"Fight for what you believe in, even if it means you have to fight alone."
Unknown
"YOU DID WHAT?"
"Rem', calm down. It's no big deal."
"You threw the doloris at Snape! How do you expect me to calm down?"
"In my defense, he had started it and-"
"You did not just say that. That's childish, Hermione. How old are you?"
"You didn't hear what he said about Mary. I couldn't control myself. I grant you that, I lost my mind bu-"
"Do you realise that you've just ruined our slim chances of getting into the Order!"
Remus Lupin was quite annoyed. Hermione had a way of getting on his nerves and he really hated it. But this time she had gone too far. She had promised him to do some work on herself, to control her temper, but obviously she hadn't done it, at least not assiduously enough. The mission had to come before everything else, including their feelings. Mary's death had shaken them to the core, but that was no reason to destroy their chances of defeating Voldemort. And unfortunately for them, that meant joining the Order of the Phoenix. They wouldn't be able to do it alone.
"I overheard Malfoy and Lestrange talking last night in Knockturn Alley and-"
"What were you doing in Knockturn Alley?"
"It's the first place I thought of disapparate to. I bought a necklace and a dagger, but that's not important, we'll talk about that later. I was saying that I heard them talking about a special haven't found it yet, but they're planning an attack on Oxford Street very soon. We've got to do something about it."
"And what would you like to do? Dumbledore won't talk to you."
"Who is the second most influential person in the Order?"
"You're not thinking of-"
"Yes, I am. I'm going to go and see Mad-Eye."
Hermione walked through the corridors of the Ministry of Magic with some trepidation. The last time she had entered this place was with Harry and Ron, under the guise of Mafalda Hopriks. She was not anxious about that, but about her 'meeting' with Moody. She hadn't known him very well, but she knew he was untrusting, sometimes paranoid, although it seemed to have gotten worse in his last few years in office. She waited in the corridor and a young woman, probably an auror judging by her badge, came to warn her that the man was waiting for her.
"Auror Moody, thank you for seeing me," she began, shaking his hand. "You probably don't know me, and the purpose of this meeting must be a surprise to you, but what I have to tell you is very important."
"I happen to know you, Helena Grace. Albus has told me about you. But unfortunately for you, not very well."
"I care very little for the opinions of others, sir. You're a great Auror, half the cells in Azkaban are full because of you. You know a lot about dark magic, are one of the best duelists of our time. I'm not saying this to flatter you, I don't think it would work, I just want you to understand my journey. I've had to do horrible things in my life to get here, I've lost all my friends. But I'm working to make the world I live in a better place. I hope you will understand my motives, even if I can't explain them all to you. My ambition is to destroy Tom Riddle. Or Voldemort, as you prefer. I'm not foolish enough to believe that I can do it alone, or at least fight his Death Eaters alone. That's why I want to join the Order of the Phoenix."
Moody remained unmoved, though in his able eye a flash of surprise passed.
"How on earth do you know of its existence?"
"I know many things, sir. However, I will not reveal my sources to you. I want to join the Order of the Phoenix and so does Remi Lucas. But for now, there are no spies yet."
"Not yet?"
"You're much more experienced than I am, an army always has spies. Voldemort will send spies into the Order and we will have to send spies into the Death Eaters. A Muggle once said, 'An army without spies is like a body without eyes and ears.' You lost your eye, but that didn't stop you from getting another one. You illustrate my example perfectly."
"I can't bring you into the Order like that. I need proof of your good faith. You could be a spy for you-know-who."
"Albus Dumbledore didn't tell you that much about me then. I hate Death Eaters, more than you could ever understand. What would you like? A test under veritaserum? A fight? I'll leave that to you. Dumbledore will never let me join the Order. It would be unethical for a Headmaster to admit someone like me, who knows so much about dark magic. I need you to trust me."
"I can't make decisions without talking to Albus. I'll send him an owl."
