3. Come to Order
Sirius Black ran a hand through the shaggy hair that was as black as his name absently as he observed the room. Remus sat almost unnoticed in the corner, his luminous amber eyes the only that gave him away.
McGonagall sat with a straight back and her hands placed primly on the ornately carved oak table, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Snape sat next to her, a sneer firmly in place as he sent disdainful stares at the room at large.
A seat down from him was Lily, who was the only one exempted from the stares. Her red hair tumbled down from her head in natural perfection and her deep, emerald eyes had a deep sadness contained within them.
Holding her delicate hand was James Potter. His skin was tanned fold over muscles built up from years of being an auror, constantly black just-got-out-of-bed hair remained eternally messy, the same glasses sat upon the bridge of his nose. But his eyes, too, conveyed that something was missing in his life. His hazel eyes had lost the mischievous sparkle that had always been there, it had disappeared with his daughter.
On the other side of the table, Kingsley played with a butter knife distractedly, his bald head shining slightly in the dim light of the dining room. He was clad in midnight blue robes, which complimented his dark skin. He was broad and intimidating, with honed muscles and an earring in his left ear.
Next to him were four red heads. Arthur Weasley was first, a middle aged balding man with kind blue eyes, hidden slightly behind cheap rectangular frames.
On his right was his wife, Molly. Her red hair was lighter than Lily's, whose hair was closer to auburn. She exuded a motherly attitude, was short and dumpy and possessed chestnut eyes.
Then was William "Bill" Weasley, the eldest of her six sons. He had his own red hair pulled back into a ponytail and a fang hung from his ear which his mother occasionally glanced disapprovingly at. He leant back easily in his chair, the picture of confidence.
Charles "Charlie" Weasley observed him with amusement as he crossed his toned arms, covered in small scars and burn marks from his years of handling dragons. He had his father's eyes and his mother's hair which she had taken scissors to the moment she could pin him down.
Down at one of the heads of the table was a man in a large trench coat, blonde hair and a nose that looked like it had been half chewed off. His most noticeable features, however, were the wooden leg the he had propped up onto the table as if to showcase it craftsmanship ("made it myself in the middle of the Amazon chasing a slippery bastard," he had grunted proudly years ago. "He thought that if he blew my leg off I would stop chasing him, the idiot") and the glass eye that spun wildly in its socket which he had been named after. He was a warrior in every sense of the word.
At the other end of the table was the man who was clearly the leader. He had twinkling blue eyes that seemed to look right through you, a long silvery beard and navy robes decorated with purple swimming fish as he finally finished eating his lemon drop casually.
This was Albus Dumbledore, leader of the light and despite his description, not someone to be trifled with. The air around him cracked with withheld energy from his magical core. This was the defeater of a dark lord, and he was determined to help bring down the second one.
They were the core members of the Order; the heavy hitters who told everyone else what to do because Merlin knew that the Ministry was not up to anything more than tripping over its own high polished shoes and working on long winded speeches that talked about all the good they did than actually going and doing it.
"Lily," Dumbledore said in his kindly voice as Lily's sad eyes rose to meet with his. "What have your contacts told you about the Hall of Prophecy?"
"Not much, it is hard to uncover too much information about it. The unspeakables are rather secretive."
"Imagine that," Sirius mumbled under his breath and Lily flashed him a death glare quickly before looking back to Dumbledore.
"It's the safety measures we have to worry about. If anyone but a person that the prophecy is about tries to remove it from the shelves then they will go insane. It's purely down to their strength of mind if they ever regain their sanity." Everyone went silent. Dumbledore sighed, leaning forward and interlocking his fingers.
"I see."
"Well how do we get the bloody thing then?" demanded Mad-Eye. "We need a plan to get in, we need a distraction to get in, we need to figure out how to actually find it and if we do all that then we can't actually take the Merlin damned thing!"
"There are always loopholes in wizarding law," Remus said drily. "I dare say we will only need time to find them."
James nodded. "Moony is right. They were built in on purpose. How do you think the purebloods always skip in circles around the law?"
"I suppose you would know, Potter," Snape scowled at him. James rolled his eyes.
"School isn't the real world, Snape. Besides, its politics." Snape opened his mouth angrily but McGonagall over rode him quickly.
