Girl Meets Werewolf

In a small, dreary kitchen, in a small, dreary flat in London, a wizard sat at a rickety table, poring over a large book. Sighing absently, he was oblivious to the curtain that was flapping violently in the draught from the open window. He turned the pages quickly, often murmuring out loud, repeating choice phrases as if trying to memorise them. Every now and then he rubbed a hand over his tired face, knowing he needed sleep, but too engrossed in the book to drag himself from the table. The wizard's brown hair was flecked with grey, his face etched with lines as though he wore a constant frown, and his eyes reflected wisdom that should have belonged to an old man. But Remus Lupin was only thirty-six.

His eyes not leaving the book, the wizard groped for the mug in front of him. After taking a sip, he spluttered and made a face.

'Cold,' he muttered, irritably. Without raising an eye from the book, he lifted his wand from the table, and aimed a jet of hot air at the mug of tea.

'Much better,' he murmured contentedly, swallowing a sip of the warm liquid.

A sudden, loud crack from behind him startled Remus. He jumped out of his chair, reaching for his wand again, then stopped as his stomach somersaulted with relief.

'Sirius!' he exclaimed, breaking into a broad smile, astonished to see his old friend standing before him. Sirius Black had been on the run since he escaped from Azkaban two years ago, and it was the first time he had turned up at Remus's flat - it was really not safe with the entire Ministry of Magic on the lookout for him. Sirius had been dwelling in caves and forests dotted around the country, relocating regularly, hidden in his animagus form as a big black dog.

'It's great to see you, but what on earth are you -' Remus trailed off as he noticed the grim expression on Sirius's thin face.

'What's happened?' asked Remus. Awful thoughts began circling in his mind, his primary fear being for young Harry Potter's wellbeing - if Sirius was going to risk revealing his whereabouts to the Ministry of Magic, the safety of his godson would be the most likely reason.

'Voldemort,' Sirius said raggedly, pushing his long dark hair off his face. Remus noticed for the first time that Sirius was tense and breathless. 'He's back.'

'Back?' Remus repeated stupidly. A horrid chill that had nothing to do with the breeze from the open window began to seep into him, but he was finding it difficult to take in what Sirius was saying. 'What do you mean?'

'He's been brought back to life ... by Wormtail ... a Hogwarts student's been killed. Dumbledore's sent me to get the Order together.'

Remus's heart jumped into his throat.

'Which student?' he asked, aghast.

'Cedric Diggory - did you know him?' said Sirius, pain contorting his face as he sank into a chair opposite the table from Remus.

Remus did not even have to think about it; he remembered Cedric Diggory immediately. Remus had taught Cedric in the run up to his Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. the previous year, and Cedric had easily been the best of all the fifth year students; better than most of the sixth and seven years, in fact. Remus had been immensely proud when Cedric had been awarded an 'Outstanding' grade in his O.W.L. exam.

'Cedric ... yes, I taught him last year ... he was a brilliant student ... '

Remus was so horrified he could barely think ... to hear that the boy was dead, and by the command of Lord Voldemort, no less ... his head swam with the awful image.

'What on earth happened, Sirius?' he asked, hoarsely.

He listened, in shock, as Sirius explained: how the Triwizard Cup had been a portkey, how Cedric Diggory and Harry Potter had been transported to a graveyard, where Peter Pettigrew had murdered Cedric before using Harry's blood to raise Lord Voldemort; how Voldemort had summoned his Death Eaters, had tried to kill Harry, and how Harry had somehow, miraculously managed to get away.

'Is Harry all right?' Remus interrupted frantically.

'Physically, yes, just very shaken. God only knows how he managed to escape.' Sirius shook his head slowly. His hands, which were gripping the table, trembled violently. The curtain continued to bang against the window sill, but Remus was barely aware of anything around him.

The two friends sat in silence for a long moment. Remus tried to take in everything he had just heard. It was like a horrific nightmare. There had been signs over the past few years that Voldemort was trying to come back, but for it to happen so suddenly, with no warning ...

