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"DINNER!" the voice of Molly rang out once the many voices of the leaving order members disappeared. Zinnia felt a bit sad she didn't get to say goodbye to Tallon but thought she would get to see her again at some stage. She had mentioned in her many letters that she was training to be an Auror.

"Well, we'll be eating down in the kitchen!" Molly told the children as they all descended the stairs, Daisy holding Zinnia's hand and they leapt down the stairs to the sound of her giggles.

"OH!" Molly shouted in shock from Fred and George apperating beside her. "Just because you're allowed to use magic now does not mean you have to whip your wands out for everything!" Molly yelled at the two as they retreated to the kitchen followed by the rest of the children minus Harry and Zinnia.

Zinnia stopped at the last step, seeing Daisy's nerves from eating with so many people and lifted her onto her shoulders. Zinnia laughed as Daisy smiled, picking at her hair. Zinnia was caught off guard by the laughter of Harry beside her. They shared a small and fleeting smile before Zinnia was called into the kitchen.

"Zinnia! Put your sister down" Dahlia shouted to her daughter from the far end of the table. Zinnia walked over to her mother and put down Daisy but not before tickling her mercilessly.

Once Zinnia had sat down, Harry emerged into the room with Sirius behind him, he was immersed in avid conversation and Zinnia smiled to herself at seeing the boy so happy and comfortable with his Godfather. Harry sat directly opposite Zinnia and she let out a breath of relief as he smiled at her when he sat down.

Everyone had settled as Ron as Molly continued to make dinner, Maurice weaved himself in between Zinnia's feet as she giggled at the tickling feeling of his frail whiskers against her shins.

"This is very very peculiar" Zinnia overhard Mr Weasley speak to Harry as she avoided the flick of pumpkin juice that came at her from Fred. "It seems that your hearing at the Ministry is to be before the Wizenagamot"

"I don't understand, what has the Ministry of magic got against me?" Harry questioned as Zinnia slumped her head into her hand.

"Fudge is probably mad that you're more famous than him" Zinnia said sarcastically with a cheeky smile which only faded at the sound of an annoyed scoff from Harry. Her head snapped to him and her face fell solemnly at his crude reaction. On a regular occasion Harry would have laughed that off and all would be reconciled between them but it seemed different now and Zinnia wasn't sure why.

"Show him, he'll find out soon enough" Moody interrupted with a rasp to his voice. He somehow looked a bit worse than he had last year. Zinnia figured it was due to all of the rising death eater action and shivered at the thought.

Everyone seemed to suspiciously look around at each other as the sound of dishes clanking around perpetuated the tension of the room. Finally Kingsley Shackelbolt pulled out a large paper from beneath the table and handed it to Harry. Zinnia took a deep breath in and prepared herself for the outburst that was to come. She was all too aware of what they had been writing about Harry in the Daily Prophet, having a few outbursts about it herself.

"He's been attacking Dumbeldore as well" Sirius spoke over the deafening silence. Zinnia turned to Ron and they shared an equally guilty and scared look. "Fudge is using all his power, including his influence at the daily prophet to smear anyone who claims the Dark Lord has returned."

"He's nothing but an old quack if you ask me" Basil said as he let the fork he was playing with drop to the table with a clang.

"No one did," Prim muttered as everyone's head turned to the squabbling siblings.

"Oh shut it Prim, no one needs that" Fred spoke to the girl he saw as a sister. "Save it for the little death eaters in green robes"

"My house has nothing to do with my loyalty twat"

"What does slytherin have to do with it!?" Prim and Basil spoke over the top of each other leaning towards the fiery haired boy.

"All of you shut it! House has got nothing to do with it and you all know it!" Dahlia spoke over the yelling and the children fell to a silence. Zinnia knew tensions would be rising between houses at Hogwarts but she never wanted to see it in her own family or those she saw as family.

"Twat" the little Daisy spoke in the silence, copying her dark haired sister.

