Harry Potter had just been brought to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place and it became painfully obvious to Albus Dumbledore that they would have to more aggressively recruit new members to the Order. The current members were stretched too thin. After the meeting he pulled Kingsley Shacklebolt aside. "Have you found any more candidates?"
Kingsley was a mid-level Auror and, as such, in the best position to recruit his fellow Aurors, though he had to do so discreetly given the Ministry's current stance on Voldemort. "I have one, but I'm not sure that you'll want her."
"We need to gather all the loyal wizards and witches we can. Why would I turn her down?"
"It's Wendy Westin," Kingsley replied soberly.
"I see," Albus replied. He silently mulled this pronouncement. "And you are sure?"
"Positive. We were out on a case the other night and I brought it up in conversation. I don't think you would believe how much she hates the Death Eaters."
"I believe I do. Can you bring her to the next meeting? I'll interview her and we can decide from there."
"I can do that. I owe her a pint so she shouldn't get suspicious."
"Excellent. Anyone else?"
"Afraid not. It's hard to find anyone that works for the Ministry that's willing to say anything about You-Know-Who or the Death Eaters. Everyone is afraid they'll lose their job."
Albus placed his hand on the other man's shoulder. "Do what you can, but don't draw undue attention to yourself."
"Don't worry about me. I know how to maintain a low profile." He paused a moment before continuing, "You do realize they aren't going to like her being one of us."
"They are adults and will realize the value of an ally. I was at that trial and I concur with your assessment," Albus replied. He knew they would be resistant to her presence at first, but if Kingsley vouched for her, that was all the confirmation he needed.
"Hey, Wendy, you busy after work today?" Kingsley asked.
Wendy looked up from her overly neat desk. "Depends, what did you have in mind?" Kingsley had been trying to get her to go out with him for years, but she vehemently held to her rule of not dating coworkers. Of course, that pretty much meant that she didn't date. Aurors were notoriously busy and the closer she got to forty, the less attention she found she got from men. Not that she really minded that much. Relationships were messy and complicated and only got in the way of her doing her job.
"Well, I said I owed you a pint for saving me from that cockatrice, I thought I'd pay up tonight."
"As long as you realize it's just a pint. You aren't taking me out to dinner or anything," she said in a very well rehearsed tone.
"Oh, come on, it'd be fun." He gave her a winning smile.
"Have I mentioned you remind me of Lockhart when you do that?" she replied sarcastically. She was one of the few female wizards in the department that actually didn't care for Lockhart. She had spoken with him on one occasion and thought he was a complete idiot.
The smile had abruptly dropped from his lips. "All right, just the pint. I'll swing by when I'm ready to go."
"Right, see you then, mate." She shook her head as Kingsley walked away. She'd give him that he was persistent, but she couldn't fathom why. He could have done much better than her. Her plain, shoulder-length, brown hair was starting to go grey, she had completely unremarkable hazel eyes and that nice scar on her cheek from Timor Leah's poison-tipped dagger. That was a low point of her Auror career she didn't want to dwell on. One pint and she would head home to go through the stack of mail that had undoubtedly been piling up in her absence. After that she could enjoy her three days off before it all started again. Of course, that assumed there was no crisis.
At the end of the day, Kingsley stopped by her cubicle. "Ready to go?"
"Let me finish this one last memo." Once she was done, she sent it on its way.
As they were walking to the lift, he said, "I have a quick errand to run; I've got to drop something off at a friend's place. You don't mind stopping there on the way, do you?"
"Can't I just meet you at the Leaky Cauldron?" she asked. Going on errands was not something she preferred to do.
"I thought we'd give this new place that's come to my attention a go. I want to scope it out as a source of information."
Since the lift was now at the Atrium, she replied, "Fine, let's just get this over with."
"I didn't think I was that bad company," he said defensively.
"It's not you. It's been a long couple of days and I'm looking forward to my time off."
"Oh, that's right, your off cycle is up, isn't it?"
"Yes, so I'd appreciate you telling me where we are going?" She was quickly losing patience.
