Yes the AN is long, I'm sorry. I won't have them this long in the future.
AN: (Something I didn't have in the original Chapter One, but decided that it would be good to add!) Okay, so Gambling with Fate starts roughly at the end of September. I've done TONS of research on all of this, and I don't believe that it says when Dumbledore heard the prophecy from Sybill Trelawney. I have been debating between two things: Sybill Trelawney was being interviewed to be Divination teacher, so it can be assumed that it was before the Hogwarts school year started. On the other hand, if the prophecy had been given before the school year started, wouldn't Dumbledore have decided to use the Fidelius Charm earlier. It was driving me mad, so for the sake of my sanity, I made my own choice. (Yes, it is based off of JKR's novel, but am I not given creative liberties?) I am saying that the prophecy was foretold during the first week of October in the year 1981. Feel free to correct me, but that doesn't mean that I will change it. I have come into the mindset that it was at the beginning of the month of October. Perhaps S. Trelawney only applied for the job when the old Divination teacher saw a Grim and dropped dead twenty-four hours later! Oh, wait. I think that was Ron's uncle! Oh well. Anyway, this AN is getting ridiculously long. So I'd better shut up soon or I will scare you all away!
Just a few closing remarks. If you don't like my fanfiction, don't read it! As far as I know I'm not holding a wand to your neck and brandishing it like a sharp knife (read the chapter to understand the joke *hint hint*). If you find an error (spelling, grammar, plot-line, etc.) feel free to tell me! How am I supposed to get better at this whole writing thing without the help of readers? Also, PLEASE REVIEW! I've seen TONS of hits/visitors on here, but no one is commenting. I really want your comments (and your soul *wink*). Even if they are 2 words long (though I hope that if you took time to read, that you would also take time to comment something worthwhile). I'm also open to any ideas. Obviously I am not just going to use the POV of one character, so feel free to suggest characters you want a POV from, and I will try my best! Guys, we have a full month in the life of James and Lily. Tell me what you think they would say and do. Give me ideas of what James would do if he sneaks out of the house using his Invisibility Cloak. Because I do want your opinions. If you don't have any opinions, I'm sure something will come to you later on *wink*. Okay now seriously, I'm shutting up because I'm sure this is getting EXTREMELY old! Thanksss for reading amigo!
Gambling with Fate
A Fan-Fiction
Chapter One: The Order of the Phoenix
(James POV)
I walked into the dimly-lit room with Lily. It had a red hue that was caused by the window curtains that kept prying eyes out of the room. The light in the room was coming from five or six candles that were strategically placed around the room. We weren't even two steps into the room when we were both abruptly stopped by Sturgis Podmore. He aimed his wand at my chest with a sort of wild look. I watched him evenly for a few seconds before grinning, "I expect that you have a reason for pointing a stick at me and acting as though I am a Death Eater, Sturgis." I looked over his shoulder and saw Padfoot, with his wand out, waiting for the opportune moment.
"'Course I do James. You know how things are, no one can be trusted in these times," he gave me a slight grin and looked down. He had never been the assertive type, and my humor obviously made him feel stupid. "You know the drill," he added after a few seconds.
I nodded curtly, "Yes, I was merely wondering why you seem to think I might be under the Imperious Curse when this is my home. I was in this room only minutes ago you know." I looked over at Dumbledore and saw a twinkle in his eye that was rare in these times, I was amusing him at the very least. Glancing over, I saw Lily's disapproving look. She most likely considered this a 'Snivellus' all over again.
Sturgis looked up at my last words, "How do I know that a Death Eater didn't ambush you when you were putting your son in bed?" he was becoming quickly defensive. "The Imperious Curse can easily be placed upon the unaware. You know that just as well as I!" he snarled the last sentence, and his wand burned a hole in my shirt. I jumped back as the heat directly touched my chest.