"Dont saw twat" the entiretey of the Beaumont's instinctively responded in a low mutter as they returned their heads to the conversation they were having before.

"The Minister thinks Dumbeldore is after his job" Remus spoke from beside Zinnia as his back arched forward hovering over the table.

"But that's insane- no one in their right mind could believe that Dumbeldore" Harry began to frantically mutter.

"Exactly the point, Fudge isn't in his right mind. It's been twisted and warped by fear. Now fear makes people do terrible things, Harry. The last time Voldemort gained power he almost destroyed everything we hold dear" Remus said with a lingering gaze towards Sirius who was sitting rather properly at the head of the table.

"Now he has returned and I'm afraid the Minister will do almost anything to avoid facing that terrifying truth" Remus finished as Both he and Harry's eyes dropped to the table in disappointment.

"We think Voldemort wants to build up his army again" Sirius apprehensively began to talk

"Aster, take Poppy and Daisy to the living room, '' Tristan said quickly before Sirius could say anything more on the topic.

"I want to hear this Dad, I need to" Aster stood his ground for the first time they had arrived at Grimmauld place, not letting his age define how much he knows about the war. Tristan saw the spark of bravery in his son's eyes and sighed.

"Fine, Poppy you take Daisy. I'll call you in at dinner. No but's" Tristan spoke as Poppy was about to object but then she held her sister's hand and led her to the living room.

"They're children, Sirius, time and place." Dahlia reminded the stubborn man as he shook his head in guilt.

"Yes, sorry Dahlia. 14 years ago, he had huge numbers at his command, and not just witches and wizards but all manner of dark creatures." Sirius spoke in a low tone as everyone at the table seemed to be entranced by his words. He's been recruiting heavily and we've been attempting to do the same. But gathering followers isn't the only thing he's interested in"

Moody cleared his throat and the parents of the table let out a warning sign to the eager Sirius.

"We believe... Voldemort may be after something" Sirius continued

"Sirius" Moody warned as he hovered ominously in the corner. The tension in the room grew tighter as the parents seemed more apprehensive and the children more eager.

"Something he didn't have last time" Sirius ignored Moody

"Sirius watch it" Dahlia uttered to him through gritted teeth.

"You mean like a weapon?" Harry asked, confused at why it was such a touchy subject.

"No! That's enough. He's just a boy!" Molly came flying in after she had dropped all her cooking utensils. "You say much more and you might as well induct him into the order straight away."

"Good. I want to join!"

"It's not that easy, Harry."Tristan calmly spoke as he picked up where Molly left off on dinner.

"If Voldemort's raising an army then I want to fight!" he stood his ground looking around to his proud Godfather who shrugged smugly to the rest of the table.

"Enough of that, Dinner is ready!" Tristan spoke over the table, relieving the tension as Dahlia slipped off to the living room to get the youngest girls.

Dinner was spent surprisingly in laughter. Zinnia for sure thought that it would be as tense as ever but minus the glares from certain people at the table and the occasional snide comment all was well. The medley of children made their way upstairs and practically fell into their beds from a food coma as they were all out like a light.

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Zinnia awoke with a short gasp. It was still pitch black in her room and poppy was soundly muttering in her sleep. She looked at the clock and saw it was around 2am in the morning, knowing she wouldn't get much more sleep with the amount of stress she felt, she got out of bed. She walked over to Poppy and gently placed her sister's legs and arms back on the actual bed as they were awkwardly hanging off.

Zinnia quietly made her way down the stairs to the kitchen, careful not to make any noise past the portrait of Walburga as she knew it would scream horrendously at her if she made a peep. She entered the kitchen slowly and carefully, closing the door to ensure the bang would not wake anyone.

"Couldn't sleep?" the gentle voice of Harry spoke from the table and Zinnia gasped through her nose, holding her heart in shock. Harry looked terribly, his skin pale and sweaty, his under eyes a darker colour and his hair surprisingly messier than usual.

