Year Five: The Order of the Phoenix
Darkness is rising as Marie's fifth year approaches. The Ministry is interfering at Hogwarts and is represented by a new breed of vile known as Dolores Jane Umbridge. Determined to learn proper magic, Dumbledore's Army is formed in secret. All the while, Marie must quickly learn how to walk the fine grey line between the Dark and Light or else she may be her own undoing...
Chapter One-Training at Spinner's End
The summer holiday before Marie's fifth year was not exactly what most people would consider typical for a girl her age. Then again, she wasn't exactly a normal girl to begin with, but even for a witch, her summer activities were outside the norm.
For one, she hardly spent any time at the Manor where she lived with the Malfoy family, as they officially took her in after the trauma of losing her guardian just before her third year. Her relationship with her foster family was pleasant and cordial, if a little stiff when she was interacting with Lucius Malfoy. There was an air of discomfort due to the end of last year when he had simply stood back while she was held captive as the Dark Lord Voldemort rose to his proper form and power once more. Lucius did nothing and wouldn't look at the girl when she was held to the statue against her will, seriously hurting herself as she fought to break free. He, along with the other Death Eaters who were present that night, were now well aware of her connection to Harry Potter. To say the least, it made every day niceties a little awkward around the house.
For two, when she was away from the grand home, she was lying about her destination. They all believed that she was working full time at Madame Malkin's Robes for All Occasions from morning until night when in reality, she had yet to work a single shift that summer. There was no reason for them to doubt what she said, she had been working at the shop for years even before starting at Hogwarts. Due to her history with the shop, Madame Malkin was sure to excuse her absence if anyone asked for her or if the Malfoys passed through. It was her perfect cover.
Marie's day consisted of waking up before anyone else in the house, packing her bag with her needed supplies and a change of clothes before using the Floo Network to travel to the robe shop, just to be safe in case anyone heard her call out her destination. Once she had arrived in the empty shop, she would change to her new type of uniform of all black. She didn't realize how much she disliked wearing the solid color all over but it was a necessity that she understood. At least there was some flexibility from wearing simply a shirt and pants, and she could alter it to fit her style more with dark tights and a dark skirt. When she was ready, she would step back into the large fireplace and call out her desired location.
House sixteen of Spinner's End, located in the foggy town of Cokeworth, England.
After learning from her first visit, she was sure to mind her head as she stepped out of the fireplace and into the small sitting room. The sight was always the same and she was becoming quite fond of the growing familiarity. Severus Snape would be sitting in his arm chair with the recent copy of the Daily Prophet and a cup of tea that was still steaming on the small side table.
"Good morning, professor," she would tell him brightly every morning.
"Good morning, Marie," he'd respond in his normal drawl. She would smile and then they would get to work.
Marie honestly didn't know what went into being a double agent, the role she agreed to take on at the close of her fourth year. She was to follow in Snape's footsteps in order to help gather information for Dumbledore to bring down Voldemort. The Headmaster believed that the role was within her ability and she truly wanted to help defeat the Dark Lord. In order to be convincing to the dark wizard and his followers, she needed to learn how to act and also how to gather information on the sly.
For the first week, she remembered that Snape had her perfect walking. Walking. Apparently her typical stride was too noisy, to her surprise. She had to be light on her feet with a type of gliding grace so that she could ghost in and out of any kind of room or situation without drawing attention to herself. She spent ages studying her teacher and trying to replicate the silence. Four years as his student and she never noticed that his footsteps didn't seem to make a sound. It was almost eerie, actually. Once she had mastered the lesson to his satisfaction (which took quite some time, she might add) he then moved on to the next aspect.
She needed to blend with her surroundings, thus the lack of attention worthy colors, and remain as anonymous as possible. The black would allow her to fade into the background and it helped that she had dark hair and bangs. Marie learned that she could use certain lighting and angles so to shadow her face further without using her cloak's hood. She needed to be able to disappear in plain sight, informed Snape. It was a skill that she needed up her sleeve with their type of work.
When the girl had learned the basic skills her teacher would test her and they would venture outside. The streets of Cokeworth, and especially Spinner's End, were thick with mist and fog at almost all times. Snape would critique her movements and correct any and every mistake she made as soon as she made them. It was frustrating, to say the least. If she made the slightest scuff of noise, he would reprimand her on the spot and her face would burn with embarrassment as she did her best to correct herself.