Grimmauld Place, you know where that is?"
As an Auror she was very well acquainted with London, but that was not the only reason she knew about Grimmauld Place. "Yes, I know where that is." Why were they going there? The only wizards in that area had been the Blacks and that house had been closed for ages. Besides, they weren't the type of wizards Kingsley associated with.
"Meet you there," he said cheerfully and Disapparated.
Wendy was suddenly very suspicious and gripped her wand tightly before following. When she arrived she spun around scanning the area, looking for danger.
"Wendy, nothing's going to jump out and attack you," he reassured her.
"Fine, deliver your package and let's go."
He handed her a slip of parchment. "You need to read this first."
On it she saw "The headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix is located at 12 Grimmauld Place." She laughed at the irony of that statement and watched as the familiar façade of the Black home appeared. "How in Merlin's name did you ever get access to the house?"
"I'll explain later. Now let's get inside before we attract attention." He went to the door and rang the bell.
Through the door she could hear the familiar screech of Mrs. Black.
Molly Weasley threw open the door. "If I've told you once, I've told you a million times, don't ring that doorbell!"
"Sorry, Molly. Old habit," Kingsley replied repentantly.
"Come in, come in. Almost everyone is here. You must be Wendy. I'm Molly Weasley. Let me take you to the drawing room."
"Nice to meet you, Molly." She looked around and could see someone vaguely familiar adjusting a curtain that she presumed must be covering a portrait of Mrs. Black, but she was being rushed up the stairs and didn't get a good look at him.
As they walked upstairs to the drawing room Molly muttered. "I tell them not to ring the bell since it sets her off, but no one remembers. They don't have to live with that portrait screaming at them every day."
Wendy tried not to laugh. From what she had heard, Mrs. Black had done an excellent job having her personality captured in that portrait.
"Here you go, dear. See you downstairs in a little while."
Wendy found herself alone and looked around the drawing room. It looks like the new residents had done some cleaning. Most of the dark artifacts she remembered seeing the last time she had been here were gone.
"Ah, Wendelin, so glad you could join us," came Albus' kindly voice from behind her.
"Professor Dumbledore, what an unexpected surprise to see you here, though I should have suspected you had something to do with this."
"Then am I to assume you have an idea of why you are here?" he asked.
"Based on the Fidelius Charm and the words on the parchment, I assume you are reorganizing the Order of the Phoenix."
"Excellent. Anything else?" he prompted.
"I'm guessing Kingsley's recommended me for membership."
"He has. He speaks very highly of you."
"I'm not sure you want me. A lot of people are going to question my background. And while we're on the subject of background, how did you get in the house? Only a Black could have gotten in here?" She was beginning to get a funny suspicion about the whole situation.
"I have never held anyone's background against them. I was at the trial and can vouch for your reaction. Besides, you were never accused of anything, because you didn't do anything wrong. If I place my trust in you, so will the others."
"You know what we are fighting against. Every person on our side is a step closer to victory. Kingsley has told me your feelings on Death Eaters and Voldemort. This is an opportunity for you to make a difference since the Ministry has foolishly chosen to ignore Voldemort's return."
She snorted in agreement. "Fool is an excellent word to associate with Fudge. About the house?" she asked again.
"That is a secret known only to members of the Order. Do you wish to become one of us? Your duties to us will not interfere with your ability to do your job. Kingsley has been working with us all summer."
She considered his offer. She knew she had complained numerous times to Kingsley about the Ministry's decision to ignore the Dark Lord's return since he had been a sympathetic ear. They had both seen an increase in Death Eater activity since June, though it was still small scale. He was one of the few willing to admit that the Ministry was going in the wrong direction. This would also give her a chance to atone for doing nothing the last time. "All right. I'm in."
"Good, then let's introduce you to the others."
"Professor, the house?" she prompted.
"Please, call me Albus. And as for the house, Sirius Black opened it and offered it to the Order." He could see her stiffen and go for her wand. He raised his hand to stop her. "Sirius is not the murderer everyone thinks he is. Trust me for now and know that Kingsley can explain all the details to you later. Come now, we don't want to keep everyone waiting."
