A/N: Sequel to Of Wolves and Men. Things will be very different from its predecessor. It will certainly get dark, so if you just wanted a love story, you should stop here. I certainly hope you read on though. I promise it's worth it!
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Chapter 1: Of the Order of the Phoenix
There was a slight chill in the air. An eerie haze settled on the silent wizarding village streets, yellow street lights glowing above. One flickered slightly with a dull hum before retaining its constant note. There was a chirp of a cricket somewhere in grass, or perhaps in the bushes.
In one property's lawn in particular, there was a tall oak tree full and green. Though from below, only branches and leaves could be seen, invisible above crouched two dark-haired figures, both armed and at the ready. The young man let out a slow breath through his nostrils, as if to release the tension in limbs. The woman shot him a look from the corner of her eye briefly before looking back to the doorstep below.
She was barely breathing. Her legs were sore and stiff from being in this tree. Glancing at her watch quickly, it read 00:14 - they'd been there for two hours already. She wanted to groan with anxiety, but she kept her mouth shut, biting her lip painfully to distract her from the tingling in her toes. Her partner also looked ready to simply fall from the tree with impatience, but they remained steadfast, waiting, waiting.
The young woman mused that perhaps the darkness of night could absorb time. Perhaps in these invisible hours, the world stilled, and they with it. Perhaps, like light, the passing of time could be sucked into this dark corner of the world and even reversed. Perhaps they hadn't been there at all.
Her mind stopped. There was a flicker somewhere in the shadows. A rabbit again? No, this was different. This was what they'd been anticipating. She knew it.
Finally, a series of inky tendrils slithered out from the darkness into the yellow light of the porch, and the young woman gripped her wand, throat tight. Her breath seemed to leave her as three dark figures solidified beneath them, faces clad in silver masks, which glinted in the dim light. The woman looked to her partner, who was armed as well. They gave a brief nod to each, lips tightening and then turned, wands extended en guarde.
"Stupefy!" they both cast in unison, hitting two out of the three hooded figures in the chest with beams of red light, knocking them unconscious. The third shouted out in surprise and looked around wildly for the source of the hexes, spotting James and Rowan in the tree above. He snarled in anger.
"Avada-" he started but was cut short by another red light, hitting him square in the back with a grunt. As he fell to the ground, the pair leapt from the tree quickly, sprinting towards the three fallen Death Eaters with their wands still drawn.
The woman reached them first, quickly grabbing the wrists of the first man as she wordlessly conjured up a series of heavy ropes, which wound quickly around the dark wizard's waist and wrists. She tied the knot tightly as the man stood at the ready in front of her, eyes scanning quickly over their surroundings in case of any additional enemies hiding in the darkness. As she was moving to tie the next one, two older red-haired men appeared from the bushes, Disillusionment Charms fading. One was tall and thin with a long face and nose, and the other was shorter with a square face and bright brown eyes. The taller man also kept his wand out and armed.
"Good work, you two," the shorter man said, nodding to the younger pair. He squatted down to remove the mask of the first one as the young woman tied up the last. "Well, I'll be damned," he breathed, chuckling darkly without humor. "Arthur, it's good ol' Victor Crabbe."
The taller man nodded but kept his eyes facing toward the darkness. "I imagine one of the other two will be Grayson Goyle, then," he said quietly.
The shorter man removed the mask from the second. "Quite right," he confirmed. "About time we caught these two. I can't imagine Lucius Malfoy would lower himself to do a sloppy hit like this, but…" He moved to the third.
But just as he was about to remove the remaining mask, the woman saw a glint in the darkness and tackled him to the ground.
"Get down!" she shouted, as a beam of green light shot from the darkness and hit the door above them, just where his head had been.
In a surge of adrenaline, she grabbed the older man and threw him into the bushes with her, scrambling up to join the battle again. Another two Death Eaters had emerged from the darkness and were dueling viciously with her partner and the man called Arthur. One finally landed a lucky shot, hitting Arthur in the chest with a flash of red light. He fell to the ground unconscious.
"Arthur!" the other older man shouted, running to his fallen comrade's side.
"No, Gideon!" she called out after him, but in her distraction, the Death Eater broke through the front door of the house in a billow of black robes and smoke, and she took off after him, throwing hexes at him but narrowly missing every time.
"Shit, shit, shit!" she cursed at herself, breathing harshly. She had to stop him. Why couldn't she land a single hit?
He tore up the stairs toward the master bedroom, wand drawn and panting, and Rowan was throwing hexes erratically in panic. But just as he burst through the door, he found himself staring down the end of a wand.
"Stupefy!" And in a flash of red light, he was down for the count.
She reached the bedroom just in time to see the Death Eater collapse to the ground and looked up, panting, to see a tall young man with light hair and a scarred face. He was glaring down at the masked man, wand still drawn. A pretty brunette woman with piercing blue eyes was positioned behind him, wand armed. She pushed past him quickly, conjuring ropes the same way the dark-haired woman had and tied him tightly.
