Bright and early that same day the sun peaked through the clouds, and as the rain began to pour a tall girl of seventeen sat herself along her balcony. It was the first time in months she had seen the sun even with the mere image of it. Her long golden locks fell down by her side, and her eyes glisten as she began to tear up from the wind blowing in her eyes. She was quite lonely day after day in such a nice apartment with no company, and she found it odd that she missed school. There was just something about being amongst a group of happy and carefree students who didn't know who she was, and what she felt in her heart day after day. Despair, sadness, a longing for something more. The sound of a bird arrived at her ears and sure enough as she squinted her eyes to look out, a white snowy owl flew right to the edge of her balcony clutching a letter with her talon. She was such a beautiful bird.
"Why look at you," Aurora commented as she stroked the bird's feathers. Your owner must adore you. So what do we have here?" She took the letter and became surprised when the writing was unfamiliar. "Odd." She commented to herself. She broke open the seal and began to read as follows:
Dear Miss Dawson,
I know that we personally have never met, but I run the Order of the Phoenix, a group of witches and wizards who are on a revolt against the rising of the Dark Lord, Lord Voldemort. Knowing your ancestors heritage, I would like to welcome you to a private meeting at a disclosed area which I will send later to you, to discuss the help we need from you. Please know that not only are you helping us, but were helping you.
Sincerely Yours,
a Friend
The letter was surely suspicious. What would they be helping her with? And what about the sudden uprising of the Dark Lord? She felt completely lost, and yet compelled to meet this 'friend.' "Well what do you think?" she questioned the bird, which responded with a delightful hoot.
Aurora laughed," Alright, if you insist. I will grab my cloak" The hooted once more, and as Aurora placed a small treat within her beak, she nibbled her finger and took off into the distance.
Finally the mission had been issued, and once a mission was given there was no turning back. There was a risk in turning away from it or carrying it out, and for a Death Eater you could die either way. Refusing to do the Dark Lord's bidding would ultimately result in your dismissal from mortality. Going along with the plans could have you killed just by the chance that you might meet someone with more power.
It didn't matter now. There was no turning back. Her hood up, Bellatrix Black-Lestrange entered Lafandian from the east, just as she'd been instructed, and this made her a bit anxious. Just knowing that if it were a life and death situation, she would be unable to Apparate to safety. This was the price you paid when you gave your services to the darkest wizard in history. Trailing behind a rather large group of men, from which Fenrir Greyback had managed to convert to the Dark Lord's side. Bellatrix had not expected the numerous men he'd gathered, and was quite impressed at his skills in recruiting more werewolves to their side.
"Move your men into the darkness. Hide yourselves well. You will come out when I instruct you to do so." She called to Fenrir. A smirk rose across his face and his gaunt like body walked closer to her giving a devilish stare. "And who in their right mine would instruct a lady like you to run a mission of this standard?"
Bellatrix laughed slightly and moved her wand to his throat, "Do you know how many people I have killed for even thinking something like that? Realize who I am wolf, and do your duty to follow, for if this messes up because an idiotic fool like yourself decides to get cocky and careless, then your death is going to be far more worse then coming from me." Fenrir glared for a moment then turned to join his pack. "Idiot." She called.
It was early morning in Lafandian, and all the people were out about the town doing their early shopping. All just socialized and giggled with joy as they assumed the day was going to be a very nice one. Very unfortunate for them, she thought. Bellatrix did not want to give their position or intentions away. She would not fail on this task. She would remain one of the Dark Lord's favorites. The group finally reached the cemetery, where they'd been ordered to station. Bellatrix peered around, looking for a signal. The Dark Lord had said he would use a signal to let her know when to attack. He'd assured her that it would be a large signal, and all she could do now was to wait.
Bellatrix leaned against a tombstone in the cemetery. Her little 'army' was quite well hidden. Their attack would be unexpected. A smirk creped across her pale visage as she waited. There would be victory any time now. Bellatrix continued to glance around through heavily-lidded chocolate brown eyes, waiting for something large, something noticeable that would allow her to let these werewolves loose.
Alas the snowy owl returned with another stating a time and location. "Wow, this soon?" Aurora questioned to herself. She had no idea who this letter was from, nor what she was getting herself into. Establishing the time and place, she placed her light blue cloak around her, lifting the hood up above her head, and started her way to the door. Once she left her house, she felt it suddenly wouldn't be the same. It was odd, but yet very stern. With a sigh she turned the knob and made her way to Diagon Alley.
