A/N: Yet again, I do not own H.P!

Chapther 10. Owl, Cat, Phoenix, Weasel and a Scrimgeour

(The Owl)

One thought. One simple thought. Garnering aid, turning that thought into a solid idea. Making that idea into a plan, and then executing it. Executing it flawlessly. So much so that you stand back and admire your work. You're twinkling blue eyes almost hidden by the imperceptible smile that crosses over your cheeks, catching the waning light of the distant sunrise. Despite the pain, you succeeded.

But then, something happens…An unknown variable is thrown into the equation. The combined reaction causes your idea to backfire; now you're burned. Burned by your foolishness and lack of coherent maneuverings. This idea was a bad one, and this bad one is youre undoing. Why didn't you stop yourself?

"Good and Evil are opposite points on a circle...Greater Good is just halfway back to Bad."

― Sheri Holman

Blinded by antipathy and arrogance and a skewed sense of morality: 'for the common and greater good' such a cliché line. Yet you find yourself above scrutiny, and antagonize those before you with wild machinations and fulfilling thoughts of grandeur. 'We can beat this evil' you say. 'by any means necessary' you think to yourself, unable to truly tell your faithful friends that you are far more than willing to do what you believe is the right way.

But, they must know, mustn't they? You willingly sacrificed the lives of two boys, their parents and their godfather. You sacrificed the life of friends, using their bodies as stepping stones to a life full of political success so that you may implement these conflagrations you call ideas that would perpetuate the race to a time of unbound success. 'But you aren't evil', you foolishly admonish. Far from it in fact. An evil person wouldn't tirelessly scheme against a shadow that ripples and moves and slithers about like a snake? A shadow people have termed as death, a shadow that you in part helped create. No, you are a hero that stands from afar, guiding, leading, yet never truly interacting. That time is gone; you are the light that will cut a path through the darkness that threatens to swallow all that we hold dear.

Oh you foolish owl. How could you possibly find yourself thinking such things? You are a man that has decimated evil once before, a man that found it within himself to stand tirelessly against the wanton savagery of a great Dark Lord.

But the destruction this time…Its far more than you expected, and you have only yourself to blame.

"Albus….Albus are you okay?" A faint voice echoed through the room.

"Headmaster!" It said once more, this time the voice raising a bit as his eyes snapped open. Dumbledore had been day dreaming. He was lost in his thoughts, something that seemed to be happening more as of late. It was now 3 weeks since the New Year, January was coming to an end and the chaos seemed to multiply. It all began with the random deaths of three wizarding families and the disappearance of three of his once pupils: the Patil twins and a witch named Gloria DelTorro. The only thing that any of them had in common was the nature of their work. They were all exemplary medical practitioners, in their own right. Yet for what purpose did they die?

Furthermore, it seemed as if two individuals had stormed St. Mungos under the guise of visitors and did the unthinkable. They had so easily maneuvered through all forms of protection and killed two of the Orders greatest members, Frank and Alice Longbottom. Dumbledore was shocked, to say the least when he was informed of their deaths. Although unlikely, he had hoped that one day their minds would be restored and whatever secrets they had would come to light, but all was for naught as what he assumed to be a plan of the Dark Lord had stolen that hope. What bothered him most was the brutality in which Voldemort now seemed to be moving. He knew that the man savored death, but he had always thought the snake to have a penchant, an affinity for the killing curse. Besides the dark mark, it had almost become his staple. But the bodies they found, the corpses were slaughtered. Limbs removed, partial decapitations, bodies severed in half. They had all suffered massive nerve damage from the crucio curse, the calling card of Bellatrix Lestrange. He could only assume that the Dark Lord had his most trusted lieutenant once more.

In that time his snake amongst snakes seemed to be held up more and more, information wasn't coming fast enough. It was most disconcerting, considering he asked Snape to stay amongst his darker ilk simply to run information back to him. But he couldn't focus on that for the time being.