"Merlin, people need to stop scaring me in this kitchen" Zinnia sighed as Harry gave her a thin smile and returned to the cup of water he held tightly in his hands.

"Did you get mugged in your sleep or something?" Zinnia remarked on his disheveled state.

"What" he dumbfoundedly replied, seeming dazed and aloof.

"You look horrible"

"Gee thanks'

"Sorry" the two bounced between each other. Zinnia thought at that moment that this was the first time they had been alone together since they had arrived and it made her both incredibly nervous and sad at the same time.

"What happened?" she asked ambiguously.

"Just a bad dream, like last year but just....worse" he held his head and scrunched his eyes.

"Would a cup of tea help?" she let out without thinking about it, letting the part of her that wanted to take care of Harry all of the time take over her.

"Actually that, that would be nice." He replied sheepishly as Zinnia grabbed two mugs from the cupboard.

Once the kettle had boiled and she put a disgusting amount of sugar into Harry's tea just how he liked it, she sat next to him. They bathed in the silence for a moment as the idly sipped away until Zinnia got up the courage to speak.

"What happened?" she repeated

"I told you i had a dream-" he stated again seeming rather annoyed

"Not that, I mean with us." The silence seemed to pierce through her chest slowly and painfully as Harry turned his head to blankly stare at her.

"You're the one who stopped writing to me" he turned back to his warm ceramic.

"I already told you I was on Dumbeldore's orders, you of all people should be more understanding of that, '' she said right back at him, trying not to raise her voice as she braced herself for another fight.

Harry looked at her and shook his head in anger, she knew this was a sign that she was right and he had no comeback because otherwise he would have thrown a comment right back at her and continued their verbal tennis.

"You're shutting me out Harry." Zinnia started

"Oh am I?" he raised his eyebrows at her

"Yes! Yes you are and I can't for the life of me figure out why you're being so cold. And don't you dare come back with some sort of snarky comment because I'm tired of fighting. I thought after last year we would avoid it at all costs but now you're just being mean!." Zinnia rambled, not letting Harry get one word in and leaving his mouth agape once she had finished. That seemed to shut him up.

"We butt heads too much" Harry sighed as he dropped his head back to the table and avoided the scolding gaze of Zinnia.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zinnia shakely let out, fearful of the answer. Harry stared at her and lingered in her doe eyes.

"Dunno" is all he let out as she took another sip of his overly sweet tea.

Zinnia only took this as some sort of stubborn way of telling her he thought they could never be together. Of course that was an over exaggeration on her account but it was incredibly hard to read Harry at that moment. Harry on the other hand felt like one part of him wanted to apologise till his voice broke but the stronger part told him to ignore her. Zinnia looked at him, bemused at his attitude and stood up to leave.

"You kissed me, Harry, just remember that '' She said to him before turning to leave. She could have sworn at the mention of the kiss she saw his walls break down in his eyes and saw the harry she knew last year again but shook it off as her tired eyes playing tricks on her.

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Zinnia had snuck out of Molly's cleaning duties as she told the lovely woman she was going to fund more brooms. In reality she wandered to the living room and excitedly headed towards the shelves. She ran her hands over the books and stopped at a small gap in between an ancient alchemy book and a 'new age wizardry' book that seemed to be from the 19th century.

Zinnia peeked between the gap and saw a small hook placed in between the books attached to the back of the shelf. Instinctively she pulled it and out popped a secret drawer at the bottom of the shelf, just missing her ankles.

She smiled as she saw the dusty contents of old records from the 70's, spotting some David Bowie and T.Rex. She carefully took the records that were on the top of the pile and sorted through them, laughing to herself whenever she got a Wizzard album. Taking David Bowie's "Diamond Dogs" she placed it on the ancient looking record player in the corner of the room, similar to the one McGonagall used for the yule ball rehearsal. It took her a few tries but finally the familiar music of Diamond dogs began to play.

Zinnia smoothly moved back to the pile of Albums and began sorting again, unaware of someone standing in the doorway.

