Who'll Fill a Coward's Grave? ↣ Harmione

Chapter Ten

Chapter 10 - No Party

It was a sore but satisfied Harry who took his seat for tonight's order meeting. Hermione snuggled into his side, leading Emma to comment that they were pushing themselves too hard with their training.

"Mum, thanks to the soon to be birthday boy here, we now have three days off. I will admit we pushed it a bit today because we knew that. Have you any idea what Sirius has planned? He's keeping tight-lipped about it to us."

"He hasn't told anyone, apart from possibly Remus, what he has planned. I'm just glad he insisted on the three day break."

Beating Hermione to the punch, Harry confirmed they both wholeheartedly agreed with Emma.

As the meeting got underway, Kingsley gave his report on the 'Phoenix Force', and that they continue to be welcomed with open arms in Diagon Alley. The licence that the Minister had issued authorised the group to work anywhere in Britain, except for within the walls of the Ministry of Magic.

They had made the case that the Phoenix Force could be used to supplement any aurors Arthur sent to Hogsmeade during the official Hogwarts student visits to the village. Fudge had been so pleased by that idea, he issued that wide-ranging licence.

"We asked the businesses in the Alley for a token contribution toward the force. This was dipping our toe in the water to see if this could be a viable option in the long run, with all the contributions we currently receive being donated to St Mungo's. Having our officers highly visible has led to record numbers of shoppers, with some businesses making far more profit than they thought possible. The wizarding public feel safe with our officers there, knowing they are all former aurors also helps. What happens if we are attacked will determine how that proceeds."

Taking out her supplied mobile phone, Tonks was extolling the Nokia 232's wonderful features to the entire meeting. "Each officer being able to instantly report what's happening, and call for backup if needed, is such a boon. This really makes our job so much safer."

Nodding in understanding, it was Emma who commented next. In an attempt to make herself useful, she had been working on the communications side for the Order, and the new force. "All muggle police forces have that communications ability, whether on their person or in their police car. We have been looking at supplying one per house for everyone here tonight, it's only the charging situation that's been holding that back. Tonks, and most of the force, actually already have at least some access to electricity. Sirius is now renting a muggle home, the deal was just finalised yesterday, and this has allowed us to issue phones tonight."

It was Sirius' turn to explain what was happening here. "Voldemort has been quiet since he burned down the Minister's house. With his followers having these unfortunate accidents, and a certain someone's birthday coming up, we think he'll make a move. Emma has set up two phones for emergency contact, both of those numbers will already be programmed into the phones we give you - and training will be provided."

This got a few nervous chuckles before Sirius continued. "The Phoenix Force has been a great public success but also has another side to it. Apart from those visibly on duty in Diagon Alley, there is at least a dozen officers on standby, ready to react to calls for help from their colleagues or us. Add in the Order members rushing to your side and we can have two dozen wands coming to your aid in a matter of minutes." Seeing the looks of disbelief, a smiling Sirius nodded to Emma.

She stood and walked to the front of the meeting, taking a boxed mobile phone with her. "For the purpose of this demonstration, Harry and Hermione have the emergency phones. They are marked red so none of us get them mistaken for our own. Molly, could you come up and help us with this?"