• Serena Black •

"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike."

Serena's father laughed as she lost her balance on landing, stumbled and promptly landed on the cobblestones. "Are you OK?" he asked, amused, as he patted some dust off her jeans.

Sighing, she nodded, for she was beginning to find apparating not as great as it had been at first. They were now in a small square in front of numerous dirty house fronts that didn't look very inviting. Serena couldn't help but wonder what on Merlin's beard they were doing there.

"Here," her father murmured, digging a small torn sheet of parchment out of his dark blue cloak. "Try to memorise the words."

"The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is at number 12 Grimmauld Place, London."

"Order of the Phoenix?" asked Serena in confusion, trying to burn what had been written into her memory. "What is that?"

"Shht, I'll explain when we get there," he replied, meanwhile letting the sheet of parchment burst into flames. "Just remember what you have memorised."

Concentrating, she closed her eyes and repeated the words of the destroyed parchment over and over in her mind. When she blinked back into the light, she thought at first that her eyes must be playing tricks on her. Directly in front of the Gryffindor was now another house that she was sure had not been there before.

"My parents' house."

Serena frowned. "And why are we here?"

"Because unfortunately..." he continued, but in a tone that was not really regretful. "My parents are dead and so I am the heir to this house. But you will find out the exact reason why we are here in the next few days."

The Gryffindor merely nodded and left any further questions, especially those about the supposed order, for the moment. In any case, she was far too curious about what would await her inside the house.

"Would you like to meet your grandmother?" her father then asked with an amused smirk on his lips as they passed the squeaky front gate of the front garden. "I don't know why you would want to, but you can if you want to."

"I thought she was dead?" asked Serena in confusion as she tried not to get caught on the worn stone steps of the battered entrance and trip another time.

"Yes, but there is a painting of her in the entrance hall. It talks and acts just like her. Quite creepy actually. Quite amusing, though, as she can't do much from there," he explained to her with a grin, tapping his wand once against the door, which creaked open in response.

A musty smell met Serena's eyes as she entered the house. The entrance area was sparsely lit, probably due to the numerous cobwebs decorating the once majestic chandelier above her. She didn't have much time to look around, however, because she was pushed straight in front of a huge portrait by her father, whose motif of an older woman was already eyeing her suspiciously with a raised eyebrow. Her black hair was tied into a tight bun and her grey eyes narrowed to slits. She sighed, as if she had seen enough unwanted guests come and go lately. "And who are you?"

"This is Serena," she was introduced. "Your granddaughter."

Serena forced herself to smile, though she didn't necessarily feel like it at that moment. Her supposed grandmother's eyes remained cold, but interested now curled her upper lip. "Since Sirius introduced you so enthusiastically, I assume you're his child?"

Hesitantly, she nodded and clasped her hands in front of her stomach a little awkwardly. Under the woman's stern gaze, she felt strangely as if she had to make a good impression. Yet it was merely a portrait. Alongside her increasingly disappointed expression, a deep sigh escaped her. "Regrettable."

In fact, Serena wasn't sure what to say to that now. Once again, Walburga Black's gaze was on her, her grey eyes still narrowed suspiciously to slits. Apparently another question was burning on her tongue. "What is your blood status, dear?"

Serena knew it might be wiser to lie, but she finally decided to tell the truth. She didn't owe anything to this portrait! "Half-blood."

It took a few seconds before the woman responded.

"THIS NOBODY HAS BROUGHT SHAME ON THE BLACK FAMILY," Walburga Black screamed at the top of her lungs so suddenly that Serena flinched. With her eyes flashing furiously, she scanned the room for the supposed culprit. "AND NOT ONLY THAT, BUT BROUGHT WORTHLESS RIFFRAFF INTO MY HOME!"

The Gryffindor watched with widened eyes as her father now laughingly threw a cloth over the painting. "Charming, isn't she? I was so looking forward to seeing her face."

"I think the price was my hearing..." muttered Serena, rubbing her battered ears painfully, which had been in the direct angle of the shrieking.

She hadn't expected anyone else to be in the house, but the loud screaming had attracted a young woman who peeked out curiously from behind a doorframe and shortly after came stumbling towards her with her hand outstretched. "You must be Serena!"