Albus walked into the kitchen followed by Wendy and addressed the Order, "Good evening. Before we begin the meeting, permit me to introduce our newest member…"
Wendy interrupted, "Wendy Westin, Auror." She knew that Albus would call her by her full name and she detested being called Wendelin. It was easier to stop that idea from forming in anyone's head now.
Albus quickly went around the room and introduced the others. After that the Order got down to the business of organizing the next round of watches outside the Department of Mysteries and then receiving reports from the members.
Wendy couldn't keep from glancing at Sirius. She had a hard time accepting that he was not an escaped murderer and Death Eater. She noticed he kept whispering to the wizard seated next to him. The man looked familiar but she couldn't place the name, Remus Lupin. Another surprise had been seeing Severus Snape among the members of the Order. His presence was even more unexpected than hers.
At the end of the meeting, Albus announced that he was pairing up members of the Order to investigate some of the areas of purported Death Eater activities that Kingsley had given. Wendy had been paired up with Remus to follow leads in Gloucester. This would at least give her a chance to find out why he looked familiar, probably from Hogwarts. He must have been in one of the other Houses. She wasn't able to determine if he would have been ahead of or behind her. She thought ahead because of the greying hair and lined face.
After the meeting broke up, she endured a slew of welcoming handshakes. She recognized Arthur Weasley because their offices were on the same floor, and Aurors were always finding misused Muggle artifacts that they turned over to him. Naturally, she also knew Tonks from the Ministry and Minerva from her days at Hogwarts. She had given a disdainful look at Mundungus, who had wisely decided not to shake her hand. Unsurprisingly, Sirius remained on the other side of the room, studying her.
Remus stepped up to her when the crowd subsided. "Welcome to the Order, Wendy. I guess we'll be working together. I'm Remus Lupin."
"Nice to meet you, Remus. If you don't mind me asking, you look familiar. Have we met before?"
He chuckled softly. "I was thinking the same thing. Sirius and I discussed it, thinking it might have been school, but neither of us could place your name. We were Gryffindors, '71-'78."
"Then it would be school. I was '69-'76. You probably can't place the name because I was Wendy Leah back then."
Remus still couldn't place the name. She must be married, but a quick glance showed no ring. "Sorry, that didn't help much. What House were you in? Ravenclaw?"
She knew it was bound to come up sooner or later. Better sooner, she guessed. "No, Slytherin."
He looked surprised, "Slytherin. I, uh, see."
She was amazed at how long that sort of information followed one around. When she had submitted her application as an Auror, it had been an issue, too. "Honestly, it was a House and it was nearly twenty years ago. I don't hold it against you that most of you were Gryffindors. I don't hold it against my fellow Aurors and they don't hold it against me. Besides, Severus was Slytherin and he's a member of the Order."
He smiled weakly. "It is nothing to get excited about, is it? I'm sorry. It's just very unusual."
Sirius had approached, unnoticed, to eavesdrop on the conversation. "Wendy Leah, is it? Feel good to be back in the Black house?" he asked snidely. "I'm afraid we've cleaned up a bit since you were last here."
"Black," she replied gruffly.
"What possessed Albus to let you in the Order? Surely he knows who you hung out with?" His voice was filled with disgust.
"Yes, hung, past tense, and he knows. I severed all contact with your cousins and the others long ago," she replied defensively.
"And what about your family?"
"That's none of your business. I'm here for same reason as everyone else. I'm against Death Eaters and their master. Now if you'll excuse me." She had no desire to relive the past with Sirius Black.
"What was that all about?" Remus asked.
"I knew she was familiar. Back in her school days, she was thick as thieves with my cousins Bellatrix and Narcissa and that whole group of Slytherins, including Lucius Malfoy, which turned out to be Death Eaters or suspected ones. Her husband, Edgar Westin, was sent to Azkaban. The whole Leah family has been on the questionable side of things, though none of them ever got convicted. Kind of like Malfoy, they kept their noses clean. I don't trust her."
