Shadow Council 128C

*****

Andromeda sat in silence as she contemplated what to do with the information she had at hand. With the return of the dark lord and Harry’s ascendance to the Regency, the magical world was on the precipice of great changes, changes that would certainly make or break the Wizarding World as it currently stood.

The old order was still in control, but she could see the writing in the skies, as it were. If The Dark Lord were victorious there was no question that he would drag the Wizarding World back to the dark ages in ways that only the sickest of minds ever even thought existed. Harry, however, was quickly becoming a potential leader of the other side of things.

Whether he was a leader for the traditionalist ‘light’ side, or something else, she was uncertain of at this point, however.

Dumbledore’s Order of the Phoenix was rumbling again, she knew thanks to his attempts to recruit Nymphadora. Albus wouldn’t come to her, not this early at least, but the day would undoubtedly come. When he felt he had the advantage or he was pressed hard enough to need her.

Which came first, well that was yet to be seen she supposed.

For the moment, Andromeda had other concerns to address.

Cissa, what am I to do with you?

Her sister was in an unenviable position at the moment, there was no arguing with that. Her husband’s support of the Dark Lord during his foolish youth was coming back to roost in their very own home. That put her family at risk, and while Andromeda felt that Lucius could damned well pay the piper he’d personally helped establish, she still had loyalty to family through everything.

Narcissa can handle herself, but Draco… that foolish boy will get himself killed if he does not learn to grow up.

The missive from her sister had made that quite clear, but what could be done with any of it… she was far from certain.

The arrival of Harry’s snowy owl, Hedwig, with a letter was a welcome distraction.

She quickly retrieved the attached letter and provided the owl with a rewarding treat while she unfolded the parchment and began to read.

As I suspected, her Majesty has lost patience with the boy’s lack of social action.

It was inevitable, after Harry fully presented himself, that this letter would arrive. That it came so soon showed that her Majesty had better contacts in the Wizarding World than Andromeda had known, to be honest, but only the speed of the missive was in anyway surprising.

The party in question was a good choice, she recognized. It showed that her Majesty was fully aware of young harry’s limits, and hadn’t lost any steps in the political game she’d been born too. A public event, yes, but small and relatively unknown. Other Knights of the realm would be there, along with the small smattering of hereditary Knights that remained active in the current day.

No Papparazi would be crowded outside the event, and every person within would be carefully scrutinized.

Yes, it’s a good choice… in fact…

Andromeda paused, considering it for a moment before she smiled tightly.

It may well be a verygood choice indeed. Yes, this might solve a couple problems in one fell swoop. I have some work to do.

*****

Xander casually dismounted the bike as he looked over the Weasley’s home with some interest.

Magic has GOT to be the only thing holding that together, He thought with some amusement as he examined the deceptively ramshackle nature of the home. It rather looked like someone had tried building a five story home on top of an old farm building, but did so without any skill in carpentry, geometry, or common sense.

Somehow, though, it still managed to look homey and welcoming in a way that his one parent’s suburban home could not have managed on it’s best day.

“Oh look…”

“It’s our favorite test subject!”

Xander snorted as the twins appeared, cheerfully mocking him as he casually cast an impervious charm on his bike in case it rained.

“Fred, George, don’t you darebe rude to our guest,” The shrill voice of Molly Weasley reprimanded them from inside the Burrow before she appeared at the door.

“it’s fine, Mrs Weasley,” Xander smiled at the woman as she stepped out. “the poor copies here can’t help themselves, between you and me I think all the backfired pranks did some damage upstairs.”

The twins bristled at that, but Molly Weasley just smiled, “Much as I might hate to admit it, you could have a point there. They did spent far too much time in their room with noxious fumes spilling out the windows and under the doors.”

“Mum!”

Xander grinned as Mrs Weasley winked in his direction before turning on the twins.

“Oh hush, the pair of you. This is young Harry’s guest, and you’ll not be harassing him. Save it for school, if you must dabble in such foolishness.

The pair exchanged glances before they sighed in unison.

“Alright, mum.”

They turned and waved to Xander, speaking in unison, “Welcome to Burrow.”

Then they looked past him to the bike and one went on, “And might we say…”

“That you’ve certainly come up in the world. Where did you…”

“Come by such a magnificent toy?”

Molly snorted. “Boys.”

Xander tipped his head, “Sirius Black helped build it for me as thanks for helping him escape at the end of last year.”

That caused Molly to shirk back briefly before she clearly shook her initial reaction away. The twins, however, had no such instinctive reaction.

“Bloody…”

“Amazing.”

Xander chuckled, walking forward, “It’s been useful. Harry, Hermione, and I used it to hunt out his family home a while back. He around? His letter was a little light on details.”

“Harry’s inside, finishing breakfast,” Molly said firmly. “I told him he couldn’t get up until he cleaned the plate.”

Xander laughed, “Good. That boy needs it.”

“Right this way.”

*****

The inside of the burrow was cluttered and well lived in. That was the best description that Xander could manage, if he were being honest about things. Not dirty in the slightest, it was clear that Molly was a dedicated keeper of her domain, but the building had a sense of life that existed beyond the mere fact that people lived there.

He was led to the kitchen where he quickly found that much of the family were still in the process of polishing off their breakfast.

Harry was picking at what was left on his plate, looking unenthusiastic but determined, while Ron was piling up his own high with what Xander assumed was his second… or third… serving.

“Xander,” Harry looked up, “You’re earlier than I expected!”

“Hermione had some things to do with her mom today, so I cut out early.” Xander explained. “What’s up anyway? Your letter was a little light on details.”

“Sorry about that,” harry told him, “I really don’t have a lot myself. I just know that I have to go to a party and I need to have a date and a couple body guards, or… something like that.”

“Harry, I know we’ve been through a lot, but I’m sorry I just don’t think of you that way.”

Harry stared in confusion for a minute before it clicked, “Bugger off you berk, I’m not asking you out!”

Xander grinned as the Twins broke up laughing and Ron appeared to be choking on his bacon, instead just taking a free seat across the table. “Shouldn’t you get a real bodyguard?”

Harry sighed, glaring at him, before reluctantly going on, “It’s not a real thing, just for… you know, looks?”

“Ceremonial.”

“Right, that.” Harry sighed. “I figure you could stand in.”

“Sure, I can do that,” Xander nodded.

Ron, who was still wheezing as he sucked in air to replace the food he’d inhaled, “You didn’t ask me, mate?”

Harry looked uncomfortable, “Mate, it’s at a Royal party in the non-magical world. The Queen will be there. You don’t know enough about the non-magical world to fit in, or I would have.”

“Oh,” Ron slumped, thinking about it. “Guess that makes sense.”

“It’ll probably be be all fancy stuff anyway,” Xander said. “Doubt it’ll be a fun time. Any ideas for the other two?”

“No clue for a date,” Harry admitted. “Finding someone else to stand in for a bodyguard shouldn’t be too hard?”

Xander shrugged, “Ask Hermione to join you as your date…”

Whatever he was expecting from that comment, it wasn’t the straight shock from Harry that rapidly turned into a reddening blush, or the sudden blast of food exploding across the table as Ron screamed something unintelligible at him.

The death glare from the littlest Weasley went almost completely unnoticed as Xander was trying to wiped the spatter off his face and clothes.

“Gross.”

*****