They flew high above the others, Harry constantly craning his neck upwards just to make sure Percy and Tonks were still there and safe.
Percy was going at what felt like a snail's pace. The Order members were incredibly slow flyers in his opinion; only Harry on his Firebolt could even hope to give him a real challenge, but right now was not a matter of speed, it was about sticking together.
"This is so beautiful," Tonks said softly as she looked down at the sprawling, glittering lights of the sleeping cities and towns passing below them. "And you get to see this every time you fly?"
"Yes, most of the time," Percy nodded, speaking aloud.
"W-what?! You can talk?!" Tonks cried out in shock, jerking back so hard she almost slipped and fell off his back.
"Careful!" Percy hissed, steadying his flight path. "You're going to fall, Pixie!"
"R-right... wait, you can actually talk! How is that possible?!"
Percy chuckled, a deep, rumbling sound that vibrated through his powerful chest. "I partially translated my larynx and vocal chords to my human form while maintaining the rest. It allows me to speak clearly even while I'm mostly in my pegasus form."
"I-I didn't know you could do that with an Animagus form," she said, her voice full of awe. "Heck, I've never even seen Professor McGonagall partially transform at all!"
"I'm a lot more in tune with my animal side than most people," Percy admitted, thinking of his father. "The pegasus is... very personal to me. It's in my blood. So I know its ins and outs completely, including partial, localized transformations."
"So, can you like... have your normal human body but with big pegasus wings on your back?" Tonks asked, fascinated.
"Yup! But it's really difficult to fly properly in that form," Percy admitted. "Especially if I have to carry the extra weight of another person. It throws the whole balance off."
"Damn," Tonks replied, sounding disappointed. She then looked down and noticed Moody signaling something. She narrowed her eyes against the wind. "What's he doing now?"
"Hm?" Percy looked down. "I think he's doubling back again. Standard evasion tactic." He adjusted his flight path and quickly caught back up with the Vanguard.
It was a smart, necessary thing to do, doubling back to ensure they weren't being tailed. Percy's respect for the paranoid old Auror grew a little. But then, when Moody insisted they do it again, and again, and again, the demigod began to get seriously pissed off.
The fifth time Moody tried to order them to double back, Percy flew down low and Tonks, clearly sharing his sentiment, cried out, "For the love of Merlin, Moody! If you make us double back one more time, I swear I'll blast your bloody peg leg off!"
Alastor grumbled loudly, his voice carrying on the wind. "It's best if we are absolutely sure-"
"-No, Alastor," Remus interrupted firmly, sounding exhausted. "This is enough evasion. The boy is freezing. Let's go down already."
"Fine, fine! Everyone go down!" Moody grumbled as they finally began their steep descent, aiming for the middle of a deserted Muggle park somewhere in the heart of London.
When they landed safely, the Vanguard members immediately shrunk their brooms and put them away. When Percy landed, he carefully allowed Tonks to climb down before smoothly transforming back into his human form. He cracked his neck loudly. "Damn, that was a slow-ass trip. Couldn't we have picked it up a little bit?"
"Not all of us can fly effortlessly like a mythical creature straight from legend," Remus shot back, a sudden, surprising edge of bitterness in his voice as he led the group out of the dark park.
"Sheesh, what's his problem?" Percy hissed quietly as he fell into step behind them.
"It's nothing personal against you," Hestia Jones said softly as she came up beside him. The two of them brought up the rear of the entire group as she whispered, "You see, Tonks has had a sort of crush on Remus for the longest time now. Remus keeps rejecting her, though, mostly because of the large age difference and his... condition. And now, he sees her laughing and flirting with you up there, and I think he's starting to get a little bit jealous."
Percy blinked, completely surprised. "Wait, Tonks and Remus? Whoa, that's... not creepy at all."
"Age is just a number in the wizarding world," Hestia shrugged defensively.
"Oh really? Would you date a fourteen-year-old?" Percy asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"What? No! Gross!"