"What I want to know, Albus, is what exactly you are expecting to hear from this fabled prophecy we have heard so much about!" Everyone leaned forward, turning to Dumbledore expectantly. The silver haired wizard's eyes twinkled.
"The future," he said simply. Minerva's eyes narrowed dangerously and he quickly continued.
"Fifteen years ago, two prophecies were made concerning Lord Voldemort." Nobody flinched at the name, a rarity in the wizarding community. Molly did pale quite rapidly, however. Lily's shoulders slumped forward at the mention of that prophecy before becoming alert again.
"Did you say two?" she questioned and Dumbledore nodded.
"Both of the prophecies pertained to the same two people."
"But aren't they void then?" asked Kingsley, sending an apologetic look towards the Potter's.
"She's not dead," snapped James and Lily nodded vigorously, nestling under the arm he placed around her. Snape looked sick.
"That remains to be seen," said Dumbledore gently, "though the prophecy we haven't heard may give us a hint to her location." Lily's eyes flared with hope and determination, which stamped out the broken hopelessness that used to exist there.
"Are you saying that there is another prophecy that details a way to defeat Voldemort?" asked Bill.
"It may," replied Dumbledore.
"Well what are we waiting for?" snapped Lily. "We need to find floor plans for the DoM and the Ministry and search for loop holes to actually get the prophecy," she babbled while the Marauders exchanged a look before smiling.
After fourteen years of glimpses of who she used to be, Lily was back.
Bellatrix Lestrange sat up primly in her straight backed chair. Only the seven members of the inner circle were here for this meeting: Rudolphus, Rabastan, Dolohov, Greyback, Malfoy and Mulciber. Their Lord sat at the head of the meeting, as aristocratic as usual.
If Bellatrix had been loyal fifteen years ago, it had increased tenfold after being gifted with her daughter whom, according to the Lestrange's (and all the houses) there could be no child more perfect.
"My contacts have told me that the Order is asking about the Department of Mysteries, they are after the prophecy, my Lord," Malfoy said graciously.
Stuck up prick of a brother-in-law he may be, but you had to admit there were five things that Lucius Malfoy was a genius at: politics, money, style; being a ponce and spying.
He was quite a useful ally. He also had very good tips on how to keep your hair in the exact style you want to keep it in.
Their Lord placed his arms on the desk. "We'll just have to spin that to our advantage, but to do it they will need to follow our plan."
Dolohov nodded in agreement. "I could slip information to the right people in order for it to travel back to them. I would need to do it over a few months with some less relevant information so it isn't suspicious, though."
"Do we want them to get the prophecy, though?" voiced Mulciber. "Or do we want to draw them out and over extend them so we can give them a few losses when they least expect it?"
"I vote the second one," said Rabastan. "Don't forget in the months that they are planning their 'surprise' theft they will be using all their resources on that, and won't have much time to do much else."
"The advantage would be ours," murmured Rudolphus.
"As long as there is a fight at the end, I'm in," Greyback proclaimed with a grin, showcasing his pointed teeth, yellow eyes glowing in the dark. "But if they're going to be traipsing through the Department of Mysteries, I say we leave a few surprises for them."
"Traps, you mean," pointed out Mulciber.
"As long as it's within the general… them of the Department, then I see nothing against it," their Lord said.
"Like the one with time sand," suggested Rudolphus helpfully.
"And flying brains," Rabastan said gleefully as everyone turned to stare at him incredulously. "What?" he said defensively.
"Yes, like that," Voldemort, the first one to regain his composure, said. "Though I do suggest that Rabastan seek psychiatric help."
"I did, but then he had to see a psychiatrist, too."
Hi everyone, there's chapter three done.
Thanks to everyone who favourited, followed and reviewed and a shout out to Riku Yamamoto who suggested a new fanfic for me to read.
I finished it already so if anyone else has a favourite please leave it in a review or message me!
No Persephone this chapter, but she will be in the next one.
Anything Snape/Lily will be purely one sided on Snape's part and won't have a major part in the story.
You might have noticed there is a bit of Malfoy bashing. I actually like the Malfoy's but most people in the books don't have a high opinion of them, so that will be affected.
Everyone, add me on Pottermore! Ghostdawn258
Thank you all so much for reading :)
Electra2Pandora