The Old Crowd

"Do, or do not. There is no 'try'. " - Yoda ('The Empire Strikes Back')

* * * * *

Dover, Kent, South Eastern England (Late June, 1995)

A large, shaggy, black dog sat on the corner of Middlebury and Sangtown in the old ocean-side village of Dover. There was nothing unusual about the dog other than it carried a large amount of old newspaper clippings in its huge bear-like jaws. Now the animal was moving; walking stiffly, as though it had traveled for miles on end. The dog stopped, and wagged its tail in front of a small cottage at the end of Middlebury Court, and with a renewed spirit, it began to hop along the walkway. After reaching the front step, the dog paused, placing the yellowing papers on the ground before scratching on the door.

A startled gasp resounded inside before the sound of hurried footsteps and a clicking lock was heard. The door flew open and a woman of about thirty-five appeared in the entryway staring at the place where the dog once stood. Instead of a dog, however, was a tall and skinny man with ear-length black hair and piercing blue-gray eyes. He wore ragged black robes and an extremely smug look on his face.

"Sirius Black," she clucked, drawing a polished wooden stick from the inside of her robes. Only it wasn’t a stick; it was a wand…a magical wand.

"Jolene McMurphy," Sirius smiled, bowing slightly. Jolene narrowed her eyes and stepped away from him. Sirius, however, seemed undaunted by her gesture. "Long time, no see."

"Shut it, Black. I am about thirty seconds away from blasting you off my front porch," Jolene answered testily, narrowing her eyes, yet despite her harsh words, she lowered her wand slightly. Sirius merely chuckled before making a move to enter. Jolene impeded his progress with a sigh of protest.

"Alright Jo. If you want to play games, that’s fine," Sirius said hotly, his demeanor changing in a flash. Jolene became uneasy, and Sirius continued on. "I’ve come here on Dumbledore’s orders."

Jolene’s face twitched and she dropped her wand completely. "I thought Dumbledore would have hung you himself, after what you did—."

Jolene stopped and wiped her eyes before raising her wand again until it was level with Sirius’s face.

"You lie. Just like you did when you were thrown into Azkaban."

Sirius’s eyes darkened and he stepped forward, snatching the wand out of Jolene’s hand. He entered the house and shut the door behind him. Jolene looked enraged, almost as if she was about to pounce on Sirius.

"If you thought I was lying Jo, about your cousin, you wouldn’t have let me stand on that porch for as long as I did." Sirius narrowed his eyes and dropped the wand to his side before walking past Jolene, who stood speechless in the center of the living room. "Come with me, Jo. I am here on important business, after all."

Sirius gestured for her to follow him and she did so hesitantly, not letting her eyes leave Sirius’s body or the wand clutched in his hand. Sirius pulled out two chairs at the dining table and sat down in one of them while removing from his pockets some old and significantly yellowed pieces of paper, both wrinkled and dirty with faded green ink across the front. Sirius pushed the oldest looking paper towards her and tapped it. She picked it up and read the title of the article.

Ministry Witch Still Missing- Minister of Magic Personally Involved

She looked up at Sirius and he nodded for her to read the rest of it, which she did reluctantly until she reached the name of Bertha Jorkins.

"Sirius, I’ve already read this, months ago…" she started, but Sirius raised his hand to stop her.

"Jo, you remember Bertha, don’t you? She was in the seventh year when we were in fifth. Bertha wasn’t forgetful…if anything, she could remember the names of everyone that went to Hogwarts, as well as their birthdays if she really liked them."

Jolene sat deep in thought for a moment, trying to make sense of what Sirius was saying. "Sirius, what does this have to do with anything?"

Sirius pushed another two articles towards her. The first one looked fairly recent and as if it had been torn from a Muggle newspaper. The second one she recognized from a few months ago and was badly ripped. She picked up the first article and adjusted herself in her seat.