Slowly but surely, and with much practice at home on her own, Marie was able to master to the phantom walk to her professor's standard. It was easier to work the angles of her hair, body, and shadows to her advantage in order to hide herself as she listened in on conversations. Severus would test her skills by sending her into pubs and other public places to gather any information and to see how long see could go without being noticed by the staff or a patron. Her best time had been just over an hour before a staff member noticed that she hadn't ordered a single thing. She was very excited with the result and Snape even gave a slight smile in return.
Due to her improvement as well as her status as his understudy, Marie shadowed Snape everywhere and that meant quite a lot of side along Apparation. They walked the crooked paths of Knockturn Alley, spoke to very shady people with unsavory connections and turned up pieces of useful information. When they had news they needed to deliver they would then head to number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London to pass their knowledge along. This would be a reward to the girl as it meant they had to go and report to the Order of the Phoenix.
The Order of the Phoenix was a secret organization that was founded by Dumbledore the first time Voldemort rose to power so to fight back in the dark times. They were currently rebuilding the Order and trying to recruit members as they spread the word about You-Know-Who being back. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, was smearing the name of anyone who dared to speak up in belief of the Dark Lord's return, especially Dumbledore. It made the task more difficult than necessary.
The best part of reporting was that Marie had the chance to meet some of the members which did include Remus Lupin, her former caretaker. It was a real treat for her to see him for herself and make sure that he was all right, if a bit more grey than usual. She also met the real Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody as well as a spunky Metamorphmagus named Nymphadora Tonks, whom she liked quite a bit. The Weasleys also seemed to be a permenant fixture at the headquarters which was a bright and vibrant change of pace. Molly Weasley was always very nice to her and Marie did her best to help out when she could. As Grimmauld Place was left to the last remaining Black, it also meant that she got to visit with Sirius, however briefly. Whenever Sirius tried to chat with her after the meetings, Snape would always appear beside her, arm tightly around her shoulder as he steered her away and they would leave, never staying for dinner.
They would Apparate back to Spinner's End and return to her mentor's home. If they had finished earlier than usual and Snape said that the lessons were done for the day, Marie would offer to stay and cook. She was usually starving by that point as they rarely stopped for food in the middle of the day. The Potions master neither agreed nor declined her offer and she took the liberty of making up something from the limited supply. The kitchen, much like the rest of the house, was very minimal as the professor only resided there during the summer holiday. Afterwards they would eat quietly in the cramped sitting room, surrounded by the walls of books as they ate. Severus is his arm chair and Marie curled up on the threadbare couch, both occupied with a book of some sort.
It was the routine of her summer and, in a way, she enjoyed it.
When August rolled around, Marie was assigned her very first task. Snape had taken her aside after an Order meeting to discuss the details with her to be sure that she could handle it (she was too young to sit in on the meetings herself). She was to go to Harry Potter's residence in Little Whinging and make sure that he was secured so that the Advance Guard could come and bring him to Grimmauld Place, on her signal. Equally thrilled and nervous with the opportunity to prove herself, she accepted it without hesitation.
Two days later, she was standing before the fireplace in Snape's home, going over her instructions one last time with her teacher. She was to take the Floo Network to Arabella Figg's residence and from there, it was only a street over from house number four on Privet Drive where Harry lived with his relatives, the Dursleys. The family consisted of Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley and she was warned of their very negative attitude toward magic. So instead of wearing her dark cloak, she had donned Tess' old Auror coat over her black clothing, though it was a bit big on her. The garment was well worn and beaten, and it still carried the mysterious weight she couldn't understand, but it did blend better with the Muggle idea of fashion as it leaned toward a trench or over coat sense of style. Either way, it fell just above her knees and she had the buttons fastened and belt tied tight around her waist.
Taking a deep breath, she scooped up the Floo Powder and stepped into the fireplace.
REVIEW! (Guess who got her book in the mail a day early? Yay!) Sorry that it's a bit short and mostly narrative, but I had to get the ball rolling and don't worry, there's going to be lots of dialogue next chapter! Though I did quite like writing about Snape and Marie's bonding time, I thought it was very nice for them. And Snape's reaction to Sirius talking to her, gotta love that they still hate each other years later.
Marie gets her first task! It seems simple enough, but of course it won't play out that way. Plus, she gets to meet the Dursleys for the first time, so let me know what you think will happen! Your thoughts are lovely as always, my readers!
Next time: Dementors and the Dursleys (which is worse?)
I hope you enjoy The Order of the Phoenix!