"Ahh, Minerva, my dear." He said with his atypical Dumbledore smile, standing and moving around the desk, offering her a lemon drop that she always denied. "What may I do for you professor?" He asked.

Professor McGonagall had stood silently, trying to break the headmaster lapse until he finally stood before her. She had come in simply to ascertain the situation as it seemed that the students of Hogwarts were ever the more restless, on account of the recent strings of murders and disappearances. But Dumbledore waved away her concerns with a lofty smile and soft, ever reassuring words.

"Indeed these are dark days, very dark days, but as long as we stay unified, unified in our struggle, we will persevere. The children know that here, at Hogwarts, they are infallibly safe. This castle will not allow harm to come to any of them. Besides we have a quidditch match to look forward to." That aged smiled crossing his face, so mischievously hiding his discontent and malignant schemes. The transfiguration head simply nodded in reply, ushering herself out.

He watched silently as the Deputy Headmistress made her way out before he turned to sit back down behind his large and ornate maple desk. His eyes searched his office while he slowly drifted into thought once more.

"Why it seems as if I was cursed? Every plan, every decision I made was meant to make everyone's life better." He said quietly, conceding the all he had done, still, wasn't good enough. "Hmm, so many have died." He spoke to himself. "This time though, it should work, it must work, though I had vaguely hoped it would never come to this. No matter, we have no choice but to strike back or the losses will be too great." His voice was hollow; it lacked the emotion Dumbledore so normally exuded. A discontented trill drew his attention. "Ahh, here you are Fawkes, this time we have no room for errors. It is time to call next meeting." The phoenix eyed the man pensively, even its unwavering dedication found reason to falter.

The genius that was Dumbledore turned to look out of the window, staring over the expanse of the Hogwarts grounds. His plans had to come to fruition.

(The Cat)

As she closed the door to the headmaster's office, she lapsed into thought, idly making her way through the exit and up the expansive corridors of the castle. Deliberating and pondering.

One could wonder if she knew what was happening behind her faint guise of aloofness. She maintained her persona with the littlest of difficulty, discerning her looks through shades of discomfort to outwright standoffishness, but at this moment she was nothing less than perplexed. Over that past two years she had felt her trust decline when it came to her headmaster. His thoughts seemed everywhere, and she felt as if he chose to no longer confide in her.

Most wizards and witches of her age could remember that at one point she had felt an attraction to him, ages ago. When she was young and in her prime, an excessively adept witch capable of great things. Though her advances were spurned and she eventually married, that lingering longing never completely fizzled into nothingness. But now she was questioning those distant thoughts. Perhaps through her long life she had clouded herself, subconsciously painted her headmaster in a light of unequivocal righteousness. He could do no wrong.

"But he had." She thought aloud with a sigh.

She was finally in her room, watching the sun vanish into the darkness of the earth. 'The stirring end of the day', she thought, hours from now she would be whisked away to a fretful sleep where she would dream of the night she lost two of her favorite pupils. Two children who she was almost certain had been cast into peril to fulfill someone's misguided agenda. Suffice to say that her shock was sublime when she was made aware of the hand Dumbledore had played in that most fateful of nights.

But she was alone, she thought. Alone under the scrutiny and ever watchful eyes of Dumbledore and she was almost certain that no one else was aware of the elderly wizards frightful machinations, his plans at a greater world, and his willingness to accept the cost of such a precarious undertaking. 'But what hope was there now?' she alleged, knowing all too well the prophecy was no more, only a lingering shadow of doubt swallowed by a greater cloud of unnerving despair loomed in front of her. It was times like this that she would curse herself and a bewildering sense of desolation would take her. Unwittingly she would take it out on the unsuspecting Slytherins. Their house points suffered greatly. There were fleeting moments were her despair would turn into anger and she would have to find a way to dissipate those feelings. Thank Merlin Mrs. Granger had shown her the room of requirement, because she found that place to be most usefulness when she would have to dispel her distaste.

She had a small fleeting hope that something could be done. She left her room and went to the office adjacent to the living room of her private quarters. She sat down and grasped a quill, a bottle of ink, and parchment and began writing:

"A.I.P.

