was illuminated.

"Surprise!" came roars of a dozen-or-so Order Members and friends, as they all stepped into the dining room and saw everyone smiling at Harry, some holding presents, some balloons, and in Molly's case, a large birthday cake with a hippogriff iced onto the top. A banner spread across one wall, reading 'Happy Birthday, Harry' in red and gold letters, with a golden snitch weaving through them.

The grins on most of the faces faded somewhat due to the fact that Madam Bones had walked in behind Dumbledore, Tonks, and Harry. Ron looked about to ask who the woman was, but Hermione elbowed him in the ribs and led him over to Harry, while Dumbledore made an announcement. "Order Members, we will have a short meeting here in the dining room before the party commences. Children, if you would retire upstairs, we will not take long." He aimed his wand and cast his phoenix patronus, which disappeared into the north wall of the room.

Madam Bones jerked her head to where the phoenix had left. "What was that?"

"An additional use of the patronus charm, which I have recently finished crafting. It can now be used to carry messages long distance, though it does require a corporeal patronus. Lily Potter did most of the research before she died, and I was finally able to complete it this past June. Knowledge of it is exclusive to the Order, and its few associates who are not members."

Hermione grabbed Harry, who was extremely interested in this piece of information about his mother's research, and dragged him to where Ginny and the twins were. Sirius cautiously approached Tonks and Madam Bones, an understandably nervous look on his face.

"Long time, no see, Amelia," he said shakily. "Joining the Order, then?"'

"Haven't decided, yet, Sirius," she responded coldly. "At the moment, I'm leading towards arresting you and the dozens of people that apparently have been harboring you. We'll see how it goes."

Sirius didn't look like he had anything to say back to the DMLE director. Harry had broken away from the rest of the teens and Hermione looked ready to convince him to come with her, but Dumbledore interjected.

"Harry, I would like you to join us for the beginning of the meeting. You can join your friends afterward." Harry nodded and Tonks could definitely see excitement in his eyes, though he kept a stern face on. Today had to be one big blur for Harry, and the events didn't seem to be winding down just yet.

The headmaster waved his wand and vanished the cake and presents from the table, assuring Harry that they would return, though Tonks doubted that the boy cared. Order members began filling the table, and soon everyone found a seat. Harry sat in between Tonks and Sirius, who had Remus on his other side. Madam Bones sat across from Sirius, and glared at him with the same contempt that Tonks had sported months earlier. At least Bones hadn't cursed him yet.

"I call this meeting of the Order of the Phoenix to order," said Dumbledore from his usual spot at the head of the table. "There is much to discuss, namely Harry's trial and the attack on him and Pius Thicknisse. Today, however, we will keep it short. I'm sure you've notice our guest." He gestured to Madam Bones, who smirked as he continued.

"Amelia, while the types of evidence we can present to you are not what you yourself or the Ministry would consider concrete, I ask that you wait until the end of this presentation to make a decision on whether to arrest the lot of us." As she momentarily shifted her glare from Sirius to Dumbledore, the door burst open and Snape walked in with a slight limp. He was not looking very good. The potions master barely nodded at anybody except Dumbledore, and handed him a vial of a clear liquid: Veritaserum. Snape then took the empty seat on Dumbledore's right.

The headmaster used his wand to levitate the vial down the table to Madam Bones. "Amelia, I'm sure you would like to test the veritaserum to ensure potency."

"This is a Ministry-controlled substance, Dumbledore," she said sternly. "Non-mandated use of it is worth a year-long stint in Azkaban."

"We can add that to my growing list of crimes." Dumbledore smiled at her and gestured for her to carry on.

Reluctantly, she waved her wand around the vial a couple of times, and nodded when it glowed a light shade of purple for a second. Sirius held his mouth open, tongue out. He had an amused look in his eyes. Dumbledore levitated the vile across the table and tipped a drop onto the man's tongue.

Sirius made a scowling face. "Damn disgusting stuff. And you know that's the truth." He cleared his throat. "Proceed."

Madam Bones looked at Sirius through narrowed eyes. "Your name?"

"Sirius Orion Black."

"Are you, or have you ever been a Death Eater?"

