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AN: Sorry for taking so long to update. I had a death in the family recently and didn't really feel like writing. There's not much else to say, so enjoy.

Chapter 7: Cooper

Hermione could hear voices coming from the within the kitchen, the only room with enough space to seat everyone comfortably. She led Cooper, along the hall, hoping she had made the right decision to bring her old friend into this. She opened the door and entered.

"Oh good, Hermione, you're here. We were starting to…get…worried…" McGonogall said until she caught sight of the young man standing at her side. Everyone in the room visibly tensed with a stranger in their midst. "Hello, and whom may I ask are you?"

"My name is Cooper. I'm a friend of Hermione's and learned that I could be of assistance here." He stated in a calm, British accent.

"Really?" All eyes turned to look at Hermione at his statement.

"Yes. He has an extensive knowledge of all things magical. He probably knows more about the magical community than most of the people in this room. I believe he could be a great asset to us and our cause." Her eyes flashed with admiration for the man standing beside her, and she dared anyone to contradict her.

"Well, I for one would like to know what this chap has to offer to us." Draco said from his place at the table next to Lupin and across from Harry.

Cooper released a sigh of relief, and began, "As Hermione told you, I know anything magical from unicorns to Quiddich. And also--"

"Prove it." This came from a dark haired man sitting in the corner of the room. He was none other than Dumbledore's murderer himself, Severus Snape.

"You, my good sir, are a potions professor." At his raised eyebrows, Cooper elaborated. "There are three distinct powders on your robes, which from the look, seem to be Cornish pixie dust, ground Swedish Fireball scales, and ground dried dandelion leaves. These three things are only used together in a potion called Extinguidor. This means 'extinguisher' in Spanish because a Spanish wizard perfected the potion. It can put out any fire, magical or otherwise. While this is an easy potion to make, most people don't use it except teachers for academic purposes. Also you have calluses on your hands where you always stir the potion." The room sat in stunned silence at the man's speech. They had never seen someone put Snape in his place so efficiently, and it also cleared up any doubts they might have had of this man's intelligence.

"How do you know so much for a muggle?" the hoarse voice of Harry asked. Disbelief flickered through everyone's eyes except Cooper's; he didn't even try to deny it. There was a beat of silence before, "After learning the truth about Hermione, I wanted to still be a part of her life. So I learned all I could about magic." Here, his eyes faltered for a moment from looking into Harry's but it was enough for Harry to pay closer attention to his words. "At first it was just from books, then I met several other people who knew magic and I was able to learn from them. I was never able to actually do magic." This explanation seemed to satisfy the members of the Order for now, but they would all keep an eye on this new man.

"Well, I suppose we should now get down to business." McGonogall said regaining everyone's attention. "Now, Tonks has recently come back from infiltrating the Keepers. Tonks."

A young purple haired woman stood up, from her place beside Lupin. Her face wore years of pain and hardness. Her violet eyes were deep pools of depression, as if she had given up on the joy in life. They held none of their earlier spark. Hermione wondered what had happened to take the life from this unique girl. When the girl spoke, it was flat and broken. "Well, it wasn't hard. They will accept anyone who seems lost, like they don't know who or what to believe. Then, they begin a process called desensitizing. They take all your past experiences and turn them around so you don't know if they're true or not. You eventually lose faith in everything that you once held dear. Once I was desensitized, I was allowed to attend meetings, but not the important ones. I was in the lower echelons, and therefore not privy to that information. I was to be told where to go and when to do it; that was all. They let me out to spread their word. I was caught snooping around a nd they wanted me out of their hair." Over the course of her explanation, the life was brought back into her eyes, and by the end she was blazing angry. She was not one to be disregarded or thrown away easily; she just needed to hear what they had done to her to bring her back. "But I can tell you this, they are planning something big. I don't know what yet but I do know that they are waiting for something, a sign, or a person, or something. Just give me a few more days. I won't fall prey to their antics again." Determination lit in her eyes; she was renewed and ready.

"They're waiting for their Zeichen. It's a person that signalizes the start of the war. Someone to lead them into battle. It's normally a person they see on the street questioning the society, then they tell him that they'll help him when he revolts against the government. This way they are really calling the shots but if things go sour, they pull out and plead innocence and the guy gets stuck with the penalty. The Keepers only look out for themselves." Cooper explained.

"How do we know who this person is?" Ginny asked.

"Have there been any agitators in the government lately?"

