Chapter 8: Dumbledore's Army

10 October 1995

"Educational decree number twenty-four states that student organizations are disbanded and may only meet by permission. This includes teams, so as you might guess, Ron and Harry have both been a treat to live with. For now, at least we are still permitted to write letters and receive mail, but we'll see how long that lasts. Love you mum, Ginny."

The table at Grimmauld place was silent for a lingering moment as the report was finished. The adult members of the Order of the Phoenix exchanged looks with each other awkwardly as Molly Weasley set the letter she had been reading from down and crossed her arms. The Order had been receiving letters from within the school informing them of the events which had been growing increasingly disconcerting. This was the first decree to be released after Dolores Umbridge had been named High Inquisitor.

"This decree includes even non-magic related groups so the sexuality and gender acceptance organization, SAGA has been banned as well as Charms club and choir. Students are furious, and many, not just my Ginny have written home on the subject."

Kingsley spoke up from his end of the table, "Our sources in the ministry claim that Umbridge is also beginning to intercept and control the flow of mail in and out of Hogwarts, so even those messages might not do any good."

"This tyranny is something we expected when the Ministry began interfering with Hogwarts," said Remus from his seat, "The question is, how long can we afford to sit by and do nothing?"

Molly folded the letter from Ginny carefully. Mrs. Weasley was a wonderful mother, who loved her own children dearly, and who adopted people frequently. She was full of love and a desire for those she deemed her family to be both happy and safe. She had adopted Harry in this way, as well as Hermione and several other friends her children had surrounded themselves with over the years. Once you were deemed family, her protective instincts knew no bounds, and the idea that there was nothing she could do, didn't sit well with her to say the least.

The argument that broke out as to what, if anything, the Order of the Phoenix could do grew loud and long until at last Mad Eye cast a silencing spell and forced everyone to sit down and shut up.

"We have bigger concerns than the student's being allowed to meet at the moment. Dumbledore will keep an eye on things there and step in if they go too far…when they go too far. For now, we have to turn our attentions to defending the wizarding world."

Lifting the silencing spell, Mad Eye took point on outlining the Order's next mission, the guarding of a prophecy in the department of mysteries that held the key to defeating the Dark Lord.

"It has been rumored that after failing once again to defeat Potter, You-Know-Who has turned his sights on acquiring the prophecy record in its entirety. The prophecy is held in the department of mysteries but we have no way of knowing how far the Dark Lord's reach has penetrated the ministry."

After a fair bit of debate, they agreed that order members would rotate in defense of the prophecy. Those whose presence in the Ministry were less likely to be questioned were assigned rotations, while others would have to use more creative means to keep an eye out. At the end of the meeting Fleur rose and walked determinedly to the door and was followed by Bill, presumably to continue the fight that had been brewing. At Molly's insistence, Kat stayed along with Tonks, Sirius and Kingsley for supper and slowly the tone of the house relaxed and became more comfortable.

29 November 1995

Bill was deep in thought, legs propped up on the corner of his desk as he stared at the two packages he had been greeted with upon his arrival at work. One was a sparkly confection of iridescent wrapping paper with an ostentatious blue bow, the other was wrapped in a week-old copy of the Daily Prophet. After a moment more of internal debate, he raised his wand and pointed at the iridescent package.

"Cistem Aperio."

The package rumbled and turned itself over, paper peeling away off of the box, which opened itself. Dropping his feet to the floor, he leaned forward to inspect the contents. There was a note on thick embossed paper with Fleur's embellished handwriting.

Bon anniversaire, mon ange! ~Your loving girlfriend, Fleur

There were so many curlicues in the letters that it took him a minute to actually read the short note, which he then set aside to inspect the rest of the gift. There was a bottle of wine and a box of truffles, a soft scarf and a broom oil kit in an elegant leather case. The Weasley's had never been wealthy, but they had gotten by. Still, most gifts they received and exchanged were practical, sometimes used or repurposed. Even now that he was living independently, he seldom used his funds to purchase fancy things when simple would suffice. To be given what looked to be a box full of very expensive gifts felt uncomfortable at best.

