After three quarters of an hour, they reached a large... field... overlooking the sea.
"This is... nice?" Bess said, frowning out into the darkness.
Jasper chuckled and thrust a piece of paper into her hand. "Read this. Memorise it."
The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at Coral Cottage, East Sussex
"Got it? Now focus," he said as Bess nodded and handed him back the piece of paper. She watched as he set the slip of paper on fire with his wand-tip.
Out of the darkness, a large three story house appeared. Jasper drove forwards, and Bess felt the magic as they passed through the wards. She shivered slightly.
"You can feel them?" he asked in a surprised tone.
"Uh- yeah, I guess I can," she replied, slightly confused. "You can't?"
"No. It's not a bad thing though, just means you're in tune with your magic in a different way to me," he replied as he pulled to a stop outside the front door. "Come on."
As they walked up to the house the door swung open. They passed through a kitchen and a hallway and came to a stop in a large, empty dining room.
A gigantic table was placed in the centre of the room, with chairs placed along it - at least 30 Bess noted - with more covering three of the four walls. The head of the table, and the wall behind it, was bare - no chair, no decoration, nothing.
"Dumbledore likes to stand," Jasper said as he pointed to the front, walking round to sit down four seats down from the top. "First six chairs are reserved for his... how would Muggles put it? His generals, I guess you could say. He consults with them throughout the meetings. The rest of us sit wherever. It's normally on a first come first served basis."
"Where... where is everyone?" she asked, placing her hand on her wand in her pocket as she took a small step backwards.
Jasper, sensing her worries, held out a hand and said, "It's okay. We got here early. This is a safehouse. There doesn't need to be someone in it for the wards to work."
"Jasper... where does your sister work?" Bess asked tensely.
"What? I told you. China and America," he replied with a frown.
"No. The other one..."
Jasper pursed his lips. "Now isn't exactly the time to-"
"It is. I know, and the real Jasper knows..."
A look of comprehension came across his face and he nodded. "Leeds Infirmary."
Bess sighed and loosened her hold on her wand. "I'm sorry. I just... there's no one else here, and..."
"Hey, it's okay. I get it," he said, gesturing to the seat opposite him, "how about we decide on something only I know about you, and only you know about me? Then if we need to, we can find out it's the other one immediately. We'll change it if we ever say it in public?"
Bess nodded. "Uh- I... ooh! When I was younger there was this thing that we used to do. It's a hand movement like this," she said, placing one hand over the other and interlacing her fingers before circling her thumbs, "awkward turtle," she brought her hands apart and bumped them together before wiggling her thumbs and small fingers, "has awkward babies."
"What?"
"It's a millennial thing," she said quickly, trying to hide her blush.
"What is a millennial?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
Bess chuckled. "Never mind. Just... you got it?"
Jasper attempted the hand movements a few times before he got it, and then nodded and said, "awkward turtle has awkward babies."
"Perfect. Now you."
"How on earth am I meant to follow that... okay... uh-" he thought for a moment. "I don't know. Only thing I can think of is this Muggle film... Mum was watching it last weekend..."
"Aw! You went to see your parents?"
"I'm missing most of Easter weekend to babysit you. Who do you think I am? 'Course I did! Uh- so yeah. How about... Merlin. Uh- if she weighs the same as a duck then she's a witch?"
"Oh. My. God. You watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail?" Bess asked, wide eyed as she stepped forwards, grinning.
A smile spread across Jasper's face. "You know it?"
"Of course! It's amazing!"
"It was! Absolutely brilliant! I don't know why more people don't know about it! Think I was training when it first came out."
"'Tis but a scratch!" Bess yelled in a deep voice, and Jasper laughed.
Soon enough, they were sat around the table, quoting phrases to each other while they laughed, cups of tea which Jasper had conjured in front of them. They were there for around ten minutes before the Order members arrived.
"Are we in the wrong place?" A tall red haired man asked. He was followed inside the room by an identical man. Fabian and Gideon.
"Yeah, don't want to interrupt your date..." said the second.
"It's not like that. She's new," Jasper called, and Bess sent him a smile. "This is Bess."
"The Bess?" Fabian or Gideon asked.