Frank Bryce, 77, Found Dead in Little Hangleton, Causes Unknown

She read through the article; miniscule phrases…The old Riddle Home -- Cause of death uncertain… jumping out at her along the way until she finished and looked up at Sirius. He pushed the last parchment up to her and she read the title closely.

Mysterious Illness of Barty Crouch Sr. Baffles Ministry

"I don’t get it," she said, her face showing a mixture of confusion and anxiousness.

"Listen Jo, and listen hard because I am not willing to repeat myself," he said slowly, annunciating every word. "Voldemort has come back."

Jo took her elbows off the table and folded them in front of her chest while chuckling mirthlessly blithely at Sirius. "Black, Azkaban sure did do a number on you, didn’t it?"

Sirius, now shaking with anger, stood up abruptly in the process sending his chair crashing to the floor. Jo reached into the pocket of her robes only to realize Sirius still had her wand.

"You wanted to know why I came? Harry, as you undoubtedly know, was entered into the Triwizard Tournament against his will. Not only that, but tonight, we discovered that there was an elaborate plot set up by our dear friend Voldemort to kill him," Sirius said, his voice coming out in a sharp hiss. "He was almost killed, and further, Mad-Eye Moody was held captive in his own trunk for ten months!"

Jo sat up abruptly, cocking her head to the side in thought. "What do you mean Mad-Eye was held captive in his own trunk? The man knows more hexes and counter-hexes than anyone in the department! No one would take him captive! If they did, I would have heard about it!"

Sirius began shuffling through his robes until he pulled out another parchment, by far older than the lot on the table. He flattened it out and handed it to Jo.

Further Mistakes at the Ministry of Magic

…Arnold Weasley, who was charged with possession of a flying car two years ago, was yesterday involved in a tussle with several Muggle law-keepers ("policemen") over a number of highly aggressive dustbins. Mr. Weasley appears to have rushed to the aid of "Mad-Eye" Moody, the aged ex-Auror who retired from the ministry when no longer able to tell the difference between a handshake and attempted murder. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Weasley found, upon arrival at Mr. Moody’s heavily guarded house, that Mr. Moody had once again raised a false alarm..."

Jo looked up from the paper to meet Sirius’s pleading eyes. He had rejoined her at the table and had his hands folded patiently on top of the table. Jo glanced back at the article and shook her head.

"No, Sirius. No," Jo said, shaking her head and attempting to rise but Sirius laid a hand on her shoulder and shoved her back into the chair.

"Jolene, listen to me…Peter didn’t die."

Jo cast Sirius a calculating look before falling into hysterical fits of laughter. "Oh, Sirius, you really have gone mad."

"Peter didn’t die," Sirius whispered, but it was harsh and cold, causing Jolene’s blood to tingle in her veins. "If you want to know the whole truth, James, Peter and I became Animagi."

Jo began to laugh again but Sirius slammed his hand on the table. When Jolene looked up at Sirius, she found that he disappeared and in his place sat…

"A dog? My God…" Jolene said mildly, sitting forward in her seat apparently deep in thought. "I should have known…hence Padfoot."

Sirius changed back with a "pop!" and nodded his head, the same smug smile on his face. "You see?"

"Sirius, Peter was too much of a dumbbell to be able to accomplish anything like that, even with you and James."

"Well, there was a reason we had to keep it a secret from you, Lily, Amaia and Julia."

Jolene shook her head and stood up. "Sirius, this is all insane." She then headed towards the kitchen sink and picked up one of the shards of glass, examining it closely.

"It’s not insane," Sirius said huskily, following her to the sink and standing next to her. "You just saw proof--."

"Proof that you are an Animagus, Sirius," Jo said quietly while looking up at the stars that loomed in the sky. "Get out of my house…it’s painful enough knowing that you are looking for someone who’s dead."

"He isn’t dead, Jo," Sirius said venomously, narrowing his eyes and clenching his fists. Jolene rounded on him, her face a blotchy red and her lips tight with rage.

"How dare you, Black. I can’t believe you…you have gone mad, haven’t you? It isn’t enough that you killed my best friend that you have to go off and say that Peter is alive. You’re just delusional…looking for a dead man walking--."

