Harry Potter and the Unlikely Alliances

Chapter 4: Back at Headquarters

A/N: hello everyone, sorry I haven't published any chapters in a while. I had exams so I haven't had any time to myself recently. But the last exam was today so it's update time. I will update three new chapters today. be on the lookout for them. (1/3)

Chapter 4: Back at Headquarters

As soon as the swirling stopped, strong arms were pulling him out of the fireplace. "Good to see you, Harry." Mr. Weasley said dusting the soot off. "Now we really must be going." He led Harry through the Kitchen and into the living room. "We're using a portkey to get us near Headquarters." He handed Harry a corner of a knitted blanket that was usually on the back of the armchair. "Hang on; it'll be any second now." As soon as the words had left Mr. Weasley's mouth the familiar sensation of being tugged started at his navel. Then his feet hit solid ground. They were in an alleyway, about a block from headquarters. "Come on Harry, we need to be quick, it's not that safe out here." Mr. Weasley said, moving them quickly to 12 Grimmauld Place, Harry still clutching the blanket from the armchair.

Harry saw number 12 appear as if out of thin air. He took a deep breath, "Here goes nothing," he thought. He was still unsure how the house was going to affect him, but thinking about Sirius made his feet feel like lead.

"Come on Harry, I know it's hard, but it's not safe out here." Arthur Weasley told him, half pushing him through the door. The first thing Harry noticed was that it seemed brighter in the house and it smelled cleaner. Once he looked around he noticed that the house looked cleaner as well.

"Harry!" Ginny yelled from the top of the stairs, "Oh, it's so good to see you!" she said coming down the stairs to hug him.

"Hey Gin, it's good to see you too." Harry said breaking out of the hug. Something was very different about the house; he knew it was something big. Then it hit him, the portrait of Mrs. Black wasn't screaming. "What happened to Mrs. Black's portrait?" Harry asked.

"We'll tell you about all that when we get inside the kitchen, I'm sure everyone wants to see you first!" Mr. Weasley told him. There were a lot of changes to the house since Sirius' death and he didn't want to be the one to tell Harry, they had all decided it would be Lupin's job. "Look what I found wandering the street." Mr. Weasley joked walking into the kitchen with Harry.

"Harry!" Ron, Hermione, Fred, George and Mrs. Weasley yelled. "How good to see you dear." Mrs. Weasley said wrapping Harry in one of her motherly bear hugs. "You must be starving, you look so thin, weren't the muggles feeding you? Here have some stew." She said pushing him down into the chair next to Ron and shoving a huge bowl of beef stew in front of him.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley," Harry had known her long enough to not argue and just eat the soup.

"We weren't expecting you this early Harry, we thought we'd have to wait until at least next month!" Hermione told him smiling, "This is great!"

"Yeah, what are you doing here so early?" Ron asked, "Did something happen with the muggles?"

"You didn't feed your cousin any of that candy did you?" Hermione asked, hoping that wasn't the reason he was there.

"I did give him some of the candy, which by the way work very well, but no that's not the reason I'm here." Harry told them winking at Fred and George. They were beside themselves in laughter so Harry assumed they had gotten his letter. "I asked Remus to talk the order into letting me come early." Harry said. "So I think that's the reason they hurried me out of there." Harry said looking at Mr. Weasley would not meet his eyes. That confirmed Harry's suspicions, as soon as Mrs. Figg had talked to the order about his aunt, they pulled him out. There was definitely something going on.

"I'm sure you have lots of questions Harry, but Remus wants to talk to you as soon as he gets back." Mr. Weasley told him. Harry ate his soup in silence, wondering what Lupin needed to talk to him about. But he was definitely going to be asking about his aunt! "Ah, there they are now. They were just patrolling, making sure no one saw us enter." Mr. Weasley said as Remus, Tonks, and Mad-Eye came into the kitchen.