Seeking help, Serena looked to her father, whose grin intensified. "This is your grand grand cousin Nymph..."

"I'm Tonks," she interjected quickly, giving him a warning look. If Serena wasn't mistaken, her bright pink hair turned a few shades darker, but she could have just imagined it in the dim light. A broad smile now appeared on Tonks' face again as she looked at her cousin. "Come on, I'll show you your room! Well actually it's our room, we'll be sharing it when there's an Order meeting. I hope you don't mind."

Serena shook her head a little in surprise as she was led up a dark staircase that creaked suspiciously with each step and ended in front of a wall with a row of disgusting looking shrunken heads attached to it. The Gryffindor couldn't help but stare at them as she walked up and, on approaching, realised that they were the heads of house elves. Hastily, she did avert her eyes now, which made Tonks smirk. "Don't worry, we're still clearing out and cleaning everything here. You'll see, soon you won't recognise the house!"

Serena wished she could share her optimism, but the size of the house and what else might be hidden behind the numerous closed doors made her remain sceptical. "What kind of order is this anyway and why are we here for it?" she finally asked, hoping perhaps to squeeze some information out of the pink-haired woman. After all, she seemed quite talkative. Tonks even reminded her a little of Hailey.

"The Order of the Phoenix," she replied solemnly. "It was reunited after the events of the last few weeks. Didn't Sirius tell you anything?"

Serena shook her head. "Not a word."

"Oh." Tonks suddenly seemed rather uncomfortable and Serena regretted revealing this to her at the same moment. Possibly she would not get any answers now after all. At the same moment Tonks knocked over a broom in the corridor, which kicked up a lot of dust when it hit the floor. "You'd better ask him then," she coughed evasively.

"So what's the Order of the Phoenix?" continued Serena as she followed her down a
a shabby landing and finally stopped in front of a door with a snake-head knob. Her cousin hesitated briefly, but seemed to jolt inwardly and finally answered her question, "A secret society Dumbledore founded to fight You-Know-Who. But if anyone asks you, you don't know anything about it and act surprised when you find out."

Tonks winked at her conspiratorially before pointing to the closed door in front of her. "This is our room, by the way. Feel free to spread out as much as you like. I'll let you unpack in peace for now."

Nodding, Serena watched her go before turning the snake-headed doorknob and the door opened with a loud creak. What must have been a rather old chandelier flared up, enveloping the gloomy room in a yellowish light. It illuminated the front of the room, which looked as if a bomb had hit it. Clothes and books were scattered everywhere, while the window side looked completely untouched. Serena guessed that it was probably her side and threw her bag on the empty bed.

Lost in thought, she let her gaze wander around the room. It seemed rather ironic to her, to say the least, that an order to fight you-know-who should meet regularly in this house. A house that had previously belonged to his followers. Serena had to swallow, because there was the word again: fight. She wondered if it will come to such a confrontation? Or even a war? Probably. But a war also had its price. How high would it be for an ideal world? Priceless.

A sudden rumbling in the lower part of the house made Serena flinch. Astonished, she opened the door of the room and peered into the hallway. She couldn't make out anyone there, but judging by the voices wafting up to her from the stairs, she didn't need to. A smile crept onto her cherry-red lips before she began to follow the action from the banister.

"Ergh... This is supposed to be headquarters?" asked Ginny Weasley sceptically, wrinkling her freckled nose.

Her brother George, on the other hand, snorted in amusement. "Very inviting," he remarked bluntly, looking around the entrance hall suspiciously, as did his siblings, before his gaze turned upwards. A smile spread across his lips and he raised one of his hands in greeting, which Serena did with a grin.

"Honestly, it's only meant to be," her father suddenly replied, also entering the entrance hall. "We are still getting everything ready and a little help would be great."

Mrs. Weasley smiled eagerly and clapped her hands energetically. "I'm sure a bit of lend a hand won't hurt some of us."

"Hey!" protested Ron immediately, glaring indignantly at his mother before collecting an elbow in the ribs and a warning look from Hermione.

