Disclaimer: Everything in this story belongs to J.K. Rowling. Anything that sounds familiar is hers. I just enjoy playing with the world she created. All of the chapter names are lyrics from songs from the various bands, named.
Chapter named after "Still Breathing" by Mayday Parade.
Fred's heart was in his throat. He had never been so nervous in his life. Throbbing head, shaking hands, sweat-covered body, goosebumps on his arms-the whole deal. Oh, and his red hair greatly resembled a nappy haystack of ginger-colored straw, as it was one of his worst habits to rumple the strands when under periods of stress.
His nerves, intense as they were, came about from just cause. His girlfriend had to face a "judgment" of sorts in front of the entire Order of the Phoenix at exactly seven o'clock tonight… And according to Fred's watch, it was 6:45.
"Bloody sodding hell," he muttered, pacing around the bedroom he shared with George at Lee Jordan's beach house.
"Hey! Watch your language in front of a lady!" came an affronted voice from the doorway. Fred spun around to find the tiny, blonde Halimeda Taylor smirking at him from her place beside the navy-blue-painted wood door.
He attempted to smile, but it more likely came out like a lopsided grimace. "Some lady," he tried to joke, "How tall are you, anyway? Two feet?"
Taylor rolled her blue-green eyes. "Ha, ha. How original," she said sarcastically. "But seriously, I'm here to tell you that it's time to go." She raised an eyebrow significantly and turned to leave the same way she had come.
Fred let out a shaky breath and tried to pull himself together. You can do this, he thought, you have to be there for Emma.
The mention of her name seemed to do the trick. His nerves hadn't faded away completely, but they had subsided enough to allow him to walk out his bedroom door and face the people waiting for him in the living room.
Taylor leaned against the back of the white wicker chair, looking nonplussed and aloof as always as she absentmindedly tapped her wand against the palm of her left hand, admiring the green sparks that shot out periodically.
Lee Jordan reclined on the matching couch, hands folded under his head and a thoughtful expression on his face, serious for once. He nodded when he saw Fred.
George sat on the floor beside the sofa, his legs sprawled out straight in front of him and tucked under the coffee table. He was playing with a frayed thread from the end of black t-shirt, looking worried. Every couple of seconds, he would aim a poorly-hidden glance at Taylor, and his forehead would crease.
But it was on the last person in the room that Fred focused his attention. Emma was perched on the arm of the white sofa, on the opposite end from Lee. She was staring at her hands and rubbing them together routinely, as if she was trying to keep herself warm. Her brown eyes looked troubled and glassy, and were partially blocked by the curtains of mahogany hair that tumbled down in loose curls on either side of her face. She wore a deep red v-neck t-shirt and a sleeveless black cardigan that completely exposed her Mark.
She's trying to look brave, Fred noted mentally. He walked over to where she sat and put a hand on one of her own, trembling ones. She looked up at him, a determined expression on her face, and smiled feebly.
"Let's do this," she whispered.
Her words seemed to act as a signal. The other inhabitants of the room suddenly got to their feet, wands at the ready. With solemn looks at one another, the group marched towards the front door, ready to Disapparate as soon as they crossed it's boundaries…
They arrived in front of the old, abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of London with five minutes to spare. Casting weary looks at the dirty, weather-beaten exterior of the building, Fred, Emma, George, Taylor, and Lee quickly passed through the large, paint-chipped metal doors and surveyed their surroundings.
Evidently, the organizer of the meeting was no fan of dirt and decay, as the inside of the building didn't look anything like the outside. With old patterned carpets dotting every surface of the floor, a comely fireplace crackling merrily in the center, and many mismatched armchairs occupying all of the remaining space, the Order's temporary Headquarters looked much like a larger rendition of the Weasleys' living room.
Fred smiled as he looked around. It was obvious that his mother had something to do with this. He snuck a peek at Emma and squeezed her hand, hoping to put her more at ease.
The armchairs were already mostly taken, all by various witches and wizards Fred had never seen before. I guess this means that the resistance movement is growing, he thought, feeling more cheerful.
