Fanfiction based in the world of Harry Potter, created by JKR. Her characters are hers. Original characters are mine. No pecuniary rewards. Please see first chapter for full disclaimers and description.

This entire chapter is an Order Meeting. Sorry for those of you wanting more lemons!

Thank you to my Beta, Elaine!

Chapter 26: Order Business
The Order meeting was held after student curfew. A recording glass—much like a mirror or a Pensieve—was placed on the table. Order members unable to be present would come to Albus's office to view the recording and then when all had seen who needed to see, it would be erased. Many of their Aurors were out on assignment for the Order already.

Rowena again would have chosen NOT to be privy to this meeting, but Albus requested that she attend, and she did so. Her timid nature did not preclude curiosity, and she was glad to be included. She paced the meeting room—a large room she did not know existed that was just behind Albus's main office—while she waited for the others to arrive.

First to arrive after herself was Remus. To his surprise, and hers, she greeted him with a warm smile and even hugged him. He looked tired and wan. Sadly she realized that his condition made him almost ALWAYS look that way as the moon waxed and waned. It was worse now, though, and surely that was due to his concern over Tonks. She stroked his cheek as she looked at him concernedly.

"How are you, Remus?" she asked sincerely.

He had been mutely surprised by her reception of him. Unlike himself, she looked radiant and her smile was infectious. He grinned back at her and then grabbed her hand as the light caused a glitter of... reflection? He looked down at the ring on her finger and back into her beaming face, and his heart lurched. He pulled her into another bone-crushing hug and managed to choke out his congratulations through a throat constricted with emotion.

"I'm happy for you, 'Wena. I know this is what you've always wanted."

The door closed behind them again as another person... Severus... entered the room. Remus released his death-grip on his sister, who was still smiling and now blushing adorably. He turned to the new arrival and held out his hand very formally.

"Severus... I see that congratulations are in order," he said somewhat hesitatingly.

"Whatever are you talking about, Lupin?" Severus asked challengingly, his brow raised as he looked coolly at the proffered hand.

Remus frowned slightly, searching his face... was he actually joking with him?

"I'm talking about the stone on my sister's finger. I know her well enough to know that there is no possible way it could belong to any other man than you. Frankly, I've never understood at all what she sees in you..."

"Remus!" Rowena exclaimed in irritation.

But Severus actually smirked and took Remus's offered hand at last, though he shook it very briefly. "There, at least, is something upon which we will both agree. However, it transpires that I am only human after all..."

Remus laughed suddenly, "THAT must have been a hard realization for you, Severus! What man could resist the sincere affection of an attractive woman, is that it?"

"So it would seem." Severus said with a hint of humor in his tone.

"If you boys would stop posturing and quit talking about me like I'm not here, I would greatly appreciate it!" Rowena said irritably, though she was still smiling softly.

Remus grinned down at her, looking more relaxed than he had when he arrived. At least there was SOME good news to be had today!

"One more brotherly duty, 'Wena, then I'll sit down and behave," he said teasingly. She gave him a huff and rolled her eyes in irritation, before sitting at the table and studiously attempting to ignore them both. Remus turned to Severus who was regarding him with a brow raised expectantly.

"This is the part where I tell you that as long as she's happy, you'll get no complaints from me. If you hurt her, I will be forced to hunt you down and kill you. I believe that's my expected line," he said, still smiling, but there was a hint of seriousness in his eyes as he met the unperturbed gaze of the darker man.

"I would expect nothing less, Lupin," he said sardonically. "Are we done with the expected rituals now?"

"Yes, I believe that's everything," Remus said cheerfully as he made his way over to the table where Rowena was already sitting. Rowena scoffed in playful exasperation.

"Are the two of you quite finished throwing testosterone around the room?"

A familiar "clunk-step-clunk-step" sounded just outside the room, and Severus took the seat on the other side of Rowena with alacrity, somehow managing NOT to look like an errant school-boy afraid of being caught at mischief by the approaching Professor.