"No," he answered with a pointed smile. It seemed that Sirius' confidence and charm was enough to break through the veil of subdued indifference that usually accompanied the potion.

"Did you betray the location of James and Lily Potter to Lord Voldemort, leading to their deaths?"

"No. It was Peter Pettigrew who did that." His tone was graver, not triumphant as it had been before.

"Peter Pettigrew is dead," Bones corrected.

"Peter faked his death after he murdered the muggles that I was accused of killing. Not that I was ever convicted, never being given a trial. He was made their secret-keeper at the last minute, and it took less than a week for Voldemort to find them."

It took Madam Bones a moment to respond with another question, finding out that this man who for years was seen as a menace was in fact, framed. "How did you escape Azkaban?"

"Peter and I are unregistered animagi. In the summer of '93, I found out that he was posing as a student's pet at Hogwarts, in the same dorm with Harry. I turned into a dog and snuck through the cage door."

Dumbledore joined in. "Any other questions, Amelia?" As she shook her head, he continued. "Harry, if you will hold your mouth open for questioning." Harry did so, and a drop of veritaserum fell into his mouth as well. The disgust on his face was obvious. "Amelia, I'm sure you have questions for Harry."

Madam Bones continued the questions right away, not bothering with Harry's name. "What happened after the third task of the TriWizard Tournament?"

Harry spared no detail as he described the events of the ritual he was used in. He couldn't push past the subdued demeanor like Sirius could, so he spoke in a monotone manner. Tonks had heard the account second-hand from Dumbledore, but it was heart-breaking to see Harry recount it, and the pain in his eyes made it so that she could barely stand looking at him, and at the same time couldn't turn away.

After Harry was done, Madam Bones just stared. Everyone just stared. Harry had recounted Voldemort's return in full truth, or at least what Harry perceived as the truth. There was the possibility that both Harry and Sirius were brainwashed into believing their own stories, but it was astronomically small, and Tonks could see that Madam Bones knew this.

"Amelia," said Dumbledore. "Lord Voldemort is most certainly back. Even if one doesn't believe Harry and Sirius' testimonies, there are signs all around us. Things are happening that are strikingly similar to the Dark Lord's first uprising. At the moment, both the Order and the Death Eaters are in the recruitment phase, and not just witches and wizards. We have already sent envoys to the giants, and vampires. While the former is still undecided about whether to join the war or stay out of it, we have successfully convinced the vampires to stay neutral. Remus here has been working on meeting with some of the friendlier werewolf clans.

"We are doing our best to counteract all that Voldemort is up to, thanks in large to part to the intelligence of Severus Snape here." He motioned to Snape, who was still wincing in pain but did his best to put on the bored expression that he usually sported at meetings. "There are certain things that we do and will have to do in the very near future, and they will be more easily done without the limits of the law. That is why the Order must exist. We can work very smoothly with the Aurors, even more so with your involvement. Will you join us in the fight against the Dark Lord?"

Madam Bones did not look like she was enjoying the current situation. In truth, Tonks did not see that she had much choice. The fidelius charm protected the Order, so Bones wouldn't be able to return to Grimmauld Place with aurors, unless it was Tonks and Kingsley. She liked the woman, but she was already prepared to assist the dozen people at the table in resisting arrest if it had come to that.

Thankfully, it didn't. "What will I need to do?" Bones asked Dumbledore.

"Among a vast amount of other contributions, your skills with a wand will obviously be a resource once Voldemort resurfaces and goes on the offensive. It also is of no small value to have someone so high in the Ministry on our side, to discourage Fudge from being, well, Fudge. You seem to excel at keeping him in line anyway, however."

With a tiny nod, Bones accepted her membership, and Dumbledore inducted her in with the same routine that all members went through. Never had Tonks seen the woman look so defeated, and she couldn't blame her. As well-meaning as the Order was, it went against dozens of laws and decrees, and Dumbledore had just admitted to its illegality. Bones really was going against all she stood for, but if she hadn't seen that this was a necessary move, she wouldn't have made it.

"Excellent," Dumbledore said. "Am I correct in guessing that Sirius will not be getting his fugitive status revoked?"