"Thank you very much, sir. I know it's taking a lot out of you to do this. There's one more thing. There will be an attack on Oxford Street in the next few days. Lucius Malfoy and Rodolphus Lestrange have spoken of it. They're looking for a special weapon too. I think you should make this a priority. On that note, Auror Moody, good day.
The young woman left the room, without a glance at Moody. The auror had not moved a muscle, but he was in the grip of an inner struggle. Who was this girl, who had come out of nowhere to his office and asked him to join an Order of which only a few select people knew. Helena Grace intrigued him. Moody knew a Death Eater when he saw one. He'd learned over time to be suspicious of everyone, but this young woman inspired confidence in him, and he didn't really know why. She breathed dark magic, but the glint in her eyes did not lie, she hated Voldemort, from the depths of her being. Moody wrote a note to Dumbledore, they had to meet urgently. Helena Grace might be against Voldemort, but that was no reason to trust him completely. This witch was hiding something, the Auror was sure of it. He had to keep an eye on her. After all, in wartime: constant vigilance.
Hermione scoured the depths of the Ministry in search of the prophecy room. The organisation had changed since she had been here in her fifth year. Ron had advised her to look for a prophecy about herself or Remus. She hadn't thought about it before, but it was a continuity. They were here to change the course of time, the prophecy had to change too. However, Harry's prophecy had been made by Trewlaney, shortly after he was born, although she didn't know the exact date, but it was 1980 or 1981 and she wouldn't be able to tell for another two or three years. The witch thought that perhaps the prophecy could be made before then, if not Harry her object, but one or both of the chosen ones of the time.
Remus was in Oxford Street, keeping an eye on the surroundings, while Hermione was talking to Moody. He hoped very much that she would be able to get them into the Order, it was a matter of life and death, literally. The next horcruxes were still a long way from being destroyed, Remus had located one, in Albania, but they had no idea what protections there would be around it and the ring was in the Gaunt house, but thanks to Harry's explanations, they knew what was in store for them. The attraction of the ring would be so strong that they would not be able to resist putting it on their finger to see the people they had lost again, in other words, everyone but themselves. They could not go alone, they would have to be accompanied by a member of the Order, who would stop them. They had agreed that no one should know about the horcruxes. In any case, they were probably the only ones who had mastered the fiendfure.
He glanced at a figure that had just appeared, dressed all in black. He waved to Hermione, who was a few feet away and did not take his eyes off the person. He then watched in amazement as other figures suddenly appeared and Hermione signalled him. He flicked his wand and a patronus shot out, heading towards the Ministry.
The Death Eaters began to pull out their wands. They attacked and the two Time Chosen retaliated immediately. They were vastly outnumbered, being two against fifty was more than problematic, and Hermione hoped very much that Moody would come quickly, with the aurors or the Order, whatever, but that he would come. The wizards had moved closer together, and were now fighting back to back. They had been fighting a bit 'guardian style', but they couldn't fight more than two Death Eaters at a time, and given their numbers, that wasn't fantastic. Despite their intervention, many muggles were being tortured and Hermione noticed that some of the Death Eaters were raping people just a few feet away. She was so shocked that she didn't see the spell come over her. It suddenly cut off her breath. She fell to the ground and blood gushed from her chest. Remus turned around abruptly and saw Hermione on the ground, suffocating. He didn't have time to dwell on her as the Death Eaters attacked her head on. He heard the characteristic pop of the transplaning, reinforcements were coming. He recognised some members of the Order and many others he only knew by sight, probably aurors.
"Helena!"
Lily rushed towards her, looking worried. Hermione had turned even whiter than she was before. She was suffocating and convulsing, a thin line running across her stomach from the top of her breasts to the bottom of her navel. She was bleeding badly, but no matter how many spells Lily cast, she didn't feel better. She was running out of air, it was becoming unbearable.
"Lily, go and fight, you're in great shape, I'll take care of her."