Bess nodded and answered in a hesitant voice, "I think so..."
"Fabian," said the first man pointing to himself, "Gideon," he said, pointing to his brother.
Bess immediately looked for differences so that she could tell them apart. Both were taller than Bess, around six foot one, and both had red hair and were covered in freckles. In fact, their hair made Jasper's look almost brown. Their hair was long, falling to their shoulders, and both were incredibly good looking. The differences were that Fabian had a scar through his eyebrow, and Gideon had one above his lip. They looked to be in their late twenties.
"Hi. I- Hi! It's so amazing to meet you both!" Bess said, jumping up to shake their hands. "Absolutely amazing! You're both incredible fighters!"
"Thank you. Always good to meet a fan," Gideon replied with a half-smile.
"Do we know you? I feel like I'd have remembered meeting someone new..." Fabian asked.
"Oi! What's the effing 'old up?" came a loud voice from behind Gideon, and Bess gasped.
"Mundungus," she whispered, as memories flooded back to her of him stealing from Sirius' house when Sirius had died. Of him abandoning Mad-Eye in the Battle of the Seven Potters.
As she had found before, whenever her mind was filled with memories from the books, she felt no pain. In fact, she welcomed the onslaught of memories of reading the books and passages which contained vital information about the characters.
"'ow do you know who I am then, eh? And who are ya?" Mundungus asked, trying to peer around the two taller men in between Bess and himself.
Bess was still wrapped up in her memories to answer, so Jasper did it for her. She heard the scrape of a chair and after a moment felt a calming hand on her lower back. "Bess. Dumbledore's newbie. Be nice," he said, before he guided her back to her seat. "You alright?" he whispered as he sat her down.
Finally, after a few more seconds she took in a deep breath and nodded. "Sorry I-"
"It's alright. Just, when you remember something, try and close your eyes, okay?"
"Why?"
"They shine gold. Bit of a tell tale sign I think..." he whispered, and Bess turned to stare at him with wide eyes. "It's okay. Like I said, Selket told me everything. Dumbledore filled in some of the gaps," Bess looked around for a moment, blinking fast, and Jasper placed a hand on her shoulder and massaged it gently, "it's okay, you're alright. I don't know everything. Safer that way."
She stared into his eyes and nodded. "Thank you."
"Anytime, kid."
"What's going on?" called another voice, this time a woman's, and Bess looked over to see that Fabian and Gideon still hadn't moved from the door.
"You alright?" Gideon asked. Bess smiled and nodded quickly. The two men grinned in return and moved forwards, letting the bottleneck of people swarm into the room. "Sorry about that, all, Fabes thought he saw a spider!"
"Oh come on! A bloody spider, again?" called the female voice again. "You took down three Death Eaters last week!"
"Oi! It's not my fault. It's a genuine fear, alright?" Fabian replied as he sat down next to Bess.
Jasper winked at Fabian before he jumped back over the table and settled back into his seat.
Fabian leant in slightly and said, "Spiders creep me out. If Voldemort wants to bring me down he just needs to get me in the same room as a tarantula."
"Rats for me," Bess replied in a whisper as she giggled. She blushed lightly as Fabian winked at her.
Soon enough, the room was filled with people. Bess looked around to see if she could spot James, Lily, Remus and Sirius, and saw them in a group towards the back of the room. They'd taken seats around the end of the table which gave them a brilliant view of Dumbledore, and were chatting to a witch who Bess recognised immediately from her description in the books - Dorcas Meadowes. She frowned as she remembered Sirius explaining to Harry how the witch would meet her end. She felt a sharp kick to her shin and winced, turning to look at Jasper again, who was pointing to his eyes and squeezing them shut.
She mouthed, "Sorry," when he looked at her, and then shook her head.
"Move up would you? Dumbledore's orders," said a kind faced older witch. Bess smiled and stood, whereas Fabian and Gideon led the moans and grumbles of annoyance as they shifted down the table.
"Just get settled in and have to move again?" Fabian complained.
"Bet Dumbledore wants to sit down this time. Finally rest his laurels a bit, eh?" Gideon replied with a laugh as everyone sat down again.
"Merlin Gid, warm arse much? Feel like I'm sweating," Fabian cried.
