Disclaimer: Still not J K, still own nothing.
Rating: PG-13
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It was harder than Remus expected to find something to do. He suddenly found it very difficult to remember how he filled his days. He could not go out, for someone had to be in when Hestia caught up with Sirius' message. Unless, of course, she did not intend to answer the message. Perhaps he would answer the door to find a squad of Aurors outside, demanding to know where Sirius was. Would Aurors give him the benefit of the doubt? No, of course they would not; Sirius would be lucky if they didn't bring Dementors with them to perform the Kiss there and then. And the evening would see Remus in Azkaban instead; there would be no leniency for a werewolf.
And perhaps you're being paranoid. Sirius wouldn't leave a note signed with his name. He knows what would happen, and he isn't *that* stupid.
Remus picked up the book he was currently reading – the memoirs of Floyd De Sang, a famous vampire hunter – but gave up when he found himself reading the same passage three times without taking any of it in. He ought to do some work on his latest article – he earned money by writing freelance for various magazines until each in turn found out what he was – but he knew perfectly well that he would not be able to write ten words of sense when he was this distracted.
"Only you, Sirius," he muttered to himself with a flash of dry amusement. No one else had ever been able to throw him so off balance. He got up and paced a couple of times around the room while trying to think of something he could do. Nothing presented itself, and in the end he turned into his kitchen to make a cup of tea, which would at least occupy him for a little while.
While he was leaning against the worktop, waiting for the kettle to boil, a voice hailed him from his living room.
"Remus? Are you there?"
He backed up a few paces and peering around the door saw Hestia Jones' head perched in the fireplace. She looked confused. As she well might, admitted Remus.
"Hestia, it's good to see you," he said, crouching down in front of the fire. "Are you free for a while?"
"Yeah, I've got the day off work. I got a note... well, I don't really know what to make of it. Can I come through? I'll show you."
"Sure. Your timing's impeccable, as always; I just put the kettle on."
She laughed, though the concerned look did not leave her face. "Two sugars, black," she told him. "I suppose you have still got my coffee? I know you prefer tea, but you could have changed your mind..."
"No, I've still got plenty. Come on through; I'll be in the kitchen." She nodded and her head disappeared. Knowing that she would be with him in a few seconds, Remus retreated to the kitchen and got out a second mug. He had to search a little for the coffee; Sirius was apparently still incapable of putting anything back where he found it.
The noise of someone clambering out of the fireplace reached his ears a fraction of a second before Hestia's voice.
"So, what's going on?" she asked. "I assume you know about this note, do you?"
"In a manner of speaking." Remus thought that it was probably a good idea to introduce Sirius to the conversation gradually, rather than as soon as Hestia arrived. "I don't know exactly what it says, though." He wandered back into the living room and handed Hestia a full mug of black coffee. "Have a seat," he suggested, taking a chair himself and leaving her the battered sofa. By the narrowing of her eyes he could tell she had not missed the neatly folded blankets and pillow perched on its arm. "May I have a look?"
Hestia silently handed him a folded piece of parchment, and watched him over her coffee as he unfolded it.
It was very brief and to the point. Very Sirius, in fact.
Hestia
Dumbledore has asked me to make contact with certain people he feels can be trusted. I don't want to put more in writing. Contact me at Remus Lupin's and I will give you all the details I know.
Remus' address was written below, but there was no more. No signature. Remus would have recognised the handwriting anywhere, of course, but he doubted Hestia would. He looked up. She was still watching him, expectantly.
"Well," he said weighing each word carefully. "I can't add much more to that, I'm afraid. Dumbledore's recalling the Order of the Phoenix."
"I suspected as much," she said with a sigh. "I couldn't think of any other reason that Dumbledore would want such secrecy. I don't suppose... I don't suppose you know why?" Her voice was a little shaky; he suspected she had a very good guess as to why the Order was being recalled, but he could not blame her for trying to delay the inevitable.
"What reasons could there be?" asked Remus. "Voldemort's back." Hestia shuddered at the name but did not object. "Luckily, he was only returned to full strength a week or so ago, so we have time to act before he can. I don't know Dumbledore's plans, though; at the moment we are just contacting people. Seeing who is still willing to help."
He avoided Hestia's eyes as carefully as he avoided asking the question, but after a minute or two of silence, he glanced back up at her.
She was staring into the fire, apparently thinking hard. Her face was very pale, and the hand holding her cup was shaking, its knuckles white. Eventually she tore her gaze from the flames and looked straight at Remus.
"I know Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who wasn't gone for good, but I... I hoped. You know? I really thought we were safe... but it was only a lull in the storm, wasn't it?" Her questions did not seem to require answers; Remus stayed silent and sipped at his tea. With a great sigh, she seemed to pull herself together; sitting straighter on the sofa and carefully putting down the shaking cup of tea. A little colour began to return to her cheeks.
