Backs Against the Wall

Chapter Two

September 15th 1980

Dorcas had to shake Lyra several times to get her up when the alarm went off at 6am that morning, and all she got was a pillow to the face for her efforts.

"You're going to miss breakfast if you don't get up now," Dorcas protested, whacking her back with the pillow in revenge. "And you know McKinnon will make you regret it. So come on!"

"I don't wanna," Lyra mumbled, but she sat up reluctantly and swung herself out of bed. "I /really/ don't wanna, Doe."

Dorcas pouted at her and ruffled her curls. "I know, me neither, but only eight weeks left of Phase One! Then we get to the good stuff, shadowing an actual Auror!"

"I'm so excited for the duelling in a fortnight," Lyra admitted, dragging on a jumper she'd stolen from Dorcas and yawning as she followed her out towards the canteen. Most of her clothes were the training clothes she'd bought the moment she was out of Grimmauld Place or ones she'd adopted from Dorcas' suitcase – her parents wouldn't have approved of jogging bottoms, jumpers or trainers so Lyra hadn't even tried to buy any before leaving and had no need for any of her dresses here.

"I know you are, sweetie," she grinned, giving Edgar a hard stare as they headed in, warning him to stay well away.

Lyra didn't say anything and didn't look in Edgar's direction. He and the others hadn't said anything to her since the rec room incident which she was grateful for but she didn't want to push it; McKinnon had warned her that they were going to start hand to hand combat within the week and the last thing she needed was to be paired up with an angry Edgar.

The breakfast was always good and so she made an effort to load her plate up with more than she thought was necessary. She hated eating this much but without it, she wouldn't be standing. They burned through so many calories daily that it was all she could do to keep up with her body's demands.

Dorcas gave her an approving look as Lyra sat down next to her with a full plate. "At least you're eating."

Lyra gave her a look. "I thought we agreed we didn't need to discuss this."

"We won't discuss you specifically, but we sure can discuss the disgusting ways that Pureblood traditions oppress women and-"

"Dorcas, it's alright, I'm eating," Lyra laughed, shaking her head.

It had been a struggle, though. At home, her mother watched what she ate, making sure she wasn't gaining weight or looking unladylike and the amount of dinner parties she'd attended over the summer where she'd been instructed to first drink water to suppress her appetite or had only been allowed a tiny plate of food was in the hundreds by now. It was still challenging to see a plate of food as necessary and not something she was going to be punished for even if she logically knew the restrictions were bullshit.

"Ready for the start of the new section?" McKinnon said, stopping behind them as Dorcas turned and grinned up at him.

"I was born ready," she joked, making him laugh.

"I actually don't doubt that you were. Lyra, what about you?"

"Are you joking? Clearly I'm not ready."

He shrugged. "I don't know, you've looked a lot better this week. Sometimes you hit a wall and then once you're through that it's easy."

Don't get me wrong," Lyra said, stirring her porridge thoughtfully, "I can see the improvement too. It just doesn't make me ready to fight people without a wand."

Mason laughed. "They won't know what's hit them, I mean it. You're faster and lighter on your feet than a lot of them, and they won't expect you to be any good."

"Uh, thanks, I think," she drawled.

"I didn't say anything about /my/ predictions, I'm expecting great things," he grinned, shrugging. "See you later."

"Byeeee," Dorcas called, turning back to her food happily. "I for one think you're going to kick ass, remember-"

"Let me guess, girl power?" Lyra snorted.

"Precisely! You know me so well."


The room felt like something out of a cliched young adult book Dorcas would read with its concrete surfaces and smooth pillars down the middle, splitting up the room but leaving space in the middle for the tape-marked square. The comparison was only highlighted by the fact that they were going to learn how to fight here. Lyra glanced around at the punching bags and the floor mats and grimaced in preparation. Being physically fit was only the first step and now they had to know how to fight if they found themselves wandless – so here they were, barely an hour after breakfast, gathered around in a loose circle with McKinnon in the middle looking, as always, smug as hell.

