Redemption Song

"I'm sorry, Ms. Bones, but that's simply not an option."

Amelia let out a sigh of frustration and said, "With all due respect, professor, it's the only option we have left."

"I agree that we do not have the means for an open battle as of yet, with the Call in the wrong hands, but where is the logic in guerilla warfare?"

"Well, it's that or nothing, so what exactly are you suggesting we do? Nothing? We've been doing nothing for nearly a decade! Hit and run is the only way we're ever going to get the Call!"

Minerva McGonagall remained unperturbed as Amelia stood up and knocked back her chair, her glasses quivering dangerously at the end of her nose. The whole table had gone silent, except for Edgar, who grabbed his sisters' arm and pulled her back into her seat.

"Stop being so dramatic and think rationally, Amelia," he said. "There's nothing outside of London worth attacking - nothing that we've not already done, that is - and there's nowhere inside the capitol to run to once we've hit."

Amelia opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off.

Rubeus Hagrid cleared his throat and said loudly, "Much progress as we're makin' here, I think there was sommat Ted wanted ter say."

All eyes turned to Ted, who looked a bit apprehensive. "Er, right. Well, you all remember the idea Andy and I'd had a few months ago?"

"Ted, we've gone over this," interrupted an old man with a wheezy voice. "Appealing as the idea is, there's just no way we can pull off an operation of that scale."

"Let the man finish, Elphias," cut in a young witch with burgundy hair.

"Thank you, Leila," Ted said loudly. "I know that the idea got shot down, but we may have found a loophole. We'll explain how we found out in a minute, because that's another matter. The point is, there happens to be a very grand occasion coming this spring that the hosts wouldn't dare not invite anyone in high society to."

Murmuring broke out amongst the other twenty inhabitants of the table. Ted waited patiently for it to die down and for the inevitable question to be asked.

"So what exactly is this grand occasion?" Ilene asked, her eyebrow raised.

Ted grinned wryly and replied, "The rebellion has cordially been invited to see Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black be wed in holy matrimony, and to spend a wedding weekend at the Malfoy Manor. No slaves need be brought along, as all services shall be provided by the host and hostess."

Disbelieving smiles crept onto the faces of all present.

A young man with flaming hair smirked and said, "Of course, said rebellion will be far too busy rescuing a score of innocent witches and wizards from their lives of enslavement to attend. Such a pity."

He received a light shove in the arm from a black woman sitting on his right who said, "Bilius Weasley, you prat. You don't see the one obvious problem. What are we going to do about Brian and Ari? I don't go back on my promises, and they'll never forgive me if we just leave them."

The smirk vanished as Bill's brows furrowed.

Andromeda, who was sitting across from her, sighed and said, "Van, none of us like the idea of leaving either of your friends at the Malfoy's mercy any more than you, but it may turn out that we just can't rescue them then. Maybe some other time, but I just don't see how it'll work out."

Van let out a snort of frustration and said, "Andromeda, I won't leave them again!"

"Well you might just bloody well have to!"

"Ladies."

"What!?"

They rounded on Edgar, who took a step backward.

"Just...just calm down."

Andromeda rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. Van looked as though she would very much like to punch something. The tense atmosphere hung heavily in the Den's kitchen, and was only broken by a loud knock on the door at the top of the stairs.

Without warning, Simone, who had been very distracted throughout the meeting, lunged for the door, swung it open, and emitted something between a shriek and a sigh of relief as she threw herself on top of the person on the other side in a very violent hug.

"Simone, get the bloody hell off me. We're fine."

Reluctantly she let go in order to let a small group of people enter the kitchen, a rather harassed Zephyrine at the front.

"Thank god you're all safe," Simone said breathlessly, scrutinizing her sister, as though determined to find something amiss. "We expected you back days ago."

"You couldn't expect me not to deliver her back to you in one piece, now did you?" asked a man who bore a striking resemblance to Bilius, and was being examined himself by a somewhat pregnant, ginger-haired woman in her early thirties. "Let her breathe, Simone."

Unenthusiastically she turned her attention from Zephyrine to the other people. Molly turned her head around, as well, although she remained firmly attached to her husband.

"Well, it's good to see you've all arrived in one piece, Arthur. Especially these two here." Yet two more ginger-haired young men, both newcomers - although no strangers - expertly dodged Molly's hand as she reached out to biff them across the head. A blonde witch - another newcomer - raised her eyebrow and giggled as she hugged a younger woman who had rushed from the table along with Simone and Molly.