Tonks finally agreed to now lead the Weasleys upstairs as well, along with Hermione, and distribute the rooms. Serena also mingled with the group to greet her friends. It wasn't long before they were called to dinner a short while later, leaving them with little to tell each other about their holiday. Even though in Serena's case not much had happened anyway. But she was curious to hear what the others had to say - after all, she had heard next to nothing about the wizarding world.

"Soo...", Mrs. Weasley said and put a huge bowl of steaming potatoes on the table, while the children just gathered on the chairs around the long dark table.

"Should we wait for Dad and Percy?" asked Ginny, but her mother shook her head.
Ron, who was already stuffing his mouth, listened at the words and raised his head briefly before concentrating on his food again.

"Pass the potatoes, will you?"

"If you give me the fish."

"Can I have the beans?"

So it went on for a while at the table until all the plates were filled and finally all the hungry stomachs too.

"Busy at the Ministry again?" Fred finally asked his mother cautiously when there was still no sign of life from the two Weasleys. The latter merely sighed and glanced at the clock. "It seems so."

There was suddenly quite a tension in the air and Serena gave George on her right a questioning look. He merely shrugged his shoulders, but looked a little worried.

"The Holyhead Harpies lost the game yesterday," Ginny finally broke the tense silence with a lighter topic.

Serena looked up from her empty plate and tried to keep the conversation going. "Really, who did they play against?"

"Against the Tornadoes," she replied and then emptied her glass in one go. Unfortunately, the Gryffindor couldn't think of another answer to that and was glad when her father finally interjected with a puckered face: "They've been pretty good all season. No wonder the Harpies didn't stand a chance."

The two girls nodded in dismay, whereupon another agonising silence spread around the table. Lost in thought, Serena drew patterns in the remaining sauce on her plate with her spoon.

"Hey guys, stop looking like a bunch of pigs spat in your food!" Tonks suddenly shouted, ending her sentence with a strange grunt. Serena looked up and could hardly believe her eyes when Tonks' heart-shaped face was suddenly emblazoned with a squeaky pink pig's nose instead of her normal one.

The others at the table also stared at her in bewilderment. At least all of them, except for the two marauders, who obviously found the situation quite funny as well. Especially since no one else seemed to understand at first how she had done it.

"Wow," Fred and George said as if from the same mouth. This was now also the starting signal for the others to burst into uncontrolled laughter.

"What spell is that?" asked Serena with interest, already picturing Snape's face if she were to sit with that in class so suddenly. Or even better, she could cast one of those spells on his face.

"It's not a spell," Remus retorted, letting the teacher all hang out. "She's a Metamorphmagus. That means she can change her appearance at will, whenever she wants."

"And how does one become such a thing?" asked Ginny euphorically, still staring wide-eyed at Tonks.

"You're born a Metamorphmagus," Hermione replied, to which Remus nodded in confirmation.

After pestering Tonks with a few more questions and she had given a few little performances of her ability, the teenagers decided to play a little Exploding Snap. Just as Ron was about to deal the cards, however, they heard angry voices coming from the Entrance Hall. "He's not just a danger to himself, he's a danger to the entire wizarding community, Dad!"

"Percy, you know perfectly well what a load of rubbish that is," came back the admonishing reply loudly as the friends exchanged worried glances at the table. Serena had never seen Mr Weasley so angry and upset.

"Rubbish?" retorted Percy, snorting. "How old is he, two hundred? No one should be subject to that much responsibility at that age."

His father sighed loudly. "What on earth has Fudge got into your head? Dumbledore is neither mad nor a danger. Fudge merely hired you..."

"The Minister hired me because he recognised my qualities and I am a great help to him!" he retorted indignantly, by now speaking so loudly that Serena feared the Muggles in the neighbouring houses might hear him. "You doubt my ability and call yourself my father!"

"Percy," Mr. Weasley now tried to reassure him in a calm voice. "Harry didn't call Him-Whose-Name..."

"Harry Potter is as big a liar as Dumbledore himself! The boy is lucky he's not locked away," Percy interrupted him mid-sentence. By now the rest of the Weasleys, as well as the others in the room, were looking with shocked faces towards the door behind which the disagreement was taking place loudly. The twins and Ron seemed almost bursting with anger at their brother, while Ginny and their mother were close to tears.

