"It's very likely, but that is not the main reason for this course of action. It is not only about denying Voldemort this extra firepower. It is simply the right thing to do, is it not?"
...
There were still many in the room who doubted the validity of what Dumbledore was saying, but on that point every one of them agreed.
"Excellent. Perhaps it is time that we met some of our new… well, perhaps we cannot call them friends yet but you get my drift…" Dumbledore suggested. "Sirius, perhaps you would be willing to allow some extra house guests to stay here for a while? It might be more convenient for them to hide here than at Tonks' apartment."
Sirius looked positively ecstatic, which made Remus smile slightly when he saw it. These Fairy Tail members had become wanted fugitives through no fault of their own, much like Sirius himself. The poor man was practically under house arrest since he could not leave without risking getting found and caught by either Death Eaters or the Ministry, which meant he was often alone in the house while the others were completing Order business. Alone except for his surly elf Kreacher, a screeching portrait of his own mother and a hippogriff that is. The idea of suddenly having a house full of other, interesting people had to be the best news Sirius had had for a while. Especially now that his godson had headed off back to school once again.
"Naturally they can stay," Sirius barked, grin spreading from ear to ear. "Sounds like this lot might really liven the place up some."
"Yeah and you can definitely provide them with better food here than I can in the little dump I call home," Tonks laughed.
"Very well then," Dumbledore conjured a piece of paper and a Self-Inking quill from the air and quickly scrawled something down on the paper and then whisking it to Tonks. "Miss Tonks, if you would be so kind."
Tonks glanced down at the paper which read:-
The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at Number 12, Grimmauld Place, London.
Tonks understood what this was for - Grimmauld Place had been placed under the Fidelius Charm - the ultimate way of keeping people hidden since the place couldn't be found by anyone unless one specific Secret Keeper revealed its location. Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper for this place, and Gray, Juvia and Lisanna wouldn't be able to get in here without him telling them about it in some way, and writing would do it.
"Be right back," Tonks leapt to her feet, caught her toes on the leg of the table and fell to the floor with a crash. Amidst the sudden laughter from the room, she scrambled to her feet, refusing to be embarrassed by it considering it happened all the time, and hurrying over to the fireplace.
...
"You sure that Tonks will mind us eating this?" Lisanna asked, even as she reached into the packet again.
"Why not?" Gray asked, eyeing one of the Bertie Bott's Every-Flavour Beans that he'd found in the cupboard. "She said we can take anything we wanted."
"Juvia thinks this is quite the remarkable little snack," Juvia laughed as she popped another bean into her mouth experimentally, brightening as she added, "Oh, strawberry. Erza-san would have liked that one."
Gray bit his own in half, chewing thoughtfully before he laughed and said, "Well this one tastes a little like roast lamb."
"Eugh, this one tastes like plastic," Lisanna grimaced as she swallowed it quickly, before picking out another one and licking it briefly. "And… I'm not even sure what this one tastes of but its not bad."
"EEK! Chili! Chili!" Juvia gasped as she took a bite out of another one. "Wow, it's even spicy."
"Let's try this one then," Gray tossed another one up in the air and caught it deftly in his mouth… before blanking and hacking it out across the floor. "OH GOSH! THAT ONE TASTED LIKE FREAKING BLOOD!"
Juvia and Lisanna shivered slightly, suddenly deciding they might not be so eager to try any of the rest of the beans. And it was at this point that Tonks appeared in a burst of green flame that startled them all, causing Juvia to knock the table and send the beans flying as the packet tipped over.
Tonks blinked, before laughing, "I'm guessing you don't have that back where you come from, huh?"
"Not that we know of," Gray wiped his tongue slightly, his hand on his shirt as if unconsciously thinking about taking it off again. "Eugh, that last one was rank. Anyway, you going to tell us where you went?"
"Nope, I'm going to show you," Tonks replied. "I've got some good news for you. I know where another one of your friends are. Wendy, I think her name is."
