The Forgotten Twin

Chapter 3

"What's the Order of the—" Harry began.

"Not here, boy!" snarled Moody. "Wait till we're inside!"

He pulled the piece of parchment out of Delilah's hand and set fire to it with his wand tip. As the message curled into flames and floated to the ground, Delilah looked around at the houses again. They were standing outside number eleven and to the left and saw number ten; to the right, however, was number thirteen.

"But where's — ?" Harry asked.

"Think about what you've just memorized," said Remus quietly.

Delilah thought, and no sooner had she reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Delilah stared. The stereo in number eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't even felt anything.

"Come on, hurry," growled Moody, prodding Harry in the back. Delilah followed close behind as they walked up the stairs to the shabby, scratched, black door. There was a silver door knocker in the form of a twisted serpent, but no keyhole or letterbox.

Remus pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. Delilah heard many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain. The door creaked open.

"Get in quick," Remus whispered. "But don't go far inside and don't touch anything."

Harry went in first followed by Delilah and the rest of the guard.

She stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. It smelled damp, dusty, and as if something had died; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. Remus and Tonks carried their trunks and Hedwig's cage right behind them. Moody was standing on the top step and releasing the balls of light the Put-Outer had stolen from the streetlamps; they flew back to their bulbs and the square beyond glowed momentarily with orange light before Moody limped inside and closed the front door, so that the darkness in the hall became complete.

"Here —" He rapped Harry hard over the head with his wand; the Disillusionment Charm was lifted and he was now visible.

"Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here," Moody whispered.

The others' hushed voices were sent an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person. She heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Delilah heard something scuttling behind the baseboard. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.

There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs. Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried toward them, though Delilah noticed that she was rather thinner and paler than she had been last time she had seen her.

"Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!" she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. "You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid...."

She turned to Delilah and pulled her in a quick hug before turning to the gang of wizards behind him and whispered urgently, "He's just arrived, the meeting's started...."

The wizards behind Delilah all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past her toward the door through which Mrs. Weasley had just come; Harry made to follow Remus, but Mrs. Weasley held him back.