A smaller group of people was speaking in hushed tones by the fireplace. Fred recognized his parents, his brother Bill, his sister-in-law Fleur, Remus Lupin, and Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Look," he said to the others, pointing in the direction of the group.
Molly Weasley happened to notice her sons at that very second. "Fred! George!" she shrieked, rushing over to hug them both, overcome with emotion.
"Hey, mum," they both mumbled back, red in the face.
"Emma, darling! How nice to see you again!" said Mrs. Weasley, turning to the brunette at Fred's side and hugging her as well.
"It's nice to see you, too, Mrs. Weasley," replied Emma, looking a little less nervous. She watched as Fred's mum greeted Lee and was introduced to Taylor by George.
Taylor tapped Emma on the shoulder when Mrs. Weasley was busy reprimanding her sons for coming.
"What's up?" Emma whispered, turning to face her friend.
"She's really…welcoming," Taylor admitted. "Normally, I hate all that mushy mum stuff, but I actually feel wanted here. Weird, right?"
Emma laughed quietly. "She's like that to everyone, trust me."
"Now then!" Mrs. Weasley said loudly to the teenagers, capturing their attention, "I want you all to take seats towards the front, please! Try not to interrupt and be mindful that these people are very serious about the cause. They won't take kindly to the interference of a group of teenagers, even if you are all overage." She briskly shooed them to their allotted places and rejoined the conference by the fire.
Emma sank into a red armchair, drawing it close to Taylor's. Fred refused a seat and lowered himself to the floor, by Emma's feet. George and Lee had pulled their chairs together on her other side and were talking quickly.
Kingsley approached a small, raised platform in the center of the room that had failed to capture Emma's notice before. The group of people he had been conversing with before stood slightly further to his right, in a straight line against the wall.
The room fell silent as he raised his arm. His deep black eyes seemed to rake over every member of the Order before settling on Emma's. Her breath caught in her throat.
Kingsley seemed to incline his head at her. She exhaled in relief and listened as he began to speak to the assembly of the twenty-something members of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Dear friends, we are gathered here today because we have decided not to accept the goings-on in our world." He stopped to look at everyone again.
"The Ministry of Magic has been taken over completely by the Death Eaters, making it difficult for some of our members to avoid suspicion at their own jobs. We should take a moment to applaud them for the efforts they have been showing so far, as they are still with us today, and not in Azkaban prison." Kingsley smiled faintly as the audience gave a light round of appreciative applause.
He nodded slowly. "Yes, and thanks to those people, we have gained a relative understanding in the happenings of the Ministry in recent days. A momentous event happened today, one that the Daily Prophet hasn't covered yet, and it requires fast action from us."
Tense whispers broke out in the room. Emma looked to Taylor with raised eyebrows, only to find her friend wearing an expression that was just as puzzled.
Kingsley raised his arm again, causing the whispers to die down slowly. "Thank you," he said in his booming voice, "I can see that you are all anxious to hear about what occurred in the Ministry of Magic earlier this afternoon, but there are a few things we must deal with before we discuss these matters of business."
Emma felt the lump in her throat grow in size. The butterflies in her stomach seemed to turn into a herd of heavy, stomping elephants.
Kingsley's eyes bore into hers once more. "We have some new members that wish to join our cause," he continued. "As a whole, we must decide whether or not to accept them."
Emma's legs felt leaden as she rose and walked to the front of the room, Taylor following close behind her. They stopped in front of Kingsley and turned around to face the rest of the room.
The faces of the Order members were carefully blank and preserved. Not many of them looked sympathetic, Emma noted with worry.
"These two young women are Halimeda Taylor and Emmaline Lestrange," stated Kingsley. "They bear the Dark Mark."
At first, the silence that ensued was so unbearable that Emma felt herself wishing for chaos instead. But when she got her wish, the first circumstance didn't seem so bad after all.
Angry yells erupted all over the room. Emma winced as she heard some of the things people were throwing out.
"That's Bellatrix Lestrange's bloody offspring! She's probably going to blow up the whole meeting at any second!"
"Kingsley's lost his mind! Invoking Death Eaters into the Order of the Phoenix? How does that help us?"
