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Chapter 9

To Light a Candle

Lisa dropped to her knees, breathing heavily.

"You okay?" Dorcas said, helping her to her feet. "Should we take a break?"

Lisa nodded weakly, and her friend helped her to the bed of the small hotel room.

Dorcas took a bottle of Appletiser and pointed her wand at the cap, popping it open. "Here," she said, giving it to Lisa, who was wiping the sweat from her brow.

"This Occlumency thing is harder than I thought it would be," the blonde girl said, taking a sip.

Dorcas plopped down next to her. "You're getting better. Your subconscious seems to lock up automatically whenever I try to prod your Lupin memories. If you can redirect that energy towards the Sword information, we'd be all set."

"Easier said than done," Lisa grumbled.

Dorcas shifted her gaze to her. "Hey, listen... Mulciber sort of said something last week..."

Lisa's heart dropped. "Yeah... I was there. Lily and I were on a mission at the Manor."

Dorcas' piercing blue eyes were burning a hole in her head, but she didn't look up.

"So... you're not denying it then? It really happened?" Lisa was quiet, which was all the confirmation Dorcas needed. "How far did he get?" the brunette asked, a clear threat laced in her voice.

"Before you overreact, her me out!" Lisa said, clutching at her friend's wrist. "It was months ago, and I'm... I'm over it."

"You don't sound over it," Dorcas growled.

"This isn't worth blowing your cover!" Lisa insisted. "Listen. He didn't get... too far. Okay? I came out almost unscathed—"

"Almost!?"

"That doesn't matter now! It's in the past, what's done is done! You can't do anything to him; they'll find you out, and if they do, you can't spy on them and a lot of innocent people may die. Please, Cass. I'm not after revenge, and you shouldn't be either."

Dorcas looked at her silently for a few minutes. "Does Lupin know?"

"Of course not!" Lisa exclaimed, which only caused her friend to give her a glare. "I don't want him reacting the way that you are. I don't need to be protected, and I don't need to be avenged. It doesn't matter now—"

"Yes, it does!" Dorcas snapped. "Do you even have an idea of what he's planning on doing to you? You didn't just go down without a fight like the hundreds of muggle-borns he's tortured, and he likes that. He goes down into the cells, and he does unspeakable things to those poor women, and it's not just him. Evan says they're like children playing with their food. They keep me away from it, because it's 'not fit for the eyes of a lady', but I know what they do down there. The screams, they... carry." Dorcas looked down at her lap, and her hands shook.

Lisa reached over and held them in hers. "Oh, Cass..."

"I don't care about missions and consequences," Dorcas said, meeting her gaze determinately. "If he catches you, I'm blowing this. I won't let you end up like those women."

Lisa drew her friend into a hug. "It'll be alright," she said. "I won't let him catch me. I promise."

"You better not," Dorcas muttered in her shoulder. "Because if he does, I'm coming after you."

oOo

Remus and Lisa materialized on the outskirts of a sleepy muggle village. Everything looked peaceful. There were no cars or even voices of quarreling muggles, and the streets were empty.

Remus gripped his wand tightly, and the two of them cautiously walked down the brown road that was supposed to lead them to the house the Prewitt brothers were supposed to look into last night. They never reported back.

"Do you think they found something?" Lisa asked quietly.

"We won't know until we check it out," he replied, keeping his eyes on the road.

Lisa nodded, but there was a heavy ball in her stomach that she just shouldn't shake. Death Eaters seemed to be in the habit of doing things in packs. Almost every single time the members of the Order had encountered them, they were outnumbered three to one. It was a good thing most of the Order were above-average duelists, or there would have been a lot of casualties.

As the couple neared the tall, derelict manor, Remus tried a few detection charms.

"It seems empty," he said. "Though I wouldn't be surprised if they've placed some sort of protective jinx around it."

Wound up like springs, the two of them walked up the path and entered cautiously. The house looked completely normal on the inside – a spacious den with various furniture covered by white sheets, a tapestry-covered hallway depicting hunting scenes, a polished hardwood floor.

"What is it?" Lisa said, seeing the frown on Remus' face.

"No dust," he replied shortly.

Lisa's eyes darted around the room. The floor, the mantelpiece, even the picture frames were all clean, despite the supposedly abandoned status of the building. "Why bother to clean a house no one lives in?" she whispered.