Arthur disattatched his wife from him and motioned for the newcomers, Simone, Molly, and the young witch Isobel, to join the table. As the members of the rebellion made room for them and they all sat down once more, he introduced each of them.

"I think most of you know Molly's brothers, but this is Gideon and Fabian in any case - " the ginger-haired twins waved good-naturedly " - and this is Serafin - Finn - Parris and Evelyn Robins." The blonde girl inclined her head, and the one seated next to her smiled brilliantly.

He then turned to the group of newcomers and motioned around the table, naming each of the present rebellion members, "Here we have Anita Montgomery, Charlie Weasley, Simone Gibbons, Ilene Peverell, Elphias Doge, Leila Zonko, Billy Weasley, Van Johnson, Rubeus Hagrid, Saffron Wexler, her daughter Lovell Diggory, you know Molly, obviously, and Zeph, too, Michael Lovegood, Isobel Whitby - but of course you know her, as well as Minerva McGonagall, Ted and Andromeda Tonks, Edgar and Amelia Bones, Arabella Figg, and Dedalus Diggle. There are others, of course, but naturally we couldn't all be here tonight."

"Excuse me, young lady, but what do you think you're doing?" Andromeda leaped from her chair and strode over to a young girl who had been obviously trying to look inconspicuous standing in a corner.

The girl shrugged and pushed her hair out of her face. "Oh, nothing."

"How long have you been down here?"

"I came in behind them."

"Mila, we've been through this a million times, I would've thought you'd get by now that I can't have you listening in on - "

Mila sighed in a very annoyed fashion and interrupted, "I didn't hear anything important, Andy, so you can pull your wand out of your arse now."

"I'm not even going to ask where you got that from," said Andromeda, throwing Ted a nasty look. "Go upstairs. Now."

"Why the bloody hell should I?"

"Because I told you to. Go!"

"Just let me stay for the meeting! I want to help the rebellion, Andy!"

"Mila, we've discussed this, I'll let you join when you're sixteen. And this isn't the time for this. Please just go upstairs and keep Dora entertained for another fifteen minutes. We'll be done soon."

But Mila wouldn't let the subject drop. "I'm not waiting another three years. This could all be over by that time!"

"I hope to Merlin it is," Andromeda retorted, "but I'm being more than reasonable. Sixteen is a year younger than I would let anyone else join."

"Zeph came when she was sixteen."

"And I didn't let her officially join until her birthday last month."

"But I know so much more than most people my age! I have to be at least as advanced as any sixteen year-old."

"The fact remains that you're only thirteen, and I refuse to have your death on my conscience. Now get out of this kitchen before I force you."

A victorious smirk formed itself on Mila's face as she crossed her arms and said, "Oh, by all means. Prove yourself a liar."

Oblivious to the confusion of the newcomers, who had been watching the exchange with interest, Andromeda was strongly tempted to slap the girl. Only a very strong premonition of what the results would be kept her from doing just that. Instead, she looked at her straight in the eye and said in a deathly manner, "I won't. But I may rethink letting you into the fight at all if this is the attitude you're going to have about it. Now, Mila, please go upstairs and wait for the meeting to finish. Afterward, feel free to spend as long as you like down here."

The tone of voice was one Mila didn't dare disobey, but she did shoot Andromeda a look of utter annoyance as she dignifiedly wound her way up the stairs and slammed the door behind her. Andy looked at Ted in a way that clearly said, "She's your problem," before resuming her seat.

"Apologies," she said to the newcomers.

Serafin raised her eyebrow again and asked, "Is she your daughter?"

Ted and Andromeda exchanged a weary glance before she replied, "She may as well be. It's a long story, one that I'll be sure to tell you eventually. But there is one more matter that I'd like to bring up before we finish up. Charlie?"

Charlus, the youngest Weasley brother, extracted a crumpled letter from a pocket inside his jacket and handed it to her. Andy pulled the letter from the envelope, smoothed it out, and read it aloud.

Dear Andy,

I hope to Merlin this finds you and doesn't fall into the wrong hands. If it does, we'll all be dead long before you can reach us. You remember James? Well, he's landed himself, Lily, and I in a fairly large problem. I guess I can't completely blame him - Lily shares half the responsibility. The point is, Lily's pregnant with his kid. They're in love. But this puts us all in a tough spot - Lily refuses to get an abortion (and you know I won't make her do it), but I don't think she could handle giving him or her up. On that note, I happen to know that James couldn't handle owning his own son or daughter. Of course it's Lily that drags me into the picture, as I'm responsible for her. You know my mother would see to it she was sold straight away if she found out, and I won't let her end up anywhere worse than here.

