Chapter 3 – New Acquaintances

Black wispy hair flowing over a pale drawn face. Skin that resembled parchment stretched across a gaunt scull. Red burning eyes and a cruel laugh that could shatter glass. She was glued to the spot, unable to move, unable to run, unable to do anything but stare into the eyes, full of hatred, full of evil. And then she found her voice…

… and she screamed…

Her eyes snapped open. She clutched her head, which was throbbing painfully. Bright sunlight shone through the curtains and she grimaced as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Her face was more gaunt and pale than ever, her skin was smudged with ash and her hair was a mass of tangles.

Remus sipped at his black coffee, whilst scanning the front page of the Daily Prophet. Nothing much seemed to be happening in the wizarding world lately. Lucien yawned widely across the kitchen table. 'She not up yet?' he asked. 'Not that I know of' Remus replied though as he said this a dark figure walked into the kitchen. He glanced over his newspaper as Meissa slumped in the seat to his right. She accepted the cup of coffee Lucien handed her and rubbed her eyes, which were red and sore.

'So… about today' Lucien began 'There's going to be a few… guests'. Meissa looked at him confusedly. 'This house is… its headquarters'

'For what?'

'The Order of the Phoenix'

Meissa thought about this for a few moments.

Remus and Lucien exchanged significant glances.

'So who's coming?' she asked, with a wry smile.

An hour or so later, Meissa was sitting tensely in her room. Lucien had explained that she would not be allowed in the meetings as they were strictly members only. She could hear lots of voices, but cold not discern what they were saying. Apparently her soon-to-be headmaster was downstairs, as well as some Hogwarts professors. Then there were the Aurors. She sighed, how was she supposed to deal with all this? She was a witch. Ok, she could handle that. It certainly explained a few things. But it felt odd all the same. Her parents were infamous murderers, locked up in Azkaban, but biding their time until their old master returned. Meissa felt surprisingly numb to all of this information. Or perhaps it had not sunk in yet.

Then there was a knock at her door and Lucien came in. 'The meeting's over, we're having dinner. There are some wizards that would like to meet you'. Meissa simply nodded. She had grown to like Lucien an awful lot, having forgiven him for the roughness of their first meeting. He was young and handsome and he made her laugh. As they descended the stairs she heard voices and laughter echoing up from the dining room. She followed Lucien half-reluctantly into the kitchen. A squat witch stood by the stove, flicking her wand and directing vegetables into the bubbling mixture that Meissa suspected was some kind of stew. She turned and studied Meissa. 'This is Molly Weasley' Lucien began 'Her husband, Arthur Weasley, works at the ministry, in the misuse of Muggle Artefacts department at the Ministry of Magic.

'Hello dear' the squat witch smiled, though Meissa noticed that it was rather fixed.

But before Meissa could say anything, Remus was steering her into the dinning room.

The walls in here were a rich terracotta colour, an ancient crystal candelabra hung from the ceiling over the polished mahogany table. Faces were staring at her, some smiling warmly, some looking politely interested and some just blatantly staring. Remus was pushing her forward, into a chair beside an old, silver-haired wizard who turned and smiled at her, whom she recognised from the other night.

There was an awkward pause, then 'Lucien, old chap. Aven't seen you in ages' the wizard who had spoken then got up and shook Lucien's hand and a slightly more relaxed chatter broke out on the table. 'Mundungus… it's been quite a while' Lucien said with a smile.

'Your not wrong there, an ere's Meissa... lovely name… lovely girl' Meissa's teeth chinked on the glass she had been sipping from and she looked up.

Lucien squirmed and glanced at Remus, who was deeply involved in conversation, or pretending to be,

with a young witch who had very short, very pink hair. Just then Molly Weasley came in her wand pointed at the huge cauldron of stew. As it dropped on the table, making the entire cutlery rattle, Mundungus was steered back to his chair and Lucien sat beside Meissa with a stern look on his face.

For a defence order against the most powerful sorcerer of all time, they were surprisingly dull. She had studied each face, and found not one remotely interesting. It seemed like everyone was trying to casually avoid her eyes. Then the pink haired witch who had been talking to Remus came and sat next to her, flashing a wide grin. She had the look of someone who had drunk too much mead in too little time. 'Hi there, I'm Tonks'

Meissa nodded and smiled politely, unsure of what to say. This might come as a bit of a shock but… we're related. Cool eh?' then Tonks uttered a small giggle, which became into a hiccup. A bit of a shock? Meissa tried to think of something to say but Tonks seemed to do all the talking 'My mother is your mother's cousin, she's dying to meet you – my mum that is'. Remus noticed Tonks behaving more unusually than normal. He came and took her by the arms, steadying her. Lucien was looking even more stern as he watched Molly Weasley and Remus struggling to lead Tonks over to a seat. Meissa felt as though her stomach had turned to ice.

Then the silver-haired wizard touched Meissa's arm gently, bringing her out of her reverie. 'The whole wizarding community is all interlinked. You'd be surprised, my own family tapestry takes up a whole wall, and that's not even counting second cousins. You spend an awful lot of Galleons on birthday cards' he winked and Meissa had to giggle. The icy sensation was beginning to fade now.