The Necromancer Amulet

Author's Notes: Thanks so much to my two excellent beta readers Beulah Page (from perfectimagination.co.uk) and kitkatkitty7!!!

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Chapter Twenty-Three - A New Member of the Order

One week before the end of term, Secessa attended her first meeting with the Order of the Phoenix.

As Dumbledore had provided her with a Portkey to get to the meeting, she had no idea where she was when she landed with a thud, dressed in a Muggle coat borrowed from Professor McGonagall's wardrobe, between two houses on a deserted Muggle Street. She carefully read the note that The Headmaster had given her ("The Headquarters of The Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place"), and suddenly a decrepit old house with an unkempt lawn appeared in front of her. The note crumbled into dust. Wrinkling her nose slightly in disgust at the smells from the littered garden, she walked up to the battered door, and tapped it with her wand, like Dumbledore had told her to. It swung open, and she entered the dark house with a sense of foreboding.

The hallway gave an even worse appearance than the outside, which made her wonder how long the house had been abandoned before the Order found it. Solemn wizards and witches in blackening portraits covered the walls of peeling wallpaper, and to her right hung a row of stuffed house-elf heads on plaques. Charming, she thought wryly as she passed through the hallway quietly, as directed, noticing the snake-shaped ornaments on the furniture. And they're proud of their Slytherin descent, too. She was impressed by the trolls-bone umbrella stand, however, as she found it rather inventive.

At the same time as she arrived at the far end of the hall, the door there opened, and a rosy-cheeked, red-haired woman appeared, smiling at the sight of her and taking her hand. "I'm Molly, dear," she whispered warmly, "Molly Weasley." She led Secessa through the door, closed it quietly behind them, and then led the way down a flight of narrow stone steps and through another door, which led to a cavernous room built out of stone. It was a large kitchen, seemingly in much better shape than the rest of the house, and a large fire crackled in the fireplace built into the far-end wall.

The kitchen table was full of people, who seemed to suddenly have silenced at the sight of the new guest.

"You teach two of my children, Ronald and Ginevra," Molly Weasley continued, seemingly oblivious of the silence.

"Yes," Secessa agreed absent-mindedly as she eyed the people around the table. Some were extremely scruffy-looking, while others seemed to know how to keep themselves presentable. She also recognised two of them: a black man and a girl with bright blue hair; they had guarded the Hogwarts grounds occasionally.

Suddenly, an arm hooked underneath hers, and Mrs Weasley led her around the room.

"This is Secessa Laburova," she declared genially. "Meet Remus Lupin -" (Secessa shook hands with an ill-looking, shabby wizard) "- Mundungus Fletcher -" (she tried to minimise the time of contact; his hands were practically black and he was wearing a pile of rags) "- Nymphadora Tonks -" ("It's Tonks," said the blue-haired girl) "- Kingsley Shacklebolt -" (the black man's handshake almost crushed her hand, but he looked kind enough) "- My husband, Arthur..."

Secessa frantically repeated the names to herself as she was shoved around, but she could not keep track of them all, and she realised that she was in for a hard evening. As they approached the last table occupant, the kitchen door opened and person after person entered within brief intervals, some of them walking up to her and shaking her hand before joining the conversation around the table. Nausea filled her at the sight of so many new faces, and she quickly backed away, unnoticed, to the outskirts of the now happily chatting crowd.

She was pretending to study a painting of a softly snoring wizard dressed in green and silver, when Snape walked in through the door. Her stomach lurched uncomfortably at the sight of him, like it had done every day since their little 'chat'. Dumbledore followed, and all faces turned their way. Their arrivals brought sombreness to the room. Dumbledore was kindly offered a chair at the table by Arthur Weasley, the crowd silenced and the meeting began.

Snape, like her, stood by the wall, and gave her a brief, acknowledging glance as he surveyed the room. She tried to look calm and unconcerned, and decided to be as brief with him as possible. It surprised her to see that his gaze paused on Remus Lupin, to give him a look of pure loathing; at this, she wondered dryly if perhaps Lupin was a half-blood, like Hywel. Then, the moment was gone, and Snape's attention fixed on Dumbledore.

The meeting lasted for a bit over an hour. Most of the people present had reports to present, and although she found some of them a bit hard to follow, Secessa soon got a grasp of the Dark Lord's advances.

Bellatrix Lestrange had spilled the location of Lord Voldemort's Headquarters under the influence of Veritaserum, but when the Ministry Aurors arrived at the house, it was deserted. She had also informed them that Lord Voldemort was planning an attack at the Ministry, but that he was waiting for reinforcements.

