17

The Letter:

" Did you see it!?" Sirius asked walking into her cubicle, a crumpled copy of the Daily Prophet in his hand. He looked positively furious.

It was early. Not very many people were into the office yet.

" The prophet?" Doe asked.

He nodded. She shook her head.

" I left before it got delivered, why?" she asked.

Sirius handed her the copy of the prophet. She unfolded it and read the headline.

Minister Declares War

The byline was Rita Skeeter. She didn't know she had started writing for the prophet.

" Whats so bad about this?" Doe asked.

" Just read it" Sirius said, sitting down on the corner of her desk.

Doe opened the paper and began to read.

As of yesterday evening, Minister of Magic Millicent Bagnold had officially declared War against the vigilante radical known as You-Know-Who, or Lord Voldemort to those brave enough to speak the name. You-Know-Who has recently rose to power supporting the idea that magic should only be practiced by 'true wizards', believing that muggle-born witches and wizards should not be allowed to practice magic. The Dark Lord, and his faithful supporters, Death Eaters, have been responsible for the murders of several ministry officials, muggleborn wizards, muggles and several pureblood families who have spoken out against them, including prominent wizarding families such as the Potters and the Izens.

The rising death toll has forced the MInister to finally take action, and declare war against these individuals. Though the identities of You-Know-Who's supporters are not wholly known it is suspected that the majority of his support comes from Pureblood Predominantly Slytherin families. Many of these families, including the Black's, have spoken out recently claiming to support the ideals of You-Know-Who. One wonders whether the minister will be taking action to identify whether the individuals belonging to these families are involved in any of the recent deaths.

Doe looked up at Sirius. His jaw was set and he looked extremely furious.

" That makes me sound like a bloody Death Eater!" he said angrily.

Doe crumpled the paper and threw it in the wastebasket.

" Sirius, no one who knows you would think even momentarily that you supported You-Know-Who" she told him earnestly.

" My family is mentioned by name, Doe" he said, " I come from one of those Pureblood Slytherin families"

" But you were in Gryffindor" she told him, " everyone knows you are different from your family, I mean you're an auror!"

Sirius leaned back against the wall of my cubicle, scowling slightly, " People aren't going to trust me"

" Anyone who is worth a damn will trust you" she told him, " you don't seriously think something written by Rita Skeeter will sway anyone do you?"

Sirius frowned, " Well, no.. it's just-"

She cut him off, " Sirius Black, the manifestation of Gryffindor House, would never support anything like this, and everyone knows it"

Sirius grinned madly, " The manifestation of Gryffindor House, am I? he asked wiggling his eyebrows.

" Do not let that get to your head, it's big enough as it is" She told him shaking her head.

Sirius rolled his eyes, " You sure know how to make me feel better, Meadowes"

" Stop moping," Doe told him, " and start filing those papers for Moody"

Sirius smiled, " I think the manifestation of Gryffindor House should be doing something more brave and courageous, don't you think?"

" Don't make me regret saying that" Doe yelled at him as he walked away.

" Whatever you say, Meadowes" he called back.

Today was long. Moody had us very busy all day with odd jobs. We spent hours filing and organizing folders. He had assigned Sirius and Doe the task of timelining the tragedies that were suspected by Death Eaters. It was a much more interesting job than any of the other junior aurors had received and some of them were seething with jealousy. Piers looked as though he wanted to rip their throats out, while he magically shredded the box of papers Moody had given him.

Meanwhile, Sirius and Doe were sitting on the floor of his cubicle, surrounded by Daily Prophet articles on the deaths and reports that had been filled out by aurors. It was one of the first major jobs they had in the Department and they were determined to do it right.

" Can you hand me the article on the murder of the Fairviews?" Sirius asked. Doe reached over and handed him the article and the report.

He was trying to track down the first death that they had been responsible for. They had managed a basic outline but now they were trying to make sure it was very thorough.

Doe flipped through a few of them and stopped when she got to one that almost hurt to look at.

Auberon Meadowes, Head of Magical Law Enforcement Department, Murdered January

She stopped, stroking the photo of her father. He looked exactly as she remembered.

" That's a good picture of him" Sirius said noticing what she was holding.

She nodded and continued to look at the picture. Attached to it was a copy of both the prophet article and the report on his death. It didn't contain anything she hadn't already seen.

" Can you believe it's been two years?" She asked Sirius.

Sirius shook his head, " Doesn't feel like it, but then again, so much has changed since then"

" It really has" she said placing her father's death amongst the others in the timeline.

" He'd be proud of what you're doing" Sirius said softly.

" I think he'd of rather I had wanted to become a healer" she said with a slight smile on her face.

Sirius shook his head, " Nah, I think he knew this was meant for you"

" Let's not talk about it anymore" she said placing another casualty in the timeline.

Sirius flashed her a look of concern before going back to placing the deaths in order.

They spent the entire day working on the timeline. It really reaffirmed how much damage Voldemort and his supporters had caused over the last few years. The amount of deaths was alarming, and looking at all of the faces of the dead turned it into quite a morbid day. But having their first task as an auror was quite exciting.

Doe came home that day, feeling mentally drained. The faces of Voldemort's victims were permanently burned into her mind. Their faces molding together.

" There you are" Lily said. She was sitting in a large armchair in the corner reading a copy of the prophet.

