Blackened Days.
A/n- i'm skipping forward a bit...
****
IN Australia.....
"And its GILLMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The commentator shouted out above the crowd's cheering. "GILMORE HAS THE SNITCH! AUSTRALIAN DINGOES WIN BY 250 POINTS,"
Harry was cheering along with the rest of the crowd, Hermione and Ron were standing up waving their little flags, Sirius was whistling and for some reason Edea was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Remus.
After the game, Sirius turned suddenly, and scanned the crowd, "Where's Eds and Moony?"
Harry looked round, "I thought they were behind me..."
Sirius frowned, "That's not like them, but they know where we're staying so i guess i can't really hound them."
"Nice choice of words." Ron grinned.
"Ron." Hermione said patronisingly.
"Oh wait." Sirius suddenly grinned, "You see that huge marquee over there?" He pointed at a large white tent where a lot of noise was coming out of... "That's where they'll be, believe me... Does anybody have a camera?"
"No, why?" Asked Harry
"This moment, is going to be extremely funny, and also very rare. Its only happened twice in the history of Remus' life. You have just got to keep this image."
"CAn i smell beer?" Hermione wrinkled her nose.
"No, its just you." Ron said sacastically.
They made their way into the tent, and soon found Edea and Remus in a corner laughing like idiots. "Paadfut old friend... *hic*." Remus swayed uncertainly towards Sirius. Hermione looked shocked, she'd never ever imagined Professor Lupin could get drunk..
"Eds, how long did that take you?" Sirius asked with glee
"Two pints and a shot of vodka." Edea laughed. "Poor guy. It was his idea. Said he needed a drink."
"And yourself?"
"Not drunk... yet." Edea raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds promising." Sirius smiled, pointing his wand at Remus "Sobrio su."
Remus looked up with a jolt. "Hi guys." he said quietly. "Remind me not to take Edea's advice."
"Sirius!" Edea looked thundestruck. "What did you do that for? I was convincing him to do karaoke."
"WHAT?" Remus shouted. "I. Dont. Sing."
"Thats not what i remember... but then again... it was our very last day at Hogwarts.." Sirius smiled innocently.
"Sirius, your big mouth defeats you every time." Remus sighed.
***
Hermione and Ron were sitting out on the balcony when Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Dumbledore flew in bearing a message.
"Sirius?" Ron called out. "You've got a note."
Sirius came out dressed in a towel and took the note from the bird. "Eds," He swallowed, "You er.. might want to read this."
Edea came onto the balcony with her coffee and upon reading the note let her mug fall to the floor. It shattered.
"Whats' wrong?" Harry asked after a moment. Edea handed him the note which he read out.
"Dear Miss DuCruet and Mr. Black, I'm sorry to have to interrupt your holidays to tell you that in the early hours of this morning, your house was burnt to the ground by death eaters. We were alerted by the neighboring community who saw the dark Mark hovering over your cottage. I need to talk to you the moment you return. Voldemort is recruiting an army, and may plan to attack at any time. Be careful how you travel, Professor Dumbledore."
The group looked up at Edea who had gone deathly white. "Eds?" Sirius shook her, "How did he know?"
Edea didn't answer, she looked awful. "He's going to kill us." She finally whispered. "Hes going to kill every single one of us."
"No Eds, don't look at it like that." Sirius said almost pleadingly. "It wont happen." The look on his face told everyone that he agreed with Edea, whatever he said.
"We have to get back now." Remus said forcefully. "Do you know how to apparate?"
Harry nodded curtly, but Hermione and Ron shook their heads. "We'll create a portkey." Sirius said. "Everybody meet in here, in FIVE minutes."
***
They had had a string of portkeys that took them back to Hogwarts. One portkey alone could not travel across the world. By the time the group had appeared in the great hall, a large crowd had already gathered. The Weasleys ran to greet their son. The Grangers looked slightly out of place but Hermione was glad to see them anyway. Standing up at the head table was Dumbledore, addressing the crowd. Instead of the usual Hogwarts banners that Harry was accustomed to seeing on the walls, a large banner hung in the centre. It was a black piece of silk with a fiery orange phoenix in the centre. "Order of the Phoenix." He muttered.
"DuCruet?" Snape called out, "You're wanted up at head table. Something to do with ranks."
"Great." Edea sighed heading up to where Moody was now talking to Dumbledore.
"Edea." Dumbledore sighed, "You got the news?"
"The house was nothing. I'm so glad noone was inside." Edea waved it away.
"Not the house. It happened a few minutes before you came in, Voldemort is heading to Azkaban with his Death Eaters, he wants to re-open it. He WILL reopen it if we do not act fast." Moody said impatiently. "Bagman disappeared. No trace of the coward."
"Who's in charge?" Edea asked Dumbledore, who just looked at her pointedly.
"You are." He finally said.