The skies suddenly became darker then before, and the rain began to pour the hardest it had in months soaking Aurora's robe as she walked down the cobblestone streets of Diagon Alley. Clutching a soaken letter in her hands, Aurora made her way down the street, rain streaming her robes (lucky that her charm for deflecting water was semi working). She finally arrived the front doorstep of a pub labeled 'The Leaky Cauldron.'
She wasn't sure how the pub was going to be in the early morning hours, but she knew she needed to be here at this exact time of 10:30 to meet this specific someone, a friend of whom she did not know, but who would need her services.
Nervously she walked inside, shutting the door behind and drew her hood over her head to expose her long locks of wavy blonde hair, falling along at her side. It was quite busy, and to her dismay they weren't the best folk in town. But she needed to be here, whether she liked it or not. She walked over to a table quite secluded from all the other ones and sat down, making sure she didn't draw too much attention as she sat. Fidgeting with the soaked note in her hand, she anxiously looked around. Surely someone more suitable would have requested her appearance here, but as she kept her eye out more and more suspicious characters came into place.
Suddenly a man slammed into the outside of the pub door, as the wind picked up and the rain slashed against him. Tonight was definitely not a night to be out, but business was needed. He glanced over and eyed Aurora who stood up suddenly and began to breathe heavily. "No, no please sit. I'm sorry if I frightened you." he spoke calmly. Aurora suspiciously stood for a moment then took his word and sat back down trying to keep distance from each others seats. He could definitely tell that this was the right girl. Her long golden hair, bright green eyes. It was just as he was told many years ago. He grinned slightly and sat down across from her, "Hello, Miss Dawson I presume?" he asked as he held out his hand across the table," My name is Remus Lupin. I was the one who sent you that letter," he motioned with his eyes towards the letter that she clutched so tight. Remus Lupin, the name did sound familiar to Aurora's ears and she couldn't help notice all the scars on his face. He sure must have been through a lot, she thought to herself. She nodded," Yes, it is I..." and shook his hand giving the letter back to him," Yes I did, so, why exactly am I here? I mean... do you realize that I'm only seventeen and I live alone?" He merrily laughed," Yes I know very well who you are, not to frighten you. I do know where you reside, and who your family is Aurora Dawson, daughter of Oliver and Jasbeene at apartment building 12 A in London." He grinned slightly and went on..." Well, from the letter, it stated that we needed your help with our organization as to put it in simplest terms. I work for a group called the Order of the Phoenix who was once led by Albus Dumbledore until he passed on recently. Now we are regrouping followers to our side before the war begins." Aurora listened to all he had to say and was quite confused. She wasn't sure why exactly this man wanted her help in his organization. How could she honestly help him? She was practically a little teenager living on her own in London, whose past was quite distasteful to some people. Then he spoke of a war, and Aurora had to admit, she wasn't exactly up on the news when it came to the Ministry and their problems, but the thoughts of war had slipped her mind.
"War?" she spoke out not realizing she had said it. She placed her hand over her mouth and recovered," What I meant to say, was, how could someone like me help you. I mean, like I said...I'm only seventeen. I'm barely out of Hogwarts. I just don't think I would be of much help to your group," she commented and looked down towards the table. She just felt bad that she couldn't help him out, but how could she? But according to Remus, She didn't know how much she could benefit the Order, and perhaps she didn't know that much about her ancestry which wouldn't be too hard to explain. She was Jasbeene's daughter, and though she was also Oliver's, it was hard telling all that she had consumed throughout the years being raised by him.
He sighed, giving a small smile and raised an eyebrow," You can help us more then you know... let me ask you," he raised a hand for the bar maiden," two drinks please?" with a nod of the bar maid she filled up two bottles and brought them towards there way setting them down in front of the two," Thank you." he replied towards the woman and then took a small sip, warming up every inch of his body. Once he was satisfied he placed his cup down and looked back towards Aurora," What do you know about your mother?"
"Well, I know she was a...Erm...Pureblood," she replied uneasy. She couldn't just tell this man what kind of a pureblood she was. He would probably stop talking to her if he even knew that she herself was half of what her mother was. "She was the most beautiful creature ever created and she was wonderful in all aspects, kind, gentle, warm, everything you would want in a mother. She died when I was four, so I really don't remember much about her." Remus smiled slightly, "Well that is a quick overview you could say. But that is very typical for your father. He was ashamed of her for the longest time. You know... It's a wonder how he married her?" Aurora blankly looked back towards him. How was it he knew more about her family history than even she did? "Pardon, but I don't know where you're going with this." Remus laughed slightly and merrily nodded in response," I'm sure you are confused, and I apologized. Let me explain myself before you find me creepy. I knew your mother quiet well before you were born. She was in fact an amazing woman. She helped me a great deal when I needed aid. I am a werewolf you see, bitten before I can remember, and there was a time in my life, when my friend's weren't around when I needed guidance, and your ... darling mother helped me." He looked down at the table with a small smile of ease on his face.