"As high up as I am, I wouldn't be able convince Fudge to take away his decree that you'll be kissed by a dementor on sight, Sirius, so you won't be likely to get a trial, not without rock-solid evidence." She looked at him awkwardly, the cold demeanor she had sported earlier was gone, but there was still tension there. "The only way to remove it is to capture Pettigrew, which should be enough to at least get you a trial."

"And that will be close to impossible, as Voldemort apparently keeps Pettigrew close to avoid exposure to his return." Sirius' minutes of hope faded from his face as Dumbledore spoke with regret. "Finally, Harry," the teen looked up. "Before you rejoin your friends, we would like you to extract your memory of the incident involving Magnus Yaxley and Pius Thicknisse this morning. Sirius?"

Harry closed his eyes and concentrated, and Sirius pulled the memory out of his head. Dumbledore flicked his wand, and his pensieve appeared on the center of the table. Sirius guided the strand of memory into the pensieve and stirred it.

"Thank you, Harry. Please join your friends, and we will be out shortly." Reluctantly, Harry got up and left, as Dumbledore expanded the pensieve's image to the entire table, and the Order got to see Harry's duel with Yaxley much as the Wizengamot got to see his incident with the dementors.

Tonks thought that Harry performed marvelously, for his first duel with a fully-fledged Death Eater, something that no Order member had experience with in thirteen years. If it had not been for Yaxley's cruciatus curse and Harry's slight failure to dodge it, he might have won the duel.

"The boy lives up to the legend," said Kingsley.

Dumbledore nodded. "Indeed. This bit of news hasn't gotten out to the public yet, but Yaxley was attacked and kissed by a dementor while in auror custody." Shocked faces and murmurs filled the room. "Severus, I trust that your painful demeanor means that the Dark Lord was not pleased with the day's events?"

"Yes. I happened to be the closest to the Dark Lord at the time that he found out."

Bones asked the next question, barely reacting to the news that Snape was a death eater. It wasn't that surprising, really. "Is it at all possible that he is behind the dementor attacks? That makes three so far, if we include Crouch's kiss after the tournament. This is beginning to be quite a problem."

"If he is behind it, it hasn't been made apparent to me. He most definitely has motive, however. He is, for the most part, still believed dead by the public, and would like to keep it that way for the time being, so any death eaters recently taken into custody would be nothing but loose ends for him. And obviously, Potter being kissed would have proved beneficial to him."

Dumbledore took back over. "We will need to pay close attention to this. If it is not Voldemort behind this, it is most certainly someone in the Ministry trying to cover up his return, which means that those of us in the Ministry must keep our eyes and ears open. Now, onto other disturbing matters, Madam Bones found out that Harry was emancipated today, Sirius. Would you care to elaborate?"

Remus, with a roll of his eyes that said he should have known, glared at Sirius, while Tonks smirked sadly at him as her cousin cleared his throat. "I don't regret it. Harry needs to be able to do magic if he's to learn to defend himself properly, and not just at school. I will not stand by idly while a psychopath hunts him and he can't even train to do anything about it. I was careful, obviously, as we were not even caught out in Diagon Alley."

"I was not aware that you even had the means to leave headquarters," Dumbledore pushed.

"I was not aware of your requirement that I tell you everything about my house, Dumbledore. The only thing this does is help Harry prepare better for whenever Voldemort inevitably attacks him. It being harder for you to control him is just a perk." He waited, daring Dumbledore to respond to his comment.

The headmaster didn't, and Sirius smiled. "Call me irresponsible if you want; I've already given you my reasons and you can't unemancipate him, so we can drop it."

"Will Potter be joining the Order, then?" asked Hestia Jones after a moment, breaking the tension in the room. "The main problem with his joining was his inability to do magic, wasn't it?"

"Harry still is at school 9 months out of the year. There would no point to inducting him before he graduates, if the war lasts that long." No one at the table seemed surprised at Dumbledore's response, and none of them replied to it. "Before we end the meeting, I understand that the opportunity to speak with the werewolves has finally arrived. Am I correct, Remus?"