"Don't talk about the boy like that, Percy!"

The addressed made another contemptuous snort. "I can't believe my own family is still backing someone like that. To even believe such a stupor! Unbelievable! I'm really ashamed to be part of this family."

Mrs Weasley gave a suppressed sob and suddenly turned to the round table with a stern face. "Off to bed with you!"

None of the friends seemed to think long about this request or even thought to protest. Immediately they rose from their chairs with embarrassed expressions when, in doing so, Ginny accidentally bumped her elbow against the stack of wizard sniping cards. These then exploded in such a loud roar that Mr Weasley stuck his head through the door, startled. "Molly... Kids... You're still awake."

"Obviously, Arthur," his wife remarked dryly, and then asked with a hysterical undertone in her voice. "What's going on?"

Serena and the other teenagers stood around the table rooted to the spot. They were all horrified at the way Percy had spoken to his father and on top of that, his views on Harry and Dumbledore. The Gryffindors only started to move again when George led her out of the room by the wrist with the others.

"Do you want to listen any more?" Fred then murmured softly to the group that had gathered at the top of the stairs. Serena gave him a puzzled look, actually she had thought that they wanted to give her parents and Percy some privacy by leaving the room. On the other hand, she had almost wondered about this behaviour of the twins.

"I'm sure Mum won't let us eavesdrop at the door and you can't understand anything from up here anyway," Ginny sighed, but George shook his head and pulled a meaningful face. "Not yet."

Suddenly Serena understood and the others could also vaguely remember the twins' invention: Extendable Ears.

It didn't take Fred and George long before they returned with a handful of the Extendable Ears. They all put the meat string in their ears and let their ears down. Serena marvelled again at this invention when she could hear Mrs Weasley's voice as clearly as if she were standing right next to her. "Percy, darling, please calm down," she pleaded.

"Mother, how am I supposed to calm down in this house full of liars and traitors? You want to ally yourselves with Dumbledore? Against the Ministry? Fine, but then I can't call you my family anymore."

A heavy sob can be heard before Mr. Weasley spoke up again. "Don't talk to your mother like that, Percy!"

"I'll talk to that woman any way I want," he replied so curtly that Serena's mouth dropped open. "After all, Harry Potter was completely manipulated by Dumbledore and then sold it as his story. He doesn't know what is truth and what isn't!"

"Do you actually hear what you are saying?" his father questioned sharply.

"Do you not read the Daily Prophet?"

Mr Weasley laughed hollowly. "So it's all right to trust a cheap tabloid but not one of the most powerful wizards?"

"Dumbledore is old and senile! He doesn't know anything about anything anymore!", Percy tried to defend himself.

"Percy, we only want what's best for you," Mrs. Weasley now interfered again in a trembling voice and seemed to try to mediate between her husband and son. But to no avail, as Percy merely made a hissing sound. "I am doing extremely well as a junior assistant to the minister, for he sees the highest potential in me and appreciates my work. The Minister, unlike the people in this house, is still of sound mind!"

"Don't talk like that!" his father again admonished him sternly.

"Can't you take the truth?" snorted Percy. "You are turning to the wrong people and I cannot and will not support that any longer!"

Serena pulled the cord from her ear. She couldn't listen to this any longer and besides, she didn't want to invade another family's privacy in this way. She had no idea where the other adults had disappeared to, but she suspected that they too had fled this altercation. Hermione seemed to feel similarly. The Weasleys' faces, meanwhile, were filled with sheer rage and their expressions seemed almost petrified.

Even without the Extendable Ear, Serena could hear sobbing from downstairs a few minutes later as the siblings looked at each other with pale faces. "Bloody hell," Ron finally breathed and now also pulled the cord out of his ear.

Fred screwed up his face. "I always knew Percy was a cowardly pig, but I never would have guessed he was such a selfish big ass."

"Let's go to bed before Mum and Dad come out and catch us. I think they've been through enough today," George muttered and the others nodded in agreement. The evening had been exciting enough anyway. Serena wondered if Percy had run away. Had he really left his family? She looked at Ron, but he just stared impassively at his bedroom door before disappearing behind it with the words, "He's an idiot."