"Tell Dumbledore he can count me in," she said firmly, her voice almost back to normal. "Who else have you found?"
Remus had always admired that about Hestia; she was never uncertain for long. Even after a shock as big as this, she only took a couple of minutes to gather herself and then she became brisk and businesslike.
"Arabella Figg and Mundungas Fletcher, so far," he said. "And me and the teachers, obviously. I don't know exactly who from the school Dumbledore is going to involve, but Snape, Hagrid and McGonagall would be my guess, maybe Flitwick, too. We've already gained some new recruits... do you know Arthur and Molly Weasley?"
She nodded, eyes fixed on him. "Well, they've pledged their support to Dumbledore; they'll be initiated into the Order as soon as possible. Their eldest son, as well, from what I've heard." He drew a deep breath; now came the tricky bit. There was nothing to be gained from delaying it.
"And... promise you'll just listen, Hestia, don't over-react, but..." There was a commotion from the garden and a voice that made his next sentence entirely unnecessary.
"Stand still, Buckbeak, will you? Remus, can you give me a hand here..."
Hestia's eyes had gone so wide they looked like they might drop out of her skull. "Remus," she whispered, "Remus, tell me that's not who it sounds like..."
"Please, calm down, Hestia, we can explain... Dumbledore knows about this, he can back up our story if you need him to, but just stay calm..."
"Remus!" Sirius shouted, sounding very aggravated. "Where are you?"
"I don't think I'd be much use, Sirius," he shouted back. "He doesn't like me, remember?"
"Oh, damn it... Stand still! All right, I'll handle it... I'll be with you in a moment. You stop that right now, Buckbeak, or I'll tell Hagrid on you..."
Hestia was standing now, edging away from Remus and towards the fire. Her eyes were still wide and one hand gripped her wand tightly. She pointed it at him, shaking.
"I don't know what you think you're doing, Remus..."
"Please, Hestia, sit down. Sirius is on our side. He never betrayed us..."
"How can you say that!" she shrieked. Silence suddenly fell outside. "You, of all people... Remember James and Lily, Remus? Remember Peter? What has he told you to make you overlook that? We know you were close, we all felt so sorry for you when he went over, but you can't believe him... you can't."
"Dumbledore believes him," said Remus quietly. "If you'll just sit down and listen to us, we can explain it all." She was still shaking her head, and when Sirius appeared in the doorway she squeaked and spun round to cover him with her wand instead of Remus.
Sirius looked so grim that if Remus had not known the truth he would have thought he was looking at a murderer, but he held up two empty hands and looked straight at Hestia. "I'm unarmed, Jonesy. I'm not going to attack you... or anyone else, for that matter."
"You stay away from me!" she warned. Her voice was shaking as much as her hands, but she looked resolute.
"Moony, you couldn't make me a cup of coffee as well, could you?" asked Sirius, his eyes flicking to Hestia's abandoned mug. His voice was steady, and though he had not come any further into the room he seemed perfectly calm. Remus wondered how Mrs Figg and Mundungas had reacted to seeing him again. Was he used to this by now?
"Sure," he replied, briefly amazed that his own voice sounded as calm as Sirius'. He was certainly not so calm inside. He slipped past his old friend, praying that Sirius could handle the situation. Another mug, more coffee... Sirius also had two sugars, but he liked plenty of milk in his coffee... The kettle seemed remarkably slow to boil. Or was that just because he was so on edge? He could hear Sirius' low voice from the living room, but could not hear what was being said. Nor could he hear Hestia's replies, if there were any. It faintly ironic, he thought, that he had not had so many people in this little house for years as he did now that his best friend was trying to talk another old friend out of Stunning them both and turning them over to the Ministry.
When the kettle finally boiled and he had made the coffee – taking as long over it as he reasonably could – he found that Sirius had made a little progress; he and Hestia were both now sitting down. Hestia had taken the furthest chair from Sirius and had moved it right back against the wall to add a few more inches between them. She was still pale and alarmed- looking, and was sitting in silence, her lips pressed tightly together as if to keep more harsh words from spilling out, but at least she was no longer pointing her wand at him.
"Here," said Remus, handing the cup to Sirius and taking a seat beside him. He could see Sirius' wand lying on the table – presumably to convince Hestia that he was indeed harmless – and took his own out, throwing it gently beside Sirius'. He recalled that similar measures had been needed to convince Harry, Hermione and Ron to listen to them, and wondered if they would have to resort to this every time they met another old friend.
"I was just waiting for you," said Sirius. "Jonesy's agreed to hear us out. Shall we start with the demonstration?" Without waiting for an answer, he transformed in his seat to the familiar black dog, and then back again while Hestia was still gaping at him.
"James and Peter were Animagi too," he said. "James was a stag, Peter a rat. That's how..."