"Oh." Edea looked lost. "Oh... right.... well..."
"Came as a bit of a shock?" Moody almost laughed,
"Why am I..."
"Group descision, you don't have a say in it. It was decided when you left for Hogwarts in September." Moody shrugged. "You'll do us proud, you always do."
"So i have to have a plan?"
"That's the general idea." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Can i have a minute to think of one?" Edea pleaded.
"Of course." Dumbledore led Moody away.
***
Edea jumped up onto the head's table earning a few dirty looks from the teachers. "Can i have your attention please?" She shouted, silencing the crowd. "Good. Right, so i guess you all know why we're here. Some idiot called Voldemort." Edea rolled her eyes. "Now listen to me, this is my idea, if it goes wrong you can blame me, i dont care. But you have to do as i ask."
Sirius looked up at her, "She doesn't look very happy." He murmured to Harry.
"I thought she was used to this," Harry asked
"No, not this sort of leadership. It was never her thing. She was the logistics, but never the leader." Sirius let out a laugh. "She's usually not that good at speaking at a crowd either. Used to be such a shy little thing."
Edea was still talking. "I've been assigned to lead this whole shenanigan, and we're going to do things my way. He's got his army of evil creatures and Dementors and of course the Death Eaters. What have we got? We have ourselves. Its fair to say we're at a severe disadvantage. We're aiming for one person here, Voldemort. We take out the leader and the others will be lost, right?" She saw heads nodding so carried on. "This is what we have to do. Everyone in this hall is able to fight, and if not fight then help out with wounded. I want you each to come up with your strength from these catergories: Flying, Unforgivables, Charmwork, Hexing, Diversionary tactics and hand to hand combat."
She let the crowd talk to each other deciding what they were best at.
"I dunno," Harry mumbled, "I guess its flying..."
Sirius nodded, "I have to agree with you there, i'm a flyer."
Hermione was thinking quietly, then said- "i wonder what diversionary tactics includes..."
"Dont go there." Sirius said slowly. "Thats' what the aurors do. They stand at the front and blast general holes in the ground."
"Oh." hermione thought about this. "I suppose i'm a charms person then."
"Me too." Ron added, "I'm not really in any group, but i dont want to be alone."
"Remus?" Sirius asked his friend. "What's it to be?"
"Hexing." Remus stated, staring up at the ceiling. "Thank god its not a full moon."
***
TBC
A/n- i'm skipping forward a bit...
****
IN Australia.....
"And its GILLMOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!" The commentator shouted out above the crowd's cheering. "GILMORE HAS THE SNITCH! AUSTRALIAN DINGOES WIN BY 250 POINTS,"
Harry was cheering along with the rest of the crowd, Hermione and Ron were standing up waving their little flags, Sirius was whistling and for some reason Edea was nowhere to be seen, and neither was Remus.
After the game, Sirius turned suddenly, and scanned the crowd, "Where's Eds and Moony?"
Harry looked round, "I thought they were behind me..."
Sirius frowned, "That's not like them, but they know where we're staying so i guess i can't really hound them."
"Nice choice of words." Ron grinned.
"Ron." Hermione said patronisingly.
"Oh wait." Sirius suddenly grinned, "You see that huge marquee over there?" He pointed at a large white tent where a lot of noise was coming out of... "That's where they'll be, believe me... Does anybody have a camera?"
"No, why?" Asked Harry
"This moment, is going to be extremely funny, and also very rare. Its only happened twice in the history of Remus' life. You have just got to keep this image."
"CAn i smell beer?" Hermione wrinkled her nose.
"No, its just you." Ron said sacastically.
They made their way into the tent, and soon found Edea and Remus in a corner laughing like idiots. "Paadfut old friend... *hic*." Remus swayed uncertainly towards Sirius. Hermione looked shocked, she'd never ever imagined Professor Lupin could get drunk..
"Eds, how long did that take you?" Sirius asked with glee
"Two pints and a shot of vodka." Edea laughed. "Poor guy. It was his idea. Said he needed a drink."
"And yourself?"
"Not drunk... yet." Edea raised an eyebrow.
"That sounds promising." Sirius smiled, pointing his wand at Remus "Sobrio su."
Remus looked up with a jolt. "Hi guys." he said quietly. "Remind me not to take Edea's advice."
"Sirius!" Edea looked thundestruck. "What did you do that for? I was convincing him to do karaoke."
"WHAT?" Remus shouted. "I. Dont. Sing."
"Thats not what i remember... but then again... it was our very last day at Hogwarts.." Sirius smiled innocently.
"Sirius, your big mouth defeats you every time." Remus sighed.
***
Hermione and Ron were sitting out on the balcony when Fawkes, the phoenix belonging to Dumbledore flew in bearing a message.
"Sirius?" Ron called out. "You've got a note."
