Amelia flopped on the bed dramatically. Dust puffed out of the worn mattress as the old frame squeaked under her. She ignored it and wrapped her arms around her face, groaning. Tonks wiped a hand along the dresser, scrunching her nose in disgust. She looked around the once beautiful now neglected room and sighed.
"Sorry it's not much. No one really uses the bedrooms other than Harrys lot."
"Oh Merlin Tonks, you should have seen my apartment, this is fine." Amelia groaned again without moving her arms off of her face. She was tired and confused. Why would she agree to this? These people don't even like her let alone trust her. She is in way over her head and it was too much for her brain to handle right now.
"What do you think they are talking about?" Amelia asked as she finally sat up and took in her surroundings. It was a small space with only enough room for a twin bed, a chair and a dresser. Dust and cobwebs covered everything, but none of that bothered her. She was a very adaptable person. 'one of my only good qualities' she thought to herself dismissively.
Tonks plopped down on the chair, another dust cloud emerged and began to slowly settle around her. She crossed her legs and shrugged. "Don't know. I mean you of course. Probably trying to decide if you can be trusted." Tonks was picking at her nails for a moment before she realized how that sounded. Looking up she saw a look of dread on her cousins face. She reached over and grabbed Amelia's hand reassuringly.
"Don't worry! Remus is down there, he will vouch for you and Harry trusts his judgement more than anyone's."
Amelia suddenly felt sick. She was under the impression that Tonks had spoken to the group before she brought her in. She thought her selling herself moments before was more of an introduction and reassurance, not an interview or audition. There was no where for her to go now, she left her job, packed her belongings, broke her lease and left her entire life behind in one day for the cause-whatever that was, she still wasnt sure.
"You should have told me I was under a microscope! I would have prepared myself, I thought I was just coming in to help you track down death eaters. I didn't know this was a 'maybe' sort of situation!" She looked at Tonks desperately. "what do I do if they say no!? I have nowhere to go!"
"Lia stop." Tonks moved to the edge of the bed beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders, shaking her slightly. "They won't say no. We need you."
Amelias brows furrowed in confusion.Tonks emphasis on "need" didnt sot right. 'they need me? needing my help and wanting my help is two different things.' She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a stag patronus leaping into the room.
"Would you mind coming back downstairs? We would like to speak to both of you" Harrys disembodied voice sounded from the misty animal.
Amelia started to sweat and her breathing became shallow. The possibility of rejection, although slim, was making it hard to think. She had never been good enough for anything or anyone. There was always something wrong with her that made her "not quite right" for the task at hand. From relationships to jobs, she was never enough. Her fear was getting the better of her, but she needed to carry on and hear them out regardless.
Tonks squeezed her shoulders and smiled at her. "You will be fine"
Amelia looked into her eyes and nodded. "Okay...let's go."
Amelia slowly descended to the first floor, her brain fogging over in an attempt to protect itself from exploding. She focused on the back of her cousins head. The purple haired woman practically skipped down the stairs in front of her, stopping at the bottom and waiting impatiently.
"Please have a seat." Harry said as the two women stood in the entrance to the kitchen. Amelia took the seat she had occupied previously, setting her jaw and looking Harry directly in the eye. She knew if she began to look at the other faces in the room, she would psych herself out, reading into things that weren't there. "Right. Amelia, we talked and we decided that we would like you to join our cause."
Amelia let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, an invisible weight lifting off of her chest. She couldn't help but smile. "Okay, great. Awesome, thank you." She didn't know what else to say, her brain was still in a daze from her over stimulated emotions.
Remus sat forward and folded his hands on the table. His fussy baby now fast asleep on Molly's shoulder. "Amelia, do you understand why you were recruited?"
Confusion and weariness plagued her mind for the millionth time. "Y-yes? I thought..." she looked at her cousin who was fiddling with her fingers, her head bowed.
"I thought it was because... the war was over. It was safe for me to leave and be close to family? Helping the order track down death eaters?" She sat in silence for a moment, her eyes downcast suddenly feeling like she's going to be used for something or by someone. "I thought I was just going to help find some dark wizards..." Something told her this was more involved than she had anticipated.
Remus looked at Harry for a moment then at the few people left in the room. "We need you, to infiltrate a growing dark circle of followers."
Amelia, for the second time that night, was completely blind sided. She chuckled in disbelief "What? Like... undercover?" No one spoke. "come on ...this is a joke right?" Amelia was met with silence. Her face fell "Youre serious?"
Maybe she could beg for her job back and sleep in the hallway of her apartment building.
"Yes." Harry spoke up. "And the only person who can help you is Severus Snape."