That's where I hope you come in. James and I've devised a plan, and we've got Lily convinced, I think. As you very well know, the bond placed upon all muggleborns makes it impossible to officially free them, otherwise that's exactly what we would do. James is going to buy Lily - I'll tell my mum that I lost a bet to him - and then, if you're willing, the two of them will sneak off to wherever it is that you are. James wanted to get the rest of his house staff there, too, but I convinced him to just bring one. She's twelve. I don't know if you ever did manage to reach the rebellion, but, in the off chance you do receive this letter and agree to go through with it, I'll know you're somewhere secure. Sometime in January would be ideal, because Lord and Lady Potter will be on holiday in France. In order not to look too suspicious, I would be grateful if it could also be arranged for Remus, Alice, and myself to get there later (perhaps the next month).

I thought you might like to know that Narcissa's marriage has been arranged for this coming April, to Lucius Malfoy. Of course, you already knew that. They've been betrothed for years now. She's over the moon about it though, can't wait to be Lady Malfoy -

"The rest is just newsy tosh, but it's from my cousin."

Andromeda handed the letter back to Charlie, who stowed it back inside his coat pocket. Then she looked at the assembled group, all of whom were looking rather pensive. Hagrid was scratching his chin. But for Isobel, who was strumming her fingers thoughtfully on the table, the room had gone silent.

Finally she asked, "Well?"

"It's a nice idea," said the graying Saffron Wexler, "but I'm not certain if we can spare anyone at the moment. That is, if we're planning to go through with Ted's idea."

"But that won't be for months!"

"Preparations, Andromeda," Saffron said gently. "We'll need to decide what homes to liberate, how carefully guarded they are, exactly how much time we'll have...details, you know."

"And you don't think we can spare one measly person for a week or so?"

"I don't see why not."

Everyone looked over at Leila, who was sitting up, looking thoughtful.

"I'd be more than willing to go," she said simply. "I mean, I'm one of the only people here who can mingle in normal society undetected, so it should only take me a few days at most."

"But you know we work in pairs," said Arabella Figg. "What if someone were to recognize you?"

Billy Weasley cleared his throat. "You forget, I think, that Leila was raised by Beth Shacklebolt. No one out there will have the foggiest idea who she is."

People were starting to nod in agreement. Leila looked about as though mildly interested as she said, "So, I'm going?"

Andromeda was smiling. "I think that's the general consensus. If you don't mind me saying, Leila, I think it might be for the best if you leave as soon as possible."

"Tonight?"

"If you'd like, though usually one does wait to make preparations. Maybe next week. I'll send our reply as soon as possible. Anything else we need to address? No? I guess that just leaves dinner."

There was a scrape of wood on wood as people pushed back their chairs and began to stand up. Charlie went to unlock the door. Molly was issuing orders to people as she began to chop up vegetables. The party that had just arrived and several others remained seated, however.

"I missed you so much," Isobel said tearfully, as she, Finn, and Evelyn hugged again. "I was so afraid I'd never see either of you again."

Evelyn patted her on the back and replied, "Did you really expect Molly to go back on her word? We knew you'd be treated right when Lord and Lady Prewett made you her wedding present."

"Besides," said Finn, "we've been ever so jealous of you these past years. I mean, you've been at the center of the rebellion while we've been sitting on our jolly old arses all this time."

"You've no idea how infuriating it's been," assured Evelyn.

Managing a weak smile, Isobel said, "At least the Prewetts are better masters than some." Then she blanched and said, "But Hollis! Why isn't she here?"

The other two exchanged grim looks before Finn said sadly, "Oh, Izzy, we wanted to wait for her so badly...but she was at the market when Zeph and Arthur came...there just wasn't any time."

But Isobel had gone white.

"They'll use the Cruciatus. Or Veritaserum. The Prewetts won't be able to cover this up and the Union will stop at nothing to find out how it happened! Maybe Hollis doesn't know what happened, but the Union will never believe it. How could you have just left her there to fend for herself, you thickheads? Of all the scummy, desperate - "

"Isobel!"

She whipped around, fire dancing in her eyes.

Zephyrine was standing there, cutlery in one hand, her wand in the other, staring right back at her. "That's enough. Don't you have any idea what Finn and Evelyn have been through in the past few days? They've been worried sick about her. But if Gideon and Fabian's parents are anything like what they've told me, they'll not breathe a word of this to anyone. Now please calm down, you're upsetting Percy."