'Oh, for goodness' sake,' Sirius muttered suddenly, striding to the window and pulling it shut with a loud thump, and the curtain hung meekly against the dark sky outside.

'I ... I don't believe this has happened,' Remus said weakly as Sirius flopped back into his seat.

'We never should have let Peter go last year,' said Sirius, his tone bitter. 'This is our fault. We should have killed him in the Shrieking Shack when we had the chance.'

Although part of Remus agreed, he felt obligated to contradict Sirius.

'It wouldn't have made a difference, Sirius. Voldemort would have found somebody else to do his dirty work for him.'

Sirius grunted, unconvinced. Remus breathed deeply, letting his thoughts settle. There were things that needed to be done; he knew that sitting around digesting the news was a luxury they could not afford. He met Sirius's eyes and knew the thought was shared.

'I need to get on and alert the rest of the Order,' Sirius sighed, standing up.

'No,' said Remus. 'Let me go - you've put yourself at enough risk of being seen tonight, you should stay here for now. I'll get everyone together.'

Remus expected him to argue, but Sirius nodded lethargically and slumped back into his seat, looking pale and exhausted.

Half an hour later and Remus's tiny flat seemed crowded with a number of stunned-looking witches and wizards. Nobody was speaking very much; they had all been told the story and were now waiting, subdued, for Albus Dumbledore to get there and start the meeting. Molly Weasley had just arrived and had immediately begun making cups of tea for everyone, while her husband Arthur was talking quietly to Sirius, looking slightly perplexed at finding out that Sirius Black, the most wanted wizard in the country, was actually innocent.

Remus sat back in his chair, feeling slightly dazed. The past hour had been extremely trying: first of all hearing about the night's events from Sirius, then having to repeat is several times as he alerted various members of the Order of the Phoenix. This was a moment he had dreaded, even had nightmares about. Even before he had known for certain that Voldemort was still alive and could be reborn, he had occasionally felt a slight unease, convinced it could happen again.

With a loud pop, Dumbledore apparated into the room right next to where Remus sat. An wave of murmuring coursed through the room. Dumbledore turned to Remus.

'I apologise for my lack of manners, Remus, as you know I would never normally apparate directly into someone's home without ringing the doorbell, but I am afraid tonight we do not have time for pleasantries,' said Dumbledore seriously.

'Of course, of course,' Remus replied, waving away Dumbledore's apology. He conjured another seat for Dumbledore, which he took gratefully, accepting a mug of tea from Molly.

Dumbledore addressed the roomful of people, and everyone immediately became silent, their attention fully focused on Dumbledore.

'Friends, thank you for responding so quickly. I am quite sure the details of tonight's events have been relayed to you, so I will not waste any time by going over them again. You all know why you are here. Lord Voldemort has tonight been brought back to life; already he has murdered, and yet Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic, is refusing to acknowledge Voldemort's existence. Therefore it is up to us, the Order of the Phoenix, to do everything in our power to protect the Wizarding community. On my orders, Severus Snape has already gone to take his place as a spy amongst Voldemort's Death Eaters - '

Sirius scowled at the mention of Snape's name, but said nothing.

' - and I ask the rest of you to resume the duties you took on the last time the Order was active. One of our priorities right now is to alert people to Voldemort's return. It is plain that the Ministry is going to make this very difficult for us, so we will need to be careful. But even before we consider that, we must find somewhere to use as Headquarters.'

After a moment's silence, for the first time Sirius spoke up.

'We can use my parents' old house. Apparently it belongs to me now,' he said, with a slight roll of his eyes. 'And my dear parents cast every enchantment they knew to protect the place, so it should be one of the safest houses in the country.'

Remus was mildly taken aback - he knew how little Sirius thought of his family, and therefore how much he would like to remain disassociated from the entire Black legacy, particularly the house. Sirius had never once considered returning to it after escaping Azkaban, even though it would have been a relatively safe place for him to hide.

A smile spread across Dumbledore's face.

