The Order
Hermione fidgeted a little in her seat in front of Lily's vanity. Watching yourself change into some unrecognizable person was weird, she'd never understand how Tonks did it. Lily had smoothed her riotous curls into waves that hung around her face, changing the colour from honey brown to black. She made her eyes greener and wider, lengthened her nose, and broadened her lips. "Okay so what is your name?" Lily asked.
"Sarah Connor," Hermione worked to keep her accent to a bare minimum. In a little homage to Ron, she chose to pretend to be an American sympathizer and possible international contact that was sitting in on the meeting.
"And who are you Sarah?" Lily quizzed.
"I'm twenty-five, half-blood, no siblings, and studying to be a Healer in America."
"Good," Lily approved. "Do not deviate from the script, the boys and I will jump in as often as possible but keep your answers short and sweet. They're good people; they'll want to talk and socialize with you and be friendly. Just don't get too carried away."
"Got it," Hermione nodded. She rose from her seat to give Lily the full view of her. "How do I look?"
"Unrecognizable, it's perfect," Lily declared.
"Then let's go." The women joined the men downstairs and apparated to the Prewett house (Harry was being watched by a friend of Lily's). It was located in the outskirts of a muggle town and was quite unassuming. Hermione could only guess that its rather ordinary appearance made it ideal for holding the meeting. However when they got inside, there no mistaking that this was a wizarding house. Dishes did themselves, broomsticks against the walls, the Gryffindor pennant over the mantle. It had a distinctly Burrow-ish feel, with its vibrant colours and warm atmosphere. The meeting was to be held in the dining room and they found Dumbledore already seated at the head of the table. McGonagall sat on his right and a much younger Elphias Doge on his left. Aberforth sat next to Elphias and Hagrid next to him. Remus sat next to McGonagall, followed by James, then Lily. Next to Lily were whom Hermione could only assume were the Prewett twins, Gideon and Fabian. She recognized Emmeline Vance easily enough but didn't know who was seated at the end of the table. Dedalus Diggle was at the end of the other side and then there was another woman she didn't know, Sirius, and she, Hermione, saw between him and Hagrid. Other than the Marauders, the Professors, and Lily, the Order kept shooting her questioning glances and she didn't need to act nervous under their scrutiny. Finally Dumbledore called the meeting to Order.
"Is this all we can expect for tonight?" Dumbledore asked the room.
"Probably," said the man at the opposite end of the table. "All the Aurors got called away on assignments, Benji is still in St. Mungo's, the Bones family are still trying to find a secure hiding place, and Meadowes is sick."
"Thank you Caradoc," Albus nodded. "For those of you who are present I'd like to you introduce to Ms…"
"Sarah Conner," Hermione filled in politely.
"Ah yes Ms. Connor," Albus smiled. "As you know we are trying to establish contacts abroad and Ms. Connor is an American sympathizer who has expressed the desire to help join our efforts. I hope that you will make her feel welcome."
"Pleasure to meet you Sarah," the twin immediately to the right of Lily greeted. "I'm Gideon."
"And I'm Fabian," the other one next to him waved. "Or wait, are you Fabian and I'm Gideon?"
"Can't be," the first disagreed. "I'm the one with the odd scar on his face."
"That's just your mouth when you smile mate," the second said dismissively.
"OI! That's proof your Fabian, Gideon is a lot nicer," the first one winked at Hermione, "and a lot more charming."
"Yeah only Gideon would try to chat up a witch at an Order meeting," the second quipped before also turning to Hermione. "So, how long are you staying in London? I know a great restaurant that serves -"
"See this is why mum wanted to invest in those permanent name tags. You're confusing the poor thing!" the first one accused.
"NO YOU ARE!"
"YOU ARE!"
"YOU ARE!"
"ENOUGH!" Lily interrupted laughing. The entire table was chuckling at the twins' antics, probably far too used to them to bother trying to stop it. "You both confusing her. Sarah this idiot is Gideon," she punched the one next to her, "and this one is Fabian," she reached around Gideon to smack Fabian's head. "You've met all of us so that's Emmeline, Caradoc, Dedalus, Marlene – you know Sirius – Hagrid, Professor Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, and finally Elphias."