"I hope no one ate too much at breakfast, because one punch to the gut and it's going to be all over your shoes," he called to gather everyone's attention.

Dorcas sniggered and McKinnon grinned at her, making Lyra roll her eyes. There was definitely something more to their relationship than they were letting on but no matter how much Lyra tried to sneak it into conversation, Dorcas had made it very clear they only knew each other from being in the same Hogwarts house. Naturally, Lyra didn't believe her; that could be because the environment in Slytherin wasn't the same, but she hadn't known anyone outside of her year, let alone someone a good few years above. Not well enough o joke around like they did, anyway.

Emma Vanity raised her hand. "Are we actually going to be fighting each other? That seems a bit… wrong."

"Not today you aren't. We're just going to start with the basics, learning punches, stances, defensive moves mostly. But eventually, yes, you'll fight each other. Not aiming to seriously injure – magic can only patch you up so much – but to get a feel for it, learning how to anticipate someone's actions."

"Why do we need to know this? We'll have our wands." Edgar snorted.

"And what happens if you lose it? Or it snaps? I've been there, I fell down and snapped it and funnily enough I can't always do wandless magic."

"You can do it though?" Edgar replied, blue eyes wide in surprise. It was, even amongst elite wizards, a rare skill.

Mason shrugged. "I have been known to do it. Not reliably, hence why this is important. And anyway, magic isn't always the answer. Sometimes a good punch will get you much further," he grinned.

Dorcas sniggered and rolled back on her heels, itching to get started.

"Okay, I'll demonstrate the stance and a few basic punches and then I'll expect you to pair off and practise. Don't go too hard, don't injure yourself, there's cloths to wrap around your hands in the corner because the punching bags will rip them to shreds otherwise," Mason called, moving over to the closest bag and falling into position fluidly. It was obvious he was good even to Lyra's untrained eye.

"Thumbs on the outside of your fist or you'll break it every time you punch. Feet shoulder width apart, shoulders loose or again, you'll dislocate one."

Everyone mimicked him where they stood and watched his movements closely.

"The trick with fighting like this is obviously to hurt them but mostly just to be faster than them. Keep your distance, focus on landing one or two decent hits rather than going all in, getting hurt yourself and not being able to disengage. Guys are sensitive in the groin, sure, but girls aren't exactly immune to it either," he said, demonstrating the punches in between his sentences, "Elbows and knees are stronger than fists, and if you have longer nails aim for the eyes, the backs of the ears."

Lyra listened closely to it all. Some of the boys were getting distracted already and were drifting towards the punching bags, eager to try for themselves and assuming that a few fist fights at Hogwarts qualified them as experts. She knew that McKinnon wouldn't waste words, and that the information he was giving them was going to be crucial.

"Lastly, for those of you still listening, the stance I've been doing here looks great but is very easily defeated by a swift kick to the back of the knees. If you stand like this, however," he said, shifting his feet with a broad grin on his face, "You'll not be as much at risk of that."

Lyra snorted, as did the others and then once he'd finished talking, they broke off into their pairs to practise. She and Dorcas naturally went together, taking it in turns to punch the bag hanging in front of them.

"Black, you're standing wrong," Edgar said loudly. Him and Davey were at the bag next to the girls and he wandered over when he saw Lyra punching, Dorcas steadying the bag and spotting for her.

"Give me a fucking /break/," she huffed under her breath, throwing a particularly hard punch and then stepping back, face settling into a pleasant smile as she settled on a revenge plan.

"Look, like this," he smirked, giving a demonstration with the wrong stance – as Mason had clearly predicted would happen.

Lyra nodded slowly and thoughtfully, watching him. She stepped closer, pretending to really consider the situation before smiling up at him and tucking her hair behind her ears. "Show me again? Thanks, Edgar, I really appreciate it," she gushed, widening her dark eyes and letting them shine. "I know we didn't get off to a great start, but this means a lot."

Edgar looked surprised but subtly pleased, the stroke of his ego overriding any dislike of her, and he stepped closer to the punching bag, readying himself. "Okay, are you watching?"