He was glad that Fleur wasn't present to see his discomfort and mentally prepared himself to appear appreciative so that her feelings wouldn't be hurt. Closing the box and folding up the paper, which was really very pretty and could likely be reused, he opened the other package. The daily prophet wasn't exactly luxury wrapping, so he felt no qualms about tearing it open and tossing the remains into the bin.

There was no box under the paper, just the present itself and a small note written on parchment. The present was a pair of supple dragon-hide gloves with scales over the knuckles. Unfolding the parchment, he read the note, which was even more brief than Fleur's had been.

Happy birthday! ~Kat

Smiling, Bill tucked the gloves into the pocket of his jacket and, after a moment's thought, took the scarf from Fleur's gift and hung it with the jacket before turning his attention to work. Upstairs, Kat did much the same, sorting reports and filing changes on locations of employees. When she broke for lunch, her token from the Order flared and she frowned in worry but adjusted her course from the café she had been heading toward to the Leaky Cauldron. The walk ate up most of her lunch, but she finally passed into muggle London and located a phone booth. Stepping inside, she closed the door and dialed a number.

"Hey, Uncle John, it's Kat."

"Good afternoon Kat, I know it's short notice, but could you babysit tonight? We had Bill down, but we forgot it was his birthday." Remus' voice was scratchy over the connection of the public telephone.

"Yeah, I can. No one really wants to babysit on their birthday. We expecting a quiet night?" Arthur Weasley had come up with the code for communicating when in public, though they hadn't had to use it often as the schedules for guarding the hall of prophecy were given out at Order meetings. But apparently Mad Eye, who made the schedules, didn't think birthdays should be an exception to guard duty in a dark, lonely vault.

"That's the hope. It's only for tonight. Would you let Bill know the change?"

"Of course. See you later, Uncle John." Kat hung up the phone and stepped out of the booth, putting her hands in her coat pockets against the chill breeze as she made her way back to Diagon Alley by way of the Leaky Cauldron. She picked up a hand pie and a bottle of pumpkin juice on her way through and finished wiping the crumbs from her hands and coat as she walked back into Gringotts.

Bill's desk was cluttered, with files and stacks of papers in haphazard mountains. He had his legs kicked up on the one empty corner of the desk and tapped his wand against his leg as he read from the file in his hand. Kat walked up beside his desk and tapped his booted foot as she passed. He jumped in surprise but the scowl that started to form on his face faded quickly as he caught sight of the culprit.

"Lazybones, you'll never finish that paperwork if you just stare at it all day."

"Oi, it's my birthday, you're supposed to be nice to me." Bill said with a grin.

"I am being nice, I sent you a present and everything. And I've another for you besides, but if you don't want it I can just be on my way…" Kat was holding back her smile and took a few backward steps.

"Hey now, I didn't say that." He said.

She chuckled and came back up to the desk and leaned against it, lowering her voice enough that it wouldn't be easily overheard, but not so quiet as to be suspicious.

"I heard that you got roped into babysitting tonight, and I agreed to do it for you so that you can enjoy your birthday properly."

The light faded from Bill's eyes as he struggled to keep his grin in place. In his mind's eye he pictured Fleur the previous week talking about the plans she had for their evening and his subsequent call to Moody, changing shifts to avoid said evening plans. He recalled breaking the sad news to her that he was tapped for duty that evening but that he appreciated all her kind consideration. The bullet had been elegantly dodged or so he had thought.

"Oh—Kat-that's just so very…bollocks, no, I mean-"

Bill was sweating properly now and he could feel his stomach turning over in somersaults as Kat's smile faded to concern.

"Bill? Are you alright? You look like you've had a turn."

"What turn? No, not at all." Bill cleared his throat and sat up, running a hand through his unkempt locks nervously. "It's only, I had told Fleur that I wasn't going to be available tonight…and."