Sirius slammed her against the sink, grasping her wrists. She squirmed to get away, but he shook her violently. "For your information, Jo," he seethed, his pale and sunken face turning red with anger. "He is still alive."

Jolene finally loosened the grip he had on her wrists and slammed her fist on the counter with a painful crack. "Damn you Sirius, always blaming Peter for everything. IT WAS ALL YOUR FAU—"

Sirius had grabbed her arm again and pushed her harder against the counter; she let out a small whimper. "It was my fault that Lily and James chose Peter, but his that they died."

"Choose Peter for what?" Jo spat, still writhing under his body.

"He was their Secret-Keeper."

Jo stopped for a moment looking deep into Sirius’s eyes. But a second later, she was laughing again, only this time, it was more sadistic in its nature. "You expect me to believe Peter was James and Lily Potter’s Secret-Keeper? That is the biggest load of bull I have ever heard…"

"You don’t get it, do you?" Sirius hissed, finally letting go of her with a shove and standing back. "I thought that if Voldemort really knew James well enough, he would know that James and I would die for each other and in turn figure I was their Secret-Keeper. I suggested Peter as a diversion, don’t you see? Then Voldemort would come after me…but no. Peter was the spy."

SMACK! Jolene drew her hand back to strike again, but paused. Sirius had a hand clamped over his cheek and his head was lowered.

"I will never believe you, Sirius. Never," she said quietly, removing herself from the counter. "If you are wise, then you will leave."

Sirius looked up at her, finally dropping his hand from his face where a large red hand-print was forming. He smirked before turning on his heel and coming towards the table where she stood. After snatching up the newspaper clippings, he took a step towards her. "I’ll contact you later, Jo. It seems I never got to say what I wanted to."

He then removed her wand from the pocket of his robes, examining it briefly before throwing it onto the table. Jolene let out a huff before Sirius changed back into the large shaggy black dog and strolled towards the front door. After regaining her wand, Julia charmed the door open and with a final glimpse in her direction, he leapt out of sight.

"You are lying, Sirius. I know you are…you have to be," Jolene murmured to herself before charming the door closed and heading up the stairs for her bedroom, desperately in need of sleep.

* * * * *

"So who is your Secret-Keeper, Lily? You know I offered," Jolene whispered. Lily and Jolene were sitting in a posh café off the main road in Dover. Lily looked across the room and shook her head.

"No, I'm afraid we haven't decided," she replied quietly, lightly stirring the tea in her cup.

"My cousin would probably be a good bet at this point in time," Jolene laughed, taking another sip of her tea. Yet when she looked up at Lily, she noticed how white her friend had become. "Lily, I hope that you aren't serious."

Lily was silent. Jolene's jaw dropped. "Whose idea was this? James? Sirius?"

Lily still said nothing. "But why would anyone suggest Peter, Lily? I mean, Peter is too…too…scared, I would suppose is the right word to use," Jolene said thoughtfully, holding the teacup gingerly in her hands.

"I just don't know," Lily said, seemingly dazed. "No offense, but I honestly don't think that you would be a good Secret-Keeper, either. And… I can't tell you what our final choice will be. Besides, I just think that you would be more valuable in watching over Harry should something happen.."

"Yeah, Harry…how is the little Quidditch player, anyhow?" Jo asked, smiling her trademark toothy grin and forcing one out of Lily as well.

"Oh, you know him…always curious."

Jolene’s eyes fluttered open slightly and she saw the moonlight still peeking through the window and curtains. …James insists on Sirius while Sirius insisted on Peter… Lily’s words shifted through her mind, almost like clouds moving in a storm.

"They wouldn’t choose Peter. Not even James was that stupid," Jolene mumbled while punching her pillow and collapsing back into the feathery softness and a restless sleep.

* * * * *

Fulham, four miles outside of London, England (Late June, 1995)

Sirius relaxed on one of the spindly wooden chairs seated around Remus’ table, clutching his jaw with one hand and a teacup with the other.