Remus' sharp gaze continued to scan every inch of the place. "Footprints. Traces are easily left in dust."

Then his head suddenly perked up, and he grabbed her wrist, pulling her behind the couch. After waiting with bated breath for a few minutes, Lisa heard muffled voices from somewhere down below, and footsteps ascending a staircase close by. Then a door in the hallway opened.

"I need to get to the office," a strange male voice said. "I think we've gotten all we're going to out of the prisoners... Get rid of them."

Lisa and Remus exchanged worried glances. Then, without even the slightest warning, the couch launched into the air, spinning around its axis. A hail of curses followed it, and Lisa had to conjure her silver shield to protect them. After a few thumps against it, however, even it fell apart, and the two Order members shot up, trying to fight back their attackers. With every deflected spell and uttered counter-curse, Remus and Lisa were forced to retreat further and further back, until their knees hit the edge of a coffee table. The onslaught of hexes finally ceased, and they were able to take a look at their attackers. Three men neither of them had ever met, Rabastan Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, Travers and... Mulciber.

"Ah, Fawley. I've been hoping to run into you," Mulciber said, a sick smirk twisting his features. "And you've brought your beast, I see. Unfortunately, three is company for what I have planned for you. Avada Kedavra!"

Lisa reacted by instinct, and the green beam of light collided with the silver shield, creating a loud, gong-like sound and causing it shatter like broken glass.

"Don't you dare," she said icily, glaring hatefully at Mulciber.

His grin only grew. "Oh, you'd rather he watched? I have to admit, I've never had an audience before, but it actually sounds kind of exciting."

Remus took a defensive step in front of Lisa, prompting the Death Eaters to snicker.

"Ah, the werewolf thinks he can take us all on, does he?" Malfoy drawled.

"I will certainly try," Remus replied pleasantly, but there was that edge in his eyes again. Like the dark clouds that foretell of a coming storm.

"Don't you ever learn, Lupin?" Mulciber stepped forward. "You're an abomination. I tried to get it into your animal skull before – you are not worthy to lick the dirt from a pureblood's shoes. Save yourself the humiliation and turn yourself in. If Fawley gets off on it, I'll let you watch when—" The nearest armchair transformed into a lion and roared against the Death Eaters. Caught off guard, most of them dropped their wands, filling the empty house with their panicked shrieks. Remus wrapped his fingers around Lisa's hand tightly and pulled her aside and into a run, past the scrambling Death Eaters and into the hallway.

"You idiots!" Malfoy shouted. "Forget the animal and get them!"

The couple kept running along the long, straight wall, when a spell hit it right in the space between their shoulders and the resulting explosion forced them apart. The following barrage of spells made them drift further away from one another, as someone with a brain had finally transfigured the lion back into a chair, and the seven Death Eaters came down on them, hard. It was all a blur of shouted curses and moving figures, and Lisa operated more by reflex than any strategic thought. A green beam of light whizzed in Remus' direction, just as the wall next to him was hit with a blasting curse. Lisa's heart skipped a beat.

"Fumos!" she yelled and a thick curtain of white smoke erupted from the tip of her wand.

The Death Eaters began coughing and trying to cast Finite, while she dashed in the direction of her fallen boyfriend.

"Please, please, please," Lisa kept whispering, climbing over a small mountain of rubble. It couldn't have hit. It just couldn't have. Remus couldn't be dead, she wouldn't allow it!

Soon the young witch spotted his feet poking out from under a broken part of the wooden door and felt as if someone had hit her straight in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. She dropped to her knees and reached for him, but at that moment he sat up on his own, coughing into his hand. Lisa threw her arms around his neck in a tight hug.

"Thank Merlin," she said. "I thought the killing curse got you."

Just as he opened his mouth to answer, his hold on her tightened and he pulled them back to the ground, rolling over. A curse flew right above them and collided with the window, which exploded. Shards of glass rained on top of Remus' head as he bent down to protect her from the debris. Then he pulled back slightly. "We need to—" he started, but Lisa saw another spell fly through the mist, about to hit the pile of rubble next to them. She grabbed on and rolled them over again, this time ending up on top, and cast a quick shield charm. The bits of brick and plaster disintegrated before it reached them.