I saw Padfoot lunge at Sturgis he held his wand as though it were a knife, the tip of the wand imbedded in Sturgis's neck, waiting for it's master's command. Sturgis let out a yelp of surprise and attempted to swing his wand around and use it on Padfoot. Before he was able to do so, Moony flicked his wand lazily from where he sat on a chair in the corner. The wand flew up into the air. Everyone watched its progress toward the ground, but before it reached its destination, Dumbledore gracefully reached out and plucked it out of the air, as if it was traveling at a much slower pace than it really was.
"That is quite enough." Dumbledore's calming voice broke through the silence that had been created as everyone had watched the wand and its progress. "Sturgis, that was quite uncalled for. Sirius, Lupin, please put your wands away. Although you showed loyalty in defending James, your actions were just as harsh as the words of Sturgis." Every eye followed Dumbledore as he walked over to Sturgis, Lily, Padfoot, and I. He handed Sturgis his wand back before addressing him, "Sturgis, although it is good for all of us to be on our guard, I have placed special protective enchantments around the Potter residence tonight. There will be no need for you to question James any more than you already have." He said this extremely politely, but it was obvious that he was angry about what had transpired.
After staring at Sturgis for what seemed to be minutes, but what was only stretched out seconds, he turned and walked back over to where he had been sitting in a reclining chair that he had conjured for himself. Dumbledore sat down in the chair and laced his fingers together across his chest. He closed his eyes. He was deep in thought, and didn't seem to be getting ready to resurface from this state for some time.
Everyone who had been standing prior to Dumbledore sitting down, all found various seats that were available around the room. Lily and I took the loveseat that was directly across from the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Although everyone was agitated, no one dared to say anything or ask any questions. Everyone wanted to know why we were having a meeting. It was evident that everyone was thinking along the same lines. The expressions of the thirteen members of the Order of the Phoenix portrayed similar questions to my own. Questions such as: Who is dead now? and Is the war over? I looked at Lily. It was clear to me what question was on her mind. She wanted to know who would never be among us again. I watched as her anxious eyes went from person to person. She was doing a headcount, seeing who wasn't here that should be. I followed suite and began a headcount of my own. I finished before her and waited until she had come to a conclusion.
After about two minutes she looked at me. Confusion was etched into her flawless face. There was no one missing that wasn't expected to be. We had lost six members of the Order of the Phoenix since it was formed by Dumbledore. The entire McKinnon family had been massacred by Death Eaters. Marlene had been recruited by Dumbledore himself, a personal favor he had asked of her; to join the Order.
Probably the most gruesome death that our organization had gone through was the death of Benjy Fenwick. He was mutilated by Lord Voldemort's supporters while doing something personal for Dumbledore and the Order. Caradoc Dearborn was the only member that was yet to be found. Before the members began to be murdered, Caradoc was reported missing. Efforts were all but extinguished in the search for him.
Gideon and Fabian Prewett were both slaughtered by a group of Death Eaters that were led by Antonin Dolohov. They fought bravely for their lives, but were outnumbered in the end. The most shocking and most recent death to occur was that of Dorcas Meadowes, who was killed by Lord Voldemort himself. All of these deaths, staggered though they are, have had profound impacts on how the members of the Order of the Phoenix act, react, and trust other people.
Except now it was at the point where no one trusted each other. Even inside the close friendships that are formed when an organization like the Order has an open rebellion. Voldemort had been causing doubt in the hearts of his enemies, and the doubt was making every person who didn't happen to be Voldemort himself (and whomever his Death Eaters happened to be) decide the world was now every man for himself, which was only more convenient for him. No one knew who his supporters were, or who was working for him and who wasn't. Everyone was aware that he could control people so that they do terrible things without being able to stop themselves. Now, everyone was scared for themselves, their family, and their friends. The death toll had been rising every week; the disappearances even higher than the death toll. The Ministry was attempting to keep Muggles out of the Wizarding War, but Muggles were dying left and right as Death Eaters toyed with their victims.
Dumbledore opened his eyes, and everyone seemed to notice it at exactly the same moment. Whereas seconds before people had been deep in thought with the leader of the Order, all sixteen pairs of eyes focused on Dumbledore instead.
