A Dangerous Game
By orangepenguin
Disclaimer: JKR owns it, I just enjoy it
A/N: If you are reading this then I guess you enjoyed the first chapter, or at least you thought that it had potential. Who knows? It makes me so nervous to see the hits list go up without any review, because I wonder why, did people hate it? Did they just not think it was interesting? It made me re-vow to review everything I can. Anyway, on with the show.
Things began to move very quickly after the fateful owl arrived. Remus dragged Sirius out of his warm purple bed (he was always drawn to the purple one for some reason, as was Mad-Eye Moody, although Remus had no inclination to inform Sirius of this fact) and told him the news.
Although they were both deeply tired, and in no condition, they set some coffee brewing and pulled out the parchment. Rubbing their eyes, they slowly began to send out owls to all the Order. There was a special code for secret information in case the owls were intercepted. Remus was actually quite proud of it. It included a nice scrambling charm that he and Lily had invented at Hogwarts. James and Sirius had always gone in for the more impressive types of magic, generally Transfiguration. But Charms had practical uses that appealed to him. Or perhaps it was more that he had enough of things transforming in his life.
Sirius and Remus now had to do something that neither were very proficient at, organizing shifts. "Where's Lily when you need her?" Sirius asked, woefully glaring down at the charts of work hours and conflicts below him. Remus looked at him darkly, and began to make a list. First, they sent owls to those who would be on the new Longbottom schedule:
The McKinnons, Dedalus Diggle, Emmeline Vance, Benjy Fenwick, Edgar Bones, Sturgis Podmore, Caradoc Dearborn, Elphias Doge, The Prewetts, Aberforth (Dumbledore's crazed brother, always an interesting guest at Haven. Two weeks ago he had gotten up at four in the morning and eaten en entire jar of peanut butter. Remus had found him in the morning just starting in on the pot of jam.) and Dorcas Meadowes
On the extended shift schedule for the Potters they decided to keep only those who would care most about their welfare; those who could be trusted to handle the longer hours, and who would not be resentful.
Peter Pettigrew, Alastor Moody, Rubeus Hagrid, Albus Dumbledore (he wanted to make sure things went well personally) and Sirius Black.
Remus scowled at this last list, he wanted so badly to be on the Potter schedule. But no, he had to stay behind at Haven while everyone else was out protecting two of his best friends, not to mention Harry. He knew in his mind that his was important work, but he just felt left out. You're being a child, he told himself. Someone had to be a Haven, and that is your job.
While Sirius was tying the scrolls onto owls, Remus allowed his mind to wander. The real question that had been plaguing him was not how to protect his friends, but why the Longbottoms and the Potters were chosen victims in the first place. Nobody really knew except Dumbledore, but the whole Order had been told that young Harry Potter and Neville Longbottom were the real targets. Remus clenched his teeth in anger—he hated the thought of targeting children, usung them like pawns in wars they could not understand. If anyone needed further proof that Voldemort was truly the Dark Lord, this was it.
But the whole thing had a mythological aspect to it that Remus found oddly appealing, not like this of course, but in a purely intellectual way. Because Somehow Dumbledore had heard that one of them would grow up to defeat Voldemort. That a "child of the Order" so to speak, had this destiny was the biggest secret the Order knew, and they hesitated to speak of it, even in a secure place, among friends.
Both Harry and Neville came from great wizarding families, but they were just babies. Who could know, really which one would have a great destiny, or if they even would at all? And if they are to defeat Voldemort, are we using them as weapons, as threats, and isn't that something evil, to be despised? Remus shook the thoughts from his head. He was too tired, and getting worryingly philosophical.
Half an hour later, Remus and Sirius plopped down on the aging sofa after finally sending out all the owls. They had already been exhausted, and now they were as if in a living coma. All they wanted to do was sleep, but they had to be there, and conscious, when the owls started winging their way back in. Sirius was slowly drinking coffee, trying to stay awake, while the green glowing flames tried to entice him toward sleep. Lupin was going over the schedules for watches, so that he'd have enough room for all the guests the new schedule would be bringing.
He hated this sort of thing, Sirius was right, Lily would have been much better at it. But Lily isn't here now, and you have to step it up. this is important. The Longbottom watches may have only been two hours long, but people were still required to stop by after they were replaced so that Dumbledore would know that everyone was alive. If someone didn't stop by Haven after their watch, then everyone would go on high alert trying to find them. They did not have enough people to risk losing any.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Sirius, mainly as a way to stay up, after they had sat in silence for a few minutes.
"This may sound pessimistic, but I think that this muggle killing was just a warning." Lupin sighed, reaching for his own coffee from the table a few feet away.
"Bloody violent warning if you ask me." Sirius laughed half-heartedly.
"That's true," Lupin smiled, "but I still think that worse will come before this is over. The end may be coming, but it will not come until much more blood has been shed."
Sirius stood up, and paced in front of the emerald flames, sarcastic. "Why do you think that? I mean, why just be a little pessimistic? If you want to be really pessimistic, you could note that we have barely twenty five members, and that four of them are in constant hiding. You could say that Voldemort has hundreds and they terrorize the world by day while we lurk in shadows by night. You could note that the Ministry of Magic is a joke, because they're saying that everything is fine while more and more people die daily. If you were really being pessimistic you could say that we are fighting a war that we can not win." He broke off, breathing hard, and sat back down on the sofa. After a moment he said softly, "You'd also be right."
"That's not fair!" Remus protested. "Not after all that we've done, all that we're doing. We have a chance. More than a chance."
"Do we?" asked Sirius in a low, growling, almost dog-like voice.
Lupin looked wolfish, and said with dignity, "I refuse to think anything else."
The silence set for a moment, while they both quietly thought of all they would have to overcome for the fight to really be over. Then an owl rapped at the window again, shaking them out of their reverie. Sirius got it, and read quietly while the owl flew into the next room. He looked up at Remus's strained face.
"Death Eater's attacked the McKinnon's house a few hours ago, Dumbledore just got there. All the McKinnons are dead, Remus." He laughed, but it was a hollow dead laugh, a horrible hopeless sound. "What chance do we have now?"
"We will always have a chance." Lupin whispered fiercely.
"The Prewetts were there too, and Benjy Fenwick. They're all dead. Dumbledore says that there wasn't enough of Benjy left to bury, just scattered pieces."
Black and Lupin glared angrily at each other for a moment, and then they jumped up and embraced as brothers would, tears dripping from their eyes. "I'm sorry Moony, we will fight this fight until the finish," Sirius whispered in a rough voice.
"All is forgiven Padfoot," Remus smiled halfheartedly, as usual, knowing the right thing to say, and knowing how to sound like he meant it.