"— get to the basement level," she finished for him. With one last look around, the young witch lifted her wand and pointed it at the ground. "Hold on to me. This will get rough." Remus' eyes widened for a second with the realization of what she was about to do, but he gave her a sight nod and tightened his arms around her. The blasting curse shook the entire building.

Her cushioning charm broke the fall somewhat, but Remus still grunted as the two of them collided with the floor. Lisa scrambled off of him, and after a quick look above, held out a hand and helped him to his feet.

"Lumos," she said quietly, and the tip of her wand lit up.

The dark room illuminated to show about two dozen people, held up by heavy shackles hanging from the walls.

"Remus! Lisa!" a familiar voice called, and the couple immediately saw Fabian and Gideon Prewitt, chained up at the end of the room.

Remus and Lisa rushed over. The brothers looked roughed up and dirty; Fabian even sported a rather nasty bruise over his left eye.

"The trunk," Gideon said, inclining his head towards the dark shape near the door. "They keep the wands inside."

Lisa pointed her wand at it. "Accio wands!" The heavy oaken trunk began rattling and shaking.

"Alohomora!" Remus said towards it with a wave of his wand, and the metal lock her eyes had failed to spot fell to the ground. The wands made her way into Lisa's hand, while Remus released the captives from their restraints.

Gideon rubbed his wrists. "Took you long enough."

"I didn't think Gideon Prewitt, the Greatest Hit Wizard Who Ever Lived needed saving," Lisa teased, handing him his wand.

"It's those Death Eaters that are gonna need saving in a minute," Fabian growled.

Just then, they heard footsteps above and everyone turned their heads up.

"Crucio!" someone yelled from above, and the spell flew down, but it was easily blocked by one of Lisa's shields. The next second, however, the angry ex-prisoners rained a hail of curses up at the hole, making a sort of colorful firework of destruction. There was some commotion upstairs, then everything went quiet.

"This way!" Gideon cried, blasting the door of the basement off its hinges.

The group ran through a narrow corridor, illuminated by twenty of their wands, but met with no resistance. When they made it to the ground floor, they found the place in shambles, but deserted.

Fabian made a wide motion with his wand and Lisa felt the low swoosh of a person-detecting charm. "They must've turned tail and ran," he concluded.

"I don't blame them," Remus said with a small smirk. "I know I wouldn't want to face this angry mob." Gideon laughed, clapping the werewolf on the back.

The crowd left one by one, anxious to get back to their families, and soon the four Order Members were the only ones in the half-destroyed den.

Lisa stepped closer to inspect Fabian's bruise. "What happened?" she asked, looking him over for further injuries.

He huffed. "What do you think? They caught us sneaking around and decided to hex first, ask questions later."

"We told them we were real-estate agents," Gideon added. "I don't think they believed us."

Remus' brows knitted it a frown. "Didn't they recognize you?"

"Funny thing about that," Gideon said while Lisa pulled out her wand to check out why he was holding ribs. He hissed in pain. "They didn't know we were with the Order. They suspected we were working with Dumbledore, but they couldn't tell for sure."

"How is that even possible?" she mumbled, lifting his shirt to get a better view and gently pressing on the place to see where exactly the injury was. It felt like a fracture. "And why are you so much worse off?"

"Because he can't keep his mouth shut." Fabian frowned at his brother. "Did you have to taunt them like that?"

Gideon simply grinned. "Oh come on, I knew someone was bound to come for us. I guess I was hoping for a hero to burst through the door and make kebabs out of the lot."

Lisa snickered and stood up. "Well, so sorry to disappoint. Let's get you to HQ, Lily will patch you up."

oOo

Half an hour later, most of the Order had gathered in Mad-Eye's den. Lily was working on Gideon's various injuries, while Fabian observed them, the yellow Bruise-Removal Paste already drying over his eye.

Footsteps sounded from the hall, and Moody walked in, followed closely by McGonagall, Flitwick and Dumbledore.

"What happened?" the Headmaster asked calmly, sitting opposite Gideon.

"We got caught," the elder Prewitt replied dryly. "They locked us up in the basement, tortured us for information, the usual."

Lily poked him lightly, making him grunt. "Don't treat this so lightly! Getting captured is not a joke!"

Gideon rolled his eyes, but Fabian agreed with the redhead. "This war isn't a game, Gideon!"

"Will you two relax?" Gideon said irritably. "I know it's serious. But I also knew the Order would figure out we were missing and send someone after us!"

