Khyana hurriedly tucked the paper into the pocket of her too-short robes and left the Ministry. It was raining when she got outside, and she shivered. Rain was a bad omen for those on Order assignments tonight.
She quickly spun on the spot, deciding in a split second where she was going to go first. She needed to find her fiancé.
When she reached the house, the light was on in the front room. Finally, something she could hold onto, some hope.
She pounded on the door, and Sirius answered it quickly.
"Yana, hey!" Sirius smiled, then noticed her face. "What's wrong?" he asked quickly.
Khyana shouldered past him into the house to get out of the rain.
"Khyana, what's wrong?" Sirius asked again, more forcibly, as he closed the door.
"Are you okay?"
"I-wha…yeah, I'm fine. Why?"
"If you're okay, I need you to come with me. I have to find everyone else who was on Order assignments tonight."
Sirius looked completely baffled. "Why?"
Khyana pulled out the piece of parchment from her pocket and handed it to him. He accepted it, giving her a strange look, then glancing down to read it quickly. His lips pursed.
"Let's go."
The two tracked down all their friends who had been on Order assignments safely, and gathered back at Sirius' place for a discussion.
"Shouldn't this be discussed at an Order meeting?" James asked.
Sirius shook his head. "Khyana's not in the Order anymore, remember? And she's the one who discovered this, so we need to include her."
Hestia Jones pursed her lips. "I think Dumbledore should be here."
"Hang on a sec," Remus said, looking around. "Where's Kelria?"
Khyana blanched. How could she have forgotten about Kelria?
"Just stay here a second, I'll be back," Khyana whispered, and spun on the spot to Kelria's. All the windows in her friend's house were black.
She walked up to the door and pounded loudly. "KELRIA!"
There was not reply.
"KELRIA!" she screamed again, getting extremely worried.
She pounded on the door with both her fists until strong arms caught her from behind. She struggled, but the person behind her was stronger.
"Relax, Khyana, I'm not going to hurt you," Remus said, sounding grim. "She's not here, is she?"
Khyana allowed her best friend's fiancé and fiancé's best friend to hold her tightly until her shaking subsided.
"You scared me, Remus. I thought you were a Death Eater."
Remus nodded. "I'm sorry, I didn't know. What was that letter about that got you all fired up with worry? Sirius is probably telling everyone else right now. He wanted to come with me, but I convinced him that someone needed to stay with the others and explain. You're auror number 81, after all. You can look after yourself."
Khyana smiled briefly. "I got the letter back in April. Maybe I should explain all this to Sirius. He deserves to hear it, too."
Remus nodded. "Let's go back, then. We can look for Kel later. Maybe she's just not back from her assignment yet."
"Maybe," Khyana agreed doubtfully.
The two spun on the spot back to Sirius', where the group of remaining Order members looked grim.
"She wasn't there?" Sirius asked, worried.
Khyana shook her head, then went to stand beside Sirius.
"I suppose you're all wondering why it is you're here," she began.
Everyone nodded and gave her their full attention. She took a deep breath and began her story at the beginning.
"Back in April, I walked into work one day and there was a letter lying on my desk. It was from a person in the Ministry whom I had frequently used as an informant in the past, saying that they had some information for me." She turned to Sirius. "I should have told you this a long time ago, and James has been threatening to tell you for almost a year, but I thought you might overreact. The informant in the Ministry that I've been using, he does research for the auror department, and a lot of different aurors use his information. He's just an informant."
"Who?"
"Cam."
Sirius gaped. "Cam Jones?"
Khyana nodded. "He's just an informant, Sirius."
"And a Death Eater, Khyana!"
Everyone in the room gasped, and Khyana turned to them, nodding.
"You see this piece of paper Sirius is holding? It was given to me in April by a man Cam often uses as an informant. When I asked him what it was, he told me it was "just a suspicion"." She grabbed the paper from Sirius and held it up to read. "It says, 'Beware Cam Jones and Laura Masters. They are suspected of Death Eater activity. Be careful on July 5th'." Khyana shot a glance at Remus, who looked stunned. "Laura and Cam both work in the ministry, in different departments that do research of Death Eater activity. They're perfectly placed. Voldemort is not stupid."
"Is that why you were so worried tonight?" James asked. "Today's the 5th."
"Well, technically, today is the 6th, since it's like 5 am…"
Everyone shot Sirius contemptuous looks.
"What?"
"We don't care about technicalities, Sirius," Khyana said quietly. "The point is, Kelria went on an Order assignment on the 5th and she's not back yet. and if she's really missing, it's my fault."
"No, it's not," Remus said firmly.
"Yes, it is," Khyana countered, turning and glaring at him. "I didn't find the note in time. It's my fault."
Remus shook his head, exasperated. "I give up."
"Good."
Kelria woke with a start. She had had another dream, but this one was not about Khyana…it was about herself. She had been kidnapped by Death Eaters (who knew Cam Jones was a Death Eater anyway??), and taken to a castle somewhere deep in a forest in northern Scotland. She had been thrown in a dungeon and…hang on.
She sat bolt upright, looking around at the stone walls and stone floor. This was not her house…
"It wasn't a dream," she whispered, standing. "I've really been kidnapped."
"Very good, Miss Song."
Kelria spun around. "You."
Lucius chuckled. "Me. Who were you expecting?"
Kelria shrugged. "I don't know."
"Well, I'm here. And I have total control over what happens to you, Miss Song. So you better keep me happy."
Kelria sniggered. "Whatever, Malfoy."
Lucius paled further in his rage. "You listen here and you listen well, girl. You do what I say and answer all my questions, and maybe we'll let you go."
Kelria burst out laughing. "Whatever, Malfoy! You wouldn't let me go. Your life depends on it! If you let me go, your master would kill you. He's already right pissed at you for not killing Khyana before now. You won't let me go."
Lucius didn't deny it, and Kelria smirked. "I knew it. You're so predictable, Malfoy."
Lucius hit her across the face, and she fell to the floor again, knocked out cold.
Khyana was becoming frantic. The group had alerted Dumbledore to Kelria's absence, but he had so far been unable to do anything. He had allowed Khyana to help because she felt responsible, even though she wasn't a member of the Order.
A search effort had been organised, but so far nothing had been turned up, and Khyana was getting frantic. Only Sirius and Remus' comments about Kelria being able to look out for herself kept her from leaving them and going to search herself. The best plan she had at the moment was to get a dream later on about Kelria's whereabouts, but she wasn't counting on it. Sara didn't take demands.
A/N: I know, they've been short lately...I'm sorry, but I run out of ideas quickly.