"She was just," he shook his head and then looked back up towards her," Well, I'm sure you know. So when she became sick, I was quiet distraught with her death. She had sent me letter telling me of you, and what you were. Naturally I was sent to watch over you, and she told me of something else she carried that she needed to be watched when she was gone which now I believe you have." Aurora clutched her necklace with laid on her chest as he spoke of it. It was just all too unreal. He knew so much, and yet she still was afraid to show who she really was to him.
He drew breath and leaned back in his chair," So, basically, the Order needs your help in regrouping your fellow ancestors to our side against Voldemort." "I know you've never spoken with them, or that your not in touch with your, other self, but we really could use your help."
Aurora froze. She didn't even know she had ancestors, let alone would she want to get to know them. For as long as she could remember, she always thought of her being an 'elven' that she was cursed. It had seemed that way for years with her father, and now to embrace it like it was nothing to her was ridiculous. She looked up at him and shook her head. "I ... I don't think I could. I haven't spoken to any of them, nor do they probably know I exist. I ... I don't even embrace that part of my past. I never have. I just don't think I would be of much help, nor can I give you what I have. I'm just no help of you. I'm so sorry. "Remus sighed for a moment, and gave a slight nod. Suddenly an idea came to mind." Well my dear," he spoke as he grabbed his cloak from behind him," I can not ask any more from you. Only to think on this matter from which we have discussed, nor can I stay any longer." he then stood up placing his cloak around his arms and tugged it tightly around his body," The only thing I can tell you is that you could come with me, and have all of your questions answered. You are welcome there, and we will protect you. You could always go back home of course." Aurora frowned slightly. It was all too fast. Just too much. Should she go? Or should she stay. "Thank you." She replied.
He raised a curious eyebrow and bowed," Lovely meeting you Miss Dawson; I hope you find what you looking for." He then nodded and made his way to the door hoping slightly that she would change her mind. Time was in fact running out. Aurora sat quite still for a moment, thinking everything over. She did in fact have many questions to ask and she wasn't sure if she could help them, but oddly enough a certain feeling that had brought her there tonight told her yet again to stop the man and follow him.
She looked up and got out of her seat so fast that the table nearly turned and ran over to Mr. Lupin, grabbing onto his cloak." Okay... I've thought it through, and I've decided to go with you to answer my questions. But if this is some sick way of trying to kill me, god help me I will stop you," she threatened and retreated to her stance. Remus chuckled slightly and nodded, "Sure thing Miss, now let's go gather your things. There is one more place we need to stop before we head to the house."
"Where is that?" She asked curiously. They made their way outside the pub, and with the wind hammering she clutched tightly to his cloak. "Lafandian, I need to make sure someone is there guarding the village before I take you to Grimmaulds." Aurora looked up for a moment then just felt the need not to ask. All she knew was wherever she was going; it was definitely going to be an adventure for herself.
Home. That single thought protruded through Eric Delivario's mind as he trudged through the sodden ground. He was profoundly tired, and his mind was barely focused, yet somehow his feet were instinctively leading him to a place he wasn't sure he wanted to go. All of his life he was a Delivario. A son of a Pureblooded Slytherin. He hated it. He hated the whole concept his parents lived by. That they were the superior ones and anyone who disagreed with them had out to be disposed. He in fact became a Gryffindor as we succeed Hogwarts, and now on his own he found his own place in life. The side he chose was that of the Order, and that was where he was to head. He needed to help them. Suddenly his mind wandered to his sister.
Anya unfortunately was raised right along her mother's side, and contributed some of the Slytherin, anti-Semitic ideals. He could see her heart, but her parents blocked her thoughts from venturing out further and from there he could no longer help her.
After taking a brief respite through leaning on a shaky willow tree, Eric looked ahead. Concealed by darkness was the Lafandian cemetery. A relatively unraveled route, but still somewhat familiar to Eric. One of his good friends was buried there, but it had been many months since Eric had even entered the cemetery.
Yet a strange sensation washed over Eric; he was tired, and figured he would visit his friend. After all, the cemetery was something of a shortcut, leading right out into the main town, albeit a bit harder to navigate due to the hard-to-follow trails that adorned the entire place.
