Of War and Conquest:
As the Dark Lord moves closer to his goal of domination over the Ministry of Magic, there are a few wizards who fight. Their fight is silent, unseen and unheard by many. They are those known as phoenixes. Members of the Order of the Phoenix, and elite wizards, sent out by Albus Dumbledore himself to fight the Dark Lord…
Austyn ran through the back alleys, his ragged breath catching in his dry throat as he stopped and listened. He could see nothing, the darkness, coupled with the unnatural mists in the air, mad it impossible to see anything beyond a few metres away. He listened; silently casting a spell to give him enhanced hearing. There! He heard them coming from what sounded like every direction, their excited breath catching as they ran after him. As one of Dumbledore's Phoenixes, he was part of an elite fighting group keeping tabs on the Dark Lord and his cronies, the Death Eaters. This relationship worked both ways however, and the Death Eaters were now chasing him. He cursed himself for getting into this situation, and continued to run.
As he ran, he compiled a list of spells that might help him escape from his present circumstances. He passed over the more flashy ones. The spells that caused loud noises and flashes of light would only get him arrested by the Ministry, and the Death Eaters would know immediately where he was. He considered waiting and springing an ambush upon them, but cast that plan aside also. Fenrir Grayback was with these Death Eaters, and he was just as likely to use his teeth and nails as his wand. Austyn finally considered drawing them out, splitting them up, and taking them out individually. This seemed a much better plan. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder and cast it into the air. As the world turned black around him, Austyn ducked into a nook, and waited for the Death Eaters to blunder past.
*
Elise was watching the scene below. As another of Dumbledore's Phoenixes, she was part of the same force as Austyn. She had been sent out on special orders; her task was to keep an eye on Austyn, as Dumbledore was concerned about his ability to stay out of danger on this particular mission. She saw him throw the instant darkness powder into the air, and concluded that he was going to ambush the Death Eaters. She wondered how she was going to save him from this; he appeared to have gotten into a rather large amount of trouble this time, and one of the Death Eaters had hit him with an anti-Disapparation jinx as he ran. She decided that the only way to act, would be to hit him with the counter jinx, and then use Side-Along Apparition to get him out of here.
While she had been distracted, the Death Eaters had run past Austyn's hiding spot. She heard shouts, confusion and panic, and lauded Austyn's ability to launch an ambush. She sighed with heart, and leapt down, using a feather-light jinx to slow her fall. As she came to rest on the ground next to Austyn, she turned and saw that he was looking back at her with resentment on his face. "I don't need a babysitter to watch me wherever I go…" he began, but he never got the chance to finish his sentence as a stunner hit him in the face, randomly fired off by Grayback. As he slumped into unconsciousness, Elise grinned like a Cheshire cat and grabbed one of his arms and pulled it over her shoulders. "You always need a babysitter" she said to his slumped form. She turned on the spot and disappeared into the crushing space of nothing.
*
As Elise and Austyn, still unconscious, appeared on the doorstep of 13 Grimmauld Place, they were greeted by Dumbledore just walking out of the door. "Elise," he said with concern, "What has happened to Austyn?"
"He forgot the part of your instructions about keeping a low profile, Headmaster, and suffered the consequences" Elise whispered, conscious of the Muggles walking along behind her on the footpath. She hefted Austyn back onto her shoulder and carried him inside, Dumbledore following, and closing the door behind him.
As she struggled into the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, she laid Austyn on the table and pointed her wand at him. "Renervate" she said, as a flash of red lit the room and Austyn regained awareness with a cough and a deep breath. "What happened?" he asked, looking around the room while sitting up. He suddenly realised that Dumbledore was in the room. And he did not look at all happy. "Headmaster," he said reverently, standing up once more, "I apologise for getting myself into this situation, and I sincerely apologise for having to be rescued." Properly bashful, he made his apology to Albus, bowing his head for emphasis. "Worry not, Austyn, for all is forgiven" the Headmaster replied.
Austyn knew what was next, the debrief. He drew a breath, but before he could begin recounting the events of his day, Albus silenced him and gestured to Elise. "I think first that thanks are in order for Elise's brave actions today. Not only did she follow you into certain danger, but she rescued you from said danger as well" Austyn bowed his head once more, this time at Elise, and drew breath to recount his actions. "Headmaster, as you well know, I left this morning to follow the actions of a small group of Death Eaters that were meeting near Subway station 29, for reasons unknown. We suspected that it would be another Muggle attack, like the ones that have occurred recently in regards to the bridge collapse and the "hurricane" in the North Country. This time though, we feared that it was going to be a large scale attack against Muggles on the subway system of London. I followed Fenrir Grayback to the meeting, and tried to cast a subtle listening charm. The charm backfired due to a fault of my own, and I was discovered. I ran from the meeting, fleeing into the back alleys of London, trying to lose my pursuers. I stopped to consider my next course of action, at which point I decided to ambush the Death Eaters by way of Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder,"
"At what point did you choose to ignore our method of communication? I developed the talking patronus charm for a reason, Austyn, and I expect you to use the spell" chided Dumbledore. "Yes, Headmaster" agreed Austyn. "Anyway, I threw up the Instant Darkness Powder and slipped into a nook I had noticed. I waited for the Death Eaters to pass me by when Elise," he gestured, "dropped down beside me. I was angry at this point, Headmaster, and I said something along the lines of 'I don't need a babysitter'. Elise smiled and I lost consciousness, awakening here. That is my account of events, Headmaster." Dumbledore looked quickly at Elise and asked if she had cast the stunning spell. She replied that she hadn't and Dumbledore seemed satisfied by this answer. He appeared lost in thought, so Elise and Austyn left the room, knowing that they would be called upon if their services were required once more.