"And what if they had been captured as well?" Frank snapped. "Or killed?"

"That is enough!" McGonagall said strictly. She gave them a piercing look over her square-rimmed glasses, and suddenly the younger members felt like they were sent to the Head of their House again. "You are all acting like children. Actions have consequences, and if Gideon's face is willing to pay the checks his mouth writes, then he's welcome to do so. Though he should know that rescue is not always a given and should not expect others to save his skin." Gideon looked down at his lap.

"What I don't get," James said, breaking the silence, "is why they bothered with capturing you. Why didn't they kill you on the spot?"

"They said the Death Eaters didn't recognize them," Lisa said, frowning. "Though that is strange. They recognize us instantly."

"It seems like the Death Eaters don't really know who's in the Order and who is only helping," Fabian said. "They basically have no names."

"What? How are they always go after us, then?" Lisa asked. Fabian and Gideon exchanged glances.

"They did ask us about you," Fabian said carefully. "And about the Sword of Gryffindor."

Lisa's whole body stiffened. "It's a good thing you knew nothing about it then."

"You still have it?" Frank chimed in. "What did you do with it?"

Lisa knew telling them could potentially put them in danger, but before she could think of a proper explanation, she was saved by none other than Albus Dumbledore.

"Lisa has hidden the Sword on my orders. Voldemort and his Death Eaters will not get their hands on it."

The young witch's eyes snapped to meet the twinkling blue ones of the Hogwarts Headmaster. He gave her a smile, and she realized that he knew. Somehow. She hadn't told anyone where she'd hidden the Sword, not even Remus. But then again, Dumbledore was the brightest wizard of their age...

"Wait a minute," Alice chimed in. "If they asked about the Sword, that means they knew you were in the Order with Lisa! Why else would they have reason to think you might know anything about it?"

"They were betting I would know, since we were in the Defenders together," Fabian explained. "When they got their hands on the schedule two years ago, they learned all our names."

"How can you be sure that's the case?" Remus asked.

"Because they only asked me questions about it," Fabian replied. "Gideon kept egging them on, that's why he ended up like this. If he'd been quiet, they probably wouldn't have touched him. We..." The brothers exchanged another glance. "Actually, we don't think they know for sure if any of us are in the Order," the younger of the two continued. "Not everyone in the Defenders went on to join after Graduation, and they know this. As far as they know, we could just be bumping into them on accident. They may put two and two together if they know who we are and fight us a few times, but there are so many of them, it rarely happens."

A silence settled over the room after those words. No one really wanted to think about that, but it was a fact. They were extremely outnumbered, blindly stumbling their way through battles, barely making it out with their lives. How were they going to accomplish anything against odds such as these?

"They outnumber us fifty to one..." Marlene said quietly.

Everyone in the room was looking at the floor.

"So what?" a voice rang out in the silence. Lisa looked up to see that James had stood up, his hazel eyes burning behind the glasses. "So what if there are more of them? So what if they're better organized or more prepared, so what if they know dark, powerful magic? Why are we fighting? To best them in a duel? We are here to save lives, and every single person we can help is a huge victory! What's the alternative, huh? To bow down and kneel before him?"

Lisa smiled and stood up as well, placing a hand on James' shoulder. "I'm with James," she said. "It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." He gave her a grateful smile.

"Or, we could just set the Death Eaters themselves on fire, that's sure to illuminate a few street corners," Sirius suggested playfully, standing on James' other side. "If I'm going down, I'm taking some of them with me!"

Remus chuckled lightly and stood up as well, slipping his hand in Lisa's. Lily rose to her feet too, and so did the Prewett brothers. Then Peter, Frank, Alice, Sturgis, Caradoc, Marlene and Edgar. Flitwick stood up too, though you could hardly tell, and McGonagall's tall figure loomed over him. Moody had never sat down in the first place, but a crooked grin stretched over his scarred face.

Dumbledore looked at each member with a piecing gaze, and then slowly stood on his feet.

"I must return to Hogwarts," he said. "It's unwise to leave the school unprotected for long periods of time. However, I shall do so with a light heart, knowing I leave the people of London in safe hands. You cannot imagine... how proud I am that you have given me the honor of fighting alongside you."

For a moment, Lisa thought she saw the white-haired wizard's eyes glisten in the light before he and the teachers left HQ and headed back to Hogwarts.