Using almost all strength that remained unchecked in his body, Eric thrusted himself over the fence of the cemetery. The entrance was somewhat far away, and Eric didn't feel the need to do any superfluous walking. Somewhat lethargically, Eric walked through the darkness of the cemetery, his only light a small glimmer that was getting dimmer by the moment.
Soon, the darkness enveloped Eric. Somewhat clumsily, Eric continued to trudge through until he heard something snap under his feet and made him fall down on the unpaved ground rather mercilessly. Eric supposed he could have withstood the small nuisance if he had more strength, but the smallest thing brought him down, quite literally.
Figuring it was a stray branch, but not wanting to take anymore chances, Eric thumbed around in his coat for his wand, which had a dragon heartstring. It had not failed him yet, and was always by his side.
"Lumos!" Eric muttered nonchalantly. He began to rise until he saw a grizzling wolf standing right over him. His mind raced; was this a regular wolf, or was it an Animagi? Continuing to panic, Eric fought off the wolf until he saw a woman. Although her appearance did not give it away, the posture in which she was standing was very commanding and Eric knew she was not with the wolves by mere circumstance.
While Eric continued to look at the woman, he paid no heed to the wolf beginning to naw its way into Eric's shin. It began bleeding incessantly fast, but the pain was dull to Eric. He knew, no matter the pain he must endure, that he must warn the city. The wolves, the mysterious lady, and all the other small coincidences meant only one thing. And that one thing was what he must warn Lafandian, the city which he cared so dearly for.
For Lafandian was under attack by Death Eaters, and Eric would make them become known, even if it cost him his life. "WEREWOLVES! IN THE VILLAGE! GET OUT OF HERE! NOW!"
Immediately, her arms fell to her sides. "What do you think you're doing?!" Bellatrix shouted at the werewolf who was gnawing at the man's leg. "Kill him! Kill him now!" Bellatrix knew not of the magnitude of this problem. She had no idea who their intruder was. She didn't even suspect such a thing. The Dark Lord had assured her that the Order would be preoccupied while they attacked. Still, she could not risk it. She could not fail her mission.
When her orders were not carried out by the wolf, Bellatrix growled in anger. She reached into the pocket of her robes and withdrew her wand, pointing it at the two. "I'll do it myself! Get out of the way!" she snapped as she trudged over to them, kicking the werewolf out of the way. Bellatrix's wand was raised in the air, awaiting her incantation when a sudden thought occurred to her. "Who are you?" she demanded coldly, pointing her wand at Eric, her eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I'm sorry," Eric grunted, continuing to look at his slightly gnawed leg, "I don't give my name freely."
Eric viewed the harsh intensity that lingered in the woman's eyes. He didn't know who she was, but she looked very serious when she spoke without the tiniest hint of remorse or gratitude. Then again, Eric thought, Death Eaters weren't exactly supposed to show much emotion, were they?
Eric had to think quickly, because he knew this woman was not going to let him off easy, if at all. A small part of his mind thought about mortally harming her, but that was wiped away with a shadow of doubt in his mind; doing so would just make him as bad as her.
Trying to postpone the imminent harm which was to come, Eric decided to begin a small conversation with the woman. Although it was more of a distraction than anything, he figured he may be able to extract some sort of information from her in any case.
"Why are you attacking Lafandian anyway?" Eric shouted, trying to pry the woman for any sort of information at all. Bellatrix smirked," Like I would tell you. This is the Dark Lord's place now." Bella took her wand and began to point it at Eric in a very threatening position. Normally Eric would not be the least bit afraid, but she was a woman was a Death Eater, and it would not be beyond her to cast Avada Kedavra or any other of the Unforgivable Curses.
His wand still clasped in his rather limp hand, Eric moved ever so slightly forward to discretely point it at the woman without her noticing. He waited for a brief moment, hoping a werewolf would distract the Death Eater, but knew that such an opportunity would probably not arise. For all Eric knew, every single one of the werewolves was an unregistered Animagi just waiting to transform to defend this woman.
But Eric couldn't take this lying down, quite literally. He mustered up all the excess breath he could manage, which was not much. With almost a second wind, he shouted at the woman in a deep, commanding voice.
"Avis!" Eric shouted loud. He continued chanting louder and louder until he could speak no more. A large contingent of doves were conjured from Eric's wand, and they began circling around the cemetery madly. It was a very surreal sight; the bright white hue of the doves almost drowning in the pitch black of the cemetery.
But the birds knew what to do almost instinctively. They circled the Death Eater and the small pack of wolves, attempting to create a diversion that would allow Eric to escape. But just as soon as they were conjured, they were being mauled by the werewolves and swatted by the woman.