Rating: PG-13
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It was harder than Remus expected to find something to do. He suddenly found it very difficult to remember how he filled his days. He could not go out, for someone had to be in when Hestia caught up with Sirius' message. Unless, of course, she did not intend to answer the message. Perhaps he would answer the door to find a squad of Aurors outside, demanding to know where Sirius was. Would Aurors give him the benefit of the doubt? No, of course they would not; Sirius would be lucky if they didn't bring Dementors with them to perform the Kiss there and then. And the evening would see Remus in Azkaban instead; there would be no leniency for a werewolf.
And perhaps you're being paranoid. Sirius wouldn't leave a note signed with his name. He knows what would happen, and he isn't *that* stupid.
Remus picked up the book he was currently reading – the memoirs of Floyd De Sang, a famous vampire hunter – but gave up when he found himself reading the same passage three times without taking any of it in. He ought to do some work on his latest article – he earned money by writing freelance for various magazines until each in turn found out what he was – but he knew perfectly well that he would not be able to write ten words of sense when he was this distracted.
"Only you, Sirius," he muttered to himself with a flash of dry amusement. No one else had ever been able to throw him so off balance. He got up and paced a couple of times around the room while trying to think of something he could do. Nothing presented itself, and in the end he turned into his kitchen to make a cup of tea, which would at least occupy him for a little while.
While he was leaning against the worktop, waiting for the kettle to boil, a voice hailed him from his living room.
"Remus? Are you there?"
He backed up a few paces and peering around the door saw Hestia Jones' head perched in the fireplace. She looked confused. As she well might, admitted Remus.
"Hestia, it's good to see you," he said, crouching down in front of the fire. "Are you free for a while?"
"Yeah, I've got the day off work. I got a note... well, I don't really know what to make of it. Can I come through? I'll show you."
"Sure. Your timing's impeccable, as always; I just put the kettle on."
She laughed, though the concerned look did not leave her face. "Two sugars, black," she told him. "I suppose you have still got my coffee? I know you prefer tea, but you could have changed your mind..."
"No, I've still got plenty. Come on through; I'll be in the kitchen." She nodded and her head disappeared. Knowing that she would be with him in a few seconds, Remus retreated to the kitchen and got out a second mug. He had to search a little for the coffee; Sirius was apparently still incapable of putting anything back where he found it.
The noise of someone clambering out of the fireplace reached his ears a fraction of a second before Hestia's voice.
"So, what's going on?" she asked. "I assume you know about this note, do you?"
"In a manner of speaking." Remus thought that it was probably a good idea to introduce Sirius to the conversation gradually, rather than as soon as Hestia arrived. "I don't know exactly what it says, though." He wandered back into the living room and handed Hestia a full mug of black coffee. "Have a seat," he suggested, taking a chair himself and leaving her the battered sofa. By the narrowing of her eyes he could tell she had not missed the neatly folded blankets and pillow perched on its arm. "May I have a look?"
Hestia silently handed him a folded piece of parchment, and watched him over her coffee as he unfolded it.
It was very brief and to the point. Very Sirius, in fact.
Hestia
Dumbledore has asked me to make contact with certain people he feels can be trusted. I don't want to put more in writing. Contact me at Remus Lupin's and I will give you all the details I know.
Remus' address was written below, but there was no more. No signature. Remus would have recognised the handwriting anywhere, of course, but he doubted Hestia would. He looked up. She was still watching him, expectantly.
"Well," he said weighing each word carefully. "I can't add much more to that, I'm afraid. Dumbledore's recalling the Order of the Phoenix."
"I suspected as much," she said with a sigh. "I couldn't think of any other reason that Dumbledore would want such secrecy. I don't suppose... I don't suppose you know why?" Her voice was a little shaky; he suspected she had a very good guess as to why the Order was being recalled, but he could not blame her for trying to delay the inevitable.
"What reasons could there be?" asked Remus. "Voldemort's back." Hestia shuddered at the name but did not object. "Luckily, he was only returned to full strength a week or so ago, so we have time to act before he can. I don't know Dumbledore's plans, though; at the moment we are just contacting people. Seeing who is still willing to help."
He avoided Hestia's eyes as carefully as he avoided asking the question, but after a minute or two of silence, he glanced back up at her.
She was staring into the fire, apparently thinking hard. Her face was very pale, and the hand holding her cup was shaking, its knuckles white. Eventually she tore her gaze from the flames and looked straight at Remus.
"I know Dumbledore always said You-Know-Who wasn't gone for good, but I... I hoped. You know? I really thought we were safe... but it was only a lull in the storm, wasn't it?" Her questions did not seem to require answers; Remus stayed silent and sipped at his tea. With a great sigh, she seemed to pull herself together; sitting straighter on the sofa and carefully putting down the shaking cup of tea. A little colour began to return to her cheeks.