Sure enough, at that precise moment, a ginger-haired boy of four looked around from behind Zephyrine's robes, his tiny glasses askew and his thumb set firmly in his mouth. It took Isobel a moment to realize that, when Charlie had opened the door, he had admitted the children living at the Den, most notably his five nephews. She could see Finn and Evelyn looking at them with interest.

A pair of twins and a small black girl, slightly younger than Percy, ran around in the middle of the room, giggling as Leila made the false wands in their hands turn into rubber chickens; Lovell sat with a young boy who could only be her son on her lap, shooting sparks from her wand for his amusement; Amelia was bouncing a baby girl with a tuft of brown hair on her lap; a boy of around seven was whooping with delight as a girl his own age screwed up her face in concentration and then produced flaming red hair and freckles to match his, as a slightly older boy looked on with mild interest; the girl called Mila sat in the corner, peeling potatoes and looking mutinous.

She barely looked up when Leila joined her.

"Rubber chicken?" she offered, smiling hopefully.

Mila didn't answer.

Leila set the chicken down on the floor beside the potato peelings and said, more seriously, "Look, Miley, I know you're annoyed, but Andy's only concerned for your safety."

"Seems to me she just wants me to stay out of the way while she has all the fun."

"You know that's not the way it is."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes."

"I'm not so sure. The way I see it, she's wishing I never walked into her life in the first place. She wishes I'd just go back to Melrosa and get out of her life."

"Mila! That's a terrible thing to say!"

She had stopped peeling, and Leila could see the tears threatening to spill and she said shakily, "She never used to be so angry all the time. She used to laugh with me for hours and let me do anything I wanted. She was like part sister, part mother."

"She still is, Mila! The difference is that there's a full-out war threatening to break out and - "

But Mila wasn't listening. She carried on. "Nym's the age I was when Andy found me. I bet she wishes it were just her, so she wouldn't have to deal with me. Everyone thinks I'm stupid, but I'm not. I know I'm just some stray Andy picked up to clear her conscience."

"Mila."

She looked up abruptly, as though just realizing Leila was there. The laugh lines that seemed to be etched permanently into her face had turned into a frown. Mila had never seen her like this. It didn't suit her.

Leila stood up. She bit her lip and looked around. Without her to entertain and look after them, the twins had managed to topple over a cauldron that had been simmering on the stove. Scalding hot stew was spreading across the kitchen floor and Molly was looking rather harassed as everyone hurried to help her vanish it. No one was paying them the least bit of attention.

"Come with me," she said, and pulled her through a side door.

The room that they found themselves in was one of the many spare bedrooms. Leila locked the door sat down on the small bed next to Mila, who was sobbing quietly into her hands.

"Now you listen to me. Andromeda and Ted love you more than even I can comprehend," she was speaking more softly than before. "What Andy did for you is probably the most selfless thing she's ever done, so don't you for one minute think it had anything to do with her guilt."

Leila put her arm around Mila and whispered, "How could you ever think you were unwanted? Every single one of us loves you. You were our first baby, our first real thing to live for. Don't throw that away, Miley. Not for anything."

There was a moment where nothing could be heard but the muffled shouts coming from the kitchen and Mila's dry sobs. Then she straightened up, her eyes bloodshot.

"Take me with you."

"What?"

"When you leave next week. I want to help."

Leila was flabbergasted. "How did you - ?"

"I lifted the sound-proof charm on the door," Mila waved her away impatiently, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, "I need to prove to Andy that I can take on this stuff."

"Mila, I can't."

"Why not? You just gave me my cause to fight. I'm coming with you, whether you like it or not."

"No way."

"Yes! I'm just like you, Leila - the last time I was seen in public was when I was a baby - "

"You were six!"

"Same difference. I don't look a thing like I did then. Remember how I was blonde?"

"You're still blonde."

"Ginger."

"Blonde."

"Ginger."

"Why are we even discussing this? You're not coming with me!"

"Yes, I am!"

"No. Andy would murder me."

"What if you get murdered along the way? You're going to need backup."

"If I needed backup, I would ask someone who's of age."

Mila stamped her foot on the floor and said, "Why is it so important that I'm of age!? People would never suspect you if you were with an underage witch. And if we need to Apparate, you can just use Side-Along!"

"We're both muggleborn. Blood registration papers, Mila."

"You have fake ones. Just say I'm your slave or something. I've got the disguise ready-made."

Leila opened her mouth to argue, and then closed it. Her eyes flickered to Mila's left forearm, then back to her stubborn face. She was not going to back down.

"If you die along the way, I'll kill you."