Dorcas went over to her and took over the task of trying to heal her. Another member of the Order joined her, Hermione was still suffocating and her vision was blurry, however, her voice didn't tell her anything. She couldn't know everyone either. The battle was raging, most of the muggles had fled, but many bodies lay strewn across the ground. The sky grew even darker, the air even colder. A figure appeared, and all the Muggles waved. Lord Voldemort was coming. He drew his wand and several members of the Order focused on him. Lily, James, Alice, Frank were four against one, the Prewett twins were fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, Moody the two Lestrange brothers at the same time. Remus was fighting Lucius Malfoy and another, possibly Travers. The others were not outnumbered, only a few Death Eaters had fallen and been defeated.
Remus glanced over at Hermione and saw that she was no better, she was still very pale, bleeding heavily and holding her throat. He would have liked to join her, but the Death Eaters were getting more and more virulent and he couldn't afford to stop fighting. The stroke of eight o'clock sounded and the Death Eaters all transited in unison. The Order members all looked at each other, had they just disappeared like that? The chosen one of time didn't ask himself that question and charged towards Hermione.
"Out of the way, by Merlin!"
"Professor, I'm sorry, she's just gone unconscious. There was nothing we could do. None of the spells worked."
"There's no need to call me 'Professor', I'm not."
He tried to wake Hermione up, but to no avail. She had taught him a few dark magic spells, just the counterspells, in case he needed them, but this was not one of them.
"Can you get me Sirius."
"Sirius, but why? I'll go."
Dorcas rushed towards the wizard, who was supporting James. Voldemort was infinitely powerful, that much was certain, but the marauder had no idea how powerful. They were four against one, but he had largely dominated them. He followed Dorcas, although he was reluctant to leave his friend, the young woman had insisted so much that he had given in.
"Do you know this spell?" Remus immediately asked when he saw it.
"Why would I know it?"
"Helena told me about your family. I'm sorry to bring up bad memories, but you certainly know better than I do."
"Orion never taught me about counterspells."
"I only need the name."
Sirius leaned over Hermione and inspected her wound. He looked for a spell he knew that could do this and after a few minutes of silence he spoke.
"The bloody strangulation spell. Can I go?"
"Accio inventory book" Remus said, without answering the wizard.
The book suddenly came out of Hermione's beaded bag and the time traveller quickly turned the pages. He finally came across the page where the spell was written and luckily for them, there was a counter spell. He muttered the incantation several times and the bleeding stopped. Hermione was not out of the woods though, she had lost a lot of blood and had stopped breathing for several minutes. Her heart was still beating, but she was still struggling to breathe. He put an oxygen mask over her face and she slowly came to.
"Rem" she gasped.
"Keep your mask on, you've been without oxygen for too long."
She seemed to want to say something to him, but the mask was in the way and it was hard to talk with it on. Knowing her friend, Remus understood what she wanted to know.
"The bloody strangulation. It was Sirius who identified it. You can thank him. Lily and Dorcas too. I thought you were going to die. Really, you were even paler than all the other times."
Hermione nodded, unable to do anything else. She too had felt the life leaving her. It was a horrible feeling, she felt like she was leaving her body, she could see herself bleeding, suffocating but she couldn't do anything about it.
"Grace, Lucas."
The two wizards turned as they recognised Moody's voice. He sounded tired, but everyone, both members of the Order and the aurors, were busy with the tasks he had given them.
"Auror Moody. Were there any hostages? Any wounded? Any deaths?"
"A dozen muggles were kidnapped, many injured. One auror is dead, hundreds of muggles are dead. We did pretty well. Thanks to you two."
"It hurts to say it doesn't it?" smiled Hermione with difficulty.
"I told you to keep your mask on." her friend chided.
"It's okay Rem', I'm fine. I'm fine, not like those poor muggles who were taken away."
"What do you mean Grace?"
"Voldemort doesn't take muggles aimlessly. He's building an army. "
"I don't see how these Muggles can be of any use to him."
