She refused to allow any visitors as Talia practically sat alone, licking her wounds like a wild animal would. In her head she considered being with the Order of the Phoenix a fail. She should have managed to hold on more on her own, to be more careful. If she would not have intervened and went to save others she would have not been in the present situation.

Getting up from the bed, she opened the window, lighting up a cigarette as she went over the lists of names she compiled for the Death Eaters, information being gathered during her scouting missions. Placing them on the window sill, she winced when changing positions, placing a hand against her stiches. Molly and Sirius have done their best at cleaning the wounds and patching her up, Talia eventually losing consciousness somewhere halfway through the procedure.

It had only been a few days, however she already left the establishment once in order to gather some things, but has yet to go back out on missions. The only reason she actually decided to go back to the Black house was due to the fact that she could actually sleep better there. She did not know why exactly and did not bother with pinpointing the reason, she only accepted and profited off it.

Now as she listened in, there was nothing but silence, something she was grateful for. There were enough thoughts swarming in her mind to keep her busy, having everyone fussing left and right was not something she wished to face.

Deciding to take advantage of the fact that the majority were either busy with something else or working, she finished her cigarette, slipping out of her room, silent feet making their way downstairs to the kitchen. Cursing under her breath, she offered Sirius a half-hearted greeting.

Flashing her a charming smile, he ran a hand through his long hair "Feeling any better?"

She looked down at her abdomen, wrapping the wool cardigan around her body as if protecting herself from something. She was still in pain, moves far too rigid than she would have liked, but there was no helping it. Even with magic, the damage she took was not something a simple Episkey spell could mend "Had better days, though if you ask me when I can't actually tell you."

"Drink?" he pointed to a bottle, Talia nodding. Something to numb her senses sounded like a good idea despite the clock barely indicating one in the afternoon. Taking the glass offered, she sniffed it. Rum would have to do. As she took a sip, she felt the alcohol travelling through her system, coating her tongue. She liked it, there was something about the drink that appealed to her, Sirius noting it immediately "Happy to see you finally leaving your room miss Crane."

"Talia is fine. Not like I will call you mister Black." She countered pulling a chair for herself, lowering onto it slowly, exhaling sharply, trying not to show the pain on her face.

"Talia then." He tested the name on his tongue, pouring a drink for himself as well "Are you hungry? Molly left a few things for us until she returns."

Lifting her brows, she shook her head. She had already eaten the food from the previous day, hungry was the last thing on her list. And it was not like Molly would be away for long. She more than likely went to do some shopping and would return later on during the day.

While she was there with Sirius she decided to learn as much as she could about the Order, questions he appeared more than willing to answer her, yet she expected he was just happy to have someone to talk to. Not like the rest were around too much and the bloody moody house elf gave Talia the creeps. It muttered something behind her back once, about how the Cranes are an abomination and she offered to burn and scatter its ashes down the stairs. Needless to say, the elf avoided her at all costs since she threatened it.

She knew of all the members Sirius spoke of, about the prophecy and wild theories. She offered her insight about the Death Eaters, information she managed to gather, a few hours going by without them realising it.

"There is a meeting a bit later on today, you should join us." She did not provide him an answer then, Sirius retreating to his room, however she did promise to at least consider the invitation. Getting up she approached the fireplace, a second glass in hand, muscles relaxing slightly underneath her clothes.

At least she was finally warm, that alone managing to change her mood considerably. Closing her eyes, she sighed as she took another sip, letting it flow through her, a moment of silence stilling everything in her mind.

Everything had been set to such a fast pace, Talia feared she could not catch up to anything lately. Things were starting to fall from her grasp, either that or crumble to dust the moment she touched something. Nothing was solid anymore, just the ghost of her memories haunting her, but now they wailed more than before.

Upon hearing strong footsteps making their way to the kitchen, she opened her eyes, looking over her shoulder. Crossing the threshold, he stopped as soon as he realised he was not alone in the room, fingers twitching as he stopped unbuttoning his coat, eyes landing on Talia's form near the fireplace.

She silently watched him, not moving a muscle as Talbott froze on the spot.

It felt as if he received a punch in the stomach, all the air leaving his lungs. He slowly blinked making sure his mind was not playing tricks on him, feeling a sudden rush of heat taking over his body.

"Hello Winger." She acknowledged him, however he still remained rooted on the spot, not uttering a word as if he had just seen a ghost. As she took another sip from her drink, her eyes focused on something else apart from him.

"What are you doing here?" he managed to ask, gathering his wits about him, finally finishing unbuttoning his coat. But Talia cared little for his interrogation game. When she turned to glare at him, all signs of surprise vanished from his face, his eyes as sharp and cold as hers. Seeing how she would not budge in her stubbornness, he directed another question at her "You're the mysterious figure helping us aren't you?"

"And what if I am?" taking a step towards him, she felt the familiar pain radiating in her body "If I were you, I would focus on training more instead."

He did have his hunches. Usually when no one knew of Talia, she did whatever she wanted and he knew she wanted to return to England even before she went on the run accompanied by Felix. But when he was in the abandoned factory, he could have sworn he could smell her citrus scent, it lingered, something fresh and new, too good to be something from within the building.

When he stood face to face with her before the end of the year, his mind again went to her, even when she attacked, he still believed it to be her. There were only a handful of people who would not attack him on sight, but still lash out if provoked. And lash out she did when he pushed too much. However he knew if it was an enemy, he would have been killed without any hesitation.

"You shouldn't be here."

His words made her chuckle, body shaking with the motion reverberating through her stomach, Talia clucking her sides "You, you're really something. If you dare speak to me like that again Winger, I guarantee you will eat your words." Pointing a steady finger at him, she approached, pushing him with her hand "At the end of the day, I saved you, not the other way around. I am better, I am stronger." Gritting her teeth, she delivered the last line "And I don't give a rat's ass about your opinion."

