Chapter Three

"No, my dear friends," Dumbledore rose from his chair and walked to the window looking out. "I'm afraid I have much more sinister news to discuss with the two of you tonight." He turned around and looked at them.

That night they had as some of the first joined The Order of the Phoenix and both had been prepared to do what it they had to do to fight He Who Must Not Be Named, and in the end they had both paid the price.

"I am sure you have both realized that the recent murders in our world are a part of a bigger plan." Dumbledore sat back down opposite them. "On my trips around the country I have come to discover that these murders are the work of a former student here at Hogwarts called Tom Riddle, who now calls himself Lord Voldemort."

Minerva felt a small shiver go through her body at the mention of the name, but she shook it off and continued to concentrate on what Dumbledore was telling them.

"Tom has been gathering followers since his schooldays and as far as I have discovered they call themselves Death Eaters and they mention neither his given or his taken name, they only refer to him as The Dark Lord. He is the darkest wizard I have ever had the displeasure to meet and we need to do everything in our power to stop him or the world as we know it will be destroyed." Dumbledore looked them in the eye. "Tom is dangerous and if you become his enemy you will be in mortal danger."

Minerva felt Victoria take her hand and looked over at her. She had become an expert at reading the expression in the blonde witch's eyes and nodded slightly to her in understanding. Together they faced Dumbledore again.

"What do you need from us?" Victoria asked softly.

"Lord Voldemort is gaining more and more followers," Dumbledore smiled sadly. "So I have formed a group that can fight him in a less official manner than the Ministry of Magic. It is called The Order of the Phoenix and I am asking you both to join us and fight him." He cast a short gaze at Fawkes sitting in the corner of the office. "I will think no less of either of you if you decline this invitation. People who choose to fight him will become his enemies and you have seen what can happen to people who displease him."

They looked at each other again and Minerva recognized the determination in her girlfriend's eyes and she knew that it was mirrored in her own. The only difference between them was that she was sure that fear was mingling with determination in her own eyes. She was scared for the future, but she would do what she had to do to make sure that the world again was safe from this dark wizard. Looking back at Dumbledore she opened her mouth to speak.

"We'll join the order." Was her words, short, precise and to the point.

That was how they had joined the order. It had been a pleasant meeting without drama, it had given no indications of the terrors to come. Sitting back down Minerva swung her wand again and another picture flew from the drawer into her hands. It was a picture of some of the original members of the Order, so many of them were no longer in this world. She looked down at the photo in her hands and quickly found herself and right beside her, holding her right hand, was Victoria. She moved her eyes along the row of people in the picture. Edgar Bones, he had been one of the first members of the Order, he and his entire family were killed in the first war, as were Marlene McKinnon and her family. She remembered Marlene from school, she was a Gryffindor as well, but two years older than Minerva. She had been strong, talented and brave, but she had been brutally slaughtered by You Know Who's army. Dorcas Meadowes, another powerful witch was killed by The Dark Lord himself. The Prewett brothers had gone down fighting, it had taken five Death Eaters to kill them, and now their sister had joined the new Order. She only hoped that Molly would not lose more members of her family to this war. The Weasleys had already paid a high price in the fight against He Who Must Not Be Named. Arthur was almost killed by his snake, Ronald had been poisoned and Bill attacked by Fenrir Greyback, and still they were willing to fight, still they would not stop until they were either dead or You Know Who was defeated.

She put the picture away with a sigh, so many people had died in this meaningless war. So many people still alive had lost so much because one man came into power, because no one stopped him early enough. More people would lose their lives in this fight and her heart was already bleeding for them and their families.

"Will we win this fight?" Minerva turned to face the blonde lying next to her. "Do we have the powers to fight him?"

"I…" Victoria looked at the ceiling, not wanting to meet her eyes. "I don't know, Min." She sighed. "But I do know that I couldn't live with myself if I didn't at least try."

"I know." She placed a hand on the other woman's stomach. They stayed silent for a while.

"We should get up." Victoria said, but didn't move.

"I want you to meet my parents." Minerva said out of the blue. "They've been dying to meet you."

"Yeah?" The blonde finally looked over at her.

"Yes," she nodded. "Let's go right now," she got up from the bed and picked up her clothes. "It's Sunday, we can use the floo network and be back tonight."

"Min," Victoria tried to get her attention, but didn't succeed. She jumped out of bed as well and pulled her into an embrace. "Minerva, this isn't like you."

"What isn't?" She asked into her shoulder.

"Being this impulsive." The blonde answered. "You are many wonderful things, but impulsive isn't one of them." She held her out to look her in the eyes. "This scares me as well, but we have to do it."

"I…" She felt the tears well up in her eyes. "I know." She eased back into the other woman's embrace. "I know."

They hadn't gone to meet her parents that day, but she had taken Tory to meet them the first chance she'd gotten. Her parents had loved her almost as much as Minerva did, they had seen the love shining between the two. Minerva sat back down with another sigh. Years had passed and still everything stood as clearly before her as if it had happened just yesterday. She remembered how truly happy Tory had been after meeting Minerva's parents, how surprised she was to be accepted at face value, how she wanted to adopt them as her own. She smiled sadly, knowing that Tory would never know that her parents already loved her as a daughter. She had so many things she wanted to say to the blonde witch, so many words unsaid. But at least she had told her how much she loved her, at least she knew that much.

"I love you." Minerva sat in bed with the sheets covering only her legs.

"I love you too," Victoria glanced over at her. "Especially when you're posed like that." She winked at her.

"Tory," she sighed and shook her head. The blonde was going on a mission for the Order and she wanted to make sure that she knew how much she loved her.

"Min," the blonde sat down next to her. "I'm sorry." She kissed her lazily on the cheek.

"I just…" She shook her head, cursing herself for being so needy. "I just want to have you back in one piece."

"I know. And I do love you." She got up from the bed and finished dressing. "I promise to be careful." She walked towards the door. "I'll see you when I get back."

They'd been together for four years when that conversation had taken place. They hadn't even kissed goodbye. She didn't see Victoria again that night, she never saw the Victoria she knew again. She couldn't stop the tears from spilling. That night, that ordinary Thursday night, she had lost the love of her life – she had lost her reason for living.

She looked up from the book she was reading as she heard the knock on the door. She looked at her watch frowning, no one usually visited at this late hour. As she got up from the couch she felt her chest tighten with fear. No one but Victoria would come by this late and seeing how she lived there as well she wouldn't have to knock to be allowed inside. Taking a deep breath to calm herself she opened the door to be faced with Albus Dumbledore. Taking one look at his face she knew the news before he spoke.

"No," she took a step back shaking her head in denial. She followed him with her eyes as he stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. Gently he took her by the elbow escorting her to the couch sitting her down.

"She's not dead," he said gravely looking her in the eyes. "But…" He swallowed not quite able to continue.

"What happened?" She asked numbly. She could tell from his behavior that she had lost her love, but somehow the tears didn't come.

"She was captured by death eaters and put through the Crusiatius Curse." He looked away blinking his own tears away. "Moody managed to locate their location, but we got there too late." He shook his head. "She's in a bad state in Skt. Mungos now. The healers have informed me that nothing can be done for her."