Wizards controlled by Imperious Curses most likely infiltrated the Ministry of Magic, and there was a feeling of unrest on the streets of wizarding London. Rumours of an upcoming war were spreading. Why the every-day killings of Muggles and Muggle-borns had ceased, no one knew; possibly the failed attack at Hogwarts had caused a temporary halt in the Dark Lord's plans, even though hardly any Death Eaters had been captured at the time. As of yet, few Order members had been killed, but many of them had spent time in St. Mungo's and they all knew it was only a matter of time before someone made a small, costly mistake.

Snape's report was by far the most interesting: several Death Eaters were missing, and were probably off on missions, possibly recruiting more followers. Some of them were definitely still in Russia. At his words, several eyes turned in her direction, and she was embarrassed to say that she had no knowledge of the Dark Lord's dealings in Russia. Shacklebolt immediately suggested that she should investigate further into this, and she reluctantly agreed.

Then, the attention swept away from her as Arthur Weasley brought up some more Ministry issues, and she sighed with relief.

Finally, the meeting was brought to a close, and the people seated rose from the table. Right away, a small crowd formed around Snape, barraging him with quiet questions. He seemed quite satisfied with the situation, and even sent a glance her way to make sure she watched. Is it for the attention you do this, I wonder, she thought with some spite as she studied him briefly, before making for the door.

She did not get very far, however.

"Aren't you staying for dinner, dear?" asked Molly Weasley and looked slightly disappointed from where she now stood by the stove, kitchen utensils dancing about around her.

"Well, ehm..." began Secessa, as people streamed by her, saying their farewells.

"There's no trouble at all," continued Mrs Weasley persuasively. "There's a whole bunch of people staying: Remus, Tonks, Mundungus...."

The dinner guests quickly picked up on the situation, and suddenly, four pairs of eyes watched her instead of one.

"We would enjoy your company," said Lupin, looking at her kindly.

"It's Sunday night, remember?" Tonks added cheerfully. "No one will even know you're gone. Of course you're staying!"

"Well, I suppose -"

"Excellent!" said Arthur Weasley as he closed the kitchen door. "You've met our son, Bill, haven't you?"

A man of the rugged kind with a ponytail and an earring grinned at her and shook her hand. "We met briefly," he said, "but I was kinda late for the meeting, so..."

"They have you working too hard at Gringotts," said his mother, charming some chopped vegetables into a large pot while stirring another. "Can't you have a word with them, Arthur? Perhaps someone over at Goblin relations could be of help?"

The man called Bill blushed. "Really, mum, there's no need..."

"It's his trainee," whispered Tonks into Secessa's ear. "She's part veela."

Secessa smiled a little and Lupin seemed amused.

"Are you sure?" Mrs Weasley asked her son. "It won't be a problem, will it Arthur?"

"I think he'll be fine, dear," said Mr Weasley with a wink at Bill. "Now, can anyone help me with the plates?"

The dinner turned out to be a nice affair, and the food was very good indeed. With the exception of Fletcher, who seemed intent on filling the kitchen with sickening smoke from his pipe as soon as he had noisily devoured his food with his mouth half-open, the Order members were a pleasant bunch. After reminding herself of the fact that she was far away from Hogwarts and all her troubles there, Secessa soon relaxed enough to be able to put a few words into the conversation. Remus Lupin turned out to be quite an amiable fellow, despite his shabby looks, and when she found out that he had taught at Hogwarts, she was more than happy to talk to him.

"But why did you stop?" she asked him when they had finished an animated discussion over the best way of tackling banshees. "It seems like you did quite a good job."

The table silenced at her words, and she was surprised at how uncomfortable everyone looked.

Lupin gazed down at his plate. "I suppose it is best that you know," he said quietly, "now that we're working together." He paused briefly. "I'm a werewolf."

She was paralysed for a moment, and her knife and fork stopped in mid-motion. Everyone watched her intently. So that's why he looks so ill! For a second, she did not know what to say, and she fought an initial reaction of disgust; it was crucial that she did not show any feeling of the kind. She tried to look on the issue for a different angle. It had to be horrible to be a werewolf: they were absolutely despised, at least in Russia, and she had no reason to believe that English people were differently inclined. Vladimir had had to stay out of people's way, hadn't he? And hadn't Snape (which was simply awful of him!) given her friend some very nasty looks? The final thought brought the right words to her mouth.

