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Chapter Six

The murmur of voices set a comforting background to the gloomy storm looming in the night sky. Mo looked darkly out the window with Sirius as they waited for the Headmaster to begin his meeting. All of the Order had been summoned and were waiting anxiously to hear what Dumbledore had to say. Even the Marauders and the girls didn't know what had caused him to call an emergency meeting. His mood that night had been almost desperate.

Everyone looked up when the aging wizard swept into the room. His gaze sparkled over the crowd of people before he took up his place at the head of the table. He did not sit but paused as if in thought.

When he spoke his voice was little more than a tremor in the silence and the distant thunder seemed wont to drown him out, "There as been another attack."

Mo frowned and spoke directly to him, "No one was harmed tonight, sir. Did something else happen?"

"Indeed Maureen," He looked at her momentarily and her stomach clutched in fear at the normally sky blue eyes that were darkened in what she could only assume was his own fear.

"Was it Voldemort?"

"Was anyone killed?"

"Who was it sir?"

"Are we in danger?"

Dumbledore waited silently for the questions to die out. He took a deep breath and continued, "We have lost four from the Order this night. Two will never return, and two do not even know their own son."

"You mean someone survived Voldemort's attack?" Remus asked astonished.

"Not exactly Mr. Lupin," Dumbledore replied. "Tonight George and Nadia Bones were killed at the hand of Voldemort.

There was a gasp from Rebecca Bones, their daughter, that was followed quickly by dry sobs. The headmaster's gaze was sympathetic as he went on, "There were two others that didn't make it in time to save them but ended up with a worse fate in my opinion. The Longbottoms were attacked by Deatheaters and though they weren't killed the torture they endured has caused them to lose their minds, so to speak. They recognize no one, they don't know who they are, and are severely unbalanced. The Dark Lord left them dazed and hurt for us to find. This was only one of his warnings tonight."

He glanced now at Sirius and Mo, "The Dark Lord, I'm afraid has discovered that we are hiding the Potters. His secret keeper would never reveal there whereabouts without the consent of the Potters and swears to have kept to secrecy. So I have come to the conclusion that there is a rat among our ranks."

He gave a cursory glance to the horrified faces in front of him and finished his statement, "It is only a matter of time before we find them."

The room immediately blazed with the roar of voices. Dumbledore took his seat and studied his hands silently. For those that took the time to look, the sadness and weariness in his eyes was heart wrenching and for Mo, it was enough to make her believe that their time was drawing closer.

Soon, very soon, she knew it was all going to come to a climax. One of them had to fall in the end, it was going to come down to who was stronger. Looking around at the distress and fear on the faces around her she hoped that all the fairy tales were true. These people deserved a happy ending but with Voldemort one could never be quite sure.


The Potter's living room was silent as Sirius finished telling James and Lily what had gone on at the meeting.

"They don't even know their own son," Sirius murmured sadly.

"Bastard," Lily snarled. "How can anyone be so merciless?"

James wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Hopefully we'll never know."

He turned to Sirius again, "What is Dumbledore going to do? Does he have any idea about who betrayed us?"

"My money is on Snape," Sirius growled.

Mo frowned at him, "Don't be ridiculous Sirius. You know it wasn't him. He's come back to our side, he'll be loyal to Albus."

"So it has to be someone in the Order," Lily murmured. "No one else should have known."

Suddenly Caroline shivered and Remus looked at her, "What is it?"

"I'm not sure," she replied. "Maybe it's just all this talk of Voldemort but I just got the chills…"

"Like someone's watching you," Mo finished for her and placed her hands absently on her belly. "I feel it too."

The room was silent for a minute before Sirius let out a snarl that sounded almost animal like, "You aren't going to beat us. We're stronger than you, we'll win in the end."

They all waited with bated breath and nearly hit the ceiling when the doorbell rang. Remus, the first to get his heart out of his throat, strode to the door.

"H-hi Remus," Peter stood squirming on the front steps. "Dumbledore sent me over right away. I heard about what happened tonight."

Remus moved aside to let Peter in. His friends looked up when he came in the room and Mo had to suppress another shiver as chill fingers ran up her spine again.

"Hullo Wormtail," James said. "Where've you been tonight?"

"I was working late," Peter muttered. "I didn't get the message about the meeting until after it was over. I'm sorry to hear about the Longbottoms. They hauled in some people they suspect d-did it. Saw them when they brought them into the ministry."

"Who were they?" Mo asked curiously.

"It was your cousin Sirius," Peter replied. "Um, Bellatrix Black and I think it was her boyfriend Rudolphus Lestrange."

Mo's eyes narrowed, "Are you sure."

"Nearly," Peter replied.

"I knew she'd come to a bad end," Sirius growled. "Hopefully she'll get Crouch for a judge. That man would scare Voldemort himself. He sentenced his own son to Azkaban."

"If they were the ones who tortured the Longbottoms they weren't alone," Mo said. "Even after all these years I'm sure Narcissa and Bellatrix are inseparable. And if Narcissa was there so was Malfoy."

"Strange that after all these years it's now that we start hearing about them again," Lily mused.

Mo watched everyone's mind turn this new information over and feeling the need to lighten the mood stood, "How about some hot chocolate, or coffee? Anyone interested."

As a chorus of approval met her statement she grinned, "Well get your lazy butts up and get it yourself."


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