"Everyone seems to be upset nowadays, what with the death of Rufus Scrimegeor and all. People saw him as the government's guide to getting through trouble, and word has gotten out about Harry's 'condition.'" Fred commented. He and George had gotten to the meeting before Hermione had come back.

"Well, they'll now see a newfront from me, so you needn't worry about that."

"Once we figure out who the Zeichen is, how do we kill him? And if we do, will it successfully destroy the Keepers?" Lupin posed this new problem to the Order.

"I'm not sure how to kill the Zeichen. It's not like just killing a person. There's a special spell, because he represents the people's resentment and confusion. Those two emotions are hard to rid yourself of totally, so it takes something powerful to fully eradicate the human form. And if we act quickly after killing him, we should be able to destroy the rest. They put most of their power in the Zeichen, so they will be weakened immediately afterwards. However they do regain their strength quickly and will be much harder to kill."

Molly, ever the pacifist, asked, "Do we need to kill the Zeichen? He seems like a pawn and doesn't really understand the entirety of his actions."

"Oh, they make sure he understands. Once they instill their power in him, he is lost, completely taken over by the hate coursing through his body." 'Cooper seems to know more than he had let on,' Hermione thought. 'Why didn't he tell me this before? Does he think me untrustworthy?'

Cooper continued to answer their questions about the Keepers and gained a lot of their trust, all except Harry. He thought that a muggle who knew this much information was hiding something about himself. Nobody gave away information for free.

The meeting finally dispersed when Tonks said she had to go out and "spread the word." She left with the vacant look back in her eyes, but this time Hermione knew it was part of her mask. The other members all left until it was just Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Harry, Ginny, Hermione, Cooper and Lupin. They were sitting around the table discussing the rapid turn of events, when suddenly Cooper excused himself.

"I'm sorry, but I too must be leaving. It's getting late, and I have things that still need to be done. If I think of anything, I will be over again tomorrow. If you need to get a hold of me, here's my number." He scribbled a number on a grubby piece of paper, before exiting, not even realizing that only two of them knew what 'a number' was.

Harry desperately wanted to know more about this man they had let so willingly into their midst. Pleading a headache, he began to follow Cooper. It was pretty routine, but he hadn't done this since Voldemort. It brought back a rush of adventure, and a surge of energy into his blood. He hadn't felt this invigorated in a long while; he finally had a motive to live again.

During his musings, he hadn't noticed Cooper enter a tall warehouse building until he realized he didn't know where he was. By process of elimination, he followed him into the building through a window, so not to draw attention to himself.

The inside of the building looked as nondescript as the outside. It was dark and huge. Boxes as big as men cluttered the ground floor, while a system of pulleys hung from the ceiling. Harry saw Cooper ascend a flight of stairs on his right. As Harry was moving into the shadows, his foot hit a chain. He quickly swung around behind a box and sucked in his breath.

Cooper scanned the room, after hearing a sound on his left. He saw a shadow show across the floor, and he smirked. He would allow Harry to follow him; he was tired of hiding from everyone. He continued on up to his flat and left the door slightly ajar, knowing Harry wouldn't resist.

After several minutes, Harry resumed breathing and walked cautiously towards the stairs. He said a quick spell to negate the sound of his shoes before ascending after Cooper. He saw a door slightly ajar, and approached. He saw that the room was actually a flat, modestly furnished. It had the air of second-hand, not at all like the Weasley's house, but more like the person wasn't going to be staying here long. He said a quick disillusionment charm before diving behind the dilapidated couch. He was berating himself for leaving his invisibility cloak at the house in his haste, when he heard someone pad across the floor.

"Look there's nothing to worry about." Cooper was talking, but to whom Harry didn't know. He peeped his head over the couch but couldn't see a person or a phone. "I know what I'm doing, if they get suspicious, I'll pull out…I know, I know. I'm not some rookie fresh out of training…My emotions don't get involved. I'm a professional…alright, I'll contact you in a few days. Bye."

Ending his conversation, he went over to the kitchen to pull out items for his dinner. He looked around for something before realizing he didn't have it, grabbed his keys and left. Harry was very disoriented after his abrupt departure, and decided to leave the flat before Cooper came back. He left the same way he came, only undoing his spells until he was several blocks from the warehouse.

He wondered the streets, pondering the information he had gotten tonight. He had to think how he would present this to Hermione; he didn't want to alienate her or make Cooper suspicious of him. When he decided to do nothing but watch him until he obtained more information, he headed back to headquarters, not knowing that he had two shadows that night.

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