"Jolene always did have a nasty temper with you," Remus said mockingly while sitting down at the table across from Sirius with his own cup of tea. "What did you do to provoke her?"

Sirius glared at Remus for a second before taking a sip of his tea. The sky outside had begun to fade from an inky blue into a deep violet with traces of pink and red. Sirius had watched the sunrise in this part of the country for many years, as he had visited to the Lupin’s farmhouse outside of Fulham since he was twelve years old and still attending Hogwarts. The trek from Jolene’s home to Remus’ wasn’t longer than five hours walking, yet Sirius felt as if he had run in a marathon. As he sat looking out of the window, Remus casually leaned back in his chair and surveyed Sirius thoroughly for the first time since he had arrived.

"Sirius, you do realize that you never answered my question?"

Although he didn’t turn around to face Remus, Sirius still acknowledged him.

"For your information –" Sirius began, glaring at the newly planted Japanese maple in the garden. "— I didn’t provoke her…I never did."

Remus chuckled to himself while leaning over the table to check Sirius’ teacup. "That’s what you always said, Padfoot – and you usually left the common room clutching some injured body part."

A low growl was Sirius’ reply; even in human form, he still managed to retain many of his canine characteristics. Eventually, he tired of looking at the leaves on the tree and turned to face Remus with a more subdued expression.

"Read these."

Remus nodded his head slowly, not taking his eyes off the bits of newspaper Sirius handed him. Finally, Remus finished reading the papers and set them down on the table while running a hand through his hair.

"The connection is faint, but its there, Sirius," Remus muttered, leaning forward and spreading the newspapers across the table in chronological order. "But I still don’t understand--."

"Moony, Voldemort has come back."

Remus’s eyes went wide and he faced Sirius, who simply glowered at the floor.

"No. Padfoot, don’t tell me that he—."

"Remus, you know as well as I do that it was bound to happen. Its just…Harry saw him come back…even dueled with the bloody codger," Sirius said grumpily, looking tired and stressed. "All those deaths and disappearances are related, you know?"

Remus looked quizzically at Sirius, yet he was soon nodding his approval. "Sirius, you must understand that this is all a little…er…sudden."

"Yeah, but the sooner we get the old crowd back together, we can begin to defeat the bastard once and for all," Sirius spat, leaning back against the chair.

"One problem, Sirius. I may believe your innocence, but others, like Crossbrow and Figg might not…I mean, look at how Jolene reacted to it," Remus added quickly, seeing the look on Sirius’s face. "I mean, John Crossbrow and Arabella Figg were just like Mad-Eye. Of course, not to the same extreme…"

Sirius nodded his head in confirmation. "But Dumbledore would make sure that they didn’t do anything to me, wouldn’t he?"

Remus shrugged his shoulders and stood up. "That we will find out, Padfoot. Hungry?"

Sirius nodded, once again looking back out the window. The final streaks of sunrise were just disappearing from the sky as Remus went through the icebox, rummaging for food. Something nagged at Sirius, however. Something that had been troubling him since he had seen Jolene. "Remus, where is Julia?"

The question caught Remus off-guard and he was unable to hide his emotions. He stood slowly from the icebox, seeming to choose his words carefully. Sirius stiffened up, looking at Remus as though he had never seen him before. "What does that face mean? She isn't…dead, is she?"

Remus pondered his answer for a while, shifting uncertainly in his seat. "I haven't seen her in about thirteen years, Sirius."

After a few moments of chilling silence, Sirius began spluttering incoherently. "What do you mean? She was…I was…she always told everyone – never leaving."

"Sirius, take a deep breath! I can’t understand you!" Remus said with slight hesitation. "I’ll only tell you what I know and even that isn’t much."

* * * * *

"Hello Remus," said a soft voice from the doorway. Remus looked up to see Amaia, his long time friend and companion standing on the threshold looking very tired.

"I wasn’t expecting you here."