He looked around the room, looking at each face in turn: Lily, Wormtail, Mad-Eye, Moony, Padfoot, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Edgar Bones, Sturgis Podmore, Hagrid, Elphias Doge, Minerva McGonagall, Frank and Alice Longbottom and his own brother Aberforth. He seemed hesitant to begin, even though he had everyone's upmost attention without even asking for it. His eyes wandered to various candles that were flickering, he seemed hesitant to begin. I couldn't imagine why. Usually Dumbledore said what was on his mind, whether to get it over and done with, or because that was his nature, I had never figured out.
After a few more minutes, and several exasperated sighs from Elphias Doge, Dumbledore made eye contact with Lily and I. "First and foremost," he began, "I would like to thank James and Lily for allowing us to meet in their home. It is a great personal risk to them, and we should not take that lightly." A fleeting smile crossed his face as he said this. "Most of you, if not all of you, are most likely wondering why I asked you to come here today." He paused. I wondered if it was to add a dramatic effect, but that didn't seem like something that the Headmaster of Hogwarts would do. He drew in a deep breath before continuing, "I must ask something of Emmeline, Edgar, and Sturgis."
Once this first sentence was out, he rushed on. "Lord Voldemort has discovered the sport of hunting Mudbloods and Muggles more pleasurable as of late opposed to his regular hunting of any wizard who defies him. This leads me to believe that the attacks upon the Order of the Phoenix may be somewhat lessened if he has his Death Eaters focusing on easier prey. I have come to a theory as to why he may be doing this."
He drew another breath before rushing on at just as fast of a pace as before, if not faster. "The members of the Order of the Phoenix have done a marvelous job of defending themselves. Those who are no longer among us each took out a considerable about of Death Eaters before their time came. Both Frank and Alice Longbottom as well as James and Lily Potter have come face to face with Lord Voldemort and defied him.
"This leads me to believe that he is sustaining heavy losses from his devoted followers. Yes, there are those that are under the Imperious Curse, but amateur witches and wizards have been known to fight off this particular Unforgivable Curse over time. I believe that his forces are waveri–"
Moony stood up and began talking over Dumbledore. "Yes, yes. This is all very accurate Dumbledore. But you are talking about the witches and the wizards. There are other things besides human beings at his command. What of the giants? The other mythical creatures that he has under his power. Trolls. Werewolves. Dementors. Reports of dread and utter despair have been felt in Muggle towns all over the world. We aren't just talking about the general area. We're talking about the world. The witches and wizards he has corrupted are an extremely large number, and even if they are able to fight off the effects of the Imperious Curse, we are still left with the mythical creatures. What of them? Do we leave them be and wait for the world to be covered with dread and despair as the dementors breed off of one another? Do we sit back and let our guard partially down as werewolves bite our children? Both James and Lily as well as Frank and Alice have young children. Are we going to hang them out the window as a werewolf mutilates their corpses?" Lily shuddered at the last comment.
Dumbledore listened to all that Moony had to say. When Moony had finished asking his questions, he sat down and watched Dumbledore like a hawk. The ingenious wizard leaned back and stared back at Moony. "I was merely discussing the itches, wizards, and Muggles at that point Remus. But you bring up a valid argument. What of the giants, trolls, werewolves and dementors? Do we sit back and watch as they reek havoc throughout the world? The answer, for the time being, is yes. Though we are not exactly sitting back. We are biding our tim–"
Padfoot stood up this time, he looked more furious than Moony had, "In other words we sit back and allow Voldemort to get a leg up on us. We wait until he has better control over his forces, until he can get more loyal followers. Then we strike. We want him to be just as strong as we are, so that it is wizard against wizard. May the best win. Oh, and while we wait for him to get strong, let's go out and sit down in front of one of his hideouts. Maybe we could go on strike. Anything to make it easier for the Dark Lord to kill us like pigs going to a slaughterhou–"
Dumbledore had a spark in his eye. Not of laughter, or happiness, but of pure rage. Even with the look in his eyes, he still spoke calmly, as though no one had interrupted him, "Sirius, I realize that from your point of view–and most likely from the majority of the population in this room–I am giving in to exactly what Lord Voldemort wants. That is not the case. There is no possible way for the seventeen of us to take on all of the creatures that he has at his disposal. The dementors themselves are beginning to reproduce faster than I have ever seen. The giants and trolls however, are becoming fewer and fewer. Although it seems that most of the Wizarding world has become avid Voldemort followers, that is not the case.