"Yes, I'm watching," she nodded, moving to stand next to him and smiling brilliantly again.

Edgar rolled his shoulders smugly and prepared to make the punch.

Lyra saw Mason standing a few feet away, shot a grin at him and then kicked Edgar swiftly in the back of the shin, making his legs buckle and he hit the floor like a sack of potatoes, his knees hitting the training mat with a satisfying thump – the mats would stop any serious damage but weren't thick enough to prevent his knees bruising. Both Dorcas and Mason were bent double with laughter as Lyra stepped backwards and dusted her hands off mockingly.

"That'll teach you to stop listening to the instructor half way through," Lyra smirked as Davey came and helped Edgar up, the blonde boy now scowling up at her.

"What the fuck, Black?!"

She shrugged casually. "I paid attention."

"You just wait until we're fighting each other, and then we'll see how great you think you are," he snapped, his high cheekbones burning red with embarrassment from both the fall and the fact that he'd been taken in by a fake apology and a flutter of her eyelashes.

"No threatening the other recruits please," Mason grinned lazily, "Not very nice, Bones."

Edgar snarled slightly and stormed off to find a different area to practise in.

"Congratulations, that was really quite impressive."

"Thank you, Auror McKinnon," Lyra smirked.

"Was that you… flirting with Bones?" Dorcas said slyly, waggling her eyebrows as she tried to contain a grin.

"Maybe…"

"Dangerous tactic, now we all know what to look out for," Mason smirked, "I'll be on my guard against that look," he said before mimicking her and batting his eyelashes teasingly.

Lyra laughed loudly, fluttering her eyelashes back at him. "I think it suits me much better," she retorted, shaking her head and returning to practising, tuning out from the conversation to focus on getting her punches right.

Dorcas eyed Mason and stayed next to him rather than returning to practise with her friend. "I saw the look on your face."

"What look?" Mason replied amiably.

"You know what look, and you know what I mean, you love a person who can kick ass."

"/Stop/ trying to set me up with people!"

"Mason you are a catch and you know it, so you should let me set you up with people because I have great taste."

"You do not – I'm her instructor!"

"And you'd make an insanely attractive couple," Dorcas protested, making sure she kept her voice low.

"No, Doe."

"Mason!"

"Not happening. Not only because it's not allowed, but because she said earlier she didn't want to encourage the rumour that she slept with someone to get let in early."

"So you did ask her out!" Dorcas crowed, eyes widening with delight.

"/No/! I offered to help her train and she declined," Mason huffed, exasperated. "Can we drop this now?"

"Only because I'm still so thrilled to see Edgar on the floor," she sniggered quietly.

"We'll speak later – and not about this, before you get any ideas."

"Alright, alright, bye for now," she grinned, dancing back off to help Lyra, winking at Mason over her shoulder.


Mason and Dorcas slipped into the back of the already crowded room although they were by no means late. The usual suspects were all there: the Longbottoms with Neville absent, Emmeline, the Prewett twins and, of course, the Marauders and Lily with baby Harry in her arms."Mason, Doe, over here!" James called, beckoning them over as they made space around the table for the two of them. "How has it been!""Grim, although we had some fun today at Edgar's expense," Doe grinned.

"Doesn't Dumbledore still want to recruit him?" Sirius frowned, pushing his hair back and letting Dorcas perch on the edge of his seat.

"Yeah, sure, but he's a twat," Mason snorted, shrugging. "He's a bully. Although people are catching on and not letting him get away with it."

"Well it's not like bullies can't change," James pointed out, giving his three friends a look. "Not that that means he should get a free pass," he added, "There's different levels to it. I just remember he was really good at school and old Dumbles said we should get as many people on board as we could."

Lily made a little noise, making James laugh, and she reached under the table to bring out an old tin of chocolates, now repurposed. "I forgot I made cookies! I saved you some although they're probably the worst ones, the others were greedy shits and just grabbed."

"Lily, none of them will be shit, I guarantee it," Dorcas grinned, grabbing one gratefully. "God, this is so much better than the porridge in the canteen."