If you're reading this, then I am so happy. I've been weighed down by the prospect of losing my kitten and my hatchling, and if you are somewhere safe and unharmed then at least you could be the silver lining in this otherwise grey storm.

I am now all too aware of what happened that night, and all though I am furious, I am at a loss. I don't know what to do or where to go from here.

Now if I know you Potter's like I think I do, you are scheming something, planning and preparing. I suppose the pranking that all those of your name sake did could help you in what elaborate scheme you're coming up with."

She smiled but continued

"I want you to know that I am here. I will help you in any way I can. If ever you need anything, please, do not hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

Deputy Headmistress

Minerva McGonagall"

She gingerly folded the letter and stamped it with her family's seal. She called to her owl and tied it to its leg, whispering the name of the person who was to receive it. She didn't know if he was alive or not, but either way, this would prove if he wasn't.

(Order of the Phoenix)

A decrepit institution, a failing group lingering and struggling to maintain a grasp on what is happening around them. But their numbers have dwindled since the first war. The original members, far too old to serve any purpose, the new members inexperienced in times like this. Though were they lacked experience, they made up for in perseverance and hope.

Kingsley sat quietly, observing from the corner, tired and forlorn. He was worn out. His work load had doubled since Tonks had been spirited away by the unknown man shrouded in a thick veil of darkness and intrigue. He had lost the hope of her return, considering a month had long since passed since her frightful disappearance. The Aurors had given up searching for her and her mother. At times he would catch himself wondering what she would have done in a situation. Considering he was ranked far above her, he couldn't help but to miss the young and exuberant girl. Her fervor, her headstrong nature. He missed how positive she remained when the subject of the Potter twins was broached.

Very rarely were their names mentioned since she disappeared.

He remained seated until he watched the big man walk in and make his way through the house. 'How pissed off would the boys be if they knew he was still using their house for the Order's meetings' he thought to himself as he watched Dumbledore greet everyone as he entered the room they held the meetings.

He continued to eye Dumbledore, definitely unsure of the man. He remembered the night of Tonks kidnapping, he remembered how long it had taken for him to be alerted and mobilized. He remembered beforehand, Tonks assertion that she no longer trusted Dumbledore, and by extension the order since the elder maintained an iron grasp over its movements. He had sworn to Tonks that he remained faithful and loyal to the cause, and by its own extension, Harry and Auron. His thoughts were broken by a gentle hello coming from Ginny, which he promptly returned before taking his seat and staying quiet, allowing himself to sink into revelry.

He was vaguely aware as everyone took their seats and the meeting began.

"These most recent attacks are very disconcerting. Since the attacks over the holidays, it would seem that Voldemort has switched to attacking small villages indiscriminately, at least that is what I was beginning to believe until two days ago when the dark mark appeared above the Brown's house." He revealed.

Anyone that was a student recently gasped, the brown meant Lavender Brown. "Did Lavender get killed too?" Hermione asked.

"No, fortunately she was at work. Unfortunately, she was the one to discover the dark mark and her family. Her mother, father, both siblings, and her fiancé were all killed in the attack." Dumbledore replied.

Everyone shook their heads murmuring in assent.

"What do you think they are doing? Is it some kind of shock and awe attempt? Are they just trying to get our attention drawn elsewhere?" A member asked over the noise.

"I'm not sure." Dumbledore replied. "But I am sure that we must remain proactive. We must search for anyone that is sympathetic to our cause and invite them into our society." He paused to sip on his tea before resuming. "I believe that we must make a move, at least to show that we are still fighting back." He finally finished.

"With the help of Professor Moody and the collaboration of Severus, I have formulated a plan that I think would be most beneficial." He began, diving into the logistics and timing and situation.

Kingsley watched with apprehension. This wasn't something the order did…His eyes felt heavy, his head kept drooping down only to be jerked back up with a swift note of realization. Before he knew it, the headmaster's words became a jumbled mess and he drifted to sleep.