Remus chuckled again at her blatant annoyance and nodded. "Yup, quite."

Alastor Moody entered the room at that moment and raked the three of them with his electric blue eye, suspiciously. He then sent it swiveling about the room, apparently searching for traps and the like. He was followed directly by numerous others, so that the room was soon filled to standing-room-only by Order Members, each of whom received the same visual inspection by the Magical Eye. Molly Weasley's arrival was punctuated by her providing everyone with tea and biscuits out of her magical bag.

Professor Dumbledore swept into the room, followed, surprisingly by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. Rowena could almost HEAR Severus's teeth grind next to her.

"Harry, Ron and Miss Granger will join us for a few minutes as we start the meeting," he said without preamble. He transfigured the chair that had been left for him from the hard, straight-backed wooden cane chair into a plush, over-stuffed armchair in an alarming shade of violet covered in flowers. He sat serenely and addressed Harry.

"Harry, please share with the Order your report. You will need to share the source of your information so that we all understand its validity."

The skinny, messy-haired boy flushed and swallowed visibly, and Rowena felt a pang for him as he glanced nervously at all the faces looking at him so expectantly. Hermione paled and looked at him fearfully—clearly he had not shared this information with her yet, either!

The bright emerald green eyes met Severus's, and whether from acute dislike, or acute empathy, he seemed to draw strength from the glance. He coughed weakly, and then began to speak. His voice was hoarse and soft at first, but gained strength as he gained confidence. No one interrupted him, though several of the Aurors could be seen exchanging glances of thinly veiled disbelief, and others appeared to be taking notes.

"I have sort of a connection-thing with Voldemort. Professor Dumbledore says it's because of my scar. Last year I saw some visions of what was going on where he was, but I had no control over it. This year, I've been working real hard on learning Occlumency so I could avoid it. But I've also been learning Legilimency."

He glanced then at Rowena, almost apologetically, as though he feared she would get in trouble if the truth came out.

"I'm getting sort of good at it, but I haven't done anything with it with Voldemort, because I didn't know if he would know I was there.

"Last night... um... Professor Dumbledore?" He looked now uncertainly at the Headmaster.

"It's alright, Harry. Everyone here knows Severus's role. You are betraying nothing," Albus said calmly. "Please continue."

Harry nodded, and now his eyes sought Severus's again, and there was none of their old hatred in them, but fear and concern.

"Last night I saw Professor Snape leaving the building, and I knew... well, I thought I knew he was going to Voldemort. He never leaves during the school week if he can help it, and plus he just got engaged so it was an odd time to leave..."

A slight murmur passed around the room at the news that SEVERUS SNAPE was engaged, and Rowena blushed as she felt the eyes upon her and the ring on the hand gripping her teacup. This was too serious a moment for any deeper acknowledgement than that!

"I figured that Voldemort might be real busy with his Death Eaters and have his mind pretty distracted in the midst of a big meeting, so I thought it might be a good time to see if I could sneak into his head without him knowing I was there.

"It's a weird thing, Legilimency. I was using my Occlumency to hide myself, sort of like an invisibility cloak would hide my body, but instead I was hiding my mind, and I just sort of "sat" inside his. I didn't try and probe anything, because I thought he would feel me, I just watched the images and feelings go by, sort of like a Muggle movie.

"He was very engrossed in.... um... questioning Professor Snape, but he was asking questions that had little to do with what he was thinking about in his mind.

"He thinks in pictures and feelings—I guess we all do really. He saw a picture of Professor Lupin when he was trying to get into Professor Snape's mind, and he felt very triumphant about that. He toyed with her picture in his mind for a while. I saw a picture of him taking her to Azkaban and making her drop the shields there so that Death Eaters and Dark Wizards poured out of the door like a wave. I saw an image of him having her as a captive and trading her to Dumbledore for something that looked like a Pensieve."