"Everything is better than that porridge, Doe," Mason sniggered.

"Eh, true. Wait, Dumbledore is here!"

The room quickly quietened down as the professor walked to the middle and surveyed the group gathered around him.

"Good evening, all of you. Thank you once again for attending. I know the danger each and every one of you face just getting here, and that risk doesn't go unnoticed," he began calmly. "The news I have for you this evening isn't pleasant. I'm sure you will all see the news in the morning but there was an attack just a few hours ago on the Muggle village where our friend Caradoc resides. The Order members who were here at headquarters rushed to aid him and the Ministry sent Aurors once the alarm was raised, but there were 9 Muggle deaths and…" The usually composed man faltered. "Caradoc is… missing. No trace of him at all."

Mason glanced across at his friends and they all shared the same expression: it was one thing to volunteer to fight in the war, it was another thing entirely to be reminded that they could quite easily die doing it.

"We know Bellatrix Lestrange was present, as were Antonin Dolohov and Robert Avery."

Dorcas squeezed Sirius' hand tightly, knowing that any mention of his extended family upset him even if he wouldn't admit to it.

"And we will continue to believe that he is alive and a prisoner rather than the alternative. Negativity will help no one."

Mason privately thought that was useless advice. Sure, being a pessimist wouldn't help but being ridiculously optimistic would only lead to false hope. Caradoc was dead, or as good as dead, and while they should try and find him, they should remain realistic about their chances.

The rest of the meeting was subdued. Most people didn't have any new information or were still working on their assigned tasks, so most people left once the briefing was done. The Marauders, Lily, Dorcas and Mason remained behind, promising they'd lock the doors and set the wards up when they left the little house.

"I'm going to kill her myself," Sirius snapped once the room was empty of anyone else.

James sighed, knowing full well that this was about his cousin. "You can't just kill her, Sirius, she should be tried and sent to Azkaban."

"Azkaban is too good for her, she should be dead! Nine more Muggles!"

Mason wrapped his hands around his mug of coffee and stole another cookie from the tin in the middle. "She should be dead but you don't have the authority to kill Death Eaters. If you'd wanted to go down the Auror route, you might've had that chance."

Sirius shook his head in disgust, not listening to Mason's advice. "It's bullshit. She's following You-Know-Who, Narcissa married that Malfoy dickhead, Regulus is still at home and probably one of them too, Lyra's there too – you know her fiancé was there tonight as well?"

"Fiancé?" Dorcas spluttered. "When did /that/ happen?"

"Well she didn't exactly tell me, she doesn't speak to me, does she," he said bitterly, "But it's obvious. Avery was all over her in school and I have no doubt Mummy and Daddy will have cashed in on that. Good connections and a lovely full Gringotts vault," he drawled.

"She's only just graduated," Mason frowned, but he glanced sideways at Dorcas – they both knew exactly where Lyra was and it wasn't at Grimmauld Place planning a wedding.

"Yeah, but she's eighteen and eligible," Sirius said, mimicking his mother's accent. "They won't care, and she'll go along with it. She'll be married before the year's out, I bet you ten galleons. It'll be in the Prophet the next day."

Dorcas bit her lip. "You never know, maybe if you wrote to her you could find out? She might just feel stuck."

"If she'd felt stuck she could've left with me," Sirius snapped, pushing his chair out and exiting the room swiftly. They all knew it wouldn't have been that simple, but they left the comment unchallenged and let him leave. It wasn't worth the effort to force him to stay – he'd return when he was ready.

"Merlin, someone's missing Marlene," Lily muttered."Missing Marlene?" Mason said, raising an eyebrow swiftly and leaning in.

Lily giggled. "Calm yourself. Nothing's happened, Marlene is just at work this evening and they've not seen each other for a bit. We've been trying to get Sirius to ask her out properly but you know how he is."

"I do," Mason scowled, "He's lucky I don't beat him to a pulp for messing her around."

"And we all know that he is not the one in charge of their relationship status, she's the one keeping him at arm's length these days. If he hurt her, Marlene would beat him to a pulp before you could so much as blink," James countered with a grin.