"And…now you are. She'll be thrilled." Kat studied Bill curiously. He had been fine a moment ago, had seemed excited and elated and the pinnacle of health. But somehow, what should have been good news turned not only his mood sour, but seemed to fill him with dread. It wasn't the first time she had seen him like this since he had started dating Fleur, and she tried to view that in a non-biased light, though that was difficult. Try though she might though, she cared about Bill, and seeing him upset by anyone was far from okay in her books.

Lowering her voice, she leaned closer, "Listen, Bill, it's none of my business, so feel free to tell me to shove off. But if you don't want to do something special for your birthday, then you should tell Fleur-"

"Tell me what?" Fleur's voice was as crisp and biting as the November wind outside the office.

Kat closed her eyes and stood, turning to face the petite blond who had managed to come up beside the desk while she had been distracted checking on Bill. They weren't inappropriately close, there was still the whole desk between Bill and Kat, but from the look on Fleur's face you would have thought that Kat had been found in his lap.

"I was just telling Bill that he should tell you that I agreed to babysit the cousins for the night since it's his birthday."

Expressions of surprise and suspicion chased each other across Fleur's face as she seemed to struggle with a response before finally, she managed a tight smile and an even tighter Merci. Nodding, Kat gave Bill a mock salute and left him in the hands of the flustered French woman beside him. The muffled sound of restrained yelling bounced off the marble walls before Kat had even reached the doors.

18 December 1995

207 Bishopsgate, London, England

The first few knocks didn't register to Kat, who had collapsed into bed a scarce two hours previous. The knocks that followed, scarcely could claim to be called knocks and were more like a barrage on the door to her flat. More asleep than awake, Kat stumbled from her bed and fell into the door, opening it a crack to see who was attacking her door at three in the morning.

"What the hell, Tonks?" She closed the door enough to unlatch the chain lock and opened the door to admit the other woman, who entered with a speed that left Kat feeling dizzy as she closed the door and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

Once she had gotten her vision to refocus, she saw Tonks making an examination of her flat, checking over the wards before finally turning to her and shaking her head as if she couldn't quite think of where to begin. She wasn't crying, but her agitation was palpable enough that Kat shook herself, waking up fully at last.

"What's happened? Is it Remus?"

Tonks shook her head, "No, thank Merlin. He's alright. But Arthur isn't. He was attacked earlier tonight and he's in hospital now."

Fidgeting in her anxiety, Tonks had filled the electric kettle and turned it on. Wide awake now, Kat joined her in the kitchen and pulled down two mugs, then put one of them back and pulled out a thermos in its place. Distributing a hearty amount of tea into each, she began unwrapping the scarf which kept her hair from becoming a wreck in her sleep and nudged Tonks toward the table at the window.

"Bring me up to speed. Who is guarding the vault now?"

"Remus, and Kingsley will take over for him come dawn." Tonks said, seeming to notice for the first time that her hands were shaking.

Kat nodded and stepped back to the kitchen counter and poured the now steaming hot tea into the mug and thermos to steep while Tonks filled her in. It took a bit of re-routing as she was clearly still shaken, but by the time the tea had steeped they had covered the most important information. Pushing the mug of tea into Tonks' hand, Kat sat down, rubbing her face and going over the information that was still being processed by her groggy mind.

"Okay, the vault is safe, and Arthur is in good hands. They won't let anyone see him for a while yet. Someone needs to go to Hogwarts and pick up the kids. You and Remus would be best, I'll get with Moody today to adjust the watch schedule. One of us should sit with Arthur so that Molly has time to rest. Has someone sent word to Charlie and the others?"

Tonks shook her head, "I don't know, Kat. I don't know."

Kat nodded and drank down the rest of her tea. "Well there's no time for not knowing now. I'm going to get dressed and pack a bag. Finish your tea and put a fresh batch in a thermos and we'll head to Grimmauld Place. There's work to be done."