Again his glance became worried as he looked at her, and Rowena realized that was likely what caused Severus's fear and anger last night.

"I saw pictures of Minister Fudge in Voldemort's mind, and he was very satisfied and smug with that image. There was an image of Fudge taking the Dark Mark. I don't know if that was a memory of what HAD happened or something that he WANTED to happen; but it was Fudge just as he looks right now, so it can't have been very long ago. Death Eaters were holding Fudge down for when Voldemort touched him with his wand, and he screamed a bunch because I suppose the brand hurt, but when they let him go, he was kissing Voldemort's robes and calling him 'Master' like the other Death Eaters do. That whole set of images was very, very clear."

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, making it all the messier, though Rowena thought she could see his hand trembling. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Molly Weasley move as though to stand and go to him, but she was prevented doing so by Arthur.

"He also had images in his mind about the Goblins and Gringotts. I couldn't really figure out what all that meant, but he seemed to think that he could get the Goblins to answer to him. I saw images of Gringotts being closed and barred, and the streets of Diagon Alley looked really messy, shop windows broken, trash in the streets, lots of people wandering around looking starved and dressed in rags. I think that was only wishful thinking on his part, since obviously Gringotts isn't in his control yet, but that seems to be something he wants real bad."

Now he stopped again, and this time he looked at Hermione, and a muscle in his jaw clenched. For a moment, there was a brief rustling in the room, as though everyone thought he might be done speaking. Albus reached out the short distance separating them, and squeezed Harry's hand reassuringly.

"It's alright, Harry. You are doing fine. Please tell the last of it. We cannot help protect them if we do not know the truth of it," Albus said gently.

Harry nodded and took Hermione's hand in his own, though whether he was doing it to support her or himself was questionable.

"Voldemort views Muggles as chattel. He doesn't care if his Death Eaters do things to them, because he doesn't really believe they are human, not like Wizards. He doesn't really hate them—they are too far beneath his notice to hate.

"But what he DOES hate, is Muggles that somehow interact with or affect the Wizarding world. He hates when they "taint" Wizarding blood.

"While he was talking to Professor Snape, he was remembering orders that he had just given to the rest of his Death Eaters right before the Professor arrived.

"He has ordered them to begin exterminating any and all Muggles that have conscious interaction with our world, starting with Muggle spouses of Wizards and Muggle parents of Wizarding kids. True Muggles are the first to be targeted, and then they will "progress" to half-bloods."

Hermione gave a soft moan of despair, and Ron put his hand on her shoulder. She let go of Harry's hand and turned to bury her face against Ron's chest, as though to block out the rest of what Harry was saying.

"I think that it must be a true memory that Fudge is a Death Eater now, because Voldemort wasn't scared that they would be caught, and wasn't worried about them acting out in the open like that anymore."

When Harry had truly finished talking, he visibly slumped, as though it had physically deflated him in some way to make his 'report'. He reached out and patted Hermione's back as though to comfort her, and he and Ron exchanged miserable glances.

"Thank you, Harry," Albus said kindly. "Ron, Miss Granger, I wanted you to be here to hear the report because I am going to need help from all three of you."

Hermione stiffened, wiped her face with her hands and faced Dumbledore, pale and trembling but clearly determined. "Yes, Headmaster?"

"I know you have continued the D.A. this year," he said in very casual tones, and the three of them had the grace to glance guiltily at one another.

"I want you to talk to those of your fellow students where one or both of their parents are Muggles. I want you to gently find out what their Muggle parent's views are on our world. We will need to act quickly to protect them. I have a variety of options available, and which option I use will depend on their feelings towards the Wizarding world.

"You must be discrete. Do not speak to anyone whom you do not trust implicitly, or allow anyone to hear you questioning others. If Voldemort knows we have learned of this plan, he will act more quickly still, and we will have no time to protect them. Report to me IN PERSON as often as you have any new information.