Mason grumbled under his breath.

"More importantly," Dorcas said, giving the Auror a stern look, "We need some advice."

"We do?" he checked.

"We do," she said firmly, turning back to the others. "We know what's happening with Lyra. She's doing Auror training with me."

Remus, who had so far been quiet, choked on his cookie and leaned forwards, eyes wide while the others all had a similar reaction.

"We weren't sure whether to say anything to you – or more importantly to Sirius – but we don't want him thinking his entire family are out there doing all of this. He should have the chance to resolve things with her at least, right?"

"I guess," James said slowly, trying to weigh up the pros and cons of this plan. "Is she genuinely on our side?"

Mason rolled his eyes. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well, I just mean that I've met his parents, they're not exactly the easiest people to get away from, is she there for the right reasons?"

Dorcas nodded to Mason. "Just tell them, we can talk to Sirius afterwards and explain."

"She was engaged to Avery I assume," he started slowly, "She knew if she stayed at home, she'd be in too deep to ever leave, so she sent in her application a year early and explained the situation to Moody. He agreed to take her on if it meant keeping her out of that house and in a job, a job she actually wants, too."

"And from what she's told me it isn't just a pity place either. She's weak as shit, her mother was making her diet like mad all summer, but she's so good!" Dorcas added eagerly.

"Well we'll see about that," Mason grinned, "But yes, Lyra is safe and well and not married to a Death Eater."

"Much to Mason's pleasure," Dorcas smirked and winked at Lily who gasped happily.

"Dorcas, for fuck's sake," he grumbled as Lily flapped her hands.

"You /fancy/ her?" she beamed, "Ohhh I like the sound of this!"

"I do not, this is Dorcas letting her imagination run away with her."

"Sure it is," Lily said sweetly, leaning over and patting his head.

Mason brushed her off affectionately and scraped his chair back. "Leave me alone. I'm going to find Sirius and pass this all on to him so he can stop worrying about it."

"Any chance Regulus has also had a change of heart?" James said dryly, bouncing his son on his knee.

Mason thought back to the Ministry document on Moody's desk letting them know that Regulus had been sighted with other prominent Death Eaters. James took his grim facial expression to be all the answer he needed.


"Sirius are you there?"

Mason slipped through from the main room at the front to the office at the back where most of the Order's intel was collected and filed. Normally they had a couple of people organising it all and working out what missions would be best and which Death Eaters to target but after the meeting earlier it was empty save for Sirius.

"Don't want to talk, Mase," he muttered, tipping his head back and resting it against the wall, his eyes closed. "I'm not in the mood for a lecture about Marlene."

"I'm not here to talk to you about my sister, I'm here about yours."

Sirius' eyes flew open and he sat up straighter. "What?"

"It's good news, promise. She left home," he said gently, sitting in the chair opposite him. "She's doing the Auror training with Dorcas. I'm her instructor."

"What?!"

"I promise you, this isn't a joke, I'm not being a dick, she left before they could marry her off and she's going to be an Auror."

Sirius shook his head. "I don't understand. You mean my parents put her into Auror training?"

"Well judging by the fact that she's had no letters from home, was forced into a diet all summer by your mother and deliberately put herself forward for training early to avoid getting married, I'd say no," Mason smiled. "She wanted out."

Swallowing hard, Sirius glanced down at the floor and tried to piece it all together in his head. "She really left?" he whispered.

"Yeah, she really did. And I think if you wrote to her, she'd love to hear from you."

"I don't know about that, Mason, we've not spoken in five years, not since I left home…"

"All the more reason to speak now, surely? Write to her, mate, say that I mentioned her but obviously miss out the whole 'we're in the Order' bit," Mason chuckled, standing back up and getting ready to leave. He and Dorcas didn't have much time to sneak out and they'd stayed chatting for long enough already.

Sirius snorted, but he nodded gratefully. "Thank you. Makes me feel slightly less ashamed of my last name knowing it's not just me about to get disowned."

"Any time," Mason grinned, "She's doing you proud, I promise."