A/N: Thank you sooooo much for all the reviews! I luv getting them so much! (Hint hint) Lol. Anyway, I've finally decided on Lenore's house, etc. and just to say, Lenore will NOT be a part of the trio; some people seemed worried a/b that; I wasn't really planning on it anyway. Okay, well sorry a/b the cliffy! Lol, I am the Cliffhanger Queen! Ha! Okay, here's Chapter 11! PLEASE REVIEW IF YOU READ IT!
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Chapter 11:
"Professor!" gasped Hermione as Lupin collapsed into a chair. "Are you all right?" The woman, Evelyn, looked concertedly into Lupin's eyes.
"I think it's just shock," she said. "He should be all right." The woman then bent down on her knees, peering into Lupin's face. He had passed out. "Remus!" she said. "Wake up, it really is me. Why on earth did you think I was dead?" The woman then turned to Harry, Hermione, and Ron. She smiled at Harry.
"You must be James and Lily's son. You are the mirror image of your father; I don't know if anyone's ever told you, and you have Lily's eyes." The woman smiled.
"Yeah," said Harry uncomfortably. "They've mentioned it."
"What's your name, then, dear?" the woman asked Harry. Harry, Ron, and Hermione gaped at her. Nobody had ever asked Harry his name, especially people who'd known his parents. Everyone knew him already. After a moment, Harry realized that she wasn't kidding.
"I'm Harry. Harry Potter," said Harry pointedly, but the woman showed no recognition of his name. Curious. Harry went on. "And this is Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."
"Nice to meet you," said the woman. "Now, Harry. Are your parents here? They should be surprised, I expect. And Sirius as well; this is his house. And Peter too; they're always together, those Marauders." Now the three really gaped at her. Ron and Harry exchanged looks and Hermione decided to speak first.
"Um, well, you see," started Hermione slowly, "Harry's parents are dead. They died when he was a baby. And Sirius-" she stole a quick glance at Harry. "Sirius died in June." The woman gasped.
"What? How? When did this- Who…" she trailed off for a moment. "What about Peter?"
Harry finally spoke, rather angry at the woman's ignorance. "Peter Pettigrew is a Death Eater. He is a worthless piece of filth that betrayed my parents and the Order and framed Sirius, who was sent to Azkaban for twelve years before he escaped. No offense or anything but who are you, and where have you been?"
The woman gasped. "I'm sorry, Harry- but what did you say? Peter betrayed them? And Sirius- and Lily, and James- how?" Harry shook his head slowly as Lupin finally came around.
"Who are you?" asked Harry. He then turned to Lupin as he stood up. "Moony, who is she? She just asked where my parents were, and Sirius, and Wormtail…"
Then Lupin fumbled for his pin. "One moment, Harry." He took it off and lifted it to his mouth. "Bumblebee- please come to Headquarters immediately. Somebody… is here, that has been gone for the last sixteen years. Please come now, it is rather urgent." Harry then heard Dumbledore's voice come out of the pin.
"I'm coming Moony. I will be there in about a minute. Thank you." Lupin then turned to the woman.
"Evelyn… how in the world… Evelyn, he killed you! We would have sent for you, but you and Calista were killed! They found your bodies; yours in Siberia and Calista's in Scandinavia… How?"
"Moony, I don' know about Calista, but I never died. Maybe it was someone on Polyjuice… But I never died! I waited for sixteen years for a letter, an owl, anything at all, but no messages came. Dumbledore promised I wouldn't have to wait over fifteen something; I never knew what the fifteen was, hours, days, weeks, months, years… I was taken away. But I waited over fifteen years and nothing came. I thought you were all dead; that You-Know-Who had killed you all or that something terrible happened." The woman paused, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. "Nobody came… Oh, Remus, tell me it isn't true… Are Lily and James really dead? And Sirius? Is Peter a Death Eater?" The woman, Evelyn, was now hysterical.
"Evelyn, we would have sent for you! They told us you were dead! Voldemort was defeated the night Lily and James died! Harry defeated him! We would've sent for you, but you were dead…" Lupin looked on the verge of tears himself.