"It's a shame about the prejudice thing," she said to Lupin, with feeling. "I guess some people will never find out how pleasant you are to talk to."

A smile literally lit up his face from within.

"More potatoes, dear," asked Molly Weasley with a beaming smile as she held out a bowl, and everyone around the table seemed extremely relieved. And Secessa sighed inwardly, too.

The rest of the dinner flew by, and suddenly, Secessa found herself giving her thanks to Molly Weasley, after which Remus Lupin offered to follow her to the door. A dirty, pitiful excuse for a house-elf crept along the hall as they passed though it. She stared at it as it crawled up the stairs and opened one of the doors on the landing. "Whose house is this, anyway?" she whispered.

"It belonged...to a friend of mine," Lupin murmured, his eyes very sad. "He died...while working for the Order."

"I'm sorry," she said, but her words felt terribly inadequate. "I lost a friend recently, too." Feeling a familiar tightening of her throat, she hurriedly changed the subject. "Isn't the house-elf a liability?"

"He was once, but he isn't anymore. He can't leave the house, and Dumbledore put a Silencing Charm on him, just in case."

There was a pause, and Lupin looked uncomfortable. "Perhaps we should go outside," he said. She nodded, and quickly walked up to the door.

Outside, on the porch, they looked at each other in semi-embarrassed silence, and Secessa was about to stretch out her hand to say goodbye when Lupin spoke suddenly.

"Look, Secessa. I noticed from the way you speak about Hogwarts that you don't feel entirely comfortable there. If there's anything I can do...?"

She smiled. "Well, my problems so far have mostly concerned Severus Snape, and considering the look he gave you inside, I don't think you can help me. His prejudice must be hard to deal with."

Lupin eyed her seriously. "There is more to his dislike than prejudice, I'm afraid," he said quietly. "We were in the same year at school and Severus still carries a grudge for some things that happened then."

She watched him with great curiosity. "You know, you're the second person I've met who knew Severus Snape in school. But the other man told me a different story; he said Snape was full of animosity towards anyone he considered of lesser blood, and cursed people quite readily."

Lupin smiled vaguely. "Really, and who was this?"

"He was called Evander Hywel."

"Ah yes, I knew him. I supposed he didn't tell you that Snape and he were rivals in Potions class for Professor Dillon's attention. Hywel never got over the fact that Snape was better than him, and used to sabotage his potions whenever he got the opportunity."

"He seems to have forgotten to mention that," she said, raising an eyebrow. "I'm very surprised to hear it. Are you sure about this?"

The Muggle street before them was very quiet, and Lupin studied a rat attacking a dustbin for a while before he spoke again.

"Quite sure, I'm afraid. The truth is that not many people treated Snape nicely during his school years. And Evander Hywel was no exception. Some might say Snape deserved it, because he practically reeked of the Dark Arts and cursed people, including us, quite readily, as you said. But I sometimes wonder whether things would have turned out as bad for him had we not treated him the way we did. Maybe he wouldn't have turned to the people he did, had he not felt all that anger."

"But he admired them," she protested, almost angrily. "Hywel told me he was especially proud of his connection with Bellatrix Lestrange, and she's a foul, evil..." Suddenly she couldn't find words, as a lump grew in her throat again, and she looked away. I miss Elena so much! she thought in anguish. How am I supposed to get over this?

"He was young," said Lupin lightly. "We all were. That was twenty years ago, and a lot of things have changed since then."

At loss for words, she watched the rat drag some rubbish from a now overturned bin.

"I should leave now," she finally managed to say, feeling very confused, and ashamed over how readily she had judged Snape due to some malicious words from a charming stranger. As she looked up at Lupin, she saw that he studied her with somewhat plaintive interest.

"It was truly nice to meet you, Remus," she said. "And I'm sorry I brought this up."

"Don't worry about it," he replied, now smiling kindly as he shook her hand. "I will see you at the next meeting."

Opening the door with one hand, he gave her one last, vague smile before returning inside. With somewhat fumbling hands, she searched her robes pocket for her Portkey, and the instant her fingers grabbed it she was transported away from the littered lawn with a sharp jerk. As she landed softly on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, Lupin's sad eyes were still ingrained on her vision, and not even the mellow torchlight meeting her as she stepped into the Entrance Hall could chase the image away.

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Author notes: Thanks for reading!!! Oh, and please review - I appreciate any comment you might have!!!