"Oh! Warm a chair up for your brother and suddenly you've got a dragon arse? Where's the gratefulness?" Gideon replied.
"Don't worry," Bess said loudly, "mine's disgustingly warm as well."
She laughed with Gideon as Fabian gasped and put a hand to his chest. Glancing over to Sirius again, this time she found his grey eyes focussed on her face. She grinned and began to stand again. All she wanted was to be with him, in his arms, with his lips on hers.
"Alright you lot, quit the musical chairs and quieten down," came a gruff voice from the doorway. She sat down immediately. An older wizard with a few scars across his face stood with his shoulder to the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest. He was tall, imposing, and muscular.
Bess immediately shut her eyes as Mad-Eye Moody took over her thoughts. She kept her eyes closed for over a minute as the chatter died down and she heard heavy footsteps as Mad-Eye. No. Alastor Moody walked past her and took his seat at the right hand of Dumbledore.
"Fabian. Wake your girlfriend up, will you?" Moody called in a gruff and angry voice.
Bess snapped her eyes open and stared at him with a raised eyebrow. "Not his girlfriend, and I wasn't asleep."
"Hmm... well, keep your eyes open, girl. Co-"
"Constant vigilance? Don't worry, that's a rule I try to live by. So's not putting my wand in my back pocket if I can help it. Don't want to lose my butt cheeks," she said, maintaining eye contact with the Auror. He'd told Harry something similar once. She saw the edge of his mouth twitch and he nodded once and leant back in his chair, keeping his hand on the table, his other on his wand she was sure.
She looked over to Sirius and grinned again as he sent her a wink and a thumbs up.
"Good evening, all," Dumbledore said as he swept past the large group of witches and wizards. He came to a stop at the top of the table. "Shall we- Ah. We seem to be missing someone?" he said, as his gaze settled on the chair opposite Moody, which was empty.
Bess gulped as she wondered why the person would be missing. Were they injured? Dead? A sick feeling began to rise in her stomach as she thought of the realities of war and-
"Bess?" Dumbledore asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. He gestured to the chair, "please come to the front."
Bess' mouth dropped open slightly and she frowned, but did as he asked. She shot Jasper a look and he smiled and nodded towards the front, mouthing, "Go on then, General." She walked to the front, ignoring the whispers and murmurs as she tried not to make too much noise as Dumbledore began the meeting. She slipped into the seat as he asked for a status report on an ongoing mission.
Through the first half of the meeting Bess had an uncomfortable feeling as the gazes of unknown witches and wizards fell on her, sitting at the top of the table. She felt like a fraud, and knew that they thought she was as well.
"Don't talk about that here," Moody cried, silenced another member of the Order with a look. The man had been saying that he had reason to believe that an Unspeakable was feeding information to the Death Eaters. "Leave that for the next meeting," he continued, shooting a look towards the Marauders and Lily. He evidently didn't trust the newbies.
Bess quickly sent a look to Dumbledore, who turned his head slightly and moved backwards by half a step. She took this as his assent and stood. She moved to stand next to him, facing away from the table. He turned his back as well and leant in, bringing his head down to her level. As Bess was only a few inches shorter than him, and was wearing her slightly heeled boots, he didn't have to lean far.
"Do you want to know who the Unspeakable it is? Or would you like to wait for a little bit?" she whispered as quietly as possible - she was incredibly aware that the room had become so silent that you could probably hear a pin drop. Dumbledore moved his head down a fraction, and she took that as affirmation. "Rookwood."
"Are you sure?" he asked, barely moving his lips.
"Yes," she replied firmly, and he nodded again.
"Keep this information to yourself for now," he said in another whisper, again, barely moving his lips.
Bess nodded and slowly slid back into her chair. She tucked a curl behind her ear and gulped as she made eye contact with Moody, who was staring at her. A quick side eye look towards the rest of the table (the people she could see past her hair, at least), she noticed that everyone was staring at her.
"Thank you, Edgar, you are correct. I will have a think of what to do and come back to you," he said calmly, and Bess heard the murmurs and whispers start up again before Dumbledore raised a hand and the room fell silent again. "Now, I believe I have been lax with my hosting skills. I'm sure you will all have noticed our newest members? Elizabeth "Bess" Coulson, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, James Potter, and Lily Evans," he said as he gestured to each in turn. "They will all be treated as full members of the Order. No secrets or information will be kept from them unless pertinent. Understood?"