There are thousands upon thousands of us in hiding, fighting against the wizards, witches, trolls, giants, dementors, and werewolves that are following Voldemort. There is a spark of hope. I suppose that if you wanted to, that you could go out and pick off giants and trolls one by one as they come across your trail. But with all the witches and wizards against Voldemort realizing that doing so is beneficial, adding seventeen other witches and wizards to the fray will not change the population of these creatures drastically. When I said that we would sit back, I meant the Order, not the entire Wizarding population." After saying all of this, Dumbledore was noticeably calmer. Everyone, even Moony and Padfoot were nodding at what Dumbledore had said. There was no denying that was he said was the truth. The only question that was left–in my mind at the very least–was what the mission would be for Emmeline, Edgar, and Sturgis.
"Er–Dumbledore?" Sturgis was holding his hand timidly in the air, like a schoolboy wanting to answer a question. Dumbledore nodded at Sturgis to continue. "What will Emmeline, Edgar, and I be doing for you? I believe you said you had something that you needed us to do?"
"Ah, yes," he nodded. "Yes, I do have something for the three of you to do. Because Voldemort seems to be taking a step back as he gets a tighter grip on his forces, I need the three of you to look into what he is doing. It may be that he is recruiting more into his tight group of what he calls his family. The true Death Eaters. He may be strengthening the Imperious Curse that he has on some of his followers that have been forced into his allegiance. Whatever it is, I need to know. It is crucial to the next move we make in this war.
"The other thing that I need you three to do is to break the Imperious Curses that he has on people wherever and whenever you can. Some will be weaker than others, attempt to free the minds of those individuals first. If the curse is so strong that there is a risk of destroying the victims mind, leave them to do Voldemort's bidding for now. It is much easier to do that than to risk losing witches and wizards who may be vital to the resistance. Do you understand?"
The three of them nodded, the understood what they needed to do. "Good," Dumbledore nodded, "then I excuse you."
We all watched as Emmeline, Edgar, and Sturgis walked out of the room. Everyone waited until they heard the front door open and close before beginning murmured conversations with one another.
I looked around aimlessly until Dumbledore once again called us to order with what started as him simply clearing his throat, but quickly changed into what could only be called a coughing fit. By the time he was over his spasm, everyone had finished their conversations and he once again had their full attention. I wondered to myself if he had purposefully had a coughing fit so that everyone had the appropriate amount of time to conclude the small conversations that they had been having with one another.
"At the close of our meeting, I would like to once again say what I said at the beginning. And that is: many a thanks to James and Lily for their hospitality. Be cautious and safe in your doings, and when we need to meet again, I will get word to each of you," he told us all, switching his gaze periodically between the fourteen of us. "That is all for now."
It seemed that everyone stood up as one. Only Dumbledore, Lily and I stayed sitting. Gradually nine of the fourteen Order of the Phoenix members that were in the room filtered out. The only people remaining were Dumbledore, Padfoot, Moony, Lily, and myself. Once the room had an eerie silence imposed upon it, Dumbledore stood up and smiled, "Well," he said, "I wish the four of you the best in these times." And with that, the most brilliant wizard I had ever met walked out of the room.
I turned my attention to Moony and Padfoot, who were both standing next to the doorway as though they had just personally escorted Dumbledore and the other witches and wizards out of the house. I grinned. Even in the dark times that were surrounding us, there was always time to spare for friends.