"Yeah, but the full moon wasn’t quite as bad as I expected," Remus said with a small smile that even with all its simplicity seemed to hurt his face. It had been three weeks since Lily and James were killed, yet it had only been days since the ‘trial’ of their former best friend. Amaia returned his painful smile and lead him inside.

"How is everyone?" He asked tentatively, looking up the wooden stairs of the house in hopes of some sort of life.

"Well…As you probably know, Jolene is with Mr. and Mrs. Pettigrew, seeing as she is their niece, and Mike wentwith her."

Remus nodded sadly as he followed Amaia into the kitchen. "And Julia?"

Amaia’s face saddened as she leant into the icebox and removed a pitcher of pumpkin juice. "She’s…well, taking it harder than I expected."

"What does that mean, Amaia?" Remus asked, apprehension evident in his tone.

"There are about fifty maps of the world all over her room; the floor, ceiling and walls are covered in them. She keeps tapping them with her wand, muttering stuff and then writes down locations on a piece of parchment. I don’t know what she’s up to, but I know it isn’t good."

Remus looked puzzled for a second as he took a sip of pumpkin juice that Amaia had set in front of him. "Would you mind if I went up to see her?"

"Good luck," Amaia answered with a snort as she sat down at the table. At Remus’ questioning look, she replied, "Along with the maps came an attitude…a nasty one, if you ask me."

Nodding, Remus left the kitchen and headed up the stairs. As soon as he reached the corridor where the bedrooms were, he tried to remember which one was Julia’s; but he didn’t have to. At the far end, a large crash sent Remus’ skin crawling slightly. He sprinted down the hall and opened a door on his right…

Amaia wasn’t lying. Maps, parchment, quills, suitcases, boxes and clothing were scattered all over the room, as though a small explosion had taken place. Julia, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"Julia? Julia, are you there?"

There was a muffled sound from the area around the closet and Remus approached with caution. "Julia, are you alright?"
The pile shifted until Julia’s head appeared from the fray. She mumbled incoherently, before shifting more heaps of junkaside and crawling out of the pile. "I’m afraid my room is a bit in shambles."

Remus quietly surveyed the room, glancing at the maps which had many lines drawn across them. In the far corner of the room was a stack of suitcases and a few boxes that were packed to the brim with objects. "Julia, may I ask what you are doing?"

"No," Julia snapped, flinging another suitcase onto the bed. With a flick of her wand, the clothing that had originally fallen on top of her folded itself up and flew into her suitcase, which she closed with force. Remus, shocked at how blunt the normally quiet and kind girl was acting, came closer to her.

"And why not?"

"Because," Julia said briefly, jamming more books into a box she had conjured. "I have been offered a job and it requires that I change my location."

Remus groped the bedpost for support. Leaving? Julia Glideron, of all people, leaving? "Julia, what about your mother –"

"She is the one who said I should take it and besides, she has Dad," Julia said hotly as she flew both the suitcase and box into the corner. "I’m not worried. I can Apparate."

"But don’t you think you are being a bit rash, Julia? I mean, think about this. This is a big thing –"

"And don’t you think I realize that, Remus?" Julia shouted, yet immediately recoiled, looking slightly abashed. She continued speaking. "Remus, I have wanted to be an Arithmancer since as long as I could remember and this job gave me the break I needed. I’ll be assisting Pepen De Marco! The best Arithmancer in the world! And best of all, I’ll get to see Spain."

Remus shook his head and sat on the edge of the bed. "Have you told Amaia or Jolene yet? They need you right now and if you ask me, you need them." Julia scrunched her face in anger before crossing the room and picking up a few of the carefully drawn out maps.

"Well, I need myself right now, Remus –"

"How will we contact you? What if something happens to your mother and we need to get a hold of you?" Remus pleaded as Julia stacked the maps on top of her suitcases.

"We do have owls for a reason… as for Jolene and Amaia, they don’t know yet and I don’t think I would like to say goodbye. If you will excuse me, Remus, I think that it is time for you to leave."