There were mumbles and grumbles of agreement, but one voice cut above the others. Bess didn't recognise the person. "Even him?" the woman asked, pointing towards the group at the back. The boys' eyes widened and they moved closer together as though they could see a threat.
"Yes, Margot, all of our new members," Dumbledore replied calmly.
"You do know what he is, don't you?" the woman asked, spitting out the words.
As Remus pulled Sirius and James back down into their seats - they had been halfway to standing - it finally dawned on Bess that she was talking about Remus. She could see the shame on Remus' face and the anger on the boys', but as Remus frantically whispered and shook his head, she realised that none of them would say anything as they wanted so ardently to be a part of the Order. From the look on Lily's face, she had realised the same.
However, Bess thought, I don't need the Order, it needs me. And she didn't want to be a member if it meant she would have to put up with someone judging one of her best friends for a condition he couldn't help, couldn't treat, and was blameless in.
She heard the harsh scrape of a chair. Without thinking, she'd stood up. She lifted her chair by the seat and walked it to the back of the room, before she slammed it down and stood behind Remus, her arms crossed. She knew she couldn't say anything - Remus would be upset and hurt if she bartered for his place in the Order by refusing information unless he was accepted.
So instead she stood there, made eye contact with the woman, and glared at her. She put all of her anger and hatred of everything bad in the Wizarding world and channelled it into the look. She thought of Greyback, and Voldemort, and Peter's betrayal, and glared and glared and glared.
It took less than a minute for the woman to break eye contact. She fiddled with her robes and said, "He is a werewolf."
"No."
"He is. You can't stand there and pretend he's not. I work in that department. I've seen the register."
Bess saw Remus shrink even more out of the corner of her eye and doubled down her efforts, glaring at the woman silently until she turned away again and shrank down in her own chair.
Finally, Bess spoke. "If we're getting into blood and politics here, then let me introduce myself based on my blood. I'm a Mudblood," she said, as she pulled up her left sleeve and held raised her forearm to show off her scar.
"That's different."
"Is it?"
"Yes! We're fighting-"
"For freedom. And if you're looking for adequate fighters, then of course, Remus will leave." She saw Sirius, Lily and James' eyes snap to stare at her with shocked looks, as Remus sank lower still. "But if you're looking for the best fighters Hogwarts has to offer, then Remus will have to stay and you'll have to get over your prejudices."
"You don't know what you're talking about."
"No. You don't."
"Greyback-"
"DO NOT PUT REMUS IN THE SAME CATEGORY AS THAT MONSTER!" she screamed, ignoring the gasps and wide eyed looks.
"They're the same!" the woman cried.
"HOW DARE YOU?" she shouted again, reaching into her pocket to grab her wand. She fumbled for a moment with the long stick, shaking her jacket.
"Bess!" Dumbledore said in a commanding tone. Bess ignored him and finally withdrew her wand.
"Say that again."
"Bess, stop. It's not worth it," Remus said, his head still ducked.
"No. Remus. You are worth it," she replied in a much more calm voice as she forced herself to breathe normally. As she continued to glare at the woman, she felt Sirius' hand grip hers, pulling her arm back down to her side.
"He's dangerous," the woman continued.
"Yeah? Well I don't see him with his wand out right now, so I'd be more scared of me if I were you. Remus may be inclined to turn down a fight because he has a heart of gold but I'm not."
"Pfft," the witch replied, "you're a child. You wouldn't hurt a fly."
"Yeah? Try me. My magic's strongest when I'm angry or in danger, and I know a lot of people who would back me up on that."
Dumbledore raised a hand and coughed. "Remus can, and will be trusted by us all. He is a valuable member of this Order and will be treated with the respect that he deserves," he commanded. "Now Bess, please sit. We still have half an hour of this meeting left."
Bess nodded and pulled her chair up behind Remus as Sirius dropped her hand. James and Sirius, she noticed, had moved shoulder to shoulder to shoulder with the sandy haired boy in a show of support. Lily had her wand on her lap and seemed, like Bess, ready to fight.