One remaining dove soared throughout the dark Lafandian sky back to Eric. Without a moment's hesitation, Eric shouted at the bird. "Engorgio!" Eric shouted once more, this time aiming for the bird instead of the woman. The bird grew to a quite abnormal size, and it looked very out of place again.
Once again, almost as if the bird's mind was connected to Eric's, the dove flew over to the woman and began pecking at her face. This was the moment, and Eric knew it. The Death Eater was distracted, and could not give orders to her wolves in such a state.
It was very hard, but Eric used a nearby gravestone as support to push himself up. He then began limping towards the gates, hoping the dove would hold the Death Eater's attention. He stumbled closer and closer to the gate, but collapsed onto the ground just a few inches short of the locked black gate.
Eric knew he had failed. There was no way he could warn Lafandian, the town he held so dear. Soon, the Death Eater and her wolves would prowl the city, killing anyone in sight. And the sick part was that they would enjoy it, for that was the nature of the Death Eaters. They were students of fear, chaos, and death. They hated many of the principles which the human race was built on.
These thoughts swam through Eric's head, the very notion becoming increasingly hard to deal with. Eric wanted to help, he really did, but there was no way possible that he could. Especially now, Eric thought as he saw the woman destroy the enlarged bird off her face.
Just as the walls seemed to close in on him, Eric's mind fabricated a small idea. It was risky, and would probably cost him his life. He didn't want to, but had to do it for Lafandian. He valued the city more than he did his own life, for it was his home. The only home he had ever known. Without a shadow of a doubt, he pointed his wand towards himself. He had no doubts and no remorse towards what he was about to do.
Bellatrix's eyes narrowed dangerously as she watched the man before her. This man could ruin everything. Bellatrix wasn't about to let this happen, not without a battle anyways. If she died in her fight to fulfill her mission, it'd be much better than the punishment from her master that would surely be awaiting her.
"You've got a lot of nerve," she hissed, keeping her wand steadily pointed at Eric. She didn't know what to expect from this man. He was quite brave for a citizen only. He seemed too over-confident. 'Has to be from the Order,' Bellatrix thought, although she had been assured by the Dark Lord that no Order members would interfere.
Bellatrix eyed Eric carefully. She didn't bother with Legilimens. If he was from the Order, he'd be trained in Occlumency. She watched him suspiciously for a long time, saying nothing at all. She ignored his question. It wasn't his place to ask about her missions. Did he seriously expect her to enlighten him? If he did, he was quite thick. Bellatrix protected her face as she shouted for the werewolves to go after the man. They seemed too dumbfounded to move an inch. Bellatrix pointed her wand at the dove, casting an inaudible spell. The dove was immediately destroyed and nothing drew her attention away from the man escaping, who had begun to shout warning to the people of Lafandian. Cursing under her breath, Bellatrix turned to her werewolf group. "ATTACK LAFANDIAN. NOW!" she yelled angrily. Her master would be angry with her for not waiting for the signal, but there was nothing she could do. Soon the whole town would know of their attack. Once the werewolves had hurried off in separate directions to terrorize the town, Bellatrix turned on her heel to apprehend Eric.
Remus and Aurora both made their way through the village of lafandian just after collecting all of her belongings. Aurora wasn't exactly sure as to what was going to happen to her now, but for the first time ever in her life she seemed at ease and safe walking along Remus. The rain still streamed the streets, and suddenly a slight darkness drifted over them in the skies. "Remus?" she questioned. Remus looked up from his stare towards the ground, "Oh yes?" Suddenly her stomach became very sick and she wasn't sure as to how to react. Her stomach only acted when something bad was about to happen.
"I don't know, I just don't feel right. It's like… it's like something is wrong. I don't know." "What do you mean?" he asked and right when the question was brought up Eric trudged through the streets with blood streaming from his leg. "Please… help them!" he yelled in exasperation. He fell to the ground once more leaving his stance and completely blacked out. Remus ran as fast as he could with Aurora behind him and lifted his head up to bring the blood flow.
"Aurora I need you to take him to Grimmaulds." "What?" she yelped. She had no idea where Grimmaulds was let alone she didn't know anyone. "Remus… I can't."
"Aurora please. Take him I need to go." And with a small acknowledgement he ran as fast as he could. Aurora sighed with worry as she clutched his cape. "Wait, who are you?" he asked her. With a small smile of encouragement she replied," Don't worry about it. Just close your eyes and I will take you to a place where you can get some help okay?" He nodded slowly, fading into the abyss, and Aurora pictured a place called Grimmaulds. Somewhere close. Somewhere safe.