Kreacher and Dobby came to me in a rush one morning a few days' before their scheduled meeting to give me updates in order to inform me that a couple of students had attempted to break into the Headmaster's office, and they were all people I was friends with. Ginny, Neville and Luna. Kreacher and Dobby were shouting over one another in order to try and tell me first, so I had to make them calm down and take turns in order to get the whole story. Ginny had remembered that Harry mentioned at his birthday dinner about Dumbledore leaving the Sword of Gryffindor to him in his will, and when it had been found out that the sword was in the Headmaster's office, they had tried to go up there and steal it. Almost managed it too, only Snape caught them. "How long ago was this? Did this only just happen?"
"Yes Mistress Mia, it happened today and the punishment has already been given." I paled considerably, barely able to whisper.
"Punishment?"
"Yes miss! The three friends were ordered into the Forbidden Forest to work for the groundskeeper, Professor Hagrid!" Dobby supplied to me cheerfully and I immediately breathed a sigh of relief, slumping into my chair as Kreacher frowned, coming towards me a little uncertainly before he took my hand in order to start rubbing it in what I thought must have been an attempt of comfort.
"Does mistress require anything? My mistress seems to be greatly distressed."
"No, I'm alright now Kreacher, thank you. You too Dobby, thank you for coming to tell me this, but everything's alright. So long as they're with Hagrid, they'll be safe and they haven't been hurt. That's more than what I could hope for." I breathed, giving them both a smile. "Other than this incident, has there been any other developments of note? We may as well have our weekly report now." Kreacher promptly went into a full explanation of every movement Snape and the Carrows had made, the punishments the siblings having handed out being a strong feature, but despite his attention to detail, there was nothing of note in Kreacher's report.
Dobby did not have anything either, telling me all about the other teachers and my friends which I'd charged them both with keeping an eye on. Thankfully everyone seemed to be alright, the teachers doing their upmost to keep the students safe, and it was only the Carrow siblings who seemed insistent on handing out such torturous punishments. According to Dobby, even Filch was against their methods as they practiced the Cruciatus Curse on first years and things like that. Apparently, Filch was much more likely to turn a blind eye to rule breakers, and Dobby even reported that he'd witness Filch stuffing a couple of first years into a broom closet to hide them from one of the Carrow siblings as they had been chasing after them, trying to punish them for something ridiculous. It made me smile.
"Good, and have you talked to Peeves and the ghosts? Are they also on board?"
"Yes Mistress Mia, though the poltergeist was difficult to get a hold of, but once I was able to mention your name, he was willing to listen." Kreacher informed me. "The poltergeist has agreed to keep an eye on the Carrow siblings, and has taken it upon himself to attack them should they be getting too far out of hand, though he worried that they would forcibly expel him from the castle, so – and I hope you will forgive my presumption, mistress – I assured him that you would not allow it to happen."
"Of course not. It's a long, laborious process to exorcise a poltergeist and it has to go through to the Ministry so that the right people would be notified and sent to complete the job, but I have a person in that department and they'll send word if a request goes through. Keep up the good work, gentlemen, we're making excellent progress. Dobby, I'll be sure to buy you all the socks you want this Christmas, and Kreacher, if you think of anything you should like to have, you need only name it. You both deserve rewards for all your hard work."
"Thank you miss! Miss Mia has always been so kind to Dobby, Dobby is more than happy to help any friend of Harry Potter!" I chuckled and reached down to Dobby who instinctively flinched, still too used to people being rough and abusive towards him, but when he felt me stroking his ears he beamed at me and relaxed into the sensation as I did the same for Kreacher.
"You'd better head back now before you're missed. Take care of yourselves now and remember. Don't let them catch you." Promptly giving me a salute and a bow, they both disappeared from sight, leaving me to sit back and process the news. Ginny, I bet it had been your idea to break into Snape's office, I'm just glad it didn't backfire too badly. Hagrid will protect them, and if they're all together then they're probably having the time of their lives. Away from the school and the Carrows, they'll probably feel a great deal better.
Something was bleeping at me, so I hastened to go and see that Moody was contacting me, informing me that there was a new mission at hand, and we needed as many people as possible to join in. With a place, a time and a password, I hastened to prepare myself to go and when I arrived, I was immediately glad to find Cedric was also there, having arrived before me. "Ced!"
"Mia!" We hugged each other, making Moody cough and stoutly remind us that there was a protocol to follow so I apologised and gave the password, satisfying him. We were in a forest clearing, the full moon shining above our heads so I despondently thought to myself that I would be able to see Uncle Remus this time either. I still kept him steadily supplied with the wolfsbane potion, though it was a struggle to get them to him without them being found out. I had to thank Orion for his skills in delivering so secretly. He really was a first class owl. He was now resting back in my hideout, Fawkes keeping him company as they were both tired out from the long journeys they'd just returned from.
"So what's this all about Alastor?" I asked him and his magical eye swerved to study me.
"Be patient Black. Wait for the others to arrive. I won't be repeating myself so pay attention once we start talking." Chuckling softly, I entertained myself by talking to Cedric instead.
"So, you decided to join the Order after all. I'm glad." He smiled at me gently, also speaking quietly though I could tell Moody was listening to us intently out of habit, always suspicious of anyone around him.
"It felt like the right thing to do. Besides, I couldn't sit back and let you get all the glory this time around. I may have lost out on being a Triwizard Champion, but this time I'm going to do my part." Beaming up at him, I told him that I thought he was very noble and courageous of him, making me wonder why in Merlin's name he was put in Hufflepuff when he had the brains of a Ravenclaw and the heart of a Gryffindor. Before long, others started to show up. Dad was there so we rushed to one another in order to embrace, and I also saw a few other members of the Order as well. Kingsley Shacklebolt appeared, giving the password and assuring Moody he hadn't been followed, and once he'd convinced Moody of the fact I hugged him too.