(Kingsley's Memory/Begin)

"WATCH OUT KINGSLEY!" a voice shouted prompting the man to turn in surprise. He fell to the ground and rolled behind a pillar barely dodging the killing curse. That was far too close for comfort.

Kingsley stared straight before craning his neck to the side and peering behind the pillar. There were the shrouded forms of Death Eater and Auror alike on the floor. Three members of the order had been killed, but they had successfully taken out 5 Death Eaters.

"This isn't right." He whispered as he watched both Order members and Aurors casting the killing curse like it had become common practice. 'How can WE being doing this when we condemned a boy to a life in prison for doing the same thing.' He thought before a chunk of the pillar he was hiding behind exploded, cutting his cheek.

He turned quickly and sprinted to the next makeshift barrier, casting a few stunners and body binding spells as he dove to the ground, rolled and stayed squatting. He wiped the sweat off before quickly standing up and casting another body binding spell.

He caught the eyes of one of his fellow Order members and couldn't help but to note the thrill he had at cutting down the death eaters. Finally there were only a few more bangs and a final Avada Kedavra before he stood up and surveyed the destruction. Luckily he was quite a bit more reserved than the other people there, so the people he fought were only stunned or bound, but he couldn't say the same for a majority of the others.

He continued perusing the prisoners and reached down to remove a mask. What he saw made him bite back a heave of vomit…

"There were children here…" He whispered, dropping the mask. The face of a boy who was no older than 17 stared back at him. Lifeless…

(Kingsley's Memory/End)

His eyes snapped open when he realized he had fallen asleep. Thankfully no one had noticed, unfortunately he hadn't heard the plan, but didn't really care.

The Aurors already assaulted three Death Eaters households that day, while the Order successfully captured five, otherwise low ranking members. That was not what concerned Kingsley though. It was the method in which the Order attacked. It is one thing to try and stop a Dark Lord and his supporters, it is another to ruthlessly kill and destroy. He had joined this organization after he saw the scale of the Ministry of Magic's incompetence, to do what every Auror was taught to do, help keep the peace. His work required going on patrols, capturing criminals and putting them in holding cells to await the trial. He had seen much, was even forced to kill in self-defense on more than a few occasions, but never was he told to kill on sight everyone that moves. He couldn't believe his own eyes, but he was there. He had seen the slaughter of the whole families: men, women, and children. 'All in the name of the greater good.' He felt sick, disillusioned by the happenings of the day, he found there is small, if any at all, difference between light or dark.

(Weasel)

The indignant red hair stood out like a sore thumb amongst the muted blacks and browns. The twins seated, slouching indifferent and vaguely apathetic. They simply didn't care. Ginny sat between the two, while Ron was three seats down besides Hermione. The youngest Weasley had decided to forgo any interaction or conversation with the majority of her family, deciding now to stay either at the twins place above the shop or at Grimmauld Manor, the would be home of the Potter twins. It hurt her parents dearly who would always try to make an excuse to be wherever she was. One day, Molly had even taken it upon herself to do Ginny's laundry while she was at work, only to have Ginny laugh at her, thank her for the free labor and ask her to leave. Ginny felt no remorse anymore, especially since Tonks disappearance. Her family had gone off the deep end claiming so many odd things that she had lost track of.

The only thing they had come to a final conclusion on was Auron, at which point she cast aside all familial loyalty (where her parents, Ron, Bill and Charlie were concerned.) and decided that if they were so stupid as to not be able to see reason, then she would not be included in that curse. She was positive he was out there, especially since Tonks had claimed to see him and when she had gone outside, it felt as if she could feel him. All she had to do now was find him, fortunately for her, the twins were of the same frame of thought.