The woman lowered her wand and felt as if she might throw up from the sudden relief before rushing into the arms of the light-haired man. He wrapped his arms around her tightly for a moment before pulling back to look at her, holding her by the shoulders.
"Are you okay?" he whispered frantically. "Is everyone safe?"
She nodded. "Yeah, we're all okay. Arthur got hit by a Stunner, but he's all right I think. That's how this one got in," she said quickly, gesturing down to the man at their feet.
The young man let out a shaky breath before turning back to their friend. "I got this, Mina," he said, pointing his wand at the dark form and levitating his heavy body up. The smaller woman moved forward to hug Mina quickly before they ran down the stairs together, their friend following with the floating captive.
When they got outside, they saw that Arthur had been revived, still sitting on the ground in a slight daze, and the other three unconscious enemies were still tied up together. The one young man had been dueling, however, was missing.
"Last one got away," he said angrily. "Took off when he heard his partner get taken down. Coward," he spat. He kicked one of the masked men in frustration, and he grunted unconsciously with pain.
"You okay, Arthur?" Mina asked the taller man.
He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry about that. Slipped up there, I did," he said apologetically and got to his feet slowly. "Got damn lucky though," he added darkly. He seemed quite shaken at his close brush with death.
Gideon Prewett clapped him on the back. "Well, another day, another fight. Eh, Weasley?" he said jovially, though the relief on his face was apparent. "Let's head over to the Ministry to turn these bastards in, and then we'll go back to Headquarters to make our report to Dumbledore. I think Molly said she'd be waiting with dinner for us. I imagine the MacDougals will also be waiting."
The four men each grabbed a Death Eater, hauling them up by the ropes around their waists. The dark-haired woman looked up at the man with the scarred jaw, snaking her arm in his and smiling up at him thinly, the stress of the mission still tight in her spine. He looked down at her with a fierce heat, and they all Disapparated on the spot.
"So it turns out the Death Eaters we got tonight were Victor Crabbe, Grayson Goyle, Tenebrus Macmillan, and Thorfinn Rowle," said Gideon as he sat down at the table at the Order of the Phoenix Headquarters. "No Malfoy again," he added disappointedly.
"Well, he's not one to get his hands dirty," said Remus bitterly. "Plays it safe, that one."
The four younger members had been eating Molly Weasley's excellent stew and talking quietly as they waited for the older man to return from reporting their mission's results to Dumbledore. Arthur Weasley was icing a bump on the back of his head while eating a bar of chocolate. His wife was darting around him worriedly, placing a hot mug of tea in front of him. Every so often she'd come over and check the welt on his head and seemed unable to keep her hands from touching his face. Rowan was reminded of Remus' mother and sympathized with the older woman – it must have been heart wrenching for her to stay behind while her husband went out to fight.
"And the Macdougals?" Mina asked.
"Kingsley, Sirius, Peter, and Lily should be tucking them into bed as we speak," Gideon said warmly. "It's lucky that they came to us in time," he added more seriously.
The people around the table nodded gravely but were interrupted when the door to the kitchen swung open, and a flash of red hair swept in. Lily Evans burst in and threw herself into James' arms, which he wrapped around her waist tightly. The two held each other for a moment before Lily pulled away.
"Are you okay?" she whispered, eyes scanning over his face wildly.
He smiled reassuringly. "Yes, darling, I'm okay. Everyone's okay," he murmured quietly.
She settled in to the seat next to him, arm still wrapped around James' waist, as Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew appeared in the doorway, smiling exasperatedly.
"I told you he'd be fine, Lil. James' head is too thick to do any damage to it," Sirius joked. She glared at him but said nothing, turning back to her boyfriend and gripping his arm tightly.
"You guys got the Macdougals back in their home?" Remus asked, looking at the two men.
Peter nodded. "Yeah, they send their thanks," he said.
He and Sirius slipped into the seats next to Mina. Sirius' eyes scanned over her quickly. She smiled quietly at him and rubbed his hand reassuringly, and he seemed to take it as a sign that she was all right, draping an arm around her shoulders and smiling broadly in relief.
"Where's Kingsley?" Arthur asked.
"Went to go give our report to Dumbledore. He sends his regards," Sirius replied. He sighed. "Damn, I hope I can be half as cool as that guy someday. The man is like the definition of strong and silent."
Rowan snorted. "Sirius, I don't think you've ever been 'silent' in your entire life," she said. Their friends laughed at his dramatic wounded look.
"So when is Dumbledore giving us our next assignment?" Remus asked Gideon.
He shrugged. "Not sure," he said, "Though I imagine it won't be until next week's meeting at least. Don't worry about it too much."
The younger members finished their dinners and thanked Molly for the stew, a few hugging her affectionately. Turning to say goodbye to the Weasley-Prewett family, they each moved for the door. Remus and Rowan were the last to exit.
He grabbed her hand, tangling his fingers in hers. "Stay with me tonight?" he asked quietly.
She smiled gently and squeezed his hand reassuringly, reading the anxious look in his face. "Yeah," she replied. He smiled in relief and led them out the door after their friends. As they hit pavement, Rowan felt herself being sucked into the void, fingers still laced with Remus'.