"Cleaning are we?" Remus spoke with a knowing grin on his face. Zinnia stopped dead in her tracks with an ABBA album balancing on her palms.

"I was looking for a broom" she said with a cheeky grin, trying to get out of trouble.

"Ah yes, I keep all of my brooms in the gramophone" Remus laughed "Don't worry I won't go dobbing to Molly, how did you find this?"

"I was looking at the books and found this secret compartment, but I'm not too confident that the noble house of black owned Eric Clapton records." Zinnia laughed as she brushed dust off of another album.

"Ah yes this is all Sirius', had to hide it away from the family hence the secret compartment" he spoke as Bowie's beautiful voice rang out in the background. "First thing Sirius did when he got back was check on them, probably why you found the hook; he didn't need to hide the trigger anymore."

"Didn't peg Sirius Black for an ABBA fan" she laughed as she held up the dusted album. "Not surprised about Bowie though, my brother put a couple of his songs in my mixtapes." Zinnia rambled as she tapped her foot along with the music.

"The Bowie is actually mine, gave it to him for safe keepings when we were in school, we sort of shared the collection although I was opposed to the abundance of ABBA in it" Remus elaborated as he looked adoringly at Zinnia surrounded by the piles of Records he once worshiped as a kid.

"Hey don't knock ABBA! You're probably just pretentious about your music!" she defended as Remus held his hands in surrender, laughing at the passion of the girl.

"Better pack it away before Sirius sees you, said he didn't want any of the kids' sticky little fingers on his precious babies." Remus laughed.

"Don't worry Zinnia, I was more worried about the little one, she's quite excitable" Sirius spoke as he entered the room and smiled similarly at seeing the young girl surrounded by the piles.

"I'll tell you what, you can take five albums to Hogwarts this year, on the condition that you don't break them and you awao them out for a different five next year" he smiled at the girl who's eyes widened more than ever.

"Are you serious?!" she gasped standing up to hug him

"I'm always Sirius" he laughed and shared a ghostly look to Remus who had a flashback of all the times he would say that when they were her age.

Zinnia had collected her favourites of Diamond dogs by Bowie, Plastic Ono Band by John Lennon, All The Young Dudes by Mott The Hoople, Arrival by ABBA and a very worn out version of A Day At The Races by Queen. With her records in hand and a smile plastered on her face she ran up the stairs skipping one at a time from excitement.

"Are you being chased or something?" she heard Harry speak from slightly above her on the stairs.

"Listen Harry i'm in way too good of a mood to get in a fight right now" she continued up the stairs towards him with an absentminded smile on her face.

"I wanted to talk to you about that actually" he said as she brushed past him, making her stop suddenly and turn back to her. She raised her eyebrows as if to say spit it out and awaited impatiently .

"I don't know what came over me the other night... i've been a bit of a dick lately" he dropped his head to the frayed carpet on the stairs and kicked the parts coming off.

"You're forgiven Harry" she stated with a soft smile as they looked at each other and felt that familiar warth return to both their chests.

"About the kiss, can we.. just go slow, considering.." he started in a mumbling mess

"Considering you have a cult leading murderer after you" she blatantly let out

"Yeah, that little thing" he chuckled, returning to his ability to joke about his position.

"Deal, Potter. Try not to get expelled tomorrow." she said to him then continued up the stairs with an unwavering grin on her face, unaware of how flustered she left the messy haired boy nor the prying ear of Remus and Sirius.

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(A.N- IM BACK! not sure for how long though but i only have a couple more weeks of exam period then i have all the time in the world.

hope you enjoy this chapter and like the atyd reference for those who have read it.

Sorry to those who were hoping on a peaceful relationship between Harry and Zinnia this year 😐

Writing this again made me feel so much less stressed and i can't wait to get back into it❤️

also literally just realising now i forgot about the trial and will def finish that in the next chapter and won't spend too much time on it 😀oops

comments and votes always appreciated 💕)