"Miss Granger, I want you to rest assured we are acting quickly and I will do whatever I can to protect your parents, and the families of all the Muggle born students here."

He squeezed each of them on the shoulder encouragingly and then gently but firmly turned them toward the door.

"Please start at once. Harry, thank you again for your report. I know you would like to stay, but this is not the time. You agreed when I allowed you to be present at some Order Meetings to comply when I denied you access. This is one of those times."

It was clear to everyone that Harry desperately wanted to dig his heels in and stay, but Hermione nodded and took his hand, tugging on it urgently, "C'mon, Harry. We can talk to the Creevy's and Dean right now."

The appeal of having something useful, and URGENT to do apparently worked, because he allowed himself to be drawn from the room, and Sturgis Podmore, who was standing nearest the door closed, it firmly behind them when they left.

The room erupted into a babble of sound as small conversations broke out through out the room, some in fear, some in disbelief, some in outrage. Everyone fell silent instantly when Severus stood swift and fluid from his seat directly opposite Albus; that simple act was all he needed to command attention.

"What Potter says is true," Severus said firmly, "He does have the connection with the Dark Lord that he claims. I do not know if Fudge has taken the Mark, I have long been excluded from "welcoming" new members into the fold, as the Dark Lord has ceased to trust me completely.

"Do not waste time arguing among yourselves as to the validity of the information. Accept it for what it is so we may address how to deal with it."

He sat down again and folded his arms aggressively across his chest. Now the room remained silent, and Albus gave Severus a slight nod of acknowledgement across the table before speaking once again.

"We will have to find out the truth of Fudge's new allegiance. Alastor, can you arrange to be close enough to 'see' the evidence for yourself?"

Moody nodded, and Albus continued with the plans and discussions. He addressed Bill Weasley in regards to their own overtures to the Goblins, striving to arrange a meeting with their leaders before they chose to side with Voldemort. They made plans to surreptitiously encourage the public at large to begin stockpiling of money and necessities.

"Our world is at war, it is time that our community begins to prepare itself accordingly," Albus said firmly. "We need not be taken unaware and watch Voldemort try and cripple our economy."

The general murmur of assent to that comment gave way and Albus forged ahead, now addressing the direct threat to the Muggle families. He outlined an ambitious plan to build temporary housing in Hogsmeade and expand all of Hogwarts' magical shields and protections to encompass the entire area; as well as a plan for magical concealment and hiding of ties if the Muggles involved did not wish to leave their world, even temporarily.

The conversation for the next hour centered on all the necessary details for taking such a significant step, some of it quite tedious and boring so that Rowena found herself nodding until her own name was mentioned by her brother.

"So what about Rowena? You've answered three of the four things that Harry reported to us, Albus, but what about Voldemort's new-found interest in my sister?" he said, plainly worried. "I know she's only one individual in light of everyone else being threatened, but you know... she's my sister!"

"Remus, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of..." Rowena started to protest in sleepy irritation. However, the deep baritone of her husband interrupted her.

"Rowena will not set foot outside these castle walls until this war is over," he said flatly, clearly willing to brook no argument on the subject.

"Don't be ridiculous, Severus," she exclaimed, no longer the least bit sleepy, "I have to help with the wards at Hogsmeade—they'll need every available wand and that's one of my areas of expertise. I'm not going to sit in here on my bum when help is needed!"

"I will not discuss this with you here, Rowena," Severus said in low, dangerous tones for her ears alone. He was scowling darkly at her, but her own temper would not allow her to back down, and she glared right back.

"Severus is absolutely right, Rowena. You are not to leave this castle," Remus said, surprised again to be on the 'same side' as his future brother-in-law.

"Gentlemen, please!" Albus's voice broke into what promised to be a lovely domestic row, Rowena already reddening in anger and swelling in indignation that would not have embarrassed Molly Weasley's reputation for her strong temper.