" Hey Lily" Doe said sitting down on the couch opposite her.

" I haven't seen much of you lately" Lily said putting down the paper.

" Moody has kept me very busy" she told her, leaning against the couch, " today he had Sirius and I timelining all of Voldemort's deaths"

Lily shuddered slightly and shook her head, " How awful"

Doe shrugged, " We've got to see why he's choosing who he is, so we know who to protect" Doe told her, quoting what Moody had told me earlier in the day.

" I just miss seeing you, I feel like the only time I see you now is mealtimes" Lily said with a pout.

" Aw Lily, I miss you too" Doe told her, " I'm sure once I settle into the job, it'll get easier".

" It better or you won't be able to function" Lily told me.

There was a tapping at their window. A large snowy owl was clicking its beak against it, holding in it's talons two maroon envelopes.

Doe walked over to the window and opened it, letting the Owl fly in and deposit the letters before flying off.

" What is it?" Lily asked.

Doe held up the two envelopes. One was addressed to her and the other to Lily. Doe handed Lily hers and opened her own, reading the card it contained.

Ms. Meadowes,

I am writing to you to invite you to a gathering that I will be hosting. This will be for a very select group of witches and wizards, and as such it is imperative that you do not share this information with anyone. If you could please arrive at the Diffle Manor Friday evening at eight oclock. There is something very important I would like to discuss with you.

Best Wishes,

Albus Dumbledore

Doe turned to Lily to see if it was the same thing she had received, and it was.

" What does he want to discuss with us?" Lily asked.

Doe shook her head, " No idea, but it's Dumbledore, so it must be important right?"

Lily nodded, " Yeah, it must be"

Doe pocketed the card quickly.

" I'm going to go see Remus, Will you be okay here?" Doe asked her.

Lily nodded, " I'll be fine, Doe. Go. Tell him I said hello".

Doe waved goodbye to Lily quickly and apparatted to the outside of the Marauders door, knocking quickly.

Remus and Doe hadn't had very much time to see each other lately. They had both been working far too much and it left little time for anything else. And seeing as tomorrow night was the full moon, she wanted to make sure she got to see him tonight.

Remus opened the door and smiled when he saw her, " There you are!" He implored pulling her inside quickly.

" She's not likely to get murdered be a Death Eater on her way here, Moony" Sirius called from the couch, " It's much more likely at work".

Remus ignored his comment, " Did you get here alright?" he asked.

" Yeah, it was fine" Doe told him.

" Come on, " Remus said, " Let's go to my room"

Doe followed Remus through the living room and into his bedroom.

As soon as the door closed, Doe grabbed and kissed him quickly. She hadn't even realized how much she had missed him.

He held her close to him, mirroring her enthusiasm.

" Work stinks" she said with a pout when she separated, " I haven't seen you outside of the ministry in almost a week"

" I know, " he said stroking her cheek, " I was starting to forget what you looked like" he joked.

She sat down on the edge of his bed and he sat next to her.

Doe noticed the maroon envelope sitting on his desk.

" Did you get the letter from Dumbledore too?" she asked.

Remus nodded, " We all did, it was weird wasn't it?"

Doe nodded, " Very odd, but then again so is Dumbledore"

" I think it's something about the war" Remus said, " The timing makes sense"

" It probably is," she agreed, " It's strange isn't it? That it's a war now, four years ago this was nothing"

" Four years is enough for a lot to change" Remus said, " but what worries me is the rapid support he's gaining"

Doe sighed, " Moody had me catalog the deaths today and there were so many Rem"

Remus frowned, " I fear there will be more, many more"

She leaned back so that she was lying flat on his bed looking up at the ceiling.

Remus laid down next to her and she buried her face against his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around her.

It was the most comforted she had felt in several days. She was always comfortable with Remus. He had an uncanny ability to always make her feel so safe.

" I don't know what I would without you" she told him softly.

" You won't ever have to find out" he assured her.

It began to rain outside and large droplets of water splattered across Remus' window. It rained for the rest of the night.

Doe had fallen asleep in Remus' arms and felt extremely comfortable. After a while, she started to dream. She didn't remember any of it, but she remembered it terrified her.

She woke up in the middle of the night in a panic. Her chest rising and falling in fear. She let from the bed. It took her a few seconds to remember it was all a dream and that she was fine, safe in Remus' room.

All she could remember was a brilliant green light, the light from a killing curse.

" Doe, is everything alright" Remus asked sleepily, his hand reaching over to his nightstand for his wand.

She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself down.

" It was just a bad dream, go back to bed" she told him.

It was too late. He was already awake. He sat up, leaning against his pillows and motioned for her to come back to bed. She curled up next to him.

" Do you want to tell me about it?" he asked, running his hands over her shoulders in an effort to calm her.

" I don't remember much of it" she told him,catching her breath " just the green light from a killing curse, it was just a nightmare, honestly"

She shivered at the memory of it.

" You're okay," Remus told her, " just try and fall back asleep. I'm right here"

She felt wide awake. The dream had scared her far too much for her to fall asleep easily, but she laid there with Remus. She heard him fall asleep again and listened to the gentle sound of his heartbeat and watched the rise and fall of his chest while he breathed. Just being there next to him made her feel better.

It was just a dream she reminded herself, even though it had felt extremely real.