Four
The first thing Sirius noticed about Erin Hardy was that she was an efficient witch. He hadn't heard a thing coming from downstair and yet she had been awake for a long time when Sirius walked into the living room. It felt weird to find her there in one of his armchairs while she worked. When Kinglsey had told him someone would act as a spokesperson for the Order he had imagined and old Auror, bored of his job and the Ministry. Instead, now he had a kind and polite young woman as a partner. At least, that was all he had seen so far.
It had been a long time since Sirius had shared his house with anyone and it had been even longer since he had talked to someone he hadn't known before Azkaban. Except for Harry's friends, of course. Erin had her long blond hair pulled back in a bun and was holding a pen. She had placed her papers on the table in front of her, in two piles to be exact and she was still writing. Sirius had told her they could handle the meeting that morning but he hadn't expected her to finish so soon. Erin was so focused on what she was doing, her green eyes jumping from page to page, that she did not notice his presence.
"Morning." Sirius said. Surprised, Erin had almost jumped. "Have you had breakfast?"
"Yes." She answered putting the pen down. "I hope you don't mind."
Sirius shook his head.
"My house is your house."
He entered the kitchen without seeing Kreacher around though he didn't need him in that moment anyway. A coffee was more than enough for that morning. Had it not been for Erin not so far from him and for the promise he had made to Remus, he would've probably filled it with something else. It was not like he was turning into an alcoholic but he did drink. He had a godson now to take care about, a house and a whole life to enjoy but it was not easy trying to win back the twelve years he had lost. Having Harry had helped but some days he barely felt like leaving his room. The only thing nobody could deny was that he was trying. Some days were better than other, he thought while he sipped his coffee. He would try to make this a good day for everybody's sake. He didn't want the meeting to be a complete disaster; he didn't want to worry anyone else. Above all, he wanted to prove himself he could overcome everything he had been through.
"Is Mundungus Fletcher a member of the Order?" He heard Erin asked.
He turned to her and nodded.
"If I am not mistaken, we investigated him for robbery."
The young woman stoop up with a paper in her hand. Sirius knew what she was talking about and by the expression in Erin's face, she didn't trust him very much either. She was frowning now.
"That's true." Sirius confirmed. "He took some things from this house."
Erin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she posed the list on the table where Sirius was.
"I don't get it. Are we supposed to tell him too?"
Sirius picked up the list and looked at it. Mundugus's name was written just like his.
"He is here." He said pointing at his name. "If Kingsley has made this list we should."
"It's not Kingsley's." She corrected Sirius. "Dumbledore did it shortly before passing away. I think you should look at it."
Then Sirius went on to read the sheet more closely. The first face was almost mostly composed of members of the Weasley family: Molly, Arthur, the twins, Bill and his fiancée Fleur; then there were Remus, Tonks and Alastar Moody. On the next side it was true that Mundungus, Sirius and Erin herself appeared among others and at the end of everything Harry, Hermione and Ron.
"They are supposed to be members of the Order. I had not looked a lot into it until I started writing the letters, for being the spokeswoman you know." She explained. "Do not you think there's something strange?
Sirius still had the list in his hands. He looked back at her out of the corner of his eye, that was Dumbledore's handwriting. The curvature of the letters and the tiny spaces between the words made it clear.
"Harry and his friends are still minors." Sirius thought that they had not acted with the Order either before Dumbledore died. At least officially. "We did not accept you and Fleur until recently."
"That's true. But I'm more worried about the fact that Dumbledore did not include himself on the list. Snape is not there either, as if it were something he had prepared for the future."
Sirius had not realized that, it had seemed obvious to him that the professor was part of the Order because he had founded it. In addition to being efficient, Erin also seemed very observant. After what she had said to Sirius another thought crossed his mind.
"It's almost like he had known what was going to happen to him." Said Sirius in a low voice, maybe not enough because Erin had listened to him. He saw her look down, while she pressed her lips tightly.
She sighed and went back to pick up the list from the table.
"I'll send the letter to Mundungus, too, then. " She had changed the subject completely. "Do you think we could have the meeting is this afternoon?"
Sirius barely had to think about it. That was very urgent, the longer it took for them to get together, the easier it would be for the Death Eaters to find them. They had to act.
"Alright, yes."
Erin sat back in the chair while nodding her head. Sirius watched her as she finished writing the letters and closed them, when suddenly Erin made half of them rise in the air. With a simple wand movement and some whispered words, the letters disappeared by means of an enchantment.
"Apparition." Sirius commented. "Very skillful."
Erin's eyes lit up and a big smile appeared in her face.
"And very fast."
It also required a lot of concentration and precision, Sirius thought, but she had used it as if it were another simple basic enchantment. She was an Auror and a good one.
The rest of the day went very slowly, with both of them awaiting the arrival of the rest. Neither talked anymore about what they could have discovered about Dumbledore's death. The first person who arrived was Remus along with Tonks, followed by Molly and Arthur Weasley. Sirius had expected a long line of redheads at his door, but it didn't happen. He saw a sad smile spread across Erin's face as she talked to Molly, whom she had come out to meet. She only changed his face a little when Ron and Hermione appeared later, with Harry at their side. Sirius also approached then, rushing to embrace his godson. They had not seen each other since the previous September and he hadn't expected him come.