Fred and George had taken it upon themselves to begin hiring new employees for the soul purpose of handling the shop when they were out. An obvious observation. Ron had expressed interest, but they adamantly reminded him of their no cock- arsed-toshpop-barmy-ron-the-git-aka-billius-the-wa nker policy. With the bogey out of the way they were successful in finding two people. Without a doubt, one of them was none other than their friend Lee Jordan, and the other was his own cousin, Derek Jordan. With the success of finding two suitable individuals they had freed up time for themselves to complete their spy devices, their 'spy buttons' who they had recently sold a few to the order. But tonight, they were implementing their own idea. Before the meeting the trio, (Fred, George, and Ginny) had went through the house, randomly placing the buttons anywhere they thought would be good. Now all they had to do was begin the recording and they were set. The lucky thing was that they could record on the move, which they expected to be once plans were complete with Ginny.

For the twins, the Order's more proactive stance seemed well reasoned at first, but after watching execution of the whole family, including children, their opinion was rapidly changed. Sure, they hadn't refused to get physical with a woman or two as they were told that they were necessary actions to unbind their tongues. Neither Fred nor George were however prepared for what happened what physical harm would lead to; brutal torturing and killing. Never before had they felt so sick ' This is madness' they resolved. They felt anguish and lingering disgust at seeing the dark elation of their youngest brother and the people they, until now, considered friends as they partook in actions they had condemned. Hypocrites…

With the meeting coming to an end, the trio made their way up the stairs, ignoring the departing members as they made their way into Ginny's room.

"So what's the plan?" She asked as soon as she cast some silencing charms.

The twins looked at her for a moment before taking a deep breath. "Well, I don't think we should make a move yet. We aren't ready, and honestly Gin, we can't just leave the store. We promise, we will help you look for Auron, but we have to be prepared." Fred finished.

Ginny shook her head, all too aware that they were right. Her gloomy demeanor returning as she failed to speak. 'Why do they always have to be right' she thought to herself, everything in her body telling her to simply grab her wand and get out of there.

In the rooms below everyone but Ron and Hermione had left. The pair sat on the couch in the drawing room, amicably staring at the fire. Hermione's relative feelings for the red head had all but fluttered into nonexistence. She wondered what she had seen in him, because at this point she was all too aware of his abundance of flaws. His freckles, his constantly disheveled look. He attempted to style his hair, but it simply made him look slightly off kilter. She was aware of his movements, how lazy he seemed, his slouch, and the fact that it seemed as if he never rose his feet and simply shuffled everywhere. She hated how she could hear him breath, how for some reason, even amidst her constant nagging he still chewed with his mouth open. She hated how deplorably dense he was, which made her wonder how he finished 7th year or made it into a ministry job. 'Oh yeah, he copied off me and his dad and brother both work for the ministry' she thought to herself. Oh how the pureblood's so relied on familial connections, even when they so adamantly denied.

"Mione, I was thinking, maybe tonight we could…" Ron trailed off.

Hermione's brown eyes stared at him for a moment before she understood what he meant. "NO." she adamantly refused. The idea of that act, the thought of revisiting his lazy touch and fumbling fingers, the thought of him in her made her shudder, though not visibly. She shook her head and watched him once more.

"I'm going to bed Ronald, you should go home." She said quietly, patting his hand as she stood up, leaving the room. She stopped at the stairs and sighed, looking up as she still remembered the last Christmas they had all spent there as a group, her boys, her Potters. 'I miss you' she thought. But she even felt guilty missing them, as if she weren't allowed to. It was partly her fault, and in her heart, she knew she was going to pay…

She was disgusted by the Order's latest actions. In her opinion they were fast becoming no better than the Death Eaters in their struggle. But the headmaster was stubbornly persuading everyone that their actions were all for the greatest good. Since she had been included in the plan regarding the twins, she had begun to doubt the exceptional wisdom of the headmaster, but over the course of the last few weeks, her doubt had solidified.

She needed a drink, something stronger than usual. She hoped to drown her thoughts in an amber river of inebriation.