Now her head was really going to explode. "Wait... wait wait wait..." she held her hands up in disbelief. First she's worried they don't want her and were going to throw her back across the ocean, now she's worried they are going to try and kill her. Something wasn't adding up in her mind. "Why me?" Amelia was pissed now, mostly at her cousin.
A large man sitting near Harry answered finally, his voice low but powerful. He wore extravagant purple and gold robes and a matching hat. He truly resembled a wizard. "Because you can go without being recognized and you are the only legilimens any of us personally know."
Amelia flattened her hands on the table in front of her. "That's all good and well but my legilimency only works when I'm not FREAKING OUT." Her last bit came out a smidge harsher than she wanted. She was still a guest in thier home after all, even if she felt they were actively trying to get her murdered
"We know." Tonks said quietly, still not looking up.
"What do you mean you know?" Amelia asked, hurt and betrayal seeping through her words.
Tonks sighed and sat back in her chair, folding her arms, keeping her face low. "I know you can't pick up anything if your mind is too loud. But I also know, that you are extremely clever." Tonks grabbed her hand and looked straight into Amelias hazel eyes. "I can't think of anyone else who could possibly do this. I trust you. We trust you"
The two women looked at each other, Amelias hurt feelings beginning to diminish. 'Don't forget, you still might end up dead' she reminded herself.
"Back to what I was saying." Harry started, regretfully bringing up more bad news. "Tonks did inform us of your issues with legilimency. There is only one person who can teach you to have better control of your emotions and simultaneously help you gain the trust of some of Voldemorts remaining followers."
"Yes but Harry...we don't know where he is!" Tonks said, folding her arms once again, a bit annoyed that Harry hasn't grasped this fact yet.
"You're wrong, we tracked him down! He's in the states teaching!" He was practically shouting across the table. Clearly this was a tender subject that had been discussed before.
The room fell silent. Everyone was obviously uncomfortable with whatever situation surrounded this man. If Amelia was going to risk her safety she needed straightforward answers. Cryptic shouting between Order members wasn't helping her anxiety.
"Who is this person and what is the deal?" No one spoke. "Do we know where he is?" Amelia asked bluntly.
"He's an ex death eater turned spy for The Order who risked his life for many years trying to keep everyone alive and he is highly skilled in Occlumency and we believe is a legilimens...and yes." Harry added. "We know where he is" Plain, simple and to the point. That's what Amelia needed. Plain speaking.
She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders at the group. "Okay so why is there doubt?"
Remus interjected before Harry could speak. "Because Harry convinced Ginny to place a tracking spell on him during their final year so we could monitor his movements. The accuracy of the spell is debatable." Amelia assumed 'Ginny' was one of the young women sitting next to Harry earlier. Both of whom were now nowhere to be seen.
Amelia thought for a moment. "That makes no sense, why would you need to know where he was, wast he one of you? A spy for The Order?"
The man with the purple robes spoke loudly "ENOUGH with the 20 questions, we don't have time for this-"
"I understand Kingsley but the girl has the right to know. We can't send her in blind. She needs to know the type of person she's freaking with." Remus said, taking his sleeping baby off of Molly and gently patting his back.
Once again the room went silent. Molly put the kettle on and started throwing biscuits on a platter. Harry sighed and removed his glasses, rubbing the irritation out of his eyes. "We needed to know where he was because he murdered our Order leader to gain Voldemorts trust. We didn't know at the time that it was all part of a plan between himself and the victim..." Harry sat forward resting his elbows on the table. "Severus Snape is the only person who can help you. We tracked him down, he is in a small town in Washington. Somehow within a few weeks he has managed to create a new life and is currently teaching part time at a university."
"Yes well he was always resourceful and tenacious." Molly said in passing as she set out her biscuits and tea. Molly was the only one in the group that didn't look like they just found out their dog was ran over by a garbage truck. She was bubbly, and happy? Too happy. Happy like "Mommy just took an upper" happy. It made Amelia uncomfortable.
Amelia tore her eyes away from molly and focused on Tonks as she grabbed a biscuit and poured herself a cup of tea, her mind running a million miles an hour. "okay... so what's the plan?"
Harry regarded her for a moment knowing the most difficult part of this whole scheme was this. "You have to gain his trust, and convince him to help you."
"Why can't you convince him to help me?" She asked. It was a completely fair question but still Amelia knew she didn't know the whole story so she was going to poke and prod until she recieved simple answers.
Molly giggled to herself and patted Harrys head. "That man won't let any of us near him without hexing us back into the dark ages. He doesn't trust easily dear. You have a hard job before you." She smiled sweetly at Amelia. "You can do it love, don't fret. Here, have a biscuit."