Chapter three: killings.

Lily was not amused. She had been waiting to see James for over a fortnight and, as soon as he arrived, the two had not even been able to say two words to each other before Professor Dumbledore called for an urgent order meeting.

James hadn't even been able to say hello to Damien yet. He sat with his arms folded against his chest and was trying not to show his bad mood. Honestly, a couple of minutes with her husband was all she wanted, was it too much to ask?

Her thoughts were interrupted when the room suddenly became quiet. James sat down next to Lily and gently squeezed her hand. She looked up at him and gave him an encouraging smile. Looking around the room he saw all the familiar faces that looked tired and a little dissipated. There was the always crazy paranoid Moody, sitting next to Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. Tonks was clearly noticeable with her bubblegum pink hair. Remus and Sirius were sitting next to James. Professor McGonagall and Snape were sitting near the front and were currently eyeing Professor Dumbledore with curious glances. Next to them were three empty seats that Lily tried to ignore. She didn't think she could bear to think about them again. She looked around, there were other members also present that she wasn't very familiar with.

Her attention was drawn to the Headmaster who now stood in front of all the members. Albus Dumbledore looked immensely tired and exhausted, as did everyone else. He cleared his throat and the already quiet room hushed into complete silence. He could see the expressions most wore. There were some who looked annoyed at the last minute meeting, while others seemed to be trying to prepare themselves for more tragic news. Dumbledore decided to share the reason for this meeting.

"Ladies, Gentlemen. Thank you very much for being able to attend this meeting on such short notice. I am aware that many of you had to cancel or rearrange your plans, so I won't take up much of your time."Here he gave a meaningful glance at Lily, who seemed to blush and look down at her hands in her lap.

"It's okay, Lils, no one else noticed."Sirius teased her.

Lily shot him a sharp look, but said nothing.

"The purpose of this meeting is to discuss the strange happenings of the last few months," Dumbledore continued. "As you all know, there have been several attacks on Death Eaters in the last few months. Many were killed, some were seriously injured, but were purposely left alive. Many of these Death Eaters turned themselves in to the Dementors at Azkaban willing to save themselves from any further attacks. This should not be a cause for concern, but since neither the Ministry nor the Order has taken responsibility for carrying out these attacks, it leads to the question of the identity of this attacker.

The room was silent, all eyes were on Dumbledore.

"The most recent attack took place last night. A Death Eater named Jason Riley was killed in his home. The Ministry claims they are not responsible and we know the Order did not do this. This begs the question of who is tracking these Death Eaters and killing them," Dumbledore finished sounding very concerned.

"What does it matter? Whoever it is, they are killing Death Eaters. They're helping us, why should that be a cause for concern," Moody asked in his husky voice.

Some murmured their agreement to Moody's statement.

"It is a cause for concern, since we don't know who is doing this and for what reason," Dumbledore explained.

"Perhaps there is another secret society formed. Like the Order, perhaps someone has formed another group to fight against You-Know-Who and they are attacking the Death Eaters,"Tonks said.

"That is a possibility," Dumbledore inclined his head in her direction. "However, I think it would be wise to find out the truth of this matter as soon as possible.

Lily noticed that there was something Dumbledore was preventing himself from saying. She had spent too much time with Dumbledore, first as a student and then as a member of the Order and finally as a member of his staff, to see that the old wizard was unsure about saying what was on his mind.

"Dumbledore, is there more?" she asked wondering if he had any more news.

Dumbledore looked at Lily and his blue eyes fixed on her as he struggled to say what was on his mind. With a sigh, he began.

"I have a suspicion, and at this point that is all, but from reading the case reports on the Death Eaters' deaths, I believe that Voldemort may be responsible for the deaths."

There was a sudden intake of breath at the mention of the Dark Lord's name. Dumbledore gave a mental sigh. How many times had he told them that fear of a name was just plain silly? Voldemort wasn't going to show up if you said his name out loud.

"Why do you think that?" asked McGonagall, composing herself as best she could.

"As I said, it is only a suspicion. What I do know for certain is that if Voldemort's men had been attacked and killed in this way, I would not be sitting back and allowing it to continue. From the reports we have, It does not suggest that Voldemort is planning anything to stop these murders. It seems that he is actually happy with the disappearance of these men. It makes me think that perhaps these men have wronged him in some way and so he has arranged to have them killed"Dumbledore finished.

"But why would he want to kill his own men? It doesn't make sense," Remus asked.

"I don't know. That's why I think it's a good idea to find out all the information we can,"Here Dumbledore turned to look at Snape.

"Severus, I have to ask you to try and find out as much information as you can. I have a list of all the names of all the deceased Death Eaters. See if you can find out what mission they were part of before they died. See if they upset Voldemort in any way."

Dumbledore passed the parchment to Snape, who took it but didn't look at it. His dark eyes were fixed on Dumbledore.

"That is all for today. I thank you for your patience," Dumbledore finished with a polite gesture to everyone.

James rose from his chair as did the rest. His head was spinning with the news.

"What's up," Sirius asked."Do you think it's another secret society or You-Know-Who just decided they need new followers?

Lily gave him a withering look but made no comment.

"I don't know Padfoot. It seems strange," said James.

"I'm with Moody. I don't think we should worry about who's killing them, as long as the Death Eaters are killing them, we should be thankful- Sirius continued, accompanying his friend to the fireplace. He had nowhere to go, since HQ was his home."

James said nothing. He silently agreed with Dumbledore. If Voldemort was concerned about the death of his men, he would be doing something about it. The fact that he wasn't concerned could only mean that he was the one ordering the murders.