"Wendy-san?!" Juvia leapt to her feet, the other two close behind her. "Is she alright? Is she injured?"
"She's fine and she's safe," Tonks assured them. "She was found by Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of that school that I told you about - Hogwarts. He called a meeting between me and a lot of my associates earlier but it turns out he wanted to tell us about you lot. Since he already knew about you guys from what Wendy's told him, I told them about you and now they want to meet you."
"Wait a minute," Gray narrowed his eyes. "I thought you weren't going to turn us in to this Ministry place."
"I haven't. I told the Order of the Phoenix about you. It's a special order which is devoted to protecting people from the threats of Dark Wizards. The Ministry has nothing to do with it, except for the fact that some people work for both, like me… I guess you could say the Order is the closest thing we have in this world to a guild. Or maybe Hogwarts is… I dunno. But they're really interested to meet you lot. You wanna come?"
"If they know where Wendy is then certainly," Lisanna nodded immediately.
"Juvia agrees."
Gray still looked a little disgruntled, but he nodded his head and muttered, "Sold."
"Great. Quickly you guys read this paper," she passed Dumbledore's note to Lisanna. "And then we can go via the Floo Powder."
"The what now?" Lisanna asked as she passed the note to Juvia.
"The… fire travel."
"Oh, now hold on," Gray backed away slightly before Juvia could give him the note. "No way in heck am I doing that. I'm an Ice Mage. Ice and fire do not mix under any circumstances."
"You and Natsu-san make a good team," Juvia pointed out.
"No, we don't," Gray denied stubbornly.
"Gray, it's fine. It's magical fire - it doesn't burn or anything. It's a bit uncomfortable but compared to Apparition its a walk in the park," Tonks assured him.
"I'm sure it will be fine," Lisanna smiled. "How does it work?"
"Just do what I'm about to do," Tonks replied, stepping back into the fire with a handful of powder once again and calling, "Number twelve, Grimmauld Place!" All three of them flinched as the fire whooshed up around her once more, then stared at the empty fireplace where she'd once been.
"…Looks simple enough," Juvia murmured, passing Gray the note. "Juvia guesses we can try it…" she trailed off slightly when Lisanna started giggling behind her hand. "What's so funny, Lisanna-san?"
"Oh nothing really," Lisanna snickered. "I was just thinking we may have found a method of transportation that Natsu might actually like."
Even Gray laughed at that.
...
Tonks re-appeared to find an expectant room and this time she managed not to topple over as she stepped out of the fireplace. "They should be coming," she said. "Any moment now."
But it still took a full minute of bated breath before suddenly there was a flash of green fire and Lisanna yelped as she tipped out of the fireplace. Tonks lunged to catch her, but this time she did end up tripping over and crashed into the falling Lisanna, both of them falling the the floor in a tangle of limbs.
"Uuuhh… maybe I was wrong," Lisanna muttered as she tried to extricate herself, rubbing her head ruefully. "I don't think even the fire would stop Natsu from getting motion sick from that." But then she pushed herself up and noticed the room staring at her with wide eyes. She blushed slightly at all the attention and murmured, "Um… hi…"
"Welcome to Twelve Grimmauld Place, Lisanna Strauss," Dumbledore spread his arms wide. "Please feel free to make yourself comfortable."
"Are you Albus Dumbledore?" Lisanna asked, curiously.
"Indeed I am. My condolences for finding yourself lost in another dimension like this. Hopefully I will be able to provide some answers to the questions you seek. But before you ask, no, I do not know where your brother and sister are, I'm afraid. But I can assure you now that they are here in this world somewhere, along with all the rest of your guild that were on Tenroujima when Acnologia attacked."
Most of that passed right over the heads of the Order members, but Lisanna looked torn between feeling relief and concern. "Oh… well… thank you for telling me. At least… at least that clears a couple of things up."
...
if you want to support me or just to read ahead of the public release, you can join my p@treon :
p atreon/Moonhorse