"Tell Dumbledore he can count me in," she said firmly, her voice almost back to normal. "Who else have you found?"
Remus had always admired that about Hestia; she was never uncertain for long. Even after a shock as big as this, she only took a couple of minutes to gather herself and then she became brisk and businesslike.
"Arabella Figg and Mundungas Fletcher, so far," he said. "And me and the teachers, obviously. I don't know exactly who from the school Dumbledore is going to involve, but Snape, Hagrid and McGonagall would be my guess, maybe Flitwick, too. We've already gained some new recruits... do you know Arthur and Molly Weasley?"
She nodded, eyes fixed on him. "Well, they've pledged their support to Dumbledore; they'll be initiated into the Order as soon as possible. Their eldest son, as well, from what I've heard." He drew a deep breath; now came the tricky bit. There was nothing to be gained from delaying it.
"And... promise you'll just listen, Hestia, don't over-react, but..." There was a commotion from the garden and a voice that made his next sentence entirely unnecessary.
"Stand still, Buckbeak, will you? Remus, can you give me a hand here..."
Hestia's eyes had gone so wide they looked like they might drop out of her skull. "Remus," she whispered, "Remus, tell me that's not who it sounds like..."
"Please, calm down, Hestia, we can explain... Dumbledore knows about this, he can back up our story if you need him to, but just stay calm..."
"Remus!" Sirius shouted, sounding very aggravated. "Where are you?"
"I don't think I'd be much use, Sirius," he shouted back. "He doesn't like me, remember?"
"Oh, damn it... Stand still! All right, I'll handle it... I'll be with you in a moment. You stop that right now, Buckbeak, or I'll tell Hagrid on you..."
Hestia was standing now, edging away from Remus and towards the fire. Her eyes were still wide and one hand gripped her wand tightly. She pointed it at him, shaking.
"I don't know what you think you're doing, Remus..."
"Please, Hestia, sit down. Sirius is on our side. He never betrayed us..."
"How can you say that!" she shrieked. Silence suddenly fell outside. "You, of all people... Remember James and Lily, Remus? Remember Peter? What has he told you to make you overlook that? We know you were close, we all felt so sorry for you when he went over, but you can't believe him... you can't."
"Dumbledore believes him," said Remus quietly. "If you'll just sit down and listen to us, we can explain it all." She was still shaking her head, and when Sirius appeared in the doorway she squeaked and spun round to cover him with her wand instead of Remus.
Sirius looked so grim that if Remus had not known the truth he would have thought he was looking at a murderer, but he held up two empty hands and looked straight at Hestia. "I'm unarmed, Jonesy. I'm not going to attack you... or anyone else, for that matter."
"You stay away from me!" she warned. Her voice was shaking as much as her hands, but she looked resolute.
"Moony, you couldn't make me a cup of coffee as well, could you?" asked Sirius, his eyes flicking to Hestia's abandoned mug. His voice was steady, and though he had not come any further into the room he seemed perfectly calm. Remus wondered how Mrs Figg and Mundungas had reacted to seeing him again. Was he used to this by now?
"Sure," he replied, briefly amazed that his own voice sounded as calm as Sirius'. He was certainly not so calm inside. He slipped past his old friend, praying that Sirius could handle the situation. Another mug, more coffee... Sirius also had two sugars, but he liked plenty of milk in his coffee... The kettle seemed remarkably slow to boil. Or was that just because he was so on edge? He could hear Sirius' low voice from the living room, but could not hear what was being said. Nor could he hear Hestia's replies, if there were any. It faintly ironic, he thought, that he had not had so many people in this little house for years as he did now that his best friend was trying to talk another old friend out of Stunning them both and turning them over to the Ministry.
When the kettle finally boiled and he had made the coffee – taking as long over it as he reasonably could – he found that Sirius had made a little progress; he and Hestia were both now sitting down. Hestia had taken the furthest chair from Sirius and had moved it right back against the wall to add a few more inches between them. She was still pale and alarmed- looking, and was sitting in silence, her lips pressed tightly together as if to keep more harsh words from spilling out, but at least she was no longer pointing her wand at him.
"Here," said Remus, handing the cup to Sirius and taking a seat beside him. He could see Sirius' wand lying on the table – presumably to convince Hestia that he was indeed harmless – and took his own out, throwing it gently beside Sirius'. He recalled that similar measures had been needed to convince Harry, Hermione and Ron to listen to them, and wondered if they would have to resort to this every time they met another old friend.
"I was just waiting for you," said Sirius. "Jonesy's agreed to hear us out. Shall we start with the demonstration?" Without waiting for an answer, he transformed in his seat to the familiar black dog, and then back again while Hestia was still gaping at him.
"James and Peter were Animagi too," he said. "James was a stag, Peter a rat. That's how..."