The rest of the occupants of the room had been watching with undisguised curiosity, even in light of the grave situation. They had all but forgotten the news of the 'engagement', and it was very entertaining to observe the truth of it!

"Rowena is absolutely correct. We will need every able-bodied witch and wizard to prepare Hogsmeade. She will be among dozens of others, and will be quite safe. Voldemort's thoughts in regards to her were the least pressing—they were only newly hatched and Tom never does anything without thinking it through at great length. Rowena, I will not deny that you are at risk, and I must insist that you not take unnecessary chances.

"But this is true for everyone. Please travel at least in pairs at all times. Make absolutely certain that someone knows precisely where you are going, what route you are taking to get there, and when you will return, ALWAYS. Order members would provide a wealth of information if Tom could capture one of us.

"Everyone should be wearing your emergency Portkey against your skin so that it can be activated with only a word," Albus continued, "As Alastor would say, 'constant vigilance', and consider your safety and that of those around you at all times."

Albus was clearly winding down the meeting, though he had a small smile on his face as he looked across the room at Severus.

"The beauty of this new windfall of information is that there is no possible way Tom can suspect Severus of leaking it to us, as none of it was revealed to him personally," he said with a clear note of satisfaction in his voice.

Severus made a small noise of dissent, and Rowena had to suspect that it galled him to have his primary 'role' this time around overshadowed by Potter!

"I believe that's everything we can discuss today. Those of you who can, please report to Hogsmeade Station tomorrow to begin construction. We have more need of haste than secrecy in that project."

People began to file out at once, and Rowena made sure she was one of the first out of the room, her chin raised defiantly and not a backward glance at either her husband or her brother.

"You aren't really going to let her go to Hogsmeade tomorrow, are you Severus?" Remus asked, almost desperately, as he remained seated, waiting for the large crush of people to leave.

"Lupin, the chit is your sister, is she not?" he asked angrily.

"Don't call her a chit, yes she's my sister, but she's your fiancée! Soon to be your wife! Surely you can make her listen to you? Haven't you got any control over her?"

Severus turned his blazing, angry glare onto Remus across the empty chair that had held the woman they were now discussing.

"Tell me, Lupin, when have you ever been able to keep the chit from doing whatever the bloody hell she set her mind to? Precisely how much control did you have over your sister for the bulk of your lives?"

Remus visibly deflated and shook his head. "Never," he said in defeated tones in answer to the first question, "None," in answer to the second.

Both men jumped when they felt a hand clasp their shoulders. Arthur Weasley, with a highly amused look on his face, had stood up behind them, clearly having heard every word. He now stood with one hand on each man's shoulder and was plainly trying not to laugh.

"Boys, that is one of the most important lessons to learn when dealing with women. The sooner you get it figured out, the happier you'll be. They might let us THINK we have control, but most of the time we don't. It's okay, though. The rewards are worth it."

"Arthur, we should be going dear," Molly said from near the door.

He grinned brightly at the two of them, one angry the other bemused, gave each shoulder a commiserating squeeze and headed happily out the door.

"Coming, Molly."

"I guess Rowena's going to Hogsmeade tomorrow," Remus said quietly when they were the only two left in the room.

"I expect you to be there, guarding her," Severus said with an attempt at a threatening growl. "I will arrive as soon as my last class is complete."

"Of course."

Both men left the room in silence, feeling like they had definitely lost control of the situation somewhere along the line!

A/N: Whee! Severus and Remus vaguely getting along with each other, too fun! Is now a good time to tell you I've spent my fanfiction reading time sampling the joys of Snupin slash? No, I will not be WRITING any of it, but I have certainly gained new insight and appreciation for those two characters.

More snark, more action, and more angst in upcoming chapters. Tonks will have to leave her current undercover role very soon. We will soon see what Dylan has borrowed from 'Luke' for his DADA classes. And of course rocky-roads for Severus and Rowena.

I'm glad to be back, and hope you are enjoying the story!