The werewolf nodded. "My contact has gotten me an hour with Sebastian Blackwood and his advisors. His clan is the biggest neutral group, and only Greyback's is bigger. The meeting will happen in a few days."

"This is very good news, Remus. I only ask that you take Tonks with you for the meeting."

"What?" the response was no shock. "You cannot be serious. It took me months to even get to speak with a clan, and I'm a werewolf. You can't expect a normal witch to be able to march in with me; I'm enough of an outsider as it is." His voice was raising a bit, though not enough to qualify as a yell, he wouldn't dare yell at Dumbledore.

"Tonks?" Dumbledore signaled, and Tonks squinted her face to enlarge her brow and grow rather bushy sideburns. Also, her nose shrunk in a bit more into an almost snout-like appearance. She looked like most magical werewolves ended up looking when they did not learn to control their magic. "And before you say that she will not pass the smell test," Dumbledore cast a spell down the table at Tonks that appeared to have no effect, but he explained. "Please let me know if she still does not have a werewolf's scent."

The defeated look on Remus' face answered for him. Dumbledore continued. "It would be foolish to walk into a werewolf clan by yourself, Remus. Two people would be pushing it, but I trust the two of you. Tonks will be posing as a werewolf that never got an education, of course, and can attest to the benefits of staying neutral and out of the way of this war. I've provided a back story that she has hopefully memorized..."

"Aye, sir," she confirmed.

"And that she will pass on to you. Does anyone have additional points to bring up?" Madam Bones obviously did, but he held up a hand to cut her off. "We have a large amount to speak about at Hogwarts between ourselves, Amelia. It is my hope that you and I can split the leadership duties in the Order."

As Bones nodded, people started to get up from the table. Most were staying for the party, but Snape was first out of the door, and Dumbledore and Madam Bones left shortly after.

Tonks motioned for Sirius and Remus to join her in the kitchen, and the trio left as well. "What was with you and Madam Bones? There's something there."

Remus answered for his silent friend. "The two of them dated off-and-on after we graduated. They had just started to be 'on' again when he was framed."

"Oh, really? And is Prince Padfoot going to sweep her off of her feet this time around?" Tonks smiled at her cousin.

"That's over and done with, Tonks, and we shall be dropping it for the foreseeable future." He was flushed a deep red.

"Not likely," she winked at him.

He merely glared at her and shifted his focus to Remus. "Onto new topics, when will we be leaving to meet those werewolves?"

Remus let out a laugh. "You jest, Padfoot. The only reason I am allowing Tonks to accompany me is it is Dumbledore's orders. You would be out of your mind to think that you're going with us."

"Oh, come on, Remus," said Sirius in a very humorous whine. "Do you think I'm going to allow my best friend and cousin march into harm's way without me as backup?"

"It's a sit-down; it's about diplomacy."

"And in case it's not diplomatic…"

"You're a wanted fugitive, Sirius."

"And they're not exactly chums of the Ministry either."

"You'd be another liability, not to mention the fact that you always act before you think, and you have no regard for consequences. Before you emancipated Harry you should have talked to Dumbledore, or at least to me –"

"So now I have to ask permission to exercise my right as godfather?"

"Enough!" Tonks screamed. She'd had enough. "Blimey, you lot sound like an old married couple!" The two men glared at her, but it got their attention off of each other.

"Look," she continued. "I pray to Merlin that the meeting goes as planned, Remus, but there is a chance that these werewolves aren't as neutral as we think and we'd be walking into a trap. Having Sirius there might not be so bad."

Remus sighed and looked away from both of them. Sirius smirked at him. "My dear cousin has a point, Remus." He glanced sideways at Remus and put on what Tonks guessed was his best attempt at a puppy-dog face, then threw his arms over both of their shoulders. "I think we'd make quite a team," he said, cheerfully. "Tonksy here could be out newest Marauder!"

Despite his obviously grave state, Remus chuckled again, this time a sincere one. "She'd need a more original nickname."

"Oh yes. Like yours, Moony. Has Tonks learned about the other half of where it came from?"