Sirius came out dressed in a towel and took the note from the bird. "Eds," He swallowed, "You er.. might want to read this."
Edea came onto the balcony with her coffee and upon reading the note let her mug fall to the floor. It shattered.
"Whats' wrong?" Harry asked after a moment. Edea handed him the note which he read out.
"Dear Miss DuCruet and Mr. Black, I'm sorry to have to interrupt your holidays to tell you that in the early hours of this morning, your house was burnt to the ground by death eaters. We were alerted by the neighboring community who saw the dark Mark hovering over your cottage. I need to talk to you the moment you return. Voldemort is recruiting an army, and may plan to attack at any time. Be careful how you travel, Professor Dumbledore."
The group looked up at Edea who had gone deathly white. "Eds?" Sirius shook her, "How did he know?"
Edea didn't answer, she looked awful. "He's going to kill us." She finally whispered. "Hes going to kill every single one of us."
"No Eds, don't look at it like that." Sirius said almost pleadingly. "It wont happen." The look on his face told everyone that he agreed with Edea, whatever he said.
"We have to get back now." Remus said forcefully. "Do you know how to apparate?"
Harry nodded curtly, but Hermione and Ron shook their heads. "We'll create a portkey." Sirius said. "Everybody meet in here, in FIVE minutes."
***
They had had a string of portkeys that took them back to Hogwarts. One portkey alone could not travel across the world. By the time the group had appeared in the great hall, a large crowd had already gathered. The Weasleys ran to greet their son. The Grangers looked slightly out of place but Hermione was glad to see them anyway. Standing up at the head table was Dumbledore, addressing the crowd. Instead of the usual Hogwarts banners that Harry was accustomed to seeing on the walls, a large banner hung in the centre. It was a black piece of silk with a fiery orange phoenix in the centre. "Order of the Phoenix." He muttered.
"DuCruet?" Snape called out, "You're wanted up at head table. Something to do with ranks."
"Great." Edea sighed heading up to where Moody was now talking to Dumbledore.
"Edea." Dumbledore sighed, "You got the news?"
"The house was nothing. I'm so glad noone was inside." Edea waved it away.
"Not the house. It happened a few minutes before you came in, Voldemort is heading to Azkaban with his Death Eaters, he wants to re-open it. He WILL reopen it if we do not act fast." Moody said impatiently. "Bagman disappeared. No trace of the coward."
"Who's in charge?" Edea asked Dumbledore, who just looked at her pointedly.
"You are." He finally said.
"Oh." Edea looked lost. "Oh... right.... well..."
"Came as a bit of a shock?" Moody almost laughed,
"Why am I..."
"Group descision, you don't have a say in it. It was decided when you left for Hogwarts in September." Moody shrugged. "You'll do us proud, you always do."
"So i have to have a plan?"
"That's the general idea." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.
"Can i have a minute to think of one?" Edea pleaded.
"Of course." Dumbledore led Moody away.
***
Edea jumped up onto the head's table earning a few dirty looks from the teachers. "Can i have your attention please?" She shouted, silencing the crowd. "Good. Right, so i guess you all know why we're here. Some idiot called Voldemort." Edea rolled her eyes. "Now listen to me, this is my idea, if it goes wrong you can blame me, i dont care. But you have to do as i ask."
Sirius looked up at her, "She doesn't look very happy." He murmured to Harry.
"I thought she was used to this," Harry asked
"No, not this sort of leadership. It was never her thing. She was the logistics, but never the leader." Sirius let out a laugh. "She's usually not that good at speaking at a crowd either. Used to be such a shy little thing."
Edea was still talking. "I've been assigned to lead this whole shenanigan, and we're going to do things my way. He's got his army of evil creatures and Dementors and of course the Death Eaters. What have we got? We have ourselves. Its fair to say we're at a severe disadvantage. We're aiming for one person here, Voldemort. We take out the leader and the others will be lost, right?" She saw heads nodding so carried on. "This is what we have to do. Everyone in this hall is able to fight, and if not fight then help out with wounded. I want you each to come up with your strength from these catergories: Flying, Unforgivables, Charmwork, Hexing, Diversionary tactics and hand to hand combat."
She let the crowd talk to each other deciding what they were best at.
"I dunno," Harry mumbled, "I guess its flying..."
Sirius nodded, "I have to agree with you there, i'm a flyer."
Hermione was thinking quietly, then said- "i wonder what diversionary tactics includes..."
"Dont go there." Sirius said slowly. "Thats' what the aurors do. They stand at the front and blast general holes in the ground."
"Oh." hermione thought about this. "I suppose i'm a charms person then."
"Me too." Ron added, "I'm not really in any group, but i dont want to be alone."
"Remus?" Sirius asked his friend. "What's it to be?"
"Hexing." Remus stated, staring up at the ceiling. "Thank god its not a full moon."
***
TBC