An unknown address followed by the words "England will burn by my hands" that was all that Dumbledore received, however he knew immediately who the sender was despite no name being added. Passing the message to Moody, his mechanical eye spun inside the socked, him scoffing as he threw it on the table.
"She hasn't joined the Death Eaters if that's what you fear. We would have known if that was the case."
Sirius picked up the note, committing the address to memory before asking "And this lovely message was sent from?"
"Talia Hayes" Moody added dryly before correcting himself "Crane actually, her name is Talia Crane. Might as well use it since Hayes is a name long lost."
Glancing between the two men, Sirius raised a pair of questioning brows, discarding the note in the fireplace behind him "The Crane family?" receiving a single nod from Dumbledore "Well now this is interesting, I never thought I would live to hear that one of the children survived, let alone the child of Constantine. She sounds charming, why not pay a visit?" before they could even consider the offer, he transformed into his Animagus form, leading the way towards the door.
Inside Dumbledore's mind different scenarios worked as they all went to make sure Talia had indeed returned "Let's keep this between us shall we? We need to ensure she wishes to be on our side."
To their surprise, they found themselves in a remote area, with few houses and even those with no lights shinning through the windows. Everything appeared as if it was part of a ghost town, as if whoever lived there, just packed up everything and left.
"I don't like this. Something isn't right." Moody commented, even Sirius letting out a low growl to voice his concerns. However Dumbledore remained silent, eyes glued to the specified house number in her note. Nothing stirred, not even the wind, instead the heat from the day was emanating from the pavement, the last days of August proving to be too hot for England to handle.
Clear eyes watched them, fire lighting up the tip of a cigarette, toxic fumes lifting above her head. Sirius was the first one to notice Talia, turning to look at her "Of course you would be skeptical, expected no less, but can't say I am not disappointed in you Moody. You should have been the first one to notice me, not your mutt." The line earning her a growl, Talia lifting her brows "Oh, my apologies." She mentioned making her way towards them.
"Are you hurt?" Dumbledore immediately noticed the blood covering her as she stepped under a street light.
"It's not mine." Leading them inside the house she indicated, Talia took a seat, Sirius morphing back to his human self "Cute, a pleasure to meet you Sirius Black."
Walking over to her, he extended a hand, Talia offering hers, watching as he lifted it to his lips, placing a kiss against her bloodied skin "The pleasure is mine."
"Enough of this." Moody plunged his staff in the floor "Where have you been?"
Smoking calmly, she removed her hand from Sirius's, the man taking a few steps back as Talia locked Moody in a cold stare "None of your damn business to be fair. What's important is that I am here now. How did you word it, that England is cold without its fire to warm her." She glanced at Dumbledore "Well here I am."
"It's not safe to be here Talia." Dumbledore kept a leveled tone when addressing her, however even he was weary. The girl was sitting in that armchair as if it was her throne, the blood on her skin and clothes not hindering her in the slightest "Being out in the open will get you…"
"Killed?" she laughed "Well they can try, I welcome the challenge." Getting up slowly, she stomped the cigarette under her boot "You can have your little merry boy band, that's fine, but I will do things my way."
Interjecting, Sirius offered her a smile "If I may, doing things alone might not always earn the best results, especially not in times of war when allies are important."
Smirking, Talia shook her head "I know the Order of the Phoenix has been reinstated. You can cower away into your little happy home Sirius, I am not fond of places in which I have to hide in anymore." Circling the men like a vulture, she stopped next to Dumbledore "I know you saved me, not because you wanted to give me a chance at a normal life, but because you wanted to witness first hand if the ritual actually works." Tilting her head to the side, she added "I was never born to exist, I was born to die, however I turned myself into a weapon. I could have cowered and hid and while I did for a while, that's not the case anymore. You can keep your stupid Order, I will face this on my own terms."
"Then let's compromise." he offered her a kind smile, one that made Talia roll her eyes "You have skills that could prove useful, skill no one has. I know we cannot force you to join the Order, however we might be able to help each other in the future. Just a thought to consider."
"And why would I help?"
"Because you are different than your parents. While yes, you are indeed a Crane, you are not one to leave events to chance, especially when it involves people you care about." He knew she still had to carry some love inside of her for her former friends, colleagues and especially for Talbott.
Adding to the point Dumbledore made, Moody came closer to the two "Tonks is with us, Winger as well." He searched her face upon mentioning the last name however she wore the same cold expression as before "We are all fighting to bring down Voldemort and something tells me that is also your goal. Regardless of how you wish to go about it." His eyes lowered to the blood on her, before looking back in her eyes.
"I won't join the Order, you can hide all you want. I can however feed you information. I don't need your protection. I don't need your council or guidance." Lifting one finger in the air "Under one condition. You tell no one I am back. I don't need anyone trying to hinder me. Is that understood?"
The three men nodded at her request, Talia taking some time to ensure they were telling the truth. Once she was satisfied, she Dissaparated without as much as a goodbye directed their way.
"Are you sure we can trust her?" Sirius asked, Moody nodding, however Dumbledore had something to add.
"As long as she still holds feelings inside of her heart, then yes, we can trust her. The moment when we should truly fear her is when there is nothing left and currently she's very close to it."
A/N: And with this small chapter we wrap up arc three of Late Night Enchantments. I will now be taking a small break from the story so I can focus on other projects as well, but if you want to be kept in the loop with what is going to happen in the future and when chapters will be published, you can find me on Tumblr under the same user name.
Until we meet again in arc four.