"You're the dark magic expert. Muggles have been turned into Inferi for centuries."
Moody and Remus both held back a grimace of disgust. Inferi were undoubtedly the worst things in existence. Those bewitched corpses were horrible and Remus was glad he had never had to meet them.
"Have you spoken to Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, snapping the wizards out of their thoughts.
"Albus is somewhat reluctant to let you join the Order and I understand that. You come to the UK on the eve of a war with no ties and no real reason."
"We have our reasons. We just can't tell you."
"Forget it, we're not going in just yet. We need to get well. Go thank the people who saved you and we'll go in."
"But Rem, not now."
"You go. They saved your life."
Hermione obeyed, although she would have preferred to leave without having to do so. She hated this post-battle atmosphere, it reminded her too much of Hogwarts, but she knew for a fact that Remus wouldn't let her go until she thanked them. She approached the group which consisted of the marauders, Lily, Alice and Dorcas. There were also two men Hermione had never met, one was Frank Longbottom, she recognised him easily, the other's face was familiar, she had probably seen him in a photo, but she was unable to put a name to him.
"I wanted to thank you for saving me. Lily and Dorcas for trying to revive me and you Black for recognising the spell that hit me. Rem' doesn't have that much knowledge of dark magic and if it wasn't for you I would be... dead.
"Don't thank me, I wish I hadn't known about that spell" Sirius said with a disgusted expression. "It breaks your heart to have to thank us, doesn't it, Grace?"
"Sirius, it's okay. I didn't do much, it was mostly Dorcas and Benjy who kept you alive."
The stranger now had a name. Hermione thanked them again, but the two wizards told her it was nothing.
"Benjy Fenwick" said the wizard, holding out a hand to the young woman.
"Helena Grace" Hermione replied, shaking his hand. "I'll go."
She left them there and ran to Remus who was still talking to Moody. They greeted each other and the time traveller turned back to Hermione.
"There, are you happy now?"
Before he could answer, Hermione took Remus by the arm and moved to their room at the Cauldron.
"They're really weird though. What's their relationship?" asked James.
"Helena is Professor Lucas' niece."
"And how do we know that?"
"Mary told us."
"That's weird too. How could we have missed their friendship? We were often with her anyway."
"I don't know what they are hiding, but it must be something very serious."
"If I may say so, I don't know them, but the girl has a lot of scars. When I was treating her with Dorcas, I saw a thick, swollen scar that started from her shoulder and continued under her shirt. Also, don't you think it's weird to wear long sleeves in the middle of summer? I mean, we're in London, but still, it's not that cold."
"Benjy's right, she never showed us her arm. She could be hiding the Dark Mark."
"I don't think so, James. She's always been more than hostile to the Death Eaters and you can't pretend to hate someone that much. There are a lot of grey areas in her life but I can say with certainty that she is not a Death Eater."
"There's still something weird about her."
"It's okay Sirius, we know you think they're weird, we get it."
"They have a book that lists all the dark magic spells they know. I told Lucas the name of the spell that affected Grace and he pulled it out. It had the name of the spell, its effects and the counter spell."
"It's not weird, it's super useful! You can find the counter-spell, even if you don't know the spell itself. That's genius! I always thought they were a lot smarter than they showed."
"Miss Head Girl is right again, ten points for Gryffindor" Sirius scoffed. "Still, it's weird."
The friends sighed together at the end of Sirius' sentence. They were going to be treated to this for the rest of the week. Their eyes passed over the various bodies that littered the ground. This was their first battle as members of the Order of the Phoenix. But they all knew it would not be the last. It was just beginning. As the sun set and night fell, the friends rose to help the other members. They were treating the wounded, the aurors had called in the brigade to have the memories of the living muggles erased. The next day, the headline was all over the newspapers.
GAS EXPLOSION IN OXFORD STREET, ARE WE SAFE IN OUR CITY?