"Why not? I thought you just said age is just a number?" Percy chuckled softly. "But I guess I can't really judge too harshly. My dad is way older than my mom."
"Oh? How much older?" Hestia asked, curious.
'Around four or five thousand years,' Percy thought to himself before chuckling again. "Older. A lot older."
They stopped abruptly at the edge of the park, and the Order members all looked intently ahead across the street. Percy followed their line of sight but found absolutely nothing of note. Just a row of dull, identical terraced houses, all attached to one another, all looking exactly the same... and then, he noticed something strange.
"Where is number 12?" Percy asked aloud, noticing the numbers jumped from 11 to 13.
"Here," Moody said gruffly. He took out a small, torn piece of parchment and handed it to Harry, then to Percy. "Read it, memorize the exact words, and then look up at the space."
Harry and Percy did as instructed. The moment they committed the written address to memory, the demigod realized that a completely new, soot-stained house had suddenly, silently squeezed itself out of thin air, forcing numbers 11 and 13 apart.
The son of Poseidon blinked, impressed. "How did... an unplottable land charm?" he guessed, having studied advanced concealment charms during his intense summer NEWT cram sessions. The particulars were still fresh in his mind.
"A what?" Harry asked, understandably confused.
"It's the other common name for the Fidelius Charm," Remus spoke up, his voice softer now as he took the piece of parchment from them and instantly burnt it to ash with a silent flick of his wand. "It is the very same charm your parents used to hide themselves, with Peter Pettigrew as their Secret Keeper."
The Order members began to move quickly across the street. Moody and Remus took the lead, with Harry and Tonks close behind them, and Percy with Hestia bringing up the rear.
"So... who is the Secret Keeper for this place?" Harry asked, looking around curiously as Remus unlocked the heavily reinforced front door for them.
"Dumbledore," Moody grunted shortly as they all quickly and quietly hurried inside.
The interior of the house was dull, dusty, and deathly silent. Percy guessed that if his moody cousin Nico di Angelo ever decided to have a cabin of his own built at camp, it would probably look exactly like this, or at least take heavy design inspiration from the gloomy decor. Personally, Percy found the place repulsive. The dim, greenish gas lighting alone made him feel depressed.
As they walked down the narrow, peeling hallway, Tonks suddenly tripped over an unseen umbrella stand with a loud clatter. Percy reached out instantly, his demigod reflexes taking over, and caught her securely in his arms before she hit the floor.
"Clumsy one, aren't you?" Percy snorted, helping her upright.
Tonks glared back, rubbing her arm, her hair flashing an irritated orange. "Yeah, well... bite me, Jackson."
"Tempting."
Hestia Jones rolled her eyes towards the peeling ceiling. "This is becoming insufferable."
"Come on, move it!" Moody grunted, prompting them forward past a row of creepy, shrunken house-elf heads. The small, dingy corridor finally opened up to a large, gloomy dining room down in the basement, where there were more members of the Order already gathered around a long wooden table. Percy stepped in with Tonks and Hestia, immediately recognizing Sirius Black sitting near the head of the table. He was looking much healthier and cleaner than he had in the cave, his hair cut and his face fuller.
"Harry, look," Percy turned to his young friend to point out the good news, but found Mrs. Weasley standing firmly in the doorway, physically blocking Harry from entering the meeting room. She stepped outside into the hallway, greeting the boy warmly but firmly closing the heavy wooden door behind her as she did.
Percy frowned and turned to Sirius. "Why aren't they letting him in?"
Sirius sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "It's not my choice, Percy. Believe me."
"Harry is far too young and unprepared to be involved in all of this dark business," Percy heard Dumbledore mutter quietly. He turned to see the Headmaster standing by the large stone fireplace in the dining room, looking longingly into the flickering flames with a face that looked as though he had aged ten years since Percy saw him last, just a few hours ago at Hogwarts.
"I'm sorry, Headmaster, but isn't that kind of incredibly redundant at this point?" Percy asked pointedly as he walked over and sat down at the table next to Tonks and the bald-headed black man, Kingsley Shacklebolt.