"Then You-Know-Who is gone?" asked the woman in disbelief.
"No," said Lupin. "He returned. He was gone for years, but he came back two years ago. It's beginning again."
Evelyn looked shocked. "Peter?" she asked fearfully again. "And Sirius?"
"Peter betrayed Lily and James. He's still alive, the worthless rat. And in June, Sirius was killed by Bellatrix, in a duel."
"No," whispered the woman, sitting down. "Then why are we in his house?"
Lupin answered wearily. "This is the Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. Evelyn, what were you doing all these years?"
"Remus, I was waiting for the word, just one word that I could finally come back, and complete my mission! I've been hiding all these years in Siberia, like Dumbledore told me to… waiting. Who told you I was dead?"
At this moment, Dumbledore entered the room calmly. But as his eyes landed on Evelyn, he seemed extremely surprised. "Evelyn? It can't be… it just can't be…"
"Dumbledore!" cried the woman. She rushed over and embraced the Headmaster. "You never sent… no messages ever came! And I was just so homesick, I figured that Voldemort could've killed you all, and I worried and worried and I decided to come-"
"Evelyn," said Dumbledore. "What happened to you? You were never even attacked?" The woman shook her head sadly.
"I did everything you told me- I stayed hidden! I didn't use magic, or write letters, or anything! Oh, Dumbledore… was He really defeated fifteen years ago? Did I waste all of that precious time?"
"Evelyn," said Dumbledore, his voice cracking miserably. "Come in, dear. Come sit down." Dumbledore than escorted Evelyn into the sitting room. Harry looked back at Hermione and Ron. They shrugged, and began following them. When they reached the Sitting room, Mrs. Weasley came in to see what all of the fuss was about. She didn't look as if she knew Evelyn, judging by the fact that she wore no recognition on her face.
"Dumbledore? Can I do anything?" asked Mrs. Weasley helpfully.
"Yes, actually," said Dumbledore. "Would you mind terribly getting Remus, Evelyn, and I a cup of tea? There's some catching up to do."
"Certainly," smiled Mrs. Weasley. "Come, Ron, Harry, Hermione. Leave the adults to talk."
"Actually, Molly," intervened Dumbledore. "I would like if they stayed. Harry at the very least. And I've no doubt in my mind that he'd tell Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley anyway, so I'd like them to stay as well."
"All right," gave in Mrs. Weasley, as she walked briskly into the kitchen.
Dumbledore sat back in his seat and sighed. He suddenly jumped, as if something had dawned on him. "Evelyn, you lived. Could Calista not be alive as well?" Evelyn nodded thoughtfully. Harry noticed how very pale she was.
"Fawkes!" called Dumbledore. The scarlet Phoenix appeared a moment later. "Go to Calista, Fawkes. She will understand," Dumbledore instructed. "Bring her back." Fawkes then disappeared with a soft crack. "Now," said Dumbledore, turning back to the others in the room. Let us wait to see if she comes back. Evelyn nodded, and Harry saw tears slipping down her cheek.
"Evelyn, what's wrong?" asked Remus worriedly.
"I don't know, Remus," she said. "I'm so… so… overwhelmed. I never thought that Sirius… and Lily and James… and Peter… I never had any idea. Never in my wildest dreams! And now, just being back here, and seeing you, and Dumbledore, and Lily's son…" Evelyn trailed off, silently crying. In about five minutes, a loud crack sounded through the room. Fawkes was back, and with him was perhaps the most beautiful woman of her age Harry had ever seen, besides a Veela.
The woman had long, raven locks of hair. Her eyes were an icy blue, and she had very pale skin. She possessed a different type of beauty, that was portrayed in the way she held herself, it seemed. She had very long, dark eyelashes, and, though she was not extremely tall, she was slightly intimidating, though she looked very kind.
"Calli!" shrieked Evelyn immediately. The woman ran into Evelyn's arms, clinging her tightly.
"Evelyn! I missed you so much!" The woman then looked around. "Remus!" She ran into Remus' arms and embraced him tightly. But when she stepped back she looked around seriously. "Dumbledore, what plans are we carrying out? What's you-know-who been doing? What took so long?"