'Excellent, excellent. Thank you, Sirius, that could be exactly what we are looking for,' said Dumbledore, his eyes shining with zeal. 'It may take some time, but once I add a few of my own protective spells it should be ideal. We'll look into that as soon as possible.'

Dumbledore then began issuing instructions to various people with an air of efficiency and control. Remus exchanged a grim look with Sirius. He could scarcely believe that just an hour ago he had been sitting quietly in his flat with a book and a cup of tea; now they had all been flung into the beginning of a nightmare.

' ...and Arthur, I am relying on you to try to convince as many people as possible in the Ministry that Voldemort is a threat,' Dumbledore was saying. 'Discreetly, of course - the last thing we need is for you to lose your job because Fudge finds out you are working against him.'

'Of course, of course.' Arthur nodded, a tight, forced smile on his face. Molly was next to him, looking white-faced but resolute.

'Now - our biggest priority by a long way: Harry Potter. It was clear tonight that Harry was a key part in Voldemort's revival, and based both on tonight's events and other evidence I possess, I do not believe Voldemort will rest until the boy is dead.'

As Dumbledore said this, it sounded as though a very heavy weight was pressing on his shoulders. He took a deep breath.

'While Harry is at Hogwarts I believe he is safe. But the moment he returns to his Aunt's home, I would like members of the Order to be watching him around the clock.'

Several voices answered at once: Remus, Molly, Arthur and various other members spoke up, all eager to help protect Harry Potter.

Dumbledore nodded. 'Thank you, I was certain I could rely on you all.'

'I'll do anything you need me to do to help the boy, Dumbledore,' Mundungus Fletcher piped up, swaying ever so slightly as he focused on Dumbledore.

Dumbledore eyed the grubby, ginger-haired man for several seconds before saying, 'Of course. Thank you, Mundungus.'

'Dumbledore, I could do some shifts as well, in my animagus form, obviously, and maybe just at night when no one will notice me,' said Sirius, speaking extremely fast.

'No. I'm afraid not, Sirius. It is too risky, you might be caught, and we need you in the Order.'

'But -'

'I have given you my answer Sirius, and that is my final word.'

Dumbledore did not speak harshly, but peered over his spectacles at Sirius with almost a sympathetic look in his eyes. Sirius backed down - Dumbledore was the one wizard he respected too much to argue with - but he took on a slightly sulky air.

'Arabella, naturally your position is extremely convenient for keeping an extra eye on Harry. I know I can rely on you.' Dumbledore addressed Harry's elderly squib neighbour, who had insisted on attending the meeting and requested that Remus bring her along using side-along apparition.

Arabella Figg drew herself up to her full height and nodded staunchly, looking grateful for the chance to help in any way, even though she could not perform magic.

'And now I must return to Hogwarts and see to my students,' Dumbledore said gravely. The strain showed on his face as he stood up to leave. It had been a long time since Remus had seen Dumbledore look as troubled as he did tonight.

'Thank you for letting us invade your home, Remus. Good night, everyone, and be on your guard.' And with that, Dumbledore turned on the spot and was gone. He had been there barely fifteen minutes, but his mere presence had had a profound effect on the assembled group.

The remaining wizards and witches were quiet for several contemplative moments. Slowly, they began to rise from their seats and chatter, filtering out of the front door or apparating into thin air, until Remus and Sirius were the only remaining bodies in the flat. Once again, the pair sat at the small table and stared into their hands, considering the enormity of what they faced.

'We're here. Again,' said Sirius pensively, in what was possibly the most concise summation of what Remus was feeling. The whole evening had reeked of the first ever Order meeting Remus, Sirius, James and Peter attended all those years ago. They had been young and arrogant, eager to fight, to stand up for what was right, to be heroes. What had followed was so far from victory and heroism. Friends and family had died horribly. Lives were shattered. It had taken years for Remus to rebuild his life after Voldemort disappeared. Now he felt like he was starting from the beginning, and all he could see ahead was darkness.