Slowly, over the next fifteen minutes, Remus sat up a bit more in his chair, and when he sat up fully, Bess clapped a hand on his shoulder and leant in to whisper, loud enough for all of her friends to hear, "down in front, please. God. Can't take you werewolves anywhere..."
She smiled as Remus covered her hands with his and squeezed.
"Thanks Bess. Margot can fuck off..." he whispered back, evidently trying not to show his obvious and heart breaking upset.
Bess leant in again and tutted. "Uh-uh, Moony," she whispered again, "werewolves not swearwolves."
She felt his hands still for a moment before his shoulders began to shake and he shook his head.
When Dumbledore called the meeting to a close a few minutes later, the three boys were still trying to compose themselves. The room was changed in an instant as people raised their wands to vanish the chairs and make the table smaller. Bess stood as her chair began to wiggle underneath her, and watched as it flew over to a stack of chairs in the corner. She followed her group over to the wall, watching as the wizards and witches began to chat and catch up in small groups.
"Werewolves not swearwolves?" Sirius asked as he leant in to kiss her cheek.
"It's a quote from my time," she whispered so only their group could hear. "Thought it was... apt. I'm going to get it made into a poster for our place."
"Sounds perfect!" Sirius replied, and Bess smiled as Remus sent her a small smile. James had his arm around his friends' shoulders.
"Margot was out of line," Dorcas said, clapping a hand on Remus' shoulder. She handed him a goblet and said, "down in one I'd say. Great to have you all joining us," before nodding and walking off to join Dumbledore and Moody.
"What is it?" Lily asked, peering over at Remus.
He shrugged as he swirled the goblet and then did as he was told, grimacing as he gulped down the liquid. He wiped his mouth on his sleeve and spluttered out, "Straight Firewhiskey."
"Merlin. She's not playing around is she?" James asked, sending an admiring look in Dorcas' direction.
"Such a badass..." Bess muttered as Fabian and Gideon joined them, handing goblets to Sirius, James, Lily, and herself.
"Don't worry, it's just wine. Don't listen to Margot. She doesn't speak for the whole group," Gideon said as he handed a goblet to Remus and chucked his empty one onto the table. "Just happens to have a louder voice than most."
"Oi 'dung," Fabian called, waking up the scruffy older man, who spluttered and looked around for a moment before he realised who'd woken him up. "Didn't you sell a werewolf cub once? Listen to this. Hilarious," he whispered loudly to the group.
Mundungus shook himself and sat up straight. "Ah yeah! I did as it 'appens. There was this old witch, see, and she wanted to raise one. Bloody intelligent, wolf cubs, beautiful too, and incredibly rare. Gave me forty galleons! Don't think she was too happy when she was a year into it and realised it was a chihuahua!" he ended with a loud gaffauw.
Bess was worried that Remus wouldn't like the story, but her fears were put to rest as he threw his head back and let out a loud laugh. "How on earth did you convince her at the time?"
"Dunno," he shrugged. "Think she was a bit of an idiot!"
James and Sirius grinned and cried, "Brilliant!" in unison.
"Why? Fancy one?" Mundungus asked, leaning forwards across the table, an eager look in his eye. "I'd do a good deal for an Order member if you do," he said, looking at Remus.
"Fucking hell Mundungus, please don't ask a werewolf if he wants a cub," a young wizard who was talking to Jasper called across the room. "I'm sure there're more enjoyable ways for him to get one anyway," he added with a wink. Remus blushed.
Mundungus jumped up and looked around. "Bleedin' 'ell! Werewolf? Where?"
"There!" the wizard yelled with a laugh, pointing at Remus, who had suddenly paled significantly. Bess wondered how he was still even standing there - having been outed not a few minutes before.
Mundungus' eyes widened as he took in Remus' appearance. "What? Tha's a kid! 'e looks like a bad wind would knock him over!"
"That's true. Don't stand down wind from Moody," Gideon quipped.
"I heard that!" Moody called from the front, and Bess giggled as Gideon flipped off the older wizard.
"Yeah. He's also a werewolf!" the wizard called over to Mundungus. "Margot's already on the warpath."
