Yellow (George Weasley)

48 - First Meeting

I pulled a coat from the hook by the door and tugged it over my arms in preparation for the cool London air. Tonight is my first meeting with the Order of the Phoenix. I've been doing my best all day to ignore the constant turning of my stomach.

"C'mon now, Georgie. Even your girlfriends ready quicker than you are!" Fred shouted across the flat, not looking up from where he was sloppily tying the laces of his trainers.

George poked his head out of the bathroom, mumbling something we couldn't hear with his toothbrush between his lips but the gesture he made with his hand let us know exactly what he meant.

Only minutes later we were staring at the dirty brick front of 12 Grimmauld Place. The street lights kept the entire street rather dark, but we still waited until a group of teenagers were out of sight before dipping into the chipped paint door. The house was uncharacteristically warm, the smell of home cooking pouring from the kitchen. The halls were dark but a light glowed beneath the crack of the dining room door.

George kept a hand on the small of my back as we followed the voices. It felt odd to be here without Sirius Black's presence, but Harry had taken ownership and granted permission for meetings to be held here. I was a little thankful that I would no longer have to worry about Kreacher uttering slurs about my blood status the entire night. Much to his displeasure, Harry had sent him to work in the kitchens at Hogwarts.

Members of the Order crowded around the dining room table as Mrs. Weasley busied herself in the kitchen. Bill was at today's meeting again, hunched over some parchment beside Lupin. Fleur waved excitedly to me at his side, clearly overjoyed to see a friendly female face. Mrs. Weasley had set out a few snack platters in the center of the table that were so far only being devoured by a seedy looking man in a filthy patterned coat.

"There you three are." Moody's gruff voice spoke when he noticed us, gesturing for us to pull up at chair.

Before I could sit however, Tonks stood and wrapped her arms tight around me. I returned her smile and gladly followed her to an empty set of seats to her right. The smile she gave wasn't her usual bright one, and she looked much more disheveled than usual. Before I could harp on Tonk's appearance any more, Mrs. Weasley quietly placed a goblet in front of me, her mouth pressed in a thin line. As you can imagine she wasn't too happy about more of her children joining the Order, but now that Fred and George are of age and out of school there's nothing she can do.

"Who's the lovely little bird?" A smile spread across the grimy man's face, displaying an incomplete set of yellow teeth.

"Leah...a new member freshly graduated from Hogwarts." Remus explained though his face showed no amusement in the man's words.

"You keep your grubby little hands off her, Mundungus." Moody spat just as a green glow from the fireplace filled the room. The man didn't seem offended at the words and seemed rather used to being spoken to in that way.

The fireplace crackled and out stepped Dumbledore himself, followed closely by a somewhat uncomfortable looking Professor Snape. I don't believe he attended many of the meetings. "Good evening, everyone." Dumbledore held a warm smile as he sat at the head of the table with Snape to his left. "Ah, and welcome to our new members."

Snape looked confused at my presence for a moment before nodding in my direction. That was about as close to a smile as I would get but I still appreciated even the most minuscule acknowledgment. A part of me wished I had been working with him at Hogwarts this year, but Hermione told me that he was finally teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Third year me would be surprised to hear that I had actually missed the impassive man after my graduation.