Ronald sat quietly, festering in his dismissal, anger taking him as he watched Hermione, his girlfriend, walk away from him as if he was no one. Their time together was virtually nonexistent as she would almost always find a reason to escape him. Their intimacy was effectively fictional; the relationship was nothing more than a hollow shell. He wiped his face knowing when things had become even worse. 'When potter escaped Azkaban' he thought, remembering the very discernible change in her attitude. The fact that his squad was always busy now, chasing the Dark Lords lunatics didn't help. Sometimes though, he would catch her looking at him, a distant, worrying, sad look on her light brown eyes.

It hurt him because he knew she wasn't looking at him…

"Guess I'll have to find a different girl to shag." Ron was pleasantly surprised by his notoriety amongst the Auror Corps and the Order. The raids he was part of were all successful, but the best part, in his opinion, was the policy to interrogate all members of Death Eaters' families. Sure, killing them after was not as pleasant as he would have thought. But lately, he had aspired to a self-satisfying deviance not even the most deplorable of men would subscribe: rape. In lechery, he found the control over these women so thrilling. Making them do what he wanted, how he wanted, when he wanted, it was an obsessive desire to control; the desire for subservience that he had never gotten. He silently remembered his last interaction. He had drug the girl away from the other aurors, and once adequate silence charms were placed, he roughly forced himself on the girl, taking away what innocence she had, robbing her of her honor as he didn't attempt to hide a satisfied smile. In his opinion, since the Potter's were gone, Life was improving for one Ronald Weasley, peace enforcer of the Order of the Phoenix; though he kept his less than amicable actions to himself.

With Ron gone, Hermione made her way outside. Unbeknownst to her, she and Ginny were of the same thought. They tried to keep their composure, but it was getting more and more difficult as the time went on. They tried to chant over and over in the depths of their minds "for the greater good" mantra, but it wasn't working. They couldn't reason the Order actions as anything even resembling good. How could they explain Moody's method of 'extracting information' on a child incapable of truly understanding what his parents were doing? Ginny had gathered her courage after watching the child, and silently gave the trembling, broken child a measure of peace as she allowed him to go onto the next great adventure and meet his parents. It was too much. Once the boys left her room, she went out of the house where she silently joined Hermione. Ginnevra may no longer have liked the bushy haired muggle-born, but she could clearly see her cracking under the pressure, and so they stood there, trying to draw form each other what strength they could.

(Scrimgeour)

Dark and cold. Wet, slimy. Silence permeating your thoughts like a faint fuzz. It's so odd how silence can speak volumes. It can swallow you in fear, wrench your heart in its solitude, leave you wanting, desiring. It could drive you mad. Quiet and darkness go hand in hand like death and cold, revenge and anger, strife and discord. You weren't made for this, your feeble mind, your quaking lips, your voice breaks the silence as you let out one heart wrenching scream.

"Please!"

"Please, you say?"

"I'll do anything, just please let me go. "

"Oh my dear man, we can't do that. You didn't listen to us last time, so we have figured a much better solution. "

A silky, smooth, nefarious voice, riddled by malice, though sweetly lingering in the air playing with each syllable like a master linguistic wove its melodic notes through the silence that had swallowed him. Tom walked around the chained man, dangling by his broken arms. He prodded the man with his wand, watching him sway in agonizing pain.

"We told you, aid us and you will not regret it. But unfortunately you thought you could stand to us, yet look where you are, minister." Voldemort hissed his face no more than 3 inches from the man. He cracked a snake like smile as he took a few steps back. "You see Scrimgeour, you've been replaced, by your polyjuice created doppelgänger. This way we get what we want, with or without you. With that being said, tata my good friend." The snake like faced broke another insidious smile before making his way towards the exit.

He stopped for a moment, looking confused as he tapped his chin with the tip of his wand. "I feel as if I'm forgetting something" He queried. "Oh yes…AVADA KEDAVRA!" He bellowed the emerald light bathing the minister in its less than inviting light.

A/N: Thought I would go through other peoples POV, see how they were dealing with things. Anyways, as alwaya, please Review, thanks! next chapter should be in a day or two. Anyone out there BETA'ing, ive noticed that I need some sometimes as I casually overlook my errors and dont notice until the 3rd time ive read it after I already posted it.