"I suppose they're going to summon You-Know-Who, since they've got us all pegged down here!"
"SHUT UP!" Everyone turned to see Fred standing in the seat Emma had previously occupied. The noise died down instantly.
"You lot are mental," he began angrily. "Why are you wasting your time accusing two girls you don't even know of crimes they didn't commit? I happen to know for a fact that we can trust both of these people, no matter who their parents are or what they have tattooed on their arms! I'm the son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, known members of the Order of the Phoenix and supporters of Harry Potter, and yet I've been living with Emma for months now, and she hasn't attacked me! If she was a Death Eater, do you think she would have let me live? As for Taylor here, she showed up willingly to take action against the people she's hated her whole life. Neither one of these girls took the marks on their left arms by choice, and it in no way influences how trustworthy they are!"
Fred was looking incensed now. He glared at the Order members before stepping down from his seat and sitting on the floor once more. He looked to Kingsley, as if signaling for him to proceed.
But before the leader said a word, he was interrupted again. This time, the speaker was a tall, darkly clad, olive-skinned young woman with dark curly hair and sparkling black eyes. She stood up gracefully from the seat she had been occupying and addressed the room in a quiet voice with a light Spanish accent.
"I personally don't care whether or not these girls have had contact with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named himself. They wouldn't come here if they weren't loyal to us, or willing to be so. They knew beforehand that we were capable of performing various bits of complicated magic that would reveal all pretences, didn't they? They also knew that we've been more on our guard since Snape's betrayal, am I correct? Don't be a bunch of bloody suffering fools. Even the Death Eaters wouldn't pull the same trick twice." The woman looked meaningfully at the people seated around her. "It's my belief that we should trust them." She nodded before taking her seat again.
Kingsley looked awestruck. "Thank you, Madeline. That means a lot. Anyone else?"
A medium-height, slender witch with short brown hair and piercing blue eyes stood up next.
"I agree with Colburn," she stated in a clear, carrying voice, inclining her head slightly to Madeline, whose eyebrows shot up at the gesture. "There really isn't any reason other than prejudice not to trust them."
She marched confidently up to where Emma and Taylor stood, shaking both of their hands. "Phoebe Kate Ashwood; it's a pleasure to meet you both."
When she had finished greeting the two surprised girls, Phoebe Kate turned to address the rest of her audience. "If we start judging them based on preconceived notions of fear, how does that make us any better than the Death Eaters?"
Leaving that as her final word, the witch walked calmly back to her armchair.
Kingsley was smiling. "What do you all have to say to that? Three of our members seem willing to include these two. Is everyone else okay with the decision?"
Emma watched with bated breath as the people in the room began to nod. She noticed with amusement that several of them that looked as if they were going to disagree earlier shot weary glances at Madeline Colburn before agreeing quickly. Apparently, she was lucky to have someone so intimidating on her side.
A round of applause broke out around her. Emma's eyes widened in shock as she heard Kingsley say, "Welcome to the Order, both of you!"
She turned to Taylor, but her view was impeded by a familiar pair of strong arms that picked her up and spun her in circles. She laughed at Fred's audacity as he set her down in front of the chair she had abandoned earlier and kissed her quickly on the lips.
"I told you so, love," he whispered in her ear.
"I'm glad you were right," Emma replied, smiling up at him.
Kingsley cleared his throat loudly, bringing attention to him once more. Fred swiftly took a seat in the armchair, pulling Emma onto his lap.
"Now we can discuss the problem we have to deal with," said Kingsley gravely.
A/N: Long time no see, everyone!
I really hope the length of this chapter (twice as long as my usual ones) makes up partially for the time in between updates. As you may have noticed, the special characters were in this chapter! Madeline Colburn is Madeline Cullen (made for a brilliant Order member, didn't she? I'm going to use her multiple times throughout this story because she's fun to work with) and Phoebe Kate Ashwood is an Anonymous Reviewer known as Ellie (also a cool character I'm going to reuse). Thanks guys, and you'll be in the next two chapters as well!
Please please please end my discouragement with your lovely, magical reviews!
-MQ