"It's nice to meet you," Hermione said pleasantly and the table hummed amiably.
"Wait you know Sirius already?" Gideon groaned, "Mate can't you leave some of them for us?"
"Not like that you prat," Sirius barked a laugh.
"On to the matters at hand," Albus interrupted their banter. "Caradoc, how goes things in the Auror department?"
"Not well," Caradoc informed the group. "I can confirm at least five new Death Eaters and about another dozen supporters. The public is also becoming very unhelpful; they don't trust anyone, not even the Aurors. People are mainly keeping to themselves and pretending to not know anything even when it's clear they do."
"You can't blame them," Marlene put in. "Voldemort is getting more and more brazen with each passing day. It'd be impossible to not notice how quickly any of our allies disappear and with very little explanation. It's not like we can afford them any protection."
"Speaking of protection Dedalus," Lily asked, "any word from Arabella on that network of safe houses we discussed last time?"
Diggle shook his head, "She told me she was speaking to muggle realtors but there a very few suitable dwellings that we could convert. They're either too isolated or too close to the muggle population. Then there's the matter of actually buying the property and making sure the Death Eaters don't find out about it."
"Why not build something underground like the – your Ministry?" Hermione inquired.
"Because that would mean you'd need magic to escape and you can't always count on that, it works both ways," Emmeline explained. "Sure we can Apparate but what if they cast an Anti-Apparition ward on the place? Then there's Floo but with the ministry as shaky as it is, you don't know if they could block your Floo access or what if you can't get to the fire to use Floo in the first place? Plus you can't just leave Portkeys lying around."
"What about abroad?" Sirius put forward.
"It's possible but you also run the chance of drawing the Death Eaters out into other countries," Lily pointed out.
"Sorry I'm late." Hermione's stomach flew up to lodge in her throat and her original companions all became very tense. They had forgotten to factor in the rat! Peter Pettigrew sidled into the dining room and Hermione forgot all about the time travel and her disguise and was sure Pettigrew would recognize her somehow. The last time she'd seen him was at Malfoy Manor, watching calmly as Bellatrix tortured her mercilessly. Under the table, Sirius grabbed her hand to stop the shaking and judging by looks they exchanged, Lily was doing the same thing for James.
"Stay calm," he murmured lowly.
"I'm okay," she whispered back. No one noticed the exchange as they had turned to greet the new arrival. He was settling into the space between Emmeline and Caradoc, thankfully away from his friends whose nerves were more than little stressed by just having him around.
"It's alright Mr. Pettigrew, make yourself comfortable," Dumbledore's demeanor hadn't changed at all except he sat up a bit straighter.
Pettigrew sat down and immediately spotted Hermione, "Um Professor? Who is -"
"Oh dear me, I forgot to mention," six people at that table knew the Headmaster hadn't forgotten a thing, "this is Sarah Connor. Our new American friend."
"Hello," Hermione said as kindly as she could. The rat said nothing but bobbed his head and smiled a bit.
"Had trouble finding the place Pete?" Sirius attempted to joke.
"No it was muggles, hard to find an apparition spot. I think there's some kind of sports thing happening, feetball was it?"
"Football," Hermione supplied. "Americans call it soccer."
"You're a muggleborn?" Caradoc queried.
Typically Hermione hated lying about her blood status but there was always an exception. "Half-blood actually."
"So what do you do?" Marlene peered around Sirius to see her.
"I'm studying to be Healer back home," Hermione lied convincingly.
"We could always use more of those," Hagrid said gruffly. "Ruddy Death Eaters are making it too hard to go to St. Mungo's anymore. Poor Benjy probably has to sleep with one eye open."
"What happened to him?" Hermione frowned.
"Took a nasty hex last time we fought the Death Eaters out in Kent," James told her. "And it only makes things worse for a person's recovery if they're constantly worried about a Death Eater showing up to murder them or if they have to wonder if the medicine they're being given is actually poisoned."
An idea came to Hermione, "Can't you establish a transport system to send the wounded out of the country?"
"Comes back to the same argument as before, the Death Eaters would know and would follow," Lily reminded her.
"What if you take them to St. Mungo's and then somehow get them out from there? You could use a Vanishing Cabinet, that wouldn't aggravate a wounded person. Then you could send them to another hospital away from all the fighting."