She’s taking it too hard, Remus thought as he stood from the bed. But before he left, Remus turned and faced Julia again. "When do you leave?"

Julia paused for a moment. "Tomorrow morning."

"May God be with you Julia, as none of us will," Remus spat as he left the room.Down the corridor, into the entryway – Remus didn’t even stop to say farewell to Amaia. As soon as he was out of the range of the wards, Remus Apparated back to his flat and collapsed onto the sofa, thinking of taking a leave of his own.

"She left, Sirius. Amaia and Jolene…I’ve never seen them so…so upset. And Julia didn’t even say goodbye to them. She just left a note saying ‘I’ve gone to find myself and begin a new life’ or something like that," Remus said quietly, watching Sirius, who had his head in his hands. "They tried owling her, but they never received any word of her. After Julia left, Amaia and Jolene went their separate ways and I…well, I left England."

Sirius lifted his head. "You left the cottage? Remus – where did you go?"

Remus’ face turned into a half-smile, half-sneer. "Spain. Pleño to be exact." At Sirius’ puzzled expression, he stood up and retreated into the living room. Before long, he returned with a large, leather-bound book that looked as if it was more than three hundred years old. "Pleño is in the Sumil Mountains nearest to the Atlantic. I went there hoping to find Julia, make her come back to her senses. As it turns out, Pepen De Marco is French; she lied. But I still ended up there for twelve or so years."

Sirius studied the map that Remus had laid open for him before snapping it shut. "I guess it is safe to say that she has changed."

"But enough about this, Sirius. We need to be working right now…not to say that all this catching up isn’t a nice change," Remus said matter-of-factly. "Who should we contact first?"

Sirius thought for a moment before leaning against the table. "Arabella would be wisest, being as she is closest to Harry at the present time. And we’ve nailed Jolene…It looks like Matérs, Zentel, D’ull, Wilson, The Lentis, Rinaldi…I never did like that bloke."

"Only because he was French and would hit on Julia, right? And Jeffers…I’m not sure about Amaia," Remus said, his face calculating.

"What do you mean? Haven’t you spoken with her?" Sirius asked, surprise evident in his tone. "I mean, you two dated for the longest time…I almost expected you two to marry."

"Sirius, that is a whole other story that will take too long to tell…but I will tell you that she is married with three children…last I checked, anyway."

Sirius shook his head, a look of sympathy etching into his face. "Well, we best send out letters, giving the date of the meeting. Should we try to send one to Julia?"

Remus thought for a moment. "No. We’ll leave that one to Albus. For now, let’s write the letters. When is the meeting to take place?"

* * * * *

Otranto, Italy (Early July, 1995)

Mountains rose on either side of the Mediterranean villa, and Julia could just smell the saltiness of the ocean below. It was refreshing, especially after long naps. However, Julia hadn’t been napping. She had been thinking – contemplating the reason why she had been contacted by the last person she’d ever expected to hear from: Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although Julia was curious about the letter, she was at this moment deeply immersed in re-setting the wards around one of the oldest castles in Italy. It was called Castle Criel, and it sat amongst the many cliffs and peaks in the Viego Mountains.

The harmonious clicking of cane against stone roused Julia from her stupor. She turned, staring blankly at the man behind her who was silhouetted by the light from within the villa.

"It’s freezing out here, Julia. Come inside and warm up."

Julia trembled, realizing for the first time how cold it was outside. Yet she turned back towards the ocean, watching the waves crash against the cliff and sending spray towards the patio. "I can’t, Micael."

There was a brief shuffling of robes as the wind whipped past them. But the silence, marred only by the crashing of the waves, seemed tense to Julia. Still clutched in her fist was the letter from Dumbledore, a steadfast reminder that her past hadn’t completely disappeared. Julia must have flinched, for Micael’s cane once again cracked across the stones until he was standing behind her. "What is this? It isn’t Pepen again, is it?"