There was a light air around us all as we all grouped in and murmured happily, glad to see our friends as numerous embraces and kisses were passed around until Moody called for order. He had a plan, and it was a dangerous one, hence why he'd invited only the strongest witches and wizards along, people he could truly trust to get this done and I noticed Cedric stand a little taller, rather astonished that he would be counted among that number. "The plan is simple. We're breaking people out of Azkaban."
"You really are mad, Mad-Eye." I told him instantly as I folded my arms together. "I'm hoping you've got a spectacular plan to go along with that crazy streak of yours, right?" He shot me a withering stare but I merely smiled, so he eventually just rolled his magical eye before continuing.
"The point is, too many people have been imprisoned there unfairly, including a fair few of our own too. We need to get them all out. If we pull this off, it'll be a blow to the enemy's forces and we'll also succeed in bolstering our own numbers as well. It needs to be done, and it needs to be done soon. Anyone who wants to back out of the mission must do so now. There won't be any turning back otherwise." No one left. "Good. Now, to business." Moody seemed to have thought of everything, including that we were all going to wear masks so that no one would be able to see our faces and identify us, which I thought was a nice touch.
"Death Eaters always wear black, so I feel we should go for something different. How about white? Also, I think we should have masks shaped like phoenix heads. It'll be a nice touch." I suggested, making dad chuckle and ruffle my hair. He was going to be a key part of the plan, since very few people had actually visited Azkaban and knew the layout. The older aurors as well as dad were going to be team leaders, and each of us were going to tackle a floor to keep the dementors at bay as well as get everyone we needed out.
Cedric pointed out that we were looking at more than thirty people in this mission, possibly more, which meant it would be difficult to get them all out at once. "Glad you spotted that, Diggory, but not to worry. I've thought of that too." Moody said to him before then proceeding with the exit strategy. It involved getting everyone underwater and escaping in a huge contraption similar to something the muggles called a submarine though ours would be driven by magic. It was crazy. Literally crazy, but I had a feeling we could pull it off.
Cedric was placed on my dad's team with me, where I introduced them to each other though dad eyed Cedric wearily, glancing at me before rather stiffly shaking his hand. I hardly noticed, having become distracted by Kingsley who had lowered his voice to talk to me about something or other, giving me some information he'd managed to gather from inside the Ministry on their next targets, and one of them was Ted Tonks, who was a muggle-born. I quickly sent a message through, warning Tonks and her family so that he could get away quickly before he could be caught, thanking Kingsley for the warning. He smiled to me, gave my shoulder a squeeze then moved away in order to address his own team.
It took only a couple days' preparation before we descended upon Azkaban and started our attack. I flew on my broom with precision and swiftness, Cedric pairing up with me as we were both agile flyers and promptly attacked the dementors with our patronus charm. My lioness was joined by Cedric's bear, the two great figures racing through the air in order to throw back the dementors as numerous silvery shapes burst into life, tackling them as other members of our teams then blasted holes through the wall and began to race through, grabbing everyone who was a muggle-born or who had been imprisoned under false pretences in order to get them down into the ocean whilst armed with chocolate which was quickly fed to the prisoners in order to help them recover from being under the influence of the dementors for so long.
The mission was swift and clean, in and out. Before the real fun had even started to begin, it was over and with only a couple of injuries and one or two of us fainting from the effect of the dementors, we were able to escape underwater where they couldn't follow us then rose up upon the shore of the coast, promptly disapparating everyone to a safe place in order to hide. The biggest difficulty was keeping everyone fed, since so many people required a great deal of food, but we found ways. A lot of our stuff was donated from sympathisers and supporters, appeals going out over the radio which Lee Jordan was hosting, spreading the word about what was really going on out there and giving out warnings, as well as announcing anyone who'd been killed, things like that. It was brilliant, and more than once I made a guest appearance with the codename 'Rose'.
It was great seeing Lee, and even better to feel like I was doing even more to help in such desperately uncertain times, giving lectures on how to best protect the home, as well as listing off collection points across the country which were checked daily for anyone seeking sanctuary and safety for themselves and their families. The best part was that the radio station went completely under the Death Eaters' noses, they didn't have a clue about it because no one talked about it openly. Merely listened.
Things were tough. Excruciatingly tough sometimes, but we found our rhythm, found our means of saving as many people as we could, and we became rather good at it. I searched high and low for people who needed help, as well as trying to find out what had happened to Helga Hufflepuff's cup and the lost diadem of Ravenclaw, but so far, I had nothing. Some days were very dark indeed, and we didn't always receive a victory. Sometimes I saw people killed right before my very eyes, and it was all I could do to get as many people out of the crossfire as possible, as the Death Eaters no longer made any distinction between the innocent and the guilty, of which no one was actually guilty other than themselves.
It was war, and it was bitter, but on the few nights were I was able to meet up with my dad or my mum and Leo, I'd sit with them and just enjoy a few moments of peace and revel in their company. The little sparks of light in a seemingly endless ocean of darkness made it all the more bearable, living for the hope of just one more moment with the people that I loved, and when I was finally able to catch up to Remus, three months after our argument in the kitchen of Grimmauld Place, I had actually burst into tears and leaped into his arms whereby he caught me, and we embraced one another with the notion that neither of us ever wanted to let go.
Beautiful. Moments like this were what I lived for. Pure, uplifting, wonderful. Every moment I spent in the company of my beloved family, I felt stronger than ever before, like their mere presence was enough to bolster me up and carry me through whatever came at us next. Messy, yet functional. That was my life now.