His eyes lowered from hers to where she had been pressing a hand, his brows furrowing "You're hurt."

"None of your business." She recoiled when he went to touch her, Talbott retracting his hand, his stare wide, yet unreadable. However anger radiated off her, cascading in her eyes as she looked at him, irises darkening "I stopped being your business a long time ago Winger."

From the hallway, a voice broke through the tension between them "Wotcher Talia, finally out and about? Tal, hey." Tonks added a bit taken back by the glare directed her way, ducking her head as she passed Talbott. He only scoffed at her reaction, rolling his eyes as Remus also entered the kitchen, greeting them both.

"Bloody Hell, how long have you two known?"

Tonks whistled, looking at the ceiling, however the cat was out of the bag. They all knew about Talia having returned to England and no one told him. Walking to the opposite side of the table, Talbott sat down, menacing look directed at the room. Remus apologised however for the both of them, adding it was not his secret to share, yet he clearly knew more since he was always with Tonks.

Looking over at them, Talia's raised a brow in suspicion, seeing Tonks flash Remus a warm smile.

The next pair of footsteps she could recognise with her eyes closed, Moody stopping to give her a one over, a tad surprised to see her with the Order, however they only exchanged a brief head nod. As Sirius also joined them, it was not long until Molly and Arthur Weasley also made their way to the house, the last person being Snape.

"Why am I not surprised he managed to convince you?" Snape uttered looking at Talia.

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, she had not moved from her spot, leaning against the wall just near the exit "He didn't and hello to you too. I just needed a safe haven while I heal, that's all. I told Moody and Dumbledore no since the beginning." Turning her eyes to look at him, she smirked "I work better alone."

She did not look over Snape's shoulders, however she knew Talbott was glaring daggers her way. Those violent eyes spoke volumes, even now after all this time. He did not need her there and from the looks of things neither did Snape.

Squinting his eyes at her, his hand jerked, Talia blocking him before he managed to hit her abdomen. However the reaction still caused her pain, one she gritted her teeth through as she grabbed him by the neck, forcing him onto the large wooden table in the middle of the room, her on top of him, eyes ablaze "Did you have something else to add?"

She saw him contemplating, somewhere in between, Remus and Sirius getting up to stop the fight and Molly gasping asking Severus if he had lost his mind. He wanted to draw his wand, however decided against it, knowing very well what he brought up and what skill she possessed. Her hands slowly unravelled, getting off, closing her eyes as Tonks approached her, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"You're bleeding."

Molly was next to Talia in a second to assess the state of her stiches which she surely must have ripped in the scuffle, her taking a step back "I am fine. I don't need you people worrying about me." This time, without even thinking too much about it, she looked at Talbott, almost out of instinct than anything, catching the hurt in his gaze as Talia pushed Molly's hands away, pulling her shirt back down. It was brief, him composing fast, however it did not go unnoticed "You had a meeting no?"

With that, all finally managed to settle. They talked about the need for more informants, more people out there helping the Order, keeping people safe and things in order, acting like a thorn in the enemies' side. They needed more eyes and ears since the Ministry was doing nothing to help.

Harry was safe, while at Hogwarts he had protection, or so many thought. Talia was one of those who did not believe the school grounds were safe. Hogwarts had a track record of being extremely dangerous and now with Death Eaters in sight, it was only a matter of time until they got to him. Snape provided her a look when she voiced her opinions, however remained silent.

There was no need to antagonise her further.

Once the meeting was over, Sirius suggested to stick together more often, especially Tonks and Talbott since they were the first line of fight. Tonks agreed while Talbott, although promising to come by more often, refused the prospect of being there. As soon as he was dismissed, he bolted out of the kitchen without as much as a goodbye.

Talia also did not say much as she headed upstairs to the room she was sitting in after at least agreeing to taking a medical kit to patch herself back up. Discarding her cardigan and shirt, Talia peeled away the bloody bandages and surely enough she managed to rip some stiches "Grand." She huffed looking at herself in the mirror.

A series of precise knocks did not hinder her, the doorknob turning to reveal Snape in the doorway. He silently entered, turning her around, eyes cast on the wound "Who did this to you?"

"I don't know, There were too many. Don't have all the names…yet. Though there are some new faces, stronger, one of them especially. Been a while since I've seen someone move like that."

Shaking his head, he did prove to be useful, sharing with her what he knew about the attackers once she told him what they looked like, her just listening as he cleaned her wound "Why did you return?"

Rolling her eyes, she winced as he applied more pressure "You would be a terrible doctor you know." Slapping his hands away, she retrieved a cigarette, lighting it up "I wanted to return before Voldemort even made a comeback."

"So you are telling me it's not for Winger?" of course he had his suspicions and doubts. At the end of the day, the majority of her mistakes circled around him. However Talia just lightly shook her head, admitting that at first yes, it was for him. She wanted to see him, she desperately wanted to forgive him although she considered herself mad for thinking that way.

Now however, looking in the dark eyes of the man she considered to be more family than her own flesh and blood, she let the smoke leave her mouth in small circles "I don't know." Her voice shook, lids as if too heavy, Talia closing her eyes, cradling her head in her hand "I don't know why I am fighting. I was" lifting her head, she looked back at him "am actually so angry. I want to destroy everything and everyone. But I don't know what I'm fighting for."

Snape blinked a couple of times, taking an ointment, approaching Talia. A small tremor in her hand betrayed the turmoil that was actually happening inside her head. Throwing the cigarette with force, she gripped his robes, pressing her forehead against his chest "Forgive me father, for I have lost myself."

He hesitated for a few moments before relenting, placing a hand against her soft hair, caressing it as he barely spoke "We are all lost."