Dumbledore sighed sadly. "Calista," he began. "Voldemort was defeated fifteen years ago, when he tried to kill Lily and James' son, Harry, but failed to do so. Right before his defeat, we heard news from death eaters that they had killed both you and Evelyn. We went to investigate of course but we found your bodies. Death eaters must have given people Polyjuice potion before they died, so that it would not wear off. I am so, so sorry. We would have come…."
The new woman, Calista, stared in disbelief. "What in the name of Merlin… All that time was for nothing? All of that waiting, all of that agony… all of the worrying, and a message was not going to come? How did you just send for me?"
It was Evelyn who answered this time. "I decided to come back without a call. I figured something was horribly wrong. I went to Lily and James' house first. It's gone. So then I went to Moony's; it looked like it'd been abandoned for years. I went to the Potter Manor, which was gone, and then to Padfoot's old apartment. Gone. So I came here, and, lo and behold- here they all are."
"Wow," breathed Calista, evidently excited to be back in her Old World. "So where are Lily and James and Sirius and Peter, anyway?" she asked happily. "Wait! Don't tell me! I'm gonna go sneak up on old Padfoot. Get him back for all those pranks… does he still think I'm dead? He's still a bachelor, I hope? Never got over me, I expect. Poor old dog. Where is he?" She was smiling happily and evidently didn't catch Evelyn's violent gestures as she turned to Harry.
"You must be James and Lily's son. Look exactly like James, you do. Do you play Quiditch?" Harry nodded slowly. At this, Calista seemed even more excited. "Ooh, I bet James is so proud! He always said his son would be just like him- Lily was ever so annoyed by it… What's your name, dear?"
"Harry," Harry stated clearly.
"Harry, then. Where are your parents? I can't wait to see Lily- I have missed her so much! It hasn't been the same at all! And is Peter here too?" She then noticed the sad hush that had come over everybody inside the room. "Guys?" she asked softly. "They are here, right?"
Lupin spoke first. "Calli, well… You see, Lily and James aren't… They're dead. They died the night Harry defeated Voldemort. But Voldemort's not gone; he recently came back. We're at Sirius' house because it's Headquarters currently. Sirius lived here after escaping Azkaban two years ago. Because Peter betrayed Lily and James and Sirius was framed. And Peter is currently a death eater, who was responsible for bringing Voldemort back." Calista's face became paler and paler as Lupin went on. By the end, tears were pouring down her fair face.
"No… No…" Calista buried her face in her hands. "Wow. And Harry defeated the Dark Lord?" she asked again, looking up. Dumbledore nodded.
"But we'll go into that later. In the meantime we'll have to get two bedrooms for the two of you set up, and would you like to join the Order? We've a meeting tonight."
"Albus," began Evelyn wryly, "We never temporarily quit the Order."
"True," chuckled Dumbledore. "True." He then paused for a moment. "It will be a big shock to everyone that you're alive. Would you like to come into the open at the meeting tonight?"
"Yeah," sighed Calista. "I really would. I've missed everyone so!"
"Well, then. I will leave the two of you to catch up with Remus. Harry, Ron, Hermione, please come with me; I've something to discuss with you."
"All right," said Harry, following Dumbledore out of the room. As soon as they had reached the hallway, Harry, Hermione, and Ron all began speaking.
"One moment, please," began Dumbledore. "I would like you to each take a pin. I know you can't join the Order yet, but I feel it is necessary for you to be able to listen to the meetings and be able to contact Order members when necessary. Everything about Evelyn and Calista will be explained in the meeting tonight. I'll give you a short list of a few code names of Order members tomorrow, when I will be able to have a long conversation with the three of you. I know that there are some things you need to tell me and vise versa, but I believe that due to the circumstances, it can wait until tomorrow. Understood?" he asked. Harry, Hermione, and Ron nodded.
"Good. Now, I will make sure you three will be able to hear the meeting tonight. Go to a separate room and don't let anyone hear the pins. All right? I know I can trust you."
"Yes, Professor," said Harry. As the Headmaster left the room, Harry looked at his friends, at a complete loss for words.