"Sirius –"

"It was the first day of term, fourth year, and we decided to prank each other exclusively for the first month," said Sirius, pausing every few words to let out a laugh. "I got the idea to vanish his school robes on the walk to the carriages, and apparently James previously vanished everything underneath as well, none of us being any the wiser. Oh it was quite a sight for the entire school to see, I'll tell you that!"

"Not funny, Sirius!" shouted Remus as he stormed out of the kitchen into the dining room to join the party, leaving Tonks and her cousin on the floor rolling in laughter.

Harry inhaled a second helping of treacle tart and called it quits. The party had been going on all day, and dinner was coming to a close. A few people were still left at the dinner table, but only Hermione and Ron were near him, while Sirius, Tonks, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were on the other end.

"Harry, are you okay?" asked Hermione. Harry almost rolled his eyes, since he had answered this question the exact same way a dozen times throughout the day, but then he realized that the three of them were now alone for the first time today. So, he gave her a chance to expand.

"How do you mean?"

Ron answered for her. "First you save someone again, almost get captured, then you still have to stand trial?" The redhead sighed. "I can't believe I used to envy your life." Harry almost said 'thanks' in a dry, sarcastic way, but it had been years of wanting Ron to admit that there wasn't much to be jealous about in Harry's world.

Hermione made sure the adults were deep in discussion about something before she leaned in closer to Harry, Ron doing the same. She whispered, "What happened at the meeting?"

"Later," was all he said, and he was grateful when they both nodded, understanding that a few of the best minds in the country were in and out of this house and could be listening in. He was sure none of them wanted to divulge the Order meeting to Ron and Hermione, though it really was foolish to assume he wouldn't do so.

Tonks came over after a bit and sat with them, smiling. Hermione took Ron by the hand and led him away, giving Harry a strange glance before leaving. He narrowed his eyes confusedly as his friends walked away, then turned to Tonks. "So is there any chance of getting to know anything about the Order meeting after I left? As a birthday present?" he joked, his lip protruding in a feigned puppy dog look.

She giggled and shook her head. "Not a chance, mister. And I've already gotten you a present; we can't go spoiling you, now can we?" She flicked her wand and a narrow box appeared on the table in front of him. Intrigued, Harry unwrapped the bow and opened the box, revealing a wand holster.

"It's state of the art," Tonks explained. "Standard issue for aurors. It attaches to your forearm underneath your robes, and shoots your wand into your hand with just a thought. And your wand can't possibly be summoned while it's in the holster. The thing itself can't be summoned either, guess they thought of that loophole." She spoke with true passion, and Harry wasn't sure if the sparkle in her eyes was a metamorphmagus thing or just her love for this kind of stuff coming out.

"It's brilliant," Harry said, letting loose a very small laugh and a grin. "And…perfect. Thank you" There was that eye contact again, longer than normal eye contact should be, but he wasn't complaining. Without warning, the light purple color of her eyes changed to a dark grey. An intake of breath came from her as she broke the eye contact and lowered her head. The two of them chuckled nervously and looked at the table, and Harry, needing something for at least his hand to do, reached out for the last treacle tart left on the tray, without looking at it. Apparently, Tonks had thought of the same thing.

When their hands touched, electricity ran through Harry's hand up his arm and into his chest. He wasn't sure how long the contact lasted, but soon their eyes met again, the grey color still there, the most beautiful instance of the color that he'd ever seen. Tonks' face was caught somewhere between a pleased smile and an expression of nervousness, as if her heart was beating as strong as Harry's which he was sure couldn't be likely.

"Boo!" Sirius had snuck up on them and both of their hands retracted as if they'd been burned. "Come on, the twins swear they've perfected some sort of 'weather in a bottle' contraption, and they swear we all need to see it. Arthur's distracted Molly for a few minutes as well."

He grinned and took off to the sitting room, seemingly oblivious to what he'd interrupted, leaving Tonks and Harry in an awkward fit of laughter that was extremely short-lived. "Let's go see what those rascals are up to now. Harry birthday, Harry," she said with a calm smile, winking at him before squinting her eyes to make them purple again and heading off in Sirius' direction. Harry sighed, watching her go and wondering just what would have happened had Sirius not intervened.