"Yeah, well Margot hates everyone, dun she? Make a great Death Eater that one. I think she sweats prejudice. Good thing she hates you-know-who," he grumbled. "She'll come round. When's the full moon?" he asked, turning back to Remus.
Sirius answered for him, "It was earlier this week."
"Bleedin'- Come on Benji! Merlin. Don't know what you're all complaining about. Only scary when he's got a tail, inne?"
"It's the snout that gets me," James replied with a smile.
Sirius laughed, "Yeah, and he's bloody irritable in the run up."
"It's okay. I get it. Lots of people don't like people like me," Remus mumbled, the smile dropping from his face.
"Yeah, that's true, and with good reason," Bess replied, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "James is a mess and Sirius is a hot mess. You really should just get hang out with Lily and me more."
Sirius wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her cheek again.
"So this is the boyfriend then!" Fabian cried.
"Why did you assume I had one?" Bess asked in an annoyed voice. "Women don't need to be tied to men, you know?"
"I'd book it if I were you, Fabes," Gideon said, as he backed up and ducked behind a witch, holding her in front of him as he 'hid' and Bess and the others laughed.
"Honestly, I saw the look on Serpen's face when I suggested you were dating him and assumed there must be a fella!" Fabian replied. Bess felt Sirius' arm tighten around her, pulling her closer to him.
The witch Gideon was hiding behind whacked him on the arm and shoved him back towards Bess and the group, muttering, "Idiot."
He laughed and took a sip of his drink. "So, what subjects're you taking for NEWTs?"
"One second," Bess said, raising a finger to the air as she frowned at the ceiling. "Uhm... yes. Yeah," she said, nodding, "that has to be the most boring question you could have asked! NEWTs? Really? What about... I don't know..."
"That heatwave last summer?" Sirius offered with a cheeky grin, reminding her of their chat outside Madam Malkins the previous summer.
"No," she laughed, "but I don't know... you are talking to three of the four most troublesome boys at Hogwarts... ask them about their latest prank! Or you could ask about my scars... though I'm surprised you haven't adopted Lily yet..."
"Nah. Her hair's more auburn innit?" Fabian asked, immediately understanding her inference. "We only adopt true redheads."
"Yeah, that's why Serpen didn't make the cut!" Gideon added with a laugh, gesturing over to Jasper.
"Well I'll have you know, my hair's so red, I can't use Sleakeazy's," Lily said proudly, slightly slurring her words.
"Didn't have dinner?" Bess asked Sirius in a whisper.
He laughed and shook his head. "They're staying at mine and Lily spent two hours trying to figure out an outfit that looked serious but not too serious, and cool but not too cool. By the time she was ready we needed to leave!"
Bess pushed down the sadness she felt that everyone was staying at Sirius' - she'd assumed they'd all be at the Potters' house and suddenly felt incredibly left out. She wished she wasn't trapped within the castle. The sadness threatened to engulf her as she thought back to the freedom she'd enjoyed the previous summer - being allowed to go anywhere she wanted without a care in the world. She wondered if she'd ever have that freedom again.
Gideon's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. He'd been peering at Lily's hair, which she was holding out towards him. "Yup, that's red alright! Must be the lighting, eh, Fabes?" Gideon said, slinging an arm around Lily's shoulders. "Looks like we've got two sisters now then!"
Bess noted James' envious look at Gideon's arm as she ducked her head and sipped her wine, trying to blink away her tears.
"Grub's up!" someone shouted as a few people walked into the room levitating large plates of food and drink, heading over to the table. Bess and the group moved forwards to join the queue which was forming. She was happy to see that Remus was smiling properly now, and was already eyeing up a piece of cheesecake - comfort food.
"Not you, missy," Moody growled as he grabbed Bess by the arm and marched her over to the door. They were followed by Dumbledore, who stopped Sirius with a look, swinging the door shut behind him.
A/N: Part two will be up by the weekend : ) Also, 50th chapter, WHAT?
Thank you to my reviewers again! AvalonRivers, idreamtosmilealways, Ghost Claw 001, CharlotteGryffindor, HorseGirl16!
And thank you to everyone who's reading, following and favouriting!