Micael Lisornio had been a partner of Pepen De Marco when Julia had showed up in front of his door well over twelve years ago. They had become quick friends, and Micael had quickly taught Julia many of the Italian customs and the language that had been passed down through his family for generations. But they had never been romantically involved; Micael’s wife Penelope and daughter Josephine were his pride and joy although he rarely saw them.

And then there was the accident. When Micael had been on the top of the Muggle church replacing tiles (without magic), the slickness of the roof prevented him from getting a good, solid grip on anything – he ended up falling thirty feet into a water trough. Although he wasn’t killed, his leg was badly injured. And with only Muggle medicine to help him, Micael now had a hard limp in his left leg. But he was still the same stubborn and opinionated Micael that he always was. And now that stubborness was showing.

"Give it here, I’ll burn it again. Show that old fool not to mess with Italians," Micael seethed, his thick Italian accent making him sound as if he had a dozen marbles in his mouth. He snatched the letter out of her hands and began to read. But soon his expression softened.

"Julia, I thought it was Pepen…but who is writing you this?"

Julia nodded her head towards the letter. "Well, you might as well keep reading."

 

Ms. Julia Glideron,

It has been a long time, Julia, since we have spoken. Yet I hope that time has not changed your graciousness, and that I can still call upon your help. Unfortunately, I cannot give you many details as to why I have contacted you, for the contents of this letter could be very dangerous to you and many of your contemporaries should it be intercepted, even without my elaborations. However, I can tell you that the Phoenix has been reborn.

"Julia, what does this ‘Phoenix being reborn’ have to do with anything?" Micael asked, slightly puzzled over the letter in his hands.

"I’ll tell you later. Keep reading."

I ask for your service because we need your help. I have heard of your accomplishments and personal contentment as an Arithmancer, and I wish you well in your endeavors; and at this moment, we would find your expertise immensely valuable in the protection of Hogwarts, and of your fellow members of the Order. I would, of course, understand your hesitation to return to England, let alone Hogwarts. However, I ask that you recall the days of Voldemort’s reign, and remember how you aided us then. You are much needed here, and despite loss of contact, you are wanted her.

Our first meeting will be on July 15^th, approximately a week away should you receive this owl on the eighth. It will begin at 7 PM in the usual room. You need not RSVP, yet remember that in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore

 

Micael re-folded the letter, watching Julia curiously through the twilight. He tapped the letter against his wrist and bit his tongue, deep in thought.

"The Phoenix, unfortunately, isn’t something I can tell you about."

He nodded briefly and leaned heavily against his cane. "However, it is important enough for the greatest Wizard in the whole magical community to send you a letter requesting your presence."

Julia bowed her head, waiting a severe berating from Micael. However, it never came.

"I guess I won’t deny my curiosity for this ‘Phoenix’. They’ll have to tell me when I get there."

She looked up so suddenly that her neck cracked. "What!?"

"Well, obviously you are going. I can tell by the look in your eyes," he said quietly. "I don’t know much about your past, Julia. But I do know that when your past comes back it is best to respond."

"But what makes you think you can go? And besides…if I go back, I will have to face many things I don’t want to."

Micael hook his head. "Julia, I always had a feeling you left something important behind. But it doesn’t help to just go on with life, knowing it will chase you down. And besides, you’ll need me there for moral support. So? Are we going?"

"Going back would be too painful for me –"

"You want to here painful? Take a look at my leg! What about my family? I haven’t seen them in three weeks!"

Julia stood in thought for a moment. Go or not go…that is the question. Meanwhile, Micael, shivering from the cold, sighed and went into the villa. In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

"Looks like the Order will be seeing me sooner than they expected."

 

FIN

* * * * *

Last words of the Author:

"In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends" – Martin Luther King Jr.Castle

Criel and the Viego Mountains are Wizardly in their rights. They do not ‘really’ exist except in this story and are solely inhabited by Wizards and Witches.

Jolene McMurphy is Peter Pettigrew’s cousin (yes, her last name used to be Pettigrew…)

The saga continues in Full of Grace.