"How are you, kid?" He asked when they separated.
Harry shrugged a little.
"Still ... impressed."
His godfather wanted to tell him that all of them were too, that it was normal but Harry seemed so hurt, with his green eyes so muffled that he knew there had to be something else. It was true that they had spent only the last few years together, almost four summers to be exact, but Sirius always knew when something bothered him. He was pretty obvious with his feelings, Harry, just like his father had been.
"Harry, do you want to tell me something?"
He put a hand on his shoulder and Harry looked back at him.
"I saw everything, Sirius." He said lowering his voice, trying not to be heard by anyone else. "Malfoy was supposed to kill him ..."
He pressed his lips together for a moment, so much that they were just a thin line. He was trying to contain myself.
"He had to kill Dumbledore, but he could not do it. It was Snape."
"I know, Harry." Sirius did not let go. "Do you want us to talk about it later?"
Harry was hurt as Sirius was. Neither of them had ever liked Snape but it was Harry who was the most surprised. Sirius had always believed that Snape was not to be trusted and that had confirmed it. Besides, Sirius wanted to know everything Harry had seen to see if what he and Erin suspected could be true.
"Sure. "Harry said trying to smile a little.
The meeting was short but intense because they had different ideas of what to do with Harry after his birthday. They only agreed that they had to get him out of Privet Drive, send him somewhere safe, either the Burrow or right there. In the end, they decided they would move him to the Burrow for the wedding and then he would stay at Grimmauld Place. Another topic of discussion and even more controversial had been what to do with Hogwarts. It was full of Death Eaters and Snape would be the new director. This was not a safe place for children, Remus had said. Sirius had agreed with him, knowing that if they did not go there, they would fight.
Things got worse at that moment. Harry and his friends said they were not going to hide so they were not going to come back either. Molly Weasley was very far from Sirius at the table but he could still see how she was frowning.
"And what are you supposed to do, fight? You're sixteen!"
Ron was looking at Hermione out of the corner of his eye, trying not to turn to Molly. She was probably waiting for the girl to say something reasonable to make Harry and his son come to his senses, just as she always did. The rest of them were silent, even Sirius was. He was almost biting his tongue because he remembered the last time he had argued with Molly. He did not want to have any more discussions with that woman, they already had enough differences.
It was Erin, coughing a little, who interrupted the discussion. She had barely spoken, just to introduce himself to Moody and again when McGonagall had asked her a question. From what Sirius had seen, he had spent the entire meeting writing down what they were discussing so she could tell Kingsley. A couple of times, when Dumbledore had been mentioned, Erin had looked at Sirius as if she expected him to say something. It was clear that she didn't dare to say anything (because she had barely been in the Order for a day) but Sirius did not want to say anything either before talking to Harry.
Erin set her pen aside and looked at Molly, who was two seats to the right of the girl.
"They are already involved." She said, very calm. "All of us will be sooner or later."
Molly was watching her with her eyes widely open, Erin was not expected to contradict her, but she quickly recovered herself.
"You are involved because you are an Auror, Erin." She answered. "Ron hasn't even finished school and if he doesn't go Ginny won't want to go either."
Erin picked up her pen again as she bit her lip. Then Remus spoke again, supporting her and the boys.
"We were approximately his age when we first joined the Order." He explained. "We need people just like we needed them the first time."
They kept arguing until Arthur said it was okay for him if that was what they wanted to do and Molly was looking daggers at him.
When everyone had left and there were only Harry, Arthur and Molly in the house, Erin called the latter before she left. She had the impression she had disappointed her for not being on her side but she really believed that Molly was saying no for no reason. They were no longer children and the things that had happened to them were very different from the ones that other kids their age had experienced. The battle in the Department of the Mysteries of the previous summer was a very good example.
"Molly." She called her to get his attention. "I didn't mean to bother you."
"I could never get mad at you, Erin." She answered.
"But you're angry."
Molly shook her head.
"I don't want anything to happen to any of them. I don't want anyone to be in danger."
Erin knew how that felt, that's why she dedicated herself to what she did.
"But I guess one day I'll have to let them go. " She added.
"You do not have to let them go, just ... give them more space." She said, thinking about her own mother and herself.
The woman smiled a little and Erin relaxed. Molly was like family and she didn't want it to change for a silly discussion.
"Say hi to Fred and George for me." Said Erin. "And to Ginny too."
Arthur and Molly left using the Flu powders and although Erin did not want to continue feeling guilty, the knot in the stomach did not disappear.
So, it's been a very long time since I uploaded. Yep. I don't want to make excuses but it's been a pretty crazy year for me. I went abroad to study in England for some months, came back home, felt a rush of inspiration and started writing again. Sadly, then my grandmother passed away a bit suddenly and I didn't feel like writing at all. It's been better lately and I'm not going anywhere any time soon. I also uploaded the story in Spanish twice very recently so I'll try to catch up and translate the eleven chapters of difference as soon as possible. As you know it's a lot of work and I don't recommend you to try and read the story in Spanish with the google translator, it's shitty, trust me.
I hope you enjoy it!
Julia