"Kingsley and Albus trust her." Remus glanced over and saw her talking with Severus. "Besides she's been working as an Auror for quite some time. I think she's on our side."
Sirius lowered his voice to a whisper. "You didn't see what they used to do. The whole lot of them used to practice Dark Magic all the time. And you know that there were quite a few Aurors that switched sides last time. What if she's just been putting herself in a position to infiltrate us?"
"I'll keep an eye on her when we're out. See what I can learn to make you feel better. Just because she was Slytherin doesn't mean she's all bad."
Wendy approached the one friendly face in the room, though with that scowl he didn't look particularly friendly. She hadn't really known Severus well at school. He had been a studious loner a couple of years behind her. She had been Seeker on the Quidditch team and quite popular. While Bella and some of her other friends had used him as a plaything, she had not. "Severus, good to see you again, though I will admit some surprise." She had known that Lucius had taken young Severus under his wing, and suspected Severus had been involved in Death Eater activities.
"I am likewise surprised to see you here. You know some of them will always be suspicious because we are Slytherin." He cast his glare at Sirius.
"I think holding petty grudges is a criteria for being sorted to Gryffindor." She chuckled at her joke. "You know, it's a shame we didn't get teamed up, but I guess with you going back to school it's best. Besides, it will keep people from thinking the Slytherins are conspiring to turn everyone in to the Dark Lord."
"Indeed. I was surprised he teamed you up with Lupin."
"Oh, why's that? He seems nice enough and it looks like he won't hold my Slytherin past against me, even if Black will. Though, that's not surprising; he's never liked me."
"You know Black?" he asked.
"Our families have been close for ages. Bella, Narcissa and I were close when we were young, though once Bella started exploring her darker side, I pulled away a bit. She didn't notice since she had discovered boys by then. I'm afraid we used to pick on him a bit since he was the youngest. Well, actually Regulus was the baby, but we could never get him away from his mother."
There was a gleam in Severus' eye as he listened to her admit her past. "You used to pick on Black?"
"We were quite nasty about it. Bella used to hold contests to see which of us could come up with the best hex. It's not something I'm particularly proud of now, and I'm sure he'll be more than happy to bring it up to everyone as further proof I'm not fit to be here." She didn't really want to talk about her childhood. She wasn't that person anymore. "Well, I'd better talk to Remus and find out what time he wants to meet up so we can check out some of Kingsley's leads."
"There's one more thing you should know about him," Severus said with an evil grin on his face.
"Oh?" She had seen that Slytherin sneer many times and had herself perfected it. No Slytherin could resist any information that was preceded by that grin.
"I've found it is information he's not prone to sharing, but since you will be his partner, it is vital you know. Lupin suffers from Lycanthropy."
Wendy could feel the color drain from her face. She despised werewolves. She had thought the Order was the best, the only chance they had to defeat Voldemort. Having someone like Mundungus had been bad enough, but to have a werewolf? It was inconceivable.
"I would suggest you keep track of the moon cycle before inviting him to investigate any leads with you." This was one of those secrets Severus delighted in telling.
"A werewolf," she said quietly as she glanced across the room at Remus and Sirius deep in their own discussion. Once she regained her composure, she turned back to Severus. "Thank you for that information. It will be very useful."
He gave a small bow. "My pleasure." He thought that she had been entirely too friendly towards Lupin.
A/N: Well, I thought I'd see if there's any interest in my RL/OC fic. This is a complete fic, I just haven't posted it here. If people are interested in it, I'll post chapters every couple of days.
I know that many people are against OCs, but I have found that very few of the female characters in the story have any development. I know that JKR put Tonks with Remus, but I started this pre-HBP and never would have pictured the two of them together. She just seems too young and immature to be paired with someone like Remus. I hope that Wendy will grow on you. She is a Slytherin, and as such, prone to act a little odd as far as the Gryffindors are concerned.
As always, feedback is appreciated and I am willing to answer questions within reason. Naturally, I won't give away big plot points. :)