The War: Chapter Seven

"I'm sorry, Sirius this just isn't going to work."

"Why not? I thought you'd enjoy it…"

"We're simply too old. We'll just end up making fools of ourselves."

"Oh Tey, you know I've never minded making a fool of myself."

"Don't call me that!"

"Sorry."

"It's a stupid idea. I mean, look, you just won't fit."

"That's why we have magic my dear."

"Stop smirking like that Sirius Black, or I'll call whole thing off. You can find someone else to cavort with."

"We're cavorting now? This is going to be more fun than I thought."

"No, it's going to be awkward and uncomfortable. I won't enjoy a moment of it."

"If you insist. I rather thought it might brighten that grim mood of yours. Everyone should have a little fun now and then."

Galatea sighed. "But why do we have to dress up as fortune tellers and run around London? It's so stupid."

Sirius handed her the letter. "It's in the orders. And we've been getting them regularly for almost thirteen years now, they can't be completely wrong."

"Well, maybe they should have more specific instructions."

"Isn't this address specific enough?"

"I don't want to go to St. James Park; it's always so crowded."

"Who's doing all the complaining now?"

She glared at him. "Fine. If this turns out to be another pointless mission, I'm never following the letters again."

Alexander White was strolling across St. James Park after his meeting, enjoying the cool London weather and thinking about the nice brunch he was going to have with Emma when he returned. Until he saw the brightly colored fortune teller's tent pitched in the middle of the field.

He frowned and hesitated a moment before making his way over to it.

"Sirius! Someone's coming. You'd better know what the hell you're doing; I never took Divination," Galatea whispered as Alexander approached.

"Relax, who knows what he wants."

Alexander stepped up to their table and nodded amiably. "Good day."

"Good day to you sir," Galatea said as mysteriously as she could. She felt ridiculous. "What can we help you with? A palm reading?"

"Actually, do you do dream interpretations?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Why of course good sir. Please, come inside." She drew back the flap to the tent.

Galatea and Alexander sat down at a table opposite Sirius, who was lurking in the shadows trying to be mysterious. I wonder if this guy is taking us seriously, Galatea thought.

"Is there anything you would like to tell the…Wizard Black about yourself? Anything unusual that you think might be of use to him?" she asked.

"Well, not really anything specific, apart from the dream. I guess I was raised pretty normally, but weird things happen to me a lot," he allowed.

Galatea shot Sirius an annoyed look at his continued silence before asking: "And what would you call a 'weird thing'?"

"Um, well last week the sprinklers in our neighborhood went off too early and I got all wet when I was out getting the paper, but by the time I had walked back to the house both the paper and I were dry, like completely dry. Stuff like that happens all the time. I've learned not to make a big deal of it because everyone else thinks it's weird."

"Interesting…" Sirius murmured sagely, getting way too into his part.

"Please, continue and tell the Wizard Black about your dream."

"Um, alright. Well I've been having this dream off and on since I was in high school. I was probably seventeen or eighteen, I can't remember. But I've had it every night for the past two weeks and I feel like it means something. First, there is a ruined castle and a big black lake. It's a quiet moonlit night and nothing moves except what I think is a big squid in the lake. Then I see many different scenes of London and it's always cold and overcast, like today. Then there is an old house with the number twelve above the door and a big black dog on the front steps. Next there is a battle, but not with any kind of weapons that I recognize. It looks like the people are fighting with jets of sparks and light. There are a lot of young people fighting and a lot of dead. After that I see a worried couple at dinner, a red-haired man and a woman with frizzy brown hair. Finally, there is a terrifying snake-like face that laughs evilly and an intense look from a pair of green eyes. I feel like they want me to do something but I don't even know if they belong to a man or a woman. And it's always the same things; there has never been anything new in the dream for thirteen years," he finished.

Galatea realized her mouth was hanging open in a very un-prophetic way. She glanced at Sirius and could see his wide eyes even in the gloom of the tent. She cleared her throat and tried to shake the look of surprise from her face.

"And what is your name, sir?"

"Alexander White."

"Oh Merlin," she whispered.

"What was that?" Alexander asked.

"Oh nothing. Is there anything you would like to ask the Wizard Black about your dream?" she questioned, trying to shift the responsibility to Sirius so she could come up with a plan.

"I'd like to know if this dream means I need to do anything in particular. I mean, I'm here in London, which I've seen in my dream. Is that house with the number twelve in London? Should I go there?"

Jackpot! She hoped Sirius was thinking the same thing.

Sirius went into a trance, or what she assumed was a trance because she had never seen one before and when he came out of it he took a quill and a scrap of parchment from the desk in the back and wrote down the address of the headquarters of the Order. He handed the paper to Alexander.

"There you will find your answers," he said softly. "It may be difficult to find, but you must not give up until you have gotten your answer."

"Thank you," Alexander whispered, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere in the tent. "How much?" he asked, getting up.

"Free of charge," Galatea replied. "It is rare we get a case this interesting. Thank you sir and good luck on your journey." She ushered him out of the tent and watched to make sure he left. He was reading the paper as he walked away.

Sirius was standing right behind her when she turned around.

"I want to know who sends those letters," he said quietly. "There's no way that was a coincidence."

Galatea nodded. "We'd better get back to headquarters so we're there when he arrives."

Sirius sat down at the table and took some more parchment from the desk.

"What are you doing?"

He scrawled a quick note on two sheets and rolled them up. Sirius got the owl they had brought with them out of its cage and tied a scroll to each of its legs before letting it out the back flap of the tent.

"I think Ron, Hermione and Ginny should be there too. C'mon, let's go."

A/N: Oooooh!