"The girl's got a point," Aberforth spoke for the first time. "The only problem with a Vanishing Cabinet is that anyone could easily follow. There's only one place you can come out with those."
"You could always expand the power of the Cabinet to include several destinations. Have one master cabinet that is set to link to a number of different others," Hermione said reasonably.
"Sounds good in theory but the magic involved would be highly complex," McGonagall added. "The properties of the Vanishing Spell can become unstable if tampered with too much."
"A good idea nonetheless," Dumbledore interjected. "Minerva I trust you to look into the matter, there is some merit to having such a thing at our disposal. This is no time to be tentative."
"Of course," McGonagall nodded.
"As for another attack," Dumbledore continued gravely. "Aberforth have you heard anything being passed around?"
"Nothing Albus,"Aberforth shook his head. "The Death Eaters seem to be more relaxed these days. Although I noticed that some of my regulars go missing for a couple days then reappear but others would leave too."
"Sounds like they are going on missions," Remus shrugged.
"Which is worse because it doesn't present us any target," Marlene chipped in. "They could be doing anything and we can't do a thing about it."
"Isn't there anything we can do?" Pettigrew whimpered and the Marauders stiffened.
"Well," James couldn't hold back the acerbic tone. "It's not like any of us are Death Eaters and know what they're doing. Got any suggestions Pete?"
The other Order members regarded James oddly and it was clear that the Marauders' composure was cracking. Suddenly there was burst of flame from overhead and a feather floated down in front of Dumbledore. "It's Fawkes's warning; there must be some matter at the school that needs my attention." The Headmaster stood up quickly, "If there is nothing else to be said, I think we should adjourn until next week." As strange as this turn of events was, no one could contradict Dumbledore so everyone got up to leave. James pushed away from the table, barely concealing his frustration.
"Is James okay Lily?" the rat asked.
Lily steeled herself, "He's fine Wormy, just stressed."
"I feel his pain," Marlene sympathized while stretching, "it's like nothing can go our way."
"We'll get there in the end Marl," Lily smiled. "Um Sarah? Ready to go?"
"Yes," Hermione was more than eager to get out of there although she was a bit disappointed that she hadn't been able to help.
"You're staying with Lily and James?" Pettigrew addressed Hermione.
"Yes," Hermione bobbed her head. "But I have to head home soon." For some reason, hers and Sirius's met at that statement and they could officially add misery to their mix of emotions.
"Well it was nice meeting you," Pettigrew stuck out his hand and Hermione had to calm herself before taking it. Thankfully the other Order members also came up to shake hands as well, thanking her for her advice and welcoming her to the Order.
"No matter what people say," Caradoc told her, "You're on the right team."
"Thank you Caradoc," Hermione smiled warmly. She joined Lily and the Marauders – minus Peter – and apparated back to Godric's Hollow. Lily's friend had already put Harry to sleep and left almost immediately after they arrived. No one had it in them to say anything so they wordlessly went to bed, desperate for the peace that only sleep could bring.
~*TIT*~
Elsewhere Peter Pettigrew was kneeling on the cold ground, daring only to stare at the robes of the wearer. "My lord, the Order has had another recruit."
"Who is it?" a cold voice asked sending shivers down the rat's spine.
"S-Sa-Sarah Co-Connor, she's an American Healer," he stuttered to the robes.
"An American? So that old fool really is intent on establishing outside aid. Does it look like she'll be of use to the Order?"
"She suggested ways to get the injured out of the country but nothing else," Pettigrew reported.
"So yes. Hmm, she will have to be eliminated, what of her blood?"
"Half-blood my lord."
"Pity, such a waste of magical blood," the voice held no remorse. "Where is she now?"
"In Godric's Hollow."
"Bellatrix my dear," the voice called to a figure in the shadows. "Take a couple of friends and take care of this nuisance. Perhaps this will discourage any other foreigners from sticking their noses into Lord Voldemort's business. Good work Wormtail, you will continue as you were."
"Yes my lord," his followers chanted.
A/N: Yikes